The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 4

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 4

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THE CALIPH HISHAM AND THE ARAB YOUTH.

The Caliph Hisham bin Abd al-Malik bin Marwan, was hunting one
day, when he sighted an antelope and pursued it with his dogs. As
he was following the quarry, he saw an Arab youth pasturing sheep
and said to him, "Ho boy, up and after yonder antelope, for it
escapeth me!" The youth raised his head to him and replied, "O
ignorant of what to the deserving is due, thou lookest on me with
disdain and speakest to me with contempt; thy speaking is that of
a tyrant true and thy doing what an ass would do." Quoth Hisham,
"Woe to thee, dost thou not know me?" Rejoined the youth, "Verily
thine unmannerliness hath made thee known to me, in that thou
spakest to me, without beginning by the salutation."[FN#144]
Repeated the Caliph, "Fie upon thee! I am Hisham bin Abd
al-Malik." "May Allah not favour thy dwelling-place," replied the
Arab, "nor guard thine abiding place! How many are thy words and
how few thy generous deeds!" Hardly had he ended speaking, when
up came the troop from all sides and surrounded him as the white
encircleth the black of the eye, all and each saying, "Peace be
with thee, O Commander of the Faithful!" Quoth Hisham, "Cut short
this talk and seize me yonder boy." So they laid hands on him;
and when he saw the multitude of Chamberlains and Wazirs and
Lords of State, he was in nowise concerned and questioned not of
them, but let his chin drop on his breast and looked where his
feet fell, till they brought him to the Caliph[FN#145] when he
stood before him, with head bowed groundwards and saluted him not
and spoke him not. So one of the eunuchs said to him, "O dog of
the Arabs, what hindereth thy saluting the Commander of the
Faithful?" The youth turned to him angrily and replied, "O
packsaddle of an ass, it was the length of the way that hindered
me from this and the steepness of the steps and the profuseness
of my sweat." Then said Hisham (and indeed he was exceeding
wroth), "O boy, verily thy days are come to their latest hour;
thy hope is gone from thee and thy life is past out of thee." He
answered, "By Allah, O Hisham, verily an my life-term be
prolonged and Fate ordain not its cutting short, thy words irk me
not, be they long or short." Then said the Chief Chamberlain to
him, "Doth it befit thy degree, O vilest of the Arabs, to bandy
words with the Commander of the Faithful?" He answered promptly,
"Mayest thou meet with adversity and may woe and wailing never
leave thee! Hast thou not heard the saying of Almighty Allah?,
'One day, every soul shall come to defend itself.'"[FN#146]
Hereupon Hisham rose, in great wrath, and said, "O headsman,
bring me the head of this lad; for indeed he exceedeth in talk,
such as passeth conception." So the sworder took him and, making
him kneel on the carpet of blood, drew his sword above him and
said to the Caliph, "O Commander of the Faithful, this thy slave
is misguided and is on the way to his grave; shall I smite off
his head and be quit of his blood?" "Yes," replied Hisham. He
repeated his question and the Caliph again answered in the
affirmative. Then he asked leave a third time; and the youth,
knowing that, if the Caliph assented yet once more, it would be
the signal of his death, laughed till his wisdom-teeth showed;
whereupon Hisham's wrath redoubled and he said to him, "O boy,
meseems thou art mad; seest thou not that thou art about to
depart the world? Why then dost thou laugh in mockery of
thyself?" He replied, "O Commander of the Faithful, if a larger
life-term befell me, none can hurt me, great or small; but I have
bethought me of some couplets, which do thou hear, for my death
cannot escape thee." Quoth Hisham, "Say on and be brief;" so the
Arab repeated these couplets,

"It happed one day a hawk pounced on a bird, * A wildling sparrow
driven by destiny;
And held in pounces spake the sparrow thus, * E'en as the hawk
rose ready home to hie:--
'Scant flesh have I to fill the maw of thee * And for thy lordly
food poor morsel I.
Then smiled the hawk in flattered vanity * And pride, so set the
sparrow free to fly.

