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 THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, 
 
 COMMONLY CALLED, IN ENGLAND, 
 
 Cfye Jtrabian Hunts' (entertainments. 
 
 A NEW TRANSLATION FROM THE ARABIC, WITH COPIOUS NOTES 
 
 HON. M.R.S.L., ETC. 
 AUTHOR OF "THE MODERN EGYPTIANS." 
 
 BY MTAS1T HTUHBffiKB KS'OffiAVIH'Ga OF WOOB, 
 
 <|rom rigiital Designs bg S&Uliam 
 
 A NEW EDITION, 
 FROM A COPY ANNOTATED BY THE TRANSLATOR; 
 
 EDITED BY HIS NEPHEW, 
 
 EDWARD STANLEY POOLE. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 BICKERS AND SON, LEICESTER SQUARE. 
 
 MDCCCLXXVIl. 
 
LONDON : 
 1'KINTRI) KY VH.UAM fl.OWES AND SOSS, 
 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CIIAIJINT, CIKi.-s 
 
CONTEXTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAG P.. 
 
 Story of 'Alee the Son of Bekkar, and Shems-en-Nahar . 1 
 
 Notes, comprising Two Fable.s 48 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Story ofthe Prince Kamar-ez-Zeman and the Princess Budoor . . .... 70 
 
 Story of the Two Princes El- Ainjad and El- As'ad . . . 13H 
 
 Story of Nearneh and Noam 170 
 
 Conclusion of the Story of El-Amjad and El- As'ad, &c 192 
 
 Notes 199 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Story of 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat 223 
 
 Notes 283 
 
 Liberality of Hatim Et-Taee after his Death 295 
 
 Anecdote of Maan the Son of Zaideh 297 
 
 Adventures of Ibraheem the Son of El-Mahdee 298 
 
 The Discovery and History of Irera Zat el-'Emad, the Terrestrial Paradise of 
 
 Sheddad the Son of 'Ad 303 
 
 Anecdote of Is-hak El-Mdsilee and Khadeejeh and El-Ma-moon 308 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Story of Abu-1-Hasan the Wag, or the Sleeper Awakened 313 
 
 Notes 335 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Story of Mohammad 'Alee the Jeweller, or the False Khaleefeh 338 
 
 Notes 355 
 
 II. 1) 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Anecdote of a Disinterested Lover 357 
 
 Anecdote of Jaafar El-Barmekee 360 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Story of Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy 302 
 
 Notes 380 
 
 Anecdote of Yahy& the Son of Khalid El-Barmekee 381 
 
 Another Anecdote of the Same 383 
 
 Anecdote of El-Ma-moon and a Learned Man 386 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Story of 'Alee Sher and Zumurrud 387 
 
 Notes 421 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Story of Ibn-Mansoor and the Lady Budoor and'Jubeyr the Son of 'Omeyr Esh- 
 
 Sheybanee 426 
 
 Notes 442 
 
 Instances of the Vicissitudes of Fortune 445 
 
 Hosam-ed-Deen the Walee, and a Sharper 448 
 
 The Three Walees 449 
 
 The Money-changer and the Sharper 451 
 
 Anecdote of Ibraheem the Son of El-Mahdee 452 
 
 Anecdote of a Charitable Woman 455 
 
 Anecdote of a Charitable Israelite 456 
 
 Anecdote of Aboo-Hassan Ez-Ziyadee 457 
 
 A Friend in Need 459 
 
 A Dream 460 
 
 El-Muta\vekkil and Mahboobeh 461 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Story of the Magic Horse 463 
 
 Notes 489 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Story of Uns-el-Wujood and El-Ward fi-l-Akinam 492 
 
 Notes 516 
 
 Anecdote of a Man and his Slave-girl 518 
 
 Anecdote of Two Victims of Love 519 
 
 Love m a School 520 
 
 Anecdote of a Faithless Wife 521 
 
 Anecdote of a Simpleton and a Sharper 522 
 
 Anecdote of El-Hakim bi-amri-Uah and a Merchant of Cairo 523 
 
 Anecdote of Anooshirwan ! 523 
 
 Anecdote of Khusrow and Sheereen and a Fisherman . ... 525 
 
CONTENTS, vii 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Anecdote of Yahya El-Barmekee 526 
 
 Mohammad El-Emeen and the Slave-girl El-Bedr el-Kebeer 526 
 
 Anecdote of El-Fadl and Jaafar the Barmekees 527 
 
 Anecdote of a Deceitful Wife 528 
 
 Anecdote of a Homicide 528 
 
 Anecdote of an Impudent Thief 531 
 
 Compact of Mesroor with Ibn-El-Karibee 533 
 
 Anecdote of a Devotee, Son of Haroon Er-Rasheed 534 
 
 Anecdote of an Illiterate Schoolmaster 537 
 
 The llukh' 538 
 
 Result of Restraint upon Two Lovers 539 
 
 Anecdote of a Distracted Lover 540 
 
 The Converted Prior 54,1 
 
 Aboo-'Eesa and Kurrat-el-'Eyn 543 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Story of 'Alee of Cairo 546 
 
 Notes 568 
 
 Anecdote of a Townsman and a Bedaweeyeh 570 
 
 A Tyrannical King and the Angel of Death 572 
 
 Advantages of Piety and Industry 573 
 
 Anecdote of a Muslim Warriour and a Christian Maiden 574 
 
 The Justice of Providence ' , . 577 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME II. 
 
 Engraver's Names. Page. 
 
 Ornamental Title LKE 
 
 Head-piece to Table of Contents LANDELLS .... v 
 
 Tail-piece to Table of Contents JENNINGS .... vii 
 
 Head-piece to List of Illustrations LEE viii 
 
 The Shop of Abu-1-Hasan, and Ornamental Border. The Motto, 
 
 " In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful" . . JACKSON 1 
 
 The Chamber of Four Columns M. JACKSON ... 4 
 
 Slave-girl rubbing Shems-en-Xahar's Feet GRAY 7 
 
 The Khaleefeh entering the Garden, with his Attendants, &<. . T. WILLIAMS ... 9 
 
 Escape of 'Alee the Son of Bekkar in a Boat WHIMPER .... 11 
 
 The Physicians with 'Alee the Son of Bekkar VASKY 14 
 
 Slave-girl ELIZ. CLINT ... 17 
 
 The Jeweller finding the Letter SLADER 23 
 
 Shems-en-Nahar's first visit to the Jtweller THOMPSON .... 26 
 
 Shems-en-Nahar and 'Alee the Son of Bekkar at the House ot* 
 
 the Jeweller THOMPSON .... 30 
 
 Shems-en-Nahar and 'Alee the Son of Bekkar surrounded by the 
 
 Horsemen LANDELLS .... 34 
 
 Shems-en-Nahar brought back to the Palace GREEN 37 
 
 Shems-en-Nahar and 'Alee the Son of Bekktir questioned by the 
 
 Robbers VASEY 39 
 
 'Alee the Son of Bekkar and his Attendants attacked by Robbers S.WILLIAMS ... 42 
 
 'Alee the Son of Bekkar listening to the Girl singing .... GRAY 44 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ; x 
 
 Engraver:,' Names. Page. 
 
 The Khaleefeh mourning over Shems-eii-Naluir Miss WILLIAMS . . 47 
 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter IX LANDELLS .... 48 
 
 The Lion examining his House WRIGHT & FOLKARD 53 
 
 The Antelope and Peahen WRIGHT & FOLKARD 54 
 
 The Fox tempting the Wolf WRIGHT & FOLKARD 56 
 
 The Falcon and Pas tridge WRIGHT & FOLKARD 58 
 
 Death of the Wolf WRIGHT & FOLKARD 63 
 
 Lady playing on the Kanooa VASEV 69 
 
 Head-piece to Chapter X. Display of the Child. The Motto, 
 
 " Extolled be the perfection of the Excellent Creator !" . . . T. WILLIAMS ... 70 
 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman standing before his Father MARY ANN COOK . . 72 
 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman before the Court M. JACKSON ... 75 
 
 The Jinneeyeh rinding Kamar-ez-Zemun asleep THOMPSON .... 78 
 
 The Jinneeyeh soaring towards Heaven GREEN 80 
 
 The Father of Budoor urging her to marry CHAS. JENNINGS . . 82 
 
 The 'Efreet Dahnash carrying off Budoor LANDELLS .... 85 
 
 Meymooneh and Dahnash deciding their Wager JACKSON 88 
 
 The 'Efreets Kashkash and Dahnash returning with Budoor . . WRIGHT & FOLKARD 91 
 
 The Eunuch in the Well GRAY 93 
 
 Kamar-ez-Zemtiu beating the Wezoer Miss H. CLARKE . . 95 
 
 Budoor attempting to kill the Kahramaneh GRAY 101 
 
 Budoor in Confinement GRAY 103 
 
 The Wezeer discovering the Shipwreck of Marzaw:i:i .... WHIMPER .... 105 
 
 The Wezeer rescuing Marzawan WHIMPER . . . .107 
 
 Kamar-ez-Zenuin and Mai zawuu setting forth on their Journey . WRIGHT & FOLKARD 111 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman and Marzawan resting in their Journey . . . WRIGHT & FOLKARD 111 
 
 Kamar-ez-Zemau disguised as an Astrologer VASEY . . . . .113 
 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman and Budoor taking leave of the King El- 
 
 Ghayoor WIUGHT & FOLKARD 113 
 
 Their Journey WRIGHT & FOLKARD 118 
 
 The Bird with the Talisman WRIGHT & FOLKARD 119 
 
 Budoor disguised in her Husband's Clothes THOMPSON . . . .122 
 
 Birds righting VASEY 128 
 
 Kamai-ez-Zeman shewing the Treasure to the Gardener . . . Miss WILLIAMS . . 130 
 
 The Ship at Sea WHIMPER .... 133 
 
 El-Amjad and El-As'ad THOMPSON .... 135 
 
 The Old Woman slain by El-As'ad Miss H. CLARKE . . 140 
 
 The Treasurer in the Desert, with the Two Princes in the Chests LANDELLS .... 142 
 
 The Treasurer's Horse running away LANDELLS .... 145 
 
 The Lion and the Treasurer T. WILLIAMS . . .147 
 
 The Two Princes in the Desert GRAY 149 
 
 Oratory in the Desert M. JACKSON . . .150 
 
 El-Amjad washing his Clothes COOK 154 
 
 The Damsel beating Bahadir JACKSON 159 
 
 The City of the Queen Marjaneh JACKSON 163 
 
 Sailois finding El-As'ad asleep GRAY 166 
 
 The Daughter of Bahram visiting El- As'a I THOMPSON . . . .168 
 
 Old Woman praying C. JENNINGS . . . 173 
 
 Neameh's Female Slaves hiding themselves JENNINGS . . . .177 
 
 Neameh with his Father and the Physician T. WILLIAMS . . . 179 
 
 Noam reviving at the sight of Neameh's Name THOMPSON .... 182 
 
 The Sister of the Khaleefeh discovering Neameh WILLIAMSON . . . 186 
 
x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Engravers' Names. Page. 
 
 The Sister of the Khaleefeh pleading for Neameh and Noam . . LANDELLS . . . .191 
 
 The Approach of the Second Army WHIMPER .... 195 
 
 Tail-piece to Chapter X. Kamar-ez-Zeman meeting his Father . LANDELLS . . . .198 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter X. (Illustration of Note 67) . LANDELLS .... 199 
 
 Tail-piece to Notes to Chapter X LANDELLS .... 222 
 
 Head-piece to Chapter XI GREEN 223 
 
 Child asleep THOMPSON .... 224 
 
 'Ala-ed-Deen's sudden appearance in his Mother's Apartment . .GRAY 226 
 
 Sook, or Market-street WILLIAMSON . . . 227 
 
 Bedawee spearing the dead 'Akkam LANDELLS .... 234 
 
 Dogs barking at 'Ala-ed-Deen WRIGHT & FOLKARD 236 
 
 Zubeydeh lifting up the Prayer-carpet JENNINGS .... 242 
 
 The Khaleefeh and his Companions disguised as Darweeshes . . Miss H. CLARKE . . 246 
 
 The Two Eunuchs at 'Ala-ed-Deen's Door A. J. MASON . . . 251 
 
 Ahmad Kamakim in Prison THOMPSON .... 256 
 
 Ahmad Kamakim depositing the stolen Articles GRAY i',"/) 
 
 The Two slain Jews GREEN 264 
 
 The Emeer Khalid and the Child Asian T. WILLIAMS . . . 266 
 
 The Spy struck down by Asian VASEY 269 
 
 Capture of the Muslim Ship LANDELLS .... 273 
 
 The Jinneeyeh rising from the Grave GREEN 277 
 
 Tail-piece to Chapter XI. Execution of Ahmad Kamakim . . LANDELLS .... 282 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter XI. The Shah-Bandar observing 
 
 his Beard LANDELLS .... 283 
 
 Hatim Et-Taee appearing to Zu-1-Kelaa JACKSON .... 296 
 
 Meeting of Zu-1-Kelaa and 'Adee the Son of Hatim LANDELLS .... 297 
 
 Damsels offering Water to Maan THOMPSON .... 298 
 
 Barber standing at his Door Miss WILLIAMS . .299 
 
 The Trooper thrown down by Ibraheem the Son of El- Mahdee . LANDELLS .... 301 
 
 Discovery of Irem Zat el-'Emad WHIMPER .... 304 
 
 Destruction of Sheddad the Son of 'Ad, and his Household and 
 
 Troops JACKSON .... 307 
 
 Is-hak El-M6silee in the Basket GRAY 308 
 
 Lantern WILLIAMSON . . . 312 
 
 Head-piece to Chapter XII. Abu-1-Hasan carried to the Palace . GRAY 313 
 
 Abu-1-Hasan on the Couch of the Khaleefeh T. WILLIAMS . . . 317 
 
 Scenes in the Palace WRIGHT & FOLKAKD .'J17 
 
 Ditto WRIGHT FOLKARD 318 
 
 Ditto WRIGHT FOLKARD 319 
 
 Abu-1-Hasan admiring his magnificent Dress Miss H. CLARKK . . 319 
 
 Scenes in the Palace, &c WRIGHT & FOLKARD 320 
 
 Abu-1-Hasan at the Table, attended by Ten Slave-girls .... GREEN 321 
 
 Abu-1-Hasan's orders executed on the Imam and the Four 
 
 Sheykhs, &c LANDELLS . . . .321 
 
 Scenes in the Palace LANDKLLS .... 322 
 
 Abu-1-Hasan in Confinement WRIGHT & FOLKARD 323 
 
 The Memlook biting Abu-1-Hasau's Ear VASEY 326 
 
 Abu-1-Hasan confessing his Plot VASEY 333 
 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter XII. Abu-1-Hasan seated on 
 
 the Bridge LANDELLS . . . .335 
 
 Head-piece to Chapter XIII. Approach of the Bark of the False 
 
 Khaleefeh WHIMPER . . 338 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xi 
 
 En gravers' Names. Page. 
 
 The False Khaleefeh entering his Palace OKAY 342 
 
 The Lady Dunya examining the Necklace THOMPSON .... 347 
 
 Tail-piece to Chapter XIII. The Bark of the False Khaleefeh . THOMPSON .... 354 
 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter XIII LANDELLS .... 355 
 
 Disinterested Lover WRIGHT & FOLKAKD 359 
 
 Tail-piece to Notes to Chapter XIII. Bedavvee WHIMPER .... 361 
 
 Head-piece to Chapter XIV THOMPSON .... 362 
 
 Escort of Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy WKIGHT & FOLKAP.D 364- 
 
 The Man and the Apes MASON JACKSON . . 367 
 
 Abu-1-Muzaftar presenting the Ape to Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy JACKSON .... 370 
 Aboo-Mohamraad the Lazy killing the tawny Serpent .... T. WILLIAMS . . . 374 
 Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy falling from the Sky into the Sea . . LANDELLS .... 376 
 Tail-piece to Chapter XIV. The 'Efreets obeying the Summons 
 
 of Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy THOS. GILKS . . . 379 
 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter XIV LANDELLS .... 380 
 
 Mansoor taking leave of his Family Miss H. CLARKE . . 381 
 
 The Man of Kl-'Erak presenting the Forged Letter Miss WILLIAMS . , 383 
 
 Horses LANDELLS .... 385 
 
 Head-piece to Chapter XV JACKSON ..... 387 
 
 Zumurrud giving the Purse of Gold to 'Alee Sher . . . . . GRAY 394 
 
 The Old Woman with the Crate WILLIAMSON . . . 400 
 
 Zumurrud descending from the Window SLADER 403 
 
 Zumurrud's Escape with the Trooper's Horse LANDELLS .... 405 
 
 Barsoom detected by Zumurrud WRIGHT & FOLKARD 409 
 
 Jawan's Discovery of the Flight of Zumurrud . . . . . . WRIGHT & FOLKARD 412 
 
 Zumurrud weeping at the remembrance of 'Alee Sher .... A. J. MASON . . .415 
 
 'Alee Sher asleep on the Mastabah Miss H. CLARKE . . 417 
 
 Tail-piece to Chapter XV. Giving Alms LANDELLS .... 420 
 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter XV LANDELLS .... 421 
 
 Tail-piece to Notes to Chapter XV. Lady embroidering . . . A. J. MASON . . . 425 
 
 Head-piece to Chapter XVI. Haroon Er-Easheed and Mesroor . JACKSON 426 
 
 Ibn-Mansoor at the Door of the House of the Lady Budoor . . JENNINGS .... 429 
 
 The Slave-girl kissing the Lady Budoor SLADER 431 
 
 Jubeyr fainting . . T. GILKS 434 
 
 The Slave reproving Ibn-Mansoor BASTIN 436 
 
 Tail-piece to Chapter XVI. Marriage of Jubeyr arid the Lady 
 
 Budoor Miss WILLIAMS . . 441 
 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter XVI LANDELLS .... 442 
 
 Vicissitudes of Fortune. Prosperity WHIMPER . . . .445 
 
 Ditto. Adversity M. JACKSON . . . 447 
 
 The Sharper running off with the Trooper's Purse GRAY 448 
 
 The Robbers bringing the Chest to the Walee of Boolak . . .LANDELLS . . . .450 
 The Charitable Woman and her Two Cakes of Bread .... JACKSON .... 455 
 
 A Pilgrim VASEY 457 
 
 Digging under the Fountain BASTIN 460 
 
 Head-piece to Chapter XVII JACKSON 463 
 
 Descent on the roof of the Palace, at San'a JACKSON 466 
 
 The Eunuch throwing Dust on his Head SLADER 469 
 
 The King's Son on the Magic Horse amid the Troops at San'a . FOLKARD .... 473 
 The King of San'a and his Wife supplicating the Persian Prince . M. JACKSON . . . 47G 
 The King's Son on his Journey in quest of the Damsel . . . . T. WILLIAMS . . .481 
 The Damsel feigning Madness VASEY 484 
 
xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Engravers' Names. Page. 
 
 Flight of the King's Son and the Damsel from amid the Greek 
 
 Tioops FELDWICK .... 487 
 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter XVII LANDKLLS .... 489 
 
 Tail-piece to Notes to Chapter XVII LEE 491 
 
 Head-piece to Chapter XVIII T. WILLIAMS . . . 492 
 
 ILis-el-Wujood in the Desert WILLIAMSON . . . 498 
 
 Uns-el-Wujood and the Lion Miss H. CLAUKI; . . 499 
 
 l'ns-el-Wujood on the Gourds WHIMPER .... 503 
 
 El-Ward fi-1-Akmam and (he Boatman GRAY 507 
 
 The Jinneeyeh carrying off her Beloved GREEN 510 
 
 Tail-piece to Chapter XVIII JENNINGS . . . .515 
 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter XVIII LANDELLS .... 516 
 
 Generosity of Ibn-Maamar T. WILLIAMS . . . 519 
 
 Love in a School Miss H. CLARKE . . 520 
 
 Simpleton and Sharper JACKSON 522 
 
 Anooshinvan and the 1'easant-girl LANDELLS .... 524 
 
 Sa'eed El-Bahilee restored to affluence WHIMPER .... 527 
 
 Old Man in his Orchard BASTIN 529 
 
 Impudent Thief BASTIN 532 
 
 Booth of Reeds among Tombs WHIMPER .... 536 
 
 Muslim Lover stoned by Christian Boys T. WILLIAMS . . . 542 
 
 Head-piece to Chapter XIX GRAY 546 
 
 Kilometer, and part of Masr-el-'Ateekah, &c. (from a sketch by 
 
 Mr. E. W. Lane) WHIMPER .... 550 
 
 A Boat of the Nile JACKSON .... 551 
 
 Shower of Gold WILLIAMSON . . . 555 
 
 . Merchants and their Hareems, awaiting the arrival of the Caravan 
 
 of 'Alee of Cairo FELDWICK .... 558 
 
 Dispersion of the Jaan GREEN 559 
 
 'Alee of Cairo opening the Chests of Treasure M. A. WILLIAMS . . 560 
 
 Hasan presented to the Sultan M. JACKSON . . . 564 
 
 Tail-piece to Chapter XIX. Kadee and attendant Tlama . . . SLADER 568 
 
 Head-piece to Notes to Chapter XIX LANDELLS .... 569 
 
 Townsman and Bedaweeyeh FOLKARD .... 571 
 
 Muslim Warriour and Christian Maiden GRAY 576 
 
 Tail-piece to Notes to Chapter XIX. (Arabian Vase, copied, by 
 
 permission, from the Great Work of Messrs. Gouiy and Jones) LEE 578 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ! A 
 
 
 
 U$&N 
 
 COMMENCING WITH THE HUNDRED *"-= * ^ ^^ ^ 
 
 AND FIFTY-THIRD NIGHT, 1 AND END- 
 ING WITH THE HUNDRED AND SIXTY- 
 NINTH. 
 
 * ic -l> 
 
 ^HE STOEY OF 'ALEE THE SON'C^Tf |: 
 OF BEKKAR, AND SHEMS- ^\) " 
 EN-NAHAR. \^J 
 
 
 
 THERE was, in ancient times, C 
 
 in the reign of the Khaleefeh \ 
 Haroon Er-Rasheed, a merchant 
 who had a son named Abu-1- _-<< 
 Hasan 'Alee the son of Tahir, 2 ' . ( 
 possessing abundant property, \ 
 } of handsome person, beloved by ( 
 every one who beheld him ; and 
 
 II. 
 
ij THE STOHY OF 'ALEE THE SOX OF BEKKAR, 
 
 he used to. enter the palace of the Khaleefeh without permission ; 
 and all the concubines of the Khaleefeh, and his other female slaves, 
 loved him ; and he used to keep company with the King, and recite 
 verses to him, and relate to him strange anecdotes. But still he sold 
 and bought m the market of the merchants ; and there used to sit 
 at his shop a young man of the sons of the Kings of the Persians, 3 
 called 'Alee the son of Bekkar. 4 
 
 This young man was of handsome stature, of elegant shape, of 
 perfect figure, with rosy cheeks, with joined eyebrows, sweet in speech, 
 with laughing mouth, a lover of merriment and gaiety. And it 
 happened that they were both sitting talking together and laughing, 
 when, lo, there came ten female slaves, like moons, and each of them 
 was endowed with beauty and loveliness, and justness of stature ; and 
 among them was a damsel riding upon a mule with an embroidered 
 saddle, the stirrups of which were of gold, and she was covered with 
 an izar of delicate fabric, and round her waist was a girdle of gold- 
 embroidered silk : and when they arrived at the shop of Abu-1-Hasan, 
 she alighted, and, seating herself at his shop, saluted him, and he 
 returned her salutation. And when 'Alee the son of Bekkar beheld 
 her, his reason was captivated, and he desired to rise; but she said to 
 him, Sit in thy place. Wherefore wouldst thou depart on our arrival ? 
 This is not just conduct. So he replied, By Allah, my mistress, I 
 flee from that which I have beheld. And how excellent is the saying 
 of the poet ! 
 
 She is the sun : her place is in heaven : comfort then the heart with a becoming 
 
 patience : 
 For thou art not able to ascend unto her ; nor is she able to descend unto thee. 
 
 And when she heard this reply, she smiled, and said to Abu-1-Hasan, 
 AVhat is the name of this young man, and whence is he? He answered 
 her, He is a stranger : his name is 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and he is 
 son of the King of the Persians ; and the stranger should be honoured. 
 And thereupon she said to him, When my slave-girl cometh to thee, 
 do thou bring him to me. To which Abu-1-Hasan replied, On the 
 head. She then rose, and went her w r ay. 
 
 Now as to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, he became in such a state that 
 he knew not what to say; and after a while, the slave-girl came to 
 Abu-1-Hasan, and said to him, My mistress summoneth thee, together 
 with thy companion. So Abu-1-Hasan rose, and taking with him 
 'Alee the son of Bekkar, they both went to the palace of Haroon Er- 
 Rasheed, and she introduced them into a private chamber, and seated 
 
AND SHEMS-EN-NAHAR. 3 
 
 them ; and the tables were placed before them, and they ate, and 
 washed their hands. She then brought to them the wine, and they 
 made themselves merry with it; after which, she desired them to rise. 
 They therefore rose and went with her, and she conducted them into 
 another private chamber, raised upon four columns, decked with a 
 variety of furniture, and decorated in the most beautiful manner, as 
 though it were one of the palaces of Paradise, so that they were 
 astonished at the rarities which they beheld. And while they were 
 amusing themselves with the sight of these extraordinary objects, lo, 
 ten female slaves approached with a graceful and conceited gait, 
 resembling moons, dazzling the sight, and confounding the imagina- 
 tion. They stood in ranks, looking like the black-eyed damsels of 
 Paradise; and after them came ten other female slaves, with lutes in 
 their hands, and other instruments of diversion and mirth ; and they 
 saluted the two guests, and played upon the lutes, and sang verses ; 
 and every one of them was a temptation to the servants of God. 
 After these, came ten more female slaves, like them, high-bosomed, 
 and of equal age, with black eyes, and red cheeks, with joined eye- 
 brows, and languishing looks, a temptation to God's servants, and a 
 delight to beholders ; and they were clad in various kinds of coloured 
 silks, such as astonished the mind. They stationed themselves at the 
 door ; and after them came ten female slaves more beautiful than they, 
 attired in magnificent apparel ; and these, also, stationed themselves 
 at the door. 
 
 At last there came forth from the door twenty female slaves, and 
 among them was one named Shems-en-Nahar/ like the moon among 
 the stars. She was encircled by the exuberant locks of her hair, 
 disposed like necklaces upon her ; and wore blue trousers, and an izar 
 of silk embroidered with gold, and round her waist was a girdle adorned 
 with a variety of jewels. She continued advancing with a dignified 
 gait until she seated herself upon the couch ; and when 'Alee the son 
 of Bekkar beheld her, he recited these verses : 
 
 Verily this is she who is the source of my malady, and of the protraction of my 
 
 transport, and prolonging of my passion ! 
 In her presence I find that my soul hath melted, through my eagerness for her 
 
 and the wasting of my bones. 
 
 He then said to Abu-1-Hasan, Hadst thou acted well towards me, thou 
 hadst informed me of these things before I came in hither, in order 
 that I might have applied my mind to consider the case, and fortified 
 it by patience to endure the affliction that hath befallen it. And he 
 
wept and groaned and lamented. So Abu-1-Hasan said to him, O my 
 brother, I desired nothing for thee but good ; but I feared to acquaint 
 thee with this, lest such transport should affect thee as would prevent 
 thy meeting her, and would interpose an obstacle between thee and 
 thy union with her. Be cheerful, then, and happy; for she offereth 
 thee good fortune, and receiveth thee with favour. And 'Alee the 
 son of Bekkar said, What is the name of this damsel? Abu-1- 
 Hasan answered, She is named Shems-en-Nahar, and is one of the 
 concubines of the Prince of the Faithful, Haroon Er-llasheed, and 
 this place is the palace of the Khaleefeh. 
 
 Then Shems-en-Nahar sat contemplating the charms of 'Alee the 
 son of Bekkar, and he gazed at her beauty, and they were engrossed 
 with mutual love ; and she ordered the female slaves to seat themselves, 
 each of them in her proper place, upon a couch : so each sat before a 
 
THE STORY .OF 'ALEE THE SOX OF BEKKAR, &c. 5 
 
 window; and she commanded them to sing; whereupon one of them 
 took her lute, and sang thus : 
 
 Repeat the message 'a second time, and receive the answer aloud. 
 Unto thee, O Prince of the comely, I stand to complain of my case ! 
 
 my master ! O dear as my heart, and precious to me as my life ! 
 Bestow upon me a kiss, as a gift, or else as a loan. 
 
 1 will pay it thee back (may thy life be prolonged !) exactly as I took it ; 
 And if thou desire an addition, receive it, and be content. 
 
 O thou who clothest me with the garment of sickness, may the garment of 
 health delight thee ! 
 
 And 'Alee the son of Bekkar was charmed, and said to her, Sing to 
 me some more verses of the same kind. She therefore touched the 
 strings, and sang these lines : 
 
 By excessive distance, O my beloved, thou hast caused mine eyelids long to weep. 
 O delight of mine eye, and its desire, and goal of my utmost wishes and my 
 
 worship !' 
 Have pity upon him 6 whose eye is drowned in the tears of the distracted and 
 
 sorrowful lover ! 
 
 Shems-en-Nahar then ordered another slave-girl to sing; and after 
 her, another : and 'Alee the son of Bekkar next desired one who was 
 near him to do the same ; and when she had finished her song, he 
 sighed, and shed abundant tears ; and Shems-en-Nahar, seeing him 
 weeping and groaning and lamenting, burned with transport and 
 passion, and was consumed by excessive love and distraction. So she 
 rose from the couch, and advanced to the door of the chamber ; and 
 'Alee the son of Bekkar rose also, and met her ; and they embraced 
 each other, and fell down fainting at the door. The female slaves 
 therefore, came to them, and, lifting them up, brought them back into 
 the chamber, and sprinkled upon them some rose-water; and when 
 they recovered, they found not Abu-1-Hasan ; for he had hidden him- 
 self by the side of a couch : and the damsel said, Where is Abu-1- 
 Hasan ? So he came forth to her from the side of the couch ; and 
 she saluted him, and said, I beg of God that He will enable me to 
 recompense thee, thou of kind conduct ! Then addressing 'Alee 
 the son of Bekkar, she said, O my master, thy love hath not become 
 extreme without my experiencing the like; and we have no resource 
 but to bear with patience that which hath befallen us. By Allah, 
 my mistress, replied 'Alee the son of Bekkar, my union with thee will 
 not content me, nor will the flame that I feel for thee be extinguished, 
 nor the love for thee that hath taken possession of my heart quit me, 
 until my soul departeth ! Having said this, he wept, and his tears 
 
G THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, <ic. 
 
 descended upon his cheek like raiu ; and when Shems-en-Nahai 
 beheld him thus weepingj she wept with him ; whereupon Abu-1- 
 Hasan said, By Allah, I am in wonder at your- case, and am perplexed 
 by your condition ; for your state is wonderful, and your case is extra- 
 ordinary ! If ye weep thus when ye are together, how will it be after 
 ye are separated! This is not a time for lamentation and weeping, 
 but a time for joy and gladness. 
 
 So Shems-en-Nahar made a sign to a female slave, who arose and 
 returned with some maids carrying a table, the dishes of which were 
 of silver, containing a variety of viands. The slave-girl then placed 
 the table before them ; and Shems-en-Nahar began to eat, and to feed 
 'Alee the son of Bekkar, until they were satisfied, when the table was 
 removed, and they washed their hands, and the perfuming-vessels were 
 brought with various kinds of aloes-wood, and the sprinkling-bottles 
 with rose-water, and they were perfumed and scented; after which, 
 vessels of graven gold were presented to them, containing varieties of 
 drinks, and fresh and dried fruits, such as the appetite desired, and 
 such as delighted the eyes; and next, a slave-girl brought them a 
 basin of carnelion full of wine. Shems-en-Nahar then chose ten 
 maids, whom she stationed by them, and ten female slaves from 
 among the singing-girls, and, having dismissed all the rest of the 
 slave-girls to their apartments, ordered some of those who remained 
 present to play upon the lute ; and they did as she commanded them. 
 One of them sang ; and when she had finished her song, Shems-en- 
 Nahar filled a cup, and drank it, and then filled it again and gave it 
 to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and ordered another slave-girl to sing; 
 after which, 'Alee the son of Bekkar drank his cup, and returned it 
 to Shems-en-Nahar, who filled it, and handed it to Abu-1-Hasan. She 
 then took a lute, and said, No one shall sing over my cup but my- 
 self: and, having tightened the strings, she sang these verses : 
 
 The tears fall confusedly upon his cheeks, through transport ; the fire of love 
 
 flaming in his breast. 
 He weepeth when united, fearing their separation; his tears flowing when they 
 
 are near, and when distant. 
 
 She then sang the following words of the poet : 
 
 Our life be thy ransom, O cup-bearer, whom beauty hath clad from the bright 
 parting of thy hair unto thy feet ! 7 
 
 The sun beameth from thy hands, and from thy mouth shine the Pleiades, ami 
 the full moon riseth from the upper border of thy vest. 8 
 
 Verily thy cups which have rendered us intoxicated are those which are dis- 
 tributed around bv thine oyes. 
 

 Is it not wonderful that thou art a full moon, when waning is experienced not 
 
 by thee, but by thy lovers ? 
 Art thou a deity, that thou killest and reanimatest, by receiving whom thou 
 
 wilt, and withdrawing from others ? 
 From the model of thy form hath God originated beauty, and the fragrance of 
 
 the zephyr from thy disposition. 
 Thou art not of this order of created beings ; but thou art an angel sent by thy 
 
 Maker. 
 
 When 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and Abu-1-Hasan, and the rest of 
 those who were present, heard these verses sung by Shems-en-Nahur, 
 they almost flew with delight, and they sported and laughed ; but 
 while they were thus enjoying themselves, lo, a female slave came, 
 trembling with fear, and said, my mistress, the Prince of the Faith- 
 ful hath come, and he is at the door, with 'Afeef 9 and Mesroor and 
 others. And when they heard her words, they nearly died with fright ; 
 but Shems-en-Nahar laughed, and said, Fear not. And she said to 
 the female slave, Return them an answer while we remove from this 
 place. She then gave orders to shut the doors of the apartment, and 
 to let down the curtains over them, while they remained in it, and she 
 closed the door of the adjoining saloon, and then went forth into the 
 garden, and, seating herself upon her couch, ordered a slave-girl to 
 rub her feet, 10 commanding the rest of the female slaves to go to their 
 apartments, and desiring the girl who remained with her to leave the 
 gate open, that the Khaleefeh might enter. And Mesroor came in, 
 
8 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SOX OF BEKKAR, &c. 
 
 and those who were with him, twenty in number, with swords in 
 their hands ; and they saluted Sheins-en-Nahar, and she said to them, 
 Wherefore have ye come ? They answered, The Prince of the Faith- 
 ful saluteth thee : he hath become cheerless through desire of seeing 
 thee, and informeth thee that he hath experienced this day unusual 
 joy and happiness, and wisheth now to complete it by thy presence. 
 Wilt thou, then, come to him, or shall he come to thee? And she 
 rose, and, kissing the ground, replied, I hear and obey the commands 
 of the Prince of the Faithful. She then gave orders to bring her 
 chief female attendants and the other slaves, and they came in, and 
 she intimated to them that she was going to comply with the com- 
 mands of the Khaleefeh. The place was completely prepared ; but 
 she said to the eunuchs, Go to the Prince of the Faithful, and inform 
 him that I shall soon be waiting for him, when I shall have prepared 
 the place for him with the carpets and other things. So the eunuchs 
 repaired quickly to the Prince of the Faithful, and Shems-en-Nahar 
 arose and went to her beloved 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and pressed 
 him to her bosom, and took leave of him. And he wept violently, and 
 said, my mistress, prolong to me this leave-taking : perhaps it may 
 .help to hasten the termination of my life through my love of thee: 
 but I beg of God that He will bestow upon me patience to endure the 
 passion with which He hath afflicted me. By Allah, replied Shems- 
 en-Nahar, none will fall into a state of dissolution but myself; for 
 thou wilt go forth into the market-street, and wilt enjoy the company 
 of such as will amuse thee, and thou wilt be preserved from danger, 
 and thy passion will be kept concealed. But as to me, I shall fall 
 into trouble, especially since I have made an appointment with the 
 Khaleefeh; for probably great danger will await me in consequence, 
 on account of my desire and love and passion for thee, and my grief 
 at having parted from thee. With what tongue shall I sing, and with 
 what heart shall I present myself before the Khaleefeh, and with 
 what language shall I converse with the Prince of the Faithful, and 
 with what look shall I behold a place where thou art not, and how 
 shall I be in an assembly in which thou art not included, and with 
 what taste shall I drink wine of which thou art not present to partake ? 
 Abu-1- Hasan said to her, Be not perplexed ; but be patient ; and be 
 not remiss in conversing with the Prince of the Faithful this night, 
 nor shew him any neglect. 
 
 And while they were thus talking, a slave-girl came, and said, 
 my mistress, the pages of the Prince of the Faithful are come. Where- 
 
upon she arose, and said to the slave-girl, Take Abu-1-Hasan and bis 
 companion, and conduct them to the upper projecting window that 
 overlooketh the garden, and leave them there till it is dark : then con- 
 trive means of leading them forth. So the slave-girl took them, and 
 ascended with them to the projecting window, and, having closed the 
 door upon them, went her way ; and they remained looking into the 
 garden. And lo, the Khaleefeh arrived, preceded by about a hundred 
 eunuchs with swords in their hands, and around him were twenty 
 female slaves, like moons, clad in the richest apparel, and each having 
 upon her head a crown set with rubies and other jewels, and in her 
 hand a lighted candle. The Khaleefeh walked in the midst of them, 
 while they surrounded him on every side, and Mesroor and 'Afeef and 
 Waseef n preceded him; and he advanced among them with a grace- 
 ful carriage. 12 Shems-en-Nahar and all the female slaves who were 
 with her rose to him, and met him at the gate of the garden, and, 
 having kissed the ground before him, preceded him until he seated 
 himself upon the couch, when all the female slaves and the eunuchs 
 who were in the garden stationed themselves around him, and the 
 candles were lighted, and the instruments of music were played upon 
 until he commanded his attendants to disperse, and to seat themselves 
 upon the couches ; whereupon Shems-en-Nahar took her seat upon a 
 couch by the side of that of the Khaleefeh, and began to converse with 
 him. All this time, Abu-1-Hasan and 'Alee the son of Bekkar were 
 looking on and hearing; the Khaleefeh not seeing them. The 
 
 n. 
 
10 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR. 
 
 Khaleefeh then began to toy with Shems-en-Nahar, and gave orders 
 to open the apartment where she had been sitting ; and they opened 
 its door and its windows, and lighted the candles, so that the place, 
 in the hour of darkness, shone like the day ; after which, the eunuchs 
 removed thither the drinking-vessels. At the sight of these things, 
 Abu-1-Hasan exclaimed, Verily I have never beheld the like of these 
 vessels and beverages and rarities, nor have I ever heard of anything 
 to be compared with these varieties of jewels ! It seemeth to me as 
 though I were dreaming ! My reason is confounded, and my heart 
 palpitateth ! But as to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, after Shems-en-Nahar 
 had quitted him, he remained a while stretched upon the floor, 
 through the violence of his passion ; and when he recovered, he began 
 to gaze at this unparelleled scene, and said to Abu-1-Hasan, my 
 brother, I fear that the Khaleefeh will see us, or become acquainted 
 with our case ; and my fear is chiefly on thine account ; for as to myself, 
 I know that I am of the number of those who are about to perish; 
 aud the cause of my death is nothing else than my love and desire, 
 and the excess of my transport and distraction ; and I beg deliverance 
 of God from the affliction that I suffer. 
 
 *Alee the son of Bekkar, and Abu-1-Hasan, continued gazing from 
 the projecting window at the Khaleefeh and the scene around him 
 until the feast was entirely prepared before him, when the Khaleefeh 
 looked towards one of the female slaves, and said, Let us hear, 
 Gharam, 13 some of thy delightful singing : whereupon,, with charming 
 modulations, she sang these verses : 
 
 The transport of a Bedaweeyeh M whose family are parted from her, and who 
 yearneth towards the willow of the Hejaz, and its laurel, 15 
 
 vVhose ardour and tears at beholding a company of travellers are as the fire and 
 the water for their entertainment, 
 
 Is not greater than the transport that I feel for my beloved, who regardeth me 
 as guilty of an offence in loving him. 
 
 And when Shems-en-Nahar heard this song, she fell down in a swoon 
 from the couch upon which she was sitting, and became unconscious. 
 The female slaves, therefore, arose and lifted her up. And as soon as 
 'Alee the son of Bekkar beheld her from the window, he also fell down 
 in a fit ; and Abu-1-Hasan exclaimed, Verily, fate hath divided desire 
 between you with equality ! But while they were conversing, lo, the 
 slave-girl who had brought them up to the window came to them, and 
 said, O Abu-1-Hasan, arise, thou and thy companion, and descend ; 
 for the world hath become narrow unto us, and I fear that our affair 
 
AND SHEMS EX-NAHA.R. 
 
 11 
 
 will be exposed : arise, therefore, immediately, or we die. Abu-1- 
 Hasan replied, How shall this young man arise with me ? He hath 
 not strength to raise himself. So the slave-girl sprinkled rose-water 
 upon his face until he recovered, and Abu-1-Hasan and the slave-girl 
 lifted him up, and carried him down from the window, and proceeded 
 a little way, when the slave-girl opened a small door of iron, and 
 placed Abu-1-Hasan and 'Alee the son of Bekkar upon a mastabah 
 outside. She then clapped her hands, 16 and there came a boat with a 
 rower in it, and she led them on board of it, and said to the boatman, 
 Land them on the opposite bank. And when they had embarked, and 
 quitted the garden, 'Alee the son of Bekkar looked back towards the 
 apartment and the garden, and bade them farewell in the words of 
 these verses : 
 
 I stretch forth a feeble hand to take leave, with the other upon my burning 
 
 bosom, beneath my heart. 
 O let not this be the end of our union ; nor let this be the last refreshment that 
 
 1 enjoy ! 
 
12 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKA"R, 
 
 The slave-girl then said to the boatman, Make haste with them. So 
 he plied his oars to make all haste, and, accompanied by the slave- 
 girl, they crossed over to the opposite bank, when she departed, taking 
 leave of them, as they landed, and saying to them, It had been my 
 desire not to part from you ; but I cannot proceed further than this 
 spot. And she returned. 
 
 'Alee the son of Bekkar lay prostrate before Abu-1-Hasan, unable 
 to rise ; so Abu-1-Hasan said to him,This is not a place of safety, and 
 we are here in fear for our lives, on account of the robbers and the 
 sons of wickedness. And upon this, 'Alee the son of Bekkar rose, 
 and advanced a little way; but he was unable to walk on. Now 
 Abu-1-Hasan had friends in that quarter ; and he repaired to one of 
 them in whom he confided, and knocked at his door ; upon which the 
 man came forth to him quickly ; and when he beheld him and his 
 companion, he welcomed them, and conducted them into his house, 
 and, having seated them, conversed with them, and asked them where 
 they had been. Abu-1-Hasan answered, We came forth this evening, 
 obliged to do so by a man with whom I had some pecuniary transac- 
 tions, it having been told me that he was about to set forth on a 
 journey with my property. So I went out this night and repaired to 
 him, taking, to cheer me, this my companion, 'Alee the son of Bekkar,. 
 and we came hoping to see him ; but he hid himself from us, and we 
 saw him not. We therefore returned with nothing, and, finding it 
 difficult to get back this night, and seeing no other lodging for us but 
 thine abode, we came unto thee, depending on thy usual kindness. 
 The man of the house then welcomed them again, and studied to shew 
 them honour ; so they remained with him during the rest of the night ; 
 and when the morning came, they went forth from him, and proceeded 
 until they arrived at the city, and entered it ; and as they passed by 
 the house of Abu-1-Hasan, he conjured his companion 'Alee the son of 
 Bekkar to enter, and took him in. They then laid themselves down 
 on beds for a little while, after which they awoke ; and Abu-1-Hasan 
 ordered his servants to furnish the house handsomely ; and they did 
 so ; Abu-1-Hasan saying within himself, I must cheer this young man, 
 and divert him from his present thoughts; for I know his case. 
 
 And when 'Alee the son of Bekkar recovered, he called for water, 
 and they brought it him, and he arose and performed the ablution, 
 and recited the divinely-ordained prayers which he had omitted during 
 the preceding day and night, and began to console himself by con- 
 versation. When Abu-1-Hasan, therefore, saw him do thus, he 
 
AND SHEMS-EN-NAHAR. 13 
 
 approached him and said, my master 'Alee, it will be most suitable 
 to thy present case that thou remain with me this next night, in order 
 that thy heart may become dilated, and the anguish of desire that thou 
 sutferest be dispelled, and that thou mayest beguile the time with us. 
 He replied, Do what seemeth fit unto thee ; for at all events I 
 cannot escape from that which hath befallen me ; so do as thou wilt. 
 And Abu-1-Hasan arose and summoned his servants and brought his 
 friends, and sent to the singers and instrumental performers, who 
 came ; and they remained eating and drinking and making merry 
 during the rest of the day, until the evening, when they lighted the 
 candles, and the wine-cups circulated among them, and the time 
 passed with them pleasantly. Then a female singer took a lute, and 
 thus sang : 
 
 I have been shot at by fortune with the arrow of an eye, which hath struck me 
 
 down, and I have parted from the beloved. 
 Fortune hath been hostile to me, and my patience hath failed ; but I expected 
 
 before that this would come to pass. 
 
 And when 'Alee the son of Bekkar heard these words, he fell down in 
 a fit, and he remained in it until daybreak ; and Abu-1-Hasan despaired 
 of him ; but when daylight came, he recovered, and desired to return 
 to his house. Abu-1-Hasan could not prevent him, fearing what 
 might be the result.of his case ; and his servants brought him a mule, 
 and mounted him upon it, and Abu-1-Hasan accompanied him until 
 he took him into his house; and when he was safe there, Abu-1-Hasan 
 praised God for his escape from this calamity, and began to console 
 him ; but he had no power over himself, through the violence of his 
 passion. Abu-1-Hasan then bade him farewell; and 'Alee the son of 
 Bekkar said to him, O my brother, cease not to impart to me what- 
 ever information thou mayest have to give. He replied, I hear and 
 obey. 
 
 So Abu-1-Hasan arose and departed from him to his shop, and 
 opened it, and sat expecting some tidings from the damsel; but no 
 one brought him any news. He passed the next night in his house, 
 and when the morning came, he arose and proceeded to the house of 
 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and, going in to him, found him laid upon 
 his bed, with his friends around him, and the physicians with him, 
 each of them prescribing for him something, and feeling his pulse. 
 And when Abu-1-Hasari entered, and beheld him, he smiled; and 
 Abu-1-Hasan saluted him, and inquired respecting his state ; after 
 which, he sat by him until all the rest of the people had gone forth, 
 
when he said to him, What is this state in which I find thee ? 'Alee 
 the son of Bekkar answered, It hath been spread about that I am sick, 
 and my friends have heard this report, and I have no strength to rise 
 and walk that I might give the lie unto him who asserteth me to be 
 ill ; so I remain prostrated here as thou seest me, and my friends have 
 come to visit me ; but, O my brother, hast thou seen the slave-girl, or 
 heard any news from her ? Abu-1-Hasan replied, She hath not come 
 to me since she parted from us on the bank of the Tigris : and he 
 added, O my brother, beware of disgrace, and abstain from this weep- 
 ing. But 'Alee the son of Bekkar said, O my brother, I have no 
 control over myself: and he sighed, and recited some verses, and 
 added, I am afflicted by a calamity from which I was lately exempt, 
 and can hope for no greater ease than death. Abu-1-Hasan said, 
 Perhaps God will restore thee. 
 
 And he went down from him, and repaired to his shop, and opened 
 it; and he had not long cat there when the slave-girl came, and 
 saluted him ; and he returned her salutation, and, looking at her, 
 observed that her heart was throbbing, and that she bore an aspect of 
 sadness. He said to her, Thou art welcome ! How is Shems-eu- 
 Nahar ? She answered, I will presently acquaint thee with her case : 
 and asked, How is 'Alee the son of Bekkar ? Abu-1-Hasau, there- 
 fore, informed her of everything that he had experienced; and she 
 lamented and sighed, and wondered at his case. She then said, The 
 state of my mistress is more wonderful than that ; for when ye went 
 away, I returned with my heart throbbing on your account, scarcely 
 believing in your escape; and on my return, I found my mistress 
 lying prostrate in the chamber, speaking not nor answering any one. 
 Tin- Prince of the Faithful was sitting at her head, finding no one to 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, &c. 15 
 
 acquaint him with her case, and not knowing what she suffered ; and 
 she continued in her fit until midnight, when she recovered, and the 
 Prince of the Faithful said to her, What hath befallen thee, Shems- 
 en-Xahar, and what hath happened to thee this night ? And when 
 she heard the words of the Khaleefeh, she kissed his feet, and answered 
 him, Prince of the Faithful, may God make me to be thy ransom ! 
 A derangement of the stomach hath given me a head-ache, and excited 
 a heat in my body, so I fell down in a fit from the violence of my 
 suffering, and I know not what happened to me afterwards. The 
 Khaleefeh, therefore, asked her, What hast thou taken this day ? And 
 she answered, I breakfasted upon a dish that I had never eaten before. 
 She then feigned that she had recovered strength, and called for some 
 wine, and, having drunk it, begged the Prince of the Faithful to 
 return to his diversion. So he resumed his seat in the chamber; 
 and when I came to her, she asked me respecting thee and thy com- 
 panion, and I informed her what I had done with you, and acquainted 
 her with the verses which 'Alee the son of Bekkar had recited : where- 
 upon she was silent. The Khaleefeh then sat, and ordered the same 
 female slave to sing; and she sang these two verses : 
 
 There hath been to me no pleasure in my life since your departure ; and would 
 
 that I knew your state since you left me ! 
 It were fit that my tears should be of blood, when ye are weeping on account of 
 
 my absence. 
 
 And when Shems-en-Nahar heard these words, she fell down again 
 in a swoon : and I laid hold of her hand, and sprinkled some rose- 
 water upon her face, and chc recovered ; upon which I said to her, 
 my mistress, expose not thyself and those whom thy palace containeth ! 
 By the existence of thy beloved I conjure thee to have patience ! But 
 she replied, Can anything worse than death befall me ? I desire it ; 
 for it will bring me ease. And while we were thus conversing, a slave- 
 girl sang these words of the poet : 
 
 They said, Perhaps paticnco may be followed by ease. But I replied. How is 
 
 patience to be found since his departure ? 
 For he made a settled compact with me, to cut the cords of patience, at the time 
 
 of his embracing me. 
 
 And as soon as she had finished, Shems-en-Nahar again fell down in 
 a fit. The Khaleefeh saw her, and, coming to her quickly, gave orders 
 to remove the wine, and commanded each of the female slaves to 
 return to her apartment. He then sat with her during the remainder 
 of the night, until the morning, when he summoned the physicians, 
 
1(5 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, &c. 
 
 and desired them to employ means for her restoration, not knowing 
 that she was suffering from love and desire. I remained with her till 
 I thought her recovered, and this it was which prevented my coming 
 unto you before. I left with her a number of her special attendants, 
 when she ordered me to repair to you that I might obtain news of 
 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and return to her. And when Abu-1-Hasan 
 heard her words, he wondered, and said to her, By Allah, I have 
 acquainted thee with his whole case. Return, therefore, to thy 
 mistress, and salute her, and exhort her to have patience, and say to 
 her, Conceal thy secret : and tell her that I am acquainted with her 
 case, and know it to be one of difficulty, requiring prudent manage- 
 ment. And the slave-girl thanked him, and bade him farewell, and 
 returned to her mistress. 
 
 Abu-1-Hasan then remained in his shop until the close of the day ; 
 and when the day had passed, he arose, and locked up his shop, and 
 went to the house of 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and knocked at the door ; 
 upon which there came forth to him one of his servants, who conducted 
 him within. And when he went into his friend, the latter smiled, 
 and drew a good omen from his coming, and said to him, Abu-1- 
 Hasan, thou hast made me desolate by thy remaining away from me 
 this day, and my soul is attached to thee for the rest of my life. 
 Abstain from these words, replied Abu-1-Hasan ; for, if it were possible 
 to ransom thee, I would give my life as thy ransom. This day the 
 slave-girl of Shems-en-Nahar came, and informed me that she had 
 been prevented from coming before only by the Khaleefeh's sitting 
 with her mistress, and acquainted me with what had happened to her 
 mistress. And he related to him all that he had heard from the slave- 
 girl ; whereupon 'Alee the son of Bekkiir lamented violently, and 
 wept, and then, looking towards Abu-1-Hasan, said to him, By Allah, 
 I conjure thee to assist me in my affliction, and tell me what plan is 
 to be pursued ; and I beg of thy goodness that thou wilt pass the 
 night here with me, in order that I may be cheered by thy conversa- 
 tion. So Abu-1-Hasan complied with his desire, replying that he 
 would stay with him that night ; and they passed the night conversing 
 together, till 'Alee the son of Bekkar, after weeping, and shedding co- 
 pious tears, recited some verses, and uttered a great cry, and fell down 
 in a swoon. Abu-1-Hasan thought that his soul had quitted his body : 
 and he remained in his fit until daylight came, when he recovered/ 
 and conversed again with Abu-1-Hasan ; and Abu-1-Hasan continued 
 sitting with him till near the mid-time between sunrise and noon. 
 
He then departed from him, and repaired to his shop, and opened 
 it ; and lo, the slave-girl came and stood before him ; and when he 
 looked towards her, she made a sign of salutation to him, and he 
 returned her greeting, and she delivered to him the salutation of her 
 mistress, and said to him, How is 'Alee the son of Bekkar ? slave- 
 girl, he replied, ask not respecting his state, and the violence of desire 
 that he suffereth ; for he sleepeth not by night, nor findeth rest by 
 day ; watching hath emaciated him, and anguish hath overcome him, 
 and he is in a condition by no means pleasing to a friend. She then 
 said to him, My mistress saluteth thee and him, and hath written to 
 him a letter, and she is in a state more afflicting than his ; she hath 
 intrusted to me the letter, and said, Return not to me without an 
 answer to it, and do as I have commanded thee. Here is the letter 
 with me. Wilt thou, then, go with me to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, 
 that we may receive the answer from him ? Abu-1-Hasan answered 
 her, I hear and obey. And he locked up his shop, and, taking with 
 him the slave-girl, repaired with her by a way different from that by 
 which he had come, and they proceeded until they arrived at the house 
 of 'Alee the son of Bekkar, when he stationed her at the door, and 
 entered the house. And as soon as 'Alee the son of Bekkar beheld 
 him he rejoiced at his coming, and Abu-1-Hasan said to him, The 
 cause of my coming is, that such a man hath sent to thee his slave- 
 
 II. D 
 
18 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKK.iR, 
 
 girl with a note conveying his salutation to thee, and hath mentioned 
 in it that the reason of his failing to visit thee is an event that hath 
 happened to him which excuseth him. The slave-girl is standing at 
 the door. Wilt thou give her permission to enter ? 'Alee replied, 
 Bring her in. And Abu-1-Hasan made a sign to him that she was the 
 slave-girl of Shems-en-Nahar; and he understood the sign; and when 
 he beheld her, he was moved, and rejoiced, and said to her, with a 
 sign, How is the master ? May God grant him restoration and health ! 
 She answered. Well : and she produced the letter, and gave it to 
 him ; and he took it and kissed it and read it, and then handed it to 
 Abu-1-Hasan, who found written in it as follows : 
 
 This messenger will acquaint thee with my news : so be content with his tidings 
 
 instead of beholding me. 
 Thou hast left a lover in severe affliction on thine account, and his eye is 
 
 incessantly sleepless, 
 I snffer the pangs of patience in my trouble; for no creature can ward off the 
 
 blows of destiny. 
 
 To proceed : I have written to thee a letter without fingers,' 7 and 
 spoken to thee without a tongue, and the complete exposition of my 
 state is this, that I have an eye which sleeplessness never quitteth, 
 and a heart from which solicitudes are never absent ; and I am as 
 though I had never known health or happiness, nor beheld a comely 
 countenance, nor passed a pleasant life : I am as if my nature were 
 made up of passion, and of the torment of excessive love and 
 melancholy ; and sickness hath become uninterrupted to me ; and 
 desire, augmented; and longing expectation, increased. 13 I beg of 
 God to hasten our union, that the trouble of my mind may be dis- 
 pelled ; and I desire that thou send me some words from thee, that I 
 may cheer myself by them ; and do thou assume a becoming patience 
 until God give relief. And peace be on thee. 
 
 When 'Alee the son of Bekkar had read this letter from beginning 
 to end, he said, With what hand shall I write, and with what tongue 
 shall I complain and lament ? He then drew himself up with difficulty, 
 and sat, and took a paper in his hand, and thus wrote : 
 
 In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Thy letter, 
 my mistress, hath arrived, and given ease to a soul wearied by trans- 
 port and desire, and conveyed restoration to a wounded heart ulcerated 
 by disease ; and thine emaciated slave hath understood all the gracious 
 words contained in it; and by thy head, my mistress, I am in the 
 state described by the poet : 
 
AND SHKMS-EN-XAHAR. 19 
 
 The heart is contracted ; and solicitude, extended ; and the eye, sleepless and 
 
 the body, wearied; 
 And patience, cut short ; and disjunction, continued ; and reason, deranged ; and 
 
 the heart, snatched away. 
 
 And know that complaint extinguished not the fire of affliction ; but 
 it appeaseth him whom longing desire hath disordered, and whom 
 separation destroyeth ; and I will comfort myself by the mention of 
 the word "union :" and how excellent is the saying of the poet : 
 
 If there were not, in love, displeasure and content, where were the sweetnesses 
 of notes and epistles ? 
 
 On Abu-1-Hasan's reading this letter, it excited painful feelings in 
 him, and its purport wounded his vitals ; and he gave it to the slave- 
 girl, and when she had taken it, 'Alee the son of Bekkar said to her, 
 Convey to thy mistress my salutation, and acquaint her with my 
 transport and desire, and how love pervadeth my flesh and my bones ; 
 and tell her that I want a person to deliver me from the sea of destruc- 
 tion, and to liberate me from this perplexity. He then wept, and the 
 slave-girl wept with him, and took leave of him, and departed from him. 
 
 Abu-1- Hasan went forth with her, and bade her farewell, and 
 repaired to his shop ; and as he sat there, he found his heart com- 
 pressed and his bosom contracted, and he was perplexed at his case. 
 He remained immersed in thought during the rest of the day, and the 
 ensuing night ; and on the following day he went to 'Alee the son of 
 Bekkar, and sat with him until the other persons had departed, when 
 he asked him respecting his state ; and he began to complain of his 
 desire, and his excessive love and distraction, and recited these words 
 of the poet : 
 
 Persons, before me, have complained of love's torment, and living and dead have 
 
 been terrified by estrangement ; 
 But an instance of feelings like those in my bosom I have never heard of nor 
 
 beheld. 
 
 And Abu-1-Hasan said to him, I have never beheld nor heard of any 
 lover like thee. Wherefore this transport and infirmity and agitation 
 when thou art attached to a complying object of love ? How would it 
 be if thou wert attached to one who was adverse and deceitful, and i 
 thy affair were exposed ? And ; Alee the son of Bekkar, says Abu-1- 
 Hasan, inclined to my words, and thanked me for them. Now I had 
 (he continues) a friend who was acquainted with my case, and the case 
 of 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and knew that we were leagued together ; 
 but no one else was informed of what passed between us , and he used 
 
20 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, 
 
 to come to ine and ask me respecting the state of 'Alee the son of 
 Bekkar ; and soon after, he questioned me with respect to the damsel. 
 I answered him, She invited him to her, and more than hath already 
 happened between them cannot take place ; and this is the last of their 
 case; but I have devised for myself a plan of proceeding which I 
 desire to lay before thee. His friend asked, What is it ? And Abu-1- 
 Hasan answered, 1 am a man known to have extensive dealings with 
 men and women, and I fear that the affair of these two persons may 
 be discovered, and that such an event will be the cause of my destruc- 
 tion, and of the seizure of my property, and the ruin of my family. 
 It is my opinion that I should collect together my property, and fit 
 myself out, and repair to the city of El-Basrah, and there remain until 
 I see what will be the result of their case, that no one may know my 
 situation ; for love hath gained entire possession of them, and letters 
 have passed between them. Their intermediary is a slave-girl, who at 
 present keepeth their secrets ; but I fear that anxiety may overcome 
 her, and she may reveal their case to some one, and so the news of 
 their affair may spread, and occasion my destruction; since I have 
 no excuse to offer to my accusers. His friend replied, Thou hast 
 acquainted me with a perilous affair, such as the wise and knowing 
 must regard with fear. May God avert from thee the evil that thou 
 apprehendest, and save thee from the result which thou dreadest ! 
 This opinion is right. So Abu-1-Hasan departed to his house, and 
 occupied himself in settling his affairs, and preparing himself for the 
 journey to the city of El-Basrah, and three days had not passed before 
 he had finished his affairs and set forth to El~ Basrah. 
 
 Three days after this, his friend came to visit him, and, finding 
 him not, asked Lis neighbours respecting him, and they answered him, 
 He departed three days ago to El-Basrah; for he had pecuniary 
 dealings with the merchants of that city, and therefore went to 
 demand the money of his debtors, and he will soon return. And the 
 man was perplexed at his case, and knew not whither to go, saying, 
 Would that I had not parted with Abu-1-Hasan ! He then devised a 
 stratagem by means of which to obtain access to 'Alee the son of 
 Bekkar ; and he repaired to his house, and said to one of his young 
 men, Beg permission for me of thy master that I may enter and salute 
 him. So the servant entered, and acquainted his master with the 
 request, and then returned to him, and gave him permission to enter. 
 He therefore went in to him, and found him reclining upon the 
 cushion, and he saluted him, and 'Alee the son of Bekkar returned his 
 
AND SHEMS EN-NAHlR. 21 
 
 salutation, and welcomed him ; whereupon the man apologized to him 
 for having failed to visit him before during the period of his illness, 
 and said to him, O my master, an intimate friendship subsisteth 
 between me and Abu-1-Hasan, and I used to intrust to him my secrets, 
 and never relinquish him for an hour ; and I was absent on some 
 business with a number of my friends for the space of three days, and 
 then, going to him, found his shop closed; wherefore I asked the 
 neighbours respecting him, and they said, He hath gone to El-Basrah. 
 Now I know no friend of his more true than thou : by Allah, then, 
 acquaint me with his case. And when 'Alee the son of Bekkar heard 
 his words, his colour changed, and he was agitated, and replied, I have 
 not heard the news of his departure before this day ; and if the case 
 be as thou hast said, trouble hath befallen me. He then shed tears 
 and recited these two verses : 
 
 I was weeping on account of joy that had passed, while my friends were yet 
 
 unsevered from me ; 
 But now my adverse fortune hath parted us, and I have to weep also for my 
 
 friends, 
 
 And he hung down his head towards the ground, in thought ; and 
 after a while, he raised it, and, looking towards a servant belonging to 
 him, said to him, Go to the house of Abu-1-Hasan, and ask respecting 
 him, whether he be still there or on a journey ; and if they answer, 
 He hath gone on a journey, ask whither he hath gone. So the servant 
 went, and after a short absence came back to his master, and said. 
 When I inquired respecting Abu-1-Hasan, his dependants informed 
 me that he had gone on a journey to El- Basrah ; but I found a slave- 
 girl waiting at the door, and when she beheld me she knew me; but I 
 knew her not ; and she said to me, Art thou the servant of 'Alee the 
 son of Bekkar ? And I answered her, Yes. And she said, I have a 
 letter for him, from the dearest of his friends. So she came with me 
 and she is standing at the door. Upon this, 'Alee the son of Bekkar 
 said, Bring her in. And the servant went forth to her, and brought 
 her in ; and the man who was sitting with the Son of Bekkar looked 
 at the slave-girl, and saw that she was an elegant person. The slave- 
 girl then advanced to the Son of Bekkar, and saluted him, and talked 
 with him in a low voice ; and he uttered oaths during the conversation, 
 swearing that he had not mentioned a thing which she spoke of; after 
 which, she bade him farewell, and departed. 
 
 Now the man, the friend of Abu-1-Hasan, was a jeweller; and 
 when the slave-girl had departed, he found an opportunity to speak, 
 
22 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAK, 
 
 and said to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, There is no doubt whatever but 
 that the palace of the Khaleefeh hath some demand upon thee, or that 
 thou hast dealings with it 19 . And who, said 'Alee the son of Bekkar, 
 acquainted thee with that ? The jeweller answered, My knowledge of 
 it is through this slave-girl; for she is the slave-girl of Shems-en- 
 Nahar ; and she came to me some time ago with a note in which was 
 written that she desired a necklace of jewels ; so I sent to her a costly 
 necklace. Arid when 'Alee the son of Bekkar heard his words, he was 
 so agitated that the jeweller feared his dissolution ; but presently he 
 recovered himself, and said, my brother, I conjure thee by Allah to 
 tell me how thou knowest her. The jeweller replied, Abstain from 
 urging the inquiry. But 'Alee the son of Bekkar said to him, I will 
 not desist from pressing thee until thou acquaint me with the truth. 
 So the jeweller said, I will inform thee, provided that no suspicion 
 respecting me enter thy mind, nor any restraint be imposed upon thee 
 by my words, and I will not conceal from thee any secret, but will 
 explain to thee the truth of the affair; on the condition, however, 
 that thou acquaint me with thy true case, and the cause of thy sick- 
 ness. He therefore told him his story, and then said, By Allah, my 
 brother, nothing induced me to conceal my affair from others than 
 thyself except my fear that people might remove the veils of protection 
 from others. And the jeweller said to him, I desire not an interview 
 with thee but on account of my great affection for thee, and my zeal 
 for thee, and my compassion for thy heart in consideration of the tor- 
 ment that it suffereth from separation. Perhaps I may be a comforter 
 to thee in the place of my friend Abu-1-Hasan during the period of his 
 absence. Be happy, then, and cheerful. And 'Alee the son of Bekkar 
 thanked him for his speech, and recited these two verses : 
 
 If I said that I was patient after his estrangement, my tears and the excess of 
 
 my lamentation would belie me. 
 And how can I conceal the tears that are flowing down my cheek in consequence 
 
 of the separation of my friend ? 
 
 He then, for a while, remained silent ; after which he said to the 
 jeweller, Knowest thou what the slave-girl told me secretly? He 
 answered, No, by Allah, my master. And 'Alee the son of Bekkar 
 said, She supposed that I had advised Abu-1-Hasan to depart to the 
 city of El-Basrah, and that I thus devised a stratagem that there might 
 be no more correspondence and intercourse ; and I swore to her that 
 such had not been the case ; but she believed me not, and departed to 
 her mistress retaining her evil opinion; for she inclined to Abu-1- 
 
AND SHEMS-EN-NAHAK. 
 
 23 
 
 Hasan. The jeweller replied, my brother, I understood from the 
 state of the slave-girl this affair ; but, if it be the will of God (whose 
 name be exalted !), I will aid thee to attain thy desire. And how, said 
 'Alee the son of Bekkar, wilt thou manage with her when she taketh 
 fright like a wild animal of the desert ? The jeweller answered, I 
 must employ all my endeavours to assist thee, and my contrivance 
 to obtain acquaintance with her, without making any exposure, or 
 occasioning any mischief. He then begged leave to depart ; and 'Alee 
 the son of Bekkar said to him, my brother, be mindful to conceal 
 the secret. And he looked at him, and wept. 
 
 The jeweller bade him farewell, and departed, not knowing what 
 to do in order to promote the affair of 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and he 
 continued on his way meditating upon his case, and beheld a paper 
 lying in the street : so he took it up, and looked at its direction, and 
 lo, it was, From the most humble friend to the most excellent object 
 of affection. And he opened the paper, and saw written in it as 
 follows : 
 
 The messenger came from thee to give me hopes of union ; but I rather imagined 
 
 that he had misconceived : 
 I rejoiced not, therefore; but my grief increased, through my knowledge that 
 
 my messenger had not rightly understood. 
 
24 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OP BEKKAR. 
 
 To proceed: Know, my master, that I am unacquainted with the 
 cause of the interruption of the correspondence between me and thee ; 
 but if cruelty have originated from thee, I will requite it with fidelity ; 
 and if affection have departed from thee, I will preserve affection during 
 estrangement ; for I will act towards thee as saith the poet : 
 
 Be haughty : I will endure : and tyrannize : I will be patient : and be difficult : 
 I will be abject : and depart : I will approach : and say : I will hear : 
 and command : I will obey. 
 
 And when he had read it, lo, the slave-girl approached, looking to 
 the right and left, and saw the paper in his hand ; so she said to him, 
 O my master, verily this paper dropped from me. But he returned 
 her not an answer, walking on : and the slave-girl followed him until 
 he approached his house; and he entered, and the slave-girl behind 
 him. She then said to him, my master, return to me this paper ; 
 for it dropped from me. And he looked at her, and said, slave-girl, 
 fear not, nor be grieved, but tell me the story with truth ; for I am a 
 concealer of secrets ; and I conjure thee by an oath that thou hide 
 from me nothing of the affair of thy mistress : perhaps God may assist 
 me to accomplish her desires, and make easy by my means things that 
 now are difficult And when the slave-girl heard his words, she 
 replied, my master, a secret will not be lost when thou art its 
 depositary, nor will an affair be unsuccessful when thou strivest to 
 accomplish it. Know that my heart hath inclined to thee, and I will 
 acquaint thee with the truth of the affair, and do thou give me the 
 letter. She then told him the whole story, and added, God is witness 
 of the truth of what I say. He replied, Thou hast spoken truth; 
 for I am acquainted with the foundation of the story. And he pro- 
 ceeded to relate to her the case of 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and how 
 he had become acquainted with the state of his mind, telling her 
 the story from first to last. And when she had heard this, she 
 rejoiced; and they agreed together that she should take the paper 
 and give it to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and of all that should happen 
 she should return and inform him. So he gave her the paper, and 
 she took it and sealed it as it was before, saying, My mistress Shems- 
 en-Nahar gave it to me sealed; and when he hath read it and given 
 me an answer, I will bring it to thee. 
 
 The slave-girl then bade him farewell, and repaired to 'Alee the 
 son of Bekkar, whom she found expecting her coming ; and she gave 
 him the paper and he read it, and then wrote for her an answer, and 
 gave it to her. She therefore took it, and returned with it to the 
 
AND SHEMS-EN-NAHlR. , 25 
 
 jeweller, according to the agreement ; and lie broke open its seal and 
 read it, and saw written in it, 
 
 Verily the messenger by whom our correspondence was kept concealed hath 
 
 failed, having conceived displeasure : ^ 
 Choose for me, therefore, a faithful messenger from among you, who approveth 
 
 truth, and approveth not falsehood. 
 
 To proceed : Verily cruelty hath not originated from me, nor have I 
 abandoned fidelity, nor have I broken a covenant, nor have I cut short 
 affection, nor have I ceased from grief, nor have I found after separa- 
 tion aught but destruction, nor have I had any knowledge of that 
 which ye have mentioned, nor do I love anything but what ye love : 
 by Him who knoweth every secret and hidden action, my wish is only 
 for union with the person whom I love ; and my business, the conceal- 
 ment of the desire that I suffer, though disease afflict me in conse- 
 quence. This is the exposition of my state : and peace be on you. 
 
 When the jeweller read this paper, and knew its contents, he wept 
 violently. The slave-girl then said to him, Go not forth from this 
 place until I return to thee; for he hath made an accusation against 
 me; but he is excused; and I desire to effect an interview between 
 thee and my mistress Shems-en-Nahar, by whatever stratagem it may 
 be accomplished. I left her prostrate, waiting for my bringing her the 
 answer. Then the slave-girl repaired to her mistress, and the jeweller 
 passed the night troubled in heart ; and when the morning came, he 
 performed the prayers of that period, and sat expecting her arrival; 
 and lo, she approached, and with joy came in to him, and he said to 
 her, What is the new r s, slave-girl ? She answered, I went from thee 
 to my mistress, and gave to her the paper which 'Alee the son of 
 Bekkar wrote ; and when she had read it and understood its meaning, 
 her mind was perplexed ; so I said to her, O my mistress, fear not the 
 frustration of the affair between you in consequence of the absence of 
 Abu-1-Hasan ; for I have found one who will take his place, and who 
 is better than he, and of higher rank, and one who will keep secrets. 
 And I related to her what had passed between thee and Abu-1- 
 Hasan, and how thou obtainedst his confidence and that of 'Alee the 
 son of Bekkar, and how that note dropped from me and thou foundest 
 it, and I acquainted her with the determination made between me and 
 thee. And the jeweller wondered extremely. She then said to him, 
 She desireth to hear thy words, that she may be confirmed by them in 
 her belief of the covenants made between thee and him : make up thy 
 mind, then, immediately to repair with me to her. But when the 
 
 II. E 
 
jeweller heard these words of the siave-girl, he considered that the 
 visiting her was a momentous affair, and of great peril, not to be 
 undertaken, nor suddenly attempted : so he replied, my sister, I am 
 of the sons of the common class, and not like Abu-1-Hasan ; for Abu-1- 
 Hasan was of high rank, of known reputation, in the habit of 
 frequenting the palace of the Khaleefeh because its inmates required 
 his merchandise ; but as for me, Abu-1-Hasan used to converse with 
 me and I trembled before him. If thy mistress, therefore, desireth 
 my conversation with her, it will be requisite that it be in some other 
 place than the palace of the Khaleefeh, distant from the abode of the 
 Prince of the Faithful ; for my heart will not consent to that which 
 thou proposest. So he refused to go with her. She proceeded to tell 
 him that she would be surety for his safety, and said to him, Be not 
 apprehensive nor fearful. But while they were thus talking, lo, his 
 legs shook, and his hands trembled ; and the slave-girl therefore said 
 to him, If it will be painful to thee to go to the palace of the Khaleefeh, 
 and thou canst not accompany me, I will persuade her to come to 
 thee: therefore move not from thy place until I return to thee with 
 her. She then departed; but soon returned to the jeweller, and said 
 to him, Take care lest there be with thee a slave-girl or man-servant. 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, &c. 27 
 
 He replied, There is no one with me but a black female servant advanced 
 in age, who serveth me. And the slave-girl arose, and closed the 
 doors between the jeweller's female slave and himself, and sent his 
 young men out from the house. 
 
 After this, the slave-girl went forth, and returned with a damsel 
 behind her, and the latter entered the jeweller's abode with her, 
 imparting a sweet odour to the house ; and when the jeweller saw her, 
 he rose and stood up, and placed a cushion for her, and seated himself 
 before her. She remained a while without speaking, until she had 
 rested herself, when she uncovered her face, and it appeared to the 
 jeweller as though the sun had risen in his abode. She then said to 
 her slave-girl, Is this the man of whom thou spakest to me ? The 
 slave-girl answered, Yes. And she looked towards the jeweller, and 
 said to him, How art thou ? He answered, In prosperity : and 
 prayed for her. 21 And she said to him, Thou hast induced us to come 
 to thee, and to acquaint thee with our secret. And she asked him 
 respecting his family and his children ; and he acquainted her with all 
 his circumstances, and said to her, I have a house beside this, which I 
 have devoted to the purpose of assembling there with my friends and 
 brethren, and I have in it nothing but what I have mentioned to thy 
 slave-girl. After this, she asked him how he had become acquainted 
 with the foundation of the story; and he informed her of the par- 
 ticulars which she demanded, from the first of the affair to the last : 
 whereupon she sighed for the separation of Abu-1-Hasan, and said, 
 such a one, know that the souls of mankind accord in their desires, 
 and persons stand in need, one of another; an action is not accom- 
 plished without words ; nor a wish, without exertion ; nor doth ease 
 come unless after fatigue ; nor doth success ensue but through the 
 means of the generous. And now I have acquainted thee with our 
 affair, and it is in thy power to expose or protect us ; but thy generous 
 disposition requireth nothing to be added ; for thou already knowest 
 that this my slave-girl concealeth my secret, and on that account 
 occupieth a high place with me ; and I have chosen her for the trans- 
 action of my affairs. Let none, then, be more worthy in thy sight 
 than she, and do thou acquaint her with thy proceedings ; and be of 
 good heart ; for thou art secure from what thou fearest on our account, 
 and no place shall be closed from thee but she shall open it unto thee, 
 and she shall convey to thee my messages for 'Alee the son of Bekkar, 
 and thou shalt be the intermediary in the transmittal of communica- 
 tions between me and him. 
 
28 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SOX OF BEKKAR, 
 
 Shems-en-Nahar then arose, scarcely able to do so, and departed, 
 and the jeweller walked before her until she arrived at the gate of the 
 palace, after which he returned, and sat in his place, having beheld, of 
 her beauty, what astonished him, and heard, of her words, what con- 
 founded his reason, and witnessed, of her elegance and politeness, 
 what amazed him. He 1'emained reflecting upon her endowments 
 until his mind became tranquillized ; when he demanded food, and ate 
 as much as would stay his spirit. He then changed his clothes, and 
 went forth from his house, and repaired to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, 
 whose servants came and met him, and walked before him until they 
 introduced him to their master, and he found him laid upon his bed; 
 and when he beheld the jeweller, he said to him, Thou hast been tardy 
 in coming to me, and increased my anxiety. Having thus said, he 
 dismissed his servants, and gave orders to shut his doors, and said to 
 the jeweller, I have not closed my eye since thou quittedst me ; for 
 the slave-girl came to me yesterday, bringing a sealed letter from her 
 mistress Sheins-en-N ahar. And he proceeded to relate to him all that 
 had passed between him and her; after which he said, I have become 
 perplexed in my affair, and my patience hath failed; for Abu-1-Hasan 
 was a cheering companion unto me, as he knew the slave-girl. And 
 when the jeweller heard his words, he laughed : so 'Alee the son of 
 Bekkar said to him, Wherefore dost thou laugh at my words, when I 
 have augured well of thy coming, and taken thee as a provision against 
 misfortunes. He then wept, and recited these verses : 
 
 Many a one laugheth at my tears on beholding me ; but had he suffered as I have, 
 
 it had made him weep. 
 None pitieth the afflicted for what he endureth, but one alike anxious, whose 
 
 affliction hath been protracted. 
 My transport, yearning, sighing, thought, and distraction, are for a friend whose 
 
 habitation is in the recesses of my heart : 
 He hath made his abode there, and never quitteth it ; yet seldom can I enjoy an 
 
 interview with him : 
 1 have no intimate whom I approve in his stead ; and I have chosen no friend 
 
 whatever but him. 
 
 A.nd when the jeweller heard these words from him, and understood 
 the verses which he recited, he wept at his weeping, and acquainted 
 him with all that had happened to him with the slave-girl since he had 
 quitted him. 'Alee the son of Bekkar listened to his speech ; and at 
 every word of his that he heard, the colour of his face continued to 
 change from yellowness to redness, and his body became at one time 
 stronger, and at another weaker. And when he had ended his account, 
 
AND SHEMS-EN-NAHAR. 29 
 
 the Son of Bekkar wept, and said to him, O my brother, I am at all 
 events perishing, and would that my end were near ! I beg of thee, 
 in thy kindness, to shew favour to me in all my affairs until God shall 
 please to bring about what seemeth fit unto Him, and I will not oppose 
 thee in word. The jeweller replied, Nothing will quench this fire in 
 thee except an interview with the person with whom thou art 
 enamoured; but it should be in some other place than this, which is 
 one of danger : it should be in a house of mine next to my own abode. 
 The slave-girl came to me there, together with her mistress, and it is 
 the place that she chose for herself: I desire, therefore, your interview 
 with each other, and there shall ye complain one to another of what ye 
 have suffered. So 'Alee the son of Bekkar said, Do as thou desirest, 
 and what thou seest fit is right. 
 
 I remained with him, says the jeweller, that night, conversing with 
 him until the morning came, when I performed the morning-prayers, 
 and went forth from him, and repaired to my abode. And I had not 
 long remained there when the slave-girl came and saluted me, and I 
 returned her salutation, and acquainted her with the plan decided 
 upon between me and 'Alee the son of Bekkar ; whereupon she said, 
 Know that the Khaleefeh hath gone away from us, and that there is 
 no one in our abode, and it is more safe for us, and better. I replied, 
 What thou sayest is true ; but it is not like this my house ; for this is 
 safer, and more suited to us. The slave-girl therefore said, It shall 
 be as thou seest fit ; and I go to my mistress to acquaint her with 
 that which thou hast mentioned, and to propose to her what thou hast 
 said. She then repaired to her mistress, and made the proposal to her, 
 and returned to my house, and said to me, My mistress acquiesceth 
 in that which thou hast said. And she took forth from her pocket 
 a purse containing some pieces of gold, saying to me, My mistress 
 saluteth thee, and saith to thee, Take this, and procure for us with it 
 what we require. But I swore that I would not expend anything of 
 it. So she took it again, and returned to her mistress, and said to 
 her, He hath not accepted the money ; but returned it to me. And 
 after the slave-girl had gone, I repaired to my other house, and 
 removed thither, of the utensils and furniture, what the case required, 
 and transported thither the vessels of silver and of china-ware, and pre- 
 pared all that we required of food and drink ; and when the slave-girl 
 came again, and beheld what I had done, it pleased her; and she 
 ordered me to bring 'Alee the son of Bekkar ; but I replied, None 
 shall bring him but thou. 
 
30 
 
 THE STORY OP ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, 
 
 Accordingly she went to him and brought him, attired in the most 
 perfect manner, and with a brightened aspect ; and when he came, I 
 met him asid welcomed him, and seated him upon a mattress suitable 
 to his condition, and placed before him some sweet-scented flowers in 
 vessels of china-ware and crystal, and conversed with him about an 
 hour; after which, the slave-girl departed, and was absent until after 
 the sunset-prayers, when she returned, accompanied by Shems-en- 
 Nahar with two maids and none else. As soon as she beheld 'Alee 
 the son of Bekkar and he beheld her, they both fell down fainting 
 upon the floor, and remained so for an hour; and when they recovered, 
 they drew near to each other, and sat conversing tenderly ; and after 
 this, they made use of some perfumes, and began to thank me for my 
 conduct to them. I then said to them, Have ye any desire for food ? 
 And they answered, Yes. So I brought to them some food, and they 
 ate until they were satisfied, and washed their hands ; and I conducted 
 them to another chamber, where I brought them the wine ; and they 
 drank it, and became merry : whereupon Shems-en-Nahar said to me, 
 O my master, complete thy kindness, and bring to us a lute or some 
 
AND SHEMS-EX-NAHAR. 31 
 
 other musical instrument, that we may now perfect our enjoyment. I 
 replied, On my head and my eye. And I arose, and brought a lute, 
 and she took it and tuned it, and, placing it in her lap, played upon it 
 in an admirable manner, and sang these two verses : 
 
 I have been so sleepless that it would seem as though I loved sleeplessness ; and 
 so emaciated that disease appears to be natural to me ; 
 
 And my tears have flowed upon my cheek, burning it. Would that I knew if we 
 shall meet after our separation ! 
 
 She proceeded to sing verses so as to confound the mind, with various 
 modulations and with pleasing allusions, and the hearers almost flew 
 with delight at her admirable singing; and when we had remained 
 seated some time, and the cups circulated among us, the damsel, in 
 charming tones, sang some verses commencing thus : 
 
 The beloved gave me a promise to meet me, and performed it on a night that I 
 shall count as worth many. 
 
 After this, I left them in that house, and departed to the house in 
 which I resided, and there passed the night, until the morning. And 
 when the morning came, I performed my divinely-ordained prayers, 
 and drank some wine, 22 and sat thinking of going to them at my other 
 house ; and as I was sitting, lo, my neighbour came in to me, terrified, 
 and said to me, my brother, it was no light matter to me that befell 
 thee this last night in thy other house. So I said to him, O my 
 brother, and what hath happened ? Acquaint me with that which 
 hath occurred in my house. He answered, The robbers who came to 
 our neighbours yesterday, and murdered such a one and took his pro- 
 perty, saw thee yesterday removing thy things to thy other house, and 
 came thither in the night, arid took what thou hadst there, and 
 murdered thy guests. I arose, therefore, I and my neighbour, and we 
 went to that house, and found it empty : nothing remained in it ; and 
 I was perplexed at my case, and said, As to the things, I care not for 
 their loss ; and if I borrowed some of them from my friends and they 
 are lost, there is no harm in that ; for they know my excuse in the 
 disappearance of my property and the plundering of my house ; but as 
 to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and the concubine of the Prince of the 
 Faithful, I fear that their affair will be rumoured abroad, and it will 
 be the cause of the loss of my life. The jeweller then looked towards 
 his companion, and said to him, Thou art my brother and my neigh- 
 bour, and wilt conceal what I should not expose : what course of con- 
 duct, then, dost thou advise me to pursue ? The man answered hinx, 
 That which I advise thee to do is, that thou be on thy guard ; for they 
 
32 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, 
 
 who entered thy house and took thy property have murdered a most 
 distinguished party from the palace of the Khaleefeh, and have 
 murdered also a party from the house of the chief magistrate of the 
 police, and the guards of the court search for them everywhere, and 
 perhaps they will find them, and thy wish will be attained without any 
 effort of thine. And when the jeweller heard these words, he returned 
 to his house in which he resided, and said within himself, A^erily that 
 which hath happened to me is what Abu-1-Hasan feared, and on 
 account of which he departed to El-Basrah, and I have fallen into it. 
 The plunder of his house became publicly known among the 
 people, and they came to him from every quarter ; and some of them 
 rejoiced at his misfortune, and some participated in his anxiety, while 
 he uttered his complaints to them, and neither ate nor drank. And 
 as he sat repenting, lo, one of his servants came in to him, and said to 
 him, There is a person at the door who asketh for thee, whom I know 
 not. So the jeweller went forth to him and saluted him, and found 
 him to be a man whom he knew not ; and the man said, I have some- 
 thing to say to thee. He therefore conducted him into his house, and 
 asked him, What hast thou to say to me ? The man answered, Go 
 with me to thy other house. The jeweller said, And dost thou know 
 my other house ? And he answered, Thy whole case is known to me, 
 and I know also that by which God will dispel thine anxiety. So 
 I said within myself (continues the jeweller), I will go with him 
 whither he desireth. I then repaired with him to the house, and 
 when the man saw the house, he said, It is without a door-keeper, and 
 we cannot sit in it : come with me, therefore, to another house. And 
 the man continued going about from place to place, and I with him, 
 until the night overtook us; and I put no question to him. He 
 ceased not on his way, and I with him, till we went forth into the open 
 plain, saying, Follow me. And he hurried on, and I hurried behind 
 him, until we arrived at the river, when he embarked with me in 
 a boat, and the boatmen rowed with us, till we had crossed over to the 
 other bank ; whereupon he landed from the boat, and I landed after 
 him, and he took my hand, and conducted me into a street which I had 
 never entered before in the whole course of my life, and I knew not in 
 what quarter it was. He then stopped at the door of a house, and 
 opened it, and entered, taking me in with him, and locked the door 
 with a lock of iron; after which, he led me along its passage till 
 we came into the presence of ten men, who were as though they were 
 one and the same man, and they were brothers. 
 