At this Hisham smiled and said, "By the truth of my kinship to
the Apostle of Allah (whom Allah bless and keep!), had he spoken
this speech at first and asked for aught except the Caliphase,
verily I would have given it to him. Stuff his mouth with
jewels,[FN#147] O eunuch and entreat him courteously;" so they
did as he bade them and the Arab went his way. And amongst
pleasant tales is that of

IBRAHIM BIN AL-MAHDI AND THE BARBER-
SURGEON.

They relate that Ibrahim, son of al-Mahdi,[FN#148] brother of
Harun al-Rashid, when the Caliphate devolved to Al-Maamun, the
son of his brother Harun, refused to acknowledge his nephew and
betook himself to Rayy[FN#149]; where he claimed the throne and
abode thus a year and eleven months and twelve days. Meanwhile
his nephew, Al-Maamun, awaited his return to allegiance and his
accepting a dependent position till, at last, despairing of this,
he mounted with his horsemen and footmen and repaired to Rayy in
quest of him. Now when the news came to Ibrahim, he found nothing
for it but to flee to Baghdad and hide there, fearing for his
life; and Maamun set a price of a hundred thousand gold pieces
upon his head, to be paid to whoso might betray him. (Quoth
Ibrahim) "When I heard of this price I feared for my head"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ibrahim
continued, "Now when I heard of this price I feared for my head
and knew not what to do: so I went forth of my house in disguise
at mid-day, knowing not whither I should go. Presently I entered
a broad street which was no thoroughfare and said in my mind,
'Verily, we are Allah's and unto Him we are returning! I have
exposed my life to destruction. If I retrace my steps, I shall
arouse suspicion.' Then, being still in disguise I espied, at the
upper end of the street, a negro-slave standing at his door; so I
went up to him and said to him, 'Hast thou a place where I may
abide for an hour of the day?' 'Yes,' answered he, and opening
the door admitted me into a decent house, furnished with carpets
and mats and cushions of leather. Then he shut the door on me and
went away; and I misdoubted me he had heard of the reward offered
for me, and said to myself, 'He hath gone to inform against me.'
But, as I sat pondering my case and boiling like cauldron over
fire, behold, my host came back, accompanied by a porter loaded
with bread and meat and new cooking-pots and gear and a new jar
and new gugglets and other needfuls. He made the porter set them
down and, dismissing him, said to me, 'I offer my life for thy
ransom! I am a barber-surgeon, and I know it would disgust thee
to eat with me' because of the way in which I get my
livelihood;[FN#150] so do thou shift for thyself and do what thou
please with these things whereon no hand hath fallen.' (Quoth
Ibrahim), Now I was in sore need of food so I cooked me a pot of
meat whose like I remember not ever to have eaten; and, when I
had satisfied my want, he said to me, 'O my lord, Allah make me
thy ransom! Art thou for wine?; for indeed it gladdeneth the soul
and doeth away care.' 'I have no dislike to it,' replied I, being
desirous of the barber's company; so he brought me new flagons of
glass which no hand had touched and a jar of excellent wine, and
said to me, 'Strain for thyself, to thy liking;' whereupon I
cleared the wine and mixed me a most delectable draught. Then he
brought me a new cup and fruits and flowers in new vessels of
earthenware; after which he said to me, 'Wilt thou give me leave
to sit apart and drink of my own wine by myself, of my joy in
thee and for thee?' 'Do so,' answered I. So I drank and he drank
till the wine began to take effect upon us, when the barber rose
and, going to a closet, took out a lute of polished wood and said
to me, 'O my lord, it is not for the like of me to ask the like
of thee to sing, but it behoveth thine exceeding generosity to
render my respect its due; so, if thou see fit to honour thy
slave, thine is the high decision.' Quoth I (and indeed I thought
not that he knew me), 'How knowest thou that I excel in song?' He
replied, 'Glory be to Allah, our lord is too well renowned for
that! Thou art my lord Ibrahim, son of Al-Mahdi, our Caliph of
yesterday, he on whose head Al-Maamun hath set a price of an
hundred thousand dinars to be paid to thy betrayer: but thou art
in safety with me.' (Quoth Ibrahim), When I heard him say this,
he was magnified in my eyes and his loyalty and noble nature were
certified to me; so I complied with his wish and took the lute
and tuned it, and sang. Then I bethought me of my severance from
my children and my family and I began to say,

'Belike Who Yusuf to his kin restored * And honoured him in goal,
a captive wight,
May grant our prayer to reunite our lots, * For Allah, Lord of
Worlds, hath all of might.'

When the barber heard this, exceeding joy took possession of him.
and he was of great good cheer; for it is said that when
Ibrahim's neighbours heard him only sing out, 'Ho, boy, saddle
the mule!' they were filled with delight. Then, being overborne
by mirth, he said to me, 'O my lord, wilt thou give me leave to
say what is come to my mind, albeit I am not of the folk of this
craft?' I answered, 'Do so; this is of thy great courtesy and
kindness.' So he took the lute and sang these verses,

'To our beloveds we moaned our length of night; * Quoth they,
'How short the nights that us benight!'
'Tis for that sleep like hood enveils their eyes * Right soon,
but from our eyes is fair of flight:
When night-falls, dread and drear to those who love, * We mourn;
they joy to see departing light:
Had they but dree'd the weird, the bitter dole * We dree, their
beds like ours had bred them blight.'

(Quoth Ibrahim), So I said to him, 'By Allah, thou hast shown me
a kindness, O my friend, and hast done away from me the pangs of
sorrow. Let me hear more trifles of thy fashion.' So he sang
these couplets,

'When man keeps honour bright without a stain, * Pair sits
whatever robe to robe he's fain!
She jeered at me because so few we are; * Quoth I:--'There's ever
dearth of noble men!'
Naught irks us we are few, while neighbour tribes * Count many;
neighbours oft are base-born strain:
We are a clan which holds not Death reproach, * Which A'mir and
Samul[FN#151] hold illest bane:
Leads us our love of death to fated end; * They hate that ending
and delay would gain:
We to our neighbours' speech aye give the lie, * But when we
speak none dare give lie again.'