AND SHEMS-EN-NAHAR. 33 
 
 When we went in to them, the man first mentioned saluted them, 
 and they returned his salutation, and ordered me to sit down. So I 
 seated myself, feeble from excessive fatigue ; and they brought me 
 some rose-water, and sprinkled it upon my face, and gave me to drink 
 some wine, and placed before me some food. I therefore said [within 
 myself], If there were anything injurious in the food, they would not 
 eat with me. And when we had washed our hands, each of us returned 
 to his place, and they said, Dost thou know us ? I answered, No : 
 nor in my life have I known your abode : nay, I know not him who 
 brought me unto you. They then said, Acquaint us with thy story, 
 and utter no falsehood. So I said, Know that my case is wonderful, 
 and my affair is extraordinary. And are ye, I added, acquainted with 
 aught of my story ? They answered, Yes : we are the persons who 
 took thy things last night, and we took thy friend, and her who was 
 singing. And upon this I said, May God let down the curtain of his 
 protection over you ! Where are rny friend and she who was singing ? 
 And they made a sign to me with their hands, pointing to one side, 
 and answered, Here : but by Allah, our brother, none of us hath 
 learnt their secret, and since we brought them we have had no inter- 
 view with them, nor asked them respecting their condition, on account 
 of the appearance of dignity and respectability which we have observed 
 in them ; and it was this which prevented our killing them. Acquaint 
 us, therefore, with their true history, and thou shalt be secure of thine 
 own safety and of theirs. When I heard these words, says the jeweller, 
 I almost died with fear and terror, and said to them, Know that, if 
 generosity be lost, it is to be found only with you ; and if I have a 
 secret which I fear to reveal, none but your breasts will conceal it. 
 And I proceeded to expatiate in this manner, and found that readiness 
 in making the communication to them would be more advantageous 
 than concealing it ; so I acquainted them with all that had befallen 
 me until I arrived at the end of the story. And when they heard my 
 tale, they said, And is this young man 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and 
 this female Shems-en-Nahiir ? And they excused themselves to both 
 of them, and afterwards said to me, Verily, of that which we took from 
 thy house, part is gone ; and this is what hath remained of it. They 
 then restored to me most of the things, and bound themselves to 
 convey them back to their place in my house, promising also that they 
 would restore to me the rest : but they became divided into two parties ; 
 one party on my side, and the other against me. After this, we went 
 forth from that house. Such was my case. 
 
 ii. p 
 
34 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, 
 
 Now as to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and Shems-en-Nahar, they 
 were at the point of death through fear. I approached them and 
 saluted them, and said to them, What can have happened to the slave- 
 girl and the two maids, and whither have they gone ? They answered, 
 We have no knowledge of them. And we continued on our way until 
 we arrived at the place where was the boat, when they put us into it ; 
 and it was the boat in which we had crossed over in the preceding 
 evening. The boatman rowed with us until he had conveyed us to the 
 opposite bank, and they landed us. But we had scarcely seated our- 
 selves on the bank, when a troop of horsemen came and surrounded 
 us on every side ; whereupon the men who were with us sprang up in 
 haste like eagles, and the boat returned to them, and they embarked 
 in it, and it proceeded with them over the river, while I remained with 
 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and Shems-en-Nahar, upon the bank of the 
 river, we being unable either to move or to remain at rest. The horse- 
 men said to us, Whence are ye ? And we were perplexed for the 
 answer ; and I said to them, Verily those whom ye beheld with us we 
 know not ; but we saw them here ; and as to ourselves, we are singers, 
 and they desired to take us to sing to them, and we escaped not from 
 them save by stratagem and soft words : therefore liberate us on this 
 occasion, since ye have witnessed their conduct. The horsemen, how- 
 ever, looked towards Shems-en-Nahar and 'Alee the son of Bekkar, 
 and said to me, Thou hast not spoken truth : if thou be a person of 
 veracity inform us who ye are, and whence ye are, and in which of 
 the quarters of the city ye reside. And I knew not what to say; but 
 Shems-en-Nahar arose and approached the chief of the horsemen, and 
 
AND SHEMS-EN-NAHA"R. 35 
 
 spoke to him privately ; whereupon he descended from his horse, and 
 mounted her upon it, and, taking the bridle in his hand, led her along ; 
 and in like manner he did to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and to me also. 
 The chief of the horsemen then proceeded with us to a place on the 
 bank of the river, and called out in his foreign language, 23 upon which 
 there approached him a number of men, and he embarked us on board 
 a boat, his companions embarking in another boat, and they rowed us 
 on until we arrived at the palace of the Khaleefeh, while we suffered 
 death from the excess of our fear. [Shems-en-Nahar having there 
 landed,] we proceeded until we came to the place from which there 
 was a way leading to our quarter, and there we landed, and we walked 
 on, with a party of the horsemen cheering us by their company, till 
 we entered the house [of 'Alee the son of Bekkar], when the horsemen 
 who were with us bade us farewell, and went their way. 
 
 As to ourselves, we entered the house, and were unable to move 
 from our place, not knowing morning from evening, and we continued 
 thus until the morning came. And at the close of the day, 'Alee the 
 son of Bekkar fell down in a fit, and the women and the men wept 
 over him, as he lay prostrate and motionless ; and some persons of his 
 family came to me, and said, Tell us what hath happened to our son, 
 and acquaint us with the cause of the state in which he is. I replied, 
 O people, hear my words, and do nothing unpleasant to me ; but be 
 patient, and he will recover, and will acquaint you himself with his 
 story. I then urged them, and impressed them with the fear of 
 occasioning what would disgrace me with them, and while we were 
 thus talking, lo, 'Alee the son of Bekkar moved in his bed, and his 
 family rejoiced, and the people dispersed from him, and his family 
 forbade me from quitting him. They sprinkled some rose-water upon 
 his face, and when he recovered, and scented the air, they began to 
 ask him respecting his state, and he commenced acquainting them; 
 but his tongue would not return an answer quickly. After this, he 
 made a sign to them that they should give me liberty to repair to my 
 abode. 
 
 Accordingly, they suffered me to go, and I went forth, scarcely 
 believing in my escape, and proceeded to my house, between two men, 
 until I arrived and went in to my family ; and when they beheld me 
 in that state, they slapped their faces ; but I made a sign to them 
 with my hand that they should be silent, and they were silent. Then 
 the two men went their way ; and I rolled about in my bed the rest of 
 the night, and awoke not till the mid-hour between sunrise and noon, 
 
36 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SOX OF BEKKAR, &c. 
 
 when I found my family surrounding me, and saying, Who bath 
 brought misfortune upon thee, and by his wickedness smitten thee ? 
 And I said to them, Bring me some wine. So they brought it, and I 
 drank of it until I was satisfied, and then said to them, There hath 
 happened what hath happened. And they went their way. And 
 after this, I excused myself to my companions, and inquired of them 
 respecting the things that had gone from my house, asking if any of 
 the property had returned. They answered, A portion hath returned ; 
 for a man came and threw it down within the door of the house, and 
 we saw him not. So I comforted myself, and remained in my house 
 two days, unable to rise from my place ; after which I fortified myself, 
 and walked to the bath, with my heart troubled respecting the Son of 
 Bekkar, and Shenis-en-Nahar, having heard no tidings of them during 
 that period, and having been unable to go to the house of 'Alee the 
 son of Bekkar, and unable to rest in my place through my fear for 
 myself. I then repented before God (whose name be exalted !) of 
 the actions that had been committed by me, and praised Him for my 
 safety. 
 
 And after a while, my mind suggested to me to repair to that 
 place, and to return immediately ; and when I was about to go, I 
 beheld a woman standing, and looked attentively at her, and lo, she 
 was the slave-girl of Shems-en-Nahar; and when I knew her, I went 
 on, and hastened in my pace; but she followed me, and I was alarmed 
 at her : and every time that I looked at her, fear of her overcame me, 
 while she continued saying, Stop, that I may tell thee something. I 
 however, paid no regard to her, and stopped not until I came to a 
 mosque in a place where there were no people ; whereupon she said 
 to me, Enter this mosque, that I may say a word to thee, and fear 
 nothing. And she conjured me ; so I entered the mosque, and she 
 entered after me ; and I performed the prayers of two rek'ahs ; after 
 which I approached her, sighing, and said to her. What dost thou 
 desire ? And she asked me respecting my state, and I told her what 
 had happened to me and to 'Alee the son of Bekluir, and said to her, 
 What is thy story ? She answered, Know that when I saw that the 
 men had broken open the door of thy house, and entered, I feared 
 them, apprehending that they were from the Khaleefeh, and that they 
 would take me and my mistress, and we should perish immediately; 
 so I fled over the terraces, together with the two maids, and we cast 
 ourselves down from a high place among a party of people, and fled 
 thence until we arrived at the palace of the Khaleefeh, in a most 
 
ignominious plight. We kept our affair secret, and remained in a 
 state of torture as on hot embers until the next night became dark, 
 when I opened the river-gate, and summoned the boatman who con- 
 veyed us away on the former night, and said to him, We know not 
 what is become of my mistress ; therefore take me in the boat that I 
 may search for her upon the river : perhaps I may obtain some tidings 
 of her. So he conveyed me in the boat, and proceeded with me along 
 the river until midnight, when I saw a boat approaching the gate, 
 with a man rowing in it, and other men,' 2 ' and a woman lying prostrate 
 among them ; and the boatman continued rowing on until he arrived 
 at the shore ; and when the woman landed, I looked attentively at her, 
 and lo, she was Shems-en-Nahar. I therefore landed and went to 
 her, stupified with joy at beholding her after I had despaired of seeing 
 her again ; and when I came before her, she ordered me to give to the 
 
38 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKA"R, &c. 
 
 man who had hrought her a thousand pieces of gold. Then I and 
 the two maids carried her and laid her upon her bed, and she con- 
 tinued during the rest of that night in a troubled state ; and when the 
 morning came, she forbade the female slaves and eunuchs to come in 
 to her or to approach her that day. But on the following day she 
 recovered, and I found her as though she had come forth from a 
 burial-ground ; so I sprinkled some rose-water upon her face, and 
 changed her clothes, and washed her hands and her feet, and ceased 
 not to persuade her until I excited in her a desire for some food ; and 
 I gave her some wine to drink, though she had no appetite for it. 
 
 And when she took the air, and strength returned to her, I said to 
 her, O my mistress, have a regard for thyself, for thou hast suffered 
 difficulties enough, and hast been at the point of destruction. But 
 she replied, good slave-girl, death were easier to me than that which 
 hath befallen me ; for it seemed that I should be killed, and that no 
 stratagem could save me ; because the robbers, when they took us 
 from the house of the jeweller, asked us and said, Who art thou, arid 
 what is thy condition ? but I answered, I am a singing girl : and 
 they believed me : then they asked 'Alee the son of Bekkar respecting 
 himself, and said to him, Who art thou, and what is thy condition ? 
 and he answered, I am of the common people. And they took us, 
 and we proceeded with them until they brought us to their abode, and 
 we hastened with them, through the excess of our fear; and when 
 they had rested with us at their dwelling, they looked at me, and, 
 seeing the apparel and necklaces and jewels with which I was decked, 
 they disbelieved my assertion, and said, These necklaces belong not 
 to one of the female singers. They then said to me, Be veracious to 
 us, and tell us the truth. What is thy history? But I returned 
 them no answer, saying within myself, Now will they kill me for the 
 ornaments and apparel that are upon me : and I uttered not a word. 
 And they looked towards 'Alee the son of Bekkar, and said to him, 
 And whence art thou ; for thine appearance is not that of the common 
 people ? But he was silent. We concealed our affair, and wept. 
 And God inclined the hearts of the robbers towards us; and they said 
 to us, Who is the owner of the house in which ye were ? We answered 
 them, Its owner is such a one, the jeweller. And one of them said, I 
 know him well, and 1 know that he is residing in his other house, and 
 I will take upon myself to bring him to you immediately. And they 
 agreed together to put me in a place by myself, and 'Alee the son of 
 Bekkar in a place by himself, and said to us, Rest ye, and fear not 
 
that yaur affair will be revealed, for ye are secure from us. Then 
 their companion went to the jeweller, and brought him, and he 
 revealed our case to them, and we went in to him; after which, one of 
 the men provided for us a boat, and they placed us in it, and crossed 
 over with us to the opposite bank, and, having landed us there, 
 departed. And a troop of horse, of the patrol, came, and said, Who 
 are ye? So I spoke with the chief of the patrol, and said to him, I 
 am Shems-en-Nahar, the concubine of the Khaleefeh : I made myself 
 merry with wine, and went forth to visit some of my acquaintances 
 among the wives of the wezeers, and the robbers came upon me, and 
 took me, and brought me to this place, and when they beheld you 
 they fled; and I am able to requite thee. And when the chief of the 
 horsemen heard my words, he knew me, and, descending from his 
 horse, mounted me upon it, and in like manner he did to 'Alee the son 
 of Bekkar and to the jeweller; and in my heart now burneth a flame 
 of fire on their account, especially for the jeweller, the companion of 
 the Son of Bekkar : repair, therefore, unto him, and salute him, and 
 inquire of him respecting 'Alee the son of Bekkar. 
 
 I blamed her (said the slave-girl) for what she had done, and 
 cautioned her, saying to her, my mistress, fear for thyself : but she 
 cried out at me, and was angry at my words. I then arose and 
 departed from her, and came unto thee ; but found thee not ; and I 
 feared to go to the Son of Bekkar; 25 so I stood looking out for thee, 
 that I might ask thee respecting him, and know in what state he is. 
 And I beg of thy goodness that thou wilt receive from me some 
 
40 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SOX OF BEKKAR, &c. 
 
 money; for probably thou borrovvedst some things of thy friends and 
 thou hast lost them, and it is necessary that thou make a compensation 
 to them for such of their things as have been lost in thy house. So 
 I replied, says the jeweller, I hear and obey. I then walked with her 
 until we came near to my house, when she said to me, Stop here until 
 I return to thee. And she departed, and returned bringing the 
 money, and gave it to me, saying, O my master, in what place shall 
 we meet thee ? I answered her, I will go to my house immediately, 
 and will endure hardship for thy sake, and devise some means of 
 procuring thee access to him ; for access to him is difficult at the 
 present time. 
 
 She then bade me farewell, and departed, and I carried "the money 
 to my abode, and, counting it, found it to be five thousand pieces of 
 gold ; and I gave some of it to my family, and to every one who had 
 anything in my possession I gave a compensation. After this, I took 
 my young men, and repaired to the house from which the things had 
 been lost, and brought the carpenters and the builders, and they 
 restored it to its former state ; and I placed my female slave in it, and 
 forgot what had happened to me. I then went to the house of 'Alee 
 the son of Bekkar, and when I arrived there, his slaves accosted me, 
 and one of them said to me, The slaves of our master have been seek- 
 ing thee night and day, and he hath promised them that whosoever 
 of them bringeth thee to him he will emancipate him ; so they are 
 searching for thee, but know not where thou art. Vigour hath 
 returned to my master ; but he recovereth and relapseth frequently : 
 and when he recovereth, he mentioneth thee, and saith, Ye must bring 
 him unto me for a moment, and he shall return and go his way. So 
 I went with the young man to his master, and found him unable to 
 speak ; and when I beheld him, I seated myself at his head, and he 
 opened his eyes, and, seeing me, he wept, and said to me, Thou art 
 welcome. I then raised him, and seated him, and pressed him to my 
 bosom ; and he said to me, Know, O my brother, that since I laid 
 myself down I have not sat up until now ; and praise be to God for 
 my beholding thee ! I continued raising him, says the jeweller, until 
 I placed him upon his feet, and made him walk some paces, and 
 changed his clothes, and he drank some wine ; and when I saw in him 
 signs of vigour, I related to him what had happened with the slave- 
 girl ; no one else hearing me ; after which I said to him, Brace up thy 
 nerves, for I know what thou sufferest. And he smiled, and I said to 
 him, Thou wilt experience nothing but what will rejoice thee and cure 
 
AND SHEMS-EN-NAHAR. 41 
 
 thee. Then 'Alee the son of Bekktir gave orders to bring a repast; 
 and they brought it ; and he made a sign to his young men, where- 
 upon they dispersed ; and he said to me, O my brother, hast thou seen 
 what hath befallen us ? And he excused himself to me, and asked 
 me how I had been during the late period. So I acquainted him with 
 all that had happened to me from first to last ; and he wondered, and 
 said to the servants, Bring me such and such things. And they 
 brought him costly furniture, and articles of gold and silver, more 
 than I had lost, and gave to me all of them ; and I sent them to my 
 house, and remained with him the next night. And when the morn- 
 ing broke, he said to me, Know that to everything there is an end ; 
 and the end of love is death or union ; and I am nearer unto death : 
 would that I had died, then, before that which hath happened to me! 
 Had not God been propitious to us, we had been disgraced ; and I 
 know not what will effect my deliverance from my present state. 
 Were it not for my fear of God, I would hasten my own destruction. 
 And know, iny brother, that I am like the bird in the cage, and 
 that my life is expiring in consequence of my distresses ; but it hath a 
 known period, and a decreed end. And he poured forth his tears; 
 and I said to him, my master, know that I purpose repairing to my 
 house : for perhaps the slave-girl will return to me with news. He 
 replied, There will be no harm in thy doing so ; but return quickly to 
 acquaint me. 
 
 I therefore took leave of him, and departed to my house ; and I 
 had scarcely sat down when I beheld the slave-girl approaching, weep- 
 ing and wailing; and I said to her, What is the cause of this ? 
 my master, she answered, know that an event hath happened to us 
 from which we are in fear ; for when I went away from thee yesterday, 
 I found my mistress incensed against one of the two maids who were 
 with us that night, and she gave orders to beat her ; and she feared 
 her mistress, and fled ; and one of the officers charged to keep the 
 door met her, and took her, and desired to send her back to her 
 mistress. But she gave him a hint, and he coaxed her, and desired 
 her to make known her case, upon which she acquainted him with our 
 proceedings; and the news reached the Khaleefeh, and immediately 
 he gave orders to remove my mistress Shems-en-Nahar and all her 
 property to his own palace, and appointed twenty eunuchs to guard 
 her. I have not yet had an interview with her, nor acquainted her 
 with the cause; but I suspect it is on that account, and therefore 
 am in fear for myself, and am perplexed, O my master, not knowing 
 ii. G 
 
42 THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, 
 
 what stratagem to employ in my affair and hers, and she hath no one 
 more faithful in keeping a secret than myself. Go thou, therefore, O 
 my master, to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, quickly, and acquaint him with 
 this, in order that he may be prepared ; and if the affair be exposed, 
 we will contrive some means for our own escape. Upon this, says 
 the jeweller, excessive anxiety overcame me, and the universe became 
 dark before my face at the words of the slave-girl. She proposed her 
 departure, and I said to her, What is thy advice ? It is my advice, 
 she answered, that thou hasten to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, if he be 
 thy friend, and thou desire his escape: thine be it to communicate this 
 news to him quickly ; and be it mine to apply myself to learn further 
 news. See then bade me farewell, and went forth. 
 
 And when the slave-girl had gone away, I arose and went forth 
 after her, and repaired to 'Alee the son of Bekkar. I found him 
 holding forth to himself expectations of union, and soothing himself 
 with impossibilities; and when he saw that I had returned to him 
 quickly, he said to me, I sec thee to have come back to me immediately. 
 I replied, Cease to indulge thine attachment and to promise thyself 
 success, and abstain from thus busying thy mind ; for an event hath 
 occurred that may occasion the loss of thy life and thy property. And 
 when he heard these words, his condition became changed, and he was 
 agitated, and said, my brother, acquaint me with that which hath 
 happened. my master, I replied, know that such and such things 
 have happened, and if thou remain in this thy house till the close of 
 the day, thou wilt inevitably perish. And 'Alee the son of Bekkar 
 was confounded, and his soul almost quitted his body, and he 
 
 
AND SHEMS-EN-NAHAR. 43 
 
 exclaimed, Verily to God we belong, and verily to Him we return ! 
 and said, What shall I do, my brother ; and what is thy advice '{ 
 I answered, My advice is, that thou take with thee as much of thy 
 property as thou canst, and of thy young men such as thou confidest 
 in, and that thou repair with us to another country before this day 
 shall have expired. And he said to me, I hear and obey. He then 
 arose, perplexed at his case, now walking, and now falling down, and 
 took what he could, and made an excuse to his family, charging them 
 with such orders as he desired, and, taking with him three loaded 
 camels, mounted his horse. I also had done the same, and we went 
 forth privately, and stopped not in our journey during the rest of the 
 day and the next night, until the close of the night, when we put down 
 our loads, and tied up our camels' feet, and slept; and, being overcome 
 by fatigue, we were neglectful of ourselves ; and lo, robbers surrounded 
 us, and took all that we had with us, and slew the young men on 
 their attempting to defend us. They then left us in our place, in a 
 miserable condition, after they had taken away the property ; and 
 when we had arisen, we proceeded until morning, and arrived at a town, 
 and, entering it, repaired to its mosque, stripped of our clothing. 
 
 We sat in one side of the mosque the remainder of the day, and 
 passed the next night in it, without food or drink; and at daybreak 
 we performed the morning-prayers, and sat down again ; and lo, a 
 man entered, and saluted us, and, after performing the prayers of two 
 rek'ahs, looked towards us and said, O men, are ye strangers ? We 
 answered, Yes : robbers have intercepted us and stripped us, and we 
 entered this town, but know not in it any one with whom to lodge. 
 So the man said to us, Will ye arise and accompany me to my house. 
 I said, therefore, to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, Arise and let us go with 
 him, and save ourselves from two troubles : the first is, that we fear 
 some one may come in to us who knoweth us in this mosque, and so 
 we may be disgraced and the second, that we are strangers, and have 
 110 place in which to lodge. And 'Alee the son of Bekk&r replied, Do 
 what thou wilt. The man then said to us a second time, poor men, 
 comply with my desire, and come with me to my abode. I therefore 
 replied, We hear and obey. And the man took off, and gave to us, 
 part of his own clothing, and clad us, and spoke kindly to us ; and we 
 arose and went with him to his house ; and he knocked at the door, 
 and there came forth to us a young eunuch, who opened the door ; 
 and the man, the owner of the house, entered, and we entered after 
 him. He then gave orders to bring a wrapper, containing clothes, and 
 
pieces of muslin for turbans, and clad us with two suits, and gave us 
 two pieces of muslin, and we turbaned ourselves, and sat down ; and 
 lo, a slave-girl approached us with a table, and placed it before us, and 
 we ate a little; after which, the table was removed, and we remained 
 with him until night. 
 
 And 'Alee the son of Bekkiir sighed, and said to me, O my 
 brother, know that I am inevitably perishing, and I desire to give thee 
 a charge, which is this : that when thou seest me to have died, thou 
 repair to my mother, and acquaint her, that she may come to this 
 place for the sake of receiving the visits of condolence for me, and be 
 present at the washing of my corpse ; and exhort her to bear my loss 
 with patience. He then fell down in a fit ; and when he recovered, he 
 heard a damsel singing at a distance, and reciting verses : and he 
 listened to her and heard her voice; one moment becoming insensible; 
 and another, recovering; and another, weeping in his anguish and grief 
 at that which had befallen him : and he heard the damsel sing, with 
 charming modulations, these v^ses 
 
 Separation hath quickly intervened between us, after intimate intercourse anil 
 
 friendship and concord. 
 The vicissitudes of fortune have disunited us. Would that I knew when would be 
 
 our meeting ! 
 How bitter is separation after union! Would that it never gave pain unto 
 
 lovers ! 
 The strangulation of death is short, and ceaseth ; but the disjunction of the 
 
 beloved ever tortureth the heart. 
 
 And as soon as 'Alee the son of Bekkiir had heard her song, he uttered 
 a groan, and his soul quitted his body. 
 
 When I saw that he was dead, says the jeweller, I gave a charge 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, &c. 45 
 
 respecting him to the master of the house, and said to him, Know that 
 I am going to Baghdad to acquaint his mother and his other relations, 
 that they may come to prepare his funeral. I then repaired to 
 Baghdad, and entered my house, and changed my clothes ; after 
 which, I went to the house of 'Alee the son of Bekkar. And when 
 his young men saw me, they came to me and inquired of me respect- 
 ing him ; and I asked them to beg permission for me to have an inter- 
 view with his mother; and she gave me permission. So I entered 
 and saluted her, and said, Verily, when God decreeth an event, there 
 is no escaping from it ; and a soul cannot depart but by the permis- 
 sion of God, according to the decree which prescribeth its term. And 
 from these words, the mother of 'Alee the son of Bekkar inferred that 
 her son had died ; and she wept violently, and then said to me. By 
 Allah, I conjure thee to tell me : hath the soul of my son been taken ? 
 But I could not return her an answer, through the excess of my grief: 
 and -when she saw me in this state, she was suffocated with weeping, 
 and fell upon the floor in a fit; and as soon as she recovered, she said, 
 How did it happen to my son ? I replied, May God abundantly com- 
 pensate thee for his loss ! and then acquainted her with all that had 
 happened to him, from beginning to end. She said, Did he give thee 
 any charge ? And I answered her, Yes : and informed her of that 
 with which he had charged me, and said to her, Hasten to perform 
 his funeral. But on hearing my words, she fell down again in a 
 swoon : and when she recovered, she resolved to do as I had charged 
 her. 
 
 I then returned to my house, thinking, on my way, upon the 
 charms of his youth ; and while I was thus proceeding, lo, a woman 
 laid hold upon my hand, and, looking at her, I saw her to be the 
 slave-girl who used to come from Shems-en-Nahar. Despondency had 
 overcome her ; and when we recognised each other, we w r ept together 
 until we arrived at the house, when I said to her, Hast thou become 
 acquainted with the case of 'Alee the son of Bekkar ? She answered, 
 No, by Allah. And I related to her what had happened to him, and 
 then said to her, And in what state is thy mistress ? The Prince of 
 the Faithful, she answered, would not listen to what any one said 
 against her, in consequence of the violence of his love for her ; but 
 regarded all her actions in a favourable light, and said to her, 
 Shems-en-Nahar, thou art dear in my estimation, and I will endure 
 with thee in spite of thine enemies. He then gave orders to furnish 
 a gilded apartment, and an elegant closet ; and she became in high 
 
46 THE STORY OP 'ALEE THE SON OF BEKKAR, 
 
 favour with him in consequence of that event. And it happened that 
 he was sitting to take his usual beverage, and the concubines were 
 before him, and he ordered them to sit in their places, and seated 
 Shems-en-Nahar by his side (but her patience had failed, and her 
 disorder had increased) ; and he then commanded one of the female 
 slaves to sing : so, she took the lute and struck its chords and sang 
 thus : 
 
 Many a one hath invited me to love, and I have yielded ; and my tears write the 
 
 tale of my transport upon my cheek ; 
 As if the drops from the eye were acquainted with our case, and revealed what I 
 
 hid, and hid what I revealed. 
 Why, then, desire I secrecy, or the concealment of my love, when the violence of 
 
 my passion for thee sheweth what I feel ? 
 Death hath become pleasant to me since the loss of those Hove; hut would that I 
 
 knew what would please them after me ! 
 
 And when Shems-en-Nahar heard that slave-girl's song, she was 
 unable to keep her seat, and fell down in a fit. The Khaleefeh threw 
 down the cup, and drew her towards him, and cried out, and the 
 female slaves raised a clamour, and the Prince of the Faithful, turning 
 her over, found that she was dead. He lamented for her death, and 
 gave orders to break all the kanoons 26 and other instruments of musie 
 that were there, and removed her corpse to a closet, where he remained 
 with it for the rest of the night ; 27 and when the day broke, he made 
 preparations for her funeral, and commanded to wash and shroud and 
 bury her, and mourned for her greatly, asking no questions respecting 
 her condition, or her past conduct. 
 
 The slave-girl then said, I conjure thee by Allah that thou acquaint 
 me with the period when the funeral-procession of 'Alee the son of 
 Bekkar is to set forth, and that thou let me be present at his burial. 
 So I replied, As for myself, in whatsoever place thou desirest, thou 
 shalt find me ; but as for thee, who can obtain access to thee in the 
 place where thou residest ? She said, however, The Prince of the 
 Faithful, when Shems-en-Nahar died, emancipated her female slaves, 
 on the same day, and I am one of them, and we are staying at her 
 tomb, in such a place. 23 I therefore arose and went with her, and, 
 arriving at the burial-ground, visited the tomb of Shems-en-Nahar, 
 and then went my way, and remained waiting for the funeral-proces- 
 sion of 'Alee the son of Bekkar until it arrived, when the people of 
 Baghdad went forth to join it, and I went with them : and I found 
 the slave-girl among the women, and she was the most violent of them 
 
AM) SHEMS-EN-NAHAR. 
 
 47 
 
 m lamentation ; and I never witnessed in Baghdad a greater funeral- 
 procession than this. We pursued our way, densely crowding to- 
 gether, until we came to his tomb, and buried him ; and I have not 
 discontinued my visits to his tomb, nor to that of Shems-en-Nahar. 
 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 NOTE 1. In the first of the Notes to Chapter viii., I have mentioned that the long; 
 story from which the contents of that chapter are extracted terminates with the 
 hundred and forty -fifth Night. It is followed hy several moral fables, extending to the 
 end of the hundred and fifty -second Night. Two of these I have translated, and here 
 insert, as I think them at least worthy of a second-rate place in the present collection. 
 The rest are short, and very inferior. 
 
 The Fable of the Peacock and Peahen, the Duck, the Young Lion, the Ass, the Horse, 
 the Camel, and the Carpenter, fyc. 
 
 " There was, in ancient times, a peacock who resorted to the sea-side ' with his mate. 
 This place abounded with savage beasts, and all other wild animals were there, but it 
 also abounded with trees and rivers ; and the peacock with his mate roosted by night 
 in one of those trees, through their fear of the wild beasts, in the morning betaking 
 themselves to seek their sustenance. Thus they continued until, their fear increasing, 
 they sought another place in which to reside ; and while they were searching for it, an 
 island appeared before them, with many trees and rivers. So they took up their abode 
 in this island, and ate of its fruits, and drank of its rivers. And as they were thus 
 living, lo, a duck approached them, in a state of great terror, and advanced without 
 stopping until she came to the tree upon which was the peacock with his mate ; where- 
 upon she felt secure. The peacock, therefore, doubted not but that this duck had a 
 wonderful story to tell ; and he asked her respecting her state, and the reason of her 
 fear. She answered, I am sick with grief, and my fear is of the son of Adam. Beware 
 then, beware of the sons of Adam. So the peacock said to her, Fear not, now that thou 
 hast come unto us. And the duck replied, Praise be to God who hath dispelled my 
 anxiety and grief by your vicinity ! I have come in the desire of gaining your affection. 
 And when she had uttered these words, the peacock's mate descended to her, and 
 said to her, Welcome to friendship and ease and amplitude ! No evil waiteth thee. 
 And how can the son of Adam obtain access to us when we are in this island in the 
 midst of the sea ? From the land he cannot reach us, and from the sea he cannot come 
 
 1 The \vord which I render " sea " (namely " bahr ") also signifies " a great river." 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 49 
 
 up against us. Rejoice, therefore, at this announcement, and tell iis what hath befallen 
 thee from the son of Adam. 
 
 " So the duck said, Know, O peahen, that I have passed all my life in this island in 
 safety, and seen nothing disagreeable, till I slept one night, and beheld in my sleep the 
 figure of a son of Adam, who conversed with me, and I conversed with him. But I 
 heard a speaker say to me, O duck, beware of the son of Adam, and be not deceived by 
 his words, nor by his suggestions to thee ; for he aboundeth with stratagems and guile. 
 Beware then, be fully aware, of his craftiness ; for he is guileful and crafty as the poet 
 hath said of him, 
 
 With his tongue he will offer thee sweet expressions ; but he will elude thee like the fox. 
 
 And know that the son of Adam circumventeth the fish, and draweth them out from 
 the waters, and shooteth the birds with an earthen bullet, 2 and entrappeth the elephant 
 by his craftiness. No one is secure from the mischief of the son of Adam, and neither 
 bird nor wild beast can escape from him. Thus I have acquainted thee with that 
 which I have heard respecting the son of Adam. So I awoke from my sleep fearful 
 and terrified ; and to the present time my heart hath not become dilated, through my 
 fear for myself from the son of Adam, lest he surprise me by his artifice, and catch me 
 in his snares. When the close of day overtook me, my strength was impaired and my 
 energy failed. 
 
 " I then felt a desire to eat and drink. I therefore went walking forth, with a 
 troubled mind and a contracted heart, and, arriving at yonder mountain, I found, at 
 the entrance of a cave, a young lion, of yellow colour. When this young lion beheld 
 me, he rejoiced exceedingly at my arrival ; my colour and my elegant form pleased him, 
 and he called out to me, saying, Draw near to me : and on my approaching him he said 
 to me, What is thy name, and what is thy genus ? I therefore answered, My name is 
 duck, and I am of the genus of birds. And I then said to him, What is the reason of 
 thy sojourning until the present time in this place ? The young lion answered, The 
 reason of it is, that my father the lion hath been for days cautioning me against the 
 son of Adam ; and it happened that I beheld last night in my sleep the figure of a son 
 of Adam. Then the young lion related to me the like of that which I have related unto 
 thee; and when I heard his words I said to him, O lion, I have had recourse unto thee 
 that thou mayest slay the son of Adam, and be resolved upon his slaughter ; for I fear 
 for myself extremely from him, and my fear is increased from seeing that thou also 
 fearest the son of Adam although thou art Sultan of the wild beasts. I ceased not, O 
 my sister, to caution the young lion against the son of Adam, and to urge him to slay 
 him, until he rose suddenly from the place where he was, and walked forth, I walking 
 behind him ; and he lashed his back with his tail. 
 
 " He proceeded, and I behind him, down the road ; and we found a dust raised, 
 which subsided, and there appeared in the midst of it a run-away, naked ass, now 
 galloping and running, and now rolling on the ground. When the lion beheld him he 
 called out to him : so the ass came to him submissively : and the lion said to him, O 
 thou animal of infatuated mind, what is thy genus, and what is the reason of thy 
 coming unto this place ? O son of the Sultan, answered the ass, as to my genus, I am 
 an ass ; and the reason of my coming to this place is my flight from the son of Adam. 
 So the young lion said, And art thou also afraid of the son of Adam that he should kill 
 thee ? The ass answered, No, O son of the Sultan ; but my fear is lest he employ a 
 stratagem against me, and ride me; for he hath a thing called the pad, 3 which he 
 placeth on my back, and a thing called the girth, which he draweth round my belly, 
 and a thing called the crupper, which he inserteth beneath my tail, and a thing called 
 the bit, which he putteth in my mouth ; and he maketh for me a goad, and goadeth 
 me with it, and he requireth me to exert myself beyond my ability in running. When 
 
 2 This seems to allude to the cross-bow. 3 A kind of stuffed saddle, for asses and mules. 
 
 II. II 
 
50 NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 I stumble, he onrsetb me ; and when I bray, he revileth me. 4 Afterwards, when I have 
 grown old, and can no longer run, he putteth upon me a pack-saddle of wood, and 
 committeth me to the water-sellers (sakkas), who load me with water upon my back 
 from the river, in goat-skins, and in similar things, such as jars ; and T cease not to 
 suffer abasement and contempt and fatigue until I die, when they throw me upon the 
 mounds of rubbish to the dogs. 5 What then can be greater than this anxiety that I 
 suffer, and what calamity is greater than these calamities that I endure ? Now when I 
 heard, O peahen, the words of the ass, my flesh quaked with horror of the son of Adam, 
 and I said to the young lion, O my master, the ass is excused, and his words have added 
 to my terror. The young lion then said to the ass, Whither art thou going ? The ass 
 answered, I saw the son of Adam before sunrise at a distance, and I fled from him, and 
 now I desire to depart, and to run without stopping, from the violence of my fear of 
 him : perhaps I may find a place that will afford me an asylum from the perfidious son 
 of Adam. 
 
 " Now while the ass was conversing with the young lion on this subject, and was 
 desirous of bidding us farewell, and departing, there appeared unto us a cloud of dust ; 
 whereupon the ass brayed and cried out, looking in the direction of the dust. And 
 after a while, the dust dispersed, and discovered a black horse, with a white spot on his 
 forehead like a dirhem. 6 This horse, beautiful with the white spot on his forehead, 
 handsomely marked with white next the hoof, with becoming legs, and neighing 1 , 
 stopped not in his course until he came before the young lion. And when the young 
 lion beheld him, he admired him, and said to him, What is thy genus, O majestic wild 
 beast, and what is the reason of thy fleeing away into this wide and extensive desert ? 
 O lord of the wild beasts, answered the horse, I am one of the genus of horses, and the 
 reason of my running away is my flight from the son of Adam. And the young lion 
 wondered at the words of the horse, and replied, Say not thus, for it is disgraceful to 
 thee. Thou art tall and stout ; and how then fearest thou the son of Adam, notwith- 
 standing the bulk of thy body, and the swiftness of thy running, when I, with the 
 srnallness of my body, have determined to encounter the son of Adam, to attack him, 
 and eat his flesh, and to appease the terror of this poor duck, and establish her securely 
 in her home ? Now, on thy coming here, thou hast broken my heart by thy words, 
 and deterred me from that which I desired to do ; seeing that the son of Adam hath 
 overcome thee, in spite of thy greatness, and feared not thy height and thy breadth, 
 though, if thou kickedst him with thy hoof, thou wouldst kill him, and he could not 
 prevail against thee ; but thou wouldst make him to drink the cup of perdition. But 
 the horse laughed when he heard the words of the young lion, and said, Far, far is it 
 from my power to overcome him, O son of the King ! Let not my height nor breadth 
 nor my bulk deceive thee with respect to the son of Adam, for, in the excess of his 
 
 * The reason of this is, because the ass brays in 5 See Note 47 to Chapter ii. 
 
 consequence of his seeing the Devil. " The last 6 That is, round, and like a silver coin. The 
 
 animal that entered with Nooh [or Xoah, into the Arabs are much influenced in their estimation of 
 
 ark,] was the ass ; and Ibices (whom God curse !) horses by what they consider lucky or unlucky 
 
 clung to his tail. The ass had just entered the colours and marks. The Prophet said, " The best 
 
 ark, and began to be agitated, and could not enter horses are black, with white foreheads, and having 
 
 further into the ark, whereupon Xooh said to him, a white upper lip next to these, a black horse 
 
 ' Enter, wo to thee !' But the ass was still agitated, with white forehead, and three white legs : next to 
 
 and was unable to advance. So Xooh said, ' Enter, this, a bay horse with these marks." " A bay 
 
 though the Devil be with thee.' And the ass with white forehead, and white fore and hind legs, 
 
 entered, the Iblees (whom God curse!) entered is best; and a sorrel with white forehead and legs 
 
 with him. And Xooh said, ' O enemy of God, who is also good." " Prosperity is with sorrel horses." 
 
 introduced thee into the ark?' He answered, " The Prophet judged shikal [or the having the 
 
 Thou : thou saidst unto the ass, Enter, though right hind foot and the left fore foot, or the right 
 
 the Devil be with thee.' So it is said that this is fore foot and left hind foot, white,] to be bad in a 
 
 the reason why the ass, when he seeth the Devil, horse." (Mishkat el-Masabeeh, vol. ii. pp. 252 
 brayeth " (Kitub el-'Onwun fee Mckiud en-Xiswan.) 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 51 
 
 artifice and his craftiness he maketh for me a thing 1 called a tethering-rope, and putteth 
 to rny four feet two tethering-ropes of cords made of the fibres of the palm-tree, wound 
 round with felt, and attacheth me by my head to a high stake. I remain standing, 
 thus attached, unable to lie down or to sleep. And when he desireth to ride me, he 
 maketh for me a thing of iron into which to put his feet, called the stirrup, and pluceth 
 upon my back a thing called the saddle, binding it with two girths under the hollow of 
 my forelegs ; and he putteth in my mouth a thing of iron called the bit, affixing to it a 
 strip of leather termed the bridle. Then when he rideth on my back, upon the saddle, 
 he taketh hold of the bridle and guideth me with it, and striketh me on my flanks with 
 the stirrups until he maketh them bleed.' Ask not, O son of the Sultan, what I suffer 
 from the son of Adam ; for when I have grown old and lean, and am unable to run 
 fleetly, he selleth me to the miller, to employ me in turning the mill, and I cease not to 
 do so night and day, until I become infirm from age, when he selleth me to the butcher, 
 who slaughtereth me : he strippeth off my skin and plucketh my tail and selleth them 
 to the sieve-makers, and he melteth down my fat. s And when the young lion heard 
 these words of the horse, he became more enraged and vexed, and said to him, When 
 didst thou part from the son of Adam ? He answered, I parted from him at midday, 
 and he is following my tracks. 
 
 " And while the young lion was thus talking with the horse, lo, a dust rose, and 
 afterwards dispersed, and there appeared in the midst of it a furious camel, uttering a 
 gurgling noise, and striking the ground with his feet. Thus he continued to do until 
 he came up to us ; and when the young lion beheld him, great and stout, he thought 
 that he was the son of Adam, and was about to spring upon him ; but I said to him, 
 son of the Sultan, this is not the son of Adam, but he is a camel ; and it seemeth that 
 he is fleeing from the son of Adam. And as I was thus engaged, O my sister, in speak- 
 ing to the young lion, the camel came before the young lion, and saluted him ; and he 
 returned his salutation, and said to him, What is the reason of thy coming unto this 
 place ? He answered, I have come fleeing from the son of Adam. And thou, said the 
 young lion, with thy huge make and height and breadth, how fearest thou the son of 
 Adam, when, if thou kickedst him with thy foot, thou wouldst kill him. O son of the 
 Sultan, answered the camel, know that the son of Adam hath subtleties not to be sup- 
 ported, and nothing overcometh him but death ; for he putteth in my nose a string 
 called a nose-ring, 9 and upon my head he putteth a halter : then he committeth me to 
 the least of his children, and the little child draweth me along by the string, not- 
 withstanding my great bulk. They load me also with the heaviest burdens, and take 
 me with them on long journeys. They employ me in difficult labours during the hours 
 of the night and the day ; and when I have grown old, and have become disabled, my 
 master no longer endureth my society j but selleth me to the butcher, who slaughtereth 
 me, and selleth my skin to the tanners, and my flesh to the cooks. Ask not, therefore, 
 what I suffer from the son of Adam. The young lion then said to him, At what hour 
 didst thou part from the son of Adam ? He answered, I parted from him at the hour 
 of sunset ; and 1 imagine that, coming to my place after my departure, and finding me 
 not, he is on the way to seek me ; therefore suffer me, O son of the Sultan, to flee into 
 the deserts and wastes. But the young lion replied, Wait a little, O camel, that thou 
 mayest see how I will tear him, and feed thee with his flesh, and break his bones, and 
 drink his blood. O son of the Sultan, rejoined the camel, I fear for thee from the son 
 of Adam ; for he is guileful and crafty. And he recited the saying of the poet, 
 
 When the severe alighteth in the land of a people, there is nothing for its inhabitants but to 
 depart. 10 
 
 7 The shovel-shaped Arab stirrup is used as a 9 This is generally done to the light camel (or 
 spur. dromedary) used for riding. 
 
 8 "To make candles." (Note by the shcykh 10 The sheykh Mohammad 'Eiyad remarks in a 
 Mohammad 'Eiyud.) marginal note, that "it would have been morn 
 
5 o NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 "But as the camel was conversing thus with the young lion, lo, a dust rose, and 
 after a while dispersed from around a short and thin old man. On his shoulder was 
 a basket containing a set of carpenter's tools, upon his head was a branch of a tree, with 
 eio-ht planks, and he was leading by the hand young children, and walking at a brisk 
 pace. He advanced without stopping until he drew near to the young lion ; and when 
 I beheld him, O my sister, I fell down from the violence of my fear. But as to the 
 youno- lion, he arose and walked forward to him and met him ; and when he came up to 
 him, the carpenter laughed in his face, and said to him with an eloquent tongue, O 
 glorious King, endowed with liberality, may Allah make thine evening and thine 
 intention prosperous, and increase thy courage and thy power ! Protect me from him 
 who hath afflicted me, and by his wickedness smitten me ; for I have found none to aid 
 me but thee. Then the carpenter stood before the lion, and wept and sighed and 
 lamented. And when the young lion heard his weeping and lamenting, he said to 
 him, I will protect thee from the object of thy dread. Who then is he who hath 
 oppressed thee, and what art thou, thou wild beast, the like of whom I have never in 
 my life beheld, and than whom I have never seen any of more handsome form nor any 
 of more eloquent tongue; and what is thy condition? So the carpenter answered, O 
 lord of the wild beasts, as to myself, I am a carpenter ; and as to him who hath 
 oppressed me, he is a son of Adam, and on the morning after this night he will be with 
 thee in this place. And when the young lion heard these words from the carpenter, 
 the light became converted into darkness before his face : he growled and snorted ; his 
 eyes cast forth sparks; and he cried out, saying, By Allah, I will remain awake this 
 night until the morning, and will not return to my father until I accomplish my 
 desire ! Then looking towards the carpenter, he said to him, I see thy steps to be 
 short, and I cannot hurt thy feelings; for I am endowed with generosity; and I 
 imagine that thou canst not keep pace in thy walk with the wild beasts : acquaint me, 
 then, whither thou art going. The carpenter replied, Know that I am going to the 
 Wezeer of thy father, to the lynx ; for, when it was told him that the son of Adam had 
 trodden this region, he feared for -himself greatly, and sent to me a messenger from 
 among the wild beasts, that I might make for him a house in which he might reside, 
 and find an asylum, and that should debar from him his enemy, so that no one of the 
 sons of Adam might obtain access to him. Therefore, when the messenger came to me, 
 I took these planks and set forth to him. 
 
 " On hearing these words of the carpenter, the young lion became envious of the 
 lynx, and said to him, By my life, thou must make for me a house with these planks 
 before thou make for the lynx his house ; and when thou hast finished my work, go to 
 the lynx, and make for him what he desireth. But when the carpenter heard what the 
 young lion said, he replied, O lord of the wild beasts, I cannot make for thee anything 
 until I have made for the lynx what he desireth : then I will come to serve thee, and 
 make for thee a house that shall protect thee from thine enemy. The young lion, 
 however, said, By Allah, I will not let thee go from this place until thou make for me 
 a house with these planks. He then crept, and sprang upon the carpenter, desiring to 
 jest with him, and struck him with his paw, throwing down the basket from his 
 shoulder. The carpenter fell down in a swoon, and the young lion laughed at him, and 
 said, Wo to thee, O carpenter ! Verily thou art weak, and without strength : so thou 
 art excused for thy fearing the son of Adam. But when the carpenter had fallen down 
 upon his back, he became violently enraged. He however concealed this from the 
 young lion, through his fear of him ; and afterwards, he sat and laughed in the face of 
 the young lion, saying to him, Well, I will make for thee the house. So he took the 
 
 proper to quote here the saying of En-Xabighah [Edh-Dhubyanec]: 
 
 ' I have been told that Aboo-Kaboos hath threatened me ; and there is no resting within the sound 
 
 of the growling of the lion.' " 
 "Aboo-Kaboos" was the surname of Xoaman Ibn-El-Mundhir Ibn-Imra-el-Kcvs. 
 
planks that he had with him, and nailed together the house, making it to suit the 
 measure of the young lion, and left its door open ; for he made it in the form of a chest. 
 He made for it a large aperture with a cover pierced with numerous holes, and, taking 
 forth some new nails, said to the young lion, Enter this house by this aperture, that I 
 may arch it over thee. The young lion therefore rejoiced at this, and advanced to the 
 aperture; hut he saw that it was narrow. The carpenter said to him, Enter, and 
 crouch down upon thy four legs. And the lion accordingly did so, and entered the 
 chest, hut his tail remained outside. He then desired to draw back and come forth ; 
 but the carpenter said to him, Wait, that I may see if it will admit thy tail with thee. 
 So the young lion complied with his directions ; and the carpenter, having folded the 
 young lion's tail, and stuffed it into the chest, placed the cover upon the aperture 
 quickly, and nailed it. The young lion cried out, saying, carpenter, what is this 
 narrow house that thou hast made for me ? Let me come forth from it. But the 
 carpenter replied, Far, far be it from thee ! Repentance for what hath passed will not 
 avaft ; for thou wilt not come forth from this place. Then the carpenter laughed, and 
 said to the young lion, Thou hast fallen into the cage, and become the basest of wild 
 beasts. O my brother, said the young lion, what is this discourse that thou addressest 
 to me ? Know O dog of the desert, replied the carpenter, that thou hast fallen into 
 the snare that thou fearedst : destiny hath overthrown thee, and caution will not avail 
 thee. So when the young lion heard his words; O my sister, he knew that he was the 
 son of Adam, against whom his father had cautioned him when he was awake, and the 
 invisible speaker in his sleep ; and 1 was convinced that this was he without doubt or 
 uncertainty. I therefore feared him greatly for myself, and, retiring to a little distance 
 from him, waited to see what he would do with the young lion. And I saw, O my 
 sister, the son of Adam dig a trench in that place, near the chest in which was the 
 young lion ; and he threw him into the trench, and threw wood upon him, and burnt 
 him with fire. So my fear, O my sister, increased ; and for two days I have been fleeing 
 from the son of Adam, in my fear of him. 
 
 " The peahen, when she heard these words from the duck, wondered at them 
 extremely, and said, O my sister, thou art now secure from the son of Adam ; for we 
 are in one of the islands of the sea, to which the son of Adam hath no way of access ; 
 therefore choose a residence with us until God make easy thy affair and ours. The 
 duck replied, I fear that some nocturnal calamity may befall me; and no fugitive slave 
 can detach himself from fate. But the peahen rejoined, Reside with us, and be like us. 
 And she continued to urge her until she did so ; and she said to the peahen, O my 
 sister, thou knowest how little is my patience ; and if I had not seen thee here, I had 
 not remained. The peahen replied, If anything be [written] on our forehead, we 
 must experience its accomplishment; 11 and when our predestined end approacheth, who 
 will deliver us ? A soul departeth not until it hath enjoyed the whole of its sustenance 
 
 11 This figurative expression lias given rise to written upon his skull in what we term the 
 a common vulgar belief of the Arabs, that the "sutures." 
 unchangeable destinies of every human being are 
 
54 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 and its decreed period. And while they were thus conversing, a cloud of dust approached 
 them ; whereupon the duck cried out, and descended into the sea, saying, Beware, be- 
 ware, though there be no refuge from destiny ! 12 The dust was great ; but as it subsided, 
 there appeared in the midst of it an antelope. So the duck and the peahen felt secure ; 
 and the latter said to the duck, O my sister, that which thou fearest is an antelope, 
 and see, he hath approached us : no harm will befall us from him ; for the antelope 
 eateth the herbs which spring from the earth j and as thou art of the genus of birds, 
 he is of the genus of wild beasts : therefore feel secure, and be not anxious ; since 
 anxiety wasteth the body. And the peahen had not finished her words when the 
 antelope came up to them to shade himself beneath the tree ; and on beholding the 
 peahen and the duck, he saluted them, and said to them, I have entered this island to- 
 day, and have seen no place more fruitful than it, nor any more pleasant as an abode- 
 He then invited them to keep him company and to treat him with sincere friendship ; 
 and when the duck and the peahen saw his affection for them, they addressed him 
 kindly, and became desirous of his society. They swore to be faithful friends, one to 
 another, and they passed the night together, and ate together. Thus they continued 
 in safety, eating and drinking, until there passed by them a vessel that was wandering 
 from its course in the sea. It anchored near them, and the people came forth, and 
 dispersed themselves in the island, and, seeing the antelope and the peahen and the 
 duck together, they approached them. So the antelope fled into the desert, and the 
 peahen soared into the sky ; but the duck remained infatuated, and they continued to 
 run after her until they captured her, when she cried out, saying, Caution is of no avail 
 to me against fate and destiny ! And they departed with her to their vessel." 
 
 The antelope and the peahen mourned incessantly for the loss of the duck, and con- 
 cluded that her unhappy end was occasioned by her neglecting to repeat the praises of 
 God ; for it is the general practice of everything that God hath created to celebrate his 
 praises, 13 and the neglect of doing so causeth its destruction. 
 
 , The Fable of the Fox and the Wolf. 
 
 " A fox and a wolf inhabited the same den, resorting thither together, and thus they 
 remained a long time. But the wolf oppressed the fox ; and it so happened that the 
 fox counselled the wolf to assume benignity, and to abandon wickedness, saying to him, 
 If thou persevere in thine arrogance, probably God will give power over thee to a son 
 of Adam ; for he is possessed of stratagems, and artifice, and guile : he captureth the 
 birds from the sky, and the fish from the sea, and cutteth the mountains and 
 transporteth them ; and all this he accomplished through his stratagems. Betake 
 thyself, therefore, to the practice of equity, and relinquish evil and oppression ; for it 
 
 12 " It is proper to be cautious and to flee : into destruction." (Note by the sheykh Moham- 
 itherwise it would be as if one threw himself mad 'Kiyad.) See Kur-Jfo, ch. ii. v. 191. 
 
 13 See Note 30 to the Introduction. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 55 
 
 will be more pleasant to thy taste. The wolf, however, received not his advice; on the 
 contrary, he returned him a rough reply, saying to him, Thou hast no right to speak on 
 matters of magnitude and importance. He then gave the fox such a blow that he fell 
 down senseless ; and when he recovered, he smiled in the wolf's face, apologizing for his 
 shameful words, and recited these two verses : 
 
 If I have been faulty in my affection for you, and committed a deed of a shameful nature, 
 
 I repent of my offence, and your clemency will extend to the evil-doer who craveth forgiveness. 1 * 
 
 So the wolf accepted his apology, and ceased from ill-treating him, but said to him, 
 Speak not of that which concerneth thee not, lest thou hear that which will not please 
 thee. The fox replied, I hear and obey. I will abstain from that which pleaseth thee 
 not ; for the sage hath said, Offer not information on a subject respecting which thou 
 art not questioned ; and reply not to words when thou art not invited ; leave what 
 concerneth thee not, to attend to that which doth concern thee ; and lavish not advice 
 upon the evil, for they will recompense thee for it with evil. And when the wolf heard 
 these words of the fox, he smiled in his face ; but he meditated upon employing some 
 artifice against him, and said, I must strive to effect the destruction of this fox. As to 
 the fox, however, he bore patiently the injurious conduct of the wolf, saying within 
 himself, Verily, insolence and calumny occasion destruction, and betray one into 
 perplexity; for it hath been said, He who is insolent suffereth injury, and he who is 
 ignorant repenteth, and he who feareth is safe : moderation is one of the qualifies of 
 the noble, and good manners are the noblest gain. It is advisable to behave with dis- 
 simulation towards this tyrant, and he will inevitably be overthrown. He then said to 
 the wolf, Verily the Lord pardoneth and becometh propitious unto his servant when he 
 hath sinned ; and I am a weak slave, and have committed a transgression in offering 
 thee advice. Had I foreknown the pain that I have suffered from thy blow, I had 
 known that the elephant could not withstand nor endure it ; but I will not complain of the 
 pain of that blow, on account of the happiness that hath resulted unto me from it ; for, 
 if it had a severe effect upon me, its result was happiness ; and the sage hath said, The 
 beating inflicted by the preceptor is at first extremely grievous ; but in the end it is 
 sweeter than clarified honey. So the wolf said, I forgive thine offence, and cancel thy 
 fault ; but beware of my power, and confess thyself my slave ; for thou hast experienced 
 my severity unto him who sheweth me hostility. The fox, therefore, prostrated himself 
 before him, saying to him, May God prolong thy life, and mayest thou not cease to 
 subdue him who opposeth thee ! And he continued to fear the wolf, and to dissemble 
 towards him. 
 
 " After this, the fox went one day to a vineyard, and saw in its wall a breach ; but 
 he suspected it, saying within himself, There must be some cause for this breach ; and 
 it hath been said, Whoso seeth a hole in the ground, and doth not shun it, and be 
 cautious of advancing to it boldly, exposeth himself to danger and destruction. It is 
 well known that some men make a figure of the fox in the vineyard, and even put 
 before it grapes in plates, in order that a fox may see it, and advance to it, and fall 
 into destruction. Verily I regard this breach as a snare; and it hath been said, 
 Caution is the half of cleverness. Caution requireth me to examine this breach, and to 
 see if I can find there anything that may lead to perdition. Covetousness doth not 
 induce me to throw myself into destruction. He then approached it, and, going round 
 about examining it warily, beheld it ; and lo, there was a deep pit, which the owner of 
 the vineyard had dug to catch in it the wild beasts that despoiled the vines ; and he 
 observed over it a slight covering. So he drew back from it, and said, Praise be to God 
 that I regarded it with caution ! I hope that my enemy, the wolf, who hatli made my 
 life miserable, may fall into it ; so that I alone may enjoy absolute power over the vine- 
 
 i* This couplet, slightly varied, occurs again, in the story of the Prince Kamar-ez-Zcman and the 
 Princess Budoor. 
 
5fi 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 yard, and live in it securely ! Then, shaking his head, and uttering a loud laugh, he 
 merrily sang these verses : 
 
 Would that I beheld at the present moment, in this well, a wolf 
 Who hath long afflicted my heart, and made me drink bitterness perforce ! 
 Would that my life may be spared, and that the wolf may meet his death ! 
 Then the vineyard will be free from his presence, and 1 shall find in it my spoil. 
 
 Having finished his song, he hurried away until he came to the wolf, when he said to 
 him, Verily God hath smoothed for thee the way to the vineyard without fatigue. 
 This hath happened through thy good fortune. Mayest thou enjoy, therefore, that to 
 which God hath granted thee access, in smoothing thy way to that plunder and that 
 abundant sustenance without any difficulty ! So the wolf said to the fox. What is the 
 proof of that which thou hast declared ? The fox answered, I went to the vineyard, 
 and found that its owner had died ; and I entered the garden, and beheld the fruits 
 shining upon the trees. 
 
 " So the wolf doubted not the words of the fox, and in his eagerness he arose, and 
 went to the breach. His cupidity had deceived him with vain hopes, and the fox 
 stopped and fell down behind him as one dead, applying this verse as a proverb suited 
 to the case : 
 
 Dost thou covet an interview with Leyla? 15 It is covetousness that causeth the loss of men's 
 heads. 
 
 And when the wolf came to the breach, the fox said to him, Enter the vineyard ; for 
 thou art spared the trouble of breaking down the wall of the garden, and it remaineth 
 
 for God to complete the benefit. So the wolf walked forward, desiring to enter the 
 vineyard, and when he came to the middle of the covering of the hole, he fell into it ; 
 whereupon the fox was violently excited by happiness and joy; his anxiety and grief 
 ceased, and, in merry tones, he sang these verses : 
 
 Fortune hath compassionated my case, and felt pity for the length of my torment, 
 
 And granted me what I desired, and removed that which I dreaded. 
 
 1 will therefore forgive its offences committed in former times ; 
 
 Even the injustice it hath shewn in the turning of my hair gray. 
 
 There is no escape for the wolf from utter annihilation ; 
 
 And the vineyard is for me alone, and I have no stupid partner. 
 
 He then looked into the pit, and beheld the wolf weeping in his repentance and sorrow 
 for himself, and the fox wept with him. So the wolf raised his head towards him, and 
 said, Is it from thy compassion for me that thou hast wept, O Abu-l-Hoseyn? 1 " No, 
 
 " Leyla " is a common proper-name of women. which is in those parts applied to the jackal ; but 
 
 16 "Abu-1-Hoseyn " is a surname commonly 
 piven to the fox; and in some parts, an appellation 
 always given to that animal instead of "thaalab," 
 
 I believe that these two animals are often mis- 
 taken, one for the other. It signifies " Father (i. e. 
 occupant) of the little fortress." 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 57 
 
 answered the fox; by Him who cast thee into this pit; but I wept for the length of 
 thy past life, and in my regret at thy not having fallen into this pit before the present 
 day. Hadst thou fallen into it before I met with thee, I had experienced refreshment 
 and ease. But thou hast been spared to the expiration of thy decreed term and known 
 period. The wolf, however, said to him, Go, O evil-doer, to my mother, and acquaint 
 her with that which hath happened to me : perhaps she will contrive some means for 
 my deliverance. But the fox replied, The excess of thy covetousness and eager desire 
 have entrapped thee into destruction, since thou hast fallen into a pit from which thou 
 wilt never be saved. Knowest thou not, O ignorant wolf, that the author of the pro- 
 verb saith, He who thinketh not of results will not be secure from perils ? O Abu-1- 
 Hoseyn, rejoined the wolf, thou wast wont to manifest an affection for me, and to desire 
 my friendship, and fear the greatness of my power. Be not, then, rancorous towards 
 me for that which I have done unto thee ; for he who hath one in his power and yet 
 forgiveth will receive a recompense from God ; and the poet hath said, 
 
 Sow good, even on an unworthy soil ; for it will not be fruitless wherever it is sown. 
 Verily, good, though it remain long buried, none will reap but he who sowed it. 17 
 
 O most ignorant of the beasts of prey, said the fox, and most stupid of the wild beasts 
 of the regions of the earth, hast thou forgotten thy haughtiness and insolence and pride, 
 and thy disregarding the rights of companionship, and thy refusing to be advised by 
 the saying of the poet ? 
 
 Tyrannize not, if thou hast the power to do so; for the tyrannical is in danger of revenges. 
 Thine eye will sleep while the oppressed, wakeful, will call down curses on thee, and God's eye 
 sleepeth not. 18 
 
 O Abu-1-Hoseyn, exclaimed the wolf, be not angry with me for my former offences; 
 for forgiveness is required of the generous, and kind conduct is among the best means 
 of enriching oneself. How excellent is the saying of the poet ! 
 
 Haste to do good when thou art able ; for at every season thou hast not the power. 
 " He continued to abase himself to the fox, and said to him, Perhaps thou canst find 
 some means of delivering me from destruction. But the fox replied, O artful, guileful, 
 treacherous wolf, hope not for deliverance ; for this is the recompense of thy base con- 
 duct, and a just retaliation. Then shaking his jaws with laughing, he recited these 
 two verses : 
 
 No longer attempt to beguile me ; for thou wilt not attain thine object. 
 
 What thou seekest from me is impossible. Thou hast sown, and reap then, vexation. 
 
 O gentle one among the beasts of prey, resumed the wolf, thou art in my estimation 
 more faithful than to leave me in this pit! He then shed tears, and repeated this 
 couplet : 
 
 O thou whose favours to me have been many, and whose gifts have been more than can be 
 
 numbered ! 
 No misfortune hath ever yet befallen me but I have v'ound thee ready to aid me in it. 
 
 The fox replied, O stupid enemy, how art thou reduced to humility and submissiveness, 
 and abjection and obsequiousness, after thy disdain and pride, and tyranny and haughti- 
 ness ! I kept company with thee through fear of thine oppression, and flattered thee 
 without a hope of conciliating thy kindness ; but now, terror hath affected thee, and 
 punishment hath overtaken thee. And he recited these two verses : 
 
 O thou who seekest to beguile, thou hast fallen in thy base intention. 
 Taste, then, the pain of shameful calamity, and be with other wolves cut off. 
 
 The wolf still entreated him, saying, O gentle one, speak not with the tongue of 
 
 17 The first verse of this couplet occurs in p. 50 18 This couplet, slightly varied, occurs in Vol. I 
 
 of Vol. I. : and four of the verses next preceding p. 240. I do not note every repetition of this kind, 
 
 occur again, in the story of Hasan of El-lJasrah. because all the verses are quotations. 
 
 II. I 
 
68 NOTES TO CHAFFER NINTH. 
 
 enmity, nor look with its eye ; but fulfil the covenant of fellowship with me before the 
 time for discovering a remedy shall have passed. Arise and procure for me a rope, and 
 tie one end of it to a tree, and let down to me its other end, that 1 may lay hold of it. 
 Perhaps I may so escape from my present predicament, and I will give thee all the 
 treasures that I possess. The fox. however, replied, Thou hast prolonged a conversation 
 that will not procure thy liberation. Hope not, therefore, for thine escape through my 
 means ; but reflect upon thy former wicked conduct, and the perfidy and artifice which 
 thou thoughtest to employ against me. and how near thou art to being stoned. Know 
 that thy soul is about to quit the world, and to perish and depart from it: then wilt 
 thou be reduced to destruction ; and an evil abode is it to which thou goest ! O Abu-1- 
 Hoseyn, rejoined the wolf, be ready in returning to friendship, and be not so rancorous. 
 Know that he who delivereth a soul from destruction hath saved it alive, and he who 
 saveth a soul alive is as if he had saved the lives of all mankind. 19 Follow not a course 
 of evil ; for the wise abhor it ; and there is no evil more manliest than my being in this 
 pit, drinking the suffocating pains of death, and looking upon destruction, when thou 
 art able to deliver me from the misery into which I have fallen. But the fox exclaimed, 
 O thou barbarous, hard-hearted wretch ! I compare thee, with respect to the fairness 
 of thy professions and the baseness of thine intention, to the falcon with the partridge. 
 And what, asked the wolf, is the story of the falcon and the partridge ? 
 
 " The fox answered, I entered a vineyard one day to eat of its grapes, and while I 
 was there, I beheld a falcon pounce upon a partridge; but when he had captured him, 
 the partridge escaped from him and entered his nest, and concealed himself in it ; 
 whereupon the falcon followed him, calling out to him, O idiot, I saw thee in the desert 
 hungry, and, feeling compassion for thee, I gathered for thee some grain, and took hold 
 of thee that thou mightest eat ; but thou fieddest from me, and I see no reason for thy 
 flight unless it be to mortify. Shew thyself, then, and take the grain that I have 
 brought thee, and eat it, and may it be light and wholesome to thee. So when the 
 partridge heard these words of the falcon, he believed him and came forth to him ; and 
 the falcon stuck his talons into him, and got possession of him. The partridge, there- 
 fore, said to him, Is this that of which thou saidst that thou hadst brought it for me 
 from the desert, and of which thou saidst to me, Eat it, and may it be light and whole- 
 some to thee ? Thou hast lied unto me ; and may God make that which thou eatest of 
 my flesh to be a mortal poison in thy stomach. And when he had eaten it, his feathers 
 fell off, and his strength failed, and he forthwith died. 
 
 " The fox then continued. Know, O wolf, that he who diggeth a pit for his brother 
 soon falleth into it himself; and thou behavedst with perfidy to me first. Cease, 
 replied the wolf, from addressing me with this discourse, and propounding fables, and 
 mention not unto me my former base actions. It is enough for me to be in this 
 miserable state since I have fallen into a calamity for which the enemy would pity me ; 
 much more the true friend. Consider some stratagem by means of which I may save 
 myself, and so assist me. If the doing this occasion thee trouble, thou knowest that 
 
 19 These words, "and he who ssveth," ic , are from the Kur-an, oh. v. v. 35. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 59 
 
 the true friend endureth for his own true friend the severest labour, and will suffer 
 destruction in obtaining the means of his deliverance ; and it hath been said, An 
 affectionate friend is better than. an own brother. If thou procure means for my 
 escape, I will collect for thee such things as shall be a store for thee against the time of 
 want, and then I will teach thee extraordinary stratagems by which thou shalt'nilke 
 the plenteous vineyards accessible, and shalt strip the fruitful trees: so be happy and 
 cheerful. But the fox said, laughing as he spoke, How excellent is that which the 
 learned have said of him who is excessively ignorant like thee. And what have the 
 learned said ? asked the wolf. The fox answered, The learned have observed, that the 
 rude in body and in disposition is far from intelligence, and nigh unto ignorance; for 
 thine assertion, O perfidious idiot, that the true friend undergoeth trouble for the 
 deliverance of his own true friend, is just, as thou hast said ; but acquaint me with 
 thine ignorance, and thy paucity of sense, how I should bear sincere friendship towards 
 thee with thy treachery. Hast thou considered me a true friend unto thee, when 1 am 
 an enemy who rejoiceth in thy misfortune ? These words are more severe than the 
 piercing of arrows, if thou understand. And as to thy saying that thou wilt give 
 me such things as will be a store for me against the time of want, and wilt teach me 
 stratagems by which I shall obtain access to the plenteous vineyards, and strip the 
 fruitful trees how is it, O guileful traitor, that thou knowest not a stratagem by 
 means of which to save thyself from destruction ? How far, then, art thou from 
 profiting thyself, and how far am I from receiving thine advice ! If thou know of 
 stratagems, employ them to save thyself from this predicament, from which I pray God 
 to make thine escape far distant. See then, O idiot, if thou know any stratagem, and 
 save thyself by its means from slaughter, before thou lavish instruction upon another. 
 But thou art like a man whom a disease attacked, and to whom there came a man 
 suffering from the same disease to cure him, saying to him, Shall I cure thee of thy 
 disease ? The first man therefore said to the other, Why hast thou not begun by curing 
 thyself? So he left him and went his way. And thou, O wolf, art in the same case. 
 Remain then in thy place, and endure that which hath befallen thee. 
 
 " Now when the wolf heard these words of the fox, he knew that he had no kindly 
 feeling for him ; so he wept for himself, and said, I have been careless of myself; but if 
 God deliver me from this affliction, I will assuredly repent of my overbearing conduct 
 unto him who is weaker than I ; and I will certainly wear wool,- and ascend the 
 mountains, commemorating the praises of God (whose name be exalted !), and fearing 
 his punishment : and I will separate myself from all the other wild beasts ; and verily 
 I will feed the warriours in defence of the religion, and the poor. Then he wept and 
 lamented. And thereupon the heart of the fox was moved with tenderness for him. 
 On hearing his humble expressions, and the words which indicated his repenting of 
 arrogance and pride, he was affected with compassion for him, and, leaping with joy, 
 placed himself at the brink of the pit, and sat upon his hind legs, and hung down his 
 tail into the cavity. And upon this, the wolf arose, and stretched forth his paw 
 towards the fox's tail, and pulled him down to him : so the fox was with him in the 
 pit. The wolf then said to him, fox of little compassion, wherefore didst thou rejoice 
 in my misfortune ? Now thou hast become my companion, and in my power. Thou 
 hast fallen into the pit with me, and punishment hath quickly overtaken thee. The 
 sages have said, If any one of you reproach his brother for deriving his nourishment 
 from miserable means, he shall experience the same necessity : and how excellent is 
 the saying of the poet ! 
 
 When Fortune throweth itself heavily upon some, and encampeth by the side of others, 
 Say to those who rejoice over us, Awake : the rejoieers over us shall suffer as we have done. 
 
 20 I will wear wool, which is the distinguishing common custom of the religious devotees among 
 costume of the Soot'cs and AVclers. (Maririnul thu Muslims to wear woollen garments 
 note by the shcykh Mohammad 'Eiyad.) It is a 
 
60 NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 I must now, he continued, hasten thy slaughter, hefore thou behold mine. So the fox 
 said within himself, I have fallen into the snare with this tyrant, and my present case 
 requireth the employment of artifice and frauds. It hath been said, that the woman 
 maketh her ornaments for the day of festivity ; and, in a proverb, I have not reserved 
 thfte, O my tear, but for the time of my difficulty : and if I employ not some stratagem 
 in the afi'air of this tyrannical wild beast, I perish inevitably. How good is the saying 
 of the poet ! 
 
 Support thyself by guile ; for thou livest in an age whose sons are like the lions of a forest ; 
 And brandish around the spear of artifice, that the mill of subsistence may revolve; 
 And pluck the fruits; or if they be beyond thy reach, then content thyself with herbage. 
 
 " He then said to the wolf, Hasten not to kill me, lest thou repent, O courageous 
 wild beast, endowed with might and excessive fortitude. If thou delay, and consider 
 what I am about to tell thee, thou wilt know the desire that I formed ; and if thou 
 hasten to kill me, there will be no profit to thee in thy doing so ; but we shall die here 
 together . So the wolf said, O thou wily deceiver, how is it that thou hopest to effect 
 my safety and thine own, that thou askest me to give thee a delay ? Acquaint me 
 with the desire that thou formedst. The fox replied, As to the desire that I formed, it 
 was such as requireth thee to recompense me for it well ; since, when 1 heard thy 
 promises, and thy confession of thy past conduct, and thy regret at not having before 
 repented, and done good, and when I heard thy vows to abstain from injurious conduct 
 to thy companions and others, and to relinquish the eating of the grapes and all other 
 fruits, and to impose upon thyself the obligation of humility, and clipping thy claws, 
 and breaking thy dog-teeth, and to wear wool, and offer sacrifice to God (whose name 
 be exalted ! ;, if He delivered thee from thy present state, I was affected with compas- 
 sion for thee, though I was before longing for thy destruction. So when I heard thy 
 profession of repentance, and what thou vowedst to do if God delivered thee, I felt 
 constrained to save thee from thy present predicament. I therefore hung down my 
 tail that thou mightest catch hold of it and make thine escape. But thou wouldst not 
 relinquish thy habit of severity and violence, nor desire escape and safety for thyself by 
 gentleness. On the contrary, thou pulledst me in such a manner that I thought my 
 soul had departed : so I became a companion with thee in the abode of destruction and 
 death ; and nothing will effect the escape of myself and thee but one plan. If thou 
 approve of this plan that I have to propose, we shall both save ourselves ; and after 
 that, it will be incumbent on thee to fulfil that which thou hast vowed to do, and I 
 will be thy companion. So the wolf said, And what is thy proposal that I am to 
 accept ? The fox answered, That thou raise thyself upright ; then I will place myself 
 upon thy head, that I may approach the surface of the earth, and when I am upon its 
 surface I will go forth and bring thee something of which to take hold, and after that 
 thou wilt deliver thyself. But the wolf replied, I put no confidence in thy words ; for 
 the sages have said, He who confideth when he should hate, is in error : and it hath 
 been said, He who confideth in the faithless is deceived, and he who maketh trial of 
 the trier will repent, and he who distinguisheth not between circumstances, and 
 attributeth to each its proper success, but regardeth all circumstances alike, his fortune 
 will be small, and his calamities will be many. How excellent also is the saying of the 
 poet ! 
 
 Let not your opinion be otherwise than evil ; for ill opinion is among the strongest of intellectual 
 
 qualities. 
 Xothing easteth a man into a place of danger like the practice of good, and a fair opinion. 
 
 And the saying of another : 
 
 Always hold an evil opinion, and so be safe. Whoso liveth vigilantly, his calamities will be few. 
 Meet the enemy with a smiling and an open face ; but raise for him an army in the heart to combat 
 him. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 61 
 
 And that of another : 21 
 
 The most bitter of thine enemies is the nearest whom thou trustest in : beware then of men, and 
 
 associate with them wilily. 
 Thy favourable opinion of fortune is a weakness : think evil of it, therefore, and regard it with 
 
 apprehension. 
 
 Verily, rejoined the fox, an evil opinion is not commendable in every case ; but a 
 fair opinion is among the characteristics of excellence, and its result is escape from 
 terrors. It is befitting, wolf, that thou employ some stratagem for thine escape from 
 , thy present predicament ; and it will be better for us both to escape than to die. 
 Relinquish, therefore, thine evil opinion and thy malevolence ; for if thou think 
 favourably of me, I shall not fail to do one of two things : either I shall bring thee 
 something of which to lay hold, and thou wilt escape from thy present situation, or I 
 shall act perfidiously towards thee, and save myself and leave thee ; but this is a thing 
 that cannot be ; for I am not secure from meeting with some such affliction as that 
 which thou hast met with, and that would be the punishment of perfidy. It hath been 
 said in a proverb, Fidelity is good, and perfidy is base. It is fit, then, that thou trust 
 iu me ; for I have not been ignorant of misfortunes. Delay not, therefore, to contrive 
 our escape ; for the affair is too strait for thee to prolong thy discourse upon it. 
 
 " The wolf then said, Verily, notwithstanding my little confidence in thy fidelity, I 
 knew what was in thy heart, that thou desiredst my deliverance when thou wast con- 
 vinced of my repentance ; and I said within myself, If he be veracious in that which he 
 asserteth, he hath made amends for his wickedness ; and if he be false, he will be 
 recompensed by his Lord. So now I accept thy proposal to me ; and if thou act per- 
 fidiously towards me, thy perfidy will be the means of thy destruction. Then the wolf 
 raised himself upright in the pit, and took the fox upon his shoulders, so that his head 
 reached the surface of the ground. The fox thereupon sprang from the wolfs shoulders, 
 and found himself upon the face of the earth, when he fell down senseless. The wolf 
 now said to him, O my friend, forget not my case, nor delay my deliverance. 
 
 " The fox, however, uttered a loud laugh, and replied, O thou deceived; it was 
 nothing but my jesting with thee and deriding thee that entrapped me into thy power; 
 for when I heard thy profession of repentance, joy excited me, and I was moved with 
 delight, and danced, and my tail hung down into the pit ; so thou pulledst me, and I 
 fell down to thee. Then God (whose name be exalted !) delivered me from thy hand. 
 Wherefore, then, should I not aid in thy destruction, when thou art of the associates of 
 the Devil ? Know that I dreamt yesterday that I was dancing at thy wedding, and I 
 related the dream to an interpreter, who said to me, Thou wilt fall into a frightful 
 danger, and escape from it. So I knew that my falling into thy power and my escape 
 was the interpretation of my dream. Thou too knowest, O deceived idiot, that I am 
 thine enemy. How then dost thou hope, with thy little sense and thine ignorance, 
 that I will deliver thee, when thou hast heard what rude language I used ? And how 
 shall I endeavour to deliver thee, when the learned have said, that by the death of the 
 sinner are produced ease to mankind and purgation of the earth. Did I not fear that 
 I should suffer, by fidelity to thee, such affliction as would be greater than that which 
 may result from perfidy, I would consider upon means for thy deliverance. So when 
 the wolf heard the words of the fox, he bit his paw in repentance. 22 He then spoke 
 softly to him ; but obtained nothing thereby. With a low voice he said to him, Verily, 
 you tribe of foxes are the sweetest of people in tongne, and the most pleasant in jesting; 
 and this is jesting in thee; but every time is not convenient for sport and joking. O 
 
 21 Et-Tughraee, the author of the " L&neeyet The action denoted by the former expression I 
 
 el- Ajam." (Marginal note by the sheykh >Io- have witnessed on more than one occasion. A 
 
 hammad 'Eiyiid.) friend of mine in Cairo had a frequent habit of 
 
 52 " Biting one's hand " is a common expression doing thus in jest, 
 of th,} Arabs, similar to ours of " biting one's lip." 
 
62 NOTES TO CHAPTEH NINTH. 
 
 idiot, replied the fox, jesting hath a limit which its employer transgresseth not. Think 
 not that God will give thee possession of me after He hath delivered me from thy 
 power. The wolf then said to him, Thou art one in whom it is proper to desire my 
 liberation, on account of the former brotherhood and friendship that subsisted between 
 us ; and if thou deliver me, I will certainly recompense thee well. But. the fox replied, 
 The sages have said, Take not as thy brother the ignorant and wicked ; for he will 
 disgrace thee, and not honour thee : and take not as thy brother the liur ; for if good 
 proceed from thee he will hide it, and if evil proceed from thee he will publish it. And 
 the sages have said, For everything there is a stratagem, except death ; and everything 
 may be rectified, except the corruption of the very essence; and everything may be 
 repelled, except destiny. And as to the recompense that thou assertest I deserve of 
 thee, I compare thee, in thy recompensing, to the serpent fleeing from the Hawee, 23 
 when a man saw her in a state of terror, and said to her, What is the matter with thee. 
 O serpent ? She answered, I have fled from the Hawee ; for he seeketh me ; and if 
 thou deliver me from him, and conceal me with thee, I will recompense thee well and 
 do thee every kindness. So the man took her, to obtain the reward, and eager for the 
 recompense, and put her into his pocket ; and when the Hawee had passed and gone 
 his way, and what she feared had quitted her, the man said to her, Where is the 
 recompense ? for I have saved thee from that which thou fearedst and dreadedst. But 
 the serpent answered him, Tell me in what member I shall bite thee ; for thou knowest 
 that we exceed not this recompense. She then inflicted upon him a bite from which he 
 died. And thee, O idiot, continued the fox, I compare to that serpent with that man. 
 Hast thou not heard the saying of the poet ? 
 
 Trust not a person in whose heart thou hast made auger to dwell ; nor think his anger hath 
 
 ceased. 
 Verily, the vipers, which are smooth to the touch, and shew graceful motions, hide mortal poison. 
 
 O eloquent and comely-faced animal, rejoined the wolf, be not ignorant of my condi- 
 tion, and of the fear with which mankind regard me. Thou knowest that I assault the 
 strong places, and strip the vines. Do, therefore, what I have commanded thee, and 
 attend to me as the slave attendeth to his master. O ignorant idiot, who seekest what 
 is vain, exclaimed the fox, verily I wonder at thy stupidity, and at the roughness of 
 thy manner, in thine ordering me to serve thee and to stand before thee as though I 
 were thy slave. But thou shalt soon see what will befall thee, by the splitting of thy 
 head with stones, and the breaking of thy treacherous dog-teeth. 
 
 "The fox then stationed himself upon a mound overlooking the vineyard, and cried 
 out incessantly to the people of the vineyard until they perceived him and came quickly 
 to him. He remained steady before them until they drew near unto him and unto the 
 pit in which was the wolf, and then he fled. So the owners of the vineyard looked 
 into the pit, and when they beheld the wolf in it, they instantly pelted him with heavy 
 stones, and continued throwing stones and pieces of wood upon him, and piercing him 
 with the points of spears, until they killed him, when they departed. Then the fox 
 returned to the pit, and, standing over the place of the wolf's slaughter, saw him dead ; 
 whereupon he shook his head in the excess of his joy, and recited these verses: 
 
 Fate removed the wolfs soul, and it w as snatched away. Far distant [from happiness] be his soul 
 
 that hath perished ! 
 How long hast thou striven, Aboo-Sirhan, 24 to destroy me ! But now have burning calamities 
 
 befallen thee. 
 Thou hast fallen into a pit into which none shall descend without finding in it the blasts of 
 
 death. 
 
 " 3 The Hawee is a performer of sleight-of-hand I have described in my work on the Modern 
 tricks, and various feats with serpents, &c., which Egyptians, vol. ii. ch. vii. 
 24 This is an appellation of the wolf. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 63 
 
 After this, the fox remained in the vineyard, alone and in security, fearing no 
 
 mischief." 
 
 XOTE 2. In several copies, and perhaps in most, this person is called an " 'Attar," 
 which appellation is generally given not merely to a seller of essences, but to a druggist 
 and perfumer. 
 
 NOTE 3. The word which I here render " Persians '' (namely " 'Ajam ") is applied 
 to any and all people who are not Arabs ; but often to the Persians in particular ; and 
 this seems to be here required by the subsequent expression of the King of the 'Ajam. 
 Here I may also remark, that the phrase " of the sons of the Kings," &c., is often used 
 to signify " of the descendants of the Kings,'' &c. ; and that it would have been more con- 
 sistent to have employed this phrase, as applied to 'Alee the son of Bekkar, in a later 
 passage, instead of "son of the King;" for he is not distinguished in the story as a 
 Prince. 
 
 NOTE 4. On the Custom of frequenting Shops for the sake of Amusement. It is 
 perfectly consistent with Arab manners and customs, as existing in the present day and 
 as exhibited in histories, to describe Abu-1-Hasan as keeping company with the 
 Khaleefeh, and 'Alee the son of Bekkar as being in the habit of sitting at Abu-1-Hasan's 
 shop. Among the Muslims in general, trade is far more honourable than it is in the 
 estimation of a large proportion of the independent classes in this country; so much so, 
 that it is regarded by the former as disgraceful in a man, however high his rank, or 
 great his wealth, not to be able, by some occupation, as the profession of arms or of 
 literature or science, or by some trade or art, to procure his subsistence in case of 
 necessity : therefore the pursuit of trade excludes no man of good breeding among 
 them from the society of his superiors in rank. But the free intercourse of different 
 ranks of Muslims is further and very greatly promoted by the law of the separation of 
 the sexes ; persons being thus enabled to associate with each other, regardless of 
 difference of wealth or station, without the risk of occasioning unequal matrimonial 
 connections : so this law, being felt by neither sex as oppressive, is regarded by them 
 as productive of results which constitute the Muslim's chief enjoyments, the highest 
 degree of domestic comfort, and the most free and extensive society with his fellow - 
 men. Thus it is with both sexes ; and neither would give up the pleasure that they 
 hence derive for a different system of society, somewhat extending their domestic inter- 
 course, but often destroying the pleasures of home, and contracting into a compass 
 comparatively narrow the fellowship which they enjoy abroad. 
 
 The Arabs in general seldom give entertainments except on particular occasions, 
 such as that of a marriage, or a circumcision ; and hence, as well as for the reasons 
 above stated, a shop is often frequented for the purpose of passing time in agreeable 
 conversation. For women to do this, in the present day, is not considered decent ; bnt 
 they have their places of resort as well as the other sex : with them, a visit to the bath 
 is a much longer and more social affair than it is with the men : and there they indulge 
 in free conversation with strangers of their own sex. In their visits to their friends 
 
64 NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 and relations, also, they have an advantage over the men ; for not only are these visits 
 frequent, but all the female inmates of a house generally accompany the mistress, the 
 stay is often prolonged from an early hour until near sunset, and the guests are 
 liberally and merrily entertained. But I must return to the shop.- Much of the 
 pleasure and much of the profit that I derived while living in Cairo was obtained at 
 the shops of persons with whom I was acquainted, and at those of strangers. The 
 reader of the present work has a sufficient notion of the general construction of Arab 
 shops to see that a person seated on the mastabah may enjoy at the same time conver- 
 sation with the owner, and perhaps with other visitors, and a close and unobstructed 
 view of whatever is passing in the street. I regret that I did not often adopt the 
 proper means of preserving a complete recollection of what I heard and witnessed at 
 places of this kind: had I done so, I might here offer to the reader something more 
 entertaining than the following extract from a journal in which I sometimes, when in 
 an idle mood, wrote the occurrences of the day, during my second visit to Egypt. 
 