(Quoth Ibrahim), When I heard these lines, I was filled with huge
delight and marvelled with exceeding marvel. Then I slept and
awoke not till past night-fall, when I washed my face, with a
mind full of the high worth of this barber-surgeon and his
passing courtesy; after which I wakened him and, taking out a
purse I had by me containing a number of gold pieces, threw it to
him, saying, 'I commend thee to Allah, for I am about to go forth
from thee, and pray thee to expend what is in this purse on thine
requirements; and thou shalt have an abounding reward of me, when
I am quit of my fear.' (Quoth Ibrahim), But he resumed the bag to
me, saying, 'O my lord, paupers like myself are of no value in
thine eyes; but how, with due respect to my own generosity, can I
take a price for the boon which fortune hath vouchsafed me of thy
favour and thy visit to my poor abode? Nay, if thou repeat thy
words and throw the purse to me again I will slay myself.' So I
put in my sleeve[FN#152] the purse whose weight was irksome to
me."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ibrahim son
of Al-Mahdi continued, "So I put in my sleeve the purse whose
weight was irksome to me; and turned to depart, but when I came
to the house door he said, 'O my lord, of a truth this is a safer
hiding-place for thee than any other, and thy keep is no burden
to me; so do thou abide with me, till Allah be pleased grant thee
relief.' Accordingly, I turned back, saying, 'On condition that
thou spend of the money in this purse.' He made me think that he
consented to this arrangement, and I abode with him some days in
the utmost comfort; but, perceiving that he spent none of the
contents of the purse, I revolted at the idea of abiding at his
charge and thought it shame to be a burthen on him; so I left the
house disguised in women's apparel, donning short yellow walking-
boots[FN#153] and veil. Now as soon as I found myself in the
street, I was seized with excessive fear, and going to pass the
bridge behold, I came to a place sprinkled with water,[FN#154]
where a trooper, who been in my service, looked at me and knowing
me, cried out, saying, 'This is he whom Al-Maamun wanteth.' Then
he laid hold of me but the love of sweet life lent me strength
and I gave him and his horse a push which threw them down in that
slippery place, so that he became an example to those who will
take example; and the folk hastened to him. Meanwhile, I hurried
my pace over the bridge and entered a main street, where I saw
the door of a house open and a woman standing upon the threshold.
So I said to her, 'O my lady, have pity on me and save my life;
for I am a man in fear.' Quoth she, 'Enter and welcome;' and
carried me into an upper dining-room, where she spread me a bed
and brought me food, saying 'Calm thy fear, for not a soul shall
know of thee.' As she spoke lo! there came a loud knocking at the
door; so she went and opened, and suddenly, my friend, whom I had
thrown down on the bridge, appeared with his head bound up, the
blood running down upon his clothes and without his horse. She
asked, 'O so and so, what accident hath befallen thee?'; and he
answered, 'I made prize of the young man whom the Caliph seeketh
and he escaped from me;' whereupon he told her the whole story.
So she brought out tinder[FN#155] and, putting it into a piece of
rag bandaged his head; after which she spread him a bed and he
lay sick. Then she came up to me and said, 'Methinks thou art the
man in question?' 'Even so,' answered I, and she said, 'Fear not:
no harm shall befall thee,' and redoubled in kindness to me. So I
tarried with her three days, at the end of which time she said to
me, 'I am in fear for thee, lest yonder man happen upon thee and
betray thee to what thou dreadest; so save thyself by flight.' I
besought her to let me stay till nightfall, and she said, 'There
is no harm in that.' So, when the night came, I put on my woman's
gear and betook me to the house of a freed-woman who had once
been our slave. When she saw me she wept and made a show of
affliction and praised Almighty Allah for my safety. Then she
went forth, as if she would go to market intent on hospitable
thoughts, and I fancied all was right; but, ere long, suddenly I
espied Ibrahim al-Mosili[FN#156] for the house amongst his
troopers and servants, and led by a woman on foot; and looking
narrowly at her behold, she was the freed-woman, the mistress of
the house, wherein I had taken refuge. So she delivered me into
their hands, and I saw death face to face. They carried me, in my
woman's attire, to Al-Maamun who called a general-council and had
me brought before him. When I entered I saluted him by the title
of Caliph, saying, 'Peace be on thee, O Commander of the
Faithful!' and he replied, 'Allah give thee neither peace nor
long life.' I rejoined, 'According to thy good pleasure, O
Commander of the Faithful!; it is for the claimant of blood-
revenge[FN#157] to decree punishment or pardon; but mercy is
nigher to piety; and Allah hath set thy pardon above all other
pardon, even as He made my sin to excel all other sin. So, if
thou punish, it is of thine equity, and if thou pardon, it is of
thy bounty.' And I repeated these couplets,

'My sin to thee is great, * But greater thy degree:
So take revenge, or else * Remit in clemency:
An I in deeds have not* Been generous, generous be!

(Quoth Ibrahim), At this Al-Maamun raised his head to me and I
hastened to add these two couplets,

'I've sinned enormous sin, * But pardon in thee lies:
If pardon thou, 'tis grace; * Justice an thou chastise!'

Then Al-Maamun bowed his head and repeated,

'I am (when friend would raise a rage that mote * Make spittle
choke me, sticking in my throat)
His pardoner, and pardon his offense, * Fearing lest I should
live a friend without.'

(Quoth Ibrahim), Now when I heard these words I scented mercy,
knowing his disposition to clemency.[FN#158] Then he turned to
his son Al Abbas and his brother Abu Ishak and all his chief
officers there present and said to them, 'What deem ye of his
case?' They all counselled him to do me dead, but they differed
as to the manner of my death. Then said he to his Wazir Ahmad bin
al-Khalid, 'And what sayest thou, O Ahmad?' He answered, 'O
Commander of the Faithful, an thou slay him, we find the like of
thee who hath slain the like of him; but an thou pardon him, we
find not the like of thee that hath pardoned the like of him.'"--
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Al
Maamun, Prince of the Faithful, heard the words of Ahmad bin
al-Khalid, he bowed his head and began repeating,

"My tribe have slain that brother mine, Umaym, * Yet would shoot
back what shafts at them I aim:
If I deal-pardon, noble pardon 'tis; * And if I shoot, my bones
'twill only maim."[FN#159]

And he also recited,

"Be mild to brother mingling * What is wrong with what is right:

Kindness to him continue * Whether good or graceless wight:
Abstain from all reproaching, * An he joy or vex thy sprite:
Seest not that what thou lovest * And what hatest go unite?
That joys of longer life-tide * Ever fade with hair turned
white?
That thorns on branches growing * For the plucks fruit catch thy
sight?
Who never hath done evil,* Doing good for sole delight?
When tried the sons of worldli-* ness they mostly work upright."

Quoth Ibrahim, "Now when I heard these couplets, I withdrew my
woman's veil from my head and cried out, with my loudest voice,
'Allah is Most Great! By Allah, the Commander of the Faithful
pardoneth me!' Quoth he, 'No harm shall come to thee, O uncle;'
and I rejoined, 'O Commander of the Faithful, my sin is too sore
for me to excuse it and thy mercy is too much for me to speak
thanks for it.' And I chanted these couplets to a lively motive,

'Who made all graces all collected He * In Adam's loins, our
Seventh Imam, for thee,[FN#160]
Thou hast the hearts of men with reverence filled, * Enguarding
all with heart-humility
Rebelled I never by delusion whelmed * For object other than thy
clemency ;[FN#161]
And thou hast pardoned me whose like was ne'er * Pardoned before,
though no man pled my plea:
Hast pitied little ones like Kata's[FN#162] young, * And mother's
yearning heart a son to see.'

Quoth Maamun, 'I say, following our lord Joseph (on whom and on
our Prophet be blessing and peace!) let there be no reproach cast
on you this day. Allah forgiveth you; for He is the most merciful
of those who show mercy.[FN#163] Indeed I pardon thee, and
restore to thee thy goods and lands, O uncle, and no harm shall
befall thee.' So I offered up devout prayers for him and repeated
these couplets,

'Thou hast restored my wealth sans greed, and ere * So didst,
thou deignedest my blood to spare:
Then if I shed my blood and wealth, to gain * Thy grace, till
even shoon from foot I tear,
Twere but repaying what thou lentest me, * And what unloaned no
man to blame would care:
Were I ungrateful for thy lavish boons, * Baser than thou'rt
beneficent I were!'