 Oct. 27th (1834). I generally pay a visit to the shop of the Basha's booksellers 
 (two persons employed to sell the books which are printed at the government -press) on 
 the mornings of Monday and Thursday, when auction-markets are held in the street 
 where the shop is situate, and in the neighbouring mart called Khan El-Khaleelee 25 
 (the chief Turkish bazar), occasioning the street to be much crowded, and to present 
 an amusing scene ; but I am often more amused with the persons who frequent the shop 
 where I take my seat. I found there, to-day, an old man, a celebrated character, whose 
 name I must not mention : he had been possessed of large property ; but the greater 
 part of it had been confiscated ; he, however, had contrived to hide much of his wealth, 
 and has since employed friends to trade with it privately ; so that he has still a large 
 income; one-third of which he always gives to the poor! The elder of the two book- 
 sellers was relating his having just purchased a house. There lived next door to him, 
 he said, a fikee, 36 a member of the Azhar, and of some repute, to whom belonged four- 
 teen keerats (or twenty-fourth parts) of the house in which he (the fikee) lodged : the 
 other ten keerats of this house were the property of a tailor. The bookseller's house 
 was entered, from the roof, and plundered, three times, of wheat, butter, &c. ; and the 
 fikee was accused by him of having committed these thefts, and confessed that he had ; 
 urging, in palliation, that he had only taken his food. The bookseller caused him to be 
 imprisoned in the citadel ; and, after he had been confined there many days, offered to 
 procure his liberation if he would sell to him his share of the house. This was done : 
 it was sold for six purses and a half. 2 ' The bookseller then desired to possess himself 
 of the tailor's share, and proposed to him to repair or separate or sell ; for the house 
 was in a very dilapidated state ; but he refused to comply with any one of these requisi- 
 tions : he was therefore summoned to the court of the Kadee, and compelled to sell his 
 share ; for which he demanded five purses. Having received this sum of money, he 
 met, on his way home, a friend, whom he told what he had done. "0 fool!" said the 
 friend : ." thou mightest have asked ten purses, and it would have been given." And 
 the tailor no sooner heard these words than he threw down the bag in the middle of 
 the street, kicked oft' his shoes, and for several minutes continued slapping his face, and 
 crying out like a woman, "O my sorrow!" He then snatched up the bag, and ran 
 away with it, crying in the same manner all the way, and leaving his friend to follow 
 
 25 EMIakreezee Bays that this Khan was built I ought to have referred the reader in an earlier 
 
 by El-Khaleelee in the latter half of the eighth page, as it presents a series of remarkably-faithful 
 
 century of the Flight, on the site of the burial- pictures of Arab and Turkish female society. 
 
 ground of the Fatimee Khaleefehs, whose bones ED. 
 
 were thrown upon the mounds of rubbish out- 26 This is the common appellation of a person of 
 
 side the city. This and other interesting facts of the inferior class of professors of religion and law. 
 
 the same kind relating to Cairo and the history of 2 " A purse is the sum of five hundred piasters : 
 
 Egypt under Muslim domination have been given it was then equivalent exactly to five pounds 
 
 in the " Englishwoman in Egypt," a work to which sterling. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 65 
 
 him with his shoes. Soon after the bookseller had told this story, there joined us a 
 Persian darweesh, whom I had often met there before, and a fat, merry -look ing, red- 
 faced man, loaded with ragged clothing, shewing the edge of a curly head of hair below 
 his turban, and carrying a long staff. Everybody at the shop, except myself, kissed his 
 hand : he offered his hand to me, and, after taking it, I kissed my own ; and he did the 
 like. I was Informed that he was a celebrated welee, or saint. He took snuff, smoked 
 from my pipe, and had a constant smile upon his countenance ; though he seldom 
 spoke : almost the only words that he uttered were a warm commendation of an answer 
 which I gave to the Persian ; 011 his (the Persian's) asking me why 1 had not already 
 departed from Cairo, as I had intended, I said that the servant of God was passive, 
 and not elective ; and this sentiment, though common, seemed much to please the 
 welee : he repeated it with emphasis. There next joined us a man of a very respectable 
 and intelligent appearance, applying for a copy of the sheykh Rifa'ah's account of his 
 visit to France, lately printed at Boolak. Asking what were the general contents of 
 this book, a person present answered him, that the author relates his voyage from 
 Alexandria to Marseilles ; how he got drunk on board the ship, and was tied to the 
 mast and flogged ; that he ate pork in the land of infidelity and obstinacy, and that it 
 is a most excellent meat ; how he was delighted with the French girls, and how superior 
 they are in charms to the women of Egypt ; and, having qualified himself, by'every accom- 
 plishment, for an eminent place in Hell, returned to his native country. This was an 
 ironical quizz on the sheykh Rifa'ah, for his strict, conscientious adherence to the pre- 
 cepts of El-Islam during his voyage, and his residence in France. The applicant for 
 this book had a cataract in each of his eyes ; and I advised him to seek relief from the 
 French surgeon Clot Bey ; but he said that he was afraid to go to the hospital ; for he 
 had heard that many patients there were killed and boiled, to make skeletons : he 
 afterwards, however, on my assuring him that his fears were groundless, promised to 
 go. While I was talking with him, there began to pass by the shop a long funeral- 
 train, consisting of numerous fikees, and many of the eminent 'Ulama. On my asking 
 whose funeral it was, I was answered, "The Sheykh El-Menzelawee," Sheykh of the 
 Saadeeyeh darweeshes. I was surprised, having seen him a few days before in 
 apparently good health. Presently I saw him walking in the funeral-procession : so I 
 asked again; but was answered as before. "Why," said I, "praise be to God, the 
 Sheykh is walking with you, in good health." I was then told that the deceased was 
 his wife. Some Saadeeyeh in the procession were performing a zikr as they passed 
 along ; repeating the word " Allah !" When the bier came in view, I heard the women 
 who followed uttering their zaghareet, or cries of joy, instead of lamenting; for the 
 deceased was' a famous saint. She was the sister of the late Sheykh of the Saadeeyeh ; 
 and it is believed that her husband, the present Sheykh, derives his miraculous powers 
 from her. It is said that she prophesied, yesterday, the exact hour of her death this 
 day. The women began to lament when the corpse left the house ; and, as is usually 
 the case when this is done at the funeral of a saint, the bearers declared that they could 
 not move it : as soon as the lamentations were changed to the cries of joy, the bearers 
 pretended to find their work quite easy. 
 
 NOTE 5. " Shems-en-Nahar " signifies " the Sun of Day." 
 
 NOTE 6. The masculine seems to be here used for the feminine gender. See Note 
 36 to Chapter viii. 
 
 NOTE 7. See Note 25 to Chapter vi , on the modern custom of shaving the head. 
 
 NOTE 8. In this verse, the wine-cup is compared to the sun, the teeth of the cup- 
 bearer are likened to the Pleiades, and his face is compared to the full moon. 
 
 NOTE 9. "'Afeef v signifies "Chaste," and "Abstinent." 
 
 II. K 
 
66 NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 NOTE 10. This order was given to make the messengers suppose that she had been 
 sleeping. See Note 55 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 11. " Waseef," here used as a proper name, signifies " a young man-servant." 
 
 NOTE 12. A procession similar to that here described is seen in the streets of Cairo, 
 when a bridegroom returns to his house, from the mosque, where he has performed the 
 prayers of nightfall previously to his first visit to the bride. He and his friends and 
 other attendants proceed in the form of an oblong ring, all facing the interior of the 
 ring (so that the foremost walk backwards), and each bearing in his hand one or more 
 wax candles, and sometimes a sprig of henna or some other flower, except the bride- 
 groom and the friend on either side of him. These three form the latter part of the 
 ring, which generally consists of twenty or more persons. The procession is headed by 
 musicians, by persons carrying mesh'als (or cresset-lights), and by others bearing lamps. 
 
 NOTE 13. " Gharam " signifies " Desire," " Vehemence of Desire," or " Passion," &c. 
 
 NOTE 14. I use the modern term " Bedaweeyeh " (signifying an Arab female of 
 the Desert) for the old appellation " Aarabeeyeh." 
 
 NOTE 15., The word which I render "laurel," namely "rend," is also applied to 
 the myrtle, and to aloes-wood. The willow (which is of the kind called Oriental) and 
 the rend are here to be understood as emblems of the object of the Bedaweeyeh's love. 
 
 NOTE 16. Clapping the hands (striking the palm of the left hand with the fingers 
 of the right) is the usual mode of summoning a servant. 
 
 NOTE 17. This, I suppose, is meant to imply that the disorder of her mind in- 
 capacitated her from using the pen. The substitution of the masculine gender for the 
 feminine (as in the verses preceding) is not uncommon. 
 
 NOTE 18. There is an omission here in the Cairo edition, and it appears, from the 
 edition of Breslau, that what is given in the former as the contents of She:ns-en-Nahar's 
 letter consists partly of her letter and partly of 'Alee's answer. I supply the omission 
 (ending with the words, " and by thy head, O my mistress,") from the Calcutta edition 
 of the first two hundred nights, to avoid the necessity of using my own judgment in 
 correcting the blunders which here, as usual, occur in the Breslau edition, though the 
 latter differs less in its context, than the former, from my standard copy 
 
 NOTE 19. The meaning of this is, "Thou hast dealings with the women of the 
 palace." " How is thy house ?" is a phrase often used as a delicate mode of inquiring 
 respecting the health of a man's wife or hareem. 
 
 NOTE 20. My sheykh remarks, that this relates to the departure of Abu-1-Hasan ; 
 but, from what follows, I think it rather applies to the slave-girl. 
 
 NOTE 21. By his praying for her, is merely meant his uttering some such words 
 as " God keep thee !" or " God bless thee !" 
 
 NOTE 22. The word which 1 render " wine " is " kahweh,'' which is the term now 
 applied to " coffee." I believe coffee to be here meant by it ; but probably it is an 
 error or interpolation of a copyist. 
 
 NOTE 23. El-Moatasim, the son, and third successor, of Haroon Er-Rasheed, is 
 said to have been the first Khaleefeh who formed a military corps of foreigners (in this 
 case, Turkish slaves) ; and from his time, the natives of the greater part of the Arabian 
 Empire gradually became subject to the military despotism of Turkish and other 
 foreign guards and governors. Thus it was in Egypt and Syria under the Memlook 
 Sultans, \\ ho originated in the corps formed by Es-Salih Eiyoob, the last of the dynasty 
 of Salah-ed Deen ; and thus it continued after the conquest of those countries by the 
 'Osmanlee Turks under the Sultan Seleem, until Mohammad 'Alee, after he had 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 67 
 
 exterminated or expelled the Memlook forces, organized his Egyptian troops, and 
 almost entirely displaced the Turkish soldiery. 
 
 NOTE 24. I have substituted " other men " for " another man." 
 
 NOTE 25. I have remarked in iny work on the Modern Egyptians, that it is 
 almost impossible for a woman to have a private interview with a man who has a 
 hareem in his own house ; or to enter the house of a man who is neither married nor has 
 a concubine-slave, without attracting the notice of the neighbours, and causing their 
 immediate interference. This remark applies to those cases in which the two parties 
 are not very nearly related. 
 
 During my second residence in Egypt, the wives of my servants often came to my 
 house in Cairo, yet they never ventured to enter it. A maid-servant, about nine years 
 of age, frequently brought messages to me from her master, HI id came up into my 
 sitting-room when I was alone ; but this caused no scandal. On one occasion, however, 
 my character was called in question : I was accused of admitting a woman into my 
 room, and had some difficulty to satisfy my neighbours and others. I had purchased 
 some female ornaments and attire of the head, and, having a friend with me, a man 
 between forty and fifty years of age, I induced him to put them on in the place of his 
 turban, that I might the better judge of them ; then seating him in a projecting 
 window next the street, for the sake of a foolish joke I suddenly opened a small 
 casement at his side, and thrust forth his head. But little did I expect the result. 
 A bean-seller, sitting at his shop in the street, nearly opposite, saw the apparition, and 
 pointed it out to two or three other persons, and soon there collected before the house 
 a little crowd, whom the bean-seller began to harangue, expressing his astonishment 
 that an Efendee like myself, one who had always appeared to him to have conducted 
 himself most respectably, should have been guilty of so foul an action as that of 
 introducing a woman into his house, having no hareem : that a person devoted to 
 study, and one whom sheykhs of the Azhar 28 frequented, and who delighted in attend- 
 ing the religious festivals, should act in so shameless a manner ! I began to be uneasy 
 at witnessing and hearing what passed; and the people were consulting as to the 
 course they should pursue, when I compelled my friend, who had quickly withdrawn 
 his head, to shew it again, and exhibit his beard ; whereupon the bean-seller was still 
 more amazed, at recognising the well-known countenance of a respected sheykh, one 
 connected with the Azhar too, who had a hundred times saluted him in approaching 
 my door. But this did not satisfy his audience nor himself : it was suspected that the 
 sheykh was a party to my offence ; and it was only by constraining the latter to go 
 down into the street and explain the whole affair, that tranquillity was restored. My 
 character, eventually, did not suffer even from the imputation of a culpable deviation 
 from general custom ; as practical jokes are not uncommon among the Arabs in the 
 best society. 
 
 NOTE 26. The kanoon is a kind of dulcimer, of which I have given engravings 
 and a description in my work on the Modern Egyptians (vol. ii. ch. v.). 29 Its name is 
 from the Greek KO.VUV, or from the same origin ; and has the same signification ; that 
 is, " rule," " law," " custom." It is laid upon the knees of the performer, and played 
 with two plectra, attached to the fore fingers ; each plectrum being placed between 
 the finger and a ring, or thimble. There are three chords (of lamb's gut) to each note, 
 and generally, altogether, twenty-four treble chords. 
 
 NOTE 27. On the State of the Soul between Death and the Judgment. It is believed 
 that the soul remains with the body until the expiration of the first night after the 
 burial, when it departs to the place appointed for the abode of good souls until the last 
 
 :8 The great collegiate mosque of Cairo. ** A female playing on the kanoon is the subject 
 
 of the tail-piece to these notes. 
 
68 NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 day, or to the appointed prison in which wicked souls await their final doom ; but with 
 respect to the state of souls in the interval between death and judgment, there are 
 various opinions, which Sale thus states. 30 As to the souls of the good, he says, " 1st. 
 Some say that they stay near the sepulchres; with liberty, however, of going wherever 
 they please; which they confirm from Mohammad's manner of saluting them at their 
 graves, and his affirming that the dead heard those salutations as well as the living, 
 though they could not answer. Whence perhaps proceeded the custom of visiting the 
 tombs of relations, so common among the -Mohammadans. 2ndly. Others imagine they 
 are with Adam, in the lowest heaven ; and also support their opinion by the authority 
 of their prophet, who gave out that in his return from the upper heavens in his pre- 
 tended night-journey, he saw there the souls of those who were destined to paradise on 
 the right hand of Adam, and those who were condemned to hell on his left. 3rdly. 
 Others fancy the souls of believers remain in the well Zenizem, and those of infidels in a 
 certain well in the province of Hadramdt, called Barahoot; 31 but this opinion is branded 
 as heretical. [On this subject, however, see the next paragraph.] 4thly. Others say 
 they stay near the graves for seven days; but that whither they go afterwards is 
 uncertain, othly. Others, that they are all in the trumpet, whose sound is to raise the 
 dead. And Gthly. Others, that the souls of the good dwell in the forms of white birds, 
 under the throne of God. As to the condition of the souls of the wicked, besides the 
 opinions that have been already mentioned, the more orthodox hold that they are 
 offered by the angels to heaven, from whence being repulsed as stinking and filthy. 
 they are offered to the earth, and being also refused a place there, are carried down to 
 the seventh earth, and thrown into a dungeon, which they call Sijjeen, under a green 
 rock, or according to a tradition of Mohammad, under the devil's jaw, to be there 
 tormented till they are called up to be joined again to their bodies." But the souls of 
 prophets are believed to be admitted immediately into paradise, and those of martyrs 
 are said to rest in the crops of green birds which eat of the fruits of paradise and 
 drink of its rivers. 
 
 Of the opinions above mentioned, with respect to the souls of the faithful, I believe 
 the first to be that which is most prevalent. It is generally said, that these souls visit 
 their respective graves every Friday; and according to some, they return to their 
 bodies on that day, after the period of the afternoon prayers, and on Saturday and 
 Monday ; or on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday ; and remain until sunrise. 32 I 
 believe also, from having heard frequent allusions made to it, as a thing not to be 
 doubted, that the opinion respecting the Well of Barahoot commonly prevails in the 
 present day. El-Kazweenee says of it, " It is a well near Hadramdt ; and the Prophet 
 (God bless and save him !) said, ' In it are the souls of the infidels and hypocrites.' It 
 is an 'Adite well, [i. e. ancient, as though made by the ancient tribe of 'Ad,] in a dry 
 desert, and a gloomy valley ; and it is related of 'Alee (may God be well pleased with 
 him !), that he said, ' The most hateful of districts unto God (whose name be exalted ! ) 
 is the Valley of Barahoot, in which is a well whose water is black and fetid, where the 
 souls of the infidels make their abode.' El-Asma'ee hath related of a man of Hadraindt, 
 that he said, ' We find near Barahoot an extremely-disgusting and fetid smell, and then 
 news is brought to us of the death of a great man of the chiefs of the infidels.' It is 
 related also, that a man who passed a night in the Valley of Barahoot said, ' I heard all 
 the night [exclamations of] O Koomeh ! O Roomeh ! and I mentioned this to a 
 learned man, and he told me that it was the name of the angel commissioned to keep 
 guard over the souls 'of the infidels.' " & 
 
 30 Preliminary Discourse, sect. iv. Director of the Visitors to the Tombs of die Just) 
 
 31 So in the Kamoos, and in my MS. of the by 'Abd-Er-Rahman El-Khazrejee El-Ansaree : 
 'Ajaib el-Makhlookiit of El-Kazweenee ; but by MS. in my possession. 
 
 Sale written " Borhut." ^ 'Ajaib el-Makhlookat. 
 
 32 Murshid ez-Zoowdr ila Kuboor el-Abrar (the 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 69 
 
 NOTE 28. The emancipation of slaves on the occasion of a death is a custom often 
 observed. Sometimes this is done in accordance with the will of the deceased : at 
 other times, by the free will of the heirs ; but in the latter cases, the merit of the act 
 is transferred to the soul of the deceased ; its object being, to increase his happiness in 
 the future world. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 COMMENCING WITH THE HUNDRED AND SEVENTIETH NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH 
 PART OF THE TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINTH. 
 
 THE STOKY OF THE PRIXCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN AND THE 
 PRINCESS BUDOOR. 1 
 
 THERE was, in ancient times, a King named Shah-Zeman, 2 pos- 
 sessing numerous troops and attendants and guards. He dwelt in the 
 Islands of Khalidan, 3 which are adjacent to the country of the 
 Persians ; 4 and had married four daughters of Kings, besides whom 
 he had among his female slaves sixty concubines. His age, however, 
 was advanced, and his bones were wasted, and he had not been blessed 
 with a son : so he meditated in his mind, and mourned and was dis- 
 quieted, and complained of this to one of his wezeers, saying, I fear 
 that, when I die, my kingdom will be lost ; for I have no son to succeed 
 to it after me. But the Wezeer replied, Perhaps God will yet bring 
 
THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN, &c. 71 
 
 to pass some event : therefore place thy reliance upon God, O King,, 
 and perform the ablution, and recite the prayers of two rek'ahs. 5 It 
 is also my advice that thou give a banquet, and invite to it the poor 
 and the needy, and let them eat of it and pray to God (whose name 
 be exalted !) that He may bless theewith a son : perchance there may 
 be among them a pure soul, whose prayer, being righteous, will be 
 answered. 6 After that thou wilt probably obtain thy desire. The 
 King complied with his advice, and his wife conceived, and when she 
 had completed her months she gave birth to a male child like the 
 unclouded full moon in the dark night : so he named him Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman. 7 He rejoiced at his birth with the utmost joy, and they 
 decorated the city for seven days; the drums were beaten, and the 
 messengers imparted the glad tidings; the nurses and the midwives 
 carried him, and he was reared .with magnificence and fondness until 
 he attained the age of fifteen years. 
 
 He was of surpassing beauty and comeliness, and justness of 
 stature and form, and his father loved him so that he could not be 
 absent from him by night nor by day ; and the King Shah-Zeman 
 complained to one of his wezeers of the excess of his love for his son, 
 saying, Wezeer, I fear for my son Kamar-ez-Zeman from the 
 calamities and accidents of fortune, and desire to marry him during 
 my life. The Wezeer therefore replied, Know, King, that marriage 
 is laudable, and there will be no harm in thy marrying thy son during 
 thy life. So upon this the King Shah-Zeman said, Bring hither to 
 me my son Kamar-ez-Zeman. And he came, and hung down his head 
 towards the ground in modesty before his father. His father then 
 said to him, O Kamar-ez-Zeman, know that I desire to marry thee and 
 to rejoice in thee during my life. But he replied, Know, O my father, 
 that I have no need of marriage, and my soul inclineth not to women ; 
 for 1 have found books with narratives of their fraudulence, and 
 miracles have been occasioned by their cunning. The poet hath 
 said, 
 
 If ye ask my opinion of women, I will tell you that I am a physician acquainted 
 
 with their affairs : 
 When the head of a man hath become gray, or his wealth is diminished, he 
 
 hath no share of their affection. 
 
 And another hath said, 
 
 Oppose women ; for so wilt thou obey [God] becomingly ; since the youth will 
 
 not prosper who giveth them his rein : 
 They will hinder him from attaining perfection in his excellencies though lie 
 
 pass a thousand years in the study of science. 
 
72 
 
 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAX, &c. 
 
 After reciting these verses he added, O my father, marriage is a 
 thing that I will never do, though I be made to drink the cup of 
 perdition. And when the King Shah-Zeman heard these words of his 
 son, the light became darkness before his face, and he was grieved 
 excessively at the want of obedience which his son Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 manifested towards him : yet, from the love that he bore him, he 
 repeated not what he had said, nor provoked him to anger : on the 
 contrary, he shewed favour and regard towards him, and treated 
 him with every kind of fondness that could draw affection to the 
 heart. 
 
 Meanwhile, Kamar-ez-Zeman increased every day in beauty and 
 comeliness, and in elegance and tenderness of manner. The King 
 Shah-Zeman bore with him patiently for a whole year, until he became 
 perfect in eloquence and grace : mankind were ravished by his beauty, 
 and every zephyr that blew wafted the praises of his loveliness : he 
 became a temptation unto lovers, and as a paradise to the desirous ; 
 sweet in his speech ; his face put to shame the full moon ; he was 
 endowed with justness of stature and form, and with graceful and 
 engaging manners, resembling a twig of the Oriental willow or an 
 Indian cane, and his cheek supplied the place of the anemone, as his 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 73 
 
 figure did that of the willow-branch. He was graceful as the poet 
 hath said in thus describing him : 
 
 He appeared, and they said, Blessed be Allah ! Glory be to Him who moulded 
 
 and perfected him ! 
 He is King of the comely universally ; for all of them have become subjects unto 
 
 him. 
 The moisture of his mouth is like melted honey ; and his teeth are like pearls 
 
 joined together. 
 All charms are united in him alone, and all mankind are confounded at his 
 
 loveliness. 
 Beauty hath written upon his cheek, I acknowledge that no one is comely but 
 
 he. 
 
 Now when he had completed another year, his father called him 
 and said to him, O my son, wilt thou not listen to my words ? And 
 upon this Kamar-ez-Zeman fell down upon the floor before his father, 
 through awe and shame, and said to him, my father, how should I 
 refuse to attend to thy words, when God hath commanded me to obey 
 thee, and to abstain from opposing thee ? So the King Shah-Zeman 
 continued, Know, my son, that I desire to marry thee and to rejoice 
 in thee during my life, and to make thee Sultan over my dominions 
 before my death. But when Kamar-ez-Zeman heard these words of 
 his father, he hung down his head for a while ; after which he raised 
 it, and replied, my father, this is a thing that I will never do, 
 though I be made to drink the cup of perdition. I know that God 
 hath imposed on me the obligation of yielding obedience unto thee ; 
 but by his claims upon thee I conjure thee that thou constrain me not 
 to marry : and think not that I will marry during the whole course of 
 my life ; for I have perused the books of the former and the later 
 generations, and known all the calamities and misfortunes that have 
 happened to them through the disturbances occasioned by women, and 
 their endless artifice, and the disasters that have proceeded from them. 
 How excellent is the saying of the poet : 
 
 He whom shameless women have entrapped will never see deliverance, 
 
 Though he build a thousand castles encrusted -over with lead ; 
 
 For their construction will not avail : the fortresses will not profit. 
 
 Verily women are treacherous to every one near and distant : 
 
 With their fingers dyed with henna ; with their hair arranged in plaits ; 
 
 With their eyelids painted with kohl; they make one to drink of sorrows. 8 
 
 And when the King Shah-Zeman heard these words from his son 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman, and understood the verses that he quoted, he 
 returned him not an answer, from the excess of his affection for him ; 
 but treated him with increased favours and consideration. 
 
 II. L 
 
74 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZKMAN, &c. 
 
 The assembly broke up immediately ; and after it was dissolved, 
 the King Shah-Zeman summoned his Wezeer, and in private said to 
 him, O Wezeer, tell me what I shall do in the affair of my son Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman ; for I consulted thee on the subject of marrying him as 
 preparatory to making him Sultan, and thou advisedst me to do so, 
 and to mention the matter of marriage to him : so I proposed it to 
 him, and he disobeyed me : acquaint me, therefore, now, with that 
 which thou seest to be best. The Wezeer replied, That which I 
 advise thee to do, King, is, that thou have patience with him for 
 another year ; and when thou desirest to speak to him after that on 
 the subject of marriage, speak not to him privately, but address him 
 on a judgment-day, when all the emeers and wezeers are present, and 
 all the troops are standing before thee. Then, when all these are 
 assembled, send to thy son Kamar-ez-Zeman, and summon him to thy 
 presence ; and when he hath come, address him on the subject of 
 marriage in the presence of all the emeers and wezeers, and the 
 chamberlains and lieutenants, and other lords of the empire, and the 
 soldiers and the impetuous warriours ; for he will be bashful before 
 them, and will not be able to oppose thee in their presence. And 
 when the King Shah-Zeman heard these words of his Wezeer, he 
 rejoiced exceedingly ; he approved of the Wezeer' s advice, and bestowed 
 upon him a magnificent robe of honour. 9 
 
 The King Shah-Zeman had patience with his son Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 another year ; and every day that passed over him, the latter increased 
 in beauty and loveliness, and in elegance and consummate grace, until 
 he had nearly attained the age of twenty years. God clad him with 
 the apparel of comeliness, and crowned him with the crown of perfec- 
 tion : his eye was more enchanting than Haroot ; 10 and the play of his 
 glance, more seductive than Et-Taghoot : u his cheeks shone with 
 redness ; and his eyelashes scorned the sharp, piercing sword : 12 the 
 whiteness of his forehead resembled the shining moon ; and the 
 blackness of his hair was like the dark night. The King Shah- 
 Zeman, having attended to the words of the Wezeei*, waited another 
 year until a festival-day, when the King's court was attended by all 
 the emeers and wezeers, and the chamberlains and other lords of the 
 empire, and the soldiers and impetuous warriours. He then sent for 
 his son Kamar-ez-Zeimin, who, when he came, kissed the ground 
 before him three times, and stood before his father with his hands 
 placed together behind his back. 13 And his father said to him, Know, 
 my son, that I have summoned thee on this occasion before the 
 
present assembly, with all the troops before me, for the purpose of 
 giving thee a command, and do not thou oppose me in that which I 
 say. It is, that thou marry ; for I desire to marry thee to a daughter 
 of one of the Kings, and to rejoice in thee before my death. But 
 when Kamar-ez-Zeman heard these words of his father, he hung down 
 his head for a while towards the ground ; and afterwards, raising it 
 towards his father, the madness of youth affected him, and the 
 ignorance of a stripling's age, and he replied, As to myself, I will 
 never marry, though I be made to drink the cups of perdition : and as 
 to thee, thou art a man of great age and of little sense. Hast thou 
 not asked me before this day, twice before the present occasion, on 
 the subject of marriage, and I would not consent to the proposal ? H 
 Then Kamar-ez-Zeman unclasped his hands from behind his back, 
 and tucked up his sleeves from his arms, before his father, in his 
 anger. 
 
 His father was abashed and ashamed, because this had happened 
 
76 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE AMAR-EZ-ZEMA.N 
 
 before the lords of his empire, and the soldiers who were present at the 
 festival : but presently the royal energy returned to him, and he cried 
 out at his son, and terrified him ; and, calling to the memlooks, com- 
 manded them to seize him. They therefore laid hold upon him ; and 
 he ordered them to bind his hands behind him, and they did so, and 
 led him forward before his father. He hung down his head in fear 
 and timidity, his face and his forehead were bespangled with moisture, 
 and his shame and confusion were excessive, while his father abused 
 him and reviled him, saying to him, Wo to thee, baseborn, and 
 nursling of impurity ! 15 How couldst thou pi-esume to make me this 
 reply before my soldiers and armies ? But hitherto no one hath 
 chastised thee. Knowest thou not that this which thou hast done, 
 had it proceeded from any one of the common people, it had been dis- 
 graceful in him ? He then commanded the memlooks to loose the 
 cords that bound his hands behind him, and to imprison him in one 
 of the towers of the castle. The farrashes, 16 therefore, immediately 
 went into the saloon that was in the tower, and swept it, and wiped 
 its pavement ; and they placed in it a couch for Kamar-ez-Zemau, 
 upon which they spread a mattress and a leathern covering ; and they 
 put for him a cushion, and a large lantern and a candle ; for the place 
 was dark in the day-time. Then the memlooks conducted Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman into this saloon, and stationed a eunuch at its door. And 
 when they had done this, Kamar-ez-Zeman ascended the couch, with 
 broken spirit and mourning heart. He had already blamed himself, 
 and repented of his injurious conduct to his father, when repentance 
 availed him not, and he exclaimed, Malediction upon marriage and 
 girls and deceitful women ! Would that I had attended to my 
 father's command and married ; for if I had done so, it had been 
 better for me than being in this prison ! Thus did it befall Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman. 
 
 Xow as to his father, he remained upon his throne during the rest 
 of the day until sunset, when he retired with the Wezeer, and said to 
 him, Know, O Wezeer, that thou hast been the cause of all this which 
 hath happened between me and my son, by the advice that thou gavest 
 me ; and what dost thou counsel me to do now ? King, answered 
 the Wezeer, leave thy son in the prison for a period of fifteen days : 
 then summon him before thee, and command him to marry ; for he 
 will never oppose thee again. And the King received this advice of 
 the Wezeer, and slept that night with a heart troubled on account of 
 his son ; for he loved him excessively, because he had no son beside 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOK'. 77 
 
 him. The King Shah-Zeman used to remain without sleep every 
 night until he put his arm under the neck of Kamar-ez-Zeman, and 
 then he slept. So he passed that night with a heart disordered on his 
 account, and remained turning over from side to side as though he 
 were lying upon the burning embers of Hell : uneasiness overcame 
 him, and sleep visited him not all that night : his eyes poured forth 
 tears, and he repeated the words of the poet : 
 
 My night is tedious, while the slanderers sleep. It is enough that thy heart is 
 
 terrified by separation. 
 I exclaimed, while my night was prolonged by anxiety, O light of the morning, 
 
 wilt thou not return ? 
 
 But as to Kamar-ez-Zeman, when night came, the eunuch placed 
 before him the lantern, and lighted the candle, which he placed in a 
 candlestick ; and after this he brought him some food. So he ate a 
 little, and sat expostulating with himself for his ill manners towards 
 his father the King Shah-Zeman, saying, Knovvest thou not that the 
 son of Adam is a dependant of his tongue, and that the tongue of a 
 man is that which betrayeth him into perils ? Thus he continued to 
 expostulate with himself, and to blame himself, until tears overcame 
 him ; his aching heart was tortured, and he repented extremely of that 
 which his tongue had uttered against his father. And when he had 
 finished his repast, he demanded water to wash his hands, and cleansed 
 them of what adhered to them from the food. He then performed the 
 ablution preparatory to prayer, and recited the prayers of sunset and 
 nightfall ; after which he sat upon the couch, reciting the Ku-ran. 17 
 He recited the Chapters of " The Cow" and " The Family of 'Emran " 
 and "Ya-Seen" and "The Compassionate" and "Blessed be He in 
 whose hand is the Kingdom" and the "Two Preventives," and 
 finished by supplication, and seeking refuge with God. 18 Having 
 done this, he laid himself on the couch, upon a mattress covered with 
 Maadinee satin, 19 with two facings, and stuffed \\ith ostrich feathers ; 
 and when he desired to sleep, he took off his outer clothes, and slept 
 in a shirt of delicate waxed stuff, having upon his head a blue ker- 
 chief of the fabric of Marw, 20 and appearing like the moon in its four- 
 teenth night. He then covered himself with a sheet of silk, and slept 
 with the lighted lantern at his feet, and the lighted candle at his head ; 
 and he continued asleep until the first third of the night had expired, 
 not knowing the hidden event that awaited him, and what God, who 
 knoweth all secrets, had decreed to befall him. 
 
 Now the saloon and the tower were ancient, and had been deserted 
 
78 
 
 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMlfr 
 
 for many years ; and in the tower 21 was a Roman ^ well, inhabited by 
 a Jinneeyeh of the posterity of Iblees the accursed. The name of 
 that Jinneeyeh was Meymooneb K the daughter of Ed-Diniiryat, one of 
 the celebrated Kings of the Jann. 24 And when Kamar-ez-Zeman had 
 remained asleep until the first third of the night had passed, this 
 'Efreeteh ascended from the Roman well to repair towards heaven for 
 the purpose of listening by stealth ; >25 and on reaching the upper part 
 of the well, she saw a light shining in the tower, contrary to what was 
 usual. She had resided in that place for a long period of years, and 
 said within herself, I have never witnessed anything like this before. 
 And she wondered at this thing extremely, inferring that some strange 
 cause had occasioned it. She then proceeded in the direction of the 
 light, and found that it issued from the saloon : so she entered it, and 
 saw the eunuch sleeping at its door; and when she entered the saloon, 26 
 she found a couch placed there, with the form of a man sleeping upon 
 it, and a lighted candle at his head, and a lighted lantern at his feet ; 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 79 
 
 and the 'Efreeteh wondered at this light. She advanced towards it by 
 little and little, and, relaxing her wings, stood over the couch, and 
 removed the sheet from his face, and looked at him. She remained 
 for an hour in a state of astonishment at his beauty and loveliness, and 
 found that the light of his face surpassed that of the candle : it gleamed 
 with splendour : his eyes had been wantoning like those of the gazelle, 
 and were intensely black ; his cheeks were brilliantly red, and his eye- 
 lids were languishing ; his eyebrows were arched ; and his odour 
 diffused itself like fragrant musk. At the sight of him, Meymooneh 
 the daughter of Ed-Dimiryat extolled the perfection of God, and 
 exclaimed, Blessed be Allah, the best of creators ! for this 'Efreeteh 
 was of the believing Jinn. So she continued a while gazing at the 
 face of Kamar-ez-Zeman, exclaiming, there is no deity but God ! and 
 wishing, but without envy, that she were like him in beauty and 
 loveliness. She said within herself, By Allah, I will not injure him, 
 nor suffer any one to hurt him, but from every evil I will ransom him ; 
 for this comely face deserveth nothing save that people should gaze 
 at it and extol the perfection of God : but how could his family leave 
 him neglected in this ruinous place ! If any of our Marids came up 
 unto him now they would destroy him! The 'Efreeteh then bent 
 over him, and kissed him between his eyes ; after which she let down 
 the sheet ever his face, and covered him with it. 
 
 Having done this, she spread her wings, and soared aloft towards 
 heaven. She rose from the precincts of the saloon, and continued her 
 upward flight through the sky until she drew near to the lowest heaven, 
 when she heard the flapping of wings flying through the air. So she 
 proceeded in the direction of their sound, and when she approached 
 the being to whom they belonged, she found him to be an 'Efreet, 
 named Dahnash, whereupon she pounced upon him like a hawk. 
 When Dahnash, therefore, perceived her, and knew that she was 
 Meymooneh, the daughter of the King of the Jinn, he feared her; 
 the muscles of his side quivered, and he employed her favour, saying 
 to her, I conjure thee by the Most Great Name, and by the most noble 
 talisman, 27 engraved upon the seal of Suleyman, that thou treat me 
 with benevolence, and hurt me not ! And when Meymooneh heard 
 these words of Dahnash, her heart was moved with tenderness towards 
 him, and she said to him, Thou hast conjured me by a mighty oath ; 
 but I will not liberate thee until thou hast informed me whence thou 
 art now come. mistress, he replied, know that I come from the 
 further extremity of the country of China, and from among the 
 

 
 islands, and I will acquaint thee with a wonder that I have beheld this 
 night ; and if thou find my words to be true, do thou suffer me to go 
 my way, and write me a document in thine own hand declaring that I 
 am thine emancipated slave, so that no one of the bands of the Jinn, 
 either of the upper who fly or of the lower or those who dive, 28 may 
 oppose me. Meymooneh said to him, And what hast thou seen this 
 night, Dahnash ? Acquaint me, and tell me no falsehood, desiring 
 by thy lie to escape from my hand ; for I swear by the inscription 
 engraved upon the stone of the seal of Suleyman the son of Daood 
 (on both of whom be peace !), that, if thy words be not true, I will 
 pluck out thy feathers with my hand, and tear thy skin, and break thy 
 bones. Then the 'Efreet Dahnash the son of Shemhoorish 29 the Flyer 
 
THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN, &c. 81 
 
 said to her, If my words be not true, do with me what thou wilt, 
 my mistress. And he proceeded thus. 
 
 I came forth this night from the Interior Islands in the region of 
 China, 30 which are the dominions of the King El-Ghayoor, 31 the 
 monarch of the Islands and the Seas, and the Seven Palaces, and have 
 seen a daughter of that King, than whom God hath created none in 
 her age more beautiful. I know not how to describe her to thee ; for 
 my tongue would fail to do so ; but I will mention to thee some of 
 her characteristics as nearly as I can. As to her hair, it is like the 
 nights of emigration and separation; and as to her face, it is like the 
 days of union. Well hath the poet said in describing her, 
 
 She spread forth three locks of her hair one night, and exhibited four nights 
 
 together ; 
 And she turned up her face towards the moon of heaven, and shewed me two 
 
 moons in the same instant. 
 
 She hath a nose like the edge of the polished sword, and cheeks like 
 deep-red wine, or like anemones ; her lips resemble coral and carne- 
 lion, and the moisture of her mouth is more delicious than the best 
 wine, and would quench the fire of the inflamed ; her tongue is put in 
 motion by ample intelligence and a ready reply; she hath a bosom 
 that is a temptation to him who beholdeth it extolled be the perfec- 
 tion of Him who created and finished it ! by the side of which are 
 two smooth and round arms ; and, as the poet hath said, 
 
 She hath hips, connected with a slender waist, which tyrannize both over me 
 
 and her : 
 They confound me when I think upon them, and weigh her down when she 
 
 would rise. 
 
 Her other charms, the describer cannot reckon ; but all that I have 
 mentioned, two delicate feet, the work of the protecting and recom- 
 pensing Creator, support ; and I wondered how they could sustain 
 what was above them. 32 Other particulars I omit; for language 
 would fail to describe them, and no sign would convey a just idea of 
 them . 
 
 The father of this damsel (continued Dahnash) is a mighty King, 
 an impetuous horseman, who crosseth the seas of the surrounding 
 regions by night and day, dreading not death, nor fearing the escape 
 of his foe, for he is a despotic tyrant, and an oppressive conqueror; 
 he is lord of numerous armies and regions and islands and cities and 
 habitations. His name is the King El-Ghayoor, and he is monarch 
 of the Islands and the Seas and the Seven Palaces. He loved this 
 
 II. M 
 
82 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMXN 
 
 his daughter, whom I have described unto thee, with exceeding love, 
 so that he collected the treasures of all the other Kings, and with 
 them built for her seven palaces, 33 each of a particular kind. The first 
 palace is of crystal ; the second of marble ; the third, of the iron of 
 China ; the fourth, of onyx and other precious stones ; the fifth, of 
 silver ; the sixth, of gold ; and the seventh, of jewels. He filled the 
 seven palaces with varieties of magnificent furniture, and vessels of 
 gold and silver, and utensils of every kind that Kings could require, 
 and commanded his daughter to reside in each palace for a certain 
 period of the year, and then to remove to another of them. Her name 
 is the Queen Budoor. 34 When her beauty became celebrated, and her 
 fame spread throughout the surrounding countries, all the Kings sent 
 to her father to request her of him in marriage ; and he mentioned the 
 subject of marriage to her; but she disliked it, and said to her father, 
 my father, I have no wish at all to marry ; for I am a princess, and 
 a queen, ruling over men, and I desire not a man to rule over me. 
 Yet the more she shewed reluctance to marry, so much the more did 
 her suitors increase in eagerness to possess her. All the Kings of the 
 Interior Islands of China sent presents and rarities to her father with 
 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 83 
 
 letters requesting her as a wife, and he repeated the proposals to her 
 many times ; but she opposed his wish, and was angry with him, and 
 said to him, If thou mention the subject of marriage to me again, I 
 will take a sword, and put its hilt upon the floor and its point to my 
 bosom, and lean upon it until it protrude from my back, and thus 
 kill myself. So when her father heard these words from her, the 
 light became darkness before his face, and his heart was tortured 
 excessively on her account ; for he feared that she would kill herself. 
 He was perplexed respecting both her and the Kings who sought her 
 in marriage from him, and said to her, If thou art determined not to 
 marry, abstain from going out and coming in. H"e then conveyed her 
 into an apartment, and there confined her, commissioning ten old 
 women, kahrarminehs, 3a to guard her, and forbidding her to behold 
 the seven palaces ; after which, he made it appear that he was incensed 
 against her, and, sent letters to all the Kings, informing them that she 
 was afflicted with insanity, and that she had been confined for a 
 year. 
 
 The 'Efreet Dannash, having related these facts to the 'Efreeteh, 
 said, I go to her, O my mistress, every night, and gaze at her, and 
 enjoy for a long time the sight of her face, and kiss her between her 
 eyes while she lieth asleep ; but from my love for her I do her no 
 injury; for her loveliness is surpassing: every one who seeth her is 
 jealous of her with respect to his own self. I conjure thee, my 
 mistress, that thou come with me and behold her beauty and loveli- 
 ness, and justness of form and proportion ; and afterwards, if thou 
 desire to chastise me or to enslave me, do it ; for it is thine to com- 
 mand, and thine to forbid. Then the 'Efreet Dahnash hung down 
 his head towards the earth, and lowered his wings. But the 'Efreeteh 
 Meymooneh, after laughing at his words, and spitting in his face, said 
 to him, What is this damsel of whom thou speakest ? She is of no 
 more value than a fragment of base pottery ! What wouldst thou say 
 if thou sawest my beloved ? By Allah, I thought thou hadst some 
 wonderful tale, or extraordinary story, O accursed ! I have seen a 
 man this night, such that if thou beheldest him even in a dream, thou 
 wouldst be paralyzed with astonishment at him. And what, said 
 Dahnash, is the story of this young man ? She answered, Know, O 
 Dahnash, that this young man hath experienced the like of that which 
 hath happened to thy beloved, whom thou hast mentioned. 36 His 
 father commanded him many times to marry; but he refused; and 
 his father, when he had thus oppressed him, was incensed against him, 
 
84 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAX &c. 
 
 and imprisoned him in the tower in which I reside ; and as I came 
 forth this night, I beheld him. my mistress, replied Dahnash, 
 shew me this young man, that I may see whether he be more beauti- 
 ful than my beloved, the Queen Budoor, or not ; for I do not imagine 
 that there existeth in this age the like of my beloved. Thou liest, 
 rejoined the 'Efreeteh, accursed ! most unlucky of Marids, and 
 most contemptible of devils ! for I am certain that there existeth not 
 the equal of my beloved in these countries. Art thou mad, then, that 
 thou comparest thy beloved unto mine ? I conjure thee by Allah, O 
 my mistress, resumed Dahnash, that thou come with me to see my 
 beloved, and I will return with thee and behold thine. It must be so, 
 accursed, said Meymooneh ; for thou art a knavish devil ; but I 
 will not accompany thee, nor shalt thou go with me, except on the 
 condition of a bet : if thy beloved, whom thou boldest to be superior, 
 prove more beautiful than mine, whom I regard as superior, the bet 
 shall be thine and against me ; but if my beloved prove to be the 
 more beautiful, the bet shall be mine and against thee. The 'Efreet 
 Dahnash replied, my mistress, I consent to this condition willingly: 
 come then with me to the islands. But Meymooneh said, The place 
 of my beloved is nearer than that of thine : here it is beneath us : so 
 descend with me to see my beloved ; and after that, we will repair to 
 thine. And Dahnash replied, I hear and obey. 
 
 They then descended, and alighted within the precincts of the 
 saloon in the tower, and Meymooneh, having stationed Dahnash by 
 the side of the couch, put forth her hand, and raised the sheet from 
 the face of Kamar-ez-Zeman, the son of the King Shah-Zeman ; 
 whereupon his face beamed and shone, and glistened and glittered. 
 Meymooneh beheld him, and then, turning her eyes immediately 
 towards Dahnash, said to him, Look, accursed, and be not the 
 basest of fools: for I am a maiden, and am fascinated by him. So 
 Dahnash looked towards him, and remained a while contemplating 
 him ; after which, he shook his head, and said to Meymooneh, By 
 Allah, O my mistress, thou art excused ; but it rernaineth to be 
 shewn that the female is different from the male : yet, by Allah, 
 this thy beloved is, of all men, he who beareth the nearest resem- 
 blance to my beloved, in beauty and loveliness and elegance and all 
 perfection : both of them have been formed alike in the mould of 
 beauty. But when Meymooneh heard these words of Dahnash, the 
 light became darkness before her eyes, and she struck him with her 
 wing upon his head with such force that he almost experienced his 
 
predestined end from the violence of the blow ; and she said to him, I 
 swear by the brightness of his glorious aspect that thou shalt go, O 
 accursed, this instant, and lift up thy beloved, and bring her quickly 
 unto this place, that we may put them together, and see them both 
 while they lie asleep side by side : then it will be manifest unto us 
 which of them is the more beautiful. If thou do not what I have 
 commanded thee forthwith, accursed, I will burn thee with my 
 fire, 37 and dart at thee my destructive sparks, and scatter thee, torn in 
 pieces, over the deserts, making thee ail example to the stationary 
 and the night-traveller. So Dab n ash replied, my mistress, thy 
 command shall be obeyed ; but I know that my beloved is more 
 beautiful, and sweeter. 
 
 Then the 'Efrcet Dahnash flew away immediately, and Meymooneh 
 flew with him to guard him ; and after they had been absent an hour, 
 they returned conveying the damsel, who was clad in a shirt of 
 delicate Venetian stuff, with two borders of gold embroidered in the 
 most admirable manner, presenting the following verses worked upon 
 the extremity of each sleeve : 
 
86 THE STOEY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAX 
 
 Three things have prevented her from paying us a visit, through fear of the spy 
 
 and the angry envier ; 
 The light of her forehead, and the sound of her ornaments, and the constant 
 
 scent of anihergris inherent in her. 
 Suppose she hide her forehead with the end of her sleeve, and pull off her jewels ; 
 
 how can she divest her of her odour P 38 
 
 The 'Efreet and 'Efreeteh descended with this damsel, and, having 
 extended her by the side of the young man, uncovered the faces of 
 both, and they bore the strongest resemblance to each other, as though 
 they were twins, or an only brother and sister : they were a temptation 
 to the abstinent. Dahnash and Meymooneh began to gaze upon 
 them, and the former said, Verily my beloved is the more beautiful. 
 Nay, replied Meymooneh, my beloved is the more beautiful. Woe to 
 thee, Dahnash ! Art thou blind ? Dost thou not behold his beauty 
 and loveliness, and justness of stature and form ? But hear what I 
 say of my beloved, and if thou be a true lover of her with whom thou 
 art enamoured, say of her as I shall say of my beloved. She then 
 kissed Kamar-ez-Zeman several times, and recited an ode in his praise. 
 And when Dahnash heard it, he was extremely delighted, and full of 
 admiration ; but he said, Thou hast recited these tender verses on thy 
 beloved with thy mind engrossed by him : I will now endeavour to 
 recite some, the best that I can think of. So he approached his 
 beloved, Budoor, and, having kissed her between the eyes, looked 
 towards the 'Efreeteh Meymooneh, and towards his beloved, and recited 
 an ode ; but with a wandering mind. A.nd when he had finished, the . 
 Efreeteh said, Thou hast done well, Dahnash : but which of these 
 two is the more beautiful ? He answered, My beloved, Budoor, is 
 more beautiful than thine. Thou liest, O accursed ! she replied ; for 
 my beloved is more beautiful than thine. 
 
 Thus they continued contradicting each other, until Meymooneh 
 cried out at Dahnash, and would have laid violent hands upon him ; 
 but he abased himself before her, and, softening his speech, said to 
 her, Let not the truth be grievous unto thee : annul thy assertion and 
 mine ; for we each pronounce in favour of our beloved : let each of us, 
 therefore, reject both the opinions, and let us seek one to judge 
 tetween tis with equity, and by his sentence we will abide. Mey- 
 mooneh replied, So shall it be. She then struck the floor with her 
 foot, and there arose from it an 'Efreet, blind of one eye, and with a 
 diseased skin ; his eyes were slit upwards in his face ; upon his head 
 v/ere seven horns, and he had four locks of hair hanging down to the 
 ground; his hands were like those of the Kutrub, 30 with claws like the 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 87 
 
 claws of the lion ; and his feet were like the elephant's, with hoofs like 
 those of the ass. As soon as this 'Efreet arose, and beheld Mey- 
 mooneh, he kissed the ground before her, and, placing his hands 
 together behind his back, said to her, What dost thou require, O my 
 mistress, daughter of the King ? She answered, Kashkash, I 
 desire that thou judge between me and this accursed Dahnash. She 
 then acquainted him with the case from first to last ; and upon this, 
 the 'Efreet Kashkash looked upon the face of the young man, and 
 upon that of the damsel and beheld them embracing each other as 
 thay lay asleep, the arm of each being under the neck of the other, 
 resembling each other in beauty and loveliness, and equal in charms. 
 The Marid Kashkash gazed, and wondered at their beauty, and, after 
 he had long kept his eyes upon them, looked towards Meymooneh and 
 Dahnash, and recited some amatory verses, and then added, By Allah, 
 neither of them is more or less beautiful than the other ; but they bear 
 the strongest resemblance to each other in beauty and loveliness, and 
 elegance and perfection ; and they are not to be pronounced different 
 from each other in these respects because they are of different sexes. 
 I have to propose, however, another mode of determining the question ; 
 and it is this : that we wake each of them without the knowledge of 
 the other ; and the one who shall be most inflamed with love for the 
 other shall be confessed to be the inferior in beauty and loveliness. 
 Excellent, said Meymooneh, is this advice that thou hast given, and I 
 approve of it. And I also, said Dahnash, approve of it. 
 
 Upon this, therefore, Dahnash transformed himself into a flea, and 
 bit Kamar-ez-Zeman upon his neck, in a soft place : so Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman put his hand to his neck, and scratched the place of the bite, 
 on account of the violence of the smarting that it occasioned, and, 
 moving sideways, found something lying by him, from which pro- 
 ceeded a breath more fragrant than musk, with a body softer than 
 butter. Kamar-ez-Zeman wondered at this exceedingly, and immedi- 
 ately raised himself. Looking at this person lying by his side, he 
 found it to be a damsel like a precious pearl, or like a shining sun, 40 
 with a form like the letter Alif, 41 of quinary 42 stature, high -bosomed, 
 and with red cheeks. And when Kamar-ez-Zeman thus beheld the 
 lady Budoor, the daughter of the King El-Ghayoor, and observed her 
 beauty and loveliness as she lay asleep by his side, he saw upon her 
 body a shirt of Venetian stuff, and upon her head a koofeeyeh of cloth 
 of gold adorned with jewels, and on her neck a long necklace of 
 precious gems such as none of the Kings could procure. His reason 
 
88 
 
 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN. 
 
 was confounded at the sight, and he said within himself, What God 
 desireth will come to pass, and what He dcsireth not will not happen ! 
 He then turned her over with his hand, and attempted to rouse her; 
 but she awoke not ; for Dahnash had made her sleep heavy : so Kamar- 
 ez-Zenuin squeezed her with his hand, and shook her, saying, my 
 beloved, awake, and see whom I am ; for I am Karnar-ez-Zeman. 
 But she awoke not, nor moved her head. And he remained for an 
 hour reflecting upon her case, and said within himself, If my conjecture 
 be true, this damsel is she to whom my father desireth to marry me, 
 and for three years I have refused to do it : but, please God, when 
 morning cometh, I will say to my father, Marry me to her : and I 
 will not suffer mid-day to pass before I possess her and delight myself 
 with her beauty and loveliness. He then inclined towards Budoor to 
 kiss her: whereupon Meymooneh the Jinneeyeh trembled and was 
 confounded : but as to the 'Efreet Dahnash, he leaped for joy. When 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 80 
 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman, however, was about to kiss her upon the mouth, he 
 feared God, and turned away his face, saying within himself, I will 
 have patience ; for perhaps my father, when he was incensed against 
 me, and imprisoned me in this place, brought unto me this bride, and 
 commanded her to sleep by my side, to prove me by her, and charged 
 her not to appear awake on my attempting to rouse her, and said to 
 her, Whatsoever Karnar-ez-Zeman do to thee, acquaint me with it. 
 And probably my father is standing concealed in some place to 
 observe me, while I see him not, and he will witness all that I do with 
 this damsel, and in the morning will reproach me, and say to me, 
 How dost thou say, I have no need of marriage, and kiss that 
 damsel, and embrace her ! So I will withhold myself from her, lest I 
 be exposed before my father. I will not touch this damsel from the 
 present moment, nor look towards her; but will only take from her 
 something that may be a token in my keeping and a memorial of her, 
 that there may be a sign between me and her. Then Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 raised ^the hand of the damsel, and took her ring from her little finger. 
 It was worth a large sum of money; for its stone was a precious 
 jewel ; and around it were engraved these verses : 
 
 Think not that I have forgotten your promises, notwithstanding the length of 
 
 your alienation. 
 O my lord, be generous and propitious towards me ! Perhaps I may kiss your 
 
 mouth and your cheeks. 
 By Allah, I will never relinquish you, though you should transgress the bounds 
 
 of love. 
 
 So Kamar-ez-Zeman took off this ring from the little finger of the 
 Queen Budoor, and, having put it on his own little finger, turned his 
 back towards her, and slept. 
 
 The Jinneeyeh Meymooneh, when she saw this, rejoiced, and said 
 to Dahnash and Kashkash, Have ye seen rny beloved, Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman, how he hath abstained from this damsel ? This is the result 
 of the perfection of his excellencies. Consider how he beheld this 
 damsel and her beauty and loveliness, and yet embraced her not, nor 
 passed his hand over her ; but turned his back to her, and slept. 
 They answered her, We have witnessed his perfect conduct. 
 
 Meymooneh then transformed herself into a flea, and, entering 
 beneath the clothes of Budoor, the beloved of Dahnash, bit her; 
 whereupon she opened her eyes, and sat up, and beheld a young man 
 sleeping by her side, and snoring in his sleep, with cheeks like ane- 
 mones, and eyes that put to shame the beautiful Hooreeyehs, and a 
 mouth like the seal of Suleyman. 43 When she beheld him, distraction 
 n. x 
 
90 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN 
 
 and ecstasy and desire overcame her, and she said within herself, O 
 my disgrace ! This young man is a stranger : I know him not ; and 
 wherefore is he lying by my side in the same bed ? Then looking at 
 him again, and contemplating his elegance and his amorous aspect, 
 and his beauty and loveliness, she said, By Allah, he is a youth comely 
 as the moon, and my heart is almost rent by ecstasy of love for him, 
 and by the violence of passion excited by his beauty and loveliness ! 
 But how am I disgraced by his means ! By Allah, if I had known 
 that this handsome youth was the person who demanded me in 
 marriage of my father, I had not rejected him, but had married him, 
 and delighted myself with his loveliness. Then the Queen Budoor 
 immediately looked in the face of Kamar-ez-Zeman, and said to him, 
 O my lord, and beloved of my heart, and light of mine eye, awake 
 from thy sleep And she shook him with her hand. But Meymooneh 
 the Jinneeyeh immersed him in sleep, and pressed down his head with 
 her wing: so he awoke not. The Queen Budoor shook him again 
 with her hand, and aid to him, By my life I conjure thee to comply 
 with my desire and awake from thy sleep ! Arise, O my master, and 
 recline upon the cushion, and sleep not ! But Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 returned her no reply, nor addressed her with a word ; still snoring in 
 his sleep. So the Queen Budoor said, Wherefore art thou so proud, 
 with thy beauty and loveliness and elegance and amorous aspect ? 
 As thou art comely, So am I also- Why then dost thou act thus ? 
 Have they instructed thee to manifest aversion towards me, or hath my 
 father, that ill-omened old man, forbidden thee to speak to me this 
 night ? Kamar-ez-Zeman then opened his eyes ; whereupon her love 
 for him increased. God instilled into her heart a passion for him, and 
 she cast at him a glance which occasioned her a thousand sighs ; her 
 heart throbbed, and she said to Kamar-ez-Zeman, my master, speak 
 to me ! O my beloved, converse with me ! object of my passion, 
 return me a reply, and tell me what is thy name ; for thou hast 
 captivated my reason ! But all this while, Kamar-ez-Zermin remained 
 immersed in sleep, and replied not a word. And the Queen Budoor 
 sighed, and said, Wherefore art thou so self-satisfied ? Then she 
 shook him again, and turned over his hand, and seeing her ring upon 
 his little finger, she uttered a cry of astonishment, and said with an 
 amorous manner, Alas ! Alas ! By Allah, thou art my beloved, and 
 thou lovest me ; but thou seemest to affect an aversion towards me, 
 though thou earnest to me while I was asleep, and I know not what 
 thou hast done unto me ; yet I will not pull off my ring from thy 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 
 
 91 
 
 little finger.- 
 
 -And she searched for something 
 
 -- v-^ > 
 
 r'-lf^.' 
 
 'I S', '-, 
 
 to take from him, and, taking off his ring from 
 his finger, put it on hers, instead of her own 
 ring ; after which she kissed his mouth and his 
 hands, and placed one of her hands beneath 
 his neck, and the other under his arm, and fell 
 asleep again by his side. 
 
 When Meymooneh beheld this, she rejoiced exceed- 
 ingly, and said to Dahnash, Hast thou seen, occursed, 
 how thy beloved hath acted in the distraction of her 
 passion for my beloved, and how he hath acted in his 
 
 pride and dissimulation ? There is no doubt, then, that my beloved is 
 
 more beautiful than thine : but I pardon thee. She 
 
 then wrote for him a paper of manumission, and, 
 
 looking towards Kashkash, said to him, Do thou 
 
 insinuate thyself with him beneath his beloved, 
 
 and assist him to convey her back to her place 
 
 for the night is gone, and the opportunity for the 
 
 accomplishment of my intention is past. So Dah- 
 nash and Kashkash advanced towards the Queen 
 
 Budoor, and insinuated themselves beneath her, 
 
 and, having flown away with her and conveyed her 
 
 back to her place, restored her to her bed, while 
 
 Meymooneh remained alone, gazing at Kamar-ez- 
 
 Zeman as he lay asleep, until but little of the 
 
 night remained, when she went her way. 
 Now when daybreak came, Kamar- 
 
 ez-Zeman awoke from his sleep, and 
 
 looked to the right and left ; but 
 
 found not the damsel with him. So 
 
 he said within himself, What mean- 
 
 eth this affair ? It seemeth that my 
 
 father would excite in me a desire to 
 
 marry the damsel who was 
 
 with me, and, having 
 
 done this, hath taken 
 
 her away secretly, that 
 
 my desire for her may 
 
 increase. He then 
 
 called out to the eunuch 
 
!I2 THE STORY OF THE P1MXCK KAMAK-E/-ZEMAN 
 
 who was sleeping at the door, and said to him, Wo to thee, O accursed ! 
 Rise ! The eunuch, therefore, rose, his reason wandering from sleep, 
 and brought to him the basin and ewer. And Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 rose, and performed the ablution, recited the morning-prayers, and sat 
 repeating the praises of God. 44 Then looking towards the eunuch, he 
 saw him standing in attendance before him, and he said to him, Wo to 
 thee, O Sawab ! Who hath come hither, and taken away the damsel 
 from iny side while I was asleep ? The eunuch said, my master, 
 what damsel ? The damsel who was sleeping with me this night, 
 answered Kamar-ez-Zeman. And the eunuch was disturbed at his 
 words, and replied, There was no damsel with thee, nor any one else : 
 and how could a damsel come in when I was sleeping behind the door 
 and it was locked ? By Allah, iny master, neither male nor female 
 came in to thee. But Kamar-ez-Zeman exclaimed, Thou liest, ill- 
 omened slave ! Art thou also of sufficient rank to presume to deceive 
 me, and wilt thou not acquaint me whither hath gone the damsel who 
 was sleeping with me this night, nor inform me who took her away from 
 me ? The eunuch, agitated by what he said, answered, By Allah, my 
 master, I have neither seen a young woman nor a young man. And 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman was enraged at the words of the eunuch, and said to 
 him, They have taught thee deceit, accursed ! Come hither then to me. 
 So the eunuch approached him, and Kamar-ez-Zeman took him by 
 the collar, and threw him down upon the floor, and then, kneeling upon 
 him, kicked him and squeezed his throat until he became insensible ; 
 after which, he tied him to the well-rope, and lowered him into the 
 well till he reached the water, and let him down into it ; and it was in 
 the cold season of a severe winter. He plunged the eunuch in the 
 water, and then drew him up, and let him down again ; and thus he 
 continued to do. The eunuch all the while cried for help, and shrieked 
 and called ; but Kamar-ez-Zeman replied, By Allah, accursed, I 
 will not draw thee out from this well until thou acquaint me with the 
 story of that damsel and tell me who took her away while I slept. So 
 the eunuch said, Deliver me from the well, my master, and I will 
 acquaint thee with the truth. Kamar-ez-Zeman, therefore, drew him 
 up from the well, and took him out, stupined with what he had 
 suffered from the dipping and plunging and cold and beating and 
 torture. He trembled like the reed in the tempestuous wind, his 
 teeth were locked together, and his clothes were dripping. And when 
 he found himself upon the floor, he said, Suffer me, my master, to 
 go and take off my clothes, and wring them, and spread them in the 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 
 
 93 
 
 sun, and put on others : then I will return 
 to thee quickly, and acquaint thee with the 
 affair of that damsel, and relate to thee her 
 story. By Allah, ill-omened slave, replied 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman, if thou hadst not expe- 
 rienced the pains of death, thou hadst not 
 confessed the truth ! Go out then to do 
 what thou desirest, and return to rne quickly 
 and relate to me the story of the damsel. 
 
 The eunuch, upon this, went forth, 
 scarcely believing in his escape, and ran 
 without stopping until he went in to the 
 King Shah-Zeman, the father of Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman, when he found the Wezeer by his 
 side, and they were conversing on the affair of Kamar-ez-Zeman. He 
 heard the King say to the Wezeer, Verily I have not slept this last 
 night from the trouble of my heart respecting Karnar-ez-Zeman, and 
 I fear that some evil will befall him from his confinement in that 
 ancient tower : it was not at all fit to imprison him. But the Wezeer 
 replied, Fear not for him : By Allah, no harm will happen unto him. 
 Leave him imprisoned for a month, that his temper may become soft- 
 ened. And while they were thus talking, the eunuch came in to them, 
 in the condition above described, and said to the King, O our lord the 
 Sultan, insanity hath befallen thy son, and thus hath he done unto 
 rne ; and he said to me, A damsel passed this night with me, and went 
 away secretly : acquaint me, therefore, with her history. But I know 
 not the affair of this damsel. And when the Sultan Shah-Zeman 
 heard these words respecting his son Kamar-ez-Zeman, he cried out, 
 saying, Oh, my son ! and was violently enraged against the Wezeer 
 who had been the cause of these events, and said to him, Arise, and 
 ascertain for me the state of my son. 
 
 The Wezeer, therefore, went, treading upon the skirts of his dress 
 through his fear of the King, and proceeded with the eunuch to the 
 tower. The sun had risen, and the Wezeer went in to Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman, and found him sitting upon the couch, reciting the Ku-ran ; 
 and he saluted him, and, seating himself by his side, said to him, O 
 my master, this ill-omened slave hath brought us information that 
 hath troubled and agitated us, and the King was incensed at it. So 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman said, Wezeer, and what hath he told you concern- 
 ing me to trouble my father ? In truth he hath troubled none but 
 
!H THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ ZEMAN, &c. 
 
 me. The Wezeer answered, He came to us in a miserable plight, and 
 told us a thing God forbid that it should be true of thee ! he 
 uttered a lie respecting thee such as is not proper to be mentioned. 
 Allah preserve thy youth, 45 and thy sound reason and thine eloquent 
 tongue, and far be it from thee that anything base should proceed 
 from thee ! Kamar-ez-Zeman, therefore, said to him, O Wezeer, and 
 what hath this ill-omened slave said ? He informed us, answered the 
 Wezeer, that thou hadst become rnad, and hadst said to him, There 
 was a damsel with me last night. Didst thou then say to the eunuch 
 these words. And when Kamar-ez-Zeman heard this, he was violently 
 enraged, and said to the Wezeer, It is evident to me that ye taught 
 the eunuch to act as he did, and forbade him to acquaint me with 
 the affair of the damsel who was sleeping with me this last night : 
 but thou, O AVezeer, art more sensible than the eunuch; tell me 
 therefore immediately whither is gone the beautiful damsel who was 
 sleeping in my bosom last night ; for ye are they who sent her to me 
 and commanded her to pass the night in my bosom ; and I slept with 
 her until the morning, when I awoke and found her not. Where, 
 therefore, is she now ? my master Kamar-ez-Zeman, replied the 
 Wezeer, may the name of Allah encompass thee ! 46 By Allah, we sent 
 not any one to thee this last night, and thou sleepedst alone, with 
 the door locked upon thee, and the eunuch sleeping behind it ; and 
 neither damsel nor any one else came to thee. Return then to thy 
 reason, O my master, and no longer trouble thy heart. But Kamar- 
 ez-Zernan, enraged at his words, said to him, Wezeer, that damsel 
 is my beloved, and she is the beautiful creature with the black eyes 
 and the red cheeks whom I embraced last night. And the Wezeer 
 wondered at his words, and asked him, Didst thou see that damsel 
 this night with thine eye and awake, or in sleep ? O ill-omened old 
 man, said Kamar-ez-Zeman, dost thou imagine that I saw her with 
 rny ear ? Nay, I saw her with my eyes, and awake, and turned her 
 over with my hand, and remained awake by her half of the entire 
 night, enjoying the contemplation of her beauty and loveliness, and 
 elegance and amorous aspect : but ye charged her that she should not 
 speak to me ; so she pretended to be asleep, and I slept by her side 
 until the morning, when I awoke from my sleep, and found her not. 
 The Wezeer replied, O my master Kamar-ez-Zeman, perhaps thou 
 sawest this in thy sleep, and it is the result of confused dreams or 
 vain fancies occasioned by eating a mixture of different kinds of food, 
 or an idea inspired by the wicked devils. O ill-omened old man, ex- 
 
claimed Kamar-ez-Zeman, wherefore dost thou too make a jest of 
 me, and tell me that perhaps this is the result of confused dreams, 
 when the eunuch hath confessed to me that the damsel was here, and 
 said to me, I will immediately return to thee and relate to thee her 
 story ? 
 
 He then instantly arose, and, drawing near to the Wezeer, grasped 
 his beard in his hand. It was a long beard, and Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 took it and twisted it round his hand, and pulled him by it so that he 
 threw him down from the couch upon the floor ; and the Wezeer felt 
 as if his soul had departed, from the violence with which his beard 
 was pulled. Kamar-ez-Zeman then continued kicking the Wezeer 
 with his feet, and beating him upon the back of his neck with his 
 hands, until he had almost put an end to him. So the Wezeer said 
 within himself, If the slave, the eunuch, saved himself from this mad 
 youth by his lie, it is more fit that I also should save myself by a lie ; 
 else he will destroy me : therefore now will I lie, and save my life from 
 him; for he is mad : of his madness there is no doubt. Accordingly, 
 he looked towards Kamar-ez-Zeman, and said to him, my master, 
 be not angry with me ; for thy father charged me to conceal from thee 
 the affair of this damsel; but now I am weak and wearied by the 
 beating ; for I am become an old man, and have not strength to 
 endure blows : grant me then a short delay, that I may relate to thee 
 the story of the damsel. Upon this, therefore he ceased from beating 
 him, and said to him, Why wouldst thou not acquaint me with her 
 history until after beating and disgrace ? Arise now, ill-omened 
 old man, and tell me her storv. The Wezeer then said to him, Dost 
 
96 THE STORY OF THE PK1NCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN 
 
 thou ask respecting the damsel with the beautiful face and consummate 
 form ? Yes, said Kamar-ez-Zeman : inform me, O Wezeer, who 
 brought her to ine and put her to sleep with me, and where she is 
 now, that I may myself go to her. And if my father, the King Shah- 
 Zenuin, hath done thus unto me to prove me by that beautiful damsel, 
 with the view of my marrying her, I consent to do so. He did all 
 this to me, and inflamed my heart with love for that damsel, and 
 afterwards separated her from me, only because of my refusal to 
 marry. But now I consent to marry. 1 say again, I consent to 
 marry. So acquaint my father with this, Wezeer, and advise him 
 to marry me to that damsel ; for I desire none but her, and my heart 
 hath loved none other. Arise then, and hasten to my father, and 
 advise him to be quick in marrying me : then return to me soon 
 immediately. 
 
 The Wezeer believed not in his escape from Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 until he had gone forth from the tower ; and he ran on until he came 
 into the presence of the King Shah-Zeman ; when the King said to 
 him, Wezeer, wherefore do I behold thee in a state of confusion, 
 and who hath by his wickedness injured thee, so that thou hast come 
 in terror? He answered, I have brought thee news. 47 And what is 
 it ? asked the King. Know, answered the Wezeer, that madness 
 hath befallen thy son Kamar-ez-Zeman. And when the King heard 
 these words, the light became darkness before his face, and he said, 
 Wezeer, explain to me the nature of the madness of my son. The 
 Wezeer replied, I hear and obey : and he acquainted him with that 
 which his son had done ; whereupon the King said to him, Be informed, 
 Wezeer, that I will grant thee, in return for the news which thou 
 hast brought me of the madness of my son, the striking off of thy 
 head, and the cessation of my favours to thee, O most ill-omened of 
 Wezeers, and basest of Emeers ! For I know that thou hast been the 
 cause of the madness of my son by the wicked advice which thou 
 gavest me first and last. By Allah, if any mischief or madness have 
 befallen my son, I will nail thee upon the kubbeh, 48 and make thee to 
 taste affliction. 
 
 The King then rose upon his feet, and, taking the Wezeer with 
 him, entered the tower in which was Kamar-ez-Zeman; and when 
 they came to him, he stood up to his father, descending quickly from 
 the couch upon which he was sitting; and having kissed his father's 
 hands, drew backwards, and hung down his head towards the ground, 
 and stood before his father with his hands joined behind his back. 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. <J7 
 
 Thus he remained a while ; after which, he raised his head towards 
 his father, and, with tears flowing from his eyes down his cheeks, 
 recited the words of the poet : 
 
 If I have been guilty of a fault against you, and committed a deed of a shameful 
 
 nature, 
 I repent of my offence, and your clemency will extend to the evil-doer who 
 
 craveth forgiveness. 
 
 And upon this, the King arose, and embraced his son Kaniar-ez- 
 Zeman, kissing him between the eyes, and seated him by his side upon 
 the couch. Then looking towards the Wezeer with the eye of anger, 
 he said to him, dog of Wezeers, wherefore dost thou say of my son 
 such and such things, and terrify my heart on his account ? And he 
 turned towards his son, and said to him, O my son, what is the name 
 of this day ? my father, he answered, to-day is Saturday, and to- 
 morrow is Sunday, and next after it is Monday, then Tuesday, then 
 Wednesday, then Thursday, and then Friday. And the King said to 
 him, my son, Kamar-ez-Zenian, praise be to God for thy safety ! 
 What is the name of this month, in Arabic ? Its name, he answered, 
 is Zu-1-Kaadeh, and it is followed by Zu-1-Hejjeh, and Moharram, and 
 Safar, and llabeea el-Owwal, and Rabeea eth-Thanee, and Jumada-1- 
 Oola, and Jumada-th-Thaniyeh, and Rejeb, and Shaaban, and 
 Ramadan, and Showwal. 49 So the King rejoiced at this answer 
 exceedingly, and spat in the face of the Wezeer, and said to him, O 
 wicked old man, how dost thou assert that rnj son Karnar-ez-Zeman 
 hath become insane, when the case is that none hath become insane 
 but thyself? The Wezeer shook his head, and was about to speak ; 
 but it occurred to his mind that he should rather wait a little, to see 
 what would happen. 
 
 The King then said to his son, my son, what were those words 
 that thou spakest to the eunuch and the Wezeer, when thou saidst to 
 them, I was sleeping with a beautiful damsel this last night ? And 
 what is the affair of this damsel whom thou hast mentioned ? And 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman laughed at the words of his father, and answered 
 him, O my father, know that I have not strength to endure jesting ; 
 therefore add not to me another word of it ; for my temper is straitened 
 by that which ye have done unto me. Know, my father, that I 
 consent to marriage; but on the condition that thou marry me to 
 that damsel who was sleeping with me this last night; for I am 
 certain that it was thou who sentest her to me and causedst me to be 
 enamoured of her, and that thou sentest to her before the morning, 
 
 II. O 
 
98 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN 
 
 and tookest her away from me. At this the King exclaimed, The 
 name of Allah encompass thee, O my son ! Allah preserve thy reason 
 from derangement ! What is this damsel of whom thou assertest that 
 I sent her to thee this last night and then sent to take her away from 
 thee before the morning ? By Allah, my son, I have no knowledge 
 of this affair. I conjure thee, then, to inform me : is not this a con- 
 fused dream, or a fancy resulting from food ? For thou passedst this 
 last night with a heart troubled on the subject of marriage, and inspired 
 with fancies by the mention of that subject. Malediction upon marriage 
 and its hour, and upon him who advised me on that matter ! There 
 is no doubt but that thy temperament is disturbed on that account, so 
 that thou hast dreamt that a beautiful damsel was embracing thee, 
 and thou believest in thine own mind that thou sawest this awake, 
 when all this, my son, was a confused dream. But Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman replied, Abstain from these words, and swear to me by Allah, 
 the Creator, the Omniscient, the Destroyer of the mighty, and the 
 Annihilator of the Kisras, 50 that thou hast had no knowledge of the 
 damsel or her abode. So the King said, By Allah the Great, the God 
 of Moosa and Ibraheem, I have had no knowledge of that which thou 
 mentionest, and probabl^ it was a confused dream that thou sawest in 
 sleep. 
 
 Then Kamar-ez-Zeman said, I will propose to thee a parable, to 
 prove to thee that this happened when I was awake, by asking thee if 
 it have ever happened that any person dreamt that he was fighting, 
 and, after a severe contest, awoke from his sleep and found in his hand 
 a sword stained with blood ? His father answered, No, by Allah, O 
 my son : such a thing hath never occurred. Then, said Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman, I will acquaint thee with that which hath happened unto me ; 
 and it was this : I seemed as though I awoke this last night from my 
 sleep at midnight, and found a damsel sleeping by my side, whose 
 figure and form were as mine, and I embraced her, and touched her 
 with my hand, and took her ring, which I put on my finger, and she 
 pulled off my ring and put it on her finger. But I regarded her with 
 reserve, from a feeling of bashfulness towards thee ; for I imagined 
 that thou hadst sent her, and hadst concealed thyself in some place to 
 observe my actions. So I was ashamed to kiss her upon her mouth 
 on thy account, as it occurred to my mind that thou desiredst to 
 tempt me by her, to excite me to marry. Afterwards I awoke from 
 my sleep at the commencement of the dawn, and found no trace of the 
 damsel, nor obtained any tidings of her ; ai>d what happened between 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 91* 
 
 me and the eunuch and the Wezeer was in consequence of this. Now 
 how could this affair he as thou supposest, when the incident of the 
 ring is true ? Were it not for the ring I should imagine that it was 
 a dream ; but this is her ring which is upon my little finger at the 
 present moment. See, King, what is its value. 
 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman then handed the ring to his father, who, having 
 taken it, and turned it round, looked towards his son, and said to him, 
 Verily some great and important revelation dependeth upon this ring, 
 and that which happened to thee last night with this damsel is a 
 mysterious affair. I know not how this visitor came in among us, 
 and no one was the cause of ail this but the Wezeer. I conjure thee, 
 however, by Allah, my son, that thou be patient ; for probably God 
 will dispel this affliction from thee, and send thee complete relief; as 
 the poet hath said, 
 
 Probably Fortune will turn its rein, and bring prosperity ; for Fortune is change- 
 able. 
 
 My desires may be blest, and my wants performed, and happy events may follow 
 adverse. 
 
 my son, he continued, I have now convinced myself that thou art 
 not insane ; but no one can clear up thy affair save God. Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman replied, By Allah, O my father, search after this damsel for 
 me, and hasten her coming ; else I shall die of anguish. Then, with 
 an expression of transport, he looked towards his father, and recited 
 these two verses : 
 
 If your promise of an actual interview be false, grant the lover an interview or 
 
 a visit in sleep. 
 But how, they replied, can the phantom present itself to the eye of a youth from 
 
 whom sleep is banished ? 
 
 O my father, he added, 51 I have not patience to wait for her even an 
 hour. And upon this, the King smote his hands together, and 
 exclaimed, There is no strength nor power but in God, the High, the 
 Great ! No stratagem will avail in this affair ! He then took the 
 hand of his son, and led him to the palace, where Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 laid himself upon the bed of sickness, and his father seated himself at 
 his head, mourning and weeping for his son, and leaving him neither 
 by night nor day. 
 
 At length the Wezeer said to the King, King of the age, how 
 long wilt thou remain shut up from the troops with thy son Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman. Probably the order of the realm may be corrupted by thy 
 estrangement from the lords of thy empire. It is incumbent on the 
 
100 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMlN, 
 
 wise, when various diseases afflict his body, to apply himself to restora- 
 tives for his bones ; and it is my advice that thou remove thy son from 
 this place to the pavilion in the palace overlooking the sea, and pass thy 
 time in retirement there with thy son, appointing two days in every 
 week, namely, Thursday and Monday, for the procession of state and 
 for holding the court. So, on those two days, the emeers and wezeers, 
 and' chamberlains and lieutenants, and other lords of the empire and 
 chief men of the state, and the impetuous warriours and the rest of 
 the soldiers and subjects, shall come in unto thee and submit to thee 
 their cases, and thou shalt perform their wants and judge between 
 them, and take from them and give to them, and command and for- 
 bid ; and the rest of the week thou shalt pass with thy son Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman. Thus thou shalt continue to do until God dispel thy grief 
 and his : and be not confident, King, of thy safety from the vicissi- 
 tudes of fortune and the calamities of time; for the wise is always 
 cautious. And when the Sultan heard these words of the Wezeer, 
 he approved his advice, and saw that it was suitable to his case : it 
 made an impression upon him, and he feared that the order of his 
 realm would be disturbed around him ; so he arose immediately, and 
 gave orders to remove his son from that place to the pavilion in the 
 palace overlooking the sea. The access to it was over a causeway in 
 .the midst of the sea, the width of which was twenty cubits. Around 
 the pavilion were windows overlooking the sea, its floor was paved with 
 coloured marbles, and its ceiling was painted with the finest pigments 
 of every colour and decorated with gold and ultramarine ; and they 
 spread in it for Kamar-ez-Zeman silken carpets, hung its walls with 
 brocade, and suspended in it curtains adorned with jewels. Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman entered it, and from 'the excess of his passion he became 
 extremely restless, his heart was troubled, his complexion became 
 pallid, and his body wasted. His father sat at his head mourning for 
 him ; and every Thursday and Monday the King gave permission to 
 every one of the emeers and wezeers, and chamberlains and lieutenants, 
 and other lords of the empire, and all the soldiers and subjects who 
 desired, to come in to him in that pavilion. So they entered, and 
 performed their several services, and remained with him until the close 
 of the day, when they dispersed and went their way ; after which, the 
 King went in to his son Kamar-ez-Zeman in that place, and left him 
 not night nor day ; and thus he continued to do for many days and 
 nights. Thus did it happen unto Kamar-ez-Zeman. 
 
 Now I must relate what took place with the Queen Budoor, the 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 101 
 
 daughter of the King El-Ghayoor, the lord of the Islands and the 
 Seven Palaces. When the Jinn had carried her back and laid her 
 'again in her bed, there remained of the night no more than three 
 hours ; and when daybreak came she awoke from her sleep, and sat 
 up, and looked to the right* and left ; but saw not her beloved who 
 had been lying in her bosom. Upon this, her heart was agitated, her 
 reason quitted her, and she uttered a great cry. So all her female 
 slaves and nurses and kahramanehs awoke and came in to her, and the 
 chief of them, advancing towards her, said to her, O my mistress, what 
 hath befallen thee ?- O ill-omened old woman, said the lady Budoor, 
 where is my beloved, the beautiful youth who was sleeping this night 
 in my bosom ? Inform me whither he hath gone. And when the 
 kahramaneh heard these words, the light became darkness before her 
 face, and, fearing greatly from her power, she said, my mistress 
 Budoor, what mean these disgraceful words ? But the lady Budoor 
 exclaimed, Wo to thee, ill-omened old woman ! Where is my 
 beloved, the beautiful youth with the lovely face and the black eyes 
 and the joined eyebrows who was with me from nightfall until near 
 daybreak ? By Allah, answered the old woman, I have seen neither 
 a young man nor any other person, and I conjure thee by Allah, O 
 my mistress, that thou jest not in this unreasonable manner, lest our 
 lives be lost ; for perhaps this jest may come to the knowledge of thy 
 father, and who will deliver us from his hand ? The Queen Budoor 
 said to her, There was a young man passing this last night with me, 
 in countenance the most comely of men. Heaven preserve thy reason ! 
 exclaimed the kahramaneh there was no one passing the night with 
 thee. And upon this, Budoor looked at her hand, and found the ring 
 of Kamar-ez-Zeman upon her finger, and found not her own ring. So 
 she said to the kahramaneh, \Vo to thee, O deceitful ! Dost thou tell 
 a lie, and say to me, There was no one passing the night with thee, 
 and swear to me by Allah falsely ? By Allah, replied the kahramaneh, 
 
102 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMA*N, &c. 
 
 I have not told thee a lie, nor sworn falsely. And the lady Budoor was 
 enraged at her ; and,t drawing a sword that was by her, struck the 
 kahramaneh, and would have killed her. 52 But the eunuch and the' 
 female slaves cried out at her, and went and acquainted her father with 
 her state. 
 
 The King, therefore, came immediately to his daughter, the lady 
 Budoor, and said to her, my daughter, what is the matter with 
 thee ? my father, said she, where is the young man who' was 
 sleeping by my side this last night ? Her reason fled from her head, 
 and she began to look to the right and left, and then rent her vest to 
 its skirt. So when her father saw her do thus, he ordered the female 
 slaves and eunuchs to seize her; and they laid hold upon her, and 
 bound her, and put a chain of iron upon her neck, and attached her 
 to a window of the palace. 53 Now as to her father, the world became 
 strait unto him ; for he loved her, and her state was grievous to him. 
 He therefore summoned the astrologers and sages, and those skilled 
 in [magic] characters, and said to them, Whosoever cureth my 
 daughter of her present disorder, I will marry him to her, and will 
 give him half of my kingdom ; and whoso faileth to cure her, I will 
 strike off his head, and hang it over the palace-gate. And so he con- 
 tinued to do until he had cut off, on her account, forty heads. He 
 sought all the sages; but all the people held back from attempting 
 her cure, and all the sages were unable to restore her ; her case per- 
 plexed the men of science, and those skilled in [magic] characters. 
 
 The lady Budoor remained in the same state for three years. 
 Now she had a foster-brother named Marzawan, who had travelled to 
 the most remote countries and been absent from her during all that 
 period. He loved her with an excessive love, greater than the love of 
 brothers ; and when he came back, he went in to his mother, and 
 inquired of her respecting his sister, the lady Budoor. So she said to 
 him, my son, insanity hath befallen thy sister; she hath been in 
 this state for three years, with a chain of iron upon Tier neck, and the 
 physicians have been unable to cure her. And when Marzawan heard 
 these words, he said, I must visit her: perhaps I may discover her 
 ailment, and be able to cure her. His mother, therefore, when she 
 heard him say this, replied, Thou must visit her ; but wait until to- 
 morrow, that I may devise some stratagem to forward thy purpose. 
 She then walked to the palace of the lady Budoor, and, accosting the 
 eunuch who was charged to keep the door, gave him a present, and 
 said, I have a daughter who was brought up with the lady Budoor, 
 
i H 
 
 . 
 
 and I have married her; and in consequence of that which happened 
 to thy mistress, her heart became greatly concerned for her state. I 
 therefore beg of thy goodness that my daughter may pay her a short 
 visit, to see her, and then return by the way that she came without 
 any person's knowing of her visit. The eunuch replied, That will be 
 impossible, except at night : so after the Sultan shall have come to 
 see his daughter, and gone forth, enter thou with thy daughter. 
 
 The old woman then kissed the hand of the eunuch, and went 
 forth to her house ; and at the commencement of the next night she 
 arose immediately, and taking her son Marzawan, clad him in a suit 
 of women's attire, after which she placed his hand in her own, and 
 conducted him into the palace. She advanced with him until she 
 brought him to the eunuch, after the departure of the Sultan from his 
 daughter, and when the eunuch saw her, he arose, and said to her, 
 Enter ; but prolong not thy stay. So when the old woman entered 
 with her son Marzawan, he saw the lady Budoor in the state already 
 described, and he saluted her, after his mother had taken off his 
 women's apparel. Marzawan then took forth his books that he had 
 brought with him, and lighted his candle. But the lady Budoor, 
 looking at him, recognised him, and said to him, my brother, thou 
 hast been travelling, and tidings of thee have been suspended. True, 
 
lot THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEM AN, &c. 
 
 be replied; but God hath restored me in safety, and I desired to 
 travel again, and nothing prevented me from doing so except this 
 news that I have heard respecting thee ; in consequence of which my 
 heart hath been tormented on thine account; wherefore I have come 
 to thee in the hope that I may discover thy disorder and be able to 
 cure thee. But she said, my brother, dost thou imagine it to be 
 madness that hath befallen me ? Then, making a sign to him, she 
 recited these two verses : 
 
 They said, Thou ravest upon him whom thou lovest. And I replied, The sweets 
 
 of life are only for the mad. 
 Well : I am mad : then bring me him upon whom I rave ; and if he cure my 
 
 madness, do not blame me. 
 
 So Marzawan perceived that she was in love ; and he said to her, 
 Acquaint me with thy story, and with all that hath happened to thee : 
 perhaps God may discover to me that which may bring thee deliverance. 
 The lady Budoor therefore replied, O my brother, hear my story. It 
 is this : I awoke from my sleep one night, in the last third of the 
 night, and, sitting up, beheld by my side a young man, the most 
 beautiful of youths, such as the tongue cannot describe, like a twig of 
 the Oriental willow, or an Indian cane. So I thought that my father 
 had ordered him to act thus, to tempt me by him ; for he had required 
 me to marry, when the Kings demanded me of him to wife, and I 
 refused ; and this idea prevented my rousing him. I feared that, if I 
 embraced him, he would perhaps acquaint my father with it. And 
 when I awoke in the morning, I found his ring in the place of my 
 own. This is my story ; and, O my brother, my heart hath been 
 devoted to him ever since I beheld him ; from the excess of my passion 
 and desire I taste not the savour of sleep, and have no occupation but 
 that of pouring forth floods of tears, and reciting verses, night and 
 day. See, then, my brother, how thou canst assist me in my 
 affliction. Upon this, Marzawan hung down his head towards the 
 ground for a while, wondering, and knowing not what to do. He 
 then raised his head, and said to her, All that hath occurred to thee is 
 true ; and verily the story of this young man hath wearied my imagina- 
 tion ; but I will travel about through all the countries, and search for 
 the means of thy restoration. Perhaps God will accomplish it by my 
 hand. Have patience, therefore, and be not disquieted. Having thus 
 said, he bade her farewell, praying that she might be endowed with 
 patience, and departed from her. 
 
 He returned to the house of his mother, and slept that night, and 
 
when the morning came he prepared for travelling. So he went forth, 
 and continued journeying from city to city and from island to island, 
 for the space of a whole month, after which he entered a city called 
 Et-Tarf, 54 and inquired the news of the people, hoping to find the 
 remedy of the Queen Budoor. Whenever he had entered a city or 
 passed by it, he had heard it said that the Queen Budoor, the daughter 
 of the King El-Ghayoor, had been afflicted by insanity ; and he ceased 
 not to inquire the news until he arrived at the city of Et-Tarf, when 
 he heard that Kamar-ez-Zeman, the son of the King Shah-Zeman, was 
 sick, and that distraction and insanity had afflicted him. When Mar- 
 zawan, therefore, heard his story, he asked some of the people of that 
 city respecting his country and capital ; and they answered him, The 
 Islands of Khalidan ; and between us and them is a voyage of a whole 
 month by sea; but by land, the journey is six months, 
 ii. P 
 
106 THE STORY OF THK PlilXC'E K AMAH-E/-7KMAN, &c. 
 
 So Marzawfin embarked in a ship bound for the Islands of 
 Khiilidjin. The ship was fitted for the voyage, and the wind was 
 favourable to her for the space of a month, when the city appeared 
 before them ; but when they had come in sight of it, and had almost 
 gained the shore, there arose against them a tempestuous wind, which 
 carried away the yard, and the sails fell into the sea, and the vessel 
 was capsized with all that it contained. Every one sought his own 
 safety ; but as to Marzawan, the force of the current bore him along 
 until .it conveyed him beneath the King's pavilion, in which was 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman. It happened, in accordance with destiny, that the 
 emeers and wezeers had assembled in attendance upon him, and the 
 King Shah-Zeman was sitting with the head of his son Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman in his lap, and a eunuch was whisking the flies from him. 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman for two days had neither eaten nor drunk, nor had 
 he spoken ; and the Wezeer, standing at his feet, near the window 
 looking over the sea, raised his eyes, and beheld Marzawan about to 
 be destroyed by the current, and at his last gasp : whereupon his 
 heart was moved with pity for him, and, approaching the Sultan, he 
 stretched forth his head towards him, and said, I beg thy permission 
 that I may descend to the court of the pavilion, and open its gate, that 
 I may save a man who is at the point of drowning in the sea, and 
 turn his anguish into joy. Perhaps God, on that account, may deliver 
 thy son from his present affliction. The Sultan replied, All that hath 
 befallen my son hath been caused by thee, and probably if thou deliver 
 this drowning man, he will discover our affairs, and behold my son in 
 this state, and exult over me. But I swear by Allah, that if this 
 drowning mall come up and see my son and then go forth and divulge 
 any of our secrets, I will assuredly strike off thy head before his ; for 
 thou, O Wezeer, art the cause of all that. hath befallen us, first and 
 last. Then do as thou desirest. 
 
 The Wezeer accordingly arose, and, opening the door of the court, 
 went down upon the causeway, and proceeded twenty steps until he 
 came to the sea, when he beheld Marzawan at the point of death. 
 He therefore stretched forth his hand to him, and seized him by the 
 hair of his head, and drew him up; and Marzawan came forth from 
 the sea in a state of insensibility, with his stomach filled with water, 
 and his eyes protruding. The Wezeer waited until his spirit returned 
 to him, and then took off from him his clothes, and clad him with 
 others, putting on his head one of the turbans of his young men ; 
 after which he said to him, Know that I have been the means of thy 
 
deliverance from drowning, and be not thou the means of my death 
 and of thine own. How so ? said Marzawan. The Wezeer answered, 
 Because thou wilt now come up and pass among emeers and wezeers, 
 all of them silent, speaking not, on account of Kamar-ez-Zeman, the 
 son of the Sultan. And when Marzawan heard the mention of 
 Kamar-ez-Zermin, he knew him, having heard his story in the 
 countries whence he had come ; but he said, Who is Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman ? The Wezeer answered, He is the son of the Sultan Shah- 
 Zeman, and is sick, laid upon his bed, without rest, knowing not 
 night from day. He hath almost parted with life, from the wasting 
 of his body, and become numbered among the dead ; he passeth the 
 day in burning, and the night in torment, and we have despaired of 
 his life, and made sure of his dissolution. Beware of looking at him, 
 or at any place but that whereon thou puttest thy foot ; else thy life 
 and mine will be sacrificed. Marzawiin then said, I conjure thee by 
 
108 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ ZEMlN 
 
 Allah to inform me respecting this youth whom thou hast described 
 to me, and to tell me what is the cause of this state in which he is. 
 So the Wezeer replied, I know no cause of it, save that his father, 
 three years ago, required him to marry, and he refused ; and he 
 awoke in the morning and asserted that he had been sleeping and saw 
 by his side a damsel of surpassing beauty, such as confounded the 
 reason and baffled description, and he told us that he had taken off 
 her ring from her finger and put it on his own finger, and put his 
 ring on her finger ; and we know not the mystery of this affair. By 
 Allah, then, O my son, come up with me into the pavilion, and look 
 not at the King's son. After that, go thy way. For the heart of the 
 Sultan is filled with rage against me. So Marzawan said within 
 himself, By Allah, this is what I sought ! He then followed the 
 Wezeer until he came to the pavilion; and the Wezeer seated himself 
 at the feet of Kamar-ez-Zeman. But as to Marzawan, he forthwith 
 advanced until he stationed himself before Kamar-ez-Zeim'in, and 
 looked at him ; whereupon the Wezeer became as one dead, and, 
 looking at Marzawan, made signs to him that he should go his way; 
 but Marzawan feigned to take no notice. He continued gazing at 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman, and, knowing that he was the object of his search, 
 said, Extolled be the perfection of Him who hath made his stature 
 like hers, and his complexion like hers, and his cheek like hers ! So 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman opened his eyes, and listened ; and when Marzawan 
 saw that he was listening to his words, he recited these verses : 
 
 I see thee full of ecstasy and anxiety and melody, delighting in describing the 
 
 charms of beauty. 
 Art thou smitten by love, or struck by arrows ? For this is the habit of none 
 
 but the wnnnded. 
 Give me cups of wine then to drink, and sing to me the praises ofSuleyma and 
 
 Er-Rabab and Ten'om. 55 
 I am jealous of the garments upon her sides, when she covereth with them her 
 
 delicate body ; 
 And I envy the cups that touch her mouth, when she putteth them upon the 
 
 kissing-place. 
 Think me not killed by a keen-edged sword ; for I have been wounded with the 
 
 arrows of eyes. 
 When we met each other I found her fingers dyed red as though stained with 
 
 the juice of 'andam ; 56 
 And she said, while she kindled a flame in my vitals, speaking as one who con- 
 
 cealeth not love, 
 Have patience: this is not a dye that I have used; 57 and do not accuse me of 
 
 falsehood and deceit ; 
 But when I had seen thee lying asleep, with my hand and my arm and my wrist 
 
 uncovered, 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOB. 109 
 
 I shed tears of blood at parting, and wiped them with my hand ; so mv lingers 
 
 were stained with the blood. 
 Had / wept before her, in my passion for her, I had eased my soul before 
 
 repentance came ; 
 But she wept before me : her tears drew mine ; and I said, The merit belongs to 
 
 the precedent. 58 
 Blame me not for loving her ; for I swear by love that I am full of torment on 
 
 her accoxmt. 
 I weep for one whose face beauty hath adorned, and like whom there is none 
 
 among the Arabs or foreigners : 
 She hath Lukman's wisdom, and Yoosuf s form, and Daood's sweet voice, and 
 
 Maryam's chastity ; 
 While I have Yaakoob's grief, and Yoonus's regret, and Eiyoob's affliction, and 
 
 Adam's condition. 59 
 Yet kill her not, though I die of my passion for her ; but ask her why she held 
 
 my blood as lawful to her. 
 
 When Marzawan recited these verses, the words descended upon 
 the heart of Kamar-ez-Zeman as coolness and health, and, turning his 
 tongue in his mouth, he made a sign to the Sultan with his hand, as 
 though he would say, Let this young man sit by my side. And when 
 the Sultan conceived these words of his son Kamar-ez-Zeman, after he 
 had been enraged against the young man, and determined to strike 
 off his head, he rejoiced exceedingly. He arose, and seated Marzawiin 
 by the side of his son, and, accosting him with kindness, said to 
 him, From what country art thou ? He answered, From the Interior 
 Islands, from the dominions of the King El-Ghayoor, the lord of the 
 Islands and Seas, and of the Seven Palaces. And the King Shah- 
 Zeman said, Perhaps relief may come to my son Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 through thy means. Then Marzawan addressed Kamar-ez-Zeman, 
 and isaid to him in his ear, Strengthen thy heart, and be cheerful and 
 happy ; for as to her on whose account thou hast been reduced to this 
 condition, ask not respecting her state. 60 Thou hast concealed thy 
 affair, 61 and fallen sick ; but she made known her feelings, and became 
 distracted, and is now imprisoned in a most miserable condition, 
 with a collar of iron upon her neck. ' But, if it be the will of God, 
 the restoration of you both shall be effected by my means. And 
 when Kamar-ez-Zeman heard these words, his soul returned to him, 
 and he recovered his senses, and made a sign to the King his father 
 that he should raise him in a sitting posture. So the King rejoiced 
 excessively, and seated his son. He then dismissed all the wezeers 
 and emeers, and Kamar-ez-Zeman sat reclining between two cushions. 
 The King gave orders to perfume the pavilion with saffron, and to 
 decorate the city, and said to Marzawan, By Allah, my son, this 
 
110 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZE.MAX 
 
 is an auspicious event. He treated him with the utmost favour,, and 
 called for food for him. So they placed it before him,, and he ate, 
 and Kamar-ez-Zeman ate with him. He passed the next night with 
 him, and the King also remained with them both that night, in the 
 excess of his joy at the restoration of his son. 
 
 On the following morning, JMarzawan began to tell his story to 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman, saying to him, Know that I am acquainted with 
 her in whose company thou wast, and her name is the lady Budoor, 
 the daughter of the King El-Ghayoor. He then related to him all 
 that had happened to the lady Budoor, from beginning to end, and 
 acquainted him with the excess of her love for him. All that hath 
 happened unto thee with thy father, said he, hath happened to her 
 with her father : thou art without doubt her lover, and she is thine : 
 so strengthen thy heart and thy resolution; for I will conduct thee 
 unto her, and unite you both, and act with you as saith one of the 
 poets : 
 
 If the object of love he adverse to its sufferer, and persist in shewing excessive 
 
 aversion, 
 Yet will I effect the union of their persons, as though I were the pivot of a pair 
 
 of scissors. 
 
 He continued to encourage Karuar-ez-Zeman until he ate and drank 
 and his soul returned to him and he recovered from his disorder ; and 
 he ceased not to converse with him and cheer and amuse him, and 
 recite to him verses, until he entered the bath, when his father gave 
 orders again to decorate the city, in his joy at this event, and bestowed 
 robes of honour, and gave alms, and liberated those who were confined 
 in the prisons. 
 
 Marzawan then said to Kamar-ez-Zeman, Know that I came not 
 from the lady Budoor but for this purpose : it was the object of my 
 journey to deliver her from her present Bufferings ; and it only 
 remaineth for us to devise some stratagem that we may go to her; 
 for thy father cannot endure the idea of thy separation. But to- 
 morrow do thou ask him to permit thee to go forth to hunt in the 
 desert, and take with thee a pair of saddle-bags full of money, mount 
 upon a swift horse, and take with thee a spare horse. I also will do 
 the like , and say thou to thy father, I desire to amuse myself in the 
 desert, and to hunt, and see the open country, and to pass there one 
 night : therefore trouble not thy heart at all on my account. And 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman rejoiced at the words of Marzawan, and, going in to 
 his lather, asking his permission to go forth to hunt, saying as Marza- 
 
AXI) THE PKIXCKSS RUDOOll. 
 
 Ill 
 
 wan desired him. And 
 his father granted him 
 permission, but said to 
 him, Pass no more than 
 one night away, and on 
 the morrow be with me 
 again ; for thou know- 
 est that life hath no 
 pleasure unto me with- 
 out thee, and that I do 
 not believe thee to have 
 
 entirely recovered from thy disorder. Then j 
 the King Shah-Zeman recited to his son 
 these two verses : 
 
 If I found myself possessed of every delight, and 
 
 the world were mine with the empire of " 
 
 Kisras," 2 
 It were less unto me than the wing of a gnat if mine eye did not also behold thy 
 
 form. 
 
 Having thus said, he equipped Kamar-cz-Zeman, together with 
 Marzawan, giving orders that they should be furnished with six 
 horses, and a dromedary to carry the money, and a carnel to carry 
 the water and food; aud Kamar-ez-Zeman forbade that any one 
 
 should go forth with him to attend 
 upon him. So his father bade him 
 farewell, and pressed him to his 
 bosom, saying to him, I request 
 thee, by Allah, do not be absent 
 from me more than one night ; 
 and during that night, sleep will 
 be forbidden unto me. 
 
 ^^ Kamar-ez-Zeman and Marza- 
 
 M^i^MSl W} - in 'then went f ort h, and mount- 
 ed two horses, having with them 
 the dromedary bearing the money, 
 and the camel laden with the water 
 and the food, and, turning their 
 faces towards the open country, 
 proceeded the first day until even- 
 ing, when they alighted and ate 
 
J12 THE STOTtY OF THE PTMNTE KAMAR-KZ-ZKMAN, &c. 
 
 and drank, and fed their beasts and rested a while. After this they 
 mounted again and journeyed on, and continued on their way for 
 the space of three days ; and on the fourth day they came to a 
 spacious tract in which was a forest, where they alighted. Marza- 
 wan then took the camel and one of the horses, and slaughtered 
 them, cut off their flesh, and stripped their bones, and, taking 
 from Kamar-ez-Zeman his shirt and drawers, rent them in pieces, 
 and daubed them with the blood of the horse. He also took 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman's melvvatah, and tore it, and daubed it with the 
 blood, and threw it in a spot where the road divided ; after which, 
 they ate and drank and proceeded. So Kamar-ez-Zenuin asked 
 Marzawan the reason of this which he had done; and Marzawan 
 answered, Know that thy father, the King Shah-Zeman, after thou 
 hast been absent from him one night and not returned to him on the 
 second, will mount, and follow our track until he cometh to this blood 
 which I have spilled, when he will see thy clothes torn and blood v, 
 and will imagine that some accident hath befallen thee from robbers 
 who obstruct the roads, or from a w r ild beast of the desert ; whereupon 
 he will abandon all hope of thee, and return to the city; and by this 
 stratagem we shall attain our desire. Kamar-ez-Zeman therefore 
 replied, Excellently hast thou done. They continued their journey 
 days and nights, Kamar-ez-Zeman weeping all the while, until he 
 rejoiced at drawing near to the country which they sought, when he 
 recited these verses : 
 
 Wilt thou tyrannise over a lover who hath never been unmindful of thee, and be 
 
 indifferent to him after thy desiring 1 him ? 
 May I forfeit thy consent if in love I have deceived thee, and be recompensed by 
 
 abandonment if I have been false ! 
 I have been guilty of no fault to deserve harsh conduct ; or if I have offended, I 
 
 come repentant. 
 Thine abandonment of me is a wonderful misfortune ; but fortune is always 
 
 giving rise to wonders. 
 
 When he had finished reciting these verses, the Islands of the King 
 El-Ghayoor appeared before him, and Kamar-ez-Zenmn rejoiced ex- 
 ceedingly, and thanked Marzawan for what he had done. They 
 entered the city, and Marzawan lodged Kamar-ez-Zernan in a Khan, 
 where they rested three days from the fatigues of the journey. After 
 this, Marzawan conducted Kamar-ez-Zeman into the bath, and clad 
 him in the attire of a merchant, and made for him a geomantic tablet 
 of gold, 63 with a set of instruments, and an astrolabe of gold. He then 
 said to him, Arise, O my lord; station thyself beneath the King's 
 
palace, and call out, I am the calculator, the writer, the astrologer ! 
 Where then is he who desireth to consu/t me ? For the King, as soon 
 as he heareth thee, will send for thee, and introduce thee to his 
 daughter, thy beloved ; and when she beholdeth thee, the madness 
 that she suffereth will cease ; and her father, rejoicing in her safety, 
 will marry her to thee, and divide his kingdom with thee; for he 
 hath imposed this condition on himself. 
 
 So Kamar-ez-Zeman took the advice of Marzawan, and went forth 
 from the Khan, wearing the dress, and having with him the set of 
 instruments which we have described, and walked on until he stationed 
 himself beneath the palace of the King El-Ghayoor, when he called 
 out, I am the writer, the calculator, the astrologer ! I perform the 
 ceremonies of marriage contracts, 64 and write sure charms, and make 
 calculations, and write the geomantic characters by which the hidden 
 ii. Q 
 
Ill THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAX 
 
 treasures are discovered ! Where then is the seeker ? And when the 
 people of the city heard these words, as they had not for a long time 
 seen a calculator or an astrologer, they stood around him and gazed 
 at him, and, wondering at the beauty of his form and the elegance of 
 his youth, they said to him, We conjure thee by Allah, our lord, 
 expose not thyself in this manner through thine ambition to marry the 
 daughter of the King El-Ghayoor; but turn thine eyes towards these 
 heads that are hung up ; for their owners have all of them been killed 
 on this account, and their ambition led them to perdition. But 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman regarded not their words. On the contrary, he 
 raised his voice, and cried again, I am the writer, the calculator! I 
 bring near the hidden treasures to the seeker ! The people still 
 besought and forbade him ; but instead of hearing their words, he 
 again raised his voice, and cried as before. Whereupon they were all 
 angry with him, and said to him, Thou art none other than a proud 
 and foolish young man. Have compassion upon thy youth and 
 tender years, and thy beauty and loveliness. But he cried out, 
 and said, I am the astrologer, the calculator! Is there, then, any 
 seeker ? 
 
 And while the people were attempting to dissuade him from doing 
 thus, the King El-Ghayoor heard the crying, and the clamour of the 
 people, and said to the Wezeer, Bring to us this astrologer. So the' 
 Wezeer descended, and took Kamar-ez-Zeman, who, when he went in 
 unto the King, kissed the ground before him, and recited these two 
 verses : 
 
 Eight glorious qualities are united in thee ; by their means may fortune con- 
 tinue thy servant ; 
 
 Sure knowledge, and piety, and nobility, and munificence, and fluency, and 
 eloquence, and preeminence, and conquest. 
 
 And when the King El-Ghayoor beheld him, he seated him by his 
 side, and accosted him graciously, saying, O my son, by Allah call not 
 thyself an astrologer, nor comply with my condition ; for I have bound 
 myself, that, whosoever visiteth my daughter and doth not cure her of 
 that which hath befallen her, I will shake off his head , and that, 
 whosoever cureth her, I will marry her to him. Let not then thy 
 beauty and loveliness and justness of form deceive thee. By Allah ! 
 by Allah ! if thou cure her not, I will strike off thy head ! Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman replied, I agree to this condition. So the King El-Ghayoor 
 desired the kadees to bear witness against him, and delivered him to 
 the eunuch, saying to him, Conduct this person to the lady Budoor. 
 
AM) THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 115 
 
 The eunuch, therefore, took him by the hand, and proceeded with 
 him along the passage; but Kamar-ez-Zeman went on before him; 
 and the eunuch began to say to him, Wo to thee ! Hasten not to 
 thine own destruction. By Allah, I never knew any astrologer but 
 thee hasten to his own destruction ! But thou knowest not the 
 calamities that are before thee. The eunuch then stationed Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman behind the curtain which was over the door ; and Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman said to him, Which of the two modes will be more agreeable 
 to thee : my treating and curing thy mistress here, or my going in to 
 her, and curing her within the curtain ? And the eunuch wondered 
 at his words, and answered him, If thou cure her here, it will be a 
 greater proof of thy excellent skill. Upon this, therefore, Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman seated himself behind the curtain, and, taking forth the inkhorn 
 and pen, wrote upon a paper these words : 
 
 He whom estrangement hath afflicted is to be cured by the per- 
 formance of the engagement of his beloved : but misery is the lot of 
 him who hath despaired of his life, and made sure of his dissolution ; 
 for whose sorrowful heart there is no supporter or helper, and for 
 whose sleepless eye there is no reliever from anxiety ; who passeth his 
 day in burning, and his night in torture; whose body hath suffered 
 continual wasting ; and to whom no messenger hath come from his 
 beloved. He then wrote these verses : 
 
 I write with a heart devoted to thinking of thee, and with a wounded eyelid 
 
 shedding tears of blood, 
 And a body clad by ardent longing and grief with the garment of leanness, and 
 
 brought into subjection. 
 1 complain unto thee of the torment of my love, and the utter exhaustion of my 
 
 patience, 
 lie favourable, then, and merciful and indulgent ; for my heart is breaking 
 
 through the violence of my passion. 
 
 And beneath these verses he wrote : The restoration of the heart is 
 effected by the union with the beloved ; and God is the only physician 
 who can cure him whom the object of his affection hath oppressed. 
 If you or we have been deceitful, may the deceiver be disappointed. 
 There is nothing more charming than a lover who is faithful to an 
 unfeeling object of affection. Then, at the foot of his letter, he wrote 
 thus : From the distracted and distressed, the passionate and per- 
 plexed, whom longing and ardent desire have disquieted, the captive 
 of transport and distraction, Kamar-ez-Zermin the son of Shuh-Zemiin, 
 to the peerless one of her age, and the pre-eminent among the beautiful 
 l_looreeyehs, the lady Budoor, the daughter of the King El-Ghayoor : 
 
116 THE STORY OF THE PKIXOE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN 
 
 Know that I passed my night in sleeplessness, and my day in 
 perplexity, suffering from excessive wasting and sickness, and love 
 and desire, uttering ahundant sighs, and pouring forth torrents of 
 tears, the slave of love, the victim of passion, persecuted by desire, the 
 companion of disease. I am that restless one whose eye never sleepeth, 
 the slave of love whose tears are never interrupted : the fire of my 
 heart is never extinguished ; and the flame of my desire never dis- 
 appeareth. After this, he wrote upon the margin of the letter this 
 admired verse : 
 
 Peace from the treasuries of the grace of my Lord be on her who possesseth rny 
 soul and my heart. 
 
 And be added : 
 
 Grant me some words of your conversation, that you may shew me pity, or that 
 
 my heart may be at rest. 
 From the excess of my love for you, and my transport, I make light of that which 
 
 rendereth me abject. 
 God guard a people whose abode was distant from me, and whose secret I kept 
 
 in every situation ! 
 But now fortune, in its kindness hath favoured me, and brought me to the 
 
 threshold of the beloved. 
 I beheld Budoor in the bed by my side ; and by her sun, the moon of my fortune 
 
 was brightened. 
 
 Then, having sealed the letter, he wrote these verses in the place of 
 the address : 
 
 Inquire of my letter what my pen hath written, and the characters will acquaint 
 
 thee with my transport and anguish. 
 My hand is writing while my tears are flowing, and my desire complaineth of 
 
 my disorder to the paper. 
 My tears cease not to pour upon the paper. If they stopped, I would cause them 
 
 to be followed by my blood. 
 
 And he added this other line : 
 
 I have sent thy ring which I took in exchange when we were together : then 
 send me mine. 
 
 (For he had enclosed the ring of the lady Budoor in the letter.) 
 
 He then handed the letter to the eunuch, who took it and went in 
 with it to the lady Budoor ; and she received it from his hand, and 
 found in it her ring. And when she read it, and understood its 
 object, she knew that her beloved was Kamar-ez-Zeman, and that it 
 was he who was standing outside the curtain ; whereupon her reason 
 fled through the joy that she experienced. She arose immediately, 
 and, pressing her feet against the wall, strained with all her might 
 against the iron collar, and broke it from her neck, together with the 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 117 
 
 chains, and went forth, and threw herself upon Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 kissing his mouth like a pigeon feeding its young. She embraced 
 him in the violence of her passion, and said to him, my master, do 
 I see this awake or in sleep ; and hath God indeed graciously granted 
 us our reunion ? She then, praised God, and thanked Him, for 
 reuniting her after her despair. And when the eunuch saw her in 
 this state, he went running to the King El-Ghayoor, and, kissing the 
 ground before him, said to him, my Lord, know that this astrologer 
 is the wisest of all the astrologers ; for he cured thy daughter while 
 he stood behind the curtain, and went not in to her. Is this news 
 true ? said the King. O my lord, answered the eunuch, arise and see 
 her, how she hath broken the chains of iron and come forth to the 
 astrologer, kissing and embracing him. 
 
 So the King El-Ghayoor arose and went in to his daughter ; and 
 when she beheld him, she arose, and covered her head. The King, 
 rejoicing at her restoration, kissed her between her eyes ; for he loved 
 her excessively ; and then graciously addressed Kamar-ez-Zeman, 
 asking him respecting his condition, and saying, From what country 
 art thou ? Therefore Kamar-ez-Zeman acquainted him with his rank, 
 and informed him that his father was the King Shah-Zeman, relating 
 to him the whole story from beginning to end, and acquainting him 
 with all that had happened to him with the lady Budoor, and how he had 
 taken her ring from her finger and she had put on his ring. At this 
 the King El-Ghayoor wondered, and said, Your story must be recorded 
 in books, and read after you, age after age. Then immediately he 
 summoned the kadees and witnesses, and performed the lady Budoor's 
 contract of marriage to Kamar-ez-Zeman, and gave orders to decorate 
 the city for seven days. A banquet was prepared, the city was 
 decorated, and the people praised God for his having caused the lady 
 Budoor to fall in love with a handsome young man of the sons of the 
 Kings. The women displayed her before him, and the marriage was 
 concluded; and on the following day the King made a feast, to which 
 all [who desired], of the inhabitants of the Interior and Exterior Is- 
 lands, were admitted, and the feast was continued during a whole month. 
 
 After this Kamar-ez-Zeman thought upon his father, and dreamt 
 that he saw him, and that he heard him say, my son, dost thou act 
 thus towards me ? He therefore awoke sorrowful, and acquainted his 
 wife with the dream. So she went in with him to her father, and, 
 having informed him of this, they begged his permission to set forth on 
 the journey ; and he gave permission to Kamar-ez-Zeman : but the lady 
 
118 
 
 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN 
 
 Budoor said, O my father, I cannot endure 
 his separation. Wherefore, he replied, Jour- 
 ney thou with him. He granted her per- 
 mission to remain with Kamar-ez-Zeman a 
 whole year, and desired her after that to pay 
 him, her father, an annual visit ; whereupon 
 she kissed her father's hand, and Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman did the same. The King El-Ghayoor 
 then fitted out his daughter and her husband : 
 he prepared for them the furniture for the 
 journey, sent forth for them the horses and 
 dromedaries, together with a litter for his 
 daughter, loaded 
 for them the mules 
 
 and dromedaries, and provided them with all that 
 they required for the journey. And on the day 
 of departure, he bade farewell to Kamar-ez-Ze- 
 man, and bestowed upon him a magnificent dress 
 of gold stuff adorned with jewels, presenting him 
 also with a treasure of wealth, and giving him a 
 charge respecting his daughter Budoor. After 
 which he went forth with them both to the 
 limits of the Islands, where he bade farewell 
 again to Kamar-ez-Zeman, and, going in to his 
 daughter Budoor as she reposed in the litter, 
 embraced her and wept. Then coming out 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 119 
 
 from her, he went to her husband, and again 
 bade him farewell, and kissed him ; and having 
 done this, he parted from them, and returned 
 to his islands with his troops, after he had 
 ordered Kamar-ez-Zeman and his wife to con- 
 tinue their journey. 
 
 So Kamar-ez-Zeman and the lady Budoor 
 ' proceeded with their attendants the first day 
 and the second and the third and the fourth, 
 and continued for the space of a month. They 
 then alighted in a spacious meadow, abound- 
 ing with herbage ; and in it they pitched their 
 tents, and ate and drank and rested. And 
 when the lady Budoor slept, Kamar-ez-Zeman went in and found her 
 asleep, clad in a silken shirt of apricot- colour, and with a koofeeyeh of 
 gold stuff adorned with jewels upon her head; and he observed a pre- 
 cious stone, red like 'andam, 65 tied to the band of her trowsers, with 
 two lines of writing, in characters not to be read, engraved upon it. 66 
 Karnar-ez-Zeman wondering at this, said within himself, If this pre- 
 cious stone were not a thing of great importance to her she would not 
 have tied it thus upon the band of her trowsers, and so concealed it, 
 that she might not suffer it to be away from her. What then can she 
 do with this ; and what can be the secret property that it possesseth ? 
 He then took it and went forth with it from the tent, to look at it in the 
 light ; but as he was examining it, lo, a bird pounced upon it, and, 
 having seized it from his hand, flew away with it, and then alighted 
 with it upon the ground. 67 
 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman, fearing to lose the precious stone, ran after the 
 bird; but the bird proceeded at the same rate as Kamar-ez-Zeman, 
 who continued running after it from valley to valley and from hill to 
 hill until night came and darkness commenced, when the bird went 
 to roost upon a high tree, while Kamar-ez-Zeman stood beneath it, 
 confounded, and faint with hunger and fatigue. He thought himself 
 lost, and desired to return; but knew not the place from which he 
 had come ; and, night overtaking him, he exclaimed, There is no 
 strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great ! He then slept 
 beneath the tree upon which the bird was roosting until the morning, 
 when he awoke from his sleep, and found that the bird had just risen 
 and flown from the tree. So he walked after it; and the bird con- 
 tinued flying by little and little at the same rate as that at which 
 
120 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN 
 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman walked ; upon seeing which, he smiled, and said, 
 Allah ! it is wonderful that this bird yesterday flew at the same rate 
 as I ran, and to-day, knowing that I am tired, and cannot run, flieth 
 at the same rate as I walk! Verily this is wonderful ! But I must 
 follow this bird, and it will lead me either to the preservation of my 
 life or to my death. So I will follow it whither it goeth ; for at 
 all events it will not stay but in an inhabited country. He then 
 continued following the bird, which passed every night upon a tree ; 
 and he followed it for the space of ten days, feeding upon the plants 
 of the earth, and drinking of the rivers; after which he came in sight 
 of a city, and the bird darted into this city as rapidly as a glance, and 
 disappeared from Kamar-ez-Zeman, who knew not whither it had gone. 
 Upon this he wondered, and exclaimed, Praise be to God who hath 
 preserved me, so that I have arrived at this city ! Then seating him- 
 self by some water, he washed his hands and feet and face, and rested 
 a while, reflecting upon his former life of ease, and considering his 
 present state of distance from his country and his friends, and of 
 hunger and weariness. 
 
 Having thus rested, he entered the gate of the city, not knowing 
 whither 'to go, and walked through the whole of the city. He had 
 entered by the land-gate, and he walked on till he went forth from 
 the sea-gate, without meeting any one of its inhabitants. The city 
 was on the shore of the sea ; and when he had gone forth from the 
 sea-gate, he walked on until he came to the gardens of the city ; and 
 he entered among the trees, and went and stood by the gate of one of 
 the gardens ; whereupon the gardener came forth to him and welcomed 
 him, saying to him, Praise be to God that thou hast escaped the 
 people of this city ! Enter then this garden quickly, before any one of 
 its inhabitants shall see thee. So, upon this, Kamar-ez-Zeman entered 
 the garden, with a wandering mind, and said to the gardener, What is 
 the history of the inhabitants of this city ? The gardener answered, 
 Know that the peeple of this city are all of them Magians ; and I 
 conjure thee by Allah to tell me how thou earnest to this place, and 
 what was the reason of thy entering our country. 68 Kamar-ez-Zemaii 
 therefore acquainted him with all that had happened to him ; and the 
 gardener wondered at it extremely, and said to him, Know, my 
 son, that the countries of El-Islam 6 " are distant from hence : between 
 them and this place is a distance of four months' voyage by sea ; and 
 by land, a journey of a whole year. We have a ship that saileth every 
 year with merchandise to the nearest of the countries of El-Islam, 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOK. 121 
 
 proceeding hence to the sea of the Ebony Islands, 70 and thence to the 
 Islands of Khalidan, whose King is the Sultan Shah-Zeman. And 
 upon this, Kamar-ez-Zeman meditated within himself a while, and 
 knew that there was no plan more suitable for him than that of his 
 remaining there with the gardener, and becoming his assistant for a 
 fourth of the produce. 71 So he said to him, Wilt thou take me as thy 
 assistant on the condition of my receiving the fourth of the produce 
 of this garden ? And the gardener answered, I hear and obey. He 
 then instructed him in the conducting of the water among the trees ; 72 
 and Kamar-ez-Zem&n occupied himself in doing this, and in hoeing 
 up the grass : the gardener clad him with a blue vest reaching to his 
 knees ; and he betook himself to watering the trees, pouring forth 
 floods of tears and reciting verses by night and day on the subject of 
 his beloved Budoor. 
 
 But as to his wife, the lady Budoor, she awoke from her sleep and 
 asked for her husband, Kamar-ez-Zemau ; but found him not ; and 
 feeling the knot of the band of her trowsers, she found that it was 
 untied, and that the precious stone was lost ; whereupon she said 
 within herself, Allah ! this is wonderful ! Where is my beloved ? 
 It seemeth that he hath taken the stone, and gone, and knoweth not 
 the secret virtue that it possesseth. Whither can he have gone ? Some 
 wonderful event must have occasioned his departure ; for he cannot 
 willingly part from me for an hour. Accursed be the stone, and the 
 hour when it brought this mischief! She then reflected, and said 
 within herself, If I go forth to the attendants and acquaint them with 
 the loss of my husband, they will covet me : I must therefore have 
 recourse to stratagem. So she put on some clothes of Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman, and a turban like his, and, having thrown a litham 73 over part 
 of her face, put into her litter a slave-girl ; after which she went forth 
 from her tent, and called out to the young men, who immediately 
 brought her the horse, and she mounted, giving orders to bind on 
 the burdens. They accordingly did this, and proceeded ; and she 
 concealed her case; for she resembled Kamar-ez-Zeman, so that no 
 one doubted her to be really him. She continued her journey, together 
 with her attendants, days and nights, until she came in sight of a city 
 overlooking the sea, and by it she alighted, and there she pitched her 
 tents, for the sake of taking rest. She then asked the name of this 
 city, and was answered, This is the City of Ebony, and its King 
 is the King Armanoos, who hath a daughter named Hayat-en- 
 Nufoos. 74 
 
 II. R 
 
Now when the lady Budoor had alighted here to rest, the King 
 Armanoos sent a messenger from his palace to learn for him the 
 tidings of this (supposed) King who had encamped outside the city. 
 So the messenger, on coming to the party, inquired of them, and 
 they informed him that this was a King's son who had wandered 
 from his way, and who was journeying to the Islands of Khalidan, to 
 the King Shah-Zeman. The messenger, therefore, returned to the 
 King Armanoos, and acquainted him with the news ; and as soon as 
 the King heard it, he descended with the lords of his empire to visit 
 the stranger. As he approached the tents, the lady Budoor advanced 
 towards him on foot, and the King Armanoos alighted, and they 
 saluted each other. He then took her and conducted her into the 
 city, and went up with her into his palace, where he gave orders to 
 prepare a banquet, and to convey her to the mansion of entertainment ; 
 and there she remained three days. 
 
THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN, &c. 123 
 
 After this, it happened that the lady Budoor had entered the bath, 
 and she displayed a face shining like the full moon, so that all who 
 beheld her were filled with admiration of her beauty, and she was 
 clad in a vest of silk embroidered with gold, and adorned with jewels. 
 The King Armanoos then accosted her graciously, and said to her, 
 Know, my son, that I am now a very old man, and in my life I 
 have never been blest with a child, except a daughter, who resembleth 
 thee in form and stature, and in beauty and loveliness. I am unable 
 any longer to fulfil the duties of a King. Wilt thou, then, my 
 son, reside in my land, and dwell in my country ? If so, I will marry 
 thee to my daughter, and give thee my kingdom. Upon this, the 
 lady Budoor hung down her head, and her forehead became moistened 
 by bashfulness. She said within herself, What can be done, seeing 
 that 1 am a woman ? If I disobey his command, and depart, probably 
 he will send after me an army, and kill me ; and if I obey him, pro- 
 bably I shall be disgraced : I have lost my beloved Kamar-ez-Zeman, 
 and know not what is become of him ; and I have no means of 
 preserving myself, unless by assenting to his desire, and residing with 
 him until God accomplish what must come to pass. She then raised 
 her head, and paid submission to the King by saying, I hear and 
 obey ; whereupon the King rejoiced, and gave orders to proclaim 
 throughout the Ebony Islands that rejoicings should be celebrated 
 and the houses decorated. He assembled the chamberlains and 
 lieutenants, and emeers and wezeers, and the other lords of his empire, 
 and the kadees of his city, and, having abdicated the throne, appointed 
 the lady Budoor Sultan in his stead, and clad her with the royal vest- 
 ments. All the emeers presented themselves before her, complaining 
 not of her youth ; and every one of them who looked at her was - 
 astonished at her extreme beauty and loveliness. 
 
 So when the lady Budoor had been created Sultan, and the drums 
 had been beaten to announce the joyful event, the King Armanoos 
 prepared his daughter Hayat-en-Nufoos for her marriage ; and after 
 a few days, they introduced the lady Budoor to the lady Hayat-en- 
 Nufoos. They resembled two full moons by the side of each other, 
 or two suns that had risen together ; and when the attendants had 
 closed the doors upon them, and let down the curtains, after they had 
 lighted the candles for them, and spread the bed, the lady Budoor sat 
 with the lady Hayat-en-Nufoos, and reflecting upon her beloved 
 Kamar-ez-Zenmn, her grief became violent, and she poured forth tears, 
 and recited some verses commencing thus : 
 
124 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-E/-ZEMAN. 
 
 O ve who have quitted me, with my heart full of trouble, your absence hath left 
 no life in my body ! 
 
 Then sitting by the side of the lady Hayat-en-Nufoos, she kissed her 
 upon the mouth, and, arising abruptly, performed the ablution, and 
 continued praying until the lady Hayat-en-Nufoos had fallen asleep, 
 when she entered the bed, and turned her back to her till the 
 morning. And when the morning arrived, the old King and his 
 wife came in to their daughter, and asked her how she was. So she 
 acquainted them with what had happened, and with the verses that 
 she had heard. 
 
 But the Queen Budoor, having gone forth, seated herself on the 
 throne, and the emeers and other lords of the empire, and all the 
 chiefs and soldiers, went up to her, and congratulated her on her 
 accession to the throne, kissed the ground before her, and pi-ayed for 
 her, while she accosted them with smiles, bestowed upon them robes 
 of honour, and increased the fiefs of the emeers. So all the soldiers 
 and people loved her, and prayed for the continuance of her reign, 
 having no doubt that she was a man ; and she commanded and for- 
 bade, and dispensed justice and equity, liberated the persons who 
 were confined in the prisons, and remitted the custom-taxes. She 
 continued sitting in the hall of judgment until night, and then, enter- 
 ing the chamber that was prepared for her, found the lady Hayat-en- 
 Nufoos sitting there. She therefore seated herself by her side, and 
 patted her on the back, caressed her, and kissed her between the eyes, 
 and then, as before, recited some verses deploring the absence of her 
 husband ; after which, she rose upon her feet, and, having wiped away 
 her tears, performed the ablution, and prayed, and continued praying 
 until sleep overcame the lady Hayat-en-Nufoos. The Queen Budoor 
 then laid herself by her side, and so remained until the morning; 
 when she rose, and performed the morning-prayers, seated herself 
 upon the throne, commanded and forbade, and administered justice 
 and equity. In the meantime, the King Armanoos went in to his 
 daughter, and she informed him of all that had happened to her, 
 repeating to him the verses which the Queen Budoor had recited, and 
 said to him, O my father, I have never beheld any one more sensible 
 or more bashful than my husband ; but he only wecpeth and sigheth. 
 Her father, therefore, replied, my daughter, have patience with him 
 yet this third night only ; and if he treat thee not with the respect 
 that is due to thee, \ve shall know what course to pursue with him : I 
 will divest him of the regal authority, and banish him from our 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 125 
 
 country. Thus he agreed with his daughter to do, and thus lie 
 resolved in his mind. 
 
 Now when the next night came, the Queen Budoor arose from the 
 throne, and, returning to the chamber prepared for her in the palace, 
 saw the candles lighted, and the lady Hayat-en-Nufoos sitting there ; 
 whereupon she thought of her husband, and of the events that had 
 happened to herself and him during the last few days ; and she wept, 
 and continued groaning, and again recited some verses expressive of 
 her unhappy state. She then desired to arise to prayer ; but Hayat- 
 en-Nufoos clung to her skirts, and said to her, my master, art thou 
 not ashamed to act thus towards my father who hath treated thee with 
 so much kindness, and to regard me with this protracted indifference ? 
 And when the Queen Budoor heard this, she sat down, and replied, O 
 my beloved, what sayest thou ? What I say, rejoined Hayat-en- 
 Nufoos, is this ; that I have beheld no one so self-satisfied as thou. 
 Is then every one who is lovely thus selfish ? But I say not this on 
 my own account : I do so only in my fear for thee from the King 
 Armanoos ; for he hath resolved, if thou pay me not proper respect, 
 to depose thee from the sovereignty to-morrow, and to banish thee 
 from his country ; and probably his rage may so increase that he may 
 kill thee. I therefore am moved with compassion for thee, and have 
 given thee good advice ; and it is thine to decide how thou wilt act. 
 On hearing these words, the Queen Budoor hung down her head 
 towards the ground, and was perplexed at her case, saying within 
 herself, If I oppose his wish, I perish ; and if I obey him, I am 
 disgraced ; but I am now Queen of all the Ebony Islands, and they 
 are under my rule, and I cannot meet again with Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 unless in this place ; for there is no way by which he can return to 
 his country but by the Ebony Islands. I will therefore commit my 
 case unto God, who is the Best Director. She then said to Hayat-en- 
 Nufoos, my beloved, my neglect of thee hath been involuntary. 
 And she related to her all that had befallen her from beginning to 
 end, adding, I conjure thee by Allah to conceal my case and to keep 
 my secret until God reunite me with my beloved Kamar-ez-Zeman, and 
 after that we shall see what will happen. Upon this, Hayat-en- 
 Nufoos was filled with the utmost wonder, and, being moved with 
 pity for her, prayed for her reunion with her beloved, and said to her, 
 my sister, fear not nor be alarmed ; but have patience until God 
 accomplish that which must come to pass. The bosoms of the 
 ingenuous are the sepulchres of secrets ; and thy secret I will not 
 
126 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN 
 
 reveal. Then they toyed together, and embraced each other, and 
 slept until near the call to morning-prayers, when the mother of 
 Hayat-en-Nufoos came in to her, and was satisfied with her report. 
 The Queen Budoor, after performing the morning-prayers, repaired to 
 the hall of judgment, and there, seated upon the throne, judged the 
 people; and the King Armanoos was rejoiced at what he heard: his 
 bosom expanded, and he gave banquets : and thus they continued for 
 a length of time. Such were the adventures of Kamar-ez-Zeman and 
 the Queen Budoor. 
 
 But as to the King Shah-Zeman, after the departure of his son 
 to the chase, accompanied by Marzawan, as already related, he waited 
 until the second night; and when his son came not, his reason was 
 perplexed, and he slept not that night. He became in a state of the 
 utmost disquiet, his excitement was excessive, and he burned with 
 anxiety; and scarcely had the day broke when he rose. He sat 
 expecting his son until midday ; but he came not ; and his heart 
 became impressed with a dread of separation, and he burned with 
 fears for his son. He wept until he wetted his clothes with his tears, 
 and then, wiping away the tears, he issued a proclamation commanding 
 his forces to march, and urging them to undertake a long expedition. 
 So all the troops mounted, and the Sultan went forth, with a heart 
 tortured for his son, and full of grief. He disposed his army in six 
 divisions, on the right and left, and before and behind, and said to 
 them, To-morrow ye shall meet at the parting of the road. The 
 troops, therefore, being thus divided, the horsemen set forth, and 
 proceeded the rest of that day until the hour of darkness ; and they 
 continued on their way the whole of the night, and the next day till 
 noon, when they arrived at a spot where the road divided into four 
 branches ; so that they knew net which way to go. But here they 
 beheld torn clothes, and mangled flesh, and they looked at the traces 
 of the blood, and observed every piece of the clothes. So when the 
 King Shah-Zeman saw this, he uttered a great cry from the bottom of 
 his bosom, and exclaimed, Oh, my son ! He slapped his face, and 
 plucked his beard, and rent his clothes, feeling convinced of the death 
 of his son. His weeping and wailing were excessive, and the troops 
 wept with him, all of them regarding as certain the destruction of 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman : they threw dust upon their heads, and the night 
 overtook them while they wept and wailed so that they were at the 
 point of death. The King Shah-Zema'n then returned with his troops 
 to his city, convinced of the death of his son, and coiicludiiiir that 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 127 
 
 either a wild beast or a robber had attacked him and torn him in 
 pieces. He issued a proclamation throughout the Islands of Khalidan 
 that the people should wear black in token of mourning for hits son 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman, and built for himself an edifice which he named 
 the House of Lamentations; and every Thursday and Monday he 
 decided the affairs of his troops and people ; passing the rest of the 
 week in the House of Lamentations, mourning for his son, and be- 
 wailing him with elegies. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Queen Budoor remained monarch of the Land 
 of Ebony, the people pointing at her with the finger, and saying, This 
 is the son-in-law of the King Armanoos ; and every night she slept 
 with the lady Hayat-en-Nufoos, complaining of the absence of her 
 husband Kamar-ez-Zeman, and describing to her his beauty and love- 
 liness, desiring an interview with him were it only in her sleep. 
 
 Now Kamar-ez-Zeman continued residing in the garden, with its 
 owner, for a length of time, weeping night and day, and sighing, and 
 lamenting in verses the past times of enjoyment and happiness, while 
 the gardener, to console him, told him that the ship would sail at the 
 end of the year to the countries of the Muslims. Thus he remained 
 until, one day, he saw the people assembling together, at which he 
 wondered ; and the gardener came in to him and said to him, my 
 son, cease from work this day, and water not the trees ; for this day 
 is a festival of the people, whereon they visit one another. Therefore 
 rest, and only keep thine eye upon the garden; for I desire to look 
 out for the vessel for thee, since there remaineth but a short time, and 
 to send thee to the country of the Muslims. The gardener then went 
 forth ; and Kamar-ez-Zeman remained alone in the garden. His 
 heart was broken, his tears flowed, and he continued weeping until he 
 fell down in a swoon ; and when he recovered, he rose, and walked 
 about the garden reflecting upon his misfortunes and upon his pro- 
 tracted estrangement and separation. His reason being thus disturbed, 
 he stumbled, and fell upon his face, and his forehead struck against 
 the root of a tree with such violence that his blood flowed, and 
 mingled with his tears. He, however, wiped away the blood, and 
 dried up his tears, and, having bound his forehead with a piece of 
 rag, arose, and continued his walk about the garden. And he turned 
 up his eyes towards a tree upon which were two birds contending 
 together; and one of them overcame the other, it pecked at its neck, 
 and severed its head from its body, and, taking the head, flew away 
 with it. The body of the bird thus killed then fell upon the ground 
 
?f4WM:":- 
 
 before Kamar-ez-Zernan, and as it lay there, lo, two great birds 
 pounced down upon it, and, one of them placing itself at its upper 
 extremity and the other at its tail, they depressed their wings over it, 
 and stretched forth their necks towards it, and moaned. So Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman wept for his separation from his wife when he beheld the 
 two birds moaning over their companion. After this, he saw the two 
 birds make a hollow, and bury in it the slaughtered bird ; and having 
 done so, they soared aloft into the sky; but after they had been 
 absent a while, they returned bringing with them the bird that had 
 committed the murder. They alighted with it upon the grave of the 
 slaughtered bird, and there crouched upon it and killed it : they rent 
 open its body, tore out its bowels, and poured its blood upon the grave 
 of the slaughtered bird : then they strewed about its flesh, and tore 
 its skin, and pulling out all that was within it, they scattered it in 
 different places. 
 
THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN, &c. 129 
 
 All this took place while Kamar-ez-Zeman looked on in wonder; 
 and as he happened to cast a glance towards the place where the two 
 great birds had killed the other, he observed something shining. So 
 he approached it, and saw it to be the bird's crop : and he took it and 
 opened it, and found in it the stone that had been the cause of his 
 separation from his wife. As soon as he beheld it he knew it, and 
 fell upon the ground in a fit,, through his joy; and when he recovered 
 he said within himself, This is a good sign, and an omen of my 
 reunion with my beloved ! He then examined it, drew it over his 
 eye, 75 and tied it upon his arm, anticipating from it a happy result ; 
 after which he rose and walked about, waiting for the gardener. He 
 continued searching for him until night; but he came not. So 
 Kamar-ez-Zeimin slept in his usual place until the moming, when he 
 arose to his work. 
 
 Having girded himself with a rope of the fibres of the palm-tree, 
 he took the hoe and the basket, and went into the midst of the garden 
 till he came to a locust-tree, and he struck at its root with the hoe, 
 whereupon the blow loudly resounded. So he removed the earth from 
 its place ; and having done this, he discovered a trap-door, on opening 
 which he found an aperture ; and he descended into it, and beheld an 
 old saloon, of the age of Thamood and 'Ad, 76 spacious, and [containing 
 a number of jars] filled with red gold; upon which he said within 
 himself, Fatigue is past, and joy and happiness have come ! He then 
 ascended from this place into the garden, and, having replaced the 
 trap-door, resumed his occupation of conducting the water to the trees 
 in the garden. 
 
 Thus he continued to busy himself until the close of the day, 
 when the gardener came to him, and said, O my son, receive glad 
 tidings of thy speedy return to thy native land ; for the merchants 
 have prepared for the voyage, and the ship after three days is to set 
 sail for the City of Ebony, which is the first of the cities of the 
 Muslims ; ami when thou hast arrived there, thou wilt travel by land 
 six months to the Islands of Khalidan and the King Shah-Zeman. 
 So Kamar-ez-Zeman rejoiced at this, and kissing the hand of the 
 gardener, said to him, O my father, like as thou hast given me good 
 tidings, I too give good tidings unto thee. And he acquainted him 
 with the affair of the saloon ; whereat the gardener also rejoiced, and 
 replied, I have been eighty years in this garden without finding any 
 thing, and thou hast been with me less than a year and hast discovered 
 this : it is therefore thy prize, and a means of terminating thy grief ; 
 
 n. s 
 
130 
 
 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAX 
 
 and will assist thee to accomplish thy return to thy family and thy 
 reunion with thy beloved. But Kamar-ez-Zernan said, It must 
 positively be divided between me and thee. He then took the 
 gardener and conducted him into that saloon, and showed him the 
 gold, which was in twenty jars : so he took ten and the gardener took 
 ten. And the gardener said to him, O my son, fill for thyself large 
 jars " with the 'asafeeree olives 78 which are in this garden ; for they 
 exist not in any country but ours, and the merchants export them to 
 all other parts : and place thou the gold in the jars, and the olives 
 over the gold : then close them and take them to the ship. So 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman arose immediately, and filled fifty large jars, putting 
 the gold in them, and closing each after he had put the olives over the 
 gold ; 79 and the precious stone he put into one of the jars : after which 
 he sat conversing with the gardener, and felt confident of his speedy 
 reunion with his family, saying within himself, When I have arrived 
 at the . Ebony Island, I will journey thence to the country of my 
 father, and inquire for my beloved Budoor : but I wonder whether 
 she have returned to her own country, or journeyed on to the country 
 of my father, or whether any accident have happened to her on the 
 way. 
 
 He then sat waiting for the expiration of the days, and related to 
 the gardener the story of the birds, and of what passed between them, 
 whereat the gardener wondered. After this, both of them slept until 
 the morning, and the gardener awoke ill, and remained so two days : 
 and on the third day his illness so increased 
 that they despaired of his life. Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman, therefore, grieved for the gardener; 
 and while he was in this state, lo, the master 
 of the ship, with the sailors, came and inquired 
 for the gardener : so he acquainted them with 
 his illness. They then said, Where is the 
 young man who desireth to 
 go with us to the Island of 
 Ebony ? And Kamar-ez-Ze- 
 man answered, He is the 
 memlook who is before you.* 
 And he desired them to 
 transport the jars to the 
 ship. They therefore re- 
 moved them to the shij., 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 131 
 
 and said to Karnar-ez-Zeman, Hasten; for the wind hath become 
 fair. And he replied, I hear and obey. He then conveyed his pro- 
 visions to the ship, and returned to the gardener to bid him farewell ; 
 but he found him in the agonies of death : so he seated himself at his 
 head till he died ; and he closed his eyes, and prepared his body for 
 burial, and interred it. 
 
 Having done this, he repaired to the ship. He found, however, 
 that it had spread its sails and departed ; and it continued cleaving 
 the sea until it disappeared from before his eyes. He was confounded 
 and perplexed, and he returned to the garden anxious and sorrowful, 
 and threw dust upon his head. He hired the garden from its pro- 
 prietor, and employed a man to assist him in watering the trees ; and 
 going to the trap-door he descended into the saloon, and stowed the 
 remaining gold in fifty other large jars, putting olives over it. 81 He 
 then made inquiries respecting the ship, and the people answered him, 
 That it sailed not more than onee in every year. His trouble of mind 
 increased, and he mourned for that which had befallen him, especially 
 for the loss of the precious stone of the lady Budoor. He passed 
 night and day in weeping and reciting verses. 
 
 In the mean time, the wind was favourable to the ship, and it 
 arrived at the Island of Ebony. And it happened in accordance with 
 destiny, that the Queen Budoor was sitting at a window, and beheld 
 the vessel when it cast anchor by the shore. Her heart throbbed at 
 the sight, and she mounted with the emeers and chamberlains, and, 
 repairing to the shore, stopped near the ship as the crew were 
 transporting the merchandise to the magazines. She forthwith 
 summoned the master of the vessel, and asked him what he had 
 brought ; and he answered her, King, I have, in this vessel, 
 aromatics and medicinal powders, and collyriums and plasters and 
 ointments, and wealth and magnificent stuffs and costly merchandise, 
 such as camels and mules cannot carry ; among which are various 
 kinds of essences and spices and aloes-wood, and tamarind 82 and 
 'asafeeree olives, such as are scarcely to be found in this country. 
 On hearing this, she felt a desire for the olives, and said to the owner 
 of the ship, What is the quantity of the olives that thou hast brought ? 
 He answered, I have fifty large jars full; but their owner came not 
 with us ; and the King shall take of them what he desireth. So she 
 said, Land them, that I may look at them. And the master called out 
 to his crew, whereupon they brought out the fifty jars; and she opened 
 one, and, having looked at the olives, said, I will take these fifty jars 
 
132 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN 
 
 and give you their price, whatever it be. The master of the ship 
 replied, These have no value in our country: but their owner remained 
 behind us, and he is a poor man. But she said, \Vhat is their price ? 
 And he answered, A thousand pieces of silver. I will take them, 
 replied she, for a thousand pieces of silver. 
 
 She then commanded that they should be conveyed to the palace; 
 and when night came, she gave orders to bring to her one of the jars ; 
 and she opened it. There was no one in the chamber but herself and 
 Hayat-en-Nufoos ; and she placed a dish before her, and on her pour- 
 ing into it some of the contents of the iar, there fell into the dish a 
 
 O t} ' 
 
 heap of red gold ; whereupon she said to the lady Hayat-en-'Nufoos, 
 This is nothing but gold! She therefore examined the whole, and 
 found that all the jars contained gold, and that the olives altogether 
 would not fill one of the jars; and searching among the gold, she 
 discovered the precious stone with it. So she took it and examined 
 it, and found that it was the stone which was attached to the band of 
 her trousers, and which Kamar-ez-Zeman had taken. As soon as she 
 recognised it, she cried out in her joy, and fell down in a swoon : and 
 when she recovered, she said within herself, This precious stone was 
 the cause of the separation of my beloved Kamar-ez-Zeman ; but it is 
 an omen of good fortune ! She then told the lady Hayat-eu-Nufoos 
 that its recovery was a prognostic of her reunion. And when the 
 morning came, she seated herself upon the throne, and summoned the 
 master of the ship, who, when he came, kissed the ground before her ; 
 and she said to him, Where did ye leave the owner of these olives ? 
 He answered, King of the age, we left him in the country of the 
 Magians ; and he is a gardener. And she said, If thou bring him 
 not, thou knowest not the misfortune that will happen unto thee and 
 to thy ship. She immediately gave orders to affix" seals upon the 
 magazines of the merchants, and said to them, The owner of these 
 olives is an offender against me, and is my debtor; and if he come 
 not, I will assuredly slay you all, and seize your merchandise. So 
 they applied to the master of the ship, promising to pay him the hire 
 of the vessel if he would return, and said to him, Deliver us from this 
 tyrant. 
 
 The master therefore embarked, and loosed the sails, and God 
 decreed him safety, so that he arrived at the Island of the Magians ; 
 and, landing by night, he went up to the garden. The night had 
 become tedious to Kamar-ez-Zeman, and he was thinking upon his 
 beloved, as he sat in the garden weeping for the misfortunes that had 
 
AND THE PItlNCEvSS BUDOOR. 
 
 133 
 
 befallen him ; and the master of the ship knocked at the gate of his 
 garden. He therefore opened the gate and went forth to him, and 
 immediately the sailors carried him off, and, embarking with him, 
 loosed the sails, and departed. They continued their voyage days and 
 nights, while Kamar-ez-Zeman knew not the occasion of this conduct. 
 He asked them the cause, and they answered him, Thou art an 
 offender against the King of the Ebony Islands, the son of the King 
 Armanoos, and hast stolen his wealth, O thou unlucky ! But he 
 replied, By Allah, in my life I never entered that country, nor do I 
 know it. 
 
 They continued their voyage with him until they came in sight of 
 the Ebony Islands, and took hint up to the lady Budoor, who, as 
 soon as she saw him, knew him, and said, Commit him to the eunuchs, 
 that they may conduct him into the bath. She then dispelled the 
 
134 THE STORY OF THE PRINCE KAMAR-EZ-ZEMAN 
 
 fears of the merchants, and bestowed upon the master of the ship a 
 robe of honour worth ten thousand pieces of gold ; after which, she 
 went in to the lady Hayat-en-Nufoos, and acquainted her with the 
 event, saying to her, Conceal the news until I have attained my desire, 
 and done a deed which shall be recorded, and read after us to Kings 
 and subjects. And when she gave orders to conduct Kamar-ez-Zernan 
 into the bath, they did so, and clad him in the apparel of Kings ; and 
 when he came forth from the bath, he appeared like a branch of the 
 Oriental willow, or a planet at whose appearance the sun and moon 
 were abashed ; and his soul returned to him. He then repaired to 
 her, and entered the palace ; but when she beheld him, she restrained 
 her heart, that her purpose might be accomplished. She bestowed 
 upon him memlooks and servants, and camels and mules, gave him a 
 treasury of wealth, and ceased not to promote him from grade to grade 
 until she made him treasurer, delivering all the treasures to his care. 
 She admitted him into high favour, and acquainted the emeers with 
 his station, and they all loved him. Every day the Queen Budoor 
 increased his appointments, and Kamar-ez-Zeman knew not the cause 
 of her thus honouring him. From the abundance of his wealth he 
 gave liberal presents ; and he served the King Armanoos with such 
 zeal that he loved him, as did the emeers and other great men, and 
 the common people, so that they swore by his life. 83 
 
 But all this time Kamar-ez-Zeman wondered at the honours which 
 the Queen Budoor shewed him, and said within himself, By Allah, 
 this love must have some cause ; or perhaps this King thus favoureth 
 me from some evil intention : I must therefore ask his permission to 
 depart from his country. Accordingly, he went to the Queen Budoor, 
 and said to her, King, thou hast bestowed on me great favours, 
 and thy favours will be complete if thou permit me to depart, and 
 take from me all that thou hast bestowed upon me. And the Queen 
 Budoor smiled, and said, What induceth thee to desire to travel, and 
 to rush headlong into perils, when thou art enjoying the highest 
 favour, and extraordinary beneficence ? King, answered Kamar-ez- 
 Zeman, if this favour be without cause, it is most wonderful, especially 
 as thou hast conferred upon me dignities such as are proper for the 
 aged, when I am but a child. The Queen Budoor then took him into 
 a private apartment, and made herself known to him : and he dis- 
 covered that she was his wife, the Queen Budoor, the daughter of the 
 King El-Ghayoor, lord of the Islands and the Seas ; whereupon they 
 embraced and kissed each other. She related to him all that had 
 
AND THE PRINCESS BUDOOR. 135 
 
 happened to her from first to last ; and he in like manner acquainted 
 her with all that had befallen him. 
 
 And when the next morning carne, and diffused its light, the 
 Queen Budoor sent to the King Armanoos, and informed him of the 
 truth of her case, that she was the wife of Kamar-ez-Zeman, relating 
 to him their story and the cause of their separation ; and the King 
 Armanoos, on hearing her tale, wondered at it extremely. He gave 
 orders to write it in letters of gold, and then, looking towards Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman, said to him, O son of the King, wilt thou form an alliance 
 with me by marrying my daughter Hayat-en-Nufoos ? He answered, 
 I must consult the Queen Budoor ; for I owe her unlimited gratitude. 
 But when he consulted her, she replied, Excellent is this proposal ! 
 Marry her, therefore, and I will be a handmaid to her ; for I owe her a 
 debt of kindness and beneficence, and favour and obligation, especially 
 as we are in her abode, and since we have been loaded with the 
 benefits of her father. 84 So when Kamar-ez-Zeman saw that the Queen 
 Budoor inclined to this, and was not jealous of Hayat-en-Nufoos, he 
 agreed with her on this subject, and acquainted the King Armanoos 
 with that which the Queen Budoor had said, that she approved of the 
 marriage, and would be a handmaid to Hayat-en-Nufoos. And on 
 hearing these words from Kamar-ez-Zeman, the King Armanoos 
 rejoiced exceedingly. He went forth immediately, and seated himself 
 upon his throne, and, having summoned all the emeers and wezeers 
 and chamberlains, and the other lords of the empire, acquainted them 
 with the story of Kamar-ez-Zeman, and his wife the Queen Budoor 
 from first to last, telling them that he desired to marry his daughter 
 Hayat-en-Nufoos to Kamar-ez-Zeman, and to appoint him Sultan 
 over them in the place of his wife the Queen Budoor. Upon which 
 all of them said, Since Kamar-ez-Zeman is the husband of the Queen 
 Budoor, who was our sovereign before him when we thought her the 
 son-in-law of our King Armanoos, we are all content to have him as 
 our Sultan, and we will be servants unto him, and never swerve from 
 our allegiance to him. 
 
 The King Armanoos, therefore, rejoiced at this exceedingly : he 
 summoned the kadees and witnesses, and the chief officers of the 
 empire, and performed Kamar-ez-Zem tin's contract of marriage to his 
 daughter, the Queen Hayas-en-Nufoos. He celebrated festivities, 
 gave sumptuous banquets, conferred costly robes of honour upon all 
 the emeers and chiefs and soldiers, bestowed alms upon the poor and 
 the needy, and liberated all the prisoners ; and the people rejoiced at 
 
136 
 
 THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES 
 
 the accession of the King Kamar-ez-Zermin, praying for the continuance 
 of his glory and prosperity, and felicity and honour. As soon as he had 
 become Sultan over them, Kamar-ez-Zemiin remitted the custom-taxes; 
 he conducted himself in a praiseworthy manner towards his people, 
 and resided with his wives in enjoyment and happiness, and fidelity 
 and cheerfulness, behaving towards both of them with impartiality. 
 Thus he remained for a length of time ; his anxieties and sorrows were 
 obliterated ; and he forgot his father, the King Shah-Zeman, and the 
 glory and power that he had enjoyed under him. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 
 
 AFTER this, God (whose name be exalted !) blessed Karnar-ez- 
 Zeman with two male children by his two wives. They were like two 
 shining moons : the elder of them was the son of the Queen Budoor, 
 and his name was the Prince El-Amjad j 85 and the younger was the 
 son of Haydt-en-Nufoos, and his name was the Prince Al-As'ad; 86 
 and Al-As'ad was more lovely than his brother El-Amjad. They were 
 
ED-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 137 
 
 reared with magnificence and tenderness, and instructed in polite arts 
 and accomplishments : they learned caligraphy and general science, 
 and the arts of government and horsemanship, until they attained the 
 utmost perfection, and became distinguished by consummate beauty 
 and loveliness, so that the women were ravished by their charms. 
 They grew up to the age of seventeen years, always in each other's 
 company, eating and drinking together, and never separated ; and all 
 the people envied them on this account. And when they had attained 
 to manhood, and were both endowed with every accomplishment, their 
 father, whenever he made a journey, seated them by turns in the hall of 
 judgment, and each of them judged the people for one day at a time. 
 
 Now it happened, in accordance with confirmed destiny and 
 determined fate, that two ladies in the King's palace, 87 on whom he 
 had set his affections, became enamoured of the two princes, El-Amjad 
 and El-As'ad. Each of these two women used to toy with the object 
 of her love, and kiss him, and press him to her bosom ; and when his 
 mother beheld this, she imagined that it was only an affection like 
 that of a parent. Love took entire possession of the hearts of the two 
 women, and when they had waited long without finding any way of 
 accomplishing their union, they abstained from drink and food, and 
 relinquished the delight of sleep. 
 
 The King then went forth to the chase, and ordered his two sons 
 to sit in his place to administer justice, each of them for one day at a 
 time, according to their custom. So on the first day, El-Amjad, the 
 son of the Queen Budoor, sat for judgment, and commanded and 
 forbade, and invested and deposed, and gave and denied. And his 
 enamoured wrote him a letter, endeavouring to conciliate his affection, 
 and declaring that she was wholly devoted to him, and transported 
 with love for him, exposing her whole case to him, and telling him 
 that she desired to be united to him. She took a paper, and wrote in 
 it these words : 
 
 From the poor, the love-sick female ; the mourning, the estranged; 
 whose youth is consumed by love for thee, and whose torment on 
 thine account hath been protracted. If I described to thee the extent 
 of my sorrow, and the sadness that I suffered, the violent love that 
 is in my heart, and how I weep and moan, and how my mourning 
 heart is cut in pieces, and my constant grief, and continual anxieties, 
 and the pain that I endure from separation, and from sadness and 
 ardent desire, the exposition of my case would be too long for a letter, 
 and none could calculate its extent. The earth and heaven have 
 
 II. T 
 
138 THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES 
 
 become strait unto me, and I have no hope nor trust but in thee ; for 
 I have arrived at the point of death, and suffered the horrors of 
 destruction. My ardour hath become excessive, with my disjunction 
 and estrangement, and if I described the longing desire that I feel, 
 papers would be insufficient for it. And after this, she wrote these 
 two verses : 
 
 If 1 would explain the burnings I experience, and the sickness, and ecstasy of 
 
 love, and agitation, 
 Neither paper nor pen would remain upon the earth, nor ink, nor a scrap upon 
 
 which to write. 
 
 She then wrapped up the letter in a piece of costly silk, richly 
 perfumed with musk and ambergris, and put with it the silk strings 
 of her hair, 88 for the price of which, treasures would be consumed; 
 after which, she wrapped the whole in a handkerchief, and gave it to 
 a eunuch, commanding him to convey it to the Prince El-Amjad. 
 
 So the eunuch went, not knowing the secret destiny that awaited 
 him (for He who is acquainted with all the secrets of futurity ordereth 
 events as He willeth) ; and when he went in to the Prince El-Amjad, 
 he kissed the ground before him, and handed to him the kerchief with 
 the letter. The Prince El-Amjad, therefore, took the handkerchief 
 from him, and, unfolding it, saw the letter, and opened and read it ; 
 and when he understood its meaning, he perceived that the woman 
 contemplated deceit, and had acted disloyally towards his father, the 
 King Kamar-ez-Zeman. And upon this he was violently enraged, 
 and abused w r omankind for their conduct, exclaiming, Execration upon 
 treacherous women, deficient in sense and religion ! He then drew 
 his sword, and said to the eunuch, Wo to thee, O wicked slave ! 
 Dost thou bear a letter expressive of disloyalty from a woman belong- 
 ing to thy master ? By Allah, there is no good in thee, O thou of 
 black complexion ! detestable in aspect, and irresolute in character ! 
 And he struck him with the sword upon his neck, severing his head 
 from his body : after which, he folded up the handkerchief upon its 
 contents, and, having put it into his pocket, went in to his mother, and 
 acquainted her with what had happened, abusing and reviling her also, 
 and saying, Every one of you is worse [in some respect] than another. 
 By Allah the Great, he added, did I not fear to commit a breach of 
 good manners, injurious to my father Kamar-ez-Zeman, I would go in 
 to her and strike off her head, as I struck off the head of the eunuch. 
 Then he went forth from his mother, the Queen Budoor, in a state 
 of excessive rage. And when the news of what he had done to the 
 
EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 13y 
 
 eunuch reached his enamoured, she reviled him and cursed him, and 
 devised a malicious stratagem against him. The Prince El-Amjad 
 passed the next night enfeebled by rage and indignation, and trouble of 
 mind, and neither food nor drink was pleasant to him, nor was sleep. 
 
 And on the following morning, his brother, the Prince El-As'ad, 
 went forth and seated himself in the place of his father, the King 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman, to judge the people ; and he judged, and administered 
 justice, and invested and deposed, and commanded and forbade, and 
 gave and bestowed ; and he continued sitting in the judgment-hall 
 until near the time of afternoon- prayers. Then his enamoured sent 
 to a deceitful old woman, and, having revealed to her the feelings of 
 her heart, took a paper to write upon it a letter to the Prince El- 
 As'ad, and to complain to him of the excess of her affection, and of 
 the ecstasy of her love for him. And she wrote to him these words : 
 
 From her who is perishing through the ecstasy of love and desire, 
 to the most charming of mankind in disposition and in form, the self- 
 complacent with his loveliness, the haughty with his amorous aspect, 
 who turneth with aversion from the desirer of union with him, who is 
 reluctant to shew favour unto the submissive and abject, to the cruel 
 and disdainful, the Prince El-As'ad, who is endowed with surpassing 
 beauty, and with admirable loveliness, with the brilliant countenance, 
 and the splendid forehead, and overpowering brightness. This is my 
 letter unto him the love of whom hath dissolved my body, and mangled 
 my skin and my bones. Know that my patience hath failed, and I 
 am perplexed in my case : desire and sleeplessness have disquieted me, 
 and patience and sleep have denied themselves to me : mourning and 
 watching have been inseparable from me, and violent love and desire 
 have afflicted me, together with disease and infirmity. But may my 
 life be a ransom for thee ; and if the slaughter of the love-smitten 
 please thee, may Allah prolong thy life, and from every evil preserve 
 thee ! And she added these verses : 
 
 Fortune hath decreed that I should be thy lover, O thou whose charms shine 
 
 like the full moon! 
 Thou possessest consummate comeliness and eloquence ; and surpassest all the 
 
 creation in elegance. 
 I am willing for thee to be my tormentor. Wilt thou, then, bestow upon me 
 
 one glance ? 
 Happy is the person who dieth for love of thee. Worthless is the one v,-ho 
 
 doth not like and love thee. 
 
 Then she richly perfumed the letter with strong-scented musk, 
 and wound it round with the silken strings of her hair, which were of 
 
the silk of El-'Erak, having oblong emeralds for pendants, adorned 
 with pearls and jewels. 89 Having done this, she delivered it to the 
 old woman, and ordered her to give it to the Prince El-As'ad. 
 
 The old woman therefore departed in order to please her, and 
 immediately went in to the Prince El-As'ad, who was alone when she 
 entered; and she handed him the paper, with what was enclosed with 
 it, and waited a long time for the answer. Meanwhile the Prince El- 
 As'ad read the paper, and understood its contents ; and having 
 wrapped it up again in the silk strings, he put it in his pocket. He 
 was enraged to the utmost degree, and cursed deceitful women: then 
 rising, he drew his sword from its scabbard, and, striking the neck of 
 the old woman, severed her head from her body ; after which, he 
 arose and proceeded until he went in to his mother, and he reviled her 
 too, in his anger with the sex. lie then went forth from her, and 
 repaired to his brother, the Prince El-Amjad, to whom he related all 
 that had happened to him, telling him that he had killed the old 
 woman who had brought him the letter. And the Prince El-Amjad 
 replied, By Allah, my brother, yesterday, while I was sitting on the 
 throne, the like of that which hath happened to thee this day happened 
 to me also. And he acquainted him with the whole occurrence. 
 They remained conversing together that night, and cursing deceitful 
 women, and charged each other to conceal this affair, lest their father, 
 
THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES, &c. 141 
 
 the King, should hear of it, and kill the two women. So they 
 passed the night in incessant grief until the morning. 
 
 And when the next morning came, the King arrived with his 
 troops from the chase, and went up to his palace ; and having dis- 
 missed the erneers, he arose, and entered the palace, whereupon he 
 beheld the two women who had acted thus towards his sons, lying on 
 their bed, in state of extreme weakness. They had contrived a plot 
 against the two Princes, and agreed to destroy them ; for they had 
 disgraced themselves in their eyes, and dreaded the consequence of 
 their being so known to have offended. When the King, therefore, 
 saw them in this condition, he said to them, What is the matter with 
 you ? And they rose to him, and kissed his hands, and reversing the 
 true state of the case, answered him, Know, King, that thy two 
 sons, who have been reared in the enjoyment of thy beneficence, have 
 acted disloyally towards thee by their conduct to us, and have dis- 
 honoured thee. And when Kamar-ez-Zeman heard these words, the 
 light became darkness before his face, and he was violently incensed, 
 so that his reason fled through the excess of his rage, and he said, 
 Explain to me this occurrence. So each of them told the story that 
 she had fi-amed, and both of them wept violently before the King. 
 
 When the King, therefore, witnessed their weeping, and heard 
 their words, he felt convinced of their truth ; and, being enraged to 
 the utmost degree, he arose with the desire of falling upon his two 
 sons and killing them. But his father-in-law, the King Armanoos, 
 met him. He was just then entering to salute him, having heard of 
 his return from the chase ; and he beheld him with the drawn sword 
 in his hand, and with blood dropping from his nostrils, by reason of 
 the violence of his rage. So he asked him what troubled him, and 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman acquainted him with all that had been done (as he 
 supposed) by his sons El-Amjad and El-As'ad, and said to him, I am 
 now going in to them to kill them in a most ignominious manner, 
 and make them a most shameful example. His father-in-law, the 
 King Armanoos, being alike incensed against them, said to him, And 
 excellent would be the deed that thou wouldst do, my son; and 
 may God grant no blessing unto them, nor to any sons who commit 
 such actions against the honour of their father : but, O my son, the 
 author of the proverb saith, He who looketh not to results, fortune 
 will not attend him : and they are at all events thy sons. It will be 
 proper that thou kill, them not with thine own hand; for in doing so 
 thou wouldst drink of their anguish, 90 and repent afterwards of having 
 
put them to death, when repentance would not avail. But send them 
 with one of the memlooks, that he may kill them in the desert, when 
 they are absent from thine eye. 
 
 So when the King Kamar-ez-Zeman heard these words of his 
 father-in-law, the King Armanoos, he saw them to be just. He there- 
 fore sheathed his sword, and, returning, seated himself upon his 
 throne, and summoned his Treasurer, 91 who was a very old man, 
 experienced in the management of affairs, and the vicissitudes of 
 fortune. And he said to him, Go in to my two sons El-Amjad and 
 El-As'ad, bind their hands firmly behind them, and put them in two 
 chests, and place them upon a mule : then mount thou, and go forth 
 with them into the midst of the desert, and slaughter them ; after 
 which fill for me two glass bottles with their blood, and bring them 
 to me quickly. 
 
 The Treasurer answered, I hear and obey. He then arose imme- 
 diately, and, repairing to El-Amjad and El-As'ad, met them on the 
 way, coming forth from the vestibule of the palace. They had clad 
 themselves in the richest of their apparel for the purpose of visiting 
 their father, to salute him, and compliment him on his safe arrival 
 from his hunting-expedition. And when the Treasurer saw them, he 
 laid hold upon them, saying, O my two sons, know that I am a slave 
 under command, and your father hath given me an order : will ye 
 then obey his command ? They answered, Yes. And upon this, the 
 Treasurer bound their hands behind them, put them in two chests, 
 and, having placed them on the back of a mule, went forth with them 
 from the city. He proceeded with them over the desert until near 
 noon, when he halted with them in a waste and desolate place, and, 
 alighting from his horse, put down the two chests from the back of 
 the mule, and opened them, and took forth from them El-Amjad and 
 
THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES, &c. 143 
 
 El-As'ad. When he looked at them, he wept violently on contemplat- 
 ing their beauty and loveliness, and afterwards drew his sword, and 
 said to them, By Allah, my lords, it is painful to me to do an 
 abominable deed unto you ; but I am excusable in this case ; for I am 
 a slave under command, and your father the King Kamar-ez-Zeman 
 hath ordered me to strike off your heads. And they replied, O 
 Emeer, do what the King hath commanded thee; for we patiently 
 submit to that which God (to whom be ascribed all might and glory !) 
 hath decreed to befall us ; and thou art absolved of the guilt of shedding 
 our blood. 
 
 They then embraced each other, and bade each other farewell; 
 and El-As'ad said to the Treasurer, By Allah I conjure thee, O uncle, 
 that thou make me not to drink the anguish of my brother, nor his 
 sighing ; but kill me before him, that so my fate may be more easy to 
 me. El-Arnjad also said to the Treasurer as El-As'ad had said, and 
 made use of blandishment to him that he might kill him before his 
 brother, saying to him, My brother is younger than I ; therefore make 
 me not to taste his affliction. Then each of them wept most violently, 
 and the Treasurer wept also at witnessing their lamentation ; and the 
 two brothers again embraced each other, and bade each other farewell, 
 one of them saying to the other, Verily all this is owing to the artifice 
 of those two deceitful women ; and there is no strength nor power but 
 in God, the High, the Great ! Verily to God we belong, and verily 
 unto Him we return! And El-As'ad, embracing his brother, uttered 
 groans, and afterwards recited these verses: 
 
 Refuge of the complainer, and Asylum of the fearful ! ^ Thou art ready to 
 
 attend to every request ! 
 
 1 have no resource but to knock at thy door ; and if I be rejected, at whose 
 
 door shall I knock ? 
 
 O Thou whose treasures of bounty are imparted by the word Be, 93 shew favour ; 
 for all good is in Thee ! 
 
 And when El-Amjad heard the weeping of his brother, he likewise 
 wept, and pressed him to his bosom, reciting these two verses : 
 
 O Thou whose favours to me have been many, and whose gifts have been more 
 
 than can be numbered ! 
 No misfortune hath ever yet befallen me but I have found Thee ready to help 
 
 me in it ! 
 
 Then El-Amjad said to the Treasurer, I implore thee by the One, the 
 Omnipotent, the King, the Protector, that thou kill me before my 
 brother El-As'ad : perhaps the fire of my heart may so be assuaged ; 
 and let it not burn more. But El-As'ad, weeping, said, None shall _ 
 
Hi THE STORY OF THE TWO PRIXCES 
 
 be killed first but myself. So El-Amjad said, The best plan will be 
 this, that thou embrace me, and I embrace thee, so that the sword 
 may fall upon us and kill us with one blow. 
 
 And when they both embraced, face to face, and clung together, 
 the Treasurer bound them, and tied them with ropes, weeping while 
 he did so. He then drew his sword, and said, By Allah, my lords, 
 it is indeed hard to me to kill you. Have ye any want ? If so, I 
 will perform it. Or any commission ? If so, I will execute it. Or 
 any message ? If so, I will convey it. And El-Amjad answered, ~VTe 
 have no want to be performed ; but as to commission, I charge thee 
 to place my brother El-As'ad beneath, and myself above, that the blow 
 may fall upon me first ; and when thou hast killed us, and returned 
 unto the King, and he saith to thee, What didst thou hear from them 
 before their death ? that thou answer him, Verily thy two sons send 
 thee their salutation, and say to thee, Thou knowest not whether they 
 were innocent or guilty, and thou, hast killed them, and not assured 
 thyself of their guilt, nor considered their case. Then recite to him 
 these two verses : 
 
 Verily women are devils created for us. I seek refuge with God from the 
 
 artifice of the devils. 
 They are the source of all the misfortunes that have appeared among mankind 
 
 in the affairs of the world and of religion. 
 
 Then said El-Amjad, We desire of thee nothing but that thou repeat 
 to him these two verses which thou hast heard, and also, I beseech 
 thee by Allah that thou have patience with us while I repeat to my 
 brother these two other verses. And, weeping violently, he said, 
 
 We have examples in the Kings who have gone before us. 
 How many, great and small, have travelled in this road ! 
 
 And when the Treasurer heard these words of El-Amjad, he wept 
 violently, so that he wetted his beard; and as to El-As'ad, his eyes 
 filled with tears, and he recited these verses : 94 - 
 
 Fortune is disposed, hy its very constitution, to guile, and is full of fraudulence 
 and of stratagems. 
 
 The sarab 95 of the desert is to her like shining teeth; and the horror of dark- 
 ness, like the black-edged eyelid. 
 
 My offence against her (hateful is her nature) is as that of the sword when the 
 warriour draweth back. 
 
 "N\ hen El-As'ad had finished reciting his verses, he embraced his 
 brother El-Amjad, so that they appeared together like a single person, 
 and the Treasurer drew his sword, and was about to strike them. But, 
 
EL-AMJAJ) AND EL-AS'AD 
 
 145 
 
 lo, his horse started away in fright over the desert. He was worth a 
 thousand pieces of gold, and upon him was a magnificent saddle, 
 worth a great sum of money. So the Treasurer threw the sword 
 from his hand, and went after his horse. His heart was inflamed, 
 and he continued running after the horse, to take him, until he 
 entered a forest ; and he entered after him ; but the horse pursued his 
 way into the midst of the forest, striking the ground with his hoofs, 
 and the dust rose high, while the horse snorted and neighed in his 
 fury. Now there was in that forest a formidable lion, of hideous 
 aspect, his eyes casting forth sparks ; his face was grim, and his 
 form struck the soul with terror : and the Treasurer, looking towards 
 him, beheld this lion approaching him, and he found no way of escape 
 from him, not having with him a sword. So he said within himself, 
 There is no strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great ! 
 This calamity hath not befallen me but on account of the crime 
 committed against El-Amjad and El-As'ad, and verily this journey 
 hath been unfortunate from its commencement ! 
 
 Meanwhile, the heat became intense to El-Amjad and El-As'ad, 
 
 ii. 
 
146 THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES,. &c. 
 
 and they were affected with a violent thirst, so that their tongues 
 hung out ; and they prayed for relief from the thirst. But none 
 relieved them ; and they said, Would that we were killed and were at 
 ease from this ; but we know not whither the horse hath run away, 
 that the Treasurer hath gone after it and left us bound. Had he 
 come to us and killed us, it had been easier to us than our enduring 
 this torment. But afterwards El-As'ad said, O my brother, have 
 patience, and the relief of God (whose perfection be extolled, and whose 
 name be exalted !) will come to us ; for the horse ran not away but 
 because God is propitious towards us, and nothing afflicteth us but 
 this thirst. He then shook himself, and struggled to the right and 
 left; whereupon his bonds became loosed; and he arose, and loosed 
 the bonds of his brother; after which he took the Emeer's sword, and 
 said to his brother, By Allah, we will not depart hence until we 
 investigate his case, and know what hath happened to him. So they 
 began to follow the footsteps, and they led them to the forest. 
 Therefore one of them said to the other, Verily the horse and the 
 Treasurer have not passed beyond this forest. And El-As'ad said to 
 his brother, Stay here while I enter the forest and examine it. But 
 El-Amjad replied, I will not suffer thee to enter it alone, and we will 
 not enter unless together ; so if we escape we shall escape together, 
 and if we perish we shall perish together. Accordingly they both 
 entered, and they found that the lion had sprung upon the Treasurer, 
 who was lying beneath him like a sparrow, but supplicating God, and 
 making a sign towards heaven. So when El-Amjad saw him, he took 
 the sword, and, rushing upon the lion, struck him with the sword 
 between his eyes, and killed him. 
 
 The lion fell down prostrate upon the ground, and the Emeer 
 arose, wondering at the event, and saw El-Amjad and El-As'ad, the 
 sons of his lord, standing there ; and he threw himself upon their 
 feet, saying to them, By Allah, O my lords, it were not just that I 
 should act so extravagantly with you as to kill you. May he who 
 would kill you cease to exist ! With my soul I will ransom you. Then 
 rising immediately, he embraced them, and inquired of them the cause 
 of the loosing of their bonds, and of their coming to him. They there- 
 fore informed him that they had thirsted, and that the bonds of one of 
 them became loosed, so that he loosed the other, because of the purity 
 of their intentions ; after which they followed the footsteps until they 
 came to him. And when he heard their words, he th'anked them for 
 that which they had done, and went out from the forest with them ; 
 
,,,- 
 
 1 * 
 
 and when they were without the forest they said to him, uncle, do 
 what our father hath commanded thee. But he replied, Allah forbid 
 that I should attempt any injury to you ! Know, however, that I 
 desire to take off your clothes, and to clothe you with mine, and to 
 iill two glass bottles with the blood of the lion. After which, I will 
 go to the King, and tell him that I have killed you. Then do ye 
 travel into other countries ; for God's earth is wide. And know, O my 
 lords, that your separation from me will be painful to me. Having 
 said this, he and the two young men all wept. The latter pulled off 
 their clothes, and the Treasurer clad them with his own, and went to 
 the King. 
 
 He had taken the things, and tied up the linen of each of the 
 youths in a wrapper that he had with him, and filled the two glass 
 bottles with the blood of the lion ; and he put the two wrappers before 
 him on the back of the horse. Then he bade the youths farewell, 
 and, departing towards the city, proceeded until he went in to the 
 
148 THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES 
 
 King, and he kissed the ground before him. And the King saw him 
 with a changed countenance (for this change was occasioned by what 
 he had suffered from his adventure with the lion), and he imagined 
 that it was the consequence of the slaughter of his sons : so he was 
 glad, and said to him, Hast thou accomplished the business ? The 
 Treasurer answered, Yes, O our lord. And he handed to him the two 
 wrappers containing the clothes, and the two glass bottles tilled with 
 the blood. And the King said to him, What didst thou observe in 
 their conduct, and have they charged thee with aught ? He answered, 
 I found them patient, contented to endure their fate, and they said 
 to me, Verily our father is excusable ; so convey to him our saluta- 
 tions, and say to him, Thou art absolved of the guilt of our slaughter 
 and of our blood : but we charge thee to repeat to him these two 
 verses : 
 
 Verily women are devils created for us. We seek refuge with God from the 
 
 artifice of the devils. 
 
 They are the source of all the misfortunes that have appeared among mankind 
 in the affairs of the world and of religion. 
 
 And when the King heard these words from the Treasurer, he 
 hung down his head towards the ground for a long time, and knew 
 that these words of his two sons indicated that they had been killed 
 unjustly. Then reflecting upon the fraudulence of women, and the 
 calamities occasioned by them, he took the two wrappers and opened 
 them, and began to turn over the clothes of his sons, and to weep. 
 And when he opened the clothes of his son El-As'ad, he found in his 
 pocket a paper written in the hand of the woman who had accused 
 him, together with the silk strings of her hair. So he unfolded the 
 paper and read it, and understood its meaning, and knew that his son 
 El-As'ad had been an object of injustice. And when he turned over 
 the clothes of El-Amjad, he found in his pocket a paper written in the 
 hand of the other woman, his accuser, with the silk strings of her hair 
 enclosed in it ; and he opened this paper and read it, and knew that 
 he, also, had been an object of injustice. He struck his hands 
 together, and exclaimed, There is no strength nor power but in God, 
 the High, the Great ! I have slain my sons unjustly ! Then he 
 began to slap his faee, exclaiming, Oh, my sons ! Oh, the length of 
 my grief ! And he gave orders to build two tombs in a house, which 
 he named the House of Lamentations, and inscribed upon the two 
 tombs the names of his two sons ; and he threw himself upon the 
 tomb of El-Amjad, weeping and sighing and lamenting, and reciting 
 
EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 
 
 149 
 
 verses ; and theu in like manner upon that of El-As'ad. He 
 relinquished the society of his friends and intimates, secluding him- 
 self in the House of Lamentations, weeping for his sons, and forsook 
 his women and associates and familia 1 * cquaintances. Such was his 
 case. 
 
 Now as to El-Amjad and El-As'ad, they proceeded over the desert, 
 eating of the herbs of the earth, and drinking of the remains of the 
 rain. At night, one slept while the other watched, till midnight : 
 then the latter slept and the former watched. 96 Thus they continued 
 for the space of a whole month, until their course brought them to a 
 mountain of black flint, the further extremity of which was unknown. 
 At this mountain the road divided into two : one road passed through 
 the midst of it, and the other ascended to its summit. And they 
 pursued the way to the summit of the mountain, and continued 
 ascending it five days ; but saw no end to it. Fatigue had overcome 
 them ; for they were not accustomed to walking upon the mountains 
 nor elsewhere ; and when they despaired of reaching its end, they 
 returned, and pursued the way through the midst of the mountain. 
 Along this they proceeded the whole of the same day, until night ; 
 but El-As'ad was fatigued with the length of his journeying, and he 
 said to his brother, my brother, I can walk no further ; for I am 
 reduced to excessive weakness. El-Amjad, however, replied, my 
 brother, brace up thy nerves : perhaps God may dispel our affliction. 
 They then proceeded for an hour of the night ; but El-As'ad was in a 
 state of the utmost fatigue, and he said, my brother, I am tired and 
 weary with walking. And he fell upon the ground, and wept. His 
 
150 
 
 THE STORY OF THE TWO PKINCES 
 
 brother El-Amjad, therefore, 
 carried him and walked on 
 with him, walking a while, 
 and sitting a while to rest, 
 until daybreak gleamed. 
 Thus he ascended the moun- 
 tain with him, and they 
 found a spring gushing 
 forth, with a stream running 
 from it ; and by it was a 
 pomegranate-tree, and a 
 niche for prayer; 97 and they 
 scarcely believed the sight. 
 They then seated themselves 
 by this fountain, and, having 
 drunk of its water, and eaten 
 of the pomegranates of that 
 tree, slept there until the sun rose; when they 
 sat and washed themselves at the spring, and ate 
 again of the pomegranates on the tree, and slept 
 until the time of afternoon-prayers. After this 
 they desired to continue their journey ; but El- 
 As'ad was unable to proceed : his feet were 
 swollen. So they remained there three days, 
 until he had rested himself, when they pro- 
 ceeded, and continued many days their journey over the mountain, 
 wearied with thirst, until a city appeared before them at a dis- 
 tance. 
 