Then Al-Maamun showed me honour and favour and said to me, 'O
uncle, Abu Ishak and Al-Abbas counselled me to put thee to
death.' So I answered, 'And they both counselled thee right, O
Commander of the Faithful, but thou hast done after thine own
nature and hast put away what I feared with what I hoped.'
Rejoined Al Maamun, 'O uncle, thou didst extinguish my rancour
with the modesty of thine excuse, and I have pardoned thee
without making thee drink the bitterness of obligation to
intercessors.' Then he prostrated himself in prayer a long while,
after which he raised his head and said to me, 'O uncle, knowest
thou why I prostrated myself?' Answered I, 'Haply thou didst this
in thanksgiving to Allah, for that He hath given thee the mastery
over thine enemy.' He replied, 'Such was not my design, but
rather to thank Allah for having inspired me to pardon thee and
for having cleared my mind towards thee. Now tell me thy tale.'
So I told him all that had befallen me with the barber, the
trooper and his wife and with my freed-woman who had betrayed me.
So he summoned the freed-woman, who was in her house, expecting
the reward to be sent to her, and when she came before him he
said to her, 'What moved thee to deal thus with thy lord?' Quoth
she, 'Lust of money.' Asked the Caliph 'Hast thou a child or a
husband?'; and she answered 'No;' whereupon he bade them give her
an hundred stripes with a whip and imprisoned her for life. Then
he sent for the trooper and his wife and the barber-surgeon and
asked the soldier what had moved him to do thus. 'Lust of money,'
quoth he; whereupon quoth the Caliph, 'It befitteth thee to be a
barber-cupper,'[FN#164] and committed him to one whom he charged
to place him in a barber-cupper's shop, where he might learn the
craft. But he showed honour to the trooper's wife and lodged her
in his palace, saying, 'This is a woman of sound sense and fit
for matters of moment.' Then said he to the barber-cupper,
'Verily, thou hast shown worth and generosity which call for
extraordinary honour.' So he commanded the trooper's house and
all that was therein to be given him and bestowed on him a dress
of honour and in addition fifteen thousand dinars to be paid
annually. And men tell the following tale concerning

THE CITY OF MANY COLUMNED IRAM AND
ABDULLAH SON OF ABI KILABAH.[FN#165]

It is related that Abdullah bin Abi Kilabah went forth in quest
of a she-camel which had strayed from him; and, as he was
wandering in the deserts of Al-Yaman and the district of
Saba,[FN#166] behold, he came upon a great city girt by a vast
castle around which were palaces and pavilions that rose high
into middle air. He made for the place thinking to find there
folk of whom he might ask concerning his she-camel; but, when he
reached it, he found it desolate, without a living soul in it. So
(quoth he) "I alighted and, hobbling my dromedary,"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah
bin Abi Kilabah continued, "I dismounted and hobbling my
dromedary, and composing my mind, entered into the city. Now when
I came to the castle, I found it had two vast gates (never in the
world was seen their like for size height) inlaid with all manner
of jewels and jacinths, white and red, yellow and green.
Beholding this I marvelled with great marvel and thought the case
mighty wondrous; then entering the citadel in a flutter of fear
and dazed with surprise and affright, I found it long and wide,
about equalling Al-Medinah[FN#167] in point of size; and therein
were lofty palaces laid out in pavilions all built of gold and
silver and inlaid with many-coloured jewels and jacinths and
chrysolites and pearls. And the door-leaves in the pavilions were
like those of the castle for beauty; and their floors were strewn
with great pearls and balls, no smaller than hazel nuts, of musk
and ambergris and saffron. Now when I came within the heart of
the city and saw therein no created beings of the Sons of Adam I
was near swooning and dying for fear. Moreover, I looked down
from the great roofs of the pavilion-chambers and their balconies
and saw rivers running under them; and in the main streets were
fruit-laden trees and tall palms; and the manner of their
building was one brick of gold and one of silver. So I said in
myself, 'Doubtless this is the Paradise promised for the world to
come.' Then I loaded me with the jewels of its gravel and the
musk of its dust as much as I could carry and returned to my own
country, where I told the folk what I had seen. After a time the
news reached Mu'awiyah, son of Abu Sufyan, who was then Caliph in
Al-Hijaz; so he wrote to his lieutenant in San'a of Al-Yaman to
send for the teller of the story and question him of the truth of
the case. Accordingly the lieutenant summoned me and questioned
me of my adventure and of all appertaining to it; and I told him
what I had seen, whereupon he despatched me to Mu'awiyah, before
whom I repeated the story of the strange sights; but he would not
credit it. So I brought out to him some of the pearls and balls
of musk and ambergris and saffron, in which latter there was
still some sweet savour; but the pearls were grown yellow and had
lost pearly colour."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.

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