 Upon this they rejoiced ; and they advanced towards it ; and when 
 they drew near to it, they offered up thanks to God, whose name be 
 exalted ! El-Amjad then said to El-As'ad, my brother, sit here 
 while I go to this city and see what kind of place it is and inquire 
 respecting its affairs, that we may know where we are in God's wide 
 earth, and know what countries we have traversed in crossing this 
 mountain-range. Had we not journeyed through the midst of it, we 
 had not arrived at this city in a whole year. Praise be to God, then, 
 for our safety ! But El-As'ad replied, By Allah, my brother, none 
 shall go to the city but myself; and may I be thy ransom; for if 
 thou leave me and descend and be absent from me, thou wilt drown 
 me in anxious thoughts respecting thee, and I have not strength to 
 
EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 151 
 
 endure thine absence from me. So El-Amjad said to him, Go, and 
 loiter not. 
 
 El-As'ad, therefore, descended from the mountain, taking with 
 him some pieces of gold ; and left his brother to wait for his return. 
 He went, and walked on without stopping, at the foot of the mountain, 
 until he entered the city ; and as he passed through its streets, there 
 met him in his way an old man, far advanced in age ; his beard 
 descended over his breast, and was parted in twain, in his hand was 
 a walking-staff, he was clad in rich garments, and on his head was a 
 lars;e red turban. 98 So when El-As'ad saw him, he wondered at his 
 
 O * 
 
 dress and his appearance; and, advancing towards him, he saluted 
 him, and said to him, Which is the way to the market, O my master? 
 The old man, on hearing his words, smiled in his face, and said to 
 him, my son, thou seemest to be a stranger. El-As'ad therefore 
 replied, Yes, I am a stranger, O uncle. And the old man said, Thou 
 hast cheered our country by thy presence, my son, and thou hast 
 made the country of thy family desolate by thine absence. And what 
 dost thou desire from the market ? O uncle, answered El-As'ad, I 
 have a brother whom I have left on the mountain, and we are journey- 
 ing from a distant country. We have been on the way a period of 
 three months, and arrived in sight of this city: so I came hither to 
 buy some food and to return with it to my brother that we may 
 nourish ourselves with it. And the old man replied, my son, 
 receive tidings of every happiness, and know that I have made a 
 banquet, and have with me many guests, and have prepared for it a 
 collection of the best and the most agreeable of dishes, such as the 
 appetite desireth. Wilt thou, then, accompany me to my abode ? If 
 so I will give thee what thou requirest, and will not take from thee 
 any money for it. I will also acquaint thee with the affairs of this 
 city. And praise be to God, my son, that I have met with thee, 
 and that none but myself hath met with thee ! 
 
 So El-As'ad said, Do as thou art disposed, and nasten ; for my 
 brother is waiting for me, and his heart is intent upon me. The old 
 man, therefore, took the hantl of El-As'ad, and returned with him to 
 a narrow by-street, smiling in his face, and saying to him, Extolled 
 be the perfection of Him who hath saved thee from the people of this 
 city ! He walked on with him until he entered a spacious house, in 
 which was a saloon, and in this saloon were sitting forty old men, far 
 advanced in age, arranged in a ring, with a lighted fire in the midst 
 of them. The old men were sitting around it worshipping it and 
 
152 THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES 
 
 prostrating themselves to it. And when El-As'ad saw this, his flesh 
 quaked, though he knew not their history. Then the old man first 
 mentioned said to this company, sheykhs of the Fire, how blessed a 
 day is this ! And he called out, saying, Ghadban !" Whereupon 
 there came forth to him a black slave, of a most grim visage, flat- 
 nosed, of bending figure, and horrible shape. And the old man made 
 a sign to this slave; upon which he bound El-As'ad; and after he 
 had done so, the old man said to him, Take him down into the sub- 
 terranean chamber, and there leave him, and say to the slave-girl, 
 such-a-one, Undertake the office of torturing him by night and 
 day, 100 and give him to eat a cake of bread by night and a cake of 
 bread by day, until the period of the voyage to the Blue Sea and the 
 Mountain of Fire, when we will slaughter him upon the mountain as 
 a sacrifice. 101 
 
 Accordingly the slave took him down into that chamber, and 
 delivered him to the girl, who entered upon her office of torturing 
 him, and giving him one cake of bread at the commencement of the 
 day, and one at the commencement of the night, with a mug of salt 
 water between daybreak and sunrise, and the same between sunset 
 and nightfall. Then the old men said, one to another, When the 
 period of the Festival of the Fire arriveth, we will sacrifice him upon 
 the mountain, and by offering him propitiate the Fire. The slave- 
 girl went down to him, and inflicted upon him a painful beating, so 
 that the blood flowed from his limbs, and he fainted ; after which 
 she placed at his head a cake of bread and a mug of salt water, and 
 went away and left him. And El-As'ad recovered his senses at 
 midnight, when he found himself chained, and the beating tortured 
 him. So he wept violently, and, reflecting upon his former state of 
 grandeur and prosperity, and dominion and lordship, he lamented and 
 groaned, and recited these verses : 
 
 Pause at the ruins of the house and inquire respecting us, and think not we are 
 there as formerly. 
 
 Fortune, the separator, hath disunited us ; yet the hearts of our foes are not 
 appeased by our fate, 
 
 A base female is employed to torture me with whips, and her breast is filled 
 with hatred against nae. 
 
 Yet still, perhaps, God may reunite us, and, by punishing them, repel from us 
 
 our enemies. 
 
 Then extending his hand towards his head, he found a cake of bread, 
 and a mug of salt water. So he ate a morsel to stay his departing 
 spirit, and drank a little of the water, and remained sleepless until the 
 morning, from the abundance of bugs and other vermin. 
 
EL-AM.IAU AND EL-AS'AD. 153 
 
 And when the morning arrived, the slave-girl came down to him 
 again, and pulled off his clothes. They were covered with blood, and 
 stuck to his skin, so that the skin came off with the shirt; and he 
 shrieked, and cried Ah ! and said, O my Lord, if Thou approve of 
 this, increase it upon me; 102 for Thou art not unmindful of him who 
 hath oppressed me ! Avenge me, therefore, upon him ! Then he 
 groaned, and recited these verses : 
 
 Be disregardful of thine affairs, and commit them to the course of fate ; 
 For often a thing that enrages thee may eventually be to thee pleasing; 
 And sometimes what is strait may expand ; and what is open, become contracted. 
 God will do whatsoever He willeth : therefore be not thou repugnant; 
 But rejoice at the prospect of speedy good that shall make thee forget what hath 
 passed. 
 
 And as soon as he had finished reciting these verses, the slave-girl 
 betook herself to beating him until he fainted, when she threw to him 
 a cake of bread, and put a mug of salt water ; after which she went 
 up from him and left him in solitude, with the blood flowing from 
 his limbs ; and he laid chained, far from his friends, thinking of his 
 brother, and of the glory in which he was before living ; yearning 
 and lamenting, sighing and complaining, pouring forth tears, and 
 reciting verses. 
 
 Meanwhile, his brother El-Amjad remained expecting him till 
 mid-day ; and when he returned not, his heart palpitated, the pain of 
 separation became intense in him, and he shed copious tears, crying 
 out, Oh, my grief ! How fearful I was of separation ! Then de- 
 scending from the mountain, with his tears flowing over his cheeks, 
 he entered the city, and walked on in it until he arrived at the market, 
 when he inquired of some of the people respecting the name of the 
 city, and respecting its inhabitants ; and they answered him, This is 
 called the City of the Magians, and its inhabitants [mostly] worship 
 fire, instead of the Almighty King. He then asked them respecting 
 the City of Ebony, and they said, The distance between us and it, 
 by land, is a journey of a year; and by sea, a voyage of four 
 months : IO; its King is called Armanoos, and he hath taken a King 
 as his son-in-law, and put him in his place, and this King is called 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman : he is a person of equity and beneficence, and 
 liberality and peace. And when El-Amjad heard the mention of 
 his father, he yearned and wept, and sighed and lamented ; and he 
 knew not whither to repair. He had bought and taken with him 
 something to eat, and he went to a place to conceal himself there, 101 
 and sat down to eat; but, remembering his brother, he wep f , ai"1 
 II. \ 
 
154 
 
 THE STORY OK THE TWO PRINCES 
 
 ate no more than enough to stay his departing spirit; after which he 
 arose, and walked through the city, to obtain tidings of his brother. 
 And he found a Muslim/ 05 a tailor, in his shop ; so he seated himself 
 by him, and related to him his story ; and the tailor said to him, If 
 he have fallen into the hand of any of the Magians, thou wilt not see 
 him again without difficulty ; but perhaps God will reunite thee with 
 him. Then he added, Wilt thou, O my brother, lodge with me ? 
 He answered, Yes. And the tailor rejoiced at this. El-Amjad 
 remained with him many days, and the tailor consoled him, and 
 exhorted him to be patient, and taught him the art of sewing so that 
 he became an adept. 
 
 After this, he went forth one day to the shore of the sea, and 
 washed his clothes. He then entered the bath, and, having put on 
 clean clothes, went forth from the bath to amuse himself in the city. 
 And he met in his way a woman endowed with beauty and loveliness, 
 and justness of stature, unequalled in beauty, who, when she beheld 
 him, raised the veil from her face, and made signs to him with her 
 eyebrows and her eyes, and ogled him, and recited these verses : 
 
 I beheld thee approaching, and cast down my eyes, as though, O slender-formed, 
 
 thou wert the beaming sun; 
 For thou art the handsomest person that hath appeared, and more handsome 
 
 to-day than thou wert yesterday. 106 
 
EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 155 
 
 If beauty were divided, a fifth part of it, or part of a fifth, would belong to 
 
 Yoosuf ; W 
 And the rest would be thine exclusively. May every soul, then, be sacrificed 
 
 for thine ! 
 
 And when El-Amjad heard her words, his heart was gladdened by her, 
 and moved with affection for her; the hands of love sported with him, 
 and, making a sign to her, he recited these verses in reply : 
 
 Above the rose of the cheeks are the thorns of lances. 108 Who then will propose 
 
 to himself to gather ? 
 Extend not the hands towards it ; for long have those lances spread wars 
 
 because of our directing looks at it. 
 Say to her who hath tyrannised and been a temptation, and who had been 
 
 more tempting had she acted equitably, 
 Thy face would increase our perplexity were it veiled, and I see exposure best 
 
 guardeth beauty such as thine ; 
 As the sun's bare face thou canst not look upon ; but when it is veiled by a thin 
 
 mist thou mayest. 
 The niggardly female is protected by her niggardness : then ask the guards of 
 
 the tribe why they would prevent us : 
 If they wish my slaughter, let them put an end to all their animosity, and leave 
 
 us at liberty ; 
 For if they attack, they are not more murderous than the eye of her with the 
 
 mole, when she encountereth us. 
 
 She then begged to have some conversation with him : so he said to 
 her, Wilt thou pay me a visit, or shall I repair to thine abode ? 
 Whereupon she hung down her head in bashfulness towards the 
 ground, and repeated the words of Him whose name be exalted, 
 Men shall have the preeminence over women, because of the advan- 
 tages which God hath given to the one of them over the other. 109 
 
 So El-Amjad understood her intimation, and knew that she 
 desired to accompany him whither he was going. He was therefore 
 obliged to find the place for her ; and, being ashamed to take her to 
 the house of the tailor with whom he lodged, he walked on before 
 her. She followed him, and he continued walking on with her from 
 by-street to by-street, and from place to place, until the damsel was 
 tired, and she said to him, O my master, where is thy house ? He 
 answered, Before us, and there remaineth but a short distance to it. 
 Then he turned aside with her into a handsome by-street, and con- 
 tinued walking along it, she following him, until he arrived at the end 
 of it, when he found that it was not a thoroughfare. So he said, 
 There is no strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great ! 
 And looking towards the upper end of the street, he saw there a 
 great door with two mastabahs ; but it was locked. El-Amjad there- 
 fore seated himself upon one mastabah, and the damsel seated herself 
 
156 THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES 
 
 on the other, and said to him, my master, for what art thoti 
 waiting ? Upon this, he hung down his head for a long time towards 
 the ground ; after which he raised it, and answered her, I am waiting 
 for my memlook; for he hath the key, and I said to him, Prepare 
 for us the food and beverage, and the flowers 110 for the wine, by the 
 time that I come forth from the bath. He then said within himself, 
 Probably the time would become tedious to her, and so she will go her 
 way and leave me here. 
 
 But when the time seemed long to her, she said to him, my 
 master, thy memlook hath been slow in returning to us, while we have 
 been sitting in the street. And she rose and approached the wooden 
 lock 111 with a stone. So El-Amjad said to her, Hasten not ; but be 
 patient until the memlook cometh. Paying no attention, however, to 
 his words, she struck the wooden lock with the stone, and split it in 
 two; so that the door opened. He therefore said to her, What 
 possesseth thee, that thou didst thus ? my master, said she, what 
 hath happened ? Is it not thy house ? He answered, Yes : but 
 there was no necessity for breaking the lock. The damsel then 
 entered the house ; and El-Amjad was perplexed in his mind, fearing 
 the people of the house, and knew not what to do. The damsel said 
 to him, Wherefore dost thou not enter, my master, O light of mine 
 eye, and vital spirit of my heart ? He answered her, I hear and 
 obey : but the memlook hath been slow in returning to me, and I 
 know not whether he have done anything of what I ordered him, or 
 not. He then entered with her, in a state of the utmost anxiety, 
 fearing the people of the house. And when he entered the house, he 
 found in it a handsome saloon, with four leewans, 112 facing one another, 
 and with closets and sidillehs 113 furnished with stuffs of silk and 
 brocade, and in the midst of it was a fountain of costly construction, 
 by which were arranged dishes set with jewels and filled with fruits 
 and sweet-scented flowers ; by the side of it were the drinking- vessels, 
 and there was a candlestick with a candle stuck in it. The place was 
 full of precious stuffs ; in it were chests, and chairs were set in it, and 
 on each chair was a wrapper of clothes, 114 and upon each of these was 
 a purse full of pieces of gold. The house attested the prosperity of 
 its owner, for its floor was paved with marble. 
 
 When El-Amjad beheld this, he was perplexed at his case, and 
 said within himself, My life is lost ! Verily to God we belong, and 
 verily unto Him we return ! But as to the damsel, when she saw this 
 place, she was filled with the utmost joy, and said, By Allah, my 
 
EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 157 
 
 master, thy memlook hath not failed in the performance of his task ; 
 for he hath swept the place, and cooked the food, and prepared the 
 fruit ; and I have come at the best of times. El-Amjad, however, 
 looked not towards her; his mind being engrossed by fear of the 
 people of the house. So she said, O my master, why art thou stand- 
 ing thus ? Then heaving a loud sigh, she gave El-Amjad a kiss that 
 sounded like the cracking of a walnut, and said to him, my master, 
 if thou have made an appointment with some other than myself, I will 
 exert my skill to serve her. At this, El-Amjad laughed from a bosom 
 filled with rage ; and advanced and seated himself, panting, and saying 
 within himself, O the ignominious slaughter that I shall suffer when 
 the master of the house cometh ! The damsel had seated herself by 
 his side, and began to sport and laugh, while El-Amjad, anxious and 
 frowning, revolved a thousand things in his mind, saying within him- 
 self, The owner of this saloon will certainly come ; and what shall I 
 say to him ? He will kill me without doubt ! The damsel then rose, 
 tucked up her sleeves, and, taking a table, put upon it the sufreh, 115 
 and ate, saying to El-Amjad, Eat, O my master. So he advanced 
 to eat ; but the doing so gave him no pleasure : on the contrary, he 
 sat looking in the direction of the door until the damsel had eaten and 
 satisfied herself, and removed the table and brought the dessert; 
 whereupon she commenced eating of the dried fruits. Then she 
 brought forward the beverage, and opened the amphora, and filled a 
 cup, which she handed to El-Amjad ; and he took it from her, saying 
 within himself, Ah, Ah ! What shall I experience from the owner of 
 this house when he cometh and seeth me ? 
 
 His eyes were directed towards the vestibule, and the cup was in his 
 hand, and while he was in this state, lo, the owner of the house came. 
 He was a mernlook, one of the grandees of the city : for he was the 
 King's Chief Equerry ; and he had fitted up that saloon for his pleasure, 
 that his bosom might expand in it, and that he might there enjoy in 
 private the society of such as he desired ; and on that day he had sent 
 to a favourite to come to him, and had prepared the apartment for 
 him. The name of this memlook was Bahadir. 116 He was liberal- 
 handed, a person of generosity and beneficence, and charity and oblig- 
 ingness. When he drew near to the saloon, he found the door open : 
 so he entered by little and little, and, looking with stretched-forth 
 head, beheld El-Amjad and the damsel, with the dish of fruit before 
 them, and the wine-service. At that moment, El-Amjad was holding 
 the wine-cup, with his eye directed towards the door ; and as soon as 
 
158 THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES. 
 
 his eye met that of the owner of the house, his countenance turned 
 sallow, and the muscles of his side quivered. But when Bahadir saw 
 that his countenance turned sallow, and his condition became changed, 
 he made a sign to him with his finger upon his mouth, as though he 
 would say to him, Be silent, and come hither to me. So El-Amjad 
 put down the cup from his hand, and arose to go to him. The damsel 
 said to him, Whither goest thou ? And he shook his head, and made 
 a sign to her that he would be absent but a minute. He then went 
 forth to the vestibule, barefooted : 117 and when he saw Bahudir, he 
 knew that he was the master of the house. He therefore hastened to 
 him, and, having kissed his hand, said to him, I conjure thee by Allah, 
 my master, before thou do me any injury, that thou hear my words. 
 Then he told him his story from beginning to end, acquainting him 
 with the cause of his having left his country and royal state, and 
 assuring him that he had not entered the saloon by his own choice, 
 but that the damsel was the person who had broken the \vooden lock 
 and opened the door and done all these deeds. 
 
 When Bahadir, therefore, heard his words, and knew that he was 
 the son of a king, he was moved with sympathy for him, and pitied 
 him, and said, Hear, O Amjad, my words, and obey me, and I will 
 guarantee thy safety from that which thou fearest ; but if thou disobey 
 me, I will kill thee. So El-Amjad replied, Command me whatsoever 
 thou wilt, and I will never disobey thee ; for I owe my deliverance to 
 thy humanity. And Bahadir said to him, Enter this saloon again, and 
 seat thyself in the place where thou wast, and be at peace. I will 
 presently come in to thee. My name is Bahadir. And when I have 
 come in to thee, abuse me and revile me, and say to me, What is the 
 cause of thy remaining away until this hour ? And accept no excuse 
 from me ; but arise and beat me ; and if thou shew pity for me, I will 
 take away thy life. Enter, then, and enjoy thyself; and whatsoever 
 thou desirest of me, thou wilt find it ready before thee immediately. 
 So pass this night as thou wilt, and to-morrow go thy way. Thus I 
 do to shew respect to thee as being a stranger ; for I love the stranger, 
 and to respect him is incumbent on me. El-Amjad, therefore, kissed 
 his hand, and entered again. His face was now clothed with red and 
 white; and as soon as he entered, he said to the damsel, O my 
 mistress, thou hast gladdened by thy company the place of thy visita- 
 tion, and this is a blessed night. The damsel replied, Verily this is 
 wonderful from thee, thy now displaying this sociableness to me. So 
 he said, By Allah, O my mistress, I believed that my memlook 
 
Balmdir had taken from me some necklaces of jewels, each of which 
 was worth ten thousand pieces of gold: wherefore, I went out just 
 now, reflecting upon this, and searched for them, and found them in 
 their place ; but I know not why the memlook hath remained away 
 until this hour, and I must punish him. And the damsel became 
 appeased by these words of El-Amjad, and they sported together, and 
 drank and enjoyed themselves, and continued making merry until 
 near sunset. 
 
 Bahadir then came in to them. He had changed his clothes, 
 girded himself, and put on his feet a pair of shoes of the kind worn 
 by memlooks ; and, having saluted, and kissed the ground, he placed 
 his hands across, and hung down his head towards the ground, as one 
 acknowledging his guilt. So El-Amjad looked at him with the eye of 
 anger, and said to him, What is the reason of thy delay, O most ill- 
 omened of memlooks ? my master, he answered, I was busied in 
 washing my clothes, and knew not that thou wast here; for my 
 appointed time, and thine, is nightfall, and not in the day-time. And 
 upon this, El-Amjad cried out at him, and said to him, Thou liest, O 
 most ill-omened of memlooks ! By Allah, I must beat thec ! Then 
 rising, he extended Bahadir upon the floor, and took a stick, and beat 
 him gently. But the damsel arose, and, having taken the stick from 
 his hand, inflicted upon Bahadir so severe a beating that his tears flowed ; 
 
160 THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES 
 
 and he prayed for relief, and locked his teeth together. El-Amjad 
 called out to her, Do riot thus ! But she replied, Let me satisfy my 
 anger with him. Then El-Amjad snatched the stick from her, and 
 pushed her away. So Bahadir arose, and wiped away the tears from his 
 face, and stood a while waiting upon them : after which he swept the 
 saloon, and lighted the lamps. Meanwhile, the damsel, every time that 
 Bahadir came in or went out, reviled and cursed him ; and El-Amjad 
 was angry with her, and said to her, By Allah (whose name be 
 exalted !), leave my memlook ; for he is not accustomed to this. 
 
 They continued eating and drinking, and Bahadir remained wait- 
 ing upon them until midnight, when he became fatigued with waiting, 
 and by the beating he had suffered, and slept in the middle of the 
 saloon, and snored. The damsel then, having become intoxicated, said 
 to El-Amjad, Arise ; take this sword that is hung up here, and strike 
 off the head of this memlook. If thou do it not, I will employ means 
 for thine own destruction. What hath possessed thee, said El-Amjad, 
 that thou wouldst kill my memlook ? She answered, The pleasure 
 will not be complete without putting him to death ; and if thou arise 
 not, I will myself arise and kill him. So El-Amjad said, By Allah, I 
 conjure thee that thou do it not. But she replied, I must do it. And she 
 took the sword and drew it, and was determined to kill him. El- 
 Amjad, therefore, said within himself, This is a man who hath acted 
 kindly to us, and protected us, and treated us with beneficence, and 
 hath made himself as a memlook to me. How should we recompense 
 him by slaughter ? Never shall that be done ! He then said to the 
 damsel, If the killing of my memlook is indispensable, I am more fit 
 to kill him than thou. And, having taken the sword from her, he 
 raised his hand and struck the damsel on her neck, severing her head 
 from her body ; and her head fell upon the owner of the house : so he 
 awoke and sat up, and opened his eyes, and found El-Amjad standing 
 with the blood-stained sword in his hand. Then looking towards the 
 damsel, he found her slain. He therefore inquired of him respecting her 
 case ; and El-Amjad repeated her words, and said to him, She refused 
 to do anything but to kill thee ; and this is her recompense. Upon 
 this, Bahadir arose, and, kissing the head of El-Amjad, said to him, 
 O my master, would that thou hadst pardoned her ! It now remaineth 
 only to take her forth immediately, before morning. 
 
 Bahadir then girded himself, and took the damsel, wrapped her in 
 a cloak, put her in a large basket of palm-leaves, and carried her away, 
 saying to El-Amjad, Thou art a stranger, and knowest not any one ; 
 
EL-AMJAD AND EL AS'AD 161 
 
 therefore sit in thy place, and expect me back at sunrise. If I return 
 to thee, I must do thee great favours, and strive to obtain intelligence 
 of thy brother ; but if the sun rise and I have not returned to thee, 
 know that God's decree hath been executed upon me : and peace be on 
 thee; and this house shall be thine, with the wealth and stuffs that it 
 containeth. Having said this, he carried away the basket, and, going 
 forth from the saloon, passed with it through the market-streets, and 
 went with it by the way that led to the sea. But when he had nearly 
 arrived at the sea, he looked aside, and saw that the Walee and his 
 chief officers had surrounded him. On their recognising him they 
 wondered; and they opened the basket, and found in it a murdered 
 woman. So they seized him, and put him in chains for the rest of the 
 night, until the morning, when they went up with him, taking with 
 them the basket, to the King, and acquainted him with the case. 
 And when the King knew it, he was violently enraged, and said to 
 him, Wo to thee ! Thus dost thou ever ! Thou killest persons and 
 throwest them into the sea, and takest all their property ! How many 
 murders hast thou committed before this ? But Bahadir hung down 
 his head towards the ground before the King. And the King cried 
 out at him, and said to him, Wo to thee ! Who killed this damsel ? 
 O my lord, answered Bahadir, I killed her, and there is no strength 
 nor power but in God, the High, the Great ! And the King was 
 enraged, and gave orders to hang him. So the executioner descended 
 with him at the King's command, and the Walee went down with a 
 crier, who proclaimed through the streets of the city that the people 
 should come to behold the spectacle of Bahadir, the King's Chief 
 Equerry j and- he conducted him about through the by-streets and 
 market-streets. 
 
 But as to El-Amjad, when daylight came and the sun had risen 
 and Bahadir had not returned to him, he exclaimed, There is no 
 strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great ! I wonder what 
 hath happened to him ! And while he was thus meditating, lo, the 
 crier proclaimed that the people should come to behold the spectacle 
 of Bahadir ; for they were to hang him at mid-day. So when El- 
 Amjad heard this, he wept, and exclaimed, Verily to God we belong, 
 and verily unto Him we return ! He hath desired his own destruction 
 on my account, when I am the person that killed her! By Allah, 
 never shall this be ! He then went forth from the saloon, and closed 
 it, and passed through the midst of the city until he came to Bahadir; 
 whereupon, standing before the Walee, he said to him, my lord, 
 
 II. Y 
 
162 THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES 
 
 slay not Bahadir ; for he is innocent. By Allah, none killed her but 
 myself. 
 
 When the Walee, therefore, heard his words, he took him, 
 together with Bahadir, and, going up with them both to the King, 
 acquainted him with that which he had heard from El-Ainjad. So 
 the King looked at El-Amjad, and said to him, Didst thou kill the 
 damsel ? He answered, Yes. And the King said to him, Tell me the 
 cause of thy killing her, and inform me truly. He replied, King, 
 a wonderful event and an extraordinary occurrence hath happened 
 unto me : if it were engraved on the understanding, it would be a 
 lesson to him who would be admonished. He then related to the 
 King his story, acquainting him with all that had happened to him 
 and his brother from beginning to end. And the King was filled with 
 the utmost wonder at hearing it, and said to him, 1 know thee now to 
 be excusable. But, young man, he added, wilt thou be to me a 
 Wczeer ? He answered him, I hear and obey. And the King 
 bestowed upon him and upon Bahadir magnificent robes of honour, 
 and gave to El-Amjad a handsome mansion, with servants and officers, 
 conferred upon him all that he required, appointed him pensions and 
 supplies, and ordered him to search for his brother El-As'ad. So El- 
 Amjad took his seat as Wezeer, and exercised authority and admi- 
 nistered equity, and invested and deposed, and took and gave. He 
 also sent the crier through the streets of the city to cry his brother ; 
 and for many days the crier repeated his proclamation in the great 
 thoroughfare-streets and market-streets ; but heard no tidings of 
 him, nor discovered any trace of him. Such was the case of El- 
 Amjad. 
 
 As to El-As'ad, the Magians continued to torture him night arid 
 day, and evening and morning, for the space of a whole year, until the 
 Festival of the Magians drew near. Then Bahrain 118 the Magian, [the 
 old man who had inveigled El-As'ad into his house,] ] 9 prepared 
 himself for his voyage, and fitted out for himself a ship, and, having 
 put El-As'ad into a chest, and locked it upon him, transported him to 
 the vessel. It happened, at the time of his conveying the chest to the 
 ship, that El-Amjad, in accordance with fate and destiny, was stand- 
 ing amusing himself by gazing at the sea ; and he looked at the 
 things as the men were transporting them to the ship. His heart 
 throbbed at the sight, and he ordered his young men to bring him his 
 horse, and, mounting in the midst of a company of his attendants, 
 repaired to the sea. There stopping by the ship of the Magian, he 
 
EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 
 
 163 
 
 commanded those who were with him to go on board of it and to 
 search it. So they went on board, and searched the whole of the 
 vessel ; but found in it nothing, and they landed from it, and told 
 this to El-Amjad. He therefore mounted again, and returned to his 
 abode; and when he arrived there, and entered the palace, his heart 
 was contracted, and, turning his eyes towards a part of the mansion, 
 he saw two lines inscribed upon a wall ; and they were these two 
 verses : 
 
 O my friends, if ye are absent from mine eye, from my heart and my mind ye 
 
 are not. 
 But ye have left me in severe affliction and have banished repose from mine 
 
 eyelid, while ye sleep. 
 
 And when El-Amjad read them, he thought upon his brother, and 
 wept. 
 
 Bahrain the Magian went on board the ship, and called out to the 
 seamen, ordering them to make haste in loosing the sails. So they 
 loosed the sails and departed. They continued their voyage days and 
 nights, every two days taking forth El-As'ad, and giving him a scanty 
 supply of food and a little water, until they drew near to the Mountain 
 of Fire. But a storm of wind then arose against them, and the sea 
 became boisterous to them, so that the vessel wandered from her 
 
Kit THE STORY OF THE TWO PKINCES 
 
 course, and, pursuing a wrong direction, they came to a city built 
 upon the sea-shore, having a castle with windows looking over the sea. 
 The ruler of this city was a woman, called the Queen Marjaneh. 1 - 
 And the captain of the ship said to Bahram, my master, we have 
 wandered from our course, and we must enter the port of this city 
 to take rest, and after that, let God do what He willeth. Bahram 
 replied, Excellent is thy counsel, and according to it I will act. Then 
 the captain said to him, If the Queen send to put questions to us, 
 what shall be our answer? The Queen Marjaneh is a faithful 
 Muslimeh ; and if she know that we are Magians, she will seize our 
 vessel and kill us all. 121 Bahram answered, I have this Muslim with 
 us : so we will clothe him in the attire of memlooks, and take him 
 forth with us ; and if the Queen see him, she wall imagine him to be 
 a memlook ; and I will say to her, I am an importer of memlooks, a 
 seller and buyer of them ; and 1 had with me many memlooks; but 
 I have sold them, and this one only remaineth. And the captain 
 replied, This proposal is good. 
 
 They then arrived at the city, and slackened the sails, and cast 
 the anchors ; and when the vessel had stayed, lo, the Queen Marjaneh 
 came down to them, attended by her troops, and, halting by the ship, 
 called out to the captain. He therefore went on shore to her, and 
 kissed the gi-ound before her, and she said to him, What is in this thy 
 vessel, and who is with thee ? Queen of the age, he answered, I 
 have with me a merchant who selleth memlooks. And she said to 
 him, Bring him hither to me. And lo, Bahram came forth, with 
 El-As'ad walking behind him in the garb of a memlook; and when 
 Bah nun came up to her, he kissed the ground before her. She said to 
 him, AVhat is thy business ? And he answered her, I am a slave-mer- 
 chant. She then looked at El-As'ad, imagining him to be a mern- 
 look, and said to him, What is thy name ? And, almost suffocated 
 with weeping, he said, 122 My name now, or that which I had formerly ? 
 Then hast thou two names ? she asked. He answered, Yes : for- 
 merly, my name was El-As'ad; but now, my name is El-Moatarr. 123 
 And her heart was moved with affection for him, and she said to him, 
 Art thou able to write ? He answered, Yes. So she handed him an 
 inkhorn and a pen and paper, saying to him, Write something, that 
 I may see it. Accordingly, he wrote these two verses : 
 
 What resource hath God's servant when destiny pursueth him under every 
 
 circumstance, O thou judger ; 
 When God casteth him into the deep, hand-bound, and saitli to him, Ik-ware, 
 
 heware, that thou be not wetted. 1 - 4 
 
EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 165 
 
 And when she saw the paper, she had compassion upon him, and said 
 to Bahrain, Sell to me this memlook. He replied, O my mistress, I 
 cannot sell him ; for I have sold all my memlooks except this one. 
 But the Queen Marjaneh said, I will positively take him from thee, 
 either by sale or as a gift. He said to her, I will not sell him nor 
 give him. She, however, seized him and took him, and, having gone 
 up with him to the castle, sent to Bahrain, saying to him, If thou do 
 not set sail this night from our city, I will take all thy property, and 
 destroy thy ship. When the message, therefore, was brought to him, 
 he was grieved excessively, and said, Verily this voyage hath been 
 unfortunate ! He then arose, and prepared himself, and, having 
 taken all that he desired, waited for the night, to proceed on his 
 voyage, and said to the seamen, Take your things, and fill your water- 
 skins with water, and set sail with us at the close of the night. So 
 the seamen betook themselves to perform their business. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Queen Marjaneh, when she had taken El-As'ad 
 and conducted him into the castle, opened the windows looking over 
 the sea, and ordered the female slaves to bring the food. They there- 
 fore brought it to her and El-As'ad, and they both ate. She then 
 ordered them to bring the wine ; and they brought it, and she drank 
 with El-As'ad. And God (whose perfection be extolled, and whose 
 name be exalted !) inspired her with love for El-As'ad ; and she 
 began to fill the cup and to give it to him to drink until his reason 
 quitted him. After this, he arose, and descended from the saloon, 
 and, seeing a door open, he went through it and walked on till he 
 came to a great garden in which were all kinds of fruits and flowers ; 
 and he approached a fountain that was in the garden, and, laying 
 himself down there upon his back, he slept, and night overcame him. 
 Bahrain, in the mean time, when the night arrived, called out to 
 the sailors of the vessel, saying to them, Loose your sails, and proceed 
 with us on our voyage. They replied, We hear and obey : but wait 
 until we have filled our water-skins, and then we will loose. The 
 seamen then landed with the water-skins, and went round about the 
 castle, and finding nothing but the walls of the garden, they climbed 
 over them, and descended into the garden, and followed the track 
 that led to the fountain ; and on their arriving at it, they found El- 
 As'ad lying on his back. They immediately recognised him, and 
 rejoiced at finding him. So they carried him away, after they had 
 filled their water-skins, and leaped down from the wall, and conveyed 
 him quickly to Bahrain the Magian, saying to him, Receive glad 
 
tidings of the accomplishment of thy desire, and of the satisfaction of 
 thy heart, thy drum hath been beaten, and thy pipe hath been 
 sounded 125 for thy captive, whom the Queen Marjaneh took from 
 thee by force, we have found and brought with us. They then threw 
 him down before him. And when Bah ram beheld him his heart 
 leaped with joy and his bosom expanded. He bestowed dresses upon 
 them, arid ordered them to loose the sails quickly. They therefore 
 loosed them, and proceeded on their voyage to the Mountain of Fire, 
 and continued their course until the morning. 
 
 Now as to the Queen Marjaneh, after El-As'ad had gone down 
 from her, she remained a while expecting his return ; and when he 
 came not back to her, she arose and searched for him, but found 
 him not. So she lighted the candles, and ordered the female slaves 
 to seek for him. Then she herself descended, and, seeing the garden 
 open, she knew that he must have entered it. She therefore went 
 into it, and found his shoes by the side of the fountain ; and she 
 proceeded to search for him throughout the whole of the garden ; but 
 saw nothing of him. She continued to search for him about the 
 borders of the garden until the morning, when she inquired respecting 
 the ship, and they told her that it had set sail in the first third of the 
 night. So she knew that the crew had taken him with them, and 
 the event grieved her ; she was violently enraged, and gave orders to 
 fit out immediately ten great ships. She prepared herself, also, for 
 war, and embarked in one of the ten ships; her troops embarking 
 with her, equipped with magnificent accoutrements and weapons of 
 war. They loosed the sails ; and she said to the captains of the ships, 
 When ye have overtaken the ship of the Magian, ye shall receive 
 from me robes of honour, and wealth ; or, if ye overtake her not, I 
 
THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES, &c. 167 
 
 will kill you every one. The seamen, therefore, were inspired with 
 great fear and hope. They proceeded in the ships that day and the 
 next night, and the second day and the third ; and on the fourth day, 
 the vessel of Bahrain the Magian appeared to them ; and that day 
 passed not until the Queen's ships had surrounded the ship of the 
 Magian. Bah ram had just then taken forth El-As'ad, and beaten 
 him, and was tormenting him, while El-As'ad cried for relief and 
 deliverance. But he found no creature to relieve or deliver him, and 
 the violent beating tortured him. And the Magian, while he was tor- 
 menting him, looked aside, and found that the Queen's ships had 
 surrounded his vessel, and encompassed her as the white of the eye 
 surrounds its black. He made sure of his destruction, and sighed, 
 and exclaimed, Wo to thee, As'ad ! All this hath been occasioned 
 by thee ! Then taking him by his hand, he ordered the sailors to 
 throw him into the sea, saying, By Allah, I will kill thee before mine 
 own death ! 
 
 Accordingly, the sailors took him up by his hands and feet, and 
 threw him into the midst of the sea. But God (whose perfection be 
 extolled, and whose name be exalted !), desiring his safety and the 
 prolongation of his term of life, permitted that he should sink, and 
 then rise again ; and he beat about with his hands and feet until God 
 smoothed his difficulties. Relief came to him, and the waves, striking 
 him, bore him to a distance from the ship of the Magian, and he 
 reached the shore. So he landed, scarcely believing in his escape, and 
 when he was upon the shore he took off his clothes and wrung them, 
 and, having spread them out to dry, sat down naked, weeping for the 
 calamities and captivity that had befallen him, and recited these two 
 verses : 
 
 O Allah, my patience and resources have failed, and my bosom is contracted and 
 
 my means are cut off! 
 To whom shall the wretched complain of his case unless unto the Lord, O thou 
 
 Lord of lords ? 
 
 After this he arose, and put on his clothes; but knew not whither 
 to go. He ate of the herbs of the earth and of the fruits of the trees, 
 and drank of the water of the rivers, journeying by night and day, 
 until he came in sight of a city. And upon this he rejoiced, and 
 quickened his pace towards the city ; but when he arrived at it, the 
 evening had overtaken him, and its gate was shut. It was the same 
 city in which he had been a captive, and to whose King his brother 
 was Wezeer. And when El-As'ad saw that its gate was closed, he 
 
returned towards the burial-grounds, where, on arriving, he found a 
 tomb without a door. So he entered it, and laid himself down to 
 sleep in it, putting his face into his bosom. 126 
 
 Now Bahram the Magian, when the Queen Marjaneh with her 
 ships overtook him, defeated her by his artifice and subtlety. He re- 
 turned in safety towards his city, and proceeded thither forthwith, full 
 of joy. And passing by the burial-grounds, he landed from the ship, 
 in accordance with fate and destiny, and walked through the burial- 
 grounds, and saw that the tomb in which El-As'ad was lying was 
 open. So he wondered, and said, I must look into this tomb. And 
 when he looked into it, he saw El-As'ad sleeping there, with his 
 head in his bosom. He therefore looked in his face, and recognised 
 him, whereupon he said to him, Art thou still living ? Then he took 
 him up, and conveyed him to his house. He had in his house a sub- 
 terranean cell, [before mentioned,] prepared for the torture of Mus- 
 lims, and he had a daughter named Bustiin ; l -~ and he put heavy 
 
THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES, &c. 169 
 
 irons upon the feet of El-As'ad, and put him down into that cell, com- 
 missioning his daughter to torture him night and day until he shoald 
 die. Having done this, he inflicted upon him a painful beating, and 
 closed the cell upon him, and gave the keys to his daughter. 
 
 So his daughter Bustan went down to beat him ; but finding him 
 to be an elegant young man, of sweet countenance, with arched eye- 
 brows and black eyes, affection for him entered her heart, and she 
 said to him, What is thy name? He answered her, My name is 
 El-As'ad. And she said to him, Mayest thou be fortunate, and may 
 thy days be fortunate ! 12S Thou art not deserving of torment, and I 
 know that thou hast been treated unjustly. And she proceeded to 
 cheer him by conversation, and unfastened his irons. Then she asked 
 him respecting the religion of El- Islam. And he informed her that 
 it was the true and right religion, and that our lord Mohammad was 
 the author of surpassing miracles and manifest signs, and that [the 
 worship of] Fire injured, instead of benefiting: he acquainted her 
 also with the fundamentals of El-Islam; and she yielded to his 
 words. The love of the faith entered her heart, and God (whose 
 name be exalted !) infused into her bosom an affection for El-As'ad ; 
 so she pronounced the two professions of the faith, 129 and became 
 one among the people of felicity. She occupied herself in giving him 
 food and drink, conversed and prayed with him, and prepared for him 
 pottages of fowls, until he gained strength, and his disorders ceased, 
 and he was restored to his former health. 
 
 After this, the daughter of Bah ram went forth from El-As'ad, and 
 stood at the door; and lo, the crier proclaimed and said, Whosoever 
 hath with him a handsome young man, of such and such a description, 
 and produceth him, he shall have whatever he demandeth of wealth ; 
 and whosoever hath him in his keeping and denieth it, he shall be 
 hanged at the door of his house, and his property shall be plundered, 
 and his dwelling shall be demolished. Now El-As'ad had acquainted 
 Bustan the daughter of Bah ram with all that had happened unto 
 him : so when she heard this, she knew that he was the person 
 sought. She therefore went in to him, and related to him the news ; 
 and he came forth and repaired to the mansion of the Wezeer ; and as 
 soon as he saw the Wezeer, he exclaimed, By Allah, verily this 
 Wezeer is my brother El-Amjad ! He went up with the damsel 
 behind him to the palace; and on seeing his brother El-Amjad, he 
 threw himself upon him ; whereupon El-Amjad recognised him, and 
 in like manner threw himself upon him, and they embraced each 
 n. z 
 
170 THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 other. The mernlooks came around them, and El-As'ad and El- 
 Amjad were, for a while, senseless; and when they recovered from 
 their fit, El-Anvjad took his brother and went up with him to the 
 Sultan, and related to him his story ; upon which, the Sultan ordered 
 him to plunder the house of Bahram. So the Wezeer sent a com- 
 pany of men to do this ; and they repaired to Bah dim's house, and 
 plundered it, and brought up his daughter to the Wezeer, who 
 received her with honour. El-As'ad then described to his brother all 
 the torture that he had suffered, and the acts of kindness that the 
 daughter of Bahram had done him. El-Amjad, therefore, treated her 
 with increased honour. And after this he related to El-As'ad all that 
 had happened to him with the damsel, and how he had escaped from 
 being hanged, and had become Wezeer. And each of them then 
 complained to the other of the distress that he had suffered from 
 the separation of his brother. 
 
 The Sultan next caused the Magian to be brought, and commanded 
 to strike off his head. Bahram said, O most excellent King, hast 
 thou determined to kill me ? He answered, Yes. Then said Bahrain, 
 Have patience with me a little, O King. And he hung down his 
 head towards the ground, and presently, raising it, made profession 
 of the faith, and vowed himself a Muslim to the Sultan. So they 
 rejoiced at his embracing El-Islam. Then El-Amjad and El-As'ad 
 related to him all that had happened to them ; and he said to them, 
 O my lords, prepare yourselves to journey, and I will journey with 
 you. And they rejoiced at this, as they did also at his conversion to 
 El-Islam ; but they wept violently. Bahram, therefore, said to them, 
 my lords, weep not ; for ye shall eventually be united [with your 
 family], as Neameh and Noam were united. And what, they asked 
 him, happened to Neameh and Noam ? He replied as follows : 
 
 THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 1 *' 
 
 PERSONS have related (but God is all knowing), that there was, 
 in the city of El-Koofeh, 131 a man who was one of the chiefs of its 
 inhabitants, called Er-Rabeea the son of Hatim. He was a man of 
 great wealth, and of prosperous circumstances, and had been blessed 
 with a son whom he named Neamet- Allah. 132 And while he was one 
 day at the mart of the slave-brokers, he beheld a female slave offered 
 
THE STORY OF XEAMEH AXD NOAM. 171 
 
 for sale, with a little girl of surprising beauty and loveliness on her 
 arm. So Er-Rabeea made a sign to the slave-broker, and said to him, 
 For how much are this female slave and her daughter to be sold ? 
 He answered, For fifty pieces of gold. And Er-Rabeea said, Write 
 the contract, and receive the money, and deliver it to her master. 
 He then paid to the slave-broker the price of the slave, and gave him 
 his brokerage ; and, having received the female slave and her daughter, 
 went home with them. And when his uncle's daughter [who was his 
 wife] beheld the female slave, she said to him, son of my uncle, 
 what is this female slave ? He answered, I bought her from a desire 
 of possessing this little-one that is on her arm ; and know thou that, 
 when she hath grown up, there will be none like her in the countries 
 of the Arabs or foreigners, and none more lovely than she. And the 
 daughter of his uncle said to her, What is thy name, O slave-girl ? 
 She answered, my mistress, my name is Towfeek. 133 And what, she 
 asked, is the name of thy daughter? She answered, Saad. 134 And 
 she replied, Thou hast spoken truly. Thou art fortunate, and 
 fortunate is he who hath purchased thee. She then said, son of 
 my uncle, what name wilt thou give her ? What thou choosest, he 
 answered. She replied, We will name her Noam. 135 And Er-Rabeea 
 said, There will be no harm in so naming her. 
 
 The little Noam was brought up with Neameh 136 the .son of Er- 
 Rabeea in one cradle, and in the same manner they were reared until 
 they attained the age of ten years ; and each of them was more beau- 
 tiful than the other. 137 The boy used to say to her, my sister. 
 And she used to say to him, my brother. Then Er-Rabeea 
 addressed his son Neameh, when they had attained to this age, and 
 said to him, my son, Noam is not thy sister ; but she is thy slave ; 
 and I bought her for thee when thou wast in the cradle : so call her 
 not thy sister from this day. Then if it is so, replied Neameh to 
 his father, I will marry her. He then went in to his mother, and 
 acquainted her with this ; and she said, my son, she is thy slave. 
 Therefore Neameh the son of Er-Rabeea took her as a wife, and loved 
 her. Four 138 years passed over them while they thus lived, and there 
 was not in El-Koofeh a maid more beautiful than Noam, nor any 
 sweeter or more elegant. She had grown up, and read the Kur-an 
 and works of science, and become skilled in various modes of playing 
 upon sundry instruments : she was distinguished by perfection both 
 in singing and in instrumental music, so that she surpassed all the 
 people of her age. And while she was sitting one day with her 
 
172 THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 husband Neameh the son of Er-Rabeea in the drinking-chamber, 
 she took the lute, and tightened its chords, and sang these two 
 verses : 
 
 ^Hiile them art my lord, on whose bounty I live, and a sword by which I may 
 
 annihilate adversities, 
 I shall never need recourse to Zeyd nor to 'Amr, 139 nor any but thee, if my ways 
 
 become strait to me. 
 
 And Neameh was greatly delighted. He desired her to sing again ; 
 and when she had done so, the youth exclaimed, Divinely art thou 
 gifted, Noam. 
 
 But while they were passing the most agreeable life, El-Hajjaj, 140 
 in his viceregal mansion, was saying, I must contrive to take away 
 this damsel whose name is Noam, and send her to the Prince of the 
 Faithful, 'Abd-El-Melik the son of Marwan ; for there existeth not 
 in his palace her equal, nor is sweeter singing than hers there heard. 
 He then called for an old woman, a kahramaneh, and said to her, Go 
 to the house of Er-Rabeea, and obtain an interview with the damsel 
 Noam, and contrive means to take her away; for there existeth not 
 upon the face of the earth her equal. 
 
 The old woman assented to the words of El-Hajj;ij ; and when she 
 arose on the following morning, she put on her apparel of wool, 141 
 hung to her neck a rosary of thousands of beads, 142 and, taking in her 
 hand a walking-staff, and a leathern water-bottle of the manufacture 
 of El- Yemen, proceeded thither, exclaiming, as she went, Extolled be 
 the perfection of God, and praise be to God, and there is no deity but 
 God, and God is most Great, and there is no strength nor power but 
 in God, the High, the Great ! She ceased not her ejaculations in 
 praise of God, and her supplications, while her heart was full of 
 artifice and fraud, until she arrived at the house of Neameh the son 
 of Er-Rabeea at the time of noon-prayers ; and she knocked at the 
 door ; whereupon the doorkeeper opened to her, and said to her, What 
 dost thou desire ? She answered, I am a poor woman, one of those 
 who devote themselves to the service of God, and the time of noon- 
 prayer hath overtaken me ; I desire, therefore, to pray in this blessed 
 place. The doorkeeper replied, O old woman, this is the house of 
 Neameh the son of Er-Rabeea, and it is not a congregational mosque 
 nor a place of worship. I know, she rejoined, that there is not a 
 congregational mosque nor a place of worship like the house of Neameh 
 the son of Er-Rabeea, and I am a kahramaneh from the palace of the 
 Prince of the Faithful, who have come forth to worship and to travel. 
 
THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 173 
 
 The doorkeeper, however, said to her, It is impossible for thee to 
 enter. Many words passed between them, till the old woman clung 
 to him, and said to him, Shall such a person as myself be forbidden 
 to enter the house of Neameh the son of Er-Rabeea, when I go to 
 the houses of the emeers and grandees ? And Neameh came forth, 
 and, hearing their words, laughed, and ordered her to come in 
 after him. 
 
 So Neameh entered, and the old woman followed him until he 
 went in with her to Noam ; whereupon the old woman saluted her 
 with the best salutation. And when she beheld Noam, she wondered 
 at her excessive loveliness, and said to her, my mistress, I commend 
 thee to the protection of God, who hath made thee and thy lord to 
 agree in beauty and loveliness. Then the old woman placed herself 
 at the niche, 143 and betook herself to inclination and prostration and 
 supplication until the day had passed and the night had come with its 
 thick darkness, when the damsel said, O my mother, give rest to thy 
 feet a while. But the old woman replied, my mistress, whoso 
 seeketh the world to come weaneth himself in the present world ; and 
 whoso weaneth not himself in the present world will not attain to the 
 mansions of the just in the world to come. Then Noam brought the 
 food to the old woman, and said to her, Eat of my food, and beg pro- 
 pitiousness and mercy for me. The old woman, however, replied, 
 
174 THE STORY OF XEAMEH AM) NOAM. 
 
 Verily I am fasting; but as to thee, thou art a young woman, and 
 eating and drinking and mirth are suitable to thee. God be propitious 
 to thee ! God (whose name be exalted!) hath said, Except him who 
 shall repent, and believe, and shall work a righteous work. 144 The 
 damsel continued sitting a while with the old woman, conversing with 
 her; after which she said to her master, my master, conjure this 
 old woman to lodge with us for some time ; for the impress of devotion 
 is on her countenance. So he replied, Appropriate to her alone a 
 chamber for devotion, and let not any one go in to her ; and perhaps 
 God (whose perfection be extolled, and whose name be exalted!) may 
 grant us benefit from the blessing that attendeth her, and not separate 
 us. And the old woman passed that night praying, and reciting [the 
 Kur-an], until the morning, when she catne to Neameh and Noam, 
 and, having wished them good morning, said to them, I commend 
 you both to the care of God. But Noam said to her, Whither goest 
 thou, my mother ? My master hath ordered me to appropriate to 
 thee alone a chamber in which thou mayest seclude thyself for devo- 
 tion. The old woman replied, May God preserve him, and continue 
 his favours to you both : but I desire of you that ye charge the door- 
 keeper not to prevent my ingress to you ; and if it be the will of God 
 (whose name be exalted !), I will go about to the holy places, and 
 supplicate for both of you at the close of my prayer and devotion every 
 day and night. She then went forth from the house, while the damsel 
 Noam wept for her separation, not knowing the reason for which she 
 had come to her. 
 
 The old woman repaired to El-Hajjaj ; and he said to her, \Yhat 
 hast thou done ? She answered him, Verily I have beheld the damsel, 
 and seen her to be such that women have not given birth to any more 
 beautiful in her age. And El-Hajjaj said to her, If thou accomplish 
 that which I have commanded thee, abundant good fortune will result 
 to thee from me. She replied, I desire of thee a delay of a whole 
 month. And he said to her, I grant thee a month's delay. The old 
 woman then accustomed herself to frequent the house of Neameh and 
 Noam, who treated her with increased respect. She continued to pass 
 the morning and evening with them, everyone in the house welcoming 
 her, until, one day, being with the damsel alone, she said, my 
 mistress, by Allah, when 1 visit the holy places, I will pray for thee; 
 and I wish that thou wouldst accompany me, that thou mightest see 
 the sheykhs 140 that come thither, and they would pray for any blessing 
 for thee that thou desircst. Arid the damsel Noam replied, By Allah, 
 
THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 175 
 
 my mother, take me with thee. So the old woman said to her, Ask 
 leave of thy mother-in-law, and I will take thee with me. The damsel, 
 therefore, said to her mother-in-law, the mother of Neameh, O my 
 mistress, ask my master to let me and thee go one day with my 
 mother, the old woman, to prayer and supplication with the poor 
 devotees in the holy places. And when Neameh came, and sat down, 
 the old woman went to him and kissed his hand ; but he forbade her 
 doing so : and she prayed for him, and went forth from the house. 
 And on the following day she came again, when Neameh was not in 
 the house, and, accosting the damsel Noam, said to her, We prayed 
 for you yesterday ; but arise now and amuse thyself, and return before 
 thy master cometh. So the damsel said to her mother-in-law, I con- 
 jure thee by Allah that thou give me permission to go out with this 
 just woman to enjoy the sight of the saints of God in the holy places, 
 and I will return quickly, before my master cometh. The mother of 
 Neameh replied, I fear lest thy master know of it. But the old 
 woman said, By 'Allah, I will not let her seat herself upon the 
 ground; but she shall look while she standeth upon her feet, and 
 shall not loiter. 
 
 She then took the damsel, by this stratagem, and repaired with 
 her to the palace of El-Hajjaj, and acquainted him with her arrival, 
 after she had put her in a private apartment. So El-Hajjaj came and 
 looked at her, and saw her to be the most lovely of the people of her 
 age, and such as he had never seen equalled : but when Noam beheld 
 him, she covered her face. He left her not until he had summoned 
 his chamberlain ; and he mounted with him fifty horsemen, and com- 
 manded him to take the damsel upon an excellent and swift dromedary, 
 to repair with her to Damascus, and to deliver her to the Prince of 
 the Faithful, 'Abd-El-Melik the son of Marwan, to whom he wrote a 
 letter. And he said to the chamberlain, Give him this letter, and 
 bring from him an answer, and make haste in returning. The 
 chamberlain, therefore, went, and took the damsel upon a dromedary, 
 and journeyed with her, she remaining all the while with tearful eye 
 on account of the separation of her master, until they arrived at 
 Damascus. He begged permission to present himself to the Prince 
 of the Faithful, who gave him permission, and he went in to him, and 
 acquainted him with the affair of the damsel ; whereupon the Khaleefeh 
 appropriated to her exclusively a private apartment. 
 
 The Khaleefeh then went into his Hareem, and, seeing his wife, 
 he said to her, El-Hajjaj hath purchased for me a slave-girl from 
 
176 THE STORY OF NKAMKH AND NOAM. 
 
 among the daughters of the Kings of El-Koofeh, 146 for ten thousand 
 pieces of gold, and hath sent to me this letter, and her with the letter. 
 His wife replied, May God increase to thee his bounty ! And after 
 this, the sister of the Khaleefeh went in to the damsel ; and when she 
 beheld her, she said, By Allah, he is not disappointed in whose abode 
 thou art, were thy price a hundred thousand pieces of gold ! And 
 the damsel Noam said to her, lovely-faced, to whom among the 
 Kings belongeth this palace, and what city is this ? She answered 
 her, This is the city of Damascus, and this is the palace of my brother, 
 the Prince of the Faithful, 'Abd-El-Melik the son of Marwan. Then 
 she said to the damsel, It seemeth that thou knewest not this. By 
 Allah, my mistress, replied Noam, I had no knowledge of it. The 
 sister of the Khaleefeh said, And did not he who sold thee and took 
 thy price inform thee that the Khaleefeh had bought thee ? And 
 when the damsel heard these words, her tears flowed, and she lamented, 
 and said within herself, The stratagem hath been accomplished against 
 me. Then she said within herself, If I speak, no one will believe 
 me : so I will be silent and be patient ; for I know that the relief of 
 God is near at hand. And she hung down her head in bashfulness, 
 and her cheeks were reddened by her late travelling and by the 
 sun. The sister of the Khaleefeh left her that day, and came to her 
 on the following day with linen and with necklaces of jewels, and 
 attired her. 
 
 After this, the Prince of the Faithful came in to her, and seated 
 himself by her side, and his sister said to him, Look at this damsel in 
 whom God hath united every charm of beauty and loveliness. So the 
 Khaleefeh said to Noam, Remove the veil from thy face. But she re- 
 moved it not, and he saw not her face. He beheld, however, her wrists, 
 and love for her penetrated into his heart, and he said to his sister, 
 I will not visit her again until after three days, that she may in the 
 mean time be cheered by thy conversation. He then arose and went 
 forth from her. And the damsel remained reflecting upon her case, 
 and sighing for her separation from her master Neameh. And when 
 the next night came, she fell sick of a fever, and ate not nor drank, 
 and her countenance and her charms became changed. So they 
 acquainted the Khaleefeh with this, and her case distressed him, and 
 he brought in to her the physicians and men of penetration ; but no 
 one could discover a remedy for her. 
 
 Meanwhile, her master Neameh came to his house, and, seating 
 himself upon his bed, called out, Noam! But she answered him 
 
THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 177 
 
 not. So he arose quickly, and called out again ; but no one came in 
 to him ; for every female slave in the house hid herself, in her fear of 
 him. He therefore went to his mother, and found her sitting with 
 her hand upon her cheek ; and he said to her, O my mother, where is 
 Noam ? O my son, she answered, with one who is more trustworthy 
 than myself respecting her ; namely, the just old woman ; for she 
 went forth with her to visit the poor devotees, and to return. And 
 when, said he, was she accustomed to do this ? And at what hour 
 did she go forth ? She answered, She went forth early in the morning. 
 And how didst thou give her permission to do so ? he asked. O 
 my son, she answered, it was she who persuaded me to it. And 
 Neameh exclaimed, There is no strength nor power but in God, the 
 High, the Great ! He then went forth from his house, in a state of 
 distraction, and, repairing to the chief of the police, said to him, Dost 
 thou employ stratagems against me, and take my slave-girl from my 
 house ? I will assuredly journey and complain against thee to the 
 Prince of the Faithful. So the chief of the police said, And who took 
 her ? He answered, An old woman, of such and such a description, 
 clad in garments of wool, and having in her hand a rosary, the beads 
 of which were thousands in number. And the chief of the police 
 replied, Acquaint me with the old woman, and I will deliver to thee 
 thy slave-girl. And who knoweth the old woman ? said Neameh. 
 And who, said the chief of the police, knoweth what is hidden from 
 the senses, except God, whose perfection be extolled, and whose name 
 be exalted ? But he knew that she was an artful woman employed 
 by El-Hajjaj. Neameh then said to him, I look for my slave-girl 
 
 n. 
 
 2 A 
 
178 THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 from none but thee, and El-Hajjaj shall decide between me and thee. 
 And he replied, Go unto whom thou wilt. 
 
 So Neameh wept to the palace of El-Hajjaj. His father was one 
 of the chief people of El-Koofeh : therefore when he arrived at the 
 residence of El-Hajjaj, the chamberlain went in and informed him of 
 the case, and El-Hajjaj said, Bring him in unto me. And when he 
 stood before him, El-Hajjaj said to him, What is thy business ? 
 Neameh answered him, Such and such things have happened unto 
 me. And El-Hajjaj said, Bring ye to me the chief of the police, and 
 we will order him to search for the old woman. Accordingly, when 
 the chief of the police came, he said to him, I desire- of thee that thou 
 search for the slave-girl of Neameh the son of Er-Rabeea. The chief 
 of the police replied, None knoweth what is hidden from the senses, 
 except God, whose name be exalted ! But El-Hajjaj said to him, Thou 
 must take with thee horsemen, and seek for the damsel in the roads, 
 and look in the towns. Then looking towards Neameh, he said to 
 him, If thy slave-girl return not, I will give to thee ten slave-girls 
 from my own mansion, and ten from the mansion of the chief of the 
 police. And he said to the chief of the police, Go forth to search for 
 the damsel. So he went forth. 
 
 Neameh was full of grief, and despaired of life. He had attained 
 the age of fourteen years, and there was no hair upon the sides of his 
 face. He wept and lamented, and separated himself from his house, 
 and ceased not to weep until the morning. And his father came and 
 said to him, my son, verily El-Hajjaj hath employed a stratagem 
 against the damsel, and taken her ; but from hour to hour God giveth 
 relief. Still anxieties increased upon Neameh, and he knew not what 
 to say, nor recognised any who came in to him. He remained in a 
 state of infirmity three months, so that his whole condition became 
 changed, and his father despaired of him ; and the physicians visited 
 him, and said, There is no cure for him except the damsel. 
 
 But while his father was sitting one day, he heard of a skilful 
 physician, a Persian, whom the people desci'ibed as possessing a sure 
 knowledge of medicine and astrology and geomancy. So Er-Rabeea 
 called for him ; and when he came, he seated him by his side, treated 
 him with honour, and said to him, See the state of my son. And he 
 said to Neameh, Give me thy hand. He therefore gave him his hand, 
 and the physician felt his joints, and looked in his face, and laughed. 
 Then turning his eyes towards his father, he said, Thy son hath 
 nothing else than a disease in his heart. And Er-Rabeea replied, 
 
Thou hast spoken truly, sage : consider, then, the case of my son 
 with thy science, and acquaint me with all his circumstances, and hide 
 from me nothing of his case. So the Persian said, He is engrossed 
 by love for a damsel, and this damsel is in El-Basrah or in Damascus, 
 and there is no cure for thy son but his union with her. And Er- 
 Rabeea said, If thou bring them together, thou shalt receive from me 
 what will make thee happy, and shalt live all thy life in wealth and 
 delight. Verily, replied the Persian, this affair is soon managed, and 
 easy. Then looking towards Neameh, he said to him, No harm will 
 befall thee ; therefore be of good heart and cheerful eye. And he said 
 to Er-llabeea, Take forth from thy property four thousand pieces of 
 sold. He therefore took them forth, and delivered them to the 
 
 O 
 
 Persian, who said to him, I desire that thy son journey with me to 
 Damascus, and, if it be the will of God (whose name be exalted !), I 
 will not return but with the damsel. Then he looked towards the 
 youth, and said to him, What is thy name ? He answered, Neameh. 
 And he said, Neameh, sit, and be in the care of God (whose name 
 be exalted !) : God hath united thee with the damsel. And upon this 
 he sat up. And the Persian said to him, Fortify thy heart ; for we 
 will set forth on our journey as on this day : eat, therefore, and 
 drink, and enjoy thyself, that thou mayest acquire strength for the 
 journey. 
 
180 THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 The Persian then applied himself to the accomplishment of all 
 that he required, and received from the father of Neameh as much as 
 made up the sum of ten thousand pieces of gold, with the horses and 
 camels and other beasts that he required to carry the burdens on the 
 way. After this, Neameh bade farewell to his father and his mother, 
 and journeyed with the sage to Aleppo. But he learnt no tidings of 
 the damsel. Then they arrived at Damascus ; and after they had 
 remained there three, days, the Persian took a shop, and stocked its 
 shelves with precious China-ware and covers, decorated the shelves 
 with gold and costly materials, placed before him glass bottles con- 
 taining all kinds of ointments and all kinds of syrups, put round the 
 bottles cups of crystal, and placed the astrolabe before him. He clad 
 himself in the apparel of sages and physicians, and stationed Neameh 
 before him, having clad him in a shirt and a melwatah of silk, and 
 girded him with a silken kerchief embroidered with gold. He then 
 said to him, Neameh, thou art from this day my son; therefore 
 call me not otherwise than thy father, and I will not call thee but as 
 son. So Neameh replied, I hear and obey. The people of Damascus 
 now assembled before the shop of the Persian, gazing at the beauty of 
 Neameh and at the beauty of the shop and the goods that it contained ; 
 and the Persian conversed with Neameh in the Persian language ; 
 Neameh doing the same with him ; for he knew that language, as 
 was usually the case with the sons of the great. The Persian became 
 celebrated among the people of Damascus, and they began to describe 
 to him their pains, and he gave them the remedies. He continued to 
 perform the wants of the people, and the inhabitants of Damascus 
 flocked to him, his fame spreading through the city and into the 
 houses of the great. 
 
 And while he was sitting one day, lo, an old woman approached 
 him, riding upon an ass with a stuffed saddle of brocade adorned with 
 jewels ; and she stopped at the Persian's shop, and, pulling the ass's 
 bridle, made a sign to the Persian, and said to him, Hold my hand. 
 So he took her hand, and she alighted from the ass, and said, Art thou 
 the Persian physician who earnest from El-'Erak ? He answered, Yes. 
 And she said, Know that I have a daughter, and she is suffering from 
 a disease. She then acquainted him with the symptoms, and he said 
 to her, my mistress, what is the name of this damsel, that I may 
 calculate her star, 147 and know at what hour the drinking of the 
 medicine will be suitable to her. brother of the Persians, 148 she 
 answered, her name is Noam. And when the Persian heard the name 
 
THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 181 
 
 of Noam, he began to calculate, and to write upon his hand ; 149 and 
 said to her, O my mistress, I will not prescribe for her a remedy until 
 I know from what country she is, on account of the difference of air : 
 acquaint me, therefore, in what country she was brought up, and how 
 many years is her age. So the old woman replied, Her age is fourteen 
 years, and the place where she was reared is in the province of El- 
 Koofeh, in El-'Erak. And how many months, said the Persian, hath 
 she been in this country ? The old woman answered him, She hath 
 resided in this country but a few months. And when Neameh heard 
 the words of the old woman, and the name of his slave-girl, his heart 
 palpitated. The Persian then said to her, Such and such remedies 
 will be suitable to her. The old woman, therefore, said to him, Give 
 me what thou hast prescribed, and may the blessing of God (whose 
 name be exalted !) attend it. And she threw to him ten pieces of gold 
 upon the seat of the shop. So the sage looked towards Neameh, and 
 ordered him to prepare for her the drugs of which the remedy was to 
 be composed; and the old woman began to look at Neameh, and to 
 say, I invoke God's protection for thee, O my son ! Verily her form 
 is like thine ! Then she said to the Persian, O brother of the Persians, 
 is this thy memlook or thy son ? He answered her, He is my son. 
 Neameh then put the things for her into a small box, and, taking a 
 paper, wrote upon it these two verses : 
 
 If Noam bestow on me a glance I care not if Soada grant favours, or Juml 13 
 
 confer benefits. 
 They said to me, Relinquish her, and receive twenty like her. But there is 
 
 none like her, and I will not relinquish her. 
 
 He put the paper into the little box, and sealed it, and wrote upon 
 its cover, in the Koofee character, 131 I am Neameh the son of Er- 
 Rabeea of El-Koofeh. Then he placed the little box before the old 
 woman. 
 
 She therefore took it, and, having bidden them farewell, departed 
 to the palace of the Khaleefeh. And when she went up with the 
 things to the damsel, she placed the little box of medicine before her, 
 saying to her, my mistress, know that there hath come unto our 
 city a Persian physician, than whom I have not seen one more 
 acquainted with matters relating to diseases. And I mentioned to 
 him thy name, after I had informed him of the symptoms of thy 
 complaint ; whereupon he knew thy disease, and prescribed the 
 remedy. Then he gave orders to his son, who packed up for thee 
 this medicine. And there is not in Damascus any one more lovely or 
 
more elegant than his son, nor any more comely than he in apparel. 
 Nor hath any one a shop like his shop. So she took the little box, 
 and saw, written upon its cover, the name of her master and the 
 name of his father. And when she saw this, her complexion changed, 
 and she said, There is no doubt but that the owner of the shop hath 
 come on my account. Then she said to the old woman, Describe to 
 me this young man. And she replied, His name is Neameh, and 
 upon his right eyebrow is a scar ; he is clad in costly apparel, and is 
 endowed with consummate beauty. The damsel then said, Hand me 
 the medicine, and may it be attended with the blessing of God (whose 
 name be exalted !), and his aid. And she took the medicine, and 
 swallowed it, laughing, and said to the old woman, Verily it is blessed 
 medicine. And after this, she searched in the little box, and saw the 
 paper. She therefore opened it and read it ; and when she understood 
 its meaning, she felt assured that the writer was her master : so her 
 soul was cheered, and she rejoiced ; and when the old woman saw that 
 she laughed, she said to her, Verily this is a blessed day. Noam then 
 said, O kahramaneh, I desire food and beverage. And the old woman 
 said to the female slaves, Bring the tables and the dainty viands to 
 your mistress. Accordingly they brought to her the viands, and she 
 sat to eat. And lo, 'Abd-El-Melik the son of Marwan came in to 
 them, and, seeing the damsel sitting and eating the repast, he rejoiced. 
 And the kahramaneh said, Prince of the Faithful, may the health 
 of thy slave-girl Noam rejoice thee : for there hath arrived at this city 
 
THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 183 
 
 a physician, than whom I have seen none more acquainted with 
 diseases and their remedies ; and I brought her some medicine from 
 him, and after she had taken of it once, health returned to her, 
 Prince of the Faithful. Upon this, the Prince of the Faithful said, 
 Take a thousand pieces of gold, and apply thyself to means for her 
 complete restoration. 
 
 He then went forth, rejoicing at the damsel's recovery, and the 
 old woman repaired to the shop of the Persian with the thousand 
 pieces of gold, and gave them to him, telling him that she was a 
 female slave of the Khaleefeh. And she handed to him a paper 
 which Noam had written. So the Persian took it, and handed it to 
 Neameh, who, as soon as he saw it, knew her handwriting, and fell 
 down in a swoon ; and when he recovered, he opened the paper, and 
 found written in it, 
 
 From the slave-girl despoiled of her happiness, the infatuated in 
 her mind, the separated from the beloved of her heart. To proceed. 
 Your letter hath reached me, and expanded the bosom, and rejoiced 
 the heart ; and it was as the poet hath said, 
 
 The letter arrived, and may the fingers that wrote it be spared to me till they 
 
 are made to drip with sweet scents. 
 It was as when Moosa was restored to his mother ; or when the garment of 
 
 Yoosuf was brought to Yaakoob. 152 
 
 When Neameh read this couplet, his eyes poured forth tears. So 
 the kahramaneh said to him, What maketh thee weep, my son ? 
 May God never make thine eye to shed tears ! And the Persian said, 
 O my mistress, how can my son refrain from weeping, when he is the 
 master of this slave-girl, Neameh the son of Er-Rabeea of El-Koofeh, 
 and when the health of this damsel dependeth upon seeing him, and 
 she hath no disease but the love that she beareth him ? Take thou 
 then, O my mistress (he continued), these thousand pieces of gold for 
 thyself, and thou shalt receive from me more than that; and look 
 upon us with the eye of mercy ; for we know not any means of 
 rectifying this affair but through thee. So she said to Neameh, Art 
 thou her master? He answered, Yes. And she said, Thou hast 
 spoken truth ; for she ceaseth not to mention thee. Neameh there- 
 fore acquainted her with what had happened to him from first to last; 
 and the old woman said, O youth, thou canst not obtain an interview 
 with her but through my means. 
 
 She then mounted, and returned immediately, and, going in to 
 the damsel, looked in her face, and laughed, and said to her, It 
 
184 THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 becometh thee, O my daughter, to weep and to fall sick on account of 
 the separation of thy master, N earn eh the son of Er-Rabeea of El- 
 Koofeh. So Noam said, The veil hath been removed unto thee, and 
 the truth hath been revealed to thee. And the old woman replied, 
 Let thy soul be happy and thy bosom dilate; for, by Allah, I will 
 unite you both, though the loss of my life be the consequence of it. 
 
 Then returning to Neameh, she said to him, I went back to the 
 damsel, and had an interview with her, and found her to have a long- 
 ing desire for thee, greater than that which thou feelest for her ; for 
 the Prince of the Faithful desireth to visit her, and she refuseth to 
 receive him. Now if thou have a firm heart, and strength of mind, I 
 will bring you together, and expose myself to peril in your cause, and 
 contrive a stratagem and employ an artifice by which to introduce 
 thee into the palace of the Prince of the Faithful, that thou mayest 
 have an interview with the damsel ; for she cannot go forth. So 
 Neameh replied, May Allah recompense thee well ! Then she bade 
 him farewell, and repaired to the damsel, and said to her, Verily the 
 soul of thy master departeth by reason of his love for thee, and he 
 desireth an interview with thee. What, then, sayest thou on this 
 matter ? Noam answered, And I am in the same state : my soul 
 departeth, and I desire an interview with him. Upon this, therefore, 
 the old woman took a wrapper containing female ornaments and a 
 suit of women's apparel, and, repairing again to Neameh, said to him, 
 Come into some place with me alone. So he went with her into an 
 apartment behind the shop ; and she dyed the ends of his fingers with 
 henna, decked his wrists [with bracelets], decorated his hair [with the 
 ornamented strings of silk], 153 and clad him in the apparel of a slave- 
 girl, adorning him with the best of the things with which female 
 slaves are decked, so that he appeared like one of the black-eyed 
 virgins of Paradise. And when the kahramaneh beheld him in this 
 state, she exclaimed, Blessed be Allah, the best of Creators ! By 
 Allah, thou art handsomer than the damsel ! She then said to him, 
 Walk, and incline the left shoulder forward, and the right backward, 
 and move thy hips from side to side. 154 So he walked before her as 
 she directed him ; and when she saw that he knew the gait of women, 
 she said to him, Wait until I come to thee next night, if it be the will 
 of God (whose name be exalted !), and then I will take thee and con- 
 duct thee into the palace ; and when thou seest the chamberlains and 
 servants, be bold, and stoop thy head, and speak not with any one. 
 I will prevent their speaking to thee ; and in God I ti'ust for success. 
 
THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 185 
 
 Accordingly, when the following morning came, the kahramaneh 
 returned to him, and took him and went up with him to the palace. 
 She entered before him, and he followed her steps ; but the chamber- 
 lain would have prevented his entering ; so she said to him, most 
 ill-omened of slaves, she is the slave-girl of Noam, the concubine of 
 the Prince of the Faithful, and how dost thou presume to prevent her 
 entering ? She then said, Enter, O slave-girl. He therefore entered 
 with the old woman ; and they proceeded without stopping to the 
 door which opened into the court of the palace, when the old woman 
 said to him, O Neameh, strengthen thyself and fortify thy heart, and 
 enter the palace ; then turn to thy left, and count five doors, and enter 
 the sixth door ; for that is the door of the place prepared for thee ; 
 and fear not if any one address thee ; but do not speak with him. 
 And she proceeded with him until they arrived at the doors, when the 
 chamberlain who was commissioned to guard those doors accosted her 
 and said to her, Who is this slave-girl ? The old woman answered 
 him, Our mistress desireth to purchase her. The eunuch replied, No 
 one entereth without the permission of the Prince of the Faithful : 
 return with her, therefore ; for I will not suffer her to enter, as I have 
 been commanded to do thus. O great chamberlain, rejoined the 
 kahramaneh, where is thy reason ? Verily Noam, the Khaleefeh's 
 slave-girl, to whom his heart is devoted, hath recovered her health, 
 and the Prince of the Faithful scarce believeth her recovery, and she 
 desireth to purchase this damsel ; therefore prevent not her entering, 
 lest it be told her that thou hast done so, and she be enraged against 
 thee ; for if she be incensed against thee she will cause thy head to be 
 struck off. Then she said, Enter, O slave-girl, and attend not to his 
 words, and inform not thy mistress that the chamberlain opposed 
 thine entering. 
 
 So Neameh stooped his head, and entered, and designed to turn 
 to his left ; but he mistook, and turned to his right ; and he meant to 
 count five doors, and to enter the sixth; but he counted six, and 
 entered the seventh. And when he had entered this door, he saw a 
 place furnished with brocade ; its walls were hung with curtains of 
 silk worked with gold ; and in it were perfuming-vessels with aloes- 
 wood and ambergris and strong-scented musk ; and he saw a couch at 
 the upper end, furnished with brocade. Neameh, therefore, seated 
 himself upon it, not knowing what was decreed him in the secret 
 purpose of God ; and as he was sitting reflecting upon his case, lo, 
 the sister of the Prince of the Faithful came in to him, attended by 
 
 II. 2 B 
 
186 
 
 THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 her maid. Seeing the youth sitting there, she imagined him to be a 
 slave-girl : so she advanced to him and said to him, Who art thou, O 
 slave-girl, and what is thy story, and what is the reason of thine 
 entering this place ? But Neameh spoke not, nor returned her any 
 answer. She then said, slave-girl, if thou be one of the concubines 
 of my brother, and he hath been incensed against thee, I will con- 
 ciliate his favour towards thee. But Neameh still returned her no 
 answer. And upon this she said to her maid, Stand at the door of 
 the chamber, and suffer no one to enter. Then she approached him, 
 and, observing his loveliness, said, O damsel, inform me who thou art, 
 and what is thy name, and what is the reason of thine entering hither ; 
 for I have never before seen thee in our palace. Neameh, however, 
 returned her no answer. And thereupon the sister of the King was 
 angry, and put her hand upon Neameh's bosom ; and, finding that it 
 was not formed like that of a female, she was about to take off his 
 outer clothes, that she might discover who he was. So Neameh said 
 to her, my mistress, I am a memlook, and do thou purchase me : I 
 implore thy protection ; then grant it me. And she said, No harm 
 
THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 187 
 
 shall befall thee. Who, then, art thou, and who admitted thee into 
 this my chamber ? Neameh answered her, I, Queen, am known 
 by the name of Neameh the son of Er-Rabeea of El-Koofeh, and I 
 have exposed my life to peril for the sake of rny slave-girl Noam, whom 
 El-Hajjaj, having employed a stratagem against her, hath taken and 
 sent hither. And she said to him again, No harm shall befall thee. 
 Then calling to her maid, she said to her, Go to the private chamber 
 of Noam. 
 
 Now the kahramaneh had gone to the chamber of Noam, and said 
 to her, Hath thy master come to thee ? She answered, No, by Allah. 
 So the kahramaneh said, Probably he hath made a mistake, and 
 entered some other chamber than thine, and missed his way to thine 
 apartment. And Noam exclaimed, There is no strength nor power 
 but in God, the High, the Great ! Our appointed term hath expired, 
 and we perish ! They then sat together reflecting, and while they 
 were in this state, lo, the maid of the Khaleefeh's sister came in to 
 them, and, having saluted 'Noam, said to her, My mistress summoneth 
 thee to her entertainment. Noam therefore replied, I hear and obey. 
 And the kahramaneh said, Perhaps thy master is with the sister of 
 the Khaleefeh, and the veil hath been removed. So Noam rose 
 immediately, and proceeded until she went in to the Khaleefeh's 
 sister, whereupon the latter said to her, This is thy master who is 
 sitting with me, and it seemeth that he hath mistaken the place; but 
 thou hast nothing to fear, nor hath he, if it be the will of God, whose 
 name be exalted ! And when Noam heard these words from the sister 
 of the Khaleefeh, her soul became tranquillized. She advanced to her 
 master, Neameh, and when he beheld her he rose to her. Each of 
 them pressed the other to the bosom, and they both fell down sense- 
 less. And when they recovered, the sister of the Khaleefeh said to 
 them, Seat yourselves, that we may contrive means of deliverance from 
 this predicament into which we have fallen. So they both replied, 
 We hear and obey ; and it is thine to command. And she said, By 
 Allah, no evil shall ever befall you from us. Then she said to her 
 maid, Bring the repast and the beverage. She therefore brought 
 them. And they ate as much as sufficed them ; after which, they sat 
 drinking. The cups circulated among them, and their sorrows quitted 
 them; but Neameh said, Would that I knew what will happen after 
 this ! The sister of the Khaleefeh then said to him, Neameh, dost 
 thou love thy slave-girl Noam ? He answered her, O my mistress, 
 verily it is the love of her that hath placed me in the state of peril of 
 
'188 THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 my life in which I now am. And she said to Noam, Noam, dost 
 thou love thy master Neameh ? my mistress, she answered, verily 
 it is the love of him that hath wasted my body and changed my whole 
 condition. And the Khaleefeh's sister replied, By Allah, ye love each 
 other, and may the person who would separate you cease to exist ! 
 Let your eyes, then, be cheerful, and your souls be happy! So at 
 this they rejoiced. 
 
 Then Noam demanded a iute, and they brought it to her, and she 
 took it and tuned it, and, delighting her hearers with the sounds that 
 she produced, she sang these verses : 
 
 "When the slanderers were not content with aught but our separation, though 
 
 neither of us owed a debt of blood to them, 
 And they poured upon our ears all the din of war, and my protectors and helpers 
 
 at the time failed, 
 I fought them with thine eyes and my tears and my breath, with the sword and 
 
 with the torrent and with fire. 
 
 And she handed the lute to her master Neameh, saying to him, Sing 
 to us some verses. So he took the lute and tuned it, and, having 
 struck some joy-exciting notes, sang these verses : 
 
 The full moon would resemble thee, were it not freckled ; and the sun would be 
 
 like thee, were it not eclipsed. 
 Verily I wonder but how full is love of wonders : accompanied by anxieties and 
 
 ardour and passion ! 
 That I see the way short when I go to the beloved, and long when I journey away 
 
 from her. 
 
 And when he had finished his song, Noam filled for him a cup, and 
 handed it to him. He therefore took it and drank it ; and then filled 
 another cup, which he handed to the sister of the Khaleefeh, who 
 drank it, and took the lute, and, having tuned its strings, sang this 
 couplet : 
 
 Sorrow and mourning reside in my heart, and violent ardour frequenteth my 
 
 bosom : 
 The wasting of my body hath become conspicuous, and my frame is rendered 
 
 infirm by desire. 
 
 She then handed the lute to Neameh the son of Er-Rabeea, who took 
 it and tuned its strings, and sang this other couplet : 
 
 O thou to whom I gave my soul, and who hast tortured it, and from whom I 
 
 would liberate it, but could not ! 
 Grant the lover a remedy to save him from destruction, before he dieth ; for this 
 
 is his last breath ! 
 
THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 189 
 
 They continued singing verses, and drinking to the melodious 
 sounds of the chords, full of delight and cheerfulness, and joy and 
 happiness; and while they were in this state, lo, the Prince of the 
 Faithful came in to them. As soon as they beheld him, they rose to 
 him, and kissed the ground before him ; and he looked at Noam, who 
 had the lute in her hand, and said, O Noarn, praise be to God who 
 hath dispelled from thee thy affliction and pain ! Then looking towards 
 Neameh, who was still in the state already described, he said [to his 
 sister], O my sister, who is this damsel that is by the side of Noam ? 
 His sister answered him, O Prince of the Faithful, thou hast a female 
 slave among those designed for thy concubines, who is a cheering 
 companion, and Noam doth not eat nor drink unless she is with her. 
 And she recited the saying of the poet : 
 
 They are two opposites, and together display different charms ; and the beauty of 
 one opposite appears from contrast with the other. 
 
 By Allah, the Great, said the Khaleefeh, verily she is comely as 
 Noam, and to-morrow I will appoint her a separate apartment by the 
 side of Noam's, and send forth for her thefurniture and linen, and I 
 will send to her everything that is suitable to her, in honour to Noam. 
 And the sister of the Khaleefeh demanded the food, and she placed it 
 before her brother, who ate, and remained sitting in their company. 
 He then filled a cup, and made a sign to Noam that she should sing 
 him some verses; whereupon she took the lute, after she had drunk 
 two cups, and sang this couplet : 
 
 When my cup-companion hath given me to drink again and again, three ferment- 
 ing cups, 
 
 I drag my skirts all the night in pride, as though I were thy prince, O Prince of 
 the Faithful. 
 
 And the Prince of the Faithful was delighted, and he filled another 
 cup, and handed it to Noam, commanding her to sing again. Accord- 
 ingly, after she had drunk the cup, she touched the strings, and sang 
 these verses : 
 
 O most noble of men in the present age, of whom none can boast that he is the 
 
 equal ! 
 O matchless in dignity and liberality ! O Chief and King, in everything 
 
 renowned ! 
 O Sovereign of all the Kings of the earth, who givest largely, yet imposest not 
 
 obligation nor pain ! 
 May my Lord preserve thee, mortifying thine enemies, and success and victory 
 
 brighten thy fortune ! 
 
190 THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 And when the Khaleefeh heard these verses from Noam, he said to 
 her, Divinely art thou gifted, O Noam ! How eloquent is thy tongue, 
 and how manifest is the perspicuity of thy language ! 
 
 They thus passed their time in joy and happiness until midnight, 
 when the sister of the Khaleefeh said, Hear, Prince of the Faithful, 
 I have seen, m books, a story of a certain person of rank. And what 
 is that story ? said the Khaleefeh. His sister answered him, Know, 
 Prince of the Faithful, that there was, in the city of El-Koofeh, a 
 youth named Neameh the son of Er-Rabeea ; and he had a slave-girl 
 whom he loved, and who loved him. She had been brought up with 
 him in the same bed ; and when they both grew up, and mutual love 
 took possession of them, fortune smote them with its adversities, and 
 afflicted them with its calamities, and decreed their separation. The 
 slanderers employed a stratagem against her, until she came forth 
 from his house, and they took her by stealth from the place of his 
 residence. Then the person who stole her sold her to one of the 
 Kings for ten thousand pieces of gold. Now the slave-girl had the 
 same love for her master as he had for her : so he quitted his family 
 and his house, and journeyed to seek for her, and devised means for 
 obtaining a meeting with her. He continued separated from his 
 family and his home, and exposed himself to peril, devoting his soul 
 to the cause, until he obtained an interview with his slave-girl. 155 
 But when he had come to her, they had scarcely sat down, when the 
 King who had purchased her from the person who stole her came in 
 to them, and hastily ordered that they should be put to death ; not 
 acting equitably, nor granting them any delay in his sentence. What, 
 then, sayest thou, O Prince of the Faithful, respecting the want of 
 equity in this King ? The Prince of the Faithful answered, Verily 
 this was a wonderful thing, and it was fit that this King should 
 pardon when he was able to punish ; for it was incumbent on him to 
 regard, in his conduct to them, three things : the first, that they were 
 bound by mutual love ; and the second, that they were in his abode, 
 and in his power ; and the third, that it becometh the King to be 
 deliberate in judging other people; and how much more so, then, in 
 the case in which he is himself concerned ? This King, therefore, did 
 a deed not like the actions of Kings. Then his sister said to him, O 
 my brother, by the King of the heavens and the earth, I beg that thou 
 order Noam to sing, and that thou listen to that which she shall sing. 
 So he said, Noam, sing to me. And, with charming modulations, 
 she sang these verses : 
 
THE STORY OF NEAMEH AND NOAM. 
 
 191 
 
 Fortune was treacherous, and ever hath it been so, smiting down hearts, and 
 kindling solicitudes, 
 
 And separating lovers after their union, so that thou seest the tears flow in 
 torrents down their cheeks. 
 
 They were, and I was with them, and my life was delightful, and fortune fre- 
 quently brought us together. 
 
 I will therefore pour forth blood with my tears in my grief for thy loss nights and 
 days. 
 
 And when the Prince of the Faithful heard these verses, he was moved 
 with excessive delight. 
 
 His sister then said to him, my brother, he who passeth a 
 sentence upon himself must fulfil it, and act as he hath said; and 
 thou hast passed a sentence upon thyself by this decision. And she 
 said, Neameh, stand upon thy feet ; and so stand thou, O Noam. 
 So they both stood up. And the sister of the Khaleefeh said, O 
 Prince of the Faithful, this person who is standing here is the stolen 
 Noam, whom El-Hajjaj the son of Yoosuf Eth-Thakafee stole, and 
 sent to thee, lying in that which he asserted in his letter; namely, 
 that he had purchased her for ten thousand pieces of gold. And this 
 
192 CONCLUSION OF THE STORY OF 
 
 person standing here is Neameh the son of Er-Rabeea, her master. 
 And I beseech thee by the honour of thy pure forefathers that thou 
 forgive them, and restore them to each other, that thou mayest acquire 
 a recompense on their account ; for they are in thy power, and have 
 eaten of thy food and drunk of thy beverage. I am the intercessor for 
 them, and beg of thee the gift of their lives. 
 
 And upon this the Khaleefeh said, Thou hast spoken truly : I 
 passed that sentence, and I pass -not a sentence and revoke it. He 
 then said, O Noam, is this thy master ? She answered him, Yes, O 
 Prince of the Faithful. And he said, No harm shall befall either of 
 you ; for I yield you up to each other. Then he said, Neameh, 
 and how knewest thou her situation, and who described to thee this 
 place ? Prince of the Faithful, he answered, hear my story, and 
 listen to my tale ; for by thy pure forefathers I will not conceal from 
 thee anything. And he related to him the whole of his affair, telling 
 him how the Persian sage had acted with him, and what the kahra- 
 maneh had done, and how she had brought him into the palace, and 
 he had mistaken the doors. And the Khaleefeh wondered at this 
 extremely. He then said, Bring hither to me the Persian. So they 
 brought him before him ; and he appointed him to be one of his chief 
 officers, bestowed upon him robes of honour, and commanded that a 
 handsome present should be given to him, saying, Him who hath thus 
 managed, it is incumbent on us to make one of our chief officers. 
 The Khaleefeh also treated with beneficence Neameh and Noam, 
 bestowing favours upon them and upon the kahramaneh ; and 
 Neameh and Noam remained with him seven days in happiness and 
 delight, living a most pleasant life. Then Neameh begged permission 
 of him to depart with his slave-girl, and he gave them permission to 
 depart to El-Koofeh. Accordingly they set forth on their journey, 
 and Neameh was united again with his father and his mother, and 
 they enjoyed the most happy life, until they were visited by the termi- 
 nator of delights and the separator of companions. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF THE STORY OF EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD, &c. 
 
 When El-Amjad and El-As'ad heard this story from Bahram, they 
 wondered at it extremely. They passed the next night, and when 
 the following morning came, they mounted, and desired to go to the 
 King. So they asked permission to enter, and he gave it them : 
 
EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 193 
 
 and when they went in, he received them with honour, and they sat 
 conversing. 
 
 But while they were thus sitting, lo, the people of the city cried 
 out, and vociferated one to another, calling for help ; and the cham- 
 berlain came in to the King, and said to him, Some King hath alighted 
 with his troops before our city, and they are with drawn swords, and 
 we know not what is their purpose. The King therefore acquainted 
 his Wezeer El-Amjad and his brother El-As'ad with that which he 
 had heard from the chamberlain, and El-Amjad said, I will go forth 
 to him, and ascertain the cause of his coming. So El-Amjad went 
 out from the city, and found the King attended by numerous troops 
 and mounted memlooks. And when they saw him, they knew that 
 he was an envoy from the King of the city. They therefore took him 
 and brought him before the Sultan ; and when he came into his 
 presence, he kissed the ground before him ; and lo, the [supposed] 
 King was a woman, with her face covered with a litharn. And she 
 said, Know that I have nothing to demand of you in this city but a 
 beardless memlook, and if I find him with you, no harm shall befall 
 you ; but if I find him not, a fierce slaughter shall ensue between me 
 and you ; for I have corne for no other purpose than to seek him. 
 El-Amjad therefore said, Queen, what is the description of this 
 memlook, and what is his story, and what is his name? She 
 answered, His name is El-As'ad, and my name is Marjaneh ; and this 
 memlook came to me in the company of Bahram the Magian, who 
 refused to sell him : so I took him from him by force ; but he fell 
 upon him and took him away from me in the night by stealth ; and 
 as to the description of his person, it is of such and such kind. And 
 when El-Amjad heard this, he knew that he was his brother El-As'ad. 
 He therefore said to hei', O Queen of the age, praise be to God who 
 hath brought us relief! Verily this memlook is my brother. He 
 then related to her his story, and told her what had happened to them 
 in the land of exile, acquainting her also with the cause of their 
 departure from the Ebony Islands; whereat the Queen Marjaneh 
 wondered ; and she rejoiced at finding El-As'ad, and bestowed a robe 
 of honour upon his brother El-Amjad. After this, El-Amjad returned 
 to the King, and informed him of what had occurred : whereupon they 
 all rejoiced. The King then descended with El-Amjad and El-As'ad, 
 to repair to the Queen ; and when they went in to her they sat and 
 conversed. 
 
 And as they were so engaged, lo, the dust rose until it covered 
 ii. 2 c 
 
194 CONCLUSION OF THE STORY OF EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD 
 
 the surrounding tracts, and after a while it subsided, and discovered 
 numerous forces, like the swelling sea, equipped with accoutrements 
 and arms ; and they approached the city, and then surrounded it as 
 the ring surrounds the little finger, and drew their swords. Upon 
 this, El-Amjad and El-As'ad said, Verily unto God we belong, and 
 verily unto Him we return ! What is this great army ? Doubtless 
 it is an enemy ; and if we make not an alliance with this Queen 
 Marjaneh to contend with them, they take the city from us and slay 
 us ; and we have no resource but to go forth to them and ascertain 
 wherefore they have come. Then El-Amjad arose, and passed from 
 the gate of the city by the army of the Queen Marjaneh; and when 
 he came to the second army, he found it to be that of his grandfather 
 the King El-Ghayoor, the father of his mother the Queen Budoor. 
 So when he entered into his presence, he kissed the ground before 
 him, and delivered to him the message; whereupon the King said, 
 My name is the King El-Ghayoor, and I have come journeying forth, 
 fortune having afflicted me by the loss of my daughter Budoor ; for she 
 quitted me, and returned not to me, and I have heard no tidings of 
 her, nor of her husband Kamar-ez-Zeman. Have ye, then, any tidings 
 of them ? And El-Amjad, on hearing this, hung down his head for a 
 while towards the ground, reflecting, until he felt convinced that this 
 was his grandfather, the father of his mother. Then raising his head, 
 he kissed the ground before him, and informed him that he was the 
 son of his daughter Budoor. And as soon as the King heard that he 
 was the son of his daughter, he threw himself upon him, and they 
 both began to weep. The King El-Ghayoor exclaimed, Praise be to 
 God, O my son, that He hath preserved thee, and that I have met 
 with thee ! And El-Amjad informed him that his daughter Budoor 
 was well, and also his own father Kamar-ez-Zeman, telling him that 
 they were in a city called the City of the Ebony Islands. He informed 
 him, also, that Kamar-ez-Zeman, his father, had been incensed against 
 him and his brother, and had given orders to slay them, and that the 
 Treasurer had been moved witlrpity for them, and left them without 
 putting them to death. And upon this, the King El-Ghayoor said, I 
 will return with thee and thy brother to thy father, and reconcile you, 
 and remain with you. So El-Amjad kissed the ground before him. 
 Then the King El-Ghayoor bestowed a robe of honour upon El-Amjad, 
 his daughter's son ; and he returned smiling to the King of the city, 
 and acquainted him with the affair of the King El-Ghayoor. And he 
 wondered at this extremely. He sent to the King El-Ghayoor the 
 
offerings of hospitality, horses and camels and sheep and provender 
 and other things ; and the like he sent forth to the Queen Marjaneh, 
 informing her of what had happened : whereupon she said, I will 
 accompany you with my troops, and will endeavour to maintain peace. 
 And while they were thus circumstanced, lo, again a dust rose 
 until it overspread the surrounding tracts, and the day became black 
 from it. They heard beneath it cries and vociferations, and the 
 neighing of horses, and beheld swords glittering, and lances uplifted. 
 And when this army approached the city, and saw the two other 
 armies, they beat the drums. At the sight of this, the King of the 
 city exclaimed, This is none other than a blessed day ! Praise be to 
 God who hath caused us to make peace with these two armies ; and if 
 it be the will of God, He will give us peace with this other army also. 
 He then said, O Amjad, go forth, thou and thy brother El-As'ad, 
 and learn ye for us the occasion of- the coming of these troops; for 
 they are a vast army : I have never seen any more so. Accordingly 
 
196 CONCLUSION OF THE STORY OF 
 
 El-Amjad and his brother El-As'ad went forth. The King having 
 closed the gate of the city, in his fear of the troops that surrounded it, 
 they opened it, and the two brothers proceeded till they arrived at 
 the army that had just come, when they found it to be the army of 
 the King of the Ebony Islands, and with it was their father Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman. [For he had been informed that they had not been put to 
 death.] As soon as they saw him, they kissed the ground before 
 him, and wept ; and when Kamar-ez-Zeman beheld them, he threw 
 himself upon them, weeping violently, and excused himself to them, 
 and pressed them to his bosom. He then acquainted them with the 
 terrible desolation that he had suffered from their separation ; and El- 
 Amjad and El-As'ad informed him that the King El-Ghayoor had 
 come to them. So Kamar-ez-Zeman mounted with his chief officers, 
 and, taking his two sons with him, they proceeded until they came 
 near to the army of the King El-Ghayoor ; when one of them went 
 forward to that King, and informed him that Kamar-ez-Zeman had 
 arrived. He therefore came forth to receive him, and they met, and 
 wondered at these events, how they had met in that place. The people 
 of the city prepared for them banquets, with varieties of viands and 
 sweetmeats, and presented to them the horses and camels and other 
 offerings of hospitality, together with the provender, and whatever else 
 the troops required. 
 
 And again, while they were thus occupied, a dust rose until it 
 overspread the surrounding tracts, and the earth shook under the 
 horses; the drums sounded like stormy winds, and the whole army 
 was equipped with weapons and coats of mail : all the soldiers were 
 clad in black, and in the midst of them was a very old man, whose 
 chin was depressed to his bosom, and who was attired in black 
 clothing. When the people of the city beheld these prodigious forces, 
 the sovereign of the city said to the other Kings, Praise be to God 
 that ye assembled, by the permission of God (whose name be exalted!), 
 in one day, and proved to be. all friends! What is this numerous 
 army that hath covered the tracts before us? The other Kings 
 replied, Fear it not ; for we are three monarchs, and each of us hath 
 numerous troops : so, if they be enemies, we will unite with thee and 
 engage them ; and so would we if they were augmented by three times 
 as many as they are. And while they were thus conversing, lo, an 
 envoy from those forces approached on his way to the city. So they 
 brought him before Kamar-ez-Zeman and the King El-Ghayoor and 
 the Queen Maijaneh and the King of the city; and he kissed the 
 

 EL-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 197 
 
 ground, and said, This King is from the regions of El-'Ajam : he 
 hath lost his son for a period of years, and is searching about for him 
 in the countries : if, then, he find him among you, no harm shall 
 befall you; but if he find him not, war ensueth between him and you, 
 and he layeth waste your city. Kamar-ez-Zeman replied, He will not 
 attain to this object. But what, he asked, is he called in the regions 
 of El-'Ajam ? The envoy answered, He is called the King Shah- 
 Zeman, the lord of the Islands of Khalidan ; and he hath collected 
 this army in the tracts through which he hath passed in searching 
 about for his son. And when Kamar-ez-Zeman heard the words of 
 the envoy, he uttered a loud cry, and fell down in a swoon, and he 
 remained a long time in his fit. Then recovering, he wept violently, 
 and said to El-Amjad and El-As'ad and their chief officers, Go, my 
 sons, with the envoy, and salute your grandfather, my father the King 
 Shah-Zeman, and give him the glad tidings of my being here ; for he 
 is mourning for my loss, and to the present time wearing black 
 raiment for my sake. He then related to the Kings who were present 
 all that had happened to him in the days of his youth ; and they all 
 wondered at it. After this, they went down with Kamar-ez-Zeman, 
 and repaired to his father. Kamar-ez-Zeman saluted his father, and 
 they embraced each other, and fell down senseless from the excess of 
 their joy ; and when they recovered, the King Shah-Zeman related to 
 his son all that had happened to him. Then the other Kings saluted 
 him. 
 
 They restored Marjaneh to her country ; after they had married her 
 to El-As'ad, and charged her that she should not cease to correspond 
 with them. They married El-Amjad to Bustan the daughter of 
 Bahram; and all of them journeyed to the City of Ebony, where 
 Kamar-ez-Zeman had a private interview with his father-in-law 
 [Ariminoos], and acquainted him with all that had happened to him, 
 and how he had met with his sons ; at which he rejoiced, and con- 
 gratulated him on his safety. Then the King El-Ghayoor, the father 
 of the Queen Budoor, went in to his daughter, and saluted her, and 
 quenched the ardour of his longing desire by her society, and they 
 remained in the City of Ebony a whole month ; after which, the King 
 El-Ghayoor journeyed with his daughter and attendants to his own 
 country, taking El-Amjad with them. And when he had become 
 settled again in his kingdom, he seated El-Amjad to govern in the 
 place of his grandfather. As to Kamar-cz-Zeman, he seated his son 
 El-As'ad to govern in his stead in the city of his grandfather Arma- 
 
198 CONCLUSION OF THE STORY OF ED-AMJAD AND EL-AS'AD. 
 
 noos; his grandfather approving it. 156 Then Kamar-ez-Zeman prepared 
 himself, and journeyed with his father the King Shah-Zeman until he 
 arrived at the Islands of Khalidan. The city was decorated for him, 
 and the drums continued to beat for a whole month in celebration of 
 the happy event, and Kamar-ez-Zeman sat governing in the place of 
 his father, until they were visited by the terminator of delights and 
 the separator of companions. And God is all-knowing. 157 
 
 When Shahrazad had finished this tale, the King Shahriyar 
 exclaimed, O Shahrazad, verily this story is exceedingly wonderful ! 
 King, she replied, it is not more wonderful than the story of 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. The King said, And what is that story ? 
 And she related it thus : 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 NOTE 1. The scenes in which the principal events described in this tale are laid, 
 though I cannot recognise them in the works of any geographer, have led me to search 
 for traces of a Persian origin ; but no indication of such an origin have I been able to 
 discover ; and as the character of the tale is altogether Arab, I regard it as an Arab 
 composition. Every one who is moderately acquainted with the Arabs and their 
 literature will see that the tale exhibits throughout, in its present state, the life and 
 manners, and the notions, of that people. One of its chief merits, however, consists in 
 its construction ; and this, again, is mainly compatible only with the notions of the 
 same people. I think that this tale offers some of the strongest reasons for considering 
 the Thousand and One Nights, in the state in which it is known to us, as almost 
 entirely an Arab work, though framed after the model of one much older ; and I have 
 much satisfaction in remarking that my opinion of this tale is the same as that of the 
 greatest Arabic scholar of Christendom, whose remarks upon it I here translate. 
 
 "The history of the loves of Kamar-ez-Zeman, prince of the island of the children 
 of Khalidan, an island which is situate at the distance of twenty days' sail from the 
 coasts of Persia, in the Ocean, and of Budoor, 1 princess of China, is no more Indian or 
 Persian than the others. The King, the father of Kamar-ez-Zeman, has Muslims for 
 subjects; the mother of the young prince is named Fatimeh -, and Kamar-ez-Zeman, in 
 his prison, occupies himself in reading [or rather reciting") the Kur-an. The genii who 
 interpose in these adventures are, again, of those who had concerns with Solomon. In 
 fine, all that is said, in this tale, of the city of the Magians, as well as of the worshippers 
 of fire, would suffice to shew that one should not suspect to find in it anything but the 
 production of a Muslim writer." 2 
 
 NOTE 2. So in the edition of Breslau. In the Cairo edition, by a mistake of a 
 copyist, " Shahraman." 
 
 1 In the French, "Badourc." I write this and toire et de Literature Orientale, extraits des tomes 
 the other Arabic words in the above paragraph ix. et x. des Memoircs de 1'Institut,- Academic des 
 
 according to my usual system. 
 
 Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. Par M. le Baron 
 
 ucconung LU my usuui sysiein. iimw.ijna*ma cu ijcucn JJCLLH-O. j. 
 
 2 Memoire sur 1'origine du recueil de contes De Sacy. Paris, 1832.) Page 237. 
 intitule Les Mille et line Nuits. (Memoires d'His- 
 
200 NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH.. 
 
 NOTE 3. This sentence is from the Breslau edition ; but I have put " Islands " for 
 " Island," to agree with the sequel. It must be observed here, that the scenes of the 
 events described in this tale are in the regions of fiction. I am at a loss to assign a 
 position to the Islands of Khalidan, otherwise than in the vague manner in which they 
 are mentioned in the old version, as being situate at the distance of about twenty 
 days' sail from the coasts of Persia, in the Ocean ; for Galland, in this case, appears to 
 have followed his original. De Sacy, who seems from his own words to have founded 
 his observations respecting the Thousand and One Nights chiefly upon an examination 
 of Galland's original, mentions these Islands (calling them, as in Galland's version, the 
 Islands of the children of Khalidan) in the same manner, as already shewn in the first 
 note of the present series. " Khalidan " may be a corruption of " El-Khalidat " or 
 " El-Khalidetan,'' which names are given by the Arabs to the Fortunate Islands, or 
 Canaries. Our author might have heard of these Islands, and, ignorant of their 
 situation, supposed them to be in the sea which washes the coasts of Persia and India ; 
 of which sea, as well as of the sea of China, he evidently entertained most erroneous 
 ideas. It should also be here observed, that the Arabic word ("jezeereh") which 
 generally signifies " an island " is often applied to a peninsula, and may frequently, with 
 propriety, be translated " country ;" Arabia, Persia, India, &c., being, by many Arab 
 writers, termed Islands. It is implied in the tale under consideration, that there was 
 a route by land from the "Islands of Khalidan" to the "Ebony Islands" and the 
 " Interior Islands of the region of China." The inhabitants of all these " Islands " are 
 described as Muslims ; and in manners, dress, &c., as Arabs. But this, in a tale of 
 fiction, will not surprise those who are acquainted with the works of Arab geographers, 
 and their accounts of places visited by their own countrymen. Ibn-El-Wardee, in 
 describing "the Sea of Ez-Zulmeh, which is the western [portion of the] Circum- 
 ambient Ocean " (that is, the Atlantic), says, " Among its islands are the Khalidetan 
 [above mentioned]. These are two islands whereon are two images [or idols] con- 
 structed of hard stone : each of them is a hundred cubits high, and upon the top of 
 each is a figure of copper, pointing with its hand backwards, as though it would say, 
 'Return; for there is nothing behind me.' Zu-1-Memir the Hemyeree, one of the 
 Tubbas [or ancient Kings of the Yemen], constructed them. He was [the son of] 
 Zu-1-Karneyii ; but not of the one mentioned in the Kur-an." s But the Canary 
 Islands were only known to Europeans, at the time when Ibn-El-Wardee wrote, from 
 the accounts of the Ancients. They were rediscovered by some Genoese and Spanish 
 seamen in 1345, three or four years before the death of that geographer. 
 
 NOTE 4. In the original, " el-'Ajam ;" the sense of which appears to be here 
 restricted to signify the Persians. Otherwise the text would mean, that the Islands of 
 Khalidan were at the limits of the extra-Arabian world. It would be quite consistent 
 with Arabian notions to spoak thus of the Fortunate Islands, El-Khalidetan; but the 
 former sense of the passage is more agreeable with the whole character of the tale. 
 
 NOTE 5. It is a common custom of the Arabs in the present day to perform the 
 prayers of two rek'ahs 4 with the view of obtaining offspring ; and more especially on 
 the occasion of a man's first visit to his bride, as mentioned in the last paragraph of 
 Note 39 to Chapter iv. 
 
 NOTE 6. This sentence, again, is from the Breslau edition. It describes a custom 
 which, like that mentioned in the note immediately preceding, is often observed by 
 Arabs in the present day to propitiate Providence, and obtain offspring. For the same 
 purpose, alms are frequently given to the poor, to obtain their prayers; and visits are 
 performed to the tombs of saints to request their intercession. 
 
 NOTE 7. " Kamar-ez-Zeman " signifies "the Moon of the Age." 
 
 3 Khareedet el-'Ajaib (MS. in my possession). 4 See Note 1 to the Introduction. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 201 
 
 NOTE 8. On the manner in which the Arab Ladies dress their If air. Two of the 
 customs here mentioned, the dyeing of the fingers with henna, and the blackening of 
 the edges of the eyelids with kohl, have been noticed before. 5 The manner in which 
 the Arab ladies usually dress their hair may now be described. 
 
 They are extremely fond of full and long hair ; and however amply endowed with 
 this natural ornament, to add to its effect they have recourse to art. But the Prophet, 
 abhorring all false attractions that might at first deceive a husband and then disappoint 
 him, ' ; cursed the woman who joined her own hair to that of another, or other hair to 
 her own without her husband's permission : if she do it, therefore, with his permission, 
 it is not prohibited, unless she so make use of human hair ; for this is absolutely for- 
 bidden." 6 Hence the Arab women prefer strings of silk to add to their hair. Over 
 the forehead, the hair is cut rather short ; but two full locks hang down on each side 
 of the face : these are often curled in ringlets, and sometimes plaited. The rest of the 
 hair is arranged in plaits or braids, which hang down the back. They are generally 
 from eleven to twenty-five in number ; but always of an uneven number : eleven is 
 considered a scanty number : thirteen arid fifteen are more common. Three times the 
 number of black silk strings (three to each plait of hair, and each three united at the 
 top), from sixteen to eighteen inches in length, are braided with the hair for about a 
 quarter of their length ; or they are attached to a lace or band of black silk which is 
 bound round the head, and in this case hang entirely separate from the plaits of hair. 
 These strings, together with certain ornaments of gold, &c., compose what is termed 
 the " safa." Along each string, except from the upper extremity to about a quarter or 
 (at most) a third of its length, are generally attached nine or more little flat ornaments 
 of gold, which are usually all of the same form. The most common form is oblong, round 
 at the lower extremity and pointed at the upper, or the reverse. They are affixed 
 (each by a little ring at its upper extremity) about an inch, or a little more, apart ; but 
 those of each string are purposely placed so as not exactly to correspond with those of 
 the others. At the end of each string is a small gold tube, or a small polygonal gold 
 bead, beneath which is most commonly suspended (by a little ring) a gold coin, a little 
 more than half an inch in diameter. Such is the most general kind of safa ; but some 
 ladies substitute, for the gold coin, a fanciful ornament of the same metal, either 
 simple, or with a pearl in the centre ; or they suspend, in the place of this, a little 
 tassel of pearls ; or attach alternately pearls and emeralds to the bottom of the triple 
 strings, and a pearl with each of the little ornaments of gold first mentioned. Coral 
 beads are also sometimes attached in the same manner as these pearls. The safa I 
 think the prettiest, as well as the most singular, of all the ornaments worn by the 
 Arab ladies. The glittering of the little ornaments of gold, and their chinking together 
 as the wearer walks, have a peculiarly lively effect. 7 
 
 The ornamented strings, though not alluded to in the verses to which this note 
 immediately refers, are afterwards mentioned in the tale. The passages relating to 
 them, with many others in the present collection of stories, shew that the costumes 
 described in this work were nearly the same as those which still prevail in Arabian 
 countries. 
 
 NOTE 9. Here follows, in the old version, a discussion on the subject of marriage, 
 between Kamar-ez-Zernan and his mother Fatimeh, who had been desired by Shah- 
 /i'imiii to try if her powers of persuasion would induce him to comply with the King's 
 request. But not a word of all this occurs in the edition of Cairo or in that of F.reslau. 
 I do not, however, ascribe it to Galland's invention ; for De Sacy, who examined the 
 original, mentions it, and partly founds an argument upon it, as I have already shewn. 
 
 5 The former, in Note 36 to Chapter iv. : the " This description of the safa is abridged from 
 latter, in Note 31 to Chapter ii. my work on the Modern Egyptians, Appendix A. 
 
 6 Kitab el-'Onwan fee Mekfid en-Xiswan. 
 
 H. 2 i) 
 
202 NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 NOTE 10. In illustration of this expression, see Note 14 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 11. " Et-Taghoot " is a name given to the Devil, or any seducer, and to any 
 idol. It is therefore to be understood here in the first of these senses. 
 
 NOTE 12. His eye-lashes are said to have scorned the sharp sword, because they 
 were themselves more piercing. 
 
 NOTE 13. This is said to shew his excessive submission. In the usual posture of a 
 subject before his prince, or a servant before his master, a posture maintained also in 
 some other cases, especially by the son or daughter before the parent, the hands are 
 placed together, the left within the right, before the girdle. 
 
 NOTE 14. Perhaps it is needless to comment upon this reply of Kamar-ez-Zeman, 
 and to remind the reader of the extreme respect which is generally shewn by the Arab 
 son to his father. But though no reader will regard it as a light offence, some might 
 not imagine the de-gree of indignation which such expressions would excite in the mind 
 of an Eastern parent. 
 
 NOTE 15. These words, addressed by a King to his son, gross as they are, and 
 reflecting upon the honour of the former and his wife, convey a correct idea of the 
 extravagancies into which an Arab, however high his rank, is sometimes betrayed by 
 anger. 
 
 NOTE 16. The farrash is a servant who spreads the carpets, mattresses, &c., takes 
 care of these and other articles of the furniture of the house, and, on a journey, pitches 
 the tents. 
 
 NOTE 17. By Muslims of education, the Kur-an is usually recited by heart, and to 
 do so is, with many, a daily exercise : with others it is also very common. The same 
 Arabic word is employed to signify both reading a book and reciting by heart. 
 
 NOTE 18. The chapter of " The Cow " is the second ; " The Family of 'Emran," 
 the third ; " Ya-Seen," the thirty-sixth ; " The Compassionate," the fifty-fifth ; " Blessed 
 be He in whose hand is the Kingdom," the sixty-seventh ; and the " Two Preventives " 
 are the last two. These two are so named 8 because they serve as preventives of, or 
 antidotes against, the effects of the evil eye, or enchantment. They are said to have 
 been revealed to the Prophet in order that he might liberate himself from an enchant- 
 ment by repeating them ; and they are often employed as preservative charms. Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman' s recitation of these chapters of the Kur-an is to be understood as supereroga- 
 tory ; but it is often that a Muslim, in solitude, terminates his prayers in this manner. 
 By his " supplication," is meant a short petition in words of his own choice. In repeating 
 this, the worshipper looks at the palms of his two hands, which he holds like an open 
 book before him ; and when he has finished, he draws them over his face, from the fore- 
 head downwards. By the " seeking refuge with God," is meant repeating the words, 
 " I seek refuge with God from Satan the accursed." See Note 44 below. 
 
 NOTE 19. "Maadinee"' signifies "mineral " and "metallic," and may perhaps here 
 denote the colour of the satin ; but it may, more probably, signify " of the fabric of a 
 place called Maadin ;" for silks, &c., are often .called after the names of the places 
 where they are made. I cannot offer any other conjecture as to its meaning in this 
 case; and as my sheykh has not explained it, I infer that he, also, was in doubt 
 respecting it ; which is not to be wondered at, as many similar terms are no longer 
 understood. In the Breslau edition it is not mentioned. A large and populous town 
 
 called Maadin eii-Nakrah, or en-Nakireh, is mentioned by Arab geographers as 
 
 situate at the point where the pilgrim-routes from El-Basrah and El-Koofeh unite. 
 
 8 In Arabic, " el-mo'owwidhetan," vulg 1 ., " el-mo' owwizeteyn." 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 203 
 
 NOTE 20. The word which I render "kerchief" (namely " mikna'") is a kind of 
 veil, similar to the kinaa, 9 but narrower, and seldom worn but by women. It is pro- 
 bably meant that Kamar-ez-Zeman used it to keep off mosquitoes. 
 
 NOTE 21. I have substituted " tower " for " saloon ;" the sequel requiring this 
 alteration. 
 
 NOTE 22. In the original, "Roomanee." This term, and the collective " Rooman,'' 
 are used in modern Arabic to signify, respectively, " Roman " and " Romans." The 
 terms "Rooman" and " Roomaneeyoon" (plural of " Roomanee ") are applied to the 
 inhabitants of Italy, and the Greeks of late ages (" el-Arwam), and other people, who 
 became subject to the Roman Empire. 10 Hence my interpretation of " Rooman " in 
 Note 13 to Chapter ii. But " Room " is the more proper appellation of the subjects of 
 the Eastern Roman, or later Greek, Empire, and of the modern Greeks. 
 
 NOTE 23. "Meymooneh '" (feminine of "Meymoon") signifies "Fortunate." 
 
 NOTE 24. " Jann " is here synonymous with " Jinn." See Note 21 to the Intro- 
 duction. 
 
 NOTE 25. She ascended towards the confines of the lowest of the seven heavens to 
 listen by stealth to the conversation of the Angels. See the note just before referred 
 to, and Note 36 in the present series. 
 
 NOTE 26. We may suppose that she entered the saloon either by a window or by 
 passing through the solid wall. 
 
 NOTE 27. On Talismans. " Talisman " is a corruption of the Arabic word " talsam." 
 I write this latter word in accordance with the manner in which it is generally pro- 
 nounced by the Arabs, and the manner in which my sheykh has written it here and in 
 other parts of the work : by some it is written " tilsem," and " tilisin." It is a term 
 applied to mystical characters ; and also to seals, images, &c., upon which such cha- 
 racters are engraved or inscribed. These characters are astrological, or of some other 
 magical kind. The purposes for which talsams are contrived are various ; one has the 
 property of preserving from enchantment, or from a particular accident, or a variety of 
 evils ; another protects a treasure with which it is deposited ; a third, by being rubbed, 
 procures the presence and services of a Jinnee. 
 
 NOTE 28. The upper order of Jinn are those who inhabit the higher regions, and 
 do good acts ; the lower are those who inhabit low places, such as the latrina, and do 
 evil acts ; and the third class are those who dive in the seas. 11 
 
 NOTE 29. My sheykh remarks that this name is commonly written "Sheinhoorish ;" 
 but correctly, " Shemharoosh." 
 
 NOTE 30. I have already remarked that the scenes of the events related in this 
 tale are in the regions of fiction. When China, and the Islands of its Sea, are 
 mentioned in the present work, we must dismiss from our minds all correct notions of 
 those parts and their inhabitants, who. are generally here described as similar to the 
 Arabs in religion, manners, dress, &c. 
 
 NOTE 31. "El-Ghayoor " signifies "the Jealous" (with respect to love or honour), 
 or ' the Zealous ;" and in some cases, " the Changeable." 
 
 NOTE 32. The foregoing description is somewhat abridged. Its extravagance in the 
 original may partly be attributed to the excitement of Dahnash. 
 
 9 See Note 2 to Chapter iii. Arabic translation of Depping's " Apercu Histo- 
 
 10 For instance, they are thus applied in a die- rique sur les Mceurs et Coutumes des Nations." 
 
 tionary of the names of places, &c., prefixed hy " From marginal notes by the sheykh Hoham- 
 
 the sheykh Eifa'ah to his " Kaluid el-ilefakhir," mad 'Eiya'd. 
 (printed at Boolak, the port of Cairo, in 1833), an 
 
20i NOTES TO CHAFfER TENTH. 
 
 NOTE 33. The number of these palaces, and the costly materials of which they are 
 said to have been constructed, are probably designed to convey a comparison to the 
 seven heavens, or to the seven stages of paradise. See Note 2 to the Introduction. 
 
 NOTE 34. "Budoor" is the plural of "bedr," and signifies "Full Moons." She 
 was thus named to imply that, " by the excess of her beauty she was [to be compared 
 to nothing less than] a number of full moons ; not one only." 12 In the old version she 
 is improperly called " Badoura." 
 
 NOTE 35. I give the Arabic appellation of " kahramaneh " for want of an English 
 synonym. It sometimes signifies " a female confidant " (as I have before rendered it , ; 
 in other cases, " an intriguing waiting-woman," " a duenna," and " a woman of gal- 
 lantry.'' But it is generally applied, as in the present instance, to an experienced, 
 confidential female slave, who is set over others, or intrusted with some office of 
 importance. It is from the Persian " kahraman," signifying " a valiant warriour," the 
 name of a celebrated fabulous hero of Persia. 
 
 NOTE 36. The reader may perhaps say, " How did Meymooneh become acquainted 
 with the youth's history ?" Probably, before she met Dahnash, she had reached the 
 confines of the lowest heaven, and there heard the Angels conversing upon the subject; 
 such being the usual way'by which the Jinn arrive at the knowledge of things which 
 would otherwise remain hidden from them.. 
 
 NOTE 37. The fire here mentioned is that of which the Jinn are created. See 
 Note 21 to the Introduction. 
 
 NOTE 38. The chinking of the ornaments of the head has been mentioned in the 
 eighth note of the present series. The anklets, also, knocking together, produce a 
 tinkling. The odour alluded to in the last of these characteristic verses is that arising 
 from perspiration. A beautiful Arab damsel is often described as diffusing a natural 
 perfume of this kind, like the blessed in Paradise, whose perspiration will be odoriferous 
 as musk. Thus, in the Mo'allakah of Imra-el-Keys, in allusion to two former objects of 
 the poet's love, it is said, 
 
 " When they rise, the odour of musk is diffused from them, as the breathing of the zephyr bringing 
 the fragrance of the clove." 
 
 Many similar examples might be added : but they are often misunderstood : one of them 
 is quoted with the view of proving the fondness of the Oriental ladies for perfumes, 
 while it only implies such fondness in the men. It is true, however, that both sexes 
 take great delight in perfumes, and few of the women comply with the injunction in 
 the latter part of the following saying of the Prophet ; that, " the perfume for a man 
 should have smell, but not colour ; and the thing's which women rub on must have 
 colour, but not smell.'" 13 [The odour of the Prophet's perspiration may also be here 
 cited, although hardly applicable to the particular instance in the text. The Muslim's 
 praise of this quality appears, in general, not to have been suggested by this pretended 
 characteristic of the Prophet. ED.] 
 
 NOTE 39. My sheykh explains the word " kutrub " as signifying here, " an animal 
 with long fore-legs; one of those which early in the morning puts itself in motion." 
 In the Kamoos it is described as " a small beast that ceases not from moving about all 
 the day ;" and the same term (kutrub) is also there rendered, " a bald wolf," and " the 
 male of the Ghool," 14 &c. 
 
 '- Marginal note by the sheykh Mohammad feh) was frequented by one of these fabulous ani- 
 
 'Kiyad. mals, which lie wrongly calls Kutrubeh and 
 
 ;3 Mishkiit el-Masabeeh, vol. ii. p. 361. describes as a female: and that, in consequence 
 
 11 Sec Note 21 to the Introduction of the pre- of its violation of the tombs, the people abstained 
 
 sent work. [Kl->Iakrce/ce relates, as a historical tor a time from burying their dead in the tract. 
 
 fact, that the great cemetery of Cairo (the Kara- ED.] 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 205 
 
 NOTE 40. So in the edition of Breslau. In the Cairo edition, " awi-1-kubbeti-l-meb- 
 neeyeh," which may be rendered " or [like] the dome-crowned structure." 
 
 NOTE 41. See Note 15 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 42. The word here rendered " quinary," which is its literal sense, is generally 
 used to signify "of five spans." \Ve may perhaps here understand it as meaning " of 
 five feet." The Arabs especially admire damsels who have not attained their full 
 growth ; and at witnessing a bridal procession, disapprobation is often expressed, or 
 indicated by looks, if the bride is of the average stature of women. 
 
 NOTE 43. This is here interpreted by my sheykh as meaning " marrow." The 
 former part of Note 11 to Chapter iii. will explain this interpretation. 
 
 NOTE 44. When the Muslim has finished the prayers ordained by the Kur-an and 
 the Sunneh, if he would acquit himself of supererogatory acts, he remains sitting (but 
 may then sit more at his ease), and recites the " Throne-Verse," which is the 256th of 
 the second chapter of the Kur-an (beginning with the words, "God ! There is no deity 
 but He;" and ending with, " He is the High, the Great ") ; and generally adds, " O 
 High ! O Great! Thy perfection [1 extol]." He then repeats " The perfection of God!" 
 (thirty-three times). " The perfection of God, the Great, with his praise for ever!" 
 (once). " Praise be to God !" (thirty-three times). " Extolled be his dignity ! There 
 is no deity but He !" (once). " God is most great !" (thirty-three times). " God is 
 most great in greatness, and praise be to God in abundance !" (once). He counts these 
 repetitions with a string of beads, which are ninety-nine in number, and have a mark 
 between eacli thirty -three : they are of aloes or other odoriferous or precious wood, or 
 of coral, or of certain fruit-stones, or seeds, &c. 
 
 NOTE 45. This exclamation (" t Allah preserve thy youth !"), being only used by 
 women, is, as my sheykh remarks, improper from the mouth of the Wezeer. 
 
 NOTE 46. This, again, is an ejaculation of women. See Note 65 to Chapter iv. 
 
 NOTE 47. The word here rendered " news " generally signifies " happy news." My 
 sheykh observes that it is used to excite laughter. 
 
 NOTE 48. Of the various significations of " kubbeh," the most appropriate here 
 seems to be either "a dome" or "a building or chamber, &c., surmounted by a dome." 
 
 NOTE 49. These are the names of the twelve lunar months which compose the 
 Mohammadan year. They are mentioned in the order of their succession; but Mohar- 
 ram is that with which the year commences. The questions here put are those which 
 are generally addressed by the Arabs to a person to try if he be sane. 
 
 NOTE 50. " Kisra," or " Kesra," from the Persian " Khusrow," which signifies " a 
 great king," and which the Romans converted into " Cosroes '' f n surname that they 
 gave to almost every King of the Sasanian dynasty), is an appellation applied by the 
 Arabs (like Caesar among the Romans) to many ancient Kings of Persia. According to 
 the Persian and Arab historians, the Kings of Persia prior to El-Islam composed four 
 dynasties ; namely, the Peshdadians, the chronology of which is unknown ; the Kayii- 
 nians, which ended in the year 331 B.C., when Persia was conquered by Alexander the 
 Great ; the Ashkanians, which terminated A.D. 202 ; and the Sasanians, the last of 
 whom was overcome by the Arabs, A.D. 636. 
 
 NOTE 51. From the commencement of this sentence to the end of the paragraph is 
 from the Breslau edition. 
 
 NOTE 52. In the Cairo edition, the lady Budoor is said to have killed the old 
 woman ; but in the edition of Breslau, and the old version, she is described as having 
 only beaten her. 
 
20G NOTES TO CHAFFER TENTH. 
 
 NOTE 53. Maniacs, in the madhouse in Cairo, are thus chained by the neck, each 
 in a separate cell. They are treated there, I fear, with unnecessary rigour ; but tra- 
 vellers are often deceived on this 'point ; for it is a custom of visitors to take with them 
 bread to distribute to the lunatics, many of whom consequently cry out for it, when any 
 stranger enters the court, as if they were starving. Sometimes, when a lunatic has 
 received his cake of bread, he throws it back in the face of the giver. [Since this note 
 was written, the madhouse in Cairo has been removed from the old Maristan, founded 
 by the Sultan, El-Melik el-Mansoor Kalaoon, which is situate in the main street of the 
 city, to the European district. It is now organized by French physicians, and the con- 
 dition of the patients is considerably improved. ED.] 
 
 NOTE 54. So in the edition of Breslau, and apparently in the MS. from which 
 Galland translated, being written in his version " Torf." In the Cairo edition, " Et- 
 Teyreb." 
 
 NOTE 55. These are female proper names, used as fictitious names. " Suleynm " is 
 the diminutive of "Selma;" and, like the latter, is often employed to designate 
 a beautiful woman. " Er-Rabab" signifies "the white cloud," and " the viol;" 15 and 
 " Rabab " is also applied to " a cloud which is now white, and presently black ;'' and 
 hence it is a term applied to " a woman," denoting changeableness. " Ten'om " is the 
 third person singular feminine of the aorist of a verb signifying " to be soft, gen- 
 tle, &c." 16 
 
 NOTE 56. " 'Andam " is an Arabic name of " Brazil-wood" (also called " bakkain"), 
 and of the resinous substance termed by us " dragon's blood. 
 
 NOTE 57. The meaning is, "My fingers are not dyed with henna." See Note 36 
 to Chapter iv. 
 
 NOTE 58. This and the next preceding verse, on tlie superior merit of the precedent, 
 are often repeated by the learned. 1 ' 
 
 NOTE 59. She hath Lukman's 1S wisdom (which is proverbial among the Muslims), 
 Joseph's beauty (which is alike celebrated), David's sweet voice (on the effects of which 
 see Note 18 to Chapter i.), and the chastity of the Virgin Mary; while /have grief like 
 that which Jacob felt (for the loss of Joseph), regret such as Jonas suffered (when 
 swallowed by the fish), affliction like that endured by Job (when God tried him, on his 
 marrying the wife of the man whom He sent, and not being content with the wives 
 whom he had before), 19 and am in a state like that of Adam expelled from Paradise. 
 
 NOTE 60. This is equivalent to saying, she is in a state of affliction that cannot be 
 described. 
 
 15 There are two kinds of viol called " rabab," afflicted him with the like disease. Another, that 
 which I have described in my work on the Modern a poor beggar stopped at liis door, and he turned 
 Egyptians, vol. ii. ch. v. him away disappointed. A third, that a person 
 
 16 Chiefly from a marginal note by the sheykh who was oppressed implored his aid, and he did 
 Mohammad 'Eiyad. not assist Mm against his oppressor. A fourth, 
 
 17 Marginal note by the same. that there was in his time a tyrannical King- who 
 18 The country and age of this famous person assigned him a portion of land whereon to pasture 
 
 are unknown. He is generally described as an ugiy his horses, and the learned men went in to the 
 
 black slave, and said to have lived in the time of King and reproved him for his tyranny, except 
 
 David ; though some assert that he was son of a Job, who did not forbid his tyranny, on account of 
 
 sister, or of a maternal aunt, of Job. Some sup- the pasture of his beasts. The Arab writers assert 
 
 pose him to be /Esop. that Job was an inhabitant of Syria (possessing 
 
 19 So says my sheykh, from whom the above El-Bethneh and El-Jabiyeh and [other places in] 
 
 note is chiefly taken. Various reasons are given the province of Dimashk, or Damascus) ; and 
 
 by Arab writers for God's empowering the Devil almost all of them agree that he never quitted 
 
 to afflict Job. One says, that a sick man came to that country. It is also their general belief that 
 
 him, and he looked at him with disgust, and sent he was the great-grandson of Esau, whom they 
 
 him away from the court of his house : so God wall 'Eesoo. 31ir-at ez-Zeman. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 207 
 
 NOTE 61. This, I suppose, is said from politeness ; for, as my sheykh remarks, it is 
 not consistent with the story ; since Kamar-ez-Zeman acquainted his father and others 
 with the adventure, and the lady Budoor did not acquaint her father. 
 
 NOTE 62. See the fiftieth note of the present series. 
 
 NOTE 63. On Geomancy. On the science and practice of Geomancy, called "'Ilm 
 er-Raml" and " Darb er-Raml," there are several treatises by Eastern writers; but I 
 have not met with any of these ; nor have I seen a Geomantic tablet ; which, probably, 
 I should be unable to describe satisfactorily if I had. Geomancy is a mode of divination 
 from the combinations of certain marks or dots made, apparently at random, upon sand 
 (whence its appellation) or on paper ; but I have been informed that it is chiefly founded 
 upon astrology ; so I suppose the Geomantic tablet to be an instrument engraved with 
 astrological diagrams, &c. I have only seen the mode of performing geomantic experi- 
 ments upon paper. The invention of the science is ascribed by some to Idrees, or Enoch ; 
 by some, to Daniel ; by some, to Ham the son of Noah ; and by others, to Hermes 
 Trismegistus. 
 
 NOTE 64. Literally, "I write the book," or " the writ." This phrase is 
 
 employed to signify writing, or, more commonly, merely repeating, a form, of words 
 constituting a contract of marriage. It is evident that this is its meaning here, and 
 that it alludes to astrological calculations which are often made previously to marriage, 
 and which I have described in Note 74 to Chapter v. See that note, and Note 147 in 
 the present series. 
 
 NOTE 65. See the fifty-sixth note of the present series. 
 
 NOTE 66. Amulets thus engraved with talismanic characters are worn by many 
 Muslims in the present day ; but a more common kind of amulet is a piece of paper partly 
 inscribed with such characters and enclosed in a case of gold or silver or leather* &c. 
 
 NOTE 67. In the times of the early 'Abbasee Khaleefehs, in the eighth and ninth 
 centuries of our era, popular European tales may have found their way among the 
 Arabs, as well as Persian and Indian tales of the same nature ; and the establishment 
 of an Arab empire in Spain, the Crusades, and the extensive commerce of the Venetians 
 with Egypt and Syria, doubtless occasioned the transmission of similar tales from the 
 Arabs to Europe, and vice versa. On the subject of such transmissions, and the 
 resemblance of popular tales and fictions of different countries, much information and 
 entertainment may be derived from a work by Mr. Keightley, from which I must here 
 insert an extract. 
 
 " In that pleasing old French romance of Peter of Provence and the fair Mague- 
 lone, . . . there is a circumstance so like one in the Arabian Nights, that it may have 
 come from the East. I know not the age of the romance, but it is certainly posterior 
 to the establishment of the Angevin dynasty at Naples. As it does not appear to have 
 ever existed in verse, I would refer it to the fifteenth century. 
 
 " Peter, son to the Count of Provence, hearing of the beauty of Maguelone, daughter 
 of the King of Naples, determined to go thither in person, and view the peerless 
 maiden. He accordingly went in disguise to the Neapolitan court, and there, as an 
 unknown knight, so distinguished himself in the tournaments, that he won the favour 
 of the King, and the heart of the lovely Maguelone. After some time, being desirous 
 to return to Provence, he persuaded the princess to fly with him. She yielded her 
 assent, and they secretly left the palace and departed on horseback, taking a third 
 horse laden with provisions. On the second day they came to a dense wood on a moun- 
 tain near the sea, and being fatigued and overcome with the heat, they alighted from 
 their horses to rest them ; and the princess, laying her head on the lap of Peter, fell 
 fast asleep and 2 
 
 20 "I translate," says Mr. Keightley, " from a Library, printed at Seville in 1519; possibly the 
 Spanish translation of the romance in the King's very edition that Cervantes had read." 
 
208 NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 " 'While Magalona, as has been said, was sleeping on the lap of her dear friend 
 Peter, the said Peter delighted his whole heart by gazing on the sovereign beauty of his 
 lady ; and when he had to his pleasure contemplated her beautiful countenance, and had 
 well admired and kissed that sweet and agreeable, small and beautiful mouth, he could 
 not satiate himself with looking at it more and more : then he could not refrain from 
 uncovering her a little, and gazing on her most beautiful and white bosom, that was 
 whiter than the crystal ; and he touched her sweet bosom, and when he did so he was 
 so penetrated with love that it seemed to him that he was in paradise, and that nothing 
 could ever cause him any affliction. But that pleasure did not last long ; for he suf- 
 fered the most inestimable pain and ill-fortune, as you shall hear, that man could ever 
 think of. And the noble Magalona suffered not less, for she afterwards passed through 
 many great afflictions. 
 
 " ' Tor while Peter thus admired and touched the sweet Magalona, he found in her 
 bosom a coloured piece of silk, which was folded up, and he had a very great desire to 
 know what was in it. And he began to unfold it, and he found in it three of his 
 mother's rings, which he had given to Magalona, and she had kept them out of good 
 love. And when Peter had seen them, he folded them up again, and placed them near 
 him on a stone ; and he turned his eyes to the noble Magalona, and regarded her with 
 good love, and he almost fainted away with love and with pleasure. But our Lord 
 shewed that in this world there is not pleasure without pain, nor perfect happiness. 
 For a bird of prey, thinking that that coloured silk was a piece of flesh, came flying, 
 and took that silk, and went away with it, and flew to the mountain, and seated itself 
 on a very lofty tree. 
 
 " ' When Peter saw this he was greatly grieved, and he thought that Magalona 
 would be grieved at it, whom he wished to please more than any person in the world. 
 He put his cloak under the head of Magalona, and then got up very quietly, without 
 her perceiving anything. And he began to follow that bird, and to pelt it with stones, 
 to make it drop the silk it was carrying. And there was there a Lttle rock near the 
 land. Yet between the rock and the land there was a great quantity of water, and no 
 one could pass to that rock without swimming. And this bird went flying from tree 
 to tree to settle on that perilous rock, and Peter flung a stone at it, so that that bird 
 went from thence and let that silk fall into the sea ; and the said Peter could not pass 
 thither, because he knew not how to swim. Nevertheless, as the distance was not 
 great, he began to search on one side and the other if he could find anything in which 
 he could pass to the rock to go to look for it. Then said Peter, Would to God that I 
 had not taken the rings or the silk from where I took them, and that I had not 
 meddled with them, for they will cost me dear, and Magalona still more ; for if I delay 
 much longer Magalona will go look for me. And as Peter was thus searching along 
 the shore of the sea, he found an old boat, which the fishers had abandoned because it 
 was worth nothing ; and Peter went into it, and was greatly joyed, but his joy lasted 
 not long. And he took some sticks that he had picked up to row with, and went off 
 for the rock. But God, who does all things at his pleasure, caused to rise a great wind, 
 cold and strong, from the land side, which carried Peter and his bark, against his will, 
 very far out to sea, and all his rowing availed him nought ; for the sea was very high 
 and very deep, and he could not get to land, and the wind carried him along in despite 
 of himself.' 
 
 " I need not tell how Peter was taken up by a ship and brought to Egypt, where 
 ho became a great favourite with the Sultan, and how Maguelone went to Provence, 
 and was made directress of an hospital, whither Peter was brought as a pauper, and 
 how she recognised him, and made herself known to him, and how they were united, 
 and passed their days in uninterrupted felicity." ~ l 
 
 21 " Tales and Popular Fictions ; their Resemblance, and Transmission from Country to Country," 
 pp. 82 Mi. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 209 
 
 Mr. Keightley proceeds to remark upon the similar incident in the tale of Kamar- 
 ez-Zeman, " the main story of which (for the episodic ones certainly are not) is 
 possibly," he says, " of Persian origin ;" but, like De Sacy, as I have already said, I see 
 no foundation for such an opinion ; and there is certainly much that is utterly incon- 
 sistent with it. Mr. Keightley afterwards mentions another point of resemblance 
 between the story of Kamar-ez-Zeman and that of Peter of Provence, which I shall 
 notice in its proper place ; and he adds, " It is therefore, I think, by no means unlikely 
 that some part at least of the oriental tale travelled westwards." To me it seems more 
 probable that the writers of these two stories were alike indebted to some tale much 
 older than that of Kamar-ez-Zeman to one which offered little that was worthy of 
 imitation. The resemblances, being only in two points, I regard as tending to confirm 
 my opinion, that the tales of the Thousand and One Nights, in general, differ extremely 
 from any others upon which they may have been founded. For the incomparable 
 superiority of the tale of Kamar-ez-Zeman over that of Peter of Provence renders 
 it, I think, highly improbable that the latter could have been founded upon the 
 former; or that the former could have been indebted, otherwise than in the points 
 here noticed, to any tale of which the latter may be an imitation. The chief merit of 
 the former tale I most confidently ascribe to an Arab writer. 
 
 NOTE 68. It is perhaps unnecessary to observe to the reader, that the danger 
 which Kamar-ez-Zeman is said to have incurred in the city of the Magians is incon- 
 sistent with the idea that his story may be one borrowed from the " Hezar Afsaneh ;" 
 that is, of an ancient Persian origin. So, too, is the treatment experienced by El-As'ad, 
 later in the tale. 
 
 NOTE 69. " El-Islam " is a term often used to signify " the Muslims." 
 
 NOTE 70. In a former tale, " the king of the further parts of India " is called 
 " lord of the Ebony Island." See vol. i. p. 143. 
 
 NOTE 71. The same principle which induced Mohammad to forbid all games of 
 chance was strictly regarded by him in his laws relating to commerce and industry, as 
 in the cases of " musakah " and " muzara'ah." " Musakah signifies a man's giving over 
 his trees in charge to another, to attend upon them and improve them, by watering 
 them for a fixed proportion of their produce ; such as half, a third, or a fourth. Muza- 
 ra'ah is the giving of land in charge, to be cultivated on similar conditions." 22 It 
 appears that Mohammad forbade the latter practice, and consequently the former also, 
 under certain circumstances. "My two uncles," says Rafe' the son of Khadeej, "in- 
 formed me, that the companions of the Prophet used to let land by this agreement, 
 that the sower should sow his own seed, and that whatever grew upon the sides of 
 small ponds should be for them; or they fixed on a part of the ground, and said, 
 ' Whatever grows on this is for us, and the rest for you.' Then the Prophet forbade 
 it, because peradventure nothing might grow on it :" that is, on one part of it. But 
 it is also said, by one of the companions of Mohammad, " Verily the Prophet of God 
 has forbidden muzara'ah in this sense, by saying, ' Whatever may be produced in this 
 part is for me, and in the other part for you ;' and ordered fixed rent, and said, ' In 
 this there is no fear.' " It is evident, therefore, that he prohibited certain modes of 
 nni/.ara'ah, which were unfair ; but I think it is also clear that he did not forbid the 
 practice in cases in which the proprietor of the land and the labourer incurred a similar 
 risk. 'Omar, the second Khaleefeh, " settled with the people, that if he found the seed, 
 he should have half its produce ; and if the labourers brought the seed, then two-thirds 
 [should be] for them, and the remainder for him." Mohammad himself, also, " delivered 
 over, to a Jew of Kheyber, the trees and grounds of Kheyber, by this stipulation, that 
 he should work on them at his own expense, and give him half their produce.' 23 I 
 
 22 Mishkat cl-Masibeeh, vol. ii. p. 48, note. 23 Idem, vol. ii. pp. 4851. 
 
 IT. 2 E 
 
210 NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 should l>e extremely glad to see a similar plan adopted in Egypt : the revenue of the 
 government would be greatly increased by it ; and the chief evil of which the peasants 
 complain, remedied. 
 
 In the tale which this note is designed to illustrate, Kamar-ez-Zeman was merely 
 an assistant : therefore a fourth of the produce of the garden was a fair remuneration 
 for him. 
 
 NOTE 72. See Note 25 to Chapter iv. 
 
 NOTE 73. See Note 32 to Chapter vi. 
 
 NOTE 74. " Hayat-en-Nufoos " signifies " the Life of Souls." 
 
 NOTE 75. This he did to obtain a blessing. 24 
 
 NOTE 76. Thamood and 'Ad were two tribes of ancient Arabs, said to have been of 
 enormous stature, who, with few exceptions, were destroyed for their obstinate 
 idolatry. The tribe of 'Ad was the more ancient j but both lived before the time of 
 Abraham. 
 
 NOTE 77. In the original, "auitar," plural of "matr." The terms "matr" and 
 " matrah " are applied to a large jar or bottle of wood or leather, used for water, &c. 
 
 NOTE 78. I do not know of any kind of olives called " 'asafeeree ;" nor do I find 
 this appellation in any dictionary. 
 
 NOTE 79. " Just so Peter of Provence, when leaving Egypt, put his valuables into 
 barrels, which he filled with salt ; and, having fallen asleep in the isle of Sagona, the 
 ship sailed away, leaving him behind. On arriving at the place where Maguelone 
 dwelt, the captain gave her the barrels of salt for the use of tiie hospital, and in them 
 she found the treasure." 2 - 1 
 
 NOTE 80. This is a common expression of humility. An Arab, writing to a 
 superior, often tenns himself the latter's slave. 
 
 NOTE 81. From this we must understand that the gardener had left no natural 
 heir. 
 
 NOTE 82. Tamarind, in Arabian countries, is generally formed into round, flattish 
 cakes, which have a hole in the middle. When dry, they are strung together. 
 
 NOTE 83. The Muslims are forbidden not only to swear frequently and vainly by 
 God, but especially to swear by any created thing. There are few of them, however^ 
 who are not in the constant habit of acting contrary to both these prohibitions. Their 
 most common forms of oath are " By God !" and " By the existence of the Prophet !" 
 but they also often swear by the life of any respected person ; and by the life, head, or 
 beard, of a man whom they are addressing. 
 
 NOTE 84. On Polygamy, <f'C. In a former Note 26 I have mentioned certain bene- 
 ficial results of the law of the separation of the sexes ; its promoting a more free and 
 extensive intercourse among persons of the same sex and of different ranks, and its 
 tendency, with Muslims, to increase what they consider domestic happiness. I must 
 now remark upon some other effects of the same law. 
 
 First, the restriction of intercourse between the sexes before marriage renders 
 indispensable, to some, the facility of divorce ; for it would be unjust for a man who 
 finds himself disappointed in his expectations of a wife whom he has never before scon, 
 not to be enabled to put her away. Secondly, it sometimes renders indispensable the 
 licence of polygamy ; for a man who finds his first wife unsuited to him may not be 
 
 2 * Marginal note by the sheykh Mohammad 23 Keightley's Tales and Popular Fictions, p, 88. 
 
 'Eiyad. as Note 4 to Chapter is. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 211 
 
 able to divorce her without reducing her to want ; and the licence of polygamy becomes 
 as necessary in this case as that of divorce in another. Thirdly, the liberty of polygamy 
 renders the facility of divorce more desirable for the happiness of women ; since, when 
 a man has two or more wives, and one of them is dissatisfied with her situation, he is 
 enabled to liberate her. Fourthly, the licence of divorce often acts as a check upon 
 that of polygamy ; for the fear of being obliged, by the influence of his first wife, or by 
 that of her relations, to divorce her if he take a second, often prevents a man from 
 doing this. Thus both these licences are required by the most important principle of 
 the constitution of Muslim society, and each is productive of some moral benefit. In 
 considering the question of their expediency, we should also remember, that barrenness 
 is much more common in hot climates than in those which are temperate. 
 
 Christianity is plainly opposed to polygamy ; but as to divorce, some have contended 
 that it only forbids putting away a wife against her will, unless for one cause. 27 Chris- 
 tians are often most unjust in their condemnation of Muslim laws and tenets, and 
 especially condemn those which agree with the Mosaic code and the practices of holy 
 men ; such as polygamy (which Mohammad limited), divorce, war for the defence of 
 religion, purifications, and even minor matters. 28 Mohammad endeavoured to remove 
 one of the chief causes of polygamy and divorce, by recommending that a man should 
 see a woman whom he proposed to take as his wife. 29 We might imagine that he could 
 have made these practices less common than they now are, and always have been, 
 among his followers, had he given more licence, allowing the man to enjoy a limited 
 intercourse with the object of his choice in the presence of her female or male relations 
 (the former of whom might be veiled), without infringing further the general law of 
 the separation of the sexes. But he saw that such liberty would very seldom, if ever, 
 be allowed : scarcely any parents, among the Arabs, except those of the lower classes, 
 permit the little licence which he recommended. Instead of condemning him for 
 allowing a plurality of wives, I think we should be more reasonable if we commended 
 him for diminishing and restricting the number. I think too, that, as Moses allowed 
 his people, for the hardness of their hearts, to put away their wives, and God denounced 
 not polygamy when the patriarchs practised it, we should be more consistent as believers 
 in the Scriptures if we admitted the permission of these practices to be more conducive 
 to morality than their prohibition, among a people similar to the ancient Jews to whom 
 Moses allowed such liberty. As to the privilege which Mohammad assumed to himself, 
 of having a greater number of wives than he allowed to others, I have elsewhere 
 remarked, that, in doing so, he may have been actuated by the want of male offspring 
 rather than impelled by voluptuousness ; he seems, however, to have been influenced 
 by both these motives. 
 
 " On the subject of polygamy," says a recent writer who has deeply studied Muslim 
 institutions anil their effects, "a European has all the advantage in discussion with a 
 Turkish woman, because her feelings arc decidedly on the side of her antagonists; but 
 then she has a tremendous power of reply, in the comparison of the practical effects of 
 the two systems, and in the widely-spread rumours of the heartlessness and the pro- 
 fligacy of Europe. All the convictions of our habits and laws stand in hostile array 
 against the country where the principle of polygamy is admitted into the laws of the 
 state ; but yet, while we reproach Islamism with polygamy, Islamism may reproach us 
 
 27 " The Protestants of Hungary admit the plea may be made in this case. I was determined, 
 of ' irrevocabile odium.' '' Urquhart's Spirit of the when I first went to the East, never to conform to 
 Kust, vol. ii. p. 416. 'the practice of eating with the fingers when 1 
 
 28 A religious lady once asked me if I so con- could avoid it ; however, after I had first seen the 
 formed with the manners of the Easterns as to eat manner of doing this, I immediately adopted the 
 in their " beastly manner." I replied, " Do not custom, and continued it. 
 
 call it a 'beastly manner:' call it the manner of ' a See Jiishkut cl-Ma.subeeh, vol. ii. p. 81. 
 ii-ir Lord and his Apostles." lint some excuse 
 
212 NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 with practical polygamy, which, tans-auctioned by law, and reproved by custom, adds 
 degradation of the mind to dissoluteness of morals." 3 " It should further be remarked, 
 that, by sanctioning polygamy, Mohammad did not make the practice general : nay, he 
 could not. It is a licence for the hard-hearted, which restrains them from worse con- 
 duct, and in some cases, as already shewn, a resource for the tender-hearted. "The 
 permission," observes the author just cited, " does not alter the proportions of men and 
 women. While, therefore, the law of nature renders this practice an impossibility as 
 regards the community, it is here still further restrained among the few who have the 
 means of indulging in it, both by the domestic unquiet that results from it, and by the 
 public censure and reprobation of which it is the object." 31 I have remarked in a 
 former work, that polygamy " is more rare among the higher and middle classes [in 
 Esrypt, and I believe in other Arab countries,] than it is among the lower orders ; and 
 it is not very common among the latter. A poor man may indulge himself with two 
 or more wives, each of whom may be able, by some art or occupation, nearly to provide 
 her own subsistence ; but most persons of the higher and middle orders are deterred 
 from doing so by the consideration of the expense and discomfort which they would 
 incur. A man having a wife who has the misfortune to be barren, and being too much 
 attached to her to divorce her, is sometimes induced to take a second wife, merely in 
 the hope of obtaining offspring ; and from the same motive, he may take a third, and a 
 fourth ; but fickle passion is the most evident and common motive both to polygamy 
 and to repeated divorces. They are comparatively few who gratify this passion by the 
 former practice. I believe that not more than one husband among twenty has two 
 wives." 32 
 
 I hope I have shewn, that, though I consider polygamy as necessary in the consti- 
 tution of Muslim society, to prevent a profligacy that would be worse than that which 
 prevails to so great a degree in European countries, where parties are united in marriage 
 after an intimate mutual acquaintance, I consider it as a necessary evil. When two or 
 more wives of the same man live together, or when they visit each other, feelings of 
 jealousy are generally felt, and often manifested, and especially on the part- of the wife 
 or wives who cannot claim precedence by having beeu married before the other or 
 others, or by reason of being more favoured by the husband. 33 The wife first married 
 usually enjoys the highest rank : therefore parents often object to giving a daughter in 
 marriage to a man who has already another wife ; and it frequently happens that the 
 female who is sought in marriage objects to such a union. The law provides in some 
 measure against the discomforts arising from polygamy, by giving to each wife a claim 
 to a distinct lodging, affording conveniences for sleeping, cooking, &c. ; and further 
 enjoins the husband to be strictly impartial to his wives in every respect. But fruitful- 
 ness and superior beauty are qualifications that often enable a second, third, or fourth 
 wife to usurp the place of the first ; though in many cases, as I have remarked in 
 another note, the lasting favourite is not the most handsome. 
 
 There are, however, many instances of sincere affection existing in the hearts of 
 fellow-wives. The following story of two wives of the father of El-Jabartee, the 
 modern Egyptian historian, related by himself, and of undoubted truth, is a pleasing 
 example. Speaking of the first of these two wives, the historian says, 
 
 "Among her acts of conjugal piety and submission was this, that she used to buy 
 
 30 Urqunart's Spirit of the East, vol. ii. pp. 415 " injury," because fellow-wives usually experience 
 
 & 416. I may here recommend the perusal of its injurious treatment, one from another. The word 
 
 two chapters on "The Life of the Harem," and "darrah," in vulgar or colloquial Arabic OJT sub- 
 
 " State of Women," which I think its most valu- stituting a soft for an emphatic d, and u for a), is 
 
 able portion. pronounced "durrah," which properly signifies "a 
 
 si idem. parrot." " The life of a fellow-wife is bitter " 
 
 ''- Modem Egyptians, vol. i. eh. vi. (" 'eeshet od-durrah murrah ") is a common pro- 
 
 33 A fellow-wife is called, in Arabic, "darrah," verb. From one of my sheykh's marginal notes to 
 
 :i vrord derived from "darar," which signifies the story of Kamar-ez-Zeman. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 213 
 
 for her husband beautiful concubine slaves, with her own wealth, and deck them with 
 ornaments and apparel, and so present them to him, confidently looking to the reward 
 and recompense which she should receive [in Paradise] for such conduct. He took, in 
 addition to her, many other wives from among free women, and bought female slaves ; 
 but she did not in consequence conceive any of that jealousy which commonly aflects 
 women. Among other strange events which happened, was the following. When the 
 subject of tins memoir [the author's father] performed the pilgrimage, in the year 
 1156 (A.D. 1743-4), he became acquainted, at Mekkeh, with the sheykh 'Omar El- 
 Halabee, who commissioned him to purchase for him a white female slave, who should 
 be a virgin, not arrived at womanhood, and having such and such other qualifications. 
 So when he returned from the pilgrimage, he searched for female slaves among the 
 slave-dealers, to choose from them such a one as was wanted, and ceased not until he 
 found the object of his desire, and bought her. He brought her to his wife, above 
 mentioned, to remain with her until he should send her with a person to whom he was 
 commissioned to intrust her for the journey ; and when the period at which she was to 
 depart arrived, he informed his wife of it, that she might prepare the provisions for the 
 way, and other necessaries. But she said to him, ' I have conceived a great love for 
 this maid, and I cannot endure separation from her : 1 have no children, and I have 
 taken her as a daughter.' The girl also wept, and said, ' I will not part from my 
 mistress, nor ever leave her.' ' Then what is to be done F' he asked. She answered, 
 ' I will pay her price from my own property, and do thou buy another.' He did so. 
 She then emancipated the girl, gave her to him by a marriage-contract, prepared her 
 paraphernalia, and furnished for her a separate apartment ; and he took her as his wife 
 in the year 65. The former wife could not bear to be separated from her even for an 
 hour, although she had become her fellow-wife, and borne him children. In the year 82 
 before mentioned, the [emancipated] slave fell sick, and she [the first wife] fell sick on 
 account of her [friend's] sickness. The illness increased upon both of them ; and in 
 the morning the slave arose, and looked at her mistress when she seemed about to die, 
 and wept, and said, ' O my God and my Lord, if Thou hast decreed the death of my 
 mistress, make my day to be before her day.' Then she lay down, and her disease 
 increased, and she died the next night ; and they wrapped her up by the side of her 
 mistress. And her mistress awoke at the close of the night, and felt her with her 
 hand, and began to say, ' Zeleekha ! Zeleekha I' 34 They said to her, ' She is asleep.' 
 Hut she replied, ' My heart telleth me that she is dead : and I saw in my sleep what 
 indicated this event.' They then said to her, ' May thy life be prolonged !' 35 And 
 when she had thus ascertained the event, she raised herself, and sat up, and said, ' No 
 life remaineth to me after her.' And she wept and wailed until the day appeared, 
 when they began to prepare for the speedy burial of the slave ; and they washed the 
 corpse before her, and carried it to the grave. Then she returned to her bed, and fell 
 into the agonies of death, and died at the close of the day ; and on the following day 
 they carried her corpse to the grave in like manner. This was one of the strangest of 
 the things that I have witnessed and seen and remembered. My age at that time was 
 fourteen years." 36 
 
 NOTE 85. " El-Amjad " signifies " the More, or the Most, Glorious." 
 
 NOTE 86. " El-As'ad" signifies "the More, or the Most, Fortunate, Prosperous, or 
 Happy." 
 
 NOTE 87. I here omit an explanation which is of a nature to disgust every person 
 
 ''* This was the slave's name. " Who is dead ?'' mention the name. 
 
 35 This is tire usual way of informing- a person M Modern Egyptian History (MS. in my pos- 
 
 tliat another is dead. Many say in the same ease, session), vol. i. obituary of the year of the Flight 
 
 '.Mayust thou live!'* and then, being asked, 1HS. 
 
214 XOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 of good taste. In this case, and in several others of a similar kind, the old version 
 agrees with the original, being faithful to the latter when, to say the least, it is utterly 
 unnecessary to be so, and unfaithful when fidelity is most desirable. He who is un- 
 acquainted with the original should be informed, that it contains many passages which 
 seem as if they were introduced for the gratification of the lowest class of the auditors of 
 a public reciter at a coftee-shop. These passages exhibit to us persons of high rank, both 
 men and women, as characterized by a grossness which is certainly not uncommon among 
 Arabs of the inferior orders ; but this is all that I can venture to assert ; for although 
 there are numerous anecdotes which might be adduced with the view of justifying our 
 original in the cases here alluded to, they are obviously of suspicious authority. It is 
 highly probable that Haroon Er-Rasheed often exercised the wit of Aboo-Nuwas by 
 relating to him exaggerated or even fictitious accounts of occurrences in his own 
 hareem; and, still more so, that the latter person, in reciting his anecdotes to his 
 friends, disregarded truth in a much greater degree. 
 
 NOTE 88. See Note 8 in the present series. By sending, with the letter, the silk 
 strings of her hair, we are to understand that the lady designed to testify the most 
 abject submission. The same meaning is conveyed in a more forcible manner by send- 
 ing the hair itself. Thus, when Cairo was besieged by the Franks in the year of the 
 Flight 564 (A.D. 1168), El-'Adid, the last Khaleefeh of the house of Fatimeh. sent letters 
 to Noor-cd-Ueen Mahmood, Sultan of Syria, imploring succour, and with them sent his 
 women's hair, 37 to shew their subjection and his own. 
 
 NOTE 89. This is one of the passages alluded to at the close of Note 8 in the pre- 
 sent series. 
 
 NOTE 90. By " drinking of the anguish of another " is meant " partaking of his 
 anguish by witnessing it."' The same and a similar expression occur shortly afterwards, 
 where the meaning is more obvious. 
 
 NOTE 91. The person here designated the "Treasurer" ("Khazindar," as generally 
 pronounced,) is called in the Breslau edition "the Emeer Jendar,'' and in the old 
 version, " an eineer called Giondar." Dr. Scott has converted " Giondar " into 
 " Jehaun-dar." But "Jendar" is not a proper name. This term, more properly 
 written ' Jandar," was a title common to a class of officers under the Sultans of Eiryjit, 
 whose duty was to guard the door of the Sultan, to convey or enforce his orders with 
 respect to emeers, and to guard the prison called the Zardakhanah, in which persons of 
 rank were confined. The Emeer Jandar was the chief of these officers. 
 
 It is important to remark, that the present work exhibits but a very imperfect 
 acquaintance with the offices held under the Sultans whose dominion was subverted by 
 the Turkish conqueror Seleem. Such we should expect to be the case in a work either 
 composed or remodelled after the Turkish conquest of Syria and Egypt, A.D. 1517. 
 
 NOTE 92. This prayer is addressed to God. 
 
 NOTE 93. When God desireth anything, He saith unto it, " Be," and it is. 33 
 
 NOTE 94. In the original, three pieces of poetry are here put into the mouth of 
 Kl-As'ad. That which I have given is the second of them. 
 
 NOTE 95. The sarab (generally called by Europeans "mirage'') is that remarkable 
 vapour which is so often seen in the desert, tormenting the thirsty traveller by pre- 
 senting the appearance of a lake. So complete is the illusion, that I have seen the 
 
 *' Ibn-Esh-Shehneh. [So too El-Makreezee, The Khitat; account of the ruin of El-Fustat ; 
 
 \vith a slight variation. It was in this siciff that and iviirn of Kl-'Adid. Ej>.] 
 
 llie. old town now called, erroneously, Misr (or ** Marginal note by my sheykh. The saying, 
 
 Jluj-r) Kl-'Atcekah was burnt by order of (lie somewhat varied, weiirs in several places in the 
 
 Uc/err Shiiwir; the eonlla^ratiim lastim.' " -1 day*. Kur-i'ui. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 215 
 
 images of objects situate within or beyond it distinctly reflected by its surface. In 
 the verse in which this vapour is mentioned, the word " kahal,'' which I have rendered 
 "the black-edged eyelid," literally signifies "the natural blackness round the eye, 
 resembling the artificial blackness which is produced by the powder called kohl." 
 
 NOTE 96. This sentence I have inserted from the Breslau edition. 
 
 NOTE 97. A small oratory, with a niche indicating the direction of Mekkeh, is 
 often seen in Muslim countries, by the side of a spring, a well, a reservoir, or a large 
 water -jar which is daily replenished for the use of travellers. Sometimes it is designed 
 also as a place of repose, being a small, roofed chamber, open towards the north. 
 
 NOTE 98. In the story of the Young King of the Black Islands, the Muslims, 
 Christians, Jews, and Magians, who composed his subjects, are said to have been 
 transformed, respectively, into white, blue, yellow, and red, fish ; and here a Magian is 
 described with a red turban. When the Christians and Jews were compelled to dis- 
 tinguish themselves by wearing, respectively, blue and yellow turbans (as mentioned 
 in Note 55 to Chapter ii.), and the white turban was made peculiar to the Muslims, the 
 Samaritans were also compelled to wear red turbans ; and our author appears to have 
 made red the distinguishing colour of the Magians from this circumstance; for an 
 Arab writer quoted by El-Makreezee, in his account of the Samaritans, 39 says that the 
 tenets of this latter people were a mixture of Judaism and Magism. This explanation I 
 think more probable than one which might be deduced from the Turkish term " Kizil- 
 bash," or " Red-head," a nickname applied by the Turks to a Persian, and so applied 
 by the Persians themselves. It is said to have been derived from a red cap first worn 
 by the Persian soldiers under the Shah Isma'eel, about the commencement of the six- 
 teenth century. I prefer the explanation first proposed because it would account for 
 the distinctive colours of all the fish above mentioned. 
 
 NOTE 99. " Ghadban " signifies " enraged," or " angry." 
 
 NOTE 100. The remainder of this paragraph is from the Breslau edition. Here I 
 may mention that, in the old version, the old man orders his " daughters, Bostama and 
 Cavama," to undertake the office of torturing El-As'ad : in the Breslau edition, he is 
 said to have so commissioned his "daughter Bustan and slave-girl Kawam." This 
 shews that he is the same person who is afterwards mentioned by the name of Bahrain ; 
 which, in the Cairo edition, is not so clearly shewn. Agreeably with this edition, I 
 have not here mentioned Bahrain's daughter ; as I think that an incident at the 
 close of the story is rendered needlessly improbable by describing her as the torturer 
 of El-As'ad. 
 
 NOTE 101. On the Magian Festivals of Fire. As the present tale exhibits scarcely 
 any acquaintance with the religion of the Magians, I consider it almost unnecessary to 
 attempt any illustration of its allusions to the rites of that people. The " Blue Sea 
 and the Mountain of Fire " I suppose to be purely imaginary. But the idea of the 
 human sacrifice at a particular period of the year, on the occasion of " the Festival of the 
 Fire " (as afterwards said), may have been derived from a vague notion of the rites of 
 two Magian festivals. The first of these was celebrated in the month of Adur, or A/ur, 
 which (except in the middle ages of Persia, when the calendar was altered,) corresponded 
 with November. The angel after whom this month was named " presided over fire; in 
 consequence of which, on the ninth, his name-day, the country blazed all around with 
 flaming piles; whilst the Magi, by the injunction of Zoroaster, visited, with great 
 solemnity, all the temples of that element throughout the empire, which, upon this 
 occasion, were adorned and illuminated in a splendid manner. On this day it was 
 reckoned a point of religion to pare the nails and to shave the hair, under the idea that, 
 
 In his " Khitat." 
 
216 NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 with these excrescences, they threw away, at the same time, all their sins and defects." 40 
 In the following month (Dei), " on the llth, or the angel's day," the other "great 
 festival of fire was celebrated all over the kingdom ; for the origin of which solemnity, 
 a variety of traditional reasons have been handed down ; one of them is curious : 
 Winter, they say, having once, on the anniversary of that day, taken a fancy to come 
 from hell, which was, it seems, too hot for him, their ancestors had lighted up imme- 
 diately those piles of fire, to convince him that he had got into a still more infernal 
 place, and force him again from earth to the shades of darkness. In order to improve 
 the general scene of nocturnal splendour, on this occasion, it was usual for the King 
 and his courtiers to set fire to large bunches of dry herbs, fastened to wild beasts and 
 birds, who being then let loose, the fields, mountains, and the air itself were imme- 
 diately in one universal temporary blaze, heightened often by the accidental firing of 
 the neighbouring woods, to which those terrified animals naturally fled for shelter. . . . 
 A custom similar to this prevailed even in England within this century ; it having been 
 customary, on Twelfth-night, in Shropshire and other places, to kindle bonfires on the 
 mountain-tops and other high grounds, as a farewell to winter, and a welcome to the 
 spring. The 15th of this month was remarkable for another singular ceremony : they 
 formed a number of images of paste or clay, representing those deceased personages 
 whom they meant to honour, which they placed in the most public places, especially 
 where many roads or streets met, and, after paying them great homage, burnt them 
 with much formality." 41 Might not this last practice have given rise to a vulgar 
 belief among the Arabs, that the Magians offered human sacrifices ? 
 
 NOTE 102. On the Soofees. On this characteristic passage, my sheykh remarks, in 
 a marginal note, that it is usual with the Soofees thus to beg for an increase of the 
 afflictions that they suffer. The Soofees are so called either from the Arabic word 
 "soof," signifying " wool," on account of their wearing woollen garments, or from the 
 Greek word <ro<f>bs, because of their philosophical tenets. There is an order of Muslim 
 darweeshes called Soofees, "who make profession of a more regular and more contem- 
 plative life than darweeshes in general ; and many of this class have written books of 
 spirituality, of devotion, and ~of contemplation, which mostly bear the title of 
 ' Tasowwuf,' that is, of spiritual life." 42 The first convent of this order in Egypt was 
 founded by Salah-ed-Deen, who is commonly called by European writers Saladin. But 
 the title of Soofee is adopted by many who do not belong to this order of darweeshes ; 
 by those who lead a life of contemplation, and of philosophical religion ; and of this 
 class are many excellent men, who regard with especial veneration the moral and most 
 other doctrines of the Gfospel. Their grand principle seems to be love of God. The 
 Suniiee Soofees are in a great degree mystical and latitudinarian ; but not so much so 
 as the Soofees of the Persian sect. 
 
 NOTE 103. So in the Breslau edition and in the old version. In the Cairo edition, 
 the distance by sea is said to be six months. The preferable reading is " four months," 
 because this city is evidently the same as that in the neighbourhood of which Kamar- 
 ez-Zemaii resided with the gardener. The two princes are said to have performed in 
 three months a journey which usually occupied a year; and we must therefore suppose 
 that they did it in that comparatively short space of time by taking a route too 
 arduous to be generally followed, and impracticable for caravans. This is implied by 
 El-Amjad's remark on the first discovery of the city. 
 
 NOTE 104. The Muslims hold (and I believe adduce a saying of their Prophet in 
 confirmation of their opinion) that it is improper to eat in a street or other place where 
 
 40 Richardson's Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and 42 D'Herbelot, Bibliothequc Orientale, art. 
 English (Johnson's edition), voce " miih." " soft." 
 
 41 Idem. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 217 
 
 many people are passing ; because a person who does so cannot give to all who pass 
 hy and desire to partake; and when he has given all that he can spare, the remainder 
 may lie looked upon by an envious eye, which renders it injurious, or at least un- 
 profitable. 
 
 NOTE 105. In the present day, in many parts of the East, the Frank Christian 
 may dress as a Muslim : but formerly, Muslims were distinguished from all other 
 persons, especially by the colour and form of the turban. The Eastern Christians and 
 .Jews, \vith few exceptions, are still distinguished by the turban, which is generally 
 black or blue, or of a greyish, or light-brown, colour. See Note 55 to Chapter ii., and 
 Note 98 in the present series. 
 
 NOTE 106. The meaning of this is, "Thy beauty is continually increasing." 43 
 NOTE 107. See Note 59 in the present series. 
 
 NOTE 108. By " the thorns of lances," it is perhaps needless to state, that piercing 
 eyes or eyelashes are meant. 
 
 NOTE 109. This sentence commences the thirty-eighth verse of the fourth chapter 
 of the Kur-an. By " He whose name be exalted " we are always to understand God. 
 The Muslim never quotes the Kur-an but as the word of God, and generally in doing 
 so says, " He whose name be exalted hath said, in the Excellent Book," never men- 
 tioning the Prophet in this case unless he use some such phrase as this, " God hath said 
 by the tongue of his Prophet." 
 
 NOTE 110. The word which I render "flowers" (namely " sohbeh") also signifies 
 " a branched candlestick, or candelabrum, with many candles." Either sense would be 
 appropriate here ; but in speaking of wine, it generally signifies " a bunch of flowers," 
 which are often placed in a candlestick in the midst of the wine-service. 44 
 
 NOTE 111. The wooden lock which is in general use in Arabian countries for the 
 doors of houses and chambers is described and figured in the Introduction to my work 
 on the Modern Egyptians. 
 
 NOTE 1 12. See Note 12 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 113. In a MS. Arabic dictionary of my own composition I see that the only 
 meaning that I have given to " sidilleh " (a word that I do not find in any other 
 dictionary) is that of " a long seat, or couch ;" and accordingly, in a former instance 
 (vol. i. p. 122), I have rendered the plural of this word, with that of " mastabah " 
 preceding it, by " benches of different kinds." In the present case, my sheykh has 
 explained the plural of " sidilleh " by words signifying " places elevated a little, like the 
 suffreh ;" which last term is applied to " a kind of shelf or sill of stone," and " a bench 
 or sofa." The term "sidilleh" is applied in Cairo to a slightly elevated recess, with- 
 out a window ; and to a platform of stone, for a deewan, generally about half a foot 
 high. 
 
 NOTE 114. The clothes here mentioned are those which were usually worn at wine- 
 parties. See Note 22 to Chapter iii. (vol. i. p. 197). 
 
 NOTE 115. The most appropriate meaning of "sufreh" here appears to be "a 
 round cloth." A stool with a round tray upon it are also called a sufreh ; and this 
 term is applied to a round piece of leather, which serves as a table for meals, and which 
 is usually spread on the ground ; chiefly used by travellers, whence its name. 
 
 NOTE 116. This word is Persian and Turkish, and signifies " courageous," " bold," 
 " a hero." It is pronounced by the Arabs as I have written it ; by the Persians, 
 " Bahiidar ;" and by the Turks, " Behadir." Turkish and Persian names became 
 
 43 Note by the sheykh Mohammad 'Eiyid. " See Note 22 to Chapter iii. (vol. i. p. 198). 
 
 II. 2 F 
 
218 NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 familar to the Arabs in the times of the 'Abbsisce Khaleefehs, and wore still more so in 
 later times. 
 
 NOTE 117. This is said to shew more strongly the disturbed state of his mind; for 
 it is usual to put the feet into the shoes or slippers on stepping oft' the carpeted portion 
 of the floor. 
 
 NOTE 118. " Bahrain " is a common Persian name It is also a name of the planet 
 Mars; and signifies "a king,'' "a sword," &c. 
 
 NOTE 119. See Note 100 in the present series. 
 
 NOTE 120. " Marjaneh " (vulg., " murjaneh "), in modern Arabic, signifies "a piece 
 of coral." It also signifies " a small pearl," and " a kind of spring pot-herb." 
 
 NOTE 121. This sentence I insert from the Breslau edition. 
 
 NOTE 122. Here, again, I insert a few words from the Breslau edtion, ending with 
 " El-Moatarr." 
 
 NOTE 123. " El-Moatarr " signifies " the Poor," " the Indigent," " He who dares 
 not ask for what he needs." It is a name assumed as the opposite of " El-As'ad," or 
 "the Most Eortunate." In the old version, it is written "Motar," and rendered 
 " Devoted to be sacrificed." 
 
 NOTE 124. "These two verses are by one of the sect of the Murjiah,or Murjis, 4S 
 and one of the Sunnees (or orthodox Muslims) answered them, and said, 
 
 'If God protect him, no moisture will touch him, and he need not care for being hand-bound, and 
 
 thrown j 46 
 But if the Lord have decreed that he shall be drowned, he will be drowned though he be cast upon 
 
 a desert.' " 
 
 Thus my sheykh comments upon the two verses to which this note relates. The tale 
 itself also shows their fallacy, by a subsequent incident (of no very improbable nature, 
 in the history of El-As'ad. In their place are inserted, in the Breslau edition, with 
 some slight variations and errors, the verses of which a translation has been given in a 
 former tale, in page 299 of the first volume of this work ; and the same appears to be 
 the case in the manuscript from which Galland translated. 
 
 NOTE 125. The drum and pipe are the instruments most commonly used in Arabian 
 countries on occasions of festivity; as in the procession of a bride or bridegroom, that 
 of a boy about to be circumcised, and that of a pilgrim approaching his home on hi 
 return from the holy places. 
 
 NOTE 126. The burial-grounds adjacent to Arab towns generally contain a number 
 of dome-crowned structures erected over graves, which often afibrd shelter to benighted 
 travellers. 
 
 NOTE 127. " Bustan " signifies " a garden.'' 
 
 NOTE 128. This is said in allusion to his name, which signifies " more, or most, 
 fortunate." 
 
 NOTE 129. See Note 9 to Chapter vi. 
 
 43 A sect of Muslims who seem to have been wholly to God. I believe that most of the Murjis 
 
 chiefly distinguished by the very small importance were of this class. 
 
 that they attached to works. This sect is divided 4; The meaning I suppose to be this, that, as a 
 
 into four classes ; and the person here alluded to man can never foresee his fate, he should not 
 
 appears to have been of the Jeberee class, who neglect to make use of means which God may 
 
 deny free agency in man, ascribing his actions have decreed for his preservation. This, at least, 
 
 is the orthodox doctrine. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 219 
 
 NOTE 130. In the edition of Breslau, this story occupies a different place, com- 
 mencing the seventh volume. 
 
 NOTE 131. " El-Koofeh " is the city commonly called by European writers 
 " Kufah " and "Cufa,'' situate on the west hank of the Euphrates. It was founded in 
 the reign of the Khaleefeh 'Omar, and was a famous seat of Arabian learning. The 
 inhabitants of El-Koofeh were a people difficult to please, always ready to revolt, and 
 continually complaining of their Governors. A party of them one day urging a com- 
 plaint, to the Khaleeffh El-ila-moon, against one of his officers, one of them abused 
 this person in such gross terms that the Khaleefeh took his officer's part, and highly 
 praised him for the strict justice which he rendered to every one. Upon this, one of 
 the complainants replied that all which the Khaleefeh said was very true, and that all 
 the accusations which his townsmen had advanced against the officer were pure 
 calumnies; yet, as it was necessary that justice should be rendered everywhere, it was 
 not right that the people of El-Koofeh alone should enjoy the advantage of possessing 
 such a man, while all the other provinces of the Empire were deprived of him. "Cause 
 thy people, then, O our lord," he continued, "to praise and bless tb.ee equally, by send- 
 ing him elsewhere." 47 
 
 NOTE 132. " Neainet- Allah " signifies " the Boon of God." 
 
 NOTE 133. The meaning of "Towfeek '' is "a causing to be prosperous, or agree- 
 able," &c. 
 
 NOTE 134. "Saad" signifies "prosperity," "happiness," "good fortune." 
 
 NOTE 135. " Noam " is synonymous with " Saad." The name was changed that it 
 might agree with that of Neamet-Allah. 
 
 NOTE 136. In " Neamet-Allah '' and similar names, the latter word is often 
 dropped. In this case, the final t in the former is changed into h. 
 
 NOTE 137. That is, each of them was in some respects more beautiful than the 
 other. 
 
 NOTE 138. I here put "four" instead of "nine,'' as the sequel requires it. 
 
 NOTE 139. " Zeyd " and " 'Amr " are here used as fictitious names, in the same 
 manner as they are by the Arab grammarians. 
 
 NOTE 140. Of El-Hajjaj and his Character. El-Hajjaj the son of Yoosuf Eth- 
 Thakafee was Governor of the Hejaz and of the Arabian 'Erak under 'Abd-El-Melik 
 and his son El-Weleed, the fifth and sixth Khaleefehs of the house of Umeiyeh, for a 
 space of about twenty years, until the period of his death, which happened in the year 
 of the Flight 95 (A.D. 713-14). He was highly celebrated for his eloquence and courage, 
 but execrated for his tyranny. His cruelty, however, has perhaps been exaggerated by 
 the Shiya'ees, or Shee'ees, to whom he rendered himself especially odious ; and I do not 
 place entire reliance on the correctness of the following illustrations of his character, 
 which I insert on account of their singular nature. 
 
 In his last illness, " he ventured to consult an astrologer whether the position of the 
 stars, that year, prognosticated the demise of any person in power. To which the 
 astrologer replied, that a prince would shortly die, who either bore or had borne the 
 appellation of Kuleyb ; and El-Hajjaj confessing that his mother had in his infancy 
 been accustomed to address him by that name (puppy, perhaps 48 ), the astrologer rashly 
 
 *? D'Herbelot, Bibliothe'que, Orientale, art. still prevails, though it is not often followed by 
 
 " Coufah." other Arabs. Speaking of the ISedawees, Burck- 
 
 46 " Kuleyb " signifies " a little dog." It was a hardt says, " A name is given to the infant imme- 
 
 common custom among the Arabs to give names diately on his birth. The name is derived from 
 
 of this kind, and among the liedawces the custom some trilling accident, or from some object which 
 
2-->0 NOTES TO CHAPTEfc TENTH. 
 
 declared that the person whose death was indicated could be no other than himself. 
 'At least thou shalt precede me,' said El-Hajjaj, and the unfortunate wizard was 
 ordered to be immediately despatched by the attendants. This ferocious tyrant, whose 
 memory has been indeed loaded with sufficient obloquy by the Shiya'ecs, and whom he 
 on his part never ceased to persecute with unsparing vengeance, expired, at the age of 
 rifty-four, about the twenty-fifth day of the month of Ramadan, in the ninety-fifth 
 year of the Hijrah. Some time previous to his death he complained that his bowels 
 were lacerated by dogs ; and a roll of flexible silk being passed down his throat, by the 
 physicians who attended, it was drawn up, covered with vermin. And though it does 
 not appear to have rendered his government at all more palatable, it is recorded, pro- 
 bably as a proof of his boundless prodigality in the public expenditure, that among the 
 disciples of the Kur-an, he was the first who, on one occasion, displayed a thousand 
 tables for the entertainment of the people ; or in a single donation disbursed a million 
 of dirheuis. Exclusive of those who perished in battle, the amount of whom could be 
 estimated by Him alone who knows all things, there fell by the arbitrary mandates of 
 El-Hajjaj, not less than one hundred and twenty thousand persons. Nevertheless, in a 
 dream, in which he is said to have appeared to some one a short time after his death, 
 he is made to declare, that, though for each of this numerous list of the victims of his 
 fury, divine justice was satisfied with inflicting on him the punishment of a single 
 death, yet that for the execution of Sa'eed 40 alone, he was condemned to suffer seventy 
 times the agony of dissolution. There were, after all, found in the different prisons of 
 his government, when Providence thought fit to relieve mankind from his oppres>ions, 
 no less than thirty thousand men, and twenty thousand women ; many of these 
 confined in that species of prison invented by himself, without roof; in which, 
 alternately exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, and the vicissitudes of cold, heat, 
 and rain, the unhappy victims were left to suffer under every variety of pain and 
 wretchedness.' 50 
 
 NOTE 141. See a note at the foot of page 59 in this volume. 
 
 NOTE 142. It is a custom of many Muslim devotees to hang to the neck, in several 
 circumvolutions, a string of many hundreds of beads. The object is either to employ 
 these beads in repeating certain ejaculations in praise of God, or to make others believe 
 that the wearer is accustomed so to employ them. See the fourty -fourth note of the 
 present series. A string of a thousand beads, and the use to which it is applied, have 
 been mentioned in Note 15 to Chapter iv. 
 
 Thy whole description of the costume, manners, and expressions, of the hypocritical 
 old woman in this tale is admirably just. It is perfectly applicable to persons who may 
 be seen occasionally in the streets of Caii-o in the present day, though probably the 
 character of many of these may be sincere. The female devotees who thus distinguish 
 themselves are very few in comparison with the male. I should also add that the 
 conduct of Noam towards the old woman described in this story is consistent with 
 that of the generality of Arab women in similar cases. Indeed the story altogether is 
 as true a picture of Arab manners as any of the present collection. 
 
 NOTE 143. In some Arab houses, in one or more of the apartments, a niche is 
 formed or painted, in or upon one of the walls, indicating the direction of Mekkeh. 
 But more commonly a prayer-carpet answers the same purpose, its pattern presenting 
 
 had struck the fancy of the mother, or any of the M Price's 1'etrospect of Mahommedan History, 
 
 women present at the child's birth. Thus, if the vol. i pp. 479 et teq. As justice should be reii- 
 
 dos; happened to be near on this occasion, the dered to every one, however bad, it may here be 
 
 infant is probably named ' Kikib,' from 'Kelb' a remarked, that many of these prisoners had pro- 
 
 di'ir," of which it is the plural. (Notes on the bably been before accustomed to the vicissitudes 
 
 Bedouh's and \Vahiibys, svo. cd. vol. i. p '<'> here mentioned. [Another anecdote of Kl-Ilajj;'ij 
 
 '' SCL> Note 30 to Chapter ii. occurs after the Notes to Chapter XIV. ED.] 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 221 
 
 the form of a niche, the point of which is turned towards Mekkeh, so that a visiter 
 Deed not ask of his host in what direction he is to turn his face in prayer. 
 
 XOTE 14-1. These words are the commencement of the seventieth verse of the 
 twenty-fifth chapter of the Knr-an. They follow a denunciation against the wicked, 
 and Noam is supposed to know what precedes them, as well as the remainder of the 
 verse, which is tliif : "for unto them God will change their evil works into good; and 
 God is ready to forgive, and merciful." 
 
 NOTE 145. By "the sheykhs" we are here to understand the saints, or persons who 
 devote themselves to religious exercises. And " the holy places " mentioned in the 
 same passage are those mosques and other buildings containing the tombs or cenotaphs 
 of saints ; such buildings being frequently visited by men and women, in the belief that 
 the prayers there offered up are especially efficacious. See Note 63 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 146. By this is meant that she was a descendant of the Kings of El-Koofeh ; 
 but the author was probably ignorant that there were no such Kings. If by " Kings " 
 are meant merely " Governors," he is still in error; for the Governors of El-Koofeh 
 were, from its foundation, Muslims ; and their daughters could not be sold as slaves. 
 
 NOTE 147. On Astrological Calculations. My sheykh remarks, in a marginal note, 
 that the calculation here spoken of is founded upon the numerical values of the letters 
 composing the name. Thus, Noam (in Arabic) consists of.three letters, Noon, 'Eyn, 
 ;tiid Meem : Noon is 50 ; 'Eyn, 70; and Meem, 40 : the sum of the three is thc-refore 
 160 : subtract from this 9 and 9, or 12 and 12, and so on until there remains either 12 
 or less than 12: the remainder is the number of the sign of the Zodiac that influences 
 the person to whom the name belongs : 1, being Aries ; 2, Taurus ; 3, Gemini ; and 
 so on. 
 
 I have mentioned two other modes of making calculations of the same kind ; 51 but 
 from the above it appears, that I should have stated, in explaining the former of those 
 two modes, that the calculation is sometimes (and perhaps generally) founded upon the 
 numerical values of the letters composing only the name of the person whose sign is 
 sought, and that then the number of the sign is obtained in the manner above described. 
 The reader has seen that two different results may be obtained according to my sheykh's 
 directions. He does not state whether it is the general practice to subtract 9 or 12 
 from the number of the name. 
 
 NOTE 148. " O brother of the Persians" (ya akha-1-Furs) is synonymous with "O 
 Persian." " O brother of the Arabs " is a common expression used in addressing an 
 Arab. 
 
 NOTE 149. Arab shopkeepers very often make their calculations by writing on the 
 palm of the hand. 
 
 NOTE 150. " Soada " and " Juml " are fictitious names of women. They are 
 chosen tor the sake of a play upon words, which I could not preserve in the translation. 
 
 NOTE 151. On the Koofee Character. The Koofee character (generally called bv 
 European writers " Cufic ") was so termed from the city of El-Koofeh, in which, without 
 doubt, it originated, and which was founded in the seventeenth year of the Flight. 
 Some papyri lately discoved in Egypt shew that the character employed by the Arabs 
 of the Hejaz before this differed little from that which superseded the Koofee, and 
 which has generally been employed by the Arabs to the present day. 52 But the 
 character, as well as the language (called Hemyeree, or Himyaritic,) used in El- Yemen, 
 and probably in several other parts of Arabia, before the time of the Prophet, is 
 unknown. My learned friend M. Fulgence Fresnel has discovered a language still 
 
 ' l In Note 71 to Chapter v. Sacjr's livaiumivirc Ar.i'ur. 2ml i'tl. \ol. i.p 
 
222 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 spoken in some parts of El-Yemen, a dialect of the ancient Hemyeree ; and it may be 
 hoped that his discovery will he productive of important results, and be of value in 
 biblical literature. 
 
 A flexuous Koofee character, an ornamental style which came into use in the fourth 
 century of the Flight, has been erroneously called, by many European writers, the 
 Carmatic character, and supposed to have been invented by tho nation or people called 
 the Karmatees. 53 This mistake seems to have orginated in a misinterpretation of the 
 word " karmatah," which is defined in the Kamoos as signifying " a diminutive style of 
 writeing and a close [or short] step |m walking]." 34 
 
 NOTE 152. It is related in the Soorat Yoosuf (the twelfth chapter of the Kur-an), 
 that Jacob's eyes became white with mourning for Joseph ; but that the latter, when 
 he had discovered himself to his brethren in Egypt, gave to them his inner garment, 
 desiring them to throw it on his father's face ; and when this was done, Jacob recovered 
 his eyesight. This garment, we are told in the Commentary of the Jelaleyn, "was the 
 shirt of Ibraheein, which he wore when he was thrown into the fire. 55 It was on his 
 [Yoosuf s] neck in the well and it was from Paradise. Jibreel or [Gabriel] ordered 
 him to send it, and said that in it was its odour, [i.e. the odour of Paradise,] and it 
 should not be thrown on any one afflicted [with a disease] but he should be restored to 
 health." 
 
 NOTE 153. For the insertion of the words enclosed between crotchets in this 
 sentence, I have the authority of my sheykh. 
 
 NOTE 154. See Note 65 to Chapter viii. 
 
 NOTE 155. In my original it is here added, "and her name was Noam," which 
 would explain what the Khaleefeh's sister wished as yet to conceal. 
 
 NOTE 156. Marjaneh, we may suppose, came thither with him. 
 
 NOTE 157. The words "And God is all-knowing'' are added by the narrator to 
 imply that the story may perhaps be not entirely true ! 
 
 53 The Arabic words at the head of Chapter ix., 
 commencing this volume, (signifying, "In the 
 name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,") 
 present an example of this style. 
 
 54 This error was, I hclieve, first exposed and 
 confuted by M. Frahn, in the 5th Xo. of the 
 Nouveau Journal Asiatique, May, 1828. 
 
 55 This was done by order of Xumrood (or 
 Ximrod), and is mentioned in the twenty-first 
 chapter of the Kur-au. The patriarch came forth 
 from the fire unhurt. 
 
COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINTH 
 
 NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE TWO HUNDRED 
 
 AND SIXTY-NINTH. 
 
 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMA1V 
 
 IT hath been told me, O happy King, that there was, in ancient 
 times, a merchant in Cairo, 2 named Sherns-ed-Decn. He was one of 
 the best and the most veracious in speech of all the merchants, and 
 was possessor of servants and other dependants, and male black 
 slaves, and female slaves, and memlooks, and of great wealth, and was 
 Shah-Bandar 3 of the merchants in Cairo. And there resided with 
 him a wife whom he loved, and who loved him : but he had lived 
 with her forty years, and had not been blessed with a daughter nor 
 
224 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEX ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 with a son by her. And he sat one day in his shop, and saw the 
 other merchants, every one of them having a son, or two sons, and the 
 greater number of these sons were sitting in shops like their fathers. 
 That day was Friday : so this merchant entered the bath, and per- 
 formed the ablution of Friday ; 4 and when he came forth [from the 
 inner apartment], he took the barber's looking-glass, and, looking at 
 his face in it, said, I testify that there is no deity but God, and 
 I testify that Mohammad is God's Apostle ! 5 He then looked at his 
 beard, and saw that the white eclipsed the black ; and he reflected 
 that hoariness was the monitor of death. 
 
 Now his wife knew the time of his coining, and she used to wash 
 and prepare herself to receive him ; and when he came home to her 
 that day, she said to him, Good evening : but he replied, I have seen 
 no good. She had said to the slave-girl, Bring the supper-table. So 
 she brought the repast ; and the merchant's wife said to him, Sup, O 
 my master. I will not eat anything, he replied. And he turned 
 away his face from the table. She therefore said to him, What is the 
 reason of this, and what hath grieved thee ? He answered her, Thou 
 art the cause of my grief. Wherefore ? she asked. And he an- 
 swered her, When I opened my shop this day, I saw that every one 
 of the merchants had a son, or two sons, and most of the sous wen- 
 sitting in the shops like their fathers; whereupon I said within 
 myself, Verily he who took thy father will not leave thee. 6 And 
 when I first visited thee (he continued), thou madest me swear that 
 I would not take another wife in addition to thee, nor take an 
 Abyssinian nor a Greek nor any other slave-girl as a concubine ; and 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 225 
 
 thou art barren. But his wife reproved him in such a manner that 
 he passed the night and rose in the morning repenting that he had 
 reproached her, and she also repented that she had reproached him. 
 And soon after this, his wife informed him that his wish was likely to 
 be accomplished. 
 
 The son was born, and the midwife charmed him by repeating the 
 names of Mohammad and 'Alee, 7 and she pronounced in his car the 
 tekbeer and the adan, 8 and wrapped him up and gave him to his 
 mother who nursed him, and he took his nourishment until he was 
 satiated, and slept. The midwife remained with them three days, 
 until they had made the sweetmeat to distribute on the seventh _day; 
 and then they sprinkled the salt for the infant. 9 And the merchant 
 went in and congratulated his wife on her safety, and said to her, 
 Where is God's deposite ? 10 Whereupon she presented to him an 
 infant of surprising loveliness, the work of the Ever-present Governor. 
 He was an infant of seven days ; but he who beheld him would say 
 that he was a child a year old ; and the merchant looked in his face, 
 and saw that it was like a shining full moon, with moles upon the 
 cheeks. He said to his wife, What hast thou named him ? And 
 she answered, Were it a girl, I had named her ; but this is a boy ; so 
 no one shall name him but thyself. 11 The people of that age used to 
 name their children from an omen ; and while they were consulting 
 upon the name of the merchant's son, lo, one said to his companion, 
 O my master 'Ala-ed-Deen. So- the merchant said to his wife, We 
 will name him 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. 12 He commissioned the 
 nurses to rear him, and the child drank the milk for two years ; after 
 which they weaned him, and he grew up, and walked upon the floor. 
 And when he had attained the age of seven years, they put him in a- 
 chamber beneath a trap-door, 13 fearing the influence of the eye upon 
 him, and his father said, This boy shall not come forth from beneath 
 the trap-door until his beard groweth. 14 The merchant appointed a 
 slave-girl and a male black slave to attend upon him : the slave-girl 
 prepared the table for him, and the black slave carried it to him. 
 Then his father circumcised him, and made for him a magnificent 
 banquet ; and after this he brought to him a professor of religion and 
 law to teach him ; and the professor taught him writing and the 
 Kur-an and science until he became skilful and learned. 
 
 But it happened that the black slave took to him the table one 
 day, and inadvertently left the trap-door open ; whereupon 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen came forth from it, and went in to his mother. There was with 
 
 II. 2 G 
 
T 
 
 her a party of women of rank, and while they were conversing with 
 her, lo, he came in to them, resembling an intoxicated memlook, in the 
 excess of his beauty. So when the women saw him, they covered 
 their faces, and said to his mother, Allah requite thee, O such-a-one ! 
 How dost thou cause this strange memlook to come in to us ? Dost 
 thou not know that modesty is one of the points of the faith ? But 
 she said to them, Pronounce the name of Allah ! 15 Verily this is my 
 son, and the darling of my heart, the son of the Shah-Bandar of the 
 merchants, and the child of the nurse and the necklace and the crust 
 and the crumb! 16 They replied, In our lives we never saw a son of 
 thine. So she said, Verily his father feared for him from the in- 
 fluence of the eye, and therefore made as his nursery a subterranean 
 chamber under a trap-door ; and probably the eunuch hath inad- 
 vertently left the trap-door open, and he hath in consequence come 
 up from it ; but it was not our desire that he should come out from 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHA'MAT. 227 
 
 it until his beard should grow. The women therefore congratulated 
 her upon this. And the youth went forth from them into the court 
 of the house, and then ascended into the mak'ad, 17 and there seated 
 himself; and while he was sitting there, the slaves entered the house 
 with the mule of his father; whereupon 'Ala-ed-Deen said to them, 
 Where hath this mule been ? They answered him, We have con- 
 ducted thy father to the shop, mounted upon her, and brought her 
 back. And he asked them, What is the trade of my father ? Thy 
 father, they answered him, is Shah-Bandar of the merchants in the 
 land of Egypt, and he is Sultan of the Sons of the Arabs. 18 
 
 And upon this, 'Ala-ed-Deen went in to his mother, and said to 
 her, my mother, what is the trade of my father ? She answered 
 him, O my son, thy father is a merchant, and he is Shah-Bandar of 
 the merchants in the land of Egypt, and Sultan of the Sons of the 
 Arabs. His slaves consult him not respecting the sale of anything 
 except that of which the smallest price is a thousand pieces of gold. 
 As to the sale of a thing for nine hundred pieces of gold or less, they 
 consult him not respecting it, but sell it of their own free will. And 
 there corneth not merchandise from other parts, little or much, but it 
 is submitted to him, and he disposeth of it as he willeth ; and no 
 merchandise is packed up and goeth to other parts, but it is under 
 the disposal of thy father. God (whose name be exalted!) hath 
 given to thy father, my son, great wealth, that cannot be calculated. 
 So he said to her, O my mother, praise be to God that I am the 
 son of the Sultan of the Sons of the Arabs, and that my father is Shah- 
 Bandar of the merchants ! But for what reason, O my mother, do ye 
 put me in a chamber beneath a trap-door, and leave me there im- 
 prisoned ? She answered him, rny son, we put thee not in the 
 chamber beneath the trap-door but in our fear for thee from the 
 influence of the eyes of men ; for the influence of the eye is true, 19 
 and most of the inhabitants of the graves are victims of the eye. But 
 he said to her, my mother, and where is a place of refuge from 
 destiny ? Caution preventeth not fate, and from that which is written 
 there is no escape. Verily he who took my grandfather will not leave 
 my father : so if he is alive to-day, he will not be alive to-morrow ; 
 and when my father dieth, and I go forth and say, I am 'Ala-cd- 
 Deen the son of the merchant Shems-ed-Deen, not one of the people 
 will believe me, and the aged will say, In our lives we never saw a son 
 nor a daughter of Shems-ed-Deen : then the officers of the govern- 
 ment-treasury will come down and take my father's wealth. Allah 
 
228 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHlMAT. 
 
 have mercy upon him who said, The liberal-minded man dieth, and 
 his wealth departeth, and the meanest of men taketh his women. Do 
 thou, then, O my mother, speak to my father, that he may take me 
 with him to the market-street and open for me a shop, and I will sit 
 in it with merchandise, and he shall teach me the art of selling and 
 buying, and taking and giving. She replied, my son, when thy 
 father cometh I will acquaint him with thy wish. 
 
 And when the merchant returned to his house, he found his son 
 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat sitting with his mother : so he said to 
 her, Wherefore hast thou taken him forth from beneath the trap- 
 door ? son of my uncle, she answered, I did not take him forth ; 
 but the servants inadvertently left the trap-door open, and while I 
 was sitting with a party of women of rank, lo, he came in to us. 
 And she acquainted him with that which his son had said ; where- 
 upon the merchant said to him, my son, to-moiTow, if it be the 
 will of God (whose name be exalted !), I will take thee with me to the 
 market-street; but, my son, sitting in the market-streets and shops 
 requireth polite and accomplished manners under every circumstance. 
 
 So 'Ala-ed-Deen passed the next night full of joy at the words of 
 his father ; an'd when the morning came, his father took him into the 
 bath, and clad him in a suit worth a large sum of money. And after 
 they had breakfasted, and drunk the sherbet, the merchant mounted 
 his mule, and put his son upon another mule, and taking him behind 
 him, repaired with him to the market-street ; and the people of the 
 market-street saw the Shah-Bandar of the merchants approaching, 
 followed by the youth whose face was like the moon in its fourteenth 
 night. It was customary, when the Shah-Bandar came from his 
 house in the morning and sat in his shop, for the Nakeeb- of the 
 market to approach the merchants and recite the Fatehah to them, 
 whereupon they arose and came with him to the Shah-Bandar of the 
 merchants and recited the Fatehah to him, 21 and wished him good 
 morning : then each of them departed to his shop. But when the 
 Shah-Bandar of the merchants seated himself in his shop on that day 
 according to his custom, the merchants came not to him as they were 
 wont to do. So he called the Nakeeb (who was named the sheykh 
 Mohammad Siinsim, 22 and who was a poor man), and said to him, 
 Wherefore have not the merchants come together according to their 
 custom ? The Nakeeb answered him, that they were disputing on 
 the subject of the youth who was with him, wondering who he could 
 be, and he said, Is he thy memlook, or is he related to thy wife ? 
 
lie is my son, said the Shah-Bandar. The Nakeeb replied, In our 
 lives we have never seen a son of thine. The Shah-Bandar therefore 
 said, In my fear for him from the influence of the eye, I reared him in 
 a subterranean chamber beneath a trap-door, and it was my desire 
 that he should not come up from it until he could hold his beard with 
 his hand ; but his mother would, not consent; and he requested me 
 to open a shop, and to give him merchandise, and teach him the art 
 of selling and buying. So the Nakeeb went to the merchants, and 
 acquainted them with the true state of the case ; upon which all of 
 them arose and went with him to the Shah-Bandar, and, standing 
 before him, recited the Fiitehah, and congratulated him on his having 
 this youth for a son, and said to him, May our Lord preserve the root 
 and the branch ! But (they added) the poor among us, when a son 
 or a daughter is born to him, is required to make for his brothers a 
 saucepan of 'aseedeh, 23 and to invite his acquaintances and relations, 
 
230 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 and yet thou hast not done this. So he said to them, I will give you 
 the entertainment, and our meeting shall be in the garden. 
 
 Accordingly, when the next morning came, he sent the farrash 24 
 to the saloon and the pavilion 25 which were in the garden, and desired 
 him to spread the furniture in them. He sent also the necessaries for 
 cooking, as lambs and clarified butter, and such other things as the 
 case required, and prepared two tables, one in the pavilion and one in 
 the saloon. The merchant Shems-ed-Deen girded himself, and so did 
 his son 'Ala-ed-Deen, and the former said to the latter, O my son, 
 when the hoary man cometh in, I will meet him, and seat him at the 
 table which is in the pavilion ; and thou, my son, when the beard- 
 less youth corneth in, shalt take him and conduct him into the saloon, 
 and seat him at the table there. His son said to him, Wherefore, O, 
 my father ? What is the reason of thy preparing two tables, one for 
 the men and one for the youths ? my son, answered the merchant, 
 the beardless youth is ashamed to eat in the presence of nien. 2G So 
 his son approved of this. And when the merchants came, Shems-ed- 
 Deen met the men, and seated them in the pavilion ; and his son 
 'Ala-ed-Deen met the youths, and seated them in the saloon. Then 
 the servants placed the food, and the party ate and drank, and en- 
 joyed themselves and were delighted, and they drank the sherbet, and 
 the servants gave vent to the smoke of the perfume ; after which, the 
 aged men sat conversing upon science and tradition, 27 
 
 Meanwhile, the youths had seated ' Ala-ed-Deen among them at 
 the upper end of the chamber, and one of them said to his companion, 
 O my master Hasan, acquaint me respecting the capital in thy posses- 
 sion, by means of which thou sellest and buyest, how it came to thee. 
 He replied, When I grew up, and attained to manhood, I said to my 
 father, my father, give me some merchandise : but he replied, 
 my son, I have none ; go, however, and procure money from some 
 merchant, and traffic with it, and learn the art of selling and buying, 
 and taking and giving. So I repaired to one of the merchants, and 
 borrowed of him a thousand pieces of gold, and, having bought some 
 stuffs with it, I journeyed with them to Syria, where I obtained 
 double the cost-price. Then I took merchandise from Syria, and 
 journeyed with it to Baghdad, where I sold it, and again obtained 
 double the cost-price ; and I ceased not to traffic until my capital 
 became about ten thousand pieces of gold. And each of the youths 
 said to his companion the like of this until the turn to speak came 
 round to 'Ala-ed-Dcen Abu-sh-Shtunat ; when they said to him, And 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH'-SHAMAT. 231 
 
 thou, O our master 'Ahi-ed-Deen. So he replied, I was reared in a 
 subterranean chamber beneath a trap-door, and came forth from it 
 this week, and I go to the shop and return from it to the house. 
 And upon this they said to him, Thou art accustomed to remain in 
 the house, and knowest not the delight of travel, and travel is for 
 none but men. He replied, I have no need to travel ; and ease is 
 invaluable. And one of them said to his companion, This is like the 
 fish : when he quitteth the water he dieth. They then said to him, 
 O 'Ala-ed-Deen, the glory of the sons of the merchants consisteth in 
 nothing but travel for the sake of gain. 
 
 At these words, 'Ala-ed-Deen became enraged, and he went forth 
 from among the youths, with weeping eye and sorrowful heart, and, 
 having mounted his mule, repaired to the house. And his mother 
 saw him in a state of excessive rage, and weeping : so she said to him, 
 What maketh thee weep, O my son ? He therefore answered her, 
 All the sons of the merchants have reproached me, and said to me, 
 The glory of the sons of the merchants consisteth in nothing but 
 travel for the sake of gaining pieces of silver and gold. His mother 
 said to him, O my son, dost thou desire to travel ? He answered, 
 Yes. And she asked him, To what country wouldst thou travel ? 
 To the city of Baghdad, he answered; for there a man gaineth double 
 the cost-price of his merchandise. His mother then said to him, O 
 my son, thy father hath great wealth ; but if he prepare not mer- 
 chandise for thee with his wealth, I will prepare for thee some with 
 mine. And he replied, The best of favours is that which is promptly 
 bestowed ; and if there be kindness to be shewn, this is the time for 
 it. She therefore summoned the slaves, and sent them to the persons 
 who packed up stuffs, and, having opened a magazine, took from it 
 some stuffs for him, and they packed up for him ten loads. 
 
 His father, in the mean time, looked around, and found not his 
 son 'Ala-ed-Deen in the garden. So he inquired respecting him, and 
 they told him that he had mounted his mule and gone to the house ; 
 whereupon he mounted and went after him ; and when he entered his 
 abode, seeing the loads packed up, he asked concerning them. His 
 wife therefore informed him of the manner in which the sons of the 
 merchants had acted towards his son 'Ala-ed-Deen. And upon this 
 he said to him, O my son, malediction be upon foreign travel ! for 
 the Apostle of God (may God bless and save him !) hath said, It is of 
 a man's good fortune that he be sustained in his own country ; and 
 the ancients have said, Abstain from travel, though it be but a mile's 
 
232 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 journey. Then he said to his son, Hast thou determined to travel, 
 and wilt thou not relinquish thy purpose ? His son answered him, I 
 must travel to Baghdad with merchandise, or I will pull off my 
 clothes, and put on the habit of the darweeshes, and go forth a 
 wanderer through the countries. So his father said to him, I am not 
 in need, nor destitute : but, on the contrary, I have great wealth. 
 And he shewed him all the wealth and merchandise and stuffs that 
 he possessed, and said to him, I have stuffs and other merchandise 
 suitable for every country. And he shewed him of such goods, forty 
 loads packed up, upon each of which was written its price, a thousand 
 pieces of gold. He then said to him, my son, take the forty loads, 
 and the ten loads which are given thee by thy mother, and journey 
 under the protection of God, whose name be exalted ! But, my 
 son, I fear for thee on account of a forest on thy way, called the 
 Forest of the Lion, and a valley there called the Valley of the Dogs; 
 for lives are sacrificed in those two places without pity. How so, O 
 my father ? said his son. The merchant answered, By a Bedawee, an 
 interceptor of the way, who is flamed 'Ejlan. But his son replied, 
 The means of preservation are from God, and if I have any share in 
 them left, no harm will happen to me. 
 
 Then he mounted with his father, and went to the market of the 
 beasts of burden; and lo, an 'Akkam 2 * dismounted from his mule, 
 and kissing the hand of the Shah-Bandar of the merchants, said to 
 him, By Allah, for a long time, O my master, thou hast not employed 
 us in the transaction of mercantile business. The Shah-Bandar 
 replied, Every time hath its fortune and its men. 29 O Mukaddam, 30 
 it is none but this my son who desireth to travel. And the 'Akkam 
 said, God preserve him to thee! The Shah-Bandar then made a 
 covenant between his son and the 'Akkam, that the former should be 
 as a son of the latter, and gave the 'Akkam a charge respecting 'Ala- 
 ed-Deeu, and said to him, Take these hundred pieces of gold for thy 
 young men. After which he bought sixty mules, and a covering for 
 Seyyidee 'Abd-el-Kadir El-Geelanee, 31 and said to his son, O my son, 
 while I am absent, this 'Akkam shall be thy father in my stead, and 
 with whatever he saith to thee do thou comply. Then he returned, 
 with the mules and the young men, and the next night they caused a 
 recitation of the whole of the Kur-an to be performed, and celebrated 
 a festival in honour of the sheykh 'Abd-El-Kadir El-Geelanee. 32 And 
 when the following morning came, the Shah-Bandar of the merchants 
 gave to his son ten thousand pieces of gold, saying to him, When 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA"-ED-DEEX ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 233 
 
 thou enterest Baghdad, if thou find the stuffs of easy sale, sell them ; 
 but if thou find them not in request, expend of these pieces of gold. 
 
 They then loaded the mules, and bade one another fai'ewell, and 
 the party went forth from the city. They continued their way over 
 the deserts and wastes until they came in sight of Damascus, and 
 from Damascus they proceeded until they entered Aleppo, and thence 
 they continued their route until there remained between them and 
 Baghdad one day's journey. Still they advanced till they descended 
 into a valley, and 'Ala-ed-Deen desired that they should halt there ; 
 but the 'Akkatn said, Halt ye not here : continue on your way and 
 hasten in your pace : perhaps we may reach Baghdad before its gates 
 be closed ; for the people open them not nor close them but when the 
 sun is up, in their fear lest the Rafidees 33 should take the city and 
 throw the books of science into the Tigris. 'Ala-ed-Deen, however, 
 replied, O my father, I came not with this merchandise unto this 
 town for the sake of traffic, but for the sake of amusing myself by 
 the sight of foreign countries. O my son, rejoined the 'Akkam, we 
 fear for thee and for thy property on account of the Arabs. But 
 'Ala-ed-Deen said, O man, art thou a servant or a person served? I 
 will not enter Baghdad but in the morning, that the sons of Baghdad 
 may see my merchandise, and may know me. So the 'Akkam replied, 
 Do what thou wilt; for I have advised thee, and thou canst judge for 
 thyself. And 'Ala-ed-Deen ordered them to take down the burdens 
 from the backs of the mules ; and they did so, and pitched the pavi- 
 lion, and remained until midnight. 
 
 'Ala-ed-Deen then went forth from the pavilion, and saw some- 
 thing glittering in the distance. So he said to the 'Akkam, O 
 Mukaddam, what is this thing that is glittering ? And the 'Akkam, 
 looking attentively and with a scrutinizing eye, saw that what glittered 
 was the points of spears and the iron of Bedawee weapons and swords. 
 And lo, they were Arabs, whose chief was named the Sheykh of the 
 Arabs 'Ejlan Aboo-Naib ; and when these Arabs drew near them and 
 saw their packages, they said, one to another, O night of spoil! As 
 soon as the travellers heard them say this, the Mukaddam Kemal-ed- 
 Deen, the 'Akkam, exclaimed, Avaunt, O least of Arabs ! But Aboo- 
 Na'ib smote him with his spear upon his breast, and it protruded 
 glittering from his back ; whereupon he fell at the door of the tent, 
 slain. Then the Sakka ^ exclaimed, Avaunt, O basest of Arabs ! 
 And one of them struck him upon his shoulder with a sword, and it 
 passed forth glittering from his vitals, and he, also, fell down slain. 
 
 II. 2 H 
 
All this took place while 'Ala-ed-Deeu stood looking on. The Arabs 
 surrounded and fiercely assaulted the caravan, and killed the attend- 
 ants of 'Ala-ed-Deen, not sparing one of them; after which, they 
 placed the loads upon the backs of the mules, and retired. 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen then said to himself, Nothing will occasion thy slaughter but 
 thy mule and this thy dress. So he arose, and pulled off the dress, 
 and threw it upon the back of his mule, remaining in the shirt and 
 drawers alone ; and, looking before him, towards the door of the tent, 
 he found a pool of blood, flowing from the slain ; and he rolled him- 
 self in it with the shirt and the drawers, so that he appeared like one 
 slain, drowned in his blood. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Sheykh of the Arabs, 'Ejlan, said to his troops, O 
 Arabs, was this caravan entering from Egypt, or going forth from 
 Baghdad ? They answered him, Coming from Egypt into Baghdad. 
 And he said to them, Return to the slain ; for I imagine that the 
 proprietor of this caravan hath not died. So the Arabs returned to 
 the slain, and proceeded to pierce and strike them again until they 
 came to 'Ala-ed-Deen. He had thrown himself among the slain ; 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALl-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMA.T. 235 
 
 and when they came to him they said, Thou hast feigned thyself to be 
 dead ; so we will complete thy slaughter. And a Bedawee took his 
 spear, and was about to thrust it into the breast of 'Ala-ed-Deen ; 
 whereupon 'Ala-ed-Deen said, O thy blessing, 35 O my lord 'Abd-El- 
 Kadir, O Geelanee ! And he saw a hand turn away the spear from 
 bis breast to the breast of the Mukaddam Kemal-ed-Deen, the 
 'Akkam ; so that the Bedavvee pierced the latter with it, and left 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen ; after which, the Arabs replaced the burdens on the backs of 
 the mules, and departed with them. 
 
 'Ala-ed-Deen then looked, and, seeing that the birds had flown 
 with their spoils, rose and ran away. But, lo, the Bedawee Aboo-Naib 
 said to his companions, I saw a faint appearance ot an object in the 
 distance, Arabs. One of them, therefore, came forth, and beheld 
 3 Ala-ed-Deen running; upon which he said to him, Flight will not 
 profit thee while we are behind thee. And he struck his mare with 
 his fist, and she hastened after him. Now 'Ala-ed-Deen had seen 
 before him a tank containing water, and by the side of it was a cistern : 
 so he ascended to a window of the cistern, and there stretching himself 
 along, feigned himself asleep, and said, kind Protector, cover me 
 with the veil of thy protection that cannot be removed ! x And be- 
 hold, the Bedawee stopped beneath the cistern, and stretched forth 
 his hand to seize 'Ala-ed-Deen; whereupon the latter said, O thy 
 blessing, my lady Nefeeseh ! This is thy time! 37 And lo, a 
 scorpion stung the Bedawee in the palm of his hand ; and he cried 
 out and said, Arabs, come to me, for I am stung ! And he alighted 
 from the back of his mare, and his companions, coming to him, 
 mounted him again, and said to him, What hath befallen thee ? He 
 answered them, A scorpion hath stung me. And they then took the 
 property of the caravan, and departed. 
 
 'Ala-ed-Deen remained a while sleeping in the window of the 
 cistern. Then arising, he proceeded, and entered Baghdad. The 
 dogs barked behind him as he passed through the streets, and in the 
 evening, while he was walking on in the dark, he saw the door of a 
 mosque, and entering its vestibule, he concealed himself in it. And 
 lo, a light approached him, and as he looked attentively at it, he per- 
 ceived two lanterns in the hands of two black slaves, who were walk- 
 ing before two merchants. One of these was an old man of comely 
 countenance, and the other was a young man ; and he heard the latter 
 say to the former, By Allah, O my uncle, I conjure thee to restore to 
 me my cousin, thy daughter. To which the old man replied, Did I 
 
not forbid thee many times, when thou wast making divorce thy mus- 
 haf ? 38 Then the old man looked to the right, and saw 'Ald-ed-Deen, 
 appearing like a piece of the moon ; and he said to him, Peace he on 
 thee! 'Ala-ed-Deen, therefore, returned his salutation, and the old man 
 said to him, youth, who art thou ? He answered him, I am 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen, the son of Shems-ed-Deen the Shah-Bandar of the merchants 
 in Cairo. I requested my father to give me merchandise, and he pre- 
 pared for me fifty loads of goods, and gave me ten thousand pieces 
 of gold ; and I journeyed until I arrived at the Forest of the Lion, 
 when the Arahs came upon me and took my wealth and my packages ; 
 and I entered this city, not knowing where to pass the night : so, 
 seeing this place, I concealed myself in it. The old man then said to 
 him, my son, what sayest thou of my giving thee a thousand pieces 
 of gold, and a suit of clothing of the price of a thousand pieces of 
 gold ? For what purpose, said 'Ala-ed-Deen, wilt thou give rne these 
 things, O my uncle ? He answered him, This young man who is 
 with me is the son of my brother, and his father hath no son but him ; 
 and I have a daughter, and have none but her, who is named Zubey- 
 deh El-'Oodeeyeh. 39 She is endowed with beauty and loveliness, and 
 I married her to him, and he loveth her ; but she hateth him ; and 
 he swore an oath of triple divorcement, and scarcely had his wife 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEX ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 237 
 
 heard it when she separated herself from him. And he employed all 
 the people of his acquaintance to intercede with me, that I should re- 
 store her to him : so I said to him, This will not be right unless by 
 means of a mustahall : 40 and I agreed with him that we should em- 
 ploy some foreigner as a mustahall, in order that no one might reproach 
 him on account of this affair. Since, then, thou art a foreigner, come 
 with us, that we may write thy contract of marriage to her, and to- 
 morrow thou shalt divorce her, and we will give thee what I have 
 mentioned. So ; Ala-ed-Deen said within himself, To do what he 
 proposeth will be better than passing the nights in the by-streets and 
 vestibules. 
 
 Accordingly he went with the two men to the Kadee. And when 
 the Kadee saw him, his heart was moved with affection for him, and he 
 said to the father of the damsel, What is your desire? The old man 
 answered, It is our desire to employ this person as a mustahall for our 
 daughter; but we will write a bond against him, stating that the 
 portion of the dowry to be paid in advance is ten thousand pieces of 
 gold; and if he divorce her to-morrow morning, we will give him a 
 dress of the price of a thousand pieces of gold, and a mule of the 
 same price, and a thousand pieces of gold besides ; but if he divorce 
 her not, he will pay ten thousand pieces of gold. 41 So they settled 
 the contract on this condition, and the father of the damsel received a 
 bond to this effect. He then took 'Ala-ed-Deen with him, clad him 
 with the suit, and proceeded with him until they came to the house 
 of his daughter, when he stationed him at the door of the house, and, 
 going in to his daughter, said to her, Receive the bond of thy dowry ; 
 for I have written thy contract of marriage to a comely young man, 
 named 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat : so consider thyself under a 
 most strict charge respecting him. And he gave her the bond, and 
 repaired to his house. 
 
 Now the damsel's cousin (her former husband) had a kahramaneh 
 who frequently visited Zubeydeh El-'Oodeeyeh, and he used to treat 
 her with beneficence ; and he said to her, O my mother, if Zubeydeh, 
 the daughter of my uncle, see this comely young man, she will not 
 accept me after ; so I desire of thee that thou contrive a stratagem to 
 restrain the damsel from him. By thy youth, she replied, I will not 
 suffer him to go near her. She then went to 'Ala-ed-Deen, and said 
 to him, my son, I give thee good advice for the sake of God (whose 
 name be exalted !) ; therefore do thou accept my advice, and approach 
 not that damsel, but let her remain alone, and neither touch her nor 
 
IMS THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEX AI5U-SH-SHAA1AT. 
 
 draw near to her. Wherefore ? said he. And she answered him, 
 Verily her whole skin is affected with elephantiasis, and I fear for 
 thee lest she communicate the disease to thy comely, youthful person. 42 
 So he replied, I have no need of her. Then she went to the damsel, 
 and said to her as she had said to 'Ala-ed-Deen ; and the damsel 
 replied, I have no need of him : on the contrary, I will leave him to 
 remain alone, and in the morning he shall go his way. And she 
 called a slave-girl, and said to her, Take the table with the food, and 
 give it to him that he may sup. The slave-girl, therefore, carried to 
 him the table with the food, and placed it before him, and he ate 
 until he was satisfied, and then sat reciting the chapter of Ya-seen, 43 
 with a charming voice ; and the damsel, listening to him, found that 
 his voice was like the sounds of the Psalms sung by the family of 
 Daood. 44 So she said within herself, Allah send trouble upon this 
 old woman who told me that he was afflicted with elephantiasis ! for 
 he who is iu such a state hath not a voice of this kind. Surely this 
 assertion is a lie against him. Then taking in her hands a lute of 
 Indian manufacture, she tuned its chords, and sang to it, with a voice 
 that would stay the birds in the midst of the sky, these two verses : 
 
 I am enamoured of a fawn with languishing hlack eyes : the willow-branches 
 
 envy him when he walketh. 
 He rejeeteth me, and another enjoyeth his society, which is a boon that God will 
 
 grant to whom He pleaseth. 
 
 And when he heard her words, after he had finished his recitation of 
 the Chapter he sang this verse in reply : 
 
 My salutation to the form concealed within the garments, and to the roses in 
 the gardens of the cheeks. 
 
 And upon this, the damsel's love for him increased, and she lifted up 
 the curtain ; and when 'Ala-ed-Deen beheld her, he recited these two 
 verses : 
 
 She appeared as a moon, and inclined as a willow-branch ; diffused an odour like 
 
 ambergris, and looked with eyes like a gazelle's. 
 It seemed as though grief were enamoured of my heart, and when she should 
 
 depart, would obtain possession of it. 
 
 She then advanced with a graceful gait ; but as she approached him 
 he said to her, Retire from me, lest thou communicate thy disease to 
 me. So she uncovered her wrist, which was bipartite, 43 and its white- 
 ness was like that of silver; after which she said to him, Retire from 
 me; for thou art afflicted with elephantiasis, and perhaps thou wilt 
 
THK STORV OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 239 
 
 communicate the disease to me. He therefore asked her, Who 
 informed thee that I was afflicted with elephantiasis ? She answered 
 him, The old woman acquainted me with it. And he replied, The old 
 woman also informed me that thou wast afflicted with leprosy. Then 
 he uncovered to her his arms, and she found that his skin was like 
 pure silver. So she accepted him as her husband. 
 
 And on the following morning he said to her, Alas for joy that is 
 not complete ! The raven hath taken it and flown away ! 46 She 
 therefore said, What is the meaning of these words ? And he 
 answered her, my mistress, I have only this hour to remain with 
 thee. Who saith so ? she asked. Thy father, he answered her, 
 wrote a bond against me, obliging me to pay ten thousand pieces of 
 gold towards thy dowry ; and if I produce it not this day, they 
 imprison me for it in the house of the Kadce ; and now my hand is 
 unable to advance a single half-dirhem 47 of the sum of ten thousand 
 pieces of gold. But she said to him, my master, is the matrimonial 
 tie in thy hand, or in their hands ? He answered her, The tie is in 
 my hand; but I have nothing in my possession. The affair, she 
 rejoined, is easy; and fear nothing; but take these hundred pieces of 
 gold. Had I more, I would give thee what thou desirest. This, 
 however, I cannot do ; for my father, from the affection that he 
 beareth for the son of his brother, hath transferred all his property 
 from my hands to his house : even all my ornaments he took. But 
 when they send to thee a sergeant from the court of justice, this 
 morning, and the Kadee and my father say to thee, Divorce, do 
 thou say to them, By what code is it ordained as proper that I should 
 marry at nightfall and divorce in the morning ? Then thou shalt 
 kiss the hand of the Kadee, and give him a present; and in like 
 manner thou shalt kiss the hand of each Shahid/ 8 and give him ten 
 pieces of gold. And all of them will speak with thee : and if they 
 say to thee, Wherefore wilt thou not divorce, and receive a thousand 
 pieces of gold, and the mule and the dress, according to the condition 
 which we imposed upon thee ? do thou answer them, Every hair of 
 her head is in my estimation worth a thousand pieces of gold, and I 
 will never divorce her, nor will I receive a dress or anything else. If 
 the Kadee then say to thee, Pay the dowry, reply, I am at present 
 unable to pay. And thereupon the Kadee and the Shahids will treat 
 thee with benevolence, and will grant thee a delay. 
 
 Now while they were thus conversing, the sergeant of the Kadee 
 
 J * 
 
 knocked at the door. So he went forth to him, and the sergeant said 
 
240 THE STORY OF 'ALA-KD-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 to him, Answer the summons of the Efendee; 49 for thy father-in-law 
 citeth thee. And 'Ala-ed-Deen gave to him five pieces of gold, say- 
 ing, O sergeant, by what code am I required to marry at nightfall and 
 to divorce in the morning ? He answered him, To do so is not held 
 proper by us in any case ; and if thou be ignorant of the law, I will 
 act as thy deputy. And they proceeded to the court of justice, and 
 the Kadee said to 'Ala-ed-Deen, Wherefore dost thou not divorce the 
 woman, and receive what the contract hath prescribed for thee ? And 
 upon this he advanced to the Kadee, and, kissing his hand, put 
 into it fifty pieces of gold, and said to him, O our lord the Kadee, by 
 what code is it allowable that I should marry at nightfall and divorce 
 in the morning by compulsion ? The Kadee therefore answered, 
 Divorce by compulsion is not allowable by any of the codes of the 
 Muslims. Then the father of the damsel said, If thou divorce not, 
 pay me the dowry, ten thousand pieces of gold. 'Ala-ed-Deen replied, 
 Give me three days' delay. But the Kadee said, Three days will not 
 be a sufficient period of delay : he shall grant thee ten days. And to 
 this they agreed, binding him, after the ten days, either to pay the 
 dowry or to divorce. 
 
 On this condition, therefore, he went forth from them, and, 
 having procured the meat and rice and clarified butter and other 
 eatables that the case required, returned to the house and went in to 
 the damsel and related to her all that had happened to him. She 
 replied, Between night and day, wonders take place; and divinely 
 gifted was he who said, 
 
 Be mild when thou art troubled hy rage, and be patient when calamity befalleth 
 
 thee; 
 For the nights are pregnant with events, and give birth to every kind of wonder. 
 
 She then arose, prepared the food, and brought the table, and they ate 
 and drank, and enjoyed themselves, and were moved with merriment ; 
 and he requested her to perform a piece of music. So she took the 
 lute, and performed a piece in such a manner that a rock would 
 have danced at it as if with joy, the sounds of the chords vying with 
 the voice of Daood; 50 and she began the more rapid part of the 
 performance. 51 
 
 But while they were full of delight and jesting, and mirth and 
 gladness, the door was knocked. She therefore said to him, Arise, 
 and see who is at the door. Accordingly, he went down, and, opening 
 the door, found four darweeshes standing there, and he said to them, 
 What do ye desire ? O my master, answered one of them, we are 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 241 
 
 foreign danveeshes : the food of our souls consisteth in music and in 
 the delicacies of poetry, and we desire to recreate ourselves with thee 
 this night, until the morning, when we will go our way ; and thou 
 wilt receive thy recompense from God (whose name be exalted ! ) ; for 
 we are passionately fond of music, and there is not one among us who 
 doth not retain in his memory odes and other pieces of poetry and 
 lyric songs. 52 'Ala-ed-Deen replied, I must consult. And he went 
 up, and informed the damsel ; and she said to him, Open the door to 
 them. So he opened to them the door, and, having conducted them 
 up, seated them and welcomed them, and brought them food. But 
 they declined eating, and one of them said to him, my master, 
 verily our victuals are the commemoration of God with our hearts, 
 and the hearing of songs with our ears ; and divinely was he gifted 
 who said, 
 
 Our desire is for nought but the enjoyment of society ; and eating is nought but 
 a characteristic of the brutes. 
 
 We just now heard some pleasant music in thine abode; but when we 
 came up, it ceased ; and we would that we knew whether she who was 
 performing is a white or a black slave-girl, or a lady. 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 replied, She is my wife. And he related to them all that, had 
 happened to him, and said to them, My father-in-law hath bound me 
 to pay ten thousand pieces of gold as her dowry, and they have given 
 me ten days' delay. Upon this, one of the darweeshes said to him, 
 Grieve not, nor anticipate anything but good fortune ; for I am the 
 Sheykh of the Convent, having under me forty darweeshes over whom 
 I exercise authority, and I will collect for thee the ten thousand pieces 
 of gold from them, and thou shait discharge the dowry that thou 
 owest to thy father-in-law. But desire her (he added) to perform a 
 piece of music for us, that we may be rejoiced and enlivened ; for 
 music is to some people like food ; and to some like a remedy ; and 
 to some, like a fan. Now these four darweeshes were the Khaleefeh 
 Haroon Er-Rasheed, and the Wezeer Jaafar El-Barmekee, and Aboo- 
 Nuwas El-Hasan the son of Hanee, 53 and Mesroor the Executioner. 
 And the reason of their passing by this house was that the bosom of 
 the Khaleefeh was contracted; so he said to the Wezeer, O Wezeer, it 
 is our desire to descend and to go about through the city; for I 
 experience a contraction of the bosom. They therefore clad them- 
 selves in the apparel of darweeshes, and went down into the city, and, 
 passing by this house, they heard the music, and desired to ascertain 
 the cause. They passed the night there in happiness and good order, 
 n. 2 i 
 
242 
 
 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 and in relating stories one after another, until the morning came, 
 when the Khaleefeh put a hundred pieces of gold beneath the prayer- 
 carpet, and he and his companions took leave of 'Ala-ed-Deen, and 
 went their way. 
 
 When the damsel, therefore, lifted up the prayer- carpet, she saw 
 the hundred pieces of gold beneath it. And she said to her husband, 
 Take these hundred pieces of gold that I have found under the prayer- 
 carpet ; for the darweeshes put them before they went, without our 
 knowledge. So 'Ala-ed-Deen took them, and, repairing to the 
 market, bought the meat and the rice and the clarified butter, and all 
 that he required. And on the following night he lighted the candles, 
 and said to his wife, The darweeshes have not brought the ten thou- 
 sand pieces of gold which they promised me ; but they are poor men. 
 While they were talking, however, the darweeshes knocked at the 
 door; and she said to him, Go down, and open to them. He there- 
 fore did so, and they came up, and he said to them, Have ye brought 
 the ten thousand pieces of gold that ye promised me ? They answered 
 him, Nothing of the sum hath been provided ; but fear no evil : if it 
 be the will of God (whose name be exalted ! ), to-morrow we will per- 
 form an alchymical process for thee ; and now do thou desire thy wife 
 to gratify our ears by an excellent performance of music, that our 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 243 
 
 hearts may be enlivened by it ; for we love music. So she performed 
 a piece for them upon the lute,, such as would make a rock to dance. 
 And they passed the night in enjoyment and happiness, and conversa- 
 tion and cheerfulness, until the morning came and diffused its light ; 
 whereupon the Khaleefeh again put a hundred pieces of gold -beneath 
 the prayer-carpet, and he and his companions took leave of 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen, and departed from him and went their way. 
 
 Thus they continued to do for a period of nine nights ; the 
 Khaleefeh every night putting beneath the prayer-carpet a hundred 
 pieces of gold, until the tenth night, when they came not ; and the 
 cause of their ceasing their visits was this. The Khaleefeh sent to a 
 great merchant, saying to him, Make ready for me fifty loads of stuffs, 
 such as come from Cairo, each load of the price of a thousand pieces 
 of gold, and write upon each the amount of its price ; and provide for 
 me a male Abyssinian slave. So the merchant made ready for him 
 all that he ordered him to provide, after which the Khaleefeh com- 
 mitted to the slave a basin and ewer of gold, and another present, and 
 the fifty loads, and wrote a letter as from Shems-ed-Deen the Shah- 
 Bandar of the merchants in Cairo, the father of 'Ala-ed-Deen, and 
 said to the slave, Take these loads and the things that are with them, 
 and repair with them to such a quarter, in which is the house of the 
 Sruih-Bandar of the merchants, and say, Where is my master 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen Abu-sh-Shamat ? Then the people will direct thee to the quarter 
 and to the house. The slave therefore took the loads and what was 
 with them, and went as the Khaleefeh commanded him. 
 
 In the mean time, the damsel's cousin repaired to her father, and 
 said to him, Come, let us go to 'Ala-ed-Deen, that we may effect the 
 divorce of my cousin. So the father descended and went with him to 
 'Ala-ed-Deeu ; but when they arrived at the house, they found fifty 
 mules, upon which were fifty loads of stuffs, attended by a black slave 
 upon a mule ; and they said to him, To whom belong these loads ? 
 He answered, To my master 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat; for his 
 father prepared for him merchandise, and despatched him on a journey 
 to the city of Baghdad, and the Arabs came upon him, and took his 
 wealth and his loads ; and the news reached his father ; wherefore he 
 sent me to him with loads in their stead. He sent with me also a 
 mule laden with fifty thousand pieces of gold, and a wrapper of clothes 
 worth a large sum of money, and a furred robe of sable, and a basin 
 and ewer of gold. Upon this, the father of the damsel said, This 
 person is my son-in-law, and I will shew thee the way to the house. 
 
244 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 And while 'Ala-ed-Deen was sitting in the house in a state of 
 violent grief, the door was knocked; and he said, Zubeydeh, God 
 is all-knowing ; but it seemeth that thy father hath sent to me a 
 sergeant from the Kadee or from the Walee. She replied, Go down 
 and see what is the case. So he went down and opened the door, 
 and beheld his father-in-law, who was the Shah-Bandar of the mer- 
 chants, the father of Zubeydeh ; and he found there an Abyssinian 
 slave of dark complexion and of pleasant countenance, mounted upon 
 a mule. And the slave, having descended from the mule, kissed 
 his hands ; and he said to him, What dost thou desire ? He an- 
 swered, I am the slave of my master 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat, 
 the son of Shems-ed-Deen the Shah-Bandar of the merchants in the 
 land of Egypt; and his father hath sent me to him with this dtposite. 
 He then gave him the letter ; and 'Ala-ed-Deen took it and opened it 
 and read it, and found written in it these words : 
 
 After perfect salutations, and compliments and respectful greetings, 
 from Shems-ed-Deen to his son 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. 
 Know, my son, that the news of the slaughter of thy men, and of 
 the plunder of thy wealth and thy loads, hath reached me ; and I 
 have therefore sent to thee, in their stead, these fifty loads of Egyptian 
 stuffs, and the suit of dress, and the furred robe of sable, and the 
 basin and ewer of gold. And fear no evil ; for the wealth is thy 
 ransom, my son ; and may grief never affect thee. Thy mother 
 and the people of the house are well, in prosperity and health; and 
 they greet thee with abundant salutations. Moreover, my son, 
 news hath reached me that they have employed thee as a mustahall for 
 the damsel Zubeydeh El-'Oodceyeh, and have imposed upon thee the 
 payment of ten thousand 54 pieces of gold as her dowry. Therefore 
 fifty thousand pieces of gold will be brought to thee with the loads, 
 attended by thy slave Seleem. 55 
 
 As soon as 'Ala-ed-Deen had finished reading the letter, he took 
 possession of the loads, and, looking towards his father-in-law, said to 
 him, O my father-in-law, receive the ten thousand pieces of gold, the 
 amount of the dowry of thy daughter Zubeydeh : receive also the 
 loads, and dispose of them, and the profits shall be thine; only do 
 thou restore to me the cost-price. But he replied, Xay, by Allah, I 
 will take nothing; and as to the dowry of thy wife, do thou make an 
 agreement with her respecting it. So 'Ala-ed-Deen arose, together 
 with his father-in-law, and they w^cnt into the house, after the loads 
 had been brought in. And Zubeydeh said to her father, my father, 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 245 
 
 to whom belong these loads ? He answered her, These loads belong 
 to 'Ala-ed-Deen, thy husband. His father hath sent them to him in 
 the place of those which the Arabs took from him ; and he hath sent 
 to him fifty thousand pieces of gold, and a wrapper of clothes, and a 
 furred robe of sable, and a mule, and a basin and ewer of gold : and 
 as to thy dowry, it is for thee to decide respecting it. Then 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen arose, and, having opened the chest, gave her her dowry. The 
 damsel's cousin said, O my uncle, let 'Ala-ed-Deen divorce my wife 
 for me. But the father of the damsel replied, This is a thing that 
 now can by no means be, as the matrimonial tie is in his hand. And 
 upon this the young man went away, grieved and afflicted, and laid 
 himself down sick in his house, and there he died. 
 
 As to 'Ala-ed-Deen, he went forth to the market, after he had 
 received the loads, and, having procured what he desired of food and 
 drink and clarified butter, made the same regular preparations as on 
 each preceding night, and said to Zubeydeh, See, these lying 
 darweeshes gave us a promise and broke it. She replied, Thou art 
 the son of a Shah-Bandar of the merchants, and yet thy hand was 
 unable to produce a half-dirhem. What then is the case of the poor 
 darweeshes? God (whose name be exalted!), he rejoined, hath 
 rendered us independent of them, and I will not again open the door 
 to them if they come to us. But she said to him, Wherefore, seeing 
 that good fortune happened not unto us but in consequence of their 
 coming; for every night they put for us beneath the prayer-carpet a 
 hundred pieces of gold ? It is absolutely necessary, then, that thou 
 open the door to them if they come. And when the day departed 
 with its brightness, and the night came, they lighted the candles, and 
 'Ala-ed-Deen said to his wife, O Zubeydeh, arise, and perform a piece 
 of music for us. And immediately the door was knocked : so she 
 said to him, Arise, and see who is there. He descended, therefore, 
 and opened the door, and seeing the darweeshes, he said, Oh ! 
 Welcome to the liars! Come up. Accordingly they went up with 
 him, and he seated them, and brought the table of food to them ; 
 and they ate and drank, and enjoyed themselves and were merry. 
 They then said to him, O our master, verily our hearts have been 
 troubled respecting thee. What hath happened to thee with thy 
 father-in-law ? God, he answered them, hath granted us a recom- 
 pense above our desires. And they said to him, By Allah, we were 
 in fear for thee, and nothing prevented our coming to thee again but 
 the inadequacy of our means to procure the money. He replied, 
 
Speedy relief hath come to me from my Lord, and my father hath 
 sent to me fifty thousand pieces of gold, and fifty loads of stuffs, each 
 load of the price of a thousand pieces of gold, and a suit of dress, and 
 a furred robe of sable, and a mule and a slave, and a basin and ewer 
 of gold : a reconciliation hath taken place between me and my father- 
 in-law, and my wife hath become lawful to me ; 56 and praise be to 
 God for this ! 
 
 The Khaleefeh then arose and withdrew ; and the Wezeer Jaafar, 
 inclining towards 'Ala-ed-Deen, said to him, Impose upon thyself the 
 obligation of good manners ; for thou art in the company of the 
 Prince of the Faithful. What have I done, asked 'Ala-ed-Deen, in- 
 consistently with good manners in the company of the Prince of the 
 Faithful, and which of you is the Prince of the Faithful? The 
 AVezeer answered him, He who was speaking to you, and who hath 
 just now retired, is the Prince of the Faithful, Haroon Er-Rasheed, 
 
THE STORY OP 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 247 
 
 and I am the Wezeer Jaafar, and this is Mesroor, the Khaleefeh's 
 executioner, and this is Aboo-Nuwas El-Hasan the son of Hanee. 
 Reflect then with thy reason, O 'Ala-ed-Deen, and consider how 
 many days are required for the journey from Cairo to Baghdad. He 
 replied, Five and forty days. Then said Jaafar, Thy loads were 
 carried off only ten days ago; and how could the news reach thy 
 father, and how could he pack up the other loads for thee, and these 
 loads traverse a space of five and forty days' journey in ten days ? 
 O my master, said 'Ala-ed-Deen, and whence came they unto me? 
 The Wezeer answered him, From the Khaleefeh, the Prince of the 
 Faithful, on account of his excessive affection for thee. And while 
 they were thus conversing, lo, the Khaleefeh approached. So 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen arose, and kissed the ground before him, and said to him, 
 God preserve thee, O Prince of the Faithful, and prolong thy life, and 
 may mankind never be deprived of thy bounty and beneficence ! 
 And the Khaleefeh said, O 'Ala-ed-Deen, let Zubeydeh perform for 
 us a piece of music, as a gratuity for thy safety. 57 She therefore per- 
 formed a piece on the lute, of the most admirable kind, such as would 
 make a rock to shake as with joy, and the sounds of the lute vied 
 with the voice of Daood. 58 They passed the night in the happiest 
 manner until the morning, when the Khaleefeh said to 'Ala-ed-Deen, 
 To-morrow come up to the court. And 'Ala-ed-Deen replied, I hear 
 and obey, O Prince of the Faithful, if it be the will of God, (whose 
 name be exalted ! ), and mayest thou continue in prosperity. 
 
 Then 'Ala-ed-Deen took ten trays, and put on them a costly 
 present ; and on the following day he went up with them to the court. 
 And while the Khaleefeh was sitting upon the throne in the council- 
 chamber, lo, 'Ala-ed-Deen advanced from the door, reciting these two 
 verses : 
 
 May prosperity and glory attend thee each morning, and the nose of thine envier 
 
 be rubbed in the dust ; 
 And may the days never cease to be white unto thee, and the days of him who 
 
 is thine enemy be black ! 
 
 The Khaleefeh replied, Welcome, O 'Ala-ed-Deen. And 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen said, O Prince of the Faithful, verily the Prophet (God bless 
 and save him ! ) accepted a present ; and these ten trays with what is 
 upon them are a present from me unto thee. And the Prince of the 
 Faithful accepted them from him. He gave orders also to invest him 
 with a robe of honour, appointed him Shah Bandar of the merchants, 
 and seated him in the council-chamber. And while 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 
248 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEX ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 was sitting there, lo, his father-in-law, the father of Zubeydeh, ap- 
 proached, and, finding him sitting in his place, and wearing the robe 
 of honour, said to the Prince of the Faithful, O King of the age, 
 wherefore is this person sitting in my place, and wearing this robe of 
 honour? The Khaleefeh answered him, I have appointed him 
 Shah-Bandar of the merchants ; and offices are conferred by in- 
 vestiture, not granted for perpetuity ; and thou art displaced. And 
 he replied, He is of our family and our connexions, and excellent is 
 that which thou hast done, Prince of the Faithful. May God 
 always make the best of us to preside over our affairs ! And how 
 many a small person hath become great ! The Khaleefeh then wrote 
 a diploma for 'Ala-ed-Deen, and gave it to the Walee, and the AValee 
 gave it to the executioner, and he proclaimed in the court, None is 
 Shah-Bandar of the merchants but 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shiimat ; 
 and his word is to be heard, and respect is to be paid to him : he is 
 entitled to honour and reverence and exaltation ! And when the 
 court was dissolved, the Walee descended with the crier before 'Alu- 
 ed-Decn, and the crier proclaimed, None is Shah-Bandar of the 
 merchants but my master 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat ! And they 
 went about with him through the great thoroughfare-streets of 
 Baghdad, the crier repeating the same proclamation. 
 
 On the following morning, therefore, 'Ala-ed-Deen opened a shop 
 for the slave, and seated him in it to sell and buy, while he rode, and 
 took his place in the court of the Khaleefeh. And it happened that 
 lie was sitting in his place one day according to his custom, and as he 
 sat, lo, a person said to the Khaleefeh, Prince of the Faithful, may 
 thy head long survive such-a-one, the boon-companion ; 59 for he hath 
 been admitted to the mercy of God (whose name be exalted ! ), and 
 may thy life be prolonged ! And the Khaleefeh said, Where is 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat ? So he presented himself before the Kha- 
 leefeh, \vho, when he saw him, bestowed upon him a magnificent robe 
 of honour, appointed him his boon-companion, and assigned him a 
 monthly salary of a thousand pieces of gold ; and 'Ala-ed-Deen con- 
 tinued w r ith him as his boon-companion. And it happened again that 
 he was sitting one day in his place according to his custom, in the 
 service of the Khaleefeh, when an Emeer came up into the court with 
 a sword and shield, and said, O Prince of the Faithful, may thy head 
 long survive the Raees es-Sitteen j 60 for he hath died this day. And 
 the Khaleefeh gave orders to bring a robe of honour for 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 Abu-sh-Shamat, and appointed him Races cs-Sitteen in the place of 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 249 
 
 the deceased. The latter had no son nor daughter nor wife : so 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen went down and put his hand upon his wealth ; and the Kha- 
 leefeh said to him, Inter him, and take all that he hath left of wealth 
 and male slaves and female slaves and eunuchs. Then the Khaleefeh 
 shook the handkerchief, 61 and the court dispersed; and : Ala-ed-Deen 
 departed, with the Mukaddam Ahmad Ed-Denef, the Mukaddam of 
 the right division of the Khaleefeh' s guard, attended by his forty 
 followers, by his stirrup, on the right ; and on his left, the Mukaddam 
 Hasan Shooman, the Mukaddam of the left division of the Khaleefeh's 
 guard, together with his forty followers. And 'Ala-ed-Deen looked 
 towards the Mukaddam Hasan Shooman and his followers, and said 
 to them, Be ye intercessors with the Mukaddam Ahmad Ed-Denef, 
 that he may accept me as his son by a covenant before God. And he 
 accepted him, and said to him, I and my forty followers will walk 
 before thee to the court every day. 
 
 After this, 'Ala-ed-Deen continued in the service of the Khaleefeh 
 for many days. And it happened that he descended from the court 
 one day, and went to his house, and, having dismissed Ahrnad Ed- 
 Denef and his attendants, seated himself with his wife Zubeydeh 
 El-'Oodeeyeh, who, after she had lighted the candles, went into an 
 adjoining chamber ; and while he was sitting in his place, he heard a 
 great cry. He therefore arose quickly to see who it was that cried, 
 and beheld, in the person from whom the sound proceeded, the form 
 of his wife Zubeydeh El-'Oodeeyeh, lying extended upon the floor; 
 and he put his hand upon the bosom of the prostrate damsel, and 
 found her dead. Her father's house was opposite to that of 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen, and he (the father) also heard her cry : so he came, and said to 
 her husband, What is the matter, O my master 'Ala-ed-Deen ? The 
 latter replied, May thy head, my father, long survive thy daughter 
 Zubeydeh El-'Oodeeyeh : but now, O my father, we must pay respect 
 to the dead by its burial. And when the following morning came, 
 they interred the damsel's body ; and 'Ala-ed-Deen and the father of 
 Zubeydeh consoled each other. 'Ahi-ed-Deen put on the apparel of 
 mourning, separated himself from the court, and continued with 
 weeping eye and mourning heart. 
 
 So the Khaleefeh said to Jaafar, Wezeer, what is the reason 
 of 'Ala-ed-Deen's absenting himself from the court ? The Wezeer 
 answered him, O Prince of the Faithful, he is mourning for his wife 
 Zubeydeh, and engaged in receiving the visits of consolation for her 
 loss. Upon this the Khaleefeh said, It is incumbent on us to console 
 
 II. 2 K 
 
250 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 him. And the "VVezeer replied, I liear and obey. The Khalecfe'h 
 therefore descended with Jaafar and some of the household attendants, 
 and they mounted, and repaired to the house of 'Ala-ed-Deen. And 
 as he was sitting, lo, the Khaleefeh and the Wezeer and their attend- 
 ants approached him ; whereupon he rose to meet them, and kissed 
 the ground before the Khaleefeh, who said to him, May God com- 
 pensate thee happily ! 'Ala-ed-Deen replied, May God prolong thy 
 life to us, O Prince of the Faithful ! And the Khaleefeh said, O 
 'Ahi-ed-Deen, what is the reason of thy separating thyself from the 
 court ? He answered, My mourning for my wife Zubeydeh, Prince 
 of the Faithful. The Khaleefeh replied, Dispel anxiety from thy 
 mind ; for she hath departed to receive the mercy of God (whose 
 name be exalted !), and mourning will never avail thee aught. But 
 'Ala-ed-Deen said, I will not cease to mourn for her until I die and 
 they bury me by her. The Khaleefeh rejoined, Verily with God is a 
 compensation for every loss, and neither stratagem nor wealth will 
 save one from death. Divinely gifted was he who said, 
 
 Every son of woman, though he bo long preserved, must one day be carried upon 
 
 the curving bier. 62 
 How then shall he on whose cheeks the dust is to be placed find diversion or 
 
 delight in life ? 
 
 And when he had made an end of consoling him, he charged him 
 that he should not separate himself from the court, and returned. 
 
 'Ala-ed-Deen then pass'ed the night, and when the morning came, 
 he mounted, and repaired to the court, and, going into the Khalee- 
 feh, kissed the ground before him. And the Khaleefeh raised 
 himself to him slightly from the throve, 63 welcoming him and salut- 
 ing him ; and after he had desired him to take the place belonging 
 to him, he said to him, 'Ala-ed-Deen, chou art my guest this night. 
 Then the Khaleefeh took him into his palace, and called a slave-girl 
 named Koot-el-Kuloob, 64 and said to her, 'Ala-ed-Deen had a wife 
 whose name was Zubeydeh El-'Oodeeyeh, and she used to divert him 
 from anxiety and grief; but she hath departed to receive the mercy of 
 God (whose name be exalted !), and I desire that thou gratify his ears 
 by a performance on the lute, of the most admirable kind, in order 
 that he may be diverted from anxiety and sorrows. So the damsel 
 performed an admirable piece of music ; and the Khaleefeh said, 
 What sayest thou, O 'Ala-ed-Deen, of the voice of this slave-girl ? 
 Verily, he answered, Zubeydeh had a better voice than hers ; but she 
 is eminently skilled in playing on the lute ; for she would make a rock 
 
THF. STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 251 
 
 to dance. And the Khaleefeh said to him, Hath she pleased thee ? 
 He answered him, She hath pleased me, O-Prince of the Faithful. Then 
 said the Khaleefeh, By my head, and by the tombs of my ancestors, 
 verily she is a present from me unto thee, with her female slaves also. 
 And 'Ala-ed-Deen imagined that the Khaleefeh was jesting with him. 
 But when the Khaleefeh arose in the morning, he went to his slave- 
 girl Koot-el-Kuloob, and said to her, I have made thee a present to 
 'Ala-ed-Deen. And she rejoiced at this ; for she had seen him and 
 loved him. He then went from the pavilion of the palace to the 
 council-chamber, and, having summoned the porters, said to them, 
 Remove the goods of Koot-el-Kuloob, and put her in the litter/ 5 and 
 convey her together with her female slaves to the house of Ala-ed- 
 Deen. So they conveyed her with her female slaves and her goods to 
 the house, and conducted her into the pavilion. And the Khaleefeh 
 remained sitting in the hall of judgment until the close of the day, 
 when the court broke up, and he retired to his pavilion. 
 
252 THE STORY OP 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 Now as to Koot-el-Kuloob, when she had entered the pavilion of 
 'Ala-ed-Deen, with her female slaves, who were forty in number, and 
 the eunuchs also, she said to two of the eunuchs, One of you two shall 
 sit on a chair on the right of the door, and the other shall sit on a chair 
 on the left of it ; and when 'Ala-ed-Deen cometh, kiss his hands, and 
 say to him, Our mistress Koot-el-Kuloob requesteth thy presence in 
 the pavilion ; for the Khaleefeh hath given her to thee, together with 
 her female slaves. And they replied, We hear and obey. They then 
 did as she commanded them. So when 'Ala-ed-Deen arrived, he 
 found the two eunuchs of the Khaleefeh sitting at the door, and he 
 wondered at the event, saying within himself, Perhaps this is not my 
 house ; or if it be, what hath occurred ? And when the eunuchs saw 
 him, they rose to him, and kissed his hands, and said, We are of the 
 dependants of the Khaleefeh, and the slaves of Koot-el-Kuloob, 
 and she saluteth thee, and saith to thee, that the Khaleefeh hath 
 given her to thee, together with her female slaves, and she requesteth 
 thy company. 'Al;i-ed-Deen, however, replied, Say to her, Thou art 
 welcome ; but as long as thou art in his abode, he will riot enter the 
 pavilion in which thou residest ; for it is not fit that what hath 
 belonged to the master should become the property of the servant : 
 and say to her, What was the amount of thy daily expenditure with 
 the Khaleefeh ? They therefore went up to her, and said to her as he 
 desired them ; and she replied, A hundred pieces of gold each day. 
 So he said to himself, I have no need of the Khaleefeh's giving to me 
 Koot-el-Kuloob, that I should expend in this manner upon her; but 
 I have no means of avoiding this. 
 
 She then remained in his abode many days, he assigning to her 
 daily a hundred pieces of gold, until he absented himself one day from 
 the court; whereupon the Khaleefeh said, O Wezeer Jaafar, I gave 
 not Koot-el-Kuloob to 'Alu-ed-Dcen but that she might divert him 
 from mourning for his wife ; and what is the cause of his absenting 
 himself from us ? The Wezeer answered, O Prince of the Faithful, 
 he hath spoken truth who hath said, Whoso findeth his friends, 
 forgetteth his mere acquaintances. The Khaleefeh, however, replied, 
 Probably nothing hath caused him to absent himself from us save 
 some event that rendereth him excusable; but we will visit him. 
 Now, some days before this, 'Ala-ed-Deen had said to the We/eer, I 
 complained to the Khaleefeh of the grief that I suffered for the loss of 
 my wife Zubeydeh El-'Oodeeyeh, and he gave to me Koot-el-Kuloob. 
 And the V ezeer said, If he did not love thee, he had not given her to 
 
THE STORY OP 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHA.MAT. 253 
 
 thee. And hast thou visited her, O 'Ala-ed-Deen ? He answered, 
 No, by Allah ; nor do I know the difference between her height and 
 breadth. 66 And why so ? said the Wezeer. 'Ala-ed-Deen answered, 
 Wezeer, what is suited to the master is not suited to the servant. 
 Then the Khaleefeh and Jaafar disguised themselves, and went to 
 visit 'Ala-ed-Deen ; and they proceeded without stopping until they 
 went into him ; whereupon he recognised them, and arose, and kissed 
 the Khaleefeh/s hands. And when the Khaleefeh saw him, he found 
 the impress of mourning upon his countenance : so he said to him, O 
 'Ala-ed-Deen, what is the cause of this mourning which thou sufferest ? 
 Hast thou riot visited Koot-el-Kuloob ? O Prince of the Faithful, he 
 answered, what is suited to the master is not suited to the servant ; 
 and verily to the present time I have not visited her, nor do I know 
 the difference between her height and her breadth : therefore quit me 
 of her. The Khaleefeh said, I desire an interview with her, that I 
 may ask her respecting her state. And 'Ala-ed-Deen replied, I hear 
 and obey, O Prince of the Faithful. The Khaleefeh therefore went in 
 to her ; and when she beheld him, she arose, and kissed the ground 
 before him ; and he said to her, Hath 'Ala-ed-Deen visited thee ? 
 She answered, No, O Prince of the Faithful : I sent to invite him ; 
 but he would not. And the Khaleefeh gave orders for her return to 
 the palace, and said to 'Ala-ed-Deen, Absent not thyself from us. 
 And he then went back to his palace. 
 
 So 'Ala-ed-Deen passed that night, and in the morning mounted 
 and repaired to the court, and seated himself in the place of the Races 
 es-Sitteen. And the Khaleefeh ordered the Treasurer to give to the 
 Wezcer Jaafar ten thousand pieces of gold. He therefore gave him 
 that sum ; and the Khaleefeh said to the Wezeer, I require of thee 
 that thou go down to the market of the female slaves, and that thou 
 purchase a slave-girl for 'Ala-ed-Deen with the ten thousand pieces of 
 gold. And the Wezeer obeyed the command of the Khaleefeh. He 
 went down, taking with him 'Ala-ed-Deen, and proceeded with him 
 to the market of the female slaves. 
 
 Now it happened this day, that the Walee of Baghdiid, who held 
 his office by the appointment of the Khaleefeh, and whose name was 
 the E nicer Khalid, went down to the market for the purpose of buying 
 a slave-girl for his son ; and the cause was this. He had a wife 
 named Khatoon, 67 and he had, by her, a son of foul aspect, named 
 Habaxlam Baz&zah, 68 who had attained to the age of twenty years and 
 knew not how to ride on horseback. But his father was bold, valiant, 
 
254 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 stout ill defence, one who was practised in horsemanship, and who 
 waded through the seas of night. 69 And his mother said to his father, 
 I desire that we marry him ; for he is now of a fit age. The Erncer, 
 however, replied, He is of foul aspect, of disgusting odour, filthy, 
 hideous : no woman will accept him. So she said, We will buy for 
 him a slave-girl. And it happened, in order to the accomplishment 
 of an event which God (whose name be exalted !) had decreed, that on 
 the same day on winch the Wezeer and 'Ala-ed-Deen went down to 
 the market, the Emeer Khalid, the Walee, went thither also, with his 
 son Habazlam Bazazah. And while they were in the market, lo, 
 there was a slave-girl endowed with beauty and loveliness, and just- 
 ness of stature, in the charge of a broker; and the We/eer said. 
 Consult, broker, respecting a thousand pieces of gold for her. But 
 the broker passed with her by the Walee, and Habazlam Bazazah be- 
 holding her, the sight drew from him a thousand sighs, and lie was 
 enamoured of her, and love of her took entire possession of him : so 
 he said, O my fattier, buy for me this slave-girl. The Walee there- 
 fore called the broker, and asked the slave-girl her name. She 
 answered him, My name is Yasemeen. 70 And the Wjilee said to his 
 son, O my son, if she please thee, bid higher for her. Accordingly 
 he said, broker, what price hath been offered thee ? The broker 
 answered, A thousand pieces of gold. And Habazlam Bazazah said, 
 Let her be mine for a thousand and one pieces of gold. Sx) the broker 
 went to 'Ala-ed-Deen, and he bid for her two thousand ; and every 
 time that the son of the Walee bid one piece of gold more, 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen bid a thousand. And the son of the Walee was enraged at this, 
 and said, O broker, who outbiddeth me m the price of the slave-girl ? 
 The broker answered him, The We/eer Jaafar desireth to buy her for 
 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. And at last 'Ala-ed-Deen bid for her 
 ten thousand pieces of gold ; whereupon her master gave him his 
 assent, and received her price ; and 'Ala-ed-Deen took her, and said to 
 her, I emancipate thee for the sake of God, whose name be exalted ! 
 He then wrote his contract of marriage to her, and repaired with her 
 to the house. 
 
 The broker returned with his brokerage; and the son of the Walee 
 called him, and said to him, Where is the slave-girl? He answered 
 him, 'Ala-ed-Deen hath purchased her for ten thousand pieces of 
 gold, and hath emancipated her, and written his contract of marriage 
 to her. And upon this, the young man was incensed; his sighs were 
 many, and lie returned to the house in a state of infirmity in con- 
 
THE STOKY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU SH-SHAM^T. 255 
 
 sequence of his love for the damsel, and threw himself upon the bed. 
 He abstained from food, and his love and desire were excessive. So 
 when his mother saw him in this state of debility, she said to him, 
 Allah preserve thee, O my son ! What is the cause of thine infirmity ? 
 He answered, Buy me Yaserneen, my mother. And his mother 
 said, When the seller of sweet-scented flowers passeth by, I will buy 
 for thee a pannier full of jasmine. 71 He replied, What I mean is not 
 the jasmine that people smell; bat a slave-girl whose name is Yase- 
 meen, whom my father would not buy for me. So she said to her 
 husband, Why didst thou not buy for him this slave-girl ? He 
 answered her, What is suited to the master is not suited to the 
 servant ; and I Have no power to take her ; for none purchased her 
 but 'Ala-ed-Deen, the Races es-Sitteen. 
 
 In consequence of this, the illness of the young man so increased 
 that he abandoned sleep and food ; and his mother bound her head 
 with the kerchiefs of mourning. And while she was sitting in her 
 house, mourning for her son, lo, an old woman came in to her. She 
 was the mother of Ahmad Kamakim the arch thief; and this arch 
 thief used to break through a middle-wall, and to scale an upper one, 
 and steal the kohl from the eye. 72 He was distinguished by these 
 abominable practices in the beginning of his career. Then they made 
 him chief of the watch, and he stole a sum of money, and was dis- 
 covered in consequence : the Walee came upon him suddenly, and 
 took him and led him before the Khaleefeh, who gave orders to slay 
 him in the place of blood. 73 But he implored the protection of the 
 Wezeer, whose intercession the Khaleefeh never rejected ; and he 
 interceded for him. The Khaleefeh said to him, How is it that thou 
 intercedest for a viper, noxious to mankind ? But he replied, 
 Prince of the Faithful, imprison him ; for he who built the first 
 prison was a wise man, since the prison is the sepulchre of the living, 
 and a cause of the exultation of the enemies over those who are con- 
 fined in it. And upon this the Khaleefeh gave orders to put him in 
 chains, and engraved upon his chains, Appointed to remain until 
 death : they shall not be loosed but on the bench of the washer of 
 the dead. And they put him chained in the prison. 
 
 Now his mother used to frequent the house of the Erneer Khalicl, 
 the Walee, and to go in to her son in the prison, and say to him, Did 
 I not say to thee, Repent of unlawful deeds ? And IK: used to reply, 
 God decreed this to befall me : but, O my mother, when thou goest 
 in to the wife of the Walee, induce her to intercede for me with him. 
 
And when the old woman went in to the Walee's wife, and found her 
 with her head bound with the kerchiefs of mourning, she said to her, 
 Wherefore art thou mourning ? She answered, For the loss of my 
 son Habazlam Bazazah. And the old woman said, Allah preserve thy 
 son ! What hath befallen him ? The wife of the Walee, therefore, 
 related to her the story. And upon this the old woman said, What 
 sayest thou of him who will achieve an extraordinary feat by which 
 thy son shall be preserved ? And what wouldst thou do ? said the 
 Walee's wife. The old woman answered, I have a son named Ahmad 
 Kamakim the arch thief, and he is chained in the prison, and on his 
 chains are engraved the words, Appointed to remain until death. Do 
 thou, therefore, attire thyself in the most magnificent apparel that 
 thou hast, and adorn thyself in the best manner: then present thyself 
 before thy husband with a cheerful and smiling countenance, and say 
 to him, When a man rcquireth aught of his wife, lie importuneth her 
 until he obtaineth it from her ; but if the wife require aught of her 
 husband, he will not perform it for her. And he will say to thee, 
 What is it that thou wantest ? And do thou answer, When thou hast 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 257 
 
 sworn, I will tell thee. But if he swear to thee by his head, or by 
 Allah, say to him, Swear by thy divorce from me. 74 And when he 
 hath sworn to thee by divorce, do thou say to him, Thou hast, in the 
 prison, a Mukaddam named Ahmad Kamakim, and he hath a poor 
 mother, who hath had recourse to me, and urged me to conciliate 
 thee, saying to me, Induce him to intercede for my son with the 
 Khaleefeh, that my son may repent, and thy husband will be recom- 
 pensed. And the Walee's wife replied, I hear and obey. 
 
 Accordingly, when the Walee came to his wife, she addressed him 
 with the words which the old woman had dictated ; arid he swore to 
 her by the oath of divorce. And on the following morning he per- 
 formed the morning-prayers, and, going to the prison, said, Ahmad 
 Kamakin, arch thief, wilt thou repent of thy conduct ? He answered, 
 Verily 1 do turn unto God with repentance, and forsake my sins, and 
 say from my heart and with my tongue, I beg forgiveness of God. 
 So the Walee released him from the prison, and took him with him to 
 the court, still in his chains. Then advancing towards the Khaleefeh, 
 he kissed the ground before him ; whereupon the Khaleefeh said to 
 him, Emeer Khalid, what dost thou desire ? And he led forward 
 Ahmad Kamakim, swinging his arms in the chains as he advanced, 
 before the Khaleefeh, who, on seeing him, said, O Kamakim, art thou 
 still alive ? Prince of the Faithful, he answered, verily the life of 
 the wretch is protracted. And the Khaleefeh said, Emeer Khalid, 
 for what purpose hast thou brought him hither ? The Walee answered 
 him, Verily he hath a poor, desolate mother, who hath no son but 
 him, and she hath had recourse to thy slave, that he should intercede 
 with thee, O Prince of the Faithful, and beg thee to release him from 
 the chains, and he will repent of his former conduct; and do thou 
 appoint him Mukaddam of the watch, as he was at first. Upon this 
 the Khaleefeh said to Ahmad Kamakim, Dost thou repent of thy 
 former conduct ? And he answered him, I do turn unto God with 
 repentance, Prince of the Faithful. And the Khaleefeh gave orders 
 to bring the blacksmith, and he unfastened his chains upon the bench 
 of the washer of the dead. 75 The Khaleefeh then appointed him again 
 Mukaddam of the watch, and charged him to conduct himself well 
 and uprightly. So he kissed the hands of the Khaleefeh, and descended 
 with the robe of his investiture as Mukaddam of the watch, and they 
 proclaimed his appointment. 
 
 After this, when he had remained some time in his office, his mother 
 went in to the wife of the Walee, and the latter said to her, Praise be 
 n. 2 L 
 
:>.-,s THE STOHY OF 'ALi-BD-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 to God who hath released thy son from the prison, and that he is at 
 present in health and safety ! But now, she added, why dost thou 
 not tell him to contrive some means of bringing the damsel Yaserneen 
 to my son Habazlam Bazazah ? The old woman answered, 1 will tell 
 him. So she departed from her, and went in to her son, whom she 
 found intoxicated ; and she said to him, my son, no one was the 
 cause of thy release from the prison but the wife of the Walee, and 
 she desireth of thee that thou contrive some means of killing 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen Abu-sh-Shamat, and that thou bring the damsel Yasemeen to 
 her son Habazlam Bazazah. He replied, This will be the easiest of 
 things. I must contrive some means this night. Now that night was 
 the first of the new month, and it was the custom of the Prince of the 
 Faithful to pass it with the lady Zubeydeh, for the purpose of eman- 
 cipating a female slave or a rnemlook, or with some similar intention. 
 And it was his habit to take off the royal apparel, and to leave the 
 rosary and the dagger and the royal signet, putting them all upon the 
 chair in the sitting-room. The Khaleefeh had also a lamp of gold, to 
 which were attached three jewels disposed upon a gold wire ; and that 
 lamp was dear in his estimation. He charged the eunuchs with the 
 care of the suit of apparel, and the lamp and the rest of the things, 
 and entered the private apartment of the lady Zubeydeh. Then 
 Ahmad Kamakim waited until the night was half spent, and Canopus 
 shone, and mankind slept, and the Creator covered them with the 
 curtain of darkness ; when he drew his sword and took it in his right 
 hand, and took his grappling-instrument in his left, and, approaching 
 the Khaleefeh's sitting-room, fixed his scaling-ladder. He threw his 
 grappling-instrument upon the sitting-roorn, and it caught hold upon 
 it, and he mounted the ladder, ascended to the roof, lifted up the trap- 
 door of the saloon, and descended into it, and found the eunuchs sleep- 
 ing; and he administered some benj 76 to them, took the Khaleefeh's 
 suit of apparel, with the rosary and the dagger, and the handkerchief 
 and the signet, and the lamp that was adorned with jewels, and 
 descended by the same way by which he had made his ascent. He 
 then repaired to the house of 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat, who was 
 this night occupied with the damsel's wedding-festivities, and who had 
 retired to her. And Ahmad Kamakim the arch thief descended into 
 'Ala-ed-Deen's saloon, pulled up a slab of marble in its durka'ah," 
 and, having dug a hole beneath it, deposited there some of the things 
 that he had stolen, retaining the rest in his possession. After this, 
 he cemented the marble slab with gypsum as it was before, and de- 
 
scended by the way he had ascended, and said within himself, I will 
 sit and get drunk, and put the lamp before me, and drink the cup by 
 its light. He then returned to his house. 
 
 Now when the morning came, the Khaleefeh went into the saloon 
 (his sitting-room), and found the eunuchs stupified with benj. So he 
 awoke them, and, putting his hand upon the chair, he found not the 
 suit of apparel nor the signet, nor the rosary nor the dagger, nor the 
 handkerchief nor the lamp ; whereupon he was violently enraged, and 
 put on the apparel of anger, which was a suit of red, 78 and seated him- 
 self in the council-chamber. And the Wezeer advanced, and, having 
 kissed the ground before him, said, May God avert evil from the 
 Prince of the Faithful ! O Wezeer, replied the Khaleefeh, the evil is 
 enormous. And the Wezeer said to him, What hath occurred ? The 
 
260 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMXT. 
 
 Khaleefeh therefore related to him all that had happened. And lo, 
 the Walee came up, with Ahmad Kamakim the arch thief by his 
 stirrup, and found the Khaleefeh in an excessive rage. And when 
 the Khaleefeh saw the Wiilee he said to him, O Eineer Khalid, what 
 is the state of Baghdad ? He answered, Safe and secure. The 
 Khaleefeh replied, Thou liest. How so, Prince of the Faithful ? 
 said the Walee. And the Khaleefeh explained to him the affair, and 
 said to him, I require thee to bring to me all those things. The 
 Walee replied, Prince of the Faithful, the worms of the vinegar are 
 of it and in it ; and a stranger can never obtain access to this place. 
 But the Khaleefeh said, If thou bring me not these things I will put 
 thee to death. So the Walee replied, Before thou slay me, slay 
 Ahmad Kamakim the arch thief ; for none knoweth the robber and 
 the traitor but the Mukaddam of the watch. And upon this, Ahmad 
 Kamakim said to the Khaleefeh, Accept my intercession for the Walee, 
 and I will be responsible to thee for the thief, and I will trace him 
 until I discover him : but give me two persons on the part of the 
 Kadee, and two on the part of the Walee ; for he who did this deed 
 feareth not thee, nor doth he fear the Walee nor anyone else. And 
 the Khaleefeh replied, Thou shalt have what thou hast desired; but 
 the search shall be first made in my palace, and then in the palace of 
 the Wezeer, and in that of the Raees es-Sitteen. Thou hast spoken 
 rightly, O Prince of the Faithful, said Ahmad Kamakim : probably 
 he who did this deed is one who hath been brought up in the palace 
 of the Prince of the Faithful, or in the palace of one of his chief 
 officers. And the Khaleefeh said, By my head, whosoever shall 
 appear to have done this deed shall surely be slam, though he be my 
 son ! 
 
 Then Ahmad Kamakim took what he desired, and received a 
 written order authorizing him to force his entrance into the houses, 
 and to search them. Accordingly he went down, having in his hand 
 a rod, one third of which was of bronze, and one third of copper, and 
 one third of iron ; 79 and he searched the palace of the Khaleefeh, and 
 that of the Wezeer Jaafar, and went about to the houses of the cham- 
 berlains and lieutenants, until he passed by the house of 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 Abu-sh-Shamat. And when 'Ala-ed-Deen heard the clamour before 
 his house, he arose from the presence of Yasemeen his wife, and, de- 
 scending, opened the door; whereupon he found the Walee in the 
 midst of a tumult. So he said to him, What is the matter, O Etneer 
 Khalid ? The Walee therefore related to him the whole affair ; and 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 261 
 
 'Ala-ed-Deen said, Enter my house and search it. The Walee replied, 
 Pardon, my master: thou art surnamed 80 Faithful; and God for- 
 bid that the Faithfnl should become treacherous. But 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 said, My house must be searched. The Walee therefore entered, and 
 the Kadees and the witnesses ; and Ahmad Kamakim, advancing to 
 the durka'ah of the saloon, came to the slab of marble beneath which 
 he had buried the stolen things ; when he let fall the rod upon the 
 slab with violence, and the marble broke, and lo, something shone 
 beneath it ; whereupon the Mukaddam exclaimed, In the name of 
 Allah ! Wonderful is Allah's will ! 8l Through the blessing atten- 
 dant upon our coming, a treasure hath opened unto us ! Let me 
 descend into this hoarding-place, and see what is in it. And the 
 Kaclee and witnesses looked into this place, and found the stolen 
 things. So they wrote a paper stating that they had found the things 
 in the house of 'Ala-ed-Deen, and, after they had put their seals upon 
 the paper, commanded to seize 'Ala-ed-Deen ; and they took his 
 turban from his head, and registered all his wealth and property. 
 
 Ahmad Kamakim the arch thief then seized the damsel Yasemeen, 
 and gave her to his mother, saying to her, Deliver her to Khatoon, 
 the wife of the Walee. The old woman therefore took Yasemeen, and 
 went in with her to the Walee's wife ; and when Habazlarn Bazazah 
 saw her, vigour returned to him, and he arose instantly, rejoicing ex- 
 cessively, and approached her. But she drew a dagger from her 
 girdle, and said to him, Retire from me, or I will kill thee and kill 
 myself ! His mother Khatoon exclaimed, impudent wench, suffer 
 my son to take thee as his wife ! brutish woman, said Yasemeen, 
 by what code is it allowed a woman to marry two husbands ; and 
 what shall admit the dogs to the abode of the lions ? So the young 
 man's desire increased, passion and distraction enfeebled him, and he 
 again relinquished food, and took to the pillow. The wife of the 
 Walee said to Yasemeen, impudent wench, how is it that thou 
 causeth me to sorrow for my son ? Thou shalt surely be punished, 
 and as to 'Ala-ed-Deen, he will inevitably be hanged. But Yasemeen 
 replied, I will die in my love for him. And upon this, the wife of 
 the Walee arose, and pulled off from her the ornaments and silken 
 apparel that were upon her, and, having clad her in drawers of canvass 
 and a shirt of hair-cloth, sent her down into the kitchen, and made 
 her one of the menial slave-girls, and said to her, Thy recompense 
 shall be that thou break up the wood and peel the onions and put the 
 fire under the cooking-pots. Yasemeen replied, I will consent to every 
 
262 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 kind of torment, but I will not consent to see thy son. God, how- 
 ever, moved the hearts of the female slaves with sympathy for her, 
 and they worked in her stead in the kitchen. Such was the case of 
 Yasemeen. 
 
 As to 'Ala-ed-Deen, they took him, together with the articles 
 belonging to the Khaleefeh, and proceeded with him until they 
 arrived at the council-chamber ; and while the Kbaleefeh was sitting 
 upon the throne, lo, they came up with 'Ala-ed-Deen and the stolen 
 things, and the Khaleefeh said, Where did ye find them ? They an- 
 swered him, In the midst of the house of 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh- 
 Shamat. And upon this the Khaleefeh was enraged, and he took the 
 things, but found not among them the lamp : so he said, O 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen, where is the lamp ? He answered, I have not stolen nor known 
 nor seen, nor have I any information. But the Khaleefeh said to him, 
 traitor, how is it that I draw thee near unto me and thou rejectest 
 me, and that I confide in thee and thou actest towards me with 
 treachery ? And he gave orders to hang him. The Walee therefore 
 descended with him, and the crier proclaimed before him, This is the 
 recompense, and the smallest recompense, of him who acteth treach- 
 erously towards the orthodox Khaleefehs ! And the populace 
 collected at the gallows. 
 
 Meanwhile, Ahmad Ed-Denef, the chief of Ala-ed-Deen, was 
 sitting with his followers in a garden. And as they were seated there 
 in joy and happiness, lo, a water-carrier, one of those belonging to the 
 court, came in to them, and, kissing the hand of Ahmad Ed-Denef, 
 said, Mukaddam Ahmad, O Denef, thou art sitting in enjoyment, 
 with the water running beneath thy feet, and hast thou no knowledge 
 of that which hath happened ? So Ahmad Ed-Denef said to him, 
 What is the news ? The water-carrier answered, Verily thy son by a 
 covenant before God, 'Ala-ed-Deen, they have taken down to the 
 gallows. Upon this, Ahmad Ed-Denef said, What stratagem hast 
 thou to propose, Hasan, O Shooman ? He answered, Verily, 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen is innocent, and this is a plot that hath been practised against 
 him by some enemy. And what is thy advice ? said Ahmad Ed- 
 Denef. His deliverance, he answered, shall be accomplished by us, if 
 the Lord will. Then Hasan Shooman repaired to the prison, and 
 said to the jailer, Give us some one who is deserving of being put to 
 death. And he gave him one who was the nearest of men in resem- 
 blance to 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. And he covered his head, 
 and Ahmad Ed-Denef took him, between him and 'Alee Ez-Zeebak 82 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEX ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 263 
 
 of Cairo. They had then brought forward 'Ala-ed-Deen to hang him ; 
 and Ahmad Ed-Denef advanced, and put his foot upon the foot of the 
 executioner. The latter therefore said to him, Give me room, that I 
 may perform my office. And Ahmad Ed-Denef replied, O accursed, 
 take this man, and hang him in the place of 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh- 
 Shdmat; for he is unjustly accused, and we will ransom Isma'eel 
 with the ram. 83 So the executioner took that man, and hanged him 
 instead of 'Ala-ed-Dcen. 
 
 Then Ahmad Ed-Denef, and 'Alee Ez-Zeebak of Cairo, took 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen and repaired with him to the saloon of Ahmad Ed-Denef, and 
 'Ala-ed-Deen said to Ahmad, May God recompense thee well, O rny 
 chief. But Ahmad Ed-Denef said, O 'Aia-ed-Deen, what is this deed 
 that thou hast committed? God have mercy upon him who hath said, 
 Whoso confideth in thee, act not treacherously towards him, though 
 thou be a traitor. The Khaleefeh established thee in his court, 
 and surnamed thee the Trusty and the Faithful. How then couldst 
 thou act towards him in this manner, and take his goods ? 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen replied, By the Most Great IVame, my chief, it was not my 
 deed : I am not guilty of it ; nor do I know who did it. So Ahmad 
 Ed-Denef said, Verily none committed this deed except a manifest 
 enemy, and he who committeth a deed will be requited for it : but, O 
 'Ala-ed-Deen, thou canst no longer reside in Baghdad ; for Kings do 
 not relinquish one object for another, and great is the fatigue of him 
 of whom they are in quest! Whither shall I go, O my chief? said 
 'Ala-ed-Deen. I will conduct thee, answered Ahmad Ed-Denef, to 
 Alexandria; for it is a blessed place, and its threshold is green, 84 and 
 life there is agreeable. To this, 'Ala-ed-Deen replied, I hear and 
 obey, O my chief. And Ahmad Ed-Denef said to Hasan Shooman, 
 Be mindful, and if the Khaleefeh inquire respecting me, answer, He is 
 gone to make a circuit through the provinces. 
 
 He then took 'Ala-ed-Deen, and went forth from Baghdad, and 
 they proceeded without stopping until they arrived at the vineyards 
 and gardens, where they found two Jews, of the Khaleefeh 's collectors 
 of the revenue, mounted on two mules ; and Ahmad Ed-Denef said to 
 them, Give me the fee for watching. On what account, said they, 
 shall we give thee the fee for watching ? He answered them, I am 
 the watchman of this valley. And upon this, each of them gave him 
 a hundred pieces of gold. After which, Ahmad Ed-Denef slew them, 85 
 and, having taken the two mules, he mounted one of them, and 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen mounted the other, and they proceeded to the city of Ayas/ 6 
 
261 THE STORY OF 'AIA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 There they put the mules in a Khan, and passed the night in it ; and 
 when the morning came, 'Ala-ed-Deen sold his mule, and charged the 
 door-keeper with the care of the mule of Ahmad Ed-Denef. Then 
 embarking in a ship in the harbour of Ayas, they proceeded to Alex- 
 andria. And Ahmad Ed-Denef landed with 'Ala-ed-Deen, and they 
 walked to the market ; and lo, a broker was crying for sale a shop, 
 within which was a suite of rooms, announcing the sum bidden to be 
 nine hundred and fifty ; 87 whereupon 'Ala-ed-Deen said, Let them be 
 mine for a thousand. And the seller assented to his offer for the pro- 
 perty, which belonged to the government-treasury ; and Ala-ed-Deen 
 received the keys, and, opening the shop and the suite of rooms, found 
 the latter sjiread with carpets, &c., and furnished with cushions. He 
 saw there also a magazine containing sails and masts and ropes and 
 chests, and leathern bags full of beads and shells, and stirrups and 
 battle-axes and maces and knives and scissors, and other things ; for 
 its owner was a dealer in second-hand goods/ 8 So 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 seated himself in the shop, and Ahmad Ed-Denef said to him, my 
 son, the shop and the suite of rooms and what they contain have 
 become thy property : sit therefore in the shop, and sell and buy; and 
 be not displeased ; for God (whose name be exalted ! ) hath blessed 
 commerce. And he remained with him three days, and on the fourth 
 day he took leave of him, saying to him, Continue in this place until 
 I shall have gone and returned to thee with news of thy safety from 
 the Khaleefeh, and seen who hath practised this plot against thee. 
 He then set forth on his voyage, and proceeded until he arrived at 
 Ayas, when he took the mule from the Khan, and went on to Bagh- 
 dad, and, meeting with Hasan Shooman and his followers, he said to 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHA'MA'T. 265 
 
 him, Hasan, hath the Khaleefeh inquired respecting me ? Xo, an- 
 swered Hasan ; nor hast thou occurred to his mind. 
 
 After this, Ahmad Ed-Denef continued in the service of the Kha- 
 leefeh, and endeavoured to learn news [respecting the case of 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen]. And he saw the Khaleefeh look towards the AVezeer Jaafar 
 one day, saying to him, See, Wezeer, how 'Ala-ed-Deen hath acted 
 towards me. The AVezeer replied, Prince of the Faithful, thou hast 
 recompensed him with hanging, and hath not his recompense been ac- 
 complished upon him ? A\ r ezeer, rejoined the Khaleefeh, I desire 
 to go down and see him hanging. 89 And the AA r ezeer said, Do as thou 
 wilt, Prince of the Faithful. So the Khaleefeh went down, accom- 
 panied by the Wezeer Jaafar, and proceeded to the gallows, and 
 raising his eyes, he saw that the body which was hanging there was 
 not that of 'Ala-ed-Deen, the Trusty and the Faithful. He said 
 therefore, O AA r ezeer, this is not 'Ala-ed-Dccn. How knowest thou, 
 said the AA'ezeer, that it is not he ? The Khaleefeh answered, 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen was short, and this is tall. The AVezeer replied, A person 
 when hanged becomes lengthened. The Khaleefeh then said, 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen was fair, and the face of this person is black. But the 
 AVezeer replied, Knowest thou not, Prince of the Faithful, that 
 death is followed by blackness ? And the Khaleefeh gave orders to 
 take down the body from the gallows; and when they had done so, he 
 found written upon the heels of the corpse the names of the two 
 Sheykhs ; so whereupon he said, O AA'ezeer, 'Ala-ed-Deen was a Sunnee, 
 and this was a llatidee. So the AVezeer replied, Extolled be the per- 
 fection of God, who is omniscient with respect to the things that are 
 hidden from the senses ! AA 7 e know not whether this be 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 or some other person. The Khaleefeh then gave orders to bury the 
 body, and they buried it; and 'Ala-ed-Deen became utterly forgotten. 
 
 Now as to Habazlam Bazazah, the son of the AValee, his passion 
 and desire were protracted until he died ; and they interred him. And 
 as to the damsel Yasemeen, when she had accomplished her time of 
 nine months after her marriage to 'Ala-ed-Deen, she gave birth to a 
 male child, like the moon. The female slaves said to her, AA f hat wilt 
 thou name him ? And she answered, AA^ere his father living, he had 
 named him, but I will name him Asian. 91 She nursed him two suc- 
 cessive years, and weaned him ; and he crawled and walked. And it 
 happened that his mother was occupied with the service of the kitchen 
 one day, and the boy walked forth, and, seeing the stairs of the 
 mak'ad, he went up them. The Emeer Khalid, the AA r alee, was sitting 
 
 II. 2 M 
 

 there ; and he took him and seated him in his lap, extolling the per- 
 fection of his Lord in respect of that which He had created and 
 formed ; and lie looked at his face, and saw that he was the nearest of 
 beings in resemblance to 'Ala-ed-Deen Ahu-sh-Shaimit. Then his 
 mother Yasemeen searched for him, but found him not : so she went 
 up into the mak'ad, and beheld the Emeer Khiilid sitting, with the 
 child playing in his lap ; God having instilled an affection for the boy 
 into the heart of the Emeer. And the child looked aside, and, seeing 
 his mother, would have thrown himself upon her ; but the Emeer 
 Khiilid held him tightly in his lap, and said to his mother, Come 
 hither, slave-girl. And when she had come, he said to her, Whose 
 son is this child ? She answered him, This is my son, and the darling 
 of my heart. And who, said he, is his father? She answered, His 
 father was 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat ; but now he hath become 
 thy son. The Emeer replied, 'Ala-ed-Dcen was a traitor. But she 
 said, Allah preserve him from the imputation of treachery ! Allah 
 forbid it should ever be said that the Faithful was a traitor ! And. he 
 said to her, When this boy groweth up, and saith to thee, Who is my 
 father ? do thou answer him, Thou art the son of the Emeer Khalid, 
 the Walee, the Chief of the Police. So she replied, I hear and obey. 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 267 
 
 Then the Emeer Khalid circumcised the boy, and educated him 
 carefully, and brought him a professor of religion and law, skilled in 
 caligraphy, who taught him the arts of writing and reading ; and he 
 read the Kur-an the first and second times, and recited the whole of 
 it; and as he grew up he used to say to the Emeer Khalid, O my 
 father. The Walee also used to exercise his followers in the horse- 
 course, collect the horsemen, and descend and teach the youth the 
 different modes of battle, and thrusting and striking, until he became 
 accomplished in horsemanship, acquired courage, attained the age of 
 fourteen years, and gained the rank of an Emeer. 
 
 After this it happened that Asian met one day with Ahmad 
 Kamakim the arch thief, and they became companions. And Asian 
 followed him to the vintner's; and lo, Ahmad Kamakim took forth 
 the lamp ornamented with jewels, which he had taken from the things 
 belonging to the Kbaleefeh, and, placing it before him, drank the cup 
 by its light, and intoxicated himself; and Asian said to him, O 
 Mukaddam, give me this lamp. He replied, I cannot give it thee. 
 Why so ? said Asian. He answered, Because lives have been lost on 
 account of it. Asian therefore said, What life hath been lost on ac- 
 count of it ? And Ahmad Kamakim answered him, There was a 
 person who came to us here and was made Races es-Sitteen, named 
 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat, and he died on account of this lamp. 
 And what is his story ? said Asian, and what was the cause of his 
 death ? Thou hadst a brother, answered Ahmad Kamakim, named 
 Haba/lam Bazazah, and when he attained a fit age for marriage, his 
 father desired to purchase for him a slave-girl. Then Ahmad Kama- 
 kim proceeded, and acquainted him with the story from beginning to 
 end, informing him of the illness of Habazlam Bazazah, and of the 
 unmerited fate of 'Ala-ed-Deen. So Asian said within himself, Pro- 
 bably that damsel is Yasemeen, my mother, and none was my father 
 but 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. And the youth Asian went forth 
 from him sorrowful, and he met the Mukaddam Ahmad Ed-Denef, 
 who, when he saw him, exclaimed, Extolled be the perfection of Him 
 unto whom none is like! Upon this, Hasan Shooman (being with 
 him) said to him, O my chief, at what dost thou wonder? He an- 
 swered, At the form of this youth Asian ; for he is the nearest of 
 mankind in resemblance to 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. And he 
 called him, saying, Asian ! And Asian having answered him, he 
 said, What is the name of thy mother? He answered, She is named 
 the slave-girl Yasemeen. So Ahmad Ed-Denef said to him, O Asian. 
 
2(JS THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 be of good heart and cheerful eye ; for none was thy father but 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat : but, my son, go in to thy mother and 
 ask her respecting thy father. And he replied, I hear and obey. 
 Accordingly he went in to his mother and asked her, and she answered 
 him, Thy father is the Emeer Khalid. But he replied, None was my 
 father but 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. And his mother wept, and 
 said to him, Who acquainted thee with this, O my son ? He an- 
 swered, The Mukaddam Ahmad Ed-Denef. She therefore related to 
 him all that had happened, and said to him, my son, the truth hath 
 appeared, and falsity is withdrawn; and know that thy father was 
 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. None, however, reared thee but the 
 Emeer Khalid, and he adopted thee. And now, my son, when 
 thou meetest with the Mukaddam Ahmad Ed-Denef, say to him, 
 my chief, I conjure thee by Allah that thou take my revenge for me 
 upon him who killed my father 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. 
 
 So he went forth from her to the Mukaddam Ahmad Ed-Denef, 
 and kissed his hand; and Ahmad Ed-Denef said, What dost thou 
 want, Asian ? He answered, I have known of a certainty that my 
 father was 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shmat, and I request of thee that 
 thou take my revenge for me upon him who killed him. Ahmad Ed- 
 Denef said, Who killed thy father ? And Asian answered him, 
 Ahmad Karnakim the arch thief. And who, said Ahmad Ed-Denef, 
 acquainted thee with this ? The youth answered, I saw in his pos- 
 session the lamp ornamented with jewels that was lost with the other 
 things belonging to the Khaleefeh, and I said to him, Give me this 
 lamp : but he would not ; and he replied, Lives have been lost on 
 account of this. He told me also that he was the person who de- 
 scended into the chamber of the Khaleefeh and stole the things, and 
 that he deposited them in the house of my father. Upon this, Ahmad 
 Ed-Denef said to him, When thou seest the Emeer Khalid attiring 
 himself in the apparel of war, say to him, Clothe me like thyself. 
 And when thou goest up with him, and performest some feat of valour 
 before the Prince of the Faithful, the Khaleefeh will say to thee, 
 Request of me what thou desirest, O Asian. Thou shalt then reply, I 
 request of thee that thou avenge my father for me upon him who 
 killed him. The Khaleefeh thereupon will say to thee, Thy father is 
 living, and he is the Emeer Khalid, the Walee. And thou shalt reply, 
 Verily my father was 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat ; and Khalid, the 
 Walee, hath a claim upon me only for his having reared me. Acquaint 
 him also with all that hath happened between thee and Ahmad 
 
Kamakim the arch thief ; and say to him, Prince of the Faithful, 
 give orders to search him, and I will produce the lamp from his 
 pocket. So Asian replied, I hear and obey. 
 
 He then went forth, and found the Eineer Khalid preparing him- 
 self to go up to the court of the Khaleefeh, and he said to him, I 
 would that thou clothe me with the apparel of war like thyself, and 
 take me with thee to the Khaleefeh's court. And he clad him, and 
 took him to the court. The Khaleefeh then went down with the 
 troops, without the city, and they pitched the pavilions and tents, and 
 the ranks were formed, and they proceeded to play with the ball and 
 the goff-stick, one of the horsemen striking the ball with the goff- 
 stick, and another striking it back to him. Now there was among 
 the troops a spy, who had been incited to kill the Khaleefeh ; and he 
 took the ball and struck it with the goff-stick, aiming it at the face of 
 the Khaleefeh. But, lo, Asian warded it off from the Khaleefeh, and 
 smote with it him who had impelled it, and it struck him between the 
 shoulders, whereupon he fell on the ground ; and the Khaleefeh ex- 
 claimed, God bless thee, Asian ! They then alighted from the 
 backs of their horses, and seated themselves upon the chairs, and the 
 
270 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 Khaleefeh gave orders to bring the man who had struck the ball at 
 him. And when he was brought before him, he said to him, Who 
 incited thee to do this deed ; and art thou an enemy or a friend ? 
 He answered, I am an enemy, and I was purposing to kill thee. For 
 what reason ? said the Khale.efeh. Art thou not a Muslim ? No, he 
 answered ; but I am a Rafidee. 92 So the Khaleefeh gave the order to 
 put him to death. 
 
 And he said to Asian, Request of me what thou desirest. He 
 therefore replied, I request of thee that thou avenge my father for me 
 upon him who killed him. The Khaleefeh said to him, Thy father is 
 living, and he is standing upon his feet. Who is my father ? said 
 Asian. The Khaleefeh answered him, The Emeer Khalid, the "\Valee. 
 Prince of the Faithful, replied Asian, he is not my father save in 
 having reared me ; and none was my father but 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh- 
 Shamat. The Khaleefeh said, Thy father was a traitor. But Asian 
 replied, Prince of the Faithful, God forbid it should be said that the 
 Faithful was a traitor ! And in what, said he, did he act treacherously 
 towards thee ? The Khaleefeh answered, He stole my suit of apparel, 
 and the things that were with it. Prince of the Faithful, replied 
 Asian, God forbid it should be said that my father was a traitor ! 
 But, O my lord, he added, when thy suit of apparel was lost and re- 
 turned to thee, didst thou see the lamp brought back to thee also ? 
 The Khaleefeh answered, We found it not. Then said Asian, I saw 
 it in the possession of Ahmad Kamakim, and begged it of him ; but 
 he would not give it me ; and he said, Lives have been lost on account 
 of this. And he told me of the illness of Habazlam Bazazah, the son 
 of the Emeer Khalid, and his passion for the damsel Yasemeen, and 
 his own release from the chains, and informed me that he was the 
 person who stole the suit of apparel, and the lamp. Do thou, there- 
 fore, Prince of the Faithful, avenge my father for me upon him who 
 killed him. So the Khaleefeh said, Seize Ahmad Kamakim. And 
 they did so. And he said, Where is the Mukaddam Ahmad Ed- 
 Denef? He therefore came before him; and the Khaleefeh said to 
 him, Search Kamakim. And he put his hands into his pocket, and 
 took forth from it the lamp ornamented with jewels : whereupon the 
 Khaleefeh said, Come hither, traitor. Whence came to thee this 
 lamp ? He answered, I bought it, Prince of the Faithful. But the 
 Khaleefeh said to him, Whence didst thou buy it; and who could 
 possess himself of such a thing, that he should sell it to thee ? They 
 then beat him ; and he confessed that he was the person who stole the 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 271 
 
 suit of apparel, and the lamp. And the Khaleefeh said to him, Where- 
 fore didst thou these deeds, to destroy 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat, 
 who was the Trusty and Faithful ? And he commanded to seize him, 
 and the Walee also. But the Walee said, O Prince of the Faithful, I 
 am injured. Thou gavest me the order to hang him, and I had no 
 knowledge of this plot ; for the thing was contrived by the old woman 
 and Ahmad Kamakim and my wife, and I had no information of it. 
 I implore thy protection, Asian ! So Asian interceded for him 
 with the Khaleefeh. The Prince of the Faithful then said, What hath 
 God done with the mother of this youth ? The Walee answered, She 
 is in my house. And the Khaleefeh said, I command that thou order 
 thy wife to attire her in her apparel and ornaments, and to restore her 
 to her rank of a lady, and that thou take off the seals that are upon 
 the house of 'Ala-ed-Deen, and give to his son his possessions and 
 wealth. The Walee replied, I hear and obey. And he descended, 
 and gave the orders to his wife, who attired Yasemeen in her apparel; 
 and he took off the seals from the house of 'Ala-ed-Deen, and gave 
 Asian the keys. 
 
 The Khaleefeh then said, Request of me what thou desirest, O 
 Asian. Asian replied, I request that thou unite me with my father. 
 And the Khaleefeh wept and said, It is most probable that thy father 
 was the person who was hanged, and died ; but, by my ancestors, 
 whosoever bringeth me the good news of his being alive, I will give 
 him all that he shall require. So upon this, Ahmad Ed-Deuef 
 advanced, and, having kissed the ground before him, said to him, 
 Grant me indemnity, O Prince of the Faithful. The Khaleefeh replied, 
 Thou hast indemnity. And Ahmad Ed-Denef said, I give thee the 
 good news that 'Ala-ed-Deeu Abu-sh-Shamat, the Trusty and Faith- 
 ful, is well, and still Irving. The Khaleefeh said to him, What is it 
 thou assertest ? He answered, By thy head, my words are true ; for 
 I ransomed him by substituting another, from among such as deserved 
 to be put to death, and conducted him to Alexandria, where I opened 
 for him a shop of a dealer in second-hand goods. So the Khaleefeh 
 said, I require thee to bring him. He replied, I hear and obey. And 
 the Khaleefeh commanded to give him ten thousand pieces of gold, 
 and he departed on his way to Alexandria. 
 
 But as to 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat, he sold all that he had 
 in the shop, except a few articles, and a leathern bag. And he shook 
 this bag, and there dropped from it a bead, large enough to fill the 
 hand, attached to a chain of gold, and having five faces, whereon were 
 
272 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEX ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 names and talismans like the tracks made by the creeping of ants. 
 And he rubbed the five faces ; but no one answered him. 93 So he said 
 within himself, Probably it is a bead of onyx. 94 He then hung it up 
 in the shop. And lo, a Consul 95 passed along the street, and, raising 
 his eyes, saw the bead hung up ; whereupon he seated himself at 
 'Ahi-ed-Deen's shop, and said to him, my master, is this bead for 
 sale ? 'Ala-ed-Deen answered him, All that I have is for sale. And 
 the Consul said to him, Wilt thou sell it to me for eighty thousand 
 pieces of gold ? 'Ala-ed-Deen answered, May God open a better way 
 to dispose of it. 913 The Consul then said, Wilt thou sell it for a 
 hundred thousand pieces of gold ? And he answered, I sell it thee 
 for a hundred thousand pieces of gold : so pay me the coin. But the 
 Consul replied, I cannot carry the sum ; and in Alexandria are robbers 
 and sharpers : do thou therefore come with me to my ship, and I will 
 give thee the price, together with a bale of Angora wool, and a bale of 
 satin, and a bale of velvet, and a bale of broad-cloth. So 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 arose, and closed the shop, after he had delivered to him the bead; 
 and he gave the keys to his neighbour, 97 saying to him, Keep these 
 keys in thy charge while I go to the ship with this Consul and bring 
 the price of my bead : but if I remain long away from thee, and the 
 Mukaddam Ahmad Ed-Denef who established me in this place come 
 to thee, give him the keys, and acquaint him with this circumstance. 
 
 He then repaired with the Consul to the ship ; and when he went 
 on board with him, the Consul put him a chair, and seated him upon 
 it, and said, Bring the money. And having paid him the price, and 
 given him the four bales which he had promised him, he said to him, 
 my master, I desire that thou refresh my heart by taking a mouthful 
 of food, or a draught of water. 'Ala-ed-Deen replied, If thou have 
 water, give me to drink. And the Consul ' gave orders to bring 
 sherbet ; and there was benj in it. So when he had drunk, he fell 
 down on his back. And they took away the chairs, and put by the 
 poles, 98 and loosed the sails, and the wind favoured them until they 
 advanced into the midst of the sea. The Captain then gave orders to 
 bring up 'Ahi-ed-Deen from the cabin ; and they brought him up, 
 and made him smell the antidote of benj : so he opened his eyes, and 
 said, Where am I ? The Captain answered, Thou art here with me, 
 bound and in custody; and hadst thou said again, May God open a 
 better way to dispose of it, I had increased my offer to thee. And 
 what, said 'Ala-ed-Deen, is thy Occupation ? He answered, I am a 
 Captain, and I desire to take thee to the beloved of rny heart. 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 273 
 
 Now while they were talking, there appeared a ship, on board of 
 which were forty Muslim merchants ; and the Captain attacked them, 
 fixed the grappling-irons in their ship, and, boarding her with his 
 men, they plundered her and took her, and proceeded with her to the 
 city of Genoa. The Captain with whom 'Ala-ed-Deen was a prisoner 
 then went to a door of a palace, opening upon the sea; 99 and lo, a 
 damsel came down, drawing a litham before her face, and said to him, 
 Hast thou brought the bead and its owner ? He answered her, I 
 have brought both. And she said to him, Give me the bead. So he 
 gave it to her. And after this, he returned to the port, and fired the 
 guns 10 to announce his safe return ; and the King of the city, 
 becoming acquainted with his arrival, came forth to welcome him, and 
 said to him, How hath been thy voyage ? He answered, It hath beeif 
 very prosperous, and I have captured, in the course of it, a ship con- 
 taining forty-one Muslim merchants. The King then said to him, 
 Bring them forth into the port. And he brought them forth in irons, 
 with 'Ala-ed-Deen among them; and the King and the Captain 
 mounted and made the prisoners walk before them until they arrived 
 
 ii. 
 
274 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 at the council-chamber, when they seated themselves, and caused the 
 first of the prisoners to be led forward ; and the King said to him, 
 Whence art thou, O Muslim ? He answered, From Alexandria. And 
 the King said, O executioner, slay him. The executioner therefore 
 struck him with the sword, and severed his head from his body. Thus 
 was done to the second also, and the third, and to their companions 
 successively until forty had been put to death. 'Ala-ed-Deen re- 
 mained to the last : so he drank their sighs, and he said to himself, 
 The mercy of God be on thee, O 'Ala-ed-Deen ! Thy life hath 
 expired ! Then the King said, And from what country art thou ? 
 He answered, From Alexandria. And the King said, executioner, 
 strike off his head ! 
 
 The executioner accordingly raised his hand with the sword, and 
 was about to strike off the head of 'Ala-ed-Deen; but, lo, an old woman, 
 of venerable appearance, advanced before the King ; whereupon he 
 rose to her, to shew her honour; and she said, King, did I not say 
 to thee, When the Captain cometh with the captives remember to 
 supply the convent with a captive or two to serve in the church ? 
 my mother, he answered, would that thou hadst come a little earlier: 
 but take this captive that remaineth. And the old woman, looking 
 towards 'Ala-ed-Deen, said to him, Wilt thou serve in the church, or 
 shall I suffer the King to slay thee ? He answered her, I will serve 
 in the church. So she took him, and, going forth with him from the 
 council-chamber, repaired to the church ; and 'Ala-ed-Decn said to 
 her, What service am I to perform ? She answered, Thou shalt arise 
 early in the morning, and take five mules and repair with them to the 
 forest, cut dry firewood, and "break it up, and bring it to the kitchen 
 of the convent. After that, thou shalt take up the carpets, and sweep 
 and wipe the stone and marble pavements, and spread the carpets 
 again as they were. And thou shalt take half an ardebb 101 of wheat, 
 and sift it, and grind it, and knead it, and make it into mineenehs 102 
 for the convent ; and thou shalt take a weybeh 103 of lentils, and grind 
 them with the hand-mill, and cook them. Then thou shalt fill the 
 tanks of the four fountains with water, and convey it in barrels, and 
 fill three hundred and sixty-six wooden bowls, and crumble the 
 mineenehs into them, and pour into them some of the lentil-porridge, 
 and take in to each monk or patriarch his bowl. To this, 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen replied, Return me to the King and let him slay me ; for death 
 will be easier to me than this work. She said to him, If thou work, 
 and perform the service that is required of thee, thou wilt escape 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 275 
 
 slaughter ; and if them perform it not, I will cause the King to put 
 thee to death. So 'Ala-ed-Deen sat, full of trouble. And there were 
 in the church ten blind and impotent men, who employed him in the 
 most degraded of services. Then the old woman came, and said to 
 him, Wherefore hast thou not done the work in the church ? How 
 many hands have I, said he, that I should be able to accomplish this 
 work ? Thou fool, she replied, I brought thee not but to work. She 
 then said, Take, my son, this rod (and it was of brass, with a cross 
 at the top), and go forth into the great thoroughfare-street ; and when 
 the Walee of the town approaches thee, say to him, I summon thee to 
 the service of the church. And he will not disobey thee. So make 
 him take the wheat, and sift it and grind it, and pass it through the 
 second sieve, and knead it and bake mineenehs of it; and whoever 
 shall disobey thee, beat him, and fear not anyone. So he replied, I 
 hear and obey. He did as she had told him, and ceased not to 
 compel great and small to work, gratuitously, for the space of seven- 
 teen years. 
 
 After this, as he was sitting in the church, lo, the old woman came 
 in to him, and said to him, Go without the convent. Whither shall I 
 go ? said he. She answered him, Pass this night in a tavern, or in 
 the house of one of thy companions. He said, Wherefore dost thou 
 send me away from the church ? And she answered, Hosn-Maryam, 1M 
 the daughter of the King Yoohanna, 105 the King of this city, desireth 
 to pay a visit to the church, and it is not proper that any one should 
 be in her way. So he professed his assent to her order, and rose, 
 pretending to her that he was going out from the church ; but he said 
 within himself, I wonder whether the daughter of the King is like our 
 women, or more beautiful than they. I will not go, therefore, until I 
 have gratified myself by the sight of her. Accordingly he concealed 
 himself in a closet which had a window looking into the church. 
 And while he was looking thence into the church, lo, the daughter of 
 the King approached, and he directed at her a glance which occasioned 
 him a thousand sighs ; for he found her to be like the full moon when 
 it appeareth from behind the clouds ; and with her was a damsel, to 
 whom she was saying, Thou hast cheered me by thy society, O Zubey- 
 deh. And 'Ala-ed-Deen, looking intently at that damsel, saw that 
 she was his wife Zubeydeh El-Oodeeyeh, who (as he supposed) had 
 died. The King's daughter then said to Zubeydeh, Perform for us 
 now a piece of music on the lute. But Zubeydeh replied, I will not 
 perform it for thee until thou accomplish for me my desire, and fulfil 
 
276 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 thy promise to me. What have I promised thee ? said the daughter 
 of the King. Zubeydeh answered her, Thou promisedst me to reunite 
 me with my husband 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat, the Trusty and 
 the Faithful. And the King's daughter said to her, O Zubeydeh, be 
 of good heart and cheerful eye, and perform for us a piece of music as 
 a gratuity for our union with thy husband 'Ala-ed-Deen. So Zubey- 
 deh said, And where is he ? Verily, answered the King's daughter, 
 he is in this closet, hearing our words. And upon this, Zubeydeh 
 performed a piece of music upon the lute, such as would make a rock 
 to dance; and when 'Ala-ed-Deen heard it, longing desires were ex- 
 cited in his heart, and he went forth from the closet, and, rushing upon 
 them, took his wife Zubeydeh El-'Oodeeyeh in his bosom, and she 
 recognised him. 
 
 They embraced each other, and fell down upon the floor senseless ; 
 and the Princess Hosn-Maryam came, and sprinkled some rose-water 
 upon them, and recovered them, and said, God hath united you ! 
 'Ala-ed-Deen replied, Through thy kindness, O my mistress. Then 
 looking towards his wife, he said to her, Thou wast dead, O Zubey- 
 deh, and we buried thee in the grave. How then didst thou return to 
 life, and come unto this palace ? O my master, she answered, I died 
 not ; but one of the '()ns 10G of the Jann carried me off, and flew with 
 me to this place; and as to her whom ye buried, she was aJinneeyeh, 
 who assumed my form and feigned herself dead, and after ye had 
 buried her she clove open the grave and came forth from it, and betook 
 herself to the service of her mistress Hosn-Maryam, the daughter of 
 the King. But as to myself, I was possessed, 107 and, opening my 
 eyes, I saw that I was with Hosn-Maryam, the King's daughter, who 
 is this lady; and I said to her, Wherefore hast thou brought me 
 hither ? She answered me, I am predestined to marry thy husband 
 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. And she said, Wilt thou accept me, 
 O Zubeydeh, as thy fellow-wife ? I answered her, 1 hear and obey, 
 rny mistress: but where, said I, is my husband? And she said, 
 Upon his forehead is written what God hath decreed to happen unto 
 him, 108 and when he hath experienced the accomplishment of events 
 that are written upon his forehead, he cannot fail to come unto this 
 place ; but thou shalt console thyself for his separation by melodious 
 sounds, and playing upon musical instruments, until God unite us 
 with him. So I remained with her during this period, till God united 
 me with thee in this church. 109 
 
 Then Hosn-Maryam looked towards him and said to him, O my 
 
master 'Ala-ed-Deen, wilt thou accept me as a wife, and be to me a 
 husband ? my mistress, said he, I am a Muslim, and thou art a 
 Christian : how then should I marry thee ? 110 But she replied, God 
 forbid that I should be an infidel ! Nay, I am a Muslimeh, and for 
 eighteen years I have held fast the religion of El-Islam, and I am 
 guiltless of following any. religion that is at variance with that of El- 
 Islam. He then said to her, O my mistress, I desire to return to my 
 country. And she replied, Know that I have seen written upon thy 
 forehead events of which thou must experience the accomplishment, 
 and thou shalt attain thy wish. Be rejoiced also, O 'Ala-ecl-Deen, by 
 the information that a son of thine hath made his appearance, whose 
 name is Asian, and he is now sitting in thy place in the court of the 
 Khaleefeh, and hath attained the age of eighteen years. Know, too. 
 
278 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEX ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 that the truth hath appeared, and falsity is withdrawn, and our Lord 
 hath removed the veil of his protection from him who stole the goods 
 of the Khaleefeh : he is Ahmad Kamakim the arch thief and traitor ; 
 and he is now in prison, confined and chained. Know, moreover, that 
 I am the person that sent to thee the bead, and caused it to be put 
 for thee in the leathern bag in the shop ; and I am the person who 
 sent to thee the Captain who brought thee and the bead. And know 
 that this Captain is enamoured of me, and desireth to possess me ; but 
 I would not yield to him, and I said to him, I will not grant thy 
 request unless thou bring to me the bead and its owner. And I gave 
 him a hundred purses, 111 and sent him in the garb of a merchant, 
 though he was a Captain. Then, when they had brought thee 
 forward to slay thee, after the slaughter of the forty captives with 
 whom thou wast, I sent unto thee the old woman. So 'Ala-ed-Deeu 
 said to her, May God recompense thee for me with every blessing ! 
 Then Ilosn-Maryam renewed to him her profession of conversion to 
 El-Islam ; and when he was convinced of the truth of her avowal, he 
 said to her, Acquaint me with the virtue of this bead, and tell me 
 whence it came. 
 
 She replied, This bead is from a charmed treasure, and possesseth 
 five virtues, which will profit us in the time when we need them. My 
 grandmother, the mother of my father, was an enchantress, who solved 
 mysteries, and carried off treasures, and from a treasure this bead 
 came into her possession. And when I had grown up, and attained 
 the age of fourteen years, I read the Gospels and other books, and saw 
 the name of Mohammad (God bless and save him !) in the four books, 
 the Pentateuch and the Gospels and the Psalms and the Furkan : 112 so 
 I believed in Mohammad, and became a Muslimeh, and was convinced 
 in my mind that none is to be worshipped in truth but God (whose 
 name be exalted ! ), and that the Lord of mankind approveth of no faith 
 but that of El-Islam. My grandmother, when she fell sick, made rne 
 a present of this bead, and acquainted me with the five virtues that it 
 possesseth. And before my grandmother died, my father said to her, 
 Perform for me an operation of geomancy, and see the end of my 
 history, and what will happen to me. And she said to him, Verily 
 the remote 113 will die slain by a captive who will come from Alexandria. 
 So my father swore that he would put to death every captive that 
 should come from that city, and acquainted the Captain with his vow, 
 and said to him, Thou must attack the vessels of the Muslims, and 
 whomsoever thou seest from Alexandria, thou must kill him, or bring 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABD-SH-SHAM AT. 279 
 
 him unto me. The Captain therefore complied with his command 
 until he had slain a number as many as the hairs of his head. Then 
 my grandmother perished ; and I performed an operation of geomancy, 
 considering in my mind and saying, I would know who will marry me. 
 And it was revealed to me that none would marry me but one named 
 'Alu-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shtirmit, the Trusty and Faithful ; whereat I 
 wondered ; and I waited until the time came, and I met with thee. 
 
 'Ala-ed-Deen then married her, 114 and said to her, I desire to re- 
 turn to my country. She replied, If the case is so, come with me. 
 And she took him and concealed him in a closet in her palace, and 
 went in to her father, who said to her, my daughter, I am to-day 
 suffering from excessive oppression of spirits : sit therefore that I may 
 intoxicate myself with thee. So she sat ; and he called for the wine- 
 table ; and she proceeded to fill and to hand to him until he became 
 insensible, when she put some benj into his cup, and he drank the 
 cup, and fell down upon his back. She then came to 'Ala-ed-Deen, 
 and, taking him forth from the closet, said to him, Thine adversary is 
 laid prostrate upon his back ; so do with him what thou wilt; for I 
 have intoxicated him, and stupified him with benj. 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 therefore went in, and beheld him stupified with benj ; and he bound 
 his hands tightly behind him, and chained him ; after which he gave 
 him the antidote of benj, and he recovered his senses, and found 'Ala- 
 ed-Dcen and his daughter sitting on his bosom. So he said, my 
 daughter, dost thou act thus towards me ? She replied, If I am thy 
 daughter, embrace El-Islam ; for I have done so. The truth hath 
 become manifest to me, and I have followed it, and falsity I have 
 abandoned ; and I have humbled my face unto God, the Lord of all 
 creatures, and am guiltless of following any religion that is at variance 
 with the religion of El-Islam in this world and in that which is to 
 come. If then thou become a Muslim, we will treat thee with affec- 
 tion and honour; but if not, thy slaughter will be better than thy 
 life. Then 'Ala-ed-Deen also admonished him. But he refused and 
 was obstinate : so 'Ala-ed-Deen drew forth a dagger, and cut his 
 throat from one jugular vein to the other, and, having written a paper 
 stating what had happened, put it upon his forehead. 
 
 After this, they took what was light to carry and great in value, 
 and went forth from the palace, and repaired to the church. She then 
 brought out the bead, and, putting her hand upon one of the faces of 
 it, whereon was engraved a couch, she rubbed it ; and lo, a couch was 
 placed before her. And she mounted with 'Ala-ed-Deen and his wife 
 
280 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 Zubcydch El-'Oodeeyeh upon this couch, and said, By virtue of the 
 names and talismans and scientific characters that are inscribed upon 
 this bead, rise with us, couch ! And the couch rose with them, and 
 conveyed them to a valley wherein was no vegetation. 115 Then she 
 turned up the other four faces of the bead towards the sky, turning 
 downwards the face whereon the couch was figured, and it descended 
 with them to the earth. And she turned round a face upon which 
 was figured the form of a pavilion, and rubbed it, saying, Let a pavi- 
 lion be set up in this valley. Whereupon the pavilion was set up, and 
 they seated themselves in it. Now that valley was a waste, destitute 
 alike of vegetation and water : so she turned four faces of the bead 
 towards the sky, and said, By virtue of the names of God, let trees 
 spring up here, with a large river by their side ! And the trees sprang 
 up immediately, and by them ran a large murmuring river, agitated 
 with waves ; and they performed the ablution with its water, and 
 prayed and drank. The King's daughter then turned round the three 
 faces yet undescribed, until she came to a face upon which was repre- 
 sented a table of viands, and said, By virtue of the names of God, let 
 the table be spread ! And lo, a table was spread, whereon were all 
 kinds of rich viands ; and they ate and drank, and were full of joy and 
 merriment. 
 
 Meanwhile, the King's son went in to wake his father, and found 
 him slain ; and he found also the paper which 'Ala-ed-Deen had 
 written : so he read it, and became acquainted with its contents. He 
 then searched for his sister, and, not finding her, he repaired to the 
 old woman in the church, and inquired of her respecting her; and she 
 answered, Since yesterday I have not seen her. He therefore returned 
 and betook himself to the troops, and said to them, To horse, 
 riders ! And he acquainted them with that which had happened : 
 whereupon they mounted their horses, and proceeded until they drew 
 near to the pavilion, when Hosn-Maryam turned her eyes, and saw 
 that the dust had obstructed the view of the adjacent tracts ; and 
 after it had risen high and spread, it dispersed, and there appeared 
 beneath it her brother and the troops, who were calling out, Whither 
 will ye go when we are behind you ? So the damsel said to 'Alsi-ed- 
 Deen, How is thy stability in war and combat ? And he answered 
 her, As that of the stake in bran ; for I am not acquainted with war 
 and battle, nor with swords and spears. She therefore took forth the 
 bead, and rubbed a face upon which were figured a horse and rider ; 
 and lo, a horseman appeared from the desert, and ceased not to 
 
THE STORY OP 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 281 
 
 smite with the sword among them until he had routed and repelled 
 them. 
 
 The King's daughter then said to 'Ala-ed-Deen, Wilt thou journey 
 to Cairo or to Alexandria ? He answerd, To Alexandria. So they 
 mounted the couch, and after she had pronounced a spell upon it, it 
 conveyed them to Alexandria in the twinkling of an eye ; and 'Ala- 
 ed-Deen, having taken them into a cavern, went to the city, and 
 brought them thence apparel, with which he clad them. He then 
 conducted them to the shop and the suite of rooms, and went forth to 
 procure dinner for them ; and, lo, the Mukaddam Ahmad Ed-Denef 
 approached, arriving from Baghdad. 'Ala-ed-Deen saw him in the 
 street, and he met him with open arms, saluting him and welcoming 
 him ; and Ahmad Ed-Denef gave him good news of his son Asian, 
 telling him that he had attained the age of twenty years; after which, 
 'Ala-ed-Deen related to the Mukaddam all that had happened to him 
 from first to last, and took him to the shop and the suite of rooms ; 
 and Ahmad Ed-Denef wondered extremely at his story. They passed 
 the next night, and when they arose in the morning, 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 sold" the shop, and put its price with the rest of his money. Then 
 Ahmad Ed-Denef informed him that the Khaleefeh desired his pre- 
 sence. Bux 'Ala-ed-Deen replied, I am going to Cairo, to salute my 
 father and mother and the other members of my family. So they 
 mounted the couch, all together, and repaired to the fortunate city of 
 Cairo, and alighted in the Darb el-Asfar; 116 for the house of 'Ala-ed- 
 Deen's family was in that quarter ; and he knocked at the door ; 
 whereupon his mother said, Who is at the door after the loss of the 
 beloved ? He answered her, I am 'Ala-ed-Deeu. And on hearing 
 this, the family came down and embraced him. He then sent his two 
 wives, and the property that he had brought with him, into the house, 
 and entered himself, accompanied by Ahmad Ed-Denef, and they 
 rested three days ; after which, he desired to depart to Baghdad. His 
 father said to him, O my son, remain with me. But he replied, I 
 cannot endure the separation from my son Asian. And he took his 
 father and his mother with him, and they journeyed to Baghdad. 
 
 Then Ahmad Ed-Denef went in to the Khaleefeh, and imparted to 
 him the happy news of the arrival of 'Ala-ed-Deen ; on hearing which, 
 the Khaleefeh went forth to meet him, taking with him his son 
 Asian, and they met and embraced him. And the Khaleefeh gave 
 orders to bring Ahmad Kamakim, the arch thief, and, when he came 
 before him, said, O 'Ala-ed-Deen, avenge thyself upon thine adversary. 
 IT. 2 o 
 
282 
 
 THE STORY OF 'ALA-ED-DEEN ABU-SH-SHAMAT. 
 
 So 'Ala-ed-Deen drew his sword, and, smiting Ahmad Kamakim, 
 severed his head. The Khaleefeh then made a magnificent entertain- 
 ment for 'Ala-ed-Deen, after he had summoned the Kadees and 
 witnesses, and written 'Ala-ed-Deen's contract of marriage to Hosn- 
 Maryam. He also appointed his son Asian to the office of Raees 
 es-Sitteen, and bestowed upon both of them sumptuous robes of 
 honour ; and they passed a most comfortable and agreeable life, until 
 they were visited by the terminator of delights, and the separator of 
 companions. 117 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 NOTE 1. This story is in the edition of Breslau, as well as in that of Cairo, frour 
 which I translate it. In the former, it occupies the next place to the story of Neameh 
 and Noam. It appears to be comprised also in the MS; of Von Hammer; but with 
 a title not exactly the same; for in a list of the contents of his MS., prefixed to 
 Trebutien's " Contes Inedits des Mille et une Nuits," I find, in the place correspond- 
 ing with that in which the story of 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat occurs in the Cairo 
 edition, a tale entitled "Aladdin le pere des Envieux," with the words ." Traduit par 
 Caussin '' added. Caussin's translation of this story, I believe, forms part of an edition 
 of which I have in vain endeavoured to procure a copy, published in Paris, by Lenor- 
 mant, in 1806. 
 
 In presenting the story of 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat to the English reader, I 
 may give my opinion that it is a purely Arab tale, of Egyptian character, either 
 wholly composed, or in some parts altered, since the conquest of Egypt by the Turkish 
 Sultan Seleem ; faithfully describing Arab manners and customs, as existing during the 
 last three or four centuries. 
 
 NOTE 2. That Cairo is here meant, as usual, by " Misr " (vulg. " Masr "), is proved 
 afterwards, towards the close of the story, by the mention of a street. 
 
 NOTE 3. " Shah-Bandar " is a title given to the chief or general syndic, of the 
 merchants of Cairo ; but in some parts of the East it is applied to the receiver- general 
 of duties or tribute. 
 
 NOTE 4. It is a duty of the Muslim to perform a lustration of the whole person 
 before the congregational prayers of Friday. 
 
 NOTE 5. To utter an ejaculation of this kind on looking at his face in a glass is a 
 usual custom of a Muslim ; but 1 believe it is more common to say in this case, " O 
 God, bless our lord Mohammad !'' a person being often fearful even of the influence 
 of his own admiring glance; for these words are generally used to counteract the 
 influence of the evil eye, which is always dreaded when a look of admiration is 
 cast. When a person is about to leave the bath, the barber's glass is presented to him, 
 and upon it he places the money that he has to pay. 
 
jsi NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 NOTE 6. The allusion here is to Death, or the Angel of Death. 
 
 NOTE 7. This custom prevails in the present day among the women. They say to 
 the infant, " In the name of the Prophet and of his cousin (the son of his paternal 
 uncle) 'Alee I" 1 The object is, to preserve the child from the influence of the Jinn. 
 
 NOTE 8. This, also, is done with the view of preventing any mischief from the 
 Jinn. The "tekbeer" is the exclamation of "God is most great!" and the " adan,'' 
 or " adhan/' the call to prayer. See Note 24 to Chapter iv. 
 
 NOTE 9. On the Customs observed on the Seventh Day after the Birth of a Child. 
 The messes which are distributed after the birth of a child I have described in my 
 work on the Modern Egyptians, vol. ii. ch. xiv. They are generally prepared on the 
 fourth or fifth day after the birth. In the work above mentioned, in the same chapter, 
 I have described the customs observed on the seventh day, and I must here repeat, 
 nearly in the same words, what I have there said on this subject.- In the families of 
 the higher classes, professional female singers are hired to entertain a party of ladies, 
 friends of the infant's mother, who visit her on this occasion, in the hareem ; or a 
 concert of instrumental music, or a recitation of the whole of the Kur-an, is performed 
 below by men. The mother, attended by the midwife, being seated on a chair 2 which 
 is the property of the latter, the child is brought, wrapped in a handsome shawl, or 
 something costly ; and, to accustom it to noise, that it may not* be frightened after- 
 wards by the music, and other sounds of mirth, one of the women takes a brass mortar, 
 and strikes it repeatedly with the pestle, as if pounding. After this, the child is put 
 into a sieve, and shaken; it being supposed that this operation is beneficial to its 
 stomach. Next, it is carried through all the apartments of the hareem, accompanied 
 by several women or girls; each of whom bears a number of wax candles, sometimes of 
 various colours, cut in two, lighted, and stuck into small lumps of paste of henna, upon a 
 small round tray. At the same time, the midwife, or another female, sprinkles, upon the 
 floor of each room, a mixture of salt with seed of the fennel-flower, or salt alone, which 
 has been placed during the preceding night at the infant's head : saying, as she does this, 
 " The salt be in the eye of the person who doth not bless the Prophet !" or " The foul salt 
 be in the eye of the envier !" This ceremony of the sprinkling of salt is considered a 
 preservative, for the child and mother, from the evil eye ; and each person present 
 should say, " O God, bless our lord Mohammad !" 3 The child, wrapped up, and placed 
 on a fine mattress, which is sometimes laid on a silver tray, is shewn to each of the 
 women present, who looks at his face, says, "O God, bless our lord Mohammad! G.id 
 give thee long life !" &c., and usually puts an embroidered handkerchief, with a gold 
 coin if pretty or old the more esteemed) tied up in one of the corners, on the child's 
 head, or by its side. This giving of handkerchiefs and gold is considered as imposing ;i 
 debt, to be repaid by the mother, if the donor should give her the same occasion; or 
 as the discharge of a debt for a similar offering. The coins are generally used, for 
 some years, to decorate the head-dress of the child. After these presents for the child, 
 others are given for the midwife. During the night before the seventh-day's festivity, 
 a water-bottle full of water (a dorak in the case of a boy, and a knlleh in that of a 
 gir! 4 \ with an embroidered handkerchief tied round the neck, is placed at the child's 
 head while it sleeps. This, with the water it contains, the midwife takes, and puts 
 upon a tray, and presents it to each of the women, who put presents of money for her 
 into the tray In the evening, the husband generally entertains a party of his 
 friends. 
 
 1 Marginal note by my abeykh. 4 The dorak has a Ion?, narrow neck: the 
 
 2 This is used t'or the purpose mentioned in kulleh, a short, wide one. The tail-piece to the 
 Exodus i. 16. Notes to Chapter vi. of this work shews the most 
 
 s See above, Note 5 in the present scries. common form of the latter. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 285 
 
 NOTE 10. That is, Where is the new-born child, which is God's deposite ? For 
 he belongeth to God, who hath intrusted him to us ; and when He desireth to take 
 him, He taketli him by death. The poet saith, 
 
 Wealth and families are nought but deposites, and a day must come when deposites shall be 
 restored. 5 
 
 NOTE 11. The daughter is named by her mother ; and the son, by his father. 6 
 
 NOTE 12. " Ala-ed-Deen " signifies "the Nobility of the Religion;'' and " Abu-sh- 
 Shamat," "Having Moles" (literally, "Father of the Moles"). The former 
 is changed by the vulgar into " 'Alay-ed-Deen," and is generally written by us 
 "Aladdin." The custom of deriving a name from an omen is still general among the 
 Bedawees. 
 
 NOTE 13. Many a house in Cairo lias a trap-door in some apartment (often in a 
 cupboard), opening into a secret chamber, or into a passage by which the tenant may 
 make his escape in any case of danger. 
 
 NOTE 14. When a youth has attained to years of discretion, and begun to say his 
 prayers and to acquit himself of other religious duties, he is believed to be less obnoxious 
 to the influence of the eye : still more so, when his beard is grown ; for then he is less 
 likely to be admired, or envied, or coveted. Many Arabs preserve their children from 
 the public gaze with a care almost as ridiculous as that of which 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh- 
 Shamat is said to have been the object. On this subject I have made some remarks in 
 Note 24 to Chapter iv. 
 
 NOTE 15. When a person admires a child or any other object, he should say, " In 
 the name of Allah !" or utter some similar words, as Ma shaa-llah !" (explained in 
 Note 81 in this series). Such expressions are believed to prevent and to counteract the 
 influence of the eye. 
 
 NOTE 16. These are metaphorical expressions, alluding to the careful manner in 
 which the boy had been reared, and to his gentility/ 
 
 NOTE 17. See Note 20 to Chapter viii. 
 
 NOTE 18. Since Egypt has been under the dominion of foreign princes, the great 
 officers of the state have generally been, almost exclusively, foreigners. On this 
 account, the Shah-Bandar of the merchants is here called " Sultan of the Sons of the 
 Arabs," being the chief man of substance among them. The term "'Arab" is now 
 given only to the Bedawees, or Arabs of the desert : the townspeople and villagers call 
 themselves " Owlad el-'Arab," or " Sons of the Arabs." 
 
 NOTE 19. This is a saying of the Prophet. 
 
 NOTE 20. The " Nakeeb " of a sook, or market, is an officer under its Sheykh, or 
 syndic. The Shah-Bandar, being chief of all the merchants, was of course chief of the 
 market in which he had his shop. 
 
 NOTE 21. It is customary to recite the Fatehah (or opening chapter of the 
 Kur-an) on making for the first time, and on renewing, a profession of submission 
 to the authority of another, as well as in concluding a bargain, and on various other 
 occasions. 
 
 NOTE 22. "Simsiin,'' here used as a surname, is the name of the grain which we 
 call sesame. 
 
 NOTE 23. " 'Aseedeh" is a kind of custard, made with boiling water, flour, clarilud 
 butter, and honey. 
 
 ; ' Marginal note by my sheykh. 6 Idtm. ' Idem. 
 
286 NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 NOTE 24. See Note 16 to Chapter x. 
 
 NOTE 25. The word which I render " pavilion " is " kasr." This word is used to 
 signify a palace; a mansion; and a pavilion (or a piece of building, or set of apart- 
 ments, isolated, or only connected with another piece of building on one side; or an 
 upper room, generally isolated, or nearly so): the same as the Turkish "kyiishk," 
 generally called by us " kiosk " and " kiosque." The term " pavilion," when used in 
 this work, except when it evidently signifies " a large tent," may be understood in 
 either of the senses in which it is explained above. 
 
 NOTE 26. Among the Arabs, it is very seldom that a beardless youth, in genteel 
 society, can be persuaded to eat with men, unless with those who are much inferior to 
 him in rank. That this is a result of an education which inculcates an affectionate 
 respect for elders, and superiors in station, is evident to every person familiar with 
 Muslim society ; for he will often hear a servant address his master by the appellation 
 of father. In the tale upon which I am commenting, a servant of 'Ala-ed-Deen 
 becomes his adopted father. 'Ala-ed-Deen disobeys him on one occasion; but his 
 doing so is an exception to a general rule. The kind of respect shewn by Muslims 
 to parents and other elders, and to masters, excited my high admiration during my 
 residence among the Arabs. This respect of servants for masters is attributable in a 
 great measure to the occasional presents which the former receive from the latter. 
 Mr. Urquhart has well observed, " The habit of irregular remuneration, in lieu of 
 fixed, invariable, and actionable wages, produces a difference of mental habits, as regards 
 servants and masters, that I am sure is not to be understood through description ; and 
 yet every day you see Europeans, those men who affect such comprehensive views and 
 such powers of logic, reviling the habit of giving presents, not perceiving that this 
 practice leads to the preservation of those interesting domestic relations which I conceive 
 to be the greatest lesson, political and moral, that is presented to us by the Eastern 
 world." 8 The Muslim servant generally feels far greater respect for his master, though 
 he often shews less, than the European. 
 
 NOTE 27. Here, in the original, is introduced a character of a disgusting descrip- 
 tion, and unnecessary to the carrying on of the story. 
 
 NOTE 28. The appellation of " 'Akkam " is here applied to a person who ties and 
 loads camels and other beasts of burden. It is also often applied to one who has the 
 charge of the tents and baggage. 
 
 NOTE 29. The meaning is, This is not my time ; for I am grown old. 9 
 
 NOTE 30. " Mukaddam " signifies " one placed before, or over, others ; a superior, 
 chief, or overseer." 
 
 NOTE 31. The kind of "covering" here mentioned is placed over the oblong 
 monument that is erected over the grave of a saint ; and is like the covering of the 
 Kaabeh, at Mekkeh. 10 'Abd-El-Kadir El-Geelanee was a very femous saint, and 
 founder of a celebrated order of Darweeshes called the Kaclireeyeh, who died at 
 Baghdad, in the year of the Flight 561 (A.D. 1165-6). The Shah-Bandar is said to have 
 bought a covering for him because his son was going to Baghdad, where this saint is 
 buried; and by carrying with him this offering, he might hope to obtain the saint's 
 favour and intercession. A new covering for the Kaabeh is sent from Cairo every 
 year with the great caravan of pilgrims : it is carried in procession through that city, 
 and is believed to be one of the chief means of procuring safety to the attendants 
 during their arduous and dangerous journey. 11 The reader needs not to be informed 
 
 ? Spirit of the East, vol. ii. \\ 402. !I For an account of the covering of the Kaabeh, 
 
 9 Marginal note by my sheykh. and of the departure and return of the pilgrini- 
 
 10 It is generally ornamented with one or more caravan, at Cairo, see the Modern Egyptians, 
 inscriptions from the Kur-iin. vol. ii. chaps, xi. and xii. ED 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 287 
 
 that camels are the beasts generally employed in Arabian countries to carry the 
 baggage on long journeys : but mules are preferred by the rich, when camels are not 
 necessary. 
 
 NOTE 32. The festival here alluded to is similar to those periodical festivals which 
 I have described in Note 63 to Chapter iii., and further illustrated by -Note 37 to 
 Chapter viii. 
 
 NOTE 33. The " Rafidees" are the Mohammadan sect of the Shiya'ees, or Shee'ees; 
 the followers of 'Alee ; who are regarded by the Sunnees as heretics. The principal 
 point wherein they differ from the Sunnees is their denying the right of the first three 
 Khaleefehs, Aboo-Bekr, 'Omar, and 'Othman ; asserting the only legitimate successors 
 of the Prophet to be 'Alee and his descendants, called by them their Imams ; the 
 twelfth and last of whom (El-Mahdee) they believe to be still living, though invisible. 
 The Shiya'ee faith became the national religion of Persia about the commencement of 
 the sixteenth century of our era, under the Shah Isma'eel, the founder of the Safee 
 Dynasty ; and since that period (a period with which the character of the story of 
 'Ala-ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat appears best to agree \ the adjacent territories of Sunnee 
 princes and governors have always been coveted, and often invaded, by the Rafidees. 
 The first war between the 'Osmanlee Sunnees under the Sultan Seleem, and the 
 Persian Shiya'ees under the Shah above mentioned, occasioned the conquest of Syria 
 and Egypt by the former monarch ; for though the inhabitants of these countries were 
 Sunnees, they were in alliance with the Shah Isma'eel. 
 
 NOTE 34. A Sakka is a water-carrier, or a person who has the charge of supplying 
 water. 
 
 NOTE 35. "0 thy blessing!" is an invocation for supernatural aid, which is 
 generally signified by the word " blessing " when it is employed with reference to a 
 saint. The hand afterwards mentioned is to be understood as that of Seyyidee 'Abd- 
 El-Kadir, or as the result of a miracle performed by him. 
 
 NOTE 36. This prayer is addressed not to Seyyidee 'Abd-El-Kadir, but to God. 
 
 NOTE 37. The Seyyideh Nefeeseh, who was the great-granddaughter of the Imam 
 El-Hasan, was a very celebrated saint, and many miracles are related to have been 
 performed by her. Her tomb, which is greatly venerated, is in a mosque in a southern 
 suburb of Cairo. [She died in the year of the Flight 208. ED.] 
 
 NOTE 38. The meaning is, Thou wast always swearing by divorce, as though it 
 were thy mus-haf (or copy of the Kur-an) in which thou wast constantly reading. 13 
 
 NOTE 39. "El-'Oodeeyeh" is derived from " 'ood,'' which signifies "wood," and 
 particularly "aloes- wood," and also "a lute," &c. As Zubeydeh was very skilful in 
 playing on the lute, I think that ' El-'Oodeeyeh " here signifies " the Lute-player." 
 My sheykh has remarked, in a marginal note, " Probably she was so called because 
 her odour was sweet, like that of aloes-wood ; " but I find the term " 'oodeeyeh " 
 used to signify " a female lute-player " in the Breslau edition of the Thousand and 
 One Nights (for instance, in vol. vii. p. 205,) instead of the more proper term 
 " 'Owwadeh." 
 
 NOTE 40. I have before mentioned that when a Muslim has divorced his wife 
 three times, or by a triple divorce expressed in one sentence, he cannot take her again, 
 unless by her own consent and by a new contract, and after another man has 
 consummated a marriage with her and divorced her. When a man is employed to do 
 this, he is called a "mustahall" or "mustahill," or a "mohallil:" but such a 
 proceeding is regarded by all respectable persons as disgraceful, and is clearly contrary 
 
 13 Marginal note by my sheykh. 
 
288 NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 to the spirit of the law, which has ordained this consequence of a third or triple 
 divorce as a check upon the husband, and as an indulgence to the wife. As I am not 
 desirous of expatiating here on this subject, if any reader require further information 
 respecting it, I beg to refer him to my work on the Modern Egyptians, vol. i. ch. vi. 
 I have there mentioned a plan which is sometimes pursued to defeat the mustahall if 
 he refuses to divorce. The wife also may withhold her consent to a reunion with her 
 former husband, unless she is not of age, which we must understand to have been 
 Zubeydeh's case. A girl who is not of age may be married by her father or other 
 lawful guardian to whom he pleases. 
 
 NOTE 41. This impudent avowal of the design is contrary to the law; but there 
 are doubtless Kadees who would listen to such a proposition. The ten thousand 
 pieces of gold which 'Ala-ed-Deen was required to pay in case of his not divorcing, we 
 are to understand as constituting that portion of the dowry which is usually paid 
 before concluding the marriage-contract; for the remainder is not paid but on the 
 occasion of a divorce, or from the property which the husband leaves at his death. 
 But if 'Ala-ed-Deen divorced his wife at the time promised, no dowry was to be 
 required of him. 
 
 NOTE 42. The Prophet denied the communication of diseases from one person to 
 another ; but said, " Run from the person afflicted with elephantiasis as you would from 
 a tiger :'' yet he himself took hold of the hand of a person who had that disease, and 
 put it into a dish out of which he was eating, and said, " I depend upon God." 13 On 
 this subject, see Note 5 to Chapter i. 
 
 NOTE 43. This is the thirty -sixth Chapter of the Kur-an. It is one which is very 
 frequently recited. 
 
 NOTE 44. By "the family of Daood" is meant Daood (or David) himself, agree- 
 ably with a common form of speech. 14 On David's recitation of the Psalms, see Note 
 18 to Chapter i. 
 
 NOTE 45. This expression, according to my sheykh, alludes to the appearance of 
 the veins in the midst of the wrist, dividing it as the spine does the back. 
 
 NOTE 46. The raven is regarded as an omen of separation. 
 
 NOTE 47. In the original, "nusf faddab." The same coin is also called simply 
 "nusf," and vulgarly "miss." See Note 17 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 48. The " Shahids " of a Kadee's court are officers whose business is to hear 
 and write the statements of the cases to be submitted for judgment. The same term 
 is also applied to witnesses. 
 
 NOTE 49. " Efendee " is a Turkish title, given to judges, ministers of religion, 
 learned men, writers, and others. It is here improperly applied to the Kadee of an 
 Arabian city at a period when that city had not become subject to Turkish dominion. 
 
 NOTE 50. In the original, the chords are said to have called out, O Daood ! See 
 above, Note 44. 
 
 NOTE 51. It is a common custom of Arab musicians to commence a piece slowly, 
 and afterwards, as if becoming excited, to perform with a rapid measure. The word 
 which I have rendered " the more rapid part " (agreeably with an explanation given 
 by my sheykh) also signifies " trilling " or " quavering." 
 
 NOTE 52. By the term "lyric songs" I render the Arabic word "muweshshahat," 
 plural of " muweshshah." This word is used, it appears, by the Persians, to signify an 
 acrostic ; but I have heard, and possess copies of, many Arabic poems so entitled, none 
 
 MishUt el-Masdbeeh, vol. ii. pp. 381 et seq. i* Marginal note by my sheykh. 
 
NOTES TO CHAFFER ELEVENTH. 289 
 
 of which is of this character : they are poems in stanzas ; all the stanzas of the same 
 muweshshah agreeing in the last rhyme, or the last two or more rhymes. In many 
 instances, all the stanzas of the same poem end with two pairs of hemistichs rhyming 
 alternately ; the preceding hemistichs of each stanza also rhyming alternately, hut the 
 rhymes of these being different in different stanzas. This kind of poem is generally 
 sung. 
 
 NOTE 53. Aboo-Nuwas was a celebrated poet and wit, who stood high in the 
 favour of Haroon Er-Rasheed. He was surnamed " Aboo-Nuwas " from his having two 
 long locks of hair which hung down upon his shoulders. He died (according to 
 Abu-1-Fida) in the year of the Flight 195, aged fifty-nine years. 
 
 NOTE 54. So in the Breslau edition, both here and where the dowry is next 
 mentioned. In the Cairo edition, in both cases, fifty thousand. 
 
 NOTE 55. "Seleem" (generally written by European authors "Selim") signifies 
 "sound," "safe," "entire," &c. The inappropriate style of this letter seems to be 
 intentional. 
 
 NOTE 56. Until he had paid that portion of the dowry which he had agreed 
 to give in case of his refusing to divorce, his marriage was not lawful. 
 
 . NOTE 57. It often happens in Cairo (as my sheykh mentions in a marginal note), 
 that when a person arrives from a journey, his friends say to him, " Make an entertain- 
 ment for us as a gratuity for thy safety " (halawet es-selameh) : so also when a person 
 recovers from a sickness, and on other occasions. I was often required there to comply 
 with this custom. 
 
 NOTE 58. What I have said in the fiftieth note of the present series applies also to 
 this passage. 
 
 NOTE 59. "May thy head long survive (or, literally, May thy head [long] live 
 with respect to, or in comparison of,) such-a-one !" is a common form of speech used in 
 announcing a person's death ; for, in communicating any bad news, it is a general 
 custom among the Arabs to greet the individual addressed with some kind of saluta- 
 tion. 15 It is meant that the person here mentioned was one of the Khaleefeh's 
 appointed boon-companions. I use the term " boon-companion " for the Arabic 
 "nedeem," which properly signifies "a cup-companion," but is employed in a more 
 extended sense, applied to one who is a regular associate on occasions of conviviality or 
 diversion ; generally a poet, wit, musician, or any other who is an amusing companion, 
 or a favourite. 
 
 NOTE 60. "Races es-Sitteen" signifies "Chief of the Sixty;" and I believe it is 
 improperly used here as the title of some great officer of the state. In the Breslau 
 edition we find, in its place, a title which appears to me still more improper, namely, 
 "Bash es-Sifcteen Sultan," or "Chief of the Sixty Sultans;" and the palaces of 
 the Sixty Sultans are afterwards mentioned. " Raees es-Sitteen " seems to be of 
 similar import to " Emeer 'Asharah," " Emeer Miah," &c., which we meet with in 
 the histories of the Memlook Sultans, signifying "Emeer of Ten Memlooks," 
 
 " of a Hundred Memlooks," &c. ; the chief of hired soldiers being commonly 
 
 called "Mukaddam." 16 
 
 NOTE 61. Shaking the handkerchief is a common signal for the dispersion of an 
 assembly. 
 
 NOTE 62. The poet calls the bier "curving" (literally "humpbacked") "in allusion 
 
 15 See, on this subject, a note at the foot of page '" See Quatremere, Histoire des Sultans Mam- 
 213 in this volume. louks, vol. i. p. 173. 
 
 ii. 2 P 
 
290 NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 to the bier of the Arabs [i. e. of the Bedawees] ; for they used to carry the (lead 
 upon cords interwoven between two poles, so that the corpse lay depressed within 
 them." 17 
 
 NOTE 63. The Khaleefeh's making this motion to welcome 'Ala-ed-Deen was a 
 proof of most extraordinary condescension. 
 
 NOTE 64. See Note 21 to Chapter vii. 
 
 NOTE 65. The kind of litter here mentioned is the takht-rawan, described in 
 Note 8 to Chapter via. 
 
 NOTE 66. From this we must infer, that when 'Ala-ed-Deen heard Koot-el-Kuloob 
 perform on the lute in the Khaleefeh's palace, she was concealed from him by a curtain, 
 or a screen of lattice-work, in accordance with usual custom. 
 
 NOTE 67. " Khatoon," here used as a proper name, is a Persian and Turkish 
 signifying " a lady " and " a matron." 
 
 NOTE 68. " Habazlam " and " Baza/ah " are, I believe, words of no meaning ; but 
 chosen for the uncouthness of their sound, as composing a suitable name for an uncouth 
 person. 
 
 NOTE 69. This is a metaphorical expression, signifying the rushing headlong into 
 peril. 18 
 
 NOTE 70. " Yasemeen," or "yasimeen," signifies "jasmine." 
 NOTE 71. This is explained by the note immediately preceding. 
 
 NOTE 72. " He would steal the "kohl from the eye " is a phrase often used to 
 denote wonderful expertness in thieving. See Note 31 to Chapter ii. 
 
 NOTE 73. See Note 39 to Chapter vi. 
 
 NOTE 74. On the oath of divorce, see Note 48 to Chapter viii., Note 40 in the 
 present series, and Note 39 to Chapter iv. 
 
 NOTE 75. This was done in order to fulfil the Khaleefeh's oath. Arabs often have 
 recourse to shifts of this kind in similar cases. 
 
 NOTE 76. Respecting benj, see Note 46 to Chapter ii. The following remarks by 
 the celebrated A'on Hammer, who regards the benj as hyoscyamus (or henbane), should 
 have been there added. " ' Bendj,' the plural of which in Coptic is ' nibendj,' is 
 without doubt the same plant as the ' nepenthe,' which has hitherto so much perplexed 
 the commentators of Homer. Helen evidently brought the nepenthe from Egypt, and 
 bendj is there still reputed to possess all the wonderful qualities which Homer 
 attributes to it." 19 
 
 NOTE 77. The "durka'ah" is the depressed portion of the paved floor. See 
 Note 12 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 78. I do not remember to have found this custom mentioned in any other 
 Arabic work ; but Mr. Salame, whom I have consulted on the subject, has informed me 
 of a similar custom among the Turks. The billets of the tribute exacted from 
 unbelievers have occasionally been of red paper, and the issuing of these has spread 
 consternation among the tributaries; red being the colour significant of anger, as 
 white and black (or blue) are, respectively, the colours appropriated to joy and 
 mourning. But red, among the Arabs, was certainly not always indicative of anger; 
 
 Marginal note by my sheykh. ' Tre"butien, Contes Ine"dits des Mille et une 
 
 Mm- Nuits, vol. i. p. 12, note. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 291 
 
 for Arabs at carousals used to wear dresses of this colour, and of yellow, and green: 20 
 and red dresses are very commonly worn by them. Their princes, however, may have 
 been accustomed to exhibit the striking and dramatic spectacle described by our 
 author ; which, I conceive, may have been more effective than any words could be. 
 
 NOTE 79. In the description ot this rod or staff in the Cairo edition, there is 
 an error : I therefore follow the edition of Breslau. I suppose this kind ot rod to have 
 been employed for the purpose of inducing a belief that it possessed some magical 
 property. 
 
 NOTE 80. I have inserted the word " surnamed," as the Khaleefeh is afterwards 
 said to have surnamed 'Ala-ed-Deen "the Trusty and Faithful." 
 
 NOTE 81. The words which I render " Wonderful is Allah's will !" (Ma shaa-llah !) 
 are sometimes used to signify literally "What God hath willed:" in other cases, as in 
 the present instance, " What hath God willed !" i. e. " How wonderful is the event 
 that God hath brought to pass !" 
 
 NOTE 82. "Ez-Zeebak" is a surname, or nickname, signifying "quicksilver." 
 Many traditional stories of extraordinary feats sarid to have been performed by 'Alee 
 Ez-Zeebak are related in Cairo. I believe that there really was a famous thiet so 
 named in that city ; but have met with no authentic record of him stating the age in 
 which he lived. 
 
 NOTE 83. " It is the most received opinion among the Mohammadans that the son 
 whom Abraham offered was Ismael, and not Isaac : Ismael being his only son at that 
 time : for the promise of Isaac's birth is mentioned lower fin the Kur-an], as 
 subsequent in time to this transaction. They also allege the testimony of their 
 prophet, who is reported to have said, ' I am the son of the two who were offered 
 in sacrifice;' meaning his great ancestor, Ismael, and his own rather, 'Abd-Allah : 
 for 'Abd-El-Muttalib 21 had made a vow, that if God would permit him to find out 
 and open the well Zemzem, and should give him ten sons, he would sacrifice one 
 of them , accordingly, when he had obtained his desire in both respects, he cast 
 Iftts on his sons, and the lot falling on 'Abd-Allah, he redeemed him by offering an 
 hundred camels, which was therefore ordered to be the price of a man's blood in 
 the Sunneh." - 2 
 
 NOTE 8k This expression is to be understood as metaphorical ; for there is no city 
 to which, in the literal sense, it is more inapplicable than Alexandria, which is encom- 
 passed by sea and desert. 
 
 NOTE 85. It is here proper to mention that Ahmad Ed-Denef, in other stories of 
 the Thousand and One Nights, is said to have been an iniquitous character ; and so 
 is Hasan Shooman. 
 
 NOTE 86. A small village, I believe, now occupies the site of the city of Ayas 
 (supposed to be that of the ancient ^Egae ), on the shore of the Gulf of Iskenderoon. 
 
 NOTE 87. The coin is not specified here, and I cannot attempt to supply the 
 omission, the property being so vaguely described. 
 
 NOTE 88. The Arabic term "sukatee" I render " a dealer in second-hand goods." 
 Mv sheykh remarks, in a marginal note, that this term is here improperly applied; and 
 that it denotes one who sells the pluck and the feet, Ac , of animals. So it generally 
 does ; but it has another application in Egypt ; and it is singular that I should be 
 
 20 See Note 22 to Chapter iii. the second syllable, though its vowel is short ; and 
 
 21 By Sale, and most other of our Orientalists, hence may have arisen the mistake. 
 
 this name is erroneously written ' Alid'almo- ** Sale's note on verse 101 of the 37th chapter of 
 
 talleb." The chief emphasis in "Muttalib" is on the Kur-a"n. 
 
2<J2 NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 acquainted with a sense in which it is there employed, and that a learned native of 
 that country should not. In inquiring for a sprinkling-bottle and perfinning-vcs-cl 
 of brass or bronze and of old workmanship, I was told that I should apply for them to 
 a sukatee ; and being directed to a person so called, I found that he dealt in a variety 
 of old and damaged articles, chiefly of metal, and mostly purchased at sales of old 
 furniture, &c. Professor Habicht, in the seventh volume of the Bresku edition of 
 the Thousand and One Nights, page 5 of the Glossary, explains this term in a similar 
 manner. 
 
 NOTE 89. That a corpse should remain hanging during the period required to 
 go from Baghdad to Alexandria and to return, is too improbable. The remains of 
 a person who has been executed are generally left exposed for three days, and then 
 interred. 
 
 NOTE 90. By "the two sheykhs" are meant Aboo-Bekr and 'Omar, the first two 
 Khaleefehs. Many of the Rafidees, or Shiya'ees, it is said, write the names of the first 
 two Khaleefehs, or only the name of 'Omar, whom they especially hate, upon the upper 
 surface of the soles of their shoes, and upon their heels, to be habitually trodden upon, 
 by way of shewing contempt. See above, Note 33. 
 
 NOTE 91. "Asian " is a Turkish word, signifying " a lion." 
 
 NOTE 92. This might convey, to some readers, a wrong notion; for the Rafidees 
 do call themselves Muslims, though the Sunnees often deny them to be so. The 
 passage reminds me of an anecdote related by Burckhardt. A Bedawee one day 
 presented himself before Mohammad 'Alee, during his war with the Wahhabees, 
 " kissed his beard, and exclaimed, ' I have abandoned the religion of the Muslims ' (or 
 ' True Believers,' as the Wahhabees style themselves) ; ' I have adopted the religion of 
 the heretics' (so the Wahhabees entitle all those Mohammadans who are not of their 
 own creed); 'I have adopted the religion of Mohammad 'Alee.' This unintended 
 blunder caused a general laugh ; and the Pasha answered through his interpreter 
 (for he but imperfectly understood Arabic), ' I hope you will always be a stanch 
 heretic.' " ^ 
 
 NOTE 93. He rubbed the bead to try if it were a talisman, and if this process 
 would procure the presence of some obedient Jinnee ; for in this manner the virtues of 
 a talisman are generally proved. 
 
 NOTE 94. That is, Probably it is a stone naturally variegated or marked. 
 
 NOTE 95. "Consul" (pronounced by the Arabs "Knnsul") is a title often given 
 in Egypt, not merely to those to whom it justly belongs, but also to any wealth 
 Frank. 
 
 NOTE 96. The Arabic phrase thus rendered literally signifies "May God open," or 
 " assist." It is commonly used by Arab shopkeepers in the present day. 
 
 NOTE 97. This incident deserves especial remark. What 'Ala-ed-Deen is here 
 described to have done is an act very common with Arab shopkeepers, and is a proof of 
 their general good faith. When an Arab quits his shop intending to return to it the 
 same day, he usually hangs a net before the front. [Frequently, also, he leaves his 
 goods in the charge of a casual visitor to his shop. I have often been thus left sitting 
 among valuable property, while its owner has gone, perhaps, to the congregational 
 Friday-prayers, or on some business occupying a considerable time. Once a money- 
 changer thus intrusted me with the care of his money, which, probably uncounted, was 
 
 23 " Notes on the Bedouins aud Wahabys," 8vo. ed. vol. ii. pp. -! 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 293 
 
 deposited in the open drawers of a small chest within the roach of my arm. I was not 
 aware of having ever seen him before : certainly I had never sat in his shop. ED.] 
 
 NOTE 98. The poles here mentioned are those which are used in shoving oft* a 
 small vessel from the shore, or from a bank on which it has run, in propelling it in a 
 calm in shallow water, and also in sounding. 
 
 NOTE 99. The Arabic words " bab keytoon," which I render " a door opening 
 upon the sea," my sheykh explains as applied to a door which opens upon a river, as 
 the doors opening upon the canal in Cairo. 
 
 NOTE 100. Cannons are mentioned in several places in the Thousand and One 
 Nights ; but perhaps by copyists. 
 
 NOTE 101. See Note 10 to Chapter v. 
 
 NOTE 102. The " mineeneh " is a kind of small biscuit or cracknel made of fine 
 wheat-flour with a little clarified butter. 24 
 
 NOTE 103. The " weybeh " is the sixth part of the ardebb ; consequently nearly 
 equivalent to six English gallons and two-thirds. 
 
 NOTE 104. " Hosn-Maryam " (literally " the Beauty of Maryam ") is here used to 
 signify " Beautiful as Maryaui," i. e. " as the Virgin Mary." 
 
 NOTE 105. "Yoohanna" is the Arabic Christian name corresponding to " John :" 
 the corresponding Muslim name is " Yahya." 
 
 NOTE 106. " 'On " is used as synonymous with " Marid," 25 an appellation already 
 explained as applied to an evil Jinnee of the most powerful class. 
 
 NOTE 107. In the original, " sureatu," which literally signifies " I was prostrated," 
 particularly " by an epileptic fit." My sheykh explains it by the words " iltebestu 
 bi-1-jinneeyi," or "I was possessed by the Jinnee ;" the belief that epilepsy is thus 
 occasioned generally prevailing among the Arabs. A person under the influence of 
 this malady they term " nielboos," or " possessed." 
 
 NOTE 108. See the last paragraph of Note 5 to Chapter i. 
 
 NOTE 109. I have remarked before, that we must suppose Zubeydeh to have been 
 under age when 'Ala-ed-Deen married her; consequently, at the time of her reunion 
 with him, we need not infer that her age was much more than thirty years : for some 
 Arab girls are married at the age of ten years ; and we may imagine Zubeydeh to have 
 been eleven or twelve years old at the time of her second marriage ; yet in person, not- 
 withstanding, nearly a woman. 
 
 NOTE 110. The marriage of a Muslim with a Christian woman is not absolutely 
 forbidden ; but it is generally disapproved. 
 
 NOTE 111. The sum called "a purse " in Egypt is five hundred Egyptian piasters, 
 now nearly equivalent to five pounds sterling. 
 
 NOTE 112. " The Furkan " is an appellation of the Kur-an, and sometimes applied 
 to " other books of scripture," " from the verb ' faraka,' ' to divide ' or ' distinguish ;' 
 not, as the Mohammadan doctors say, b*ecause those books are divided into chapters 
 or sections, or to distinguish between good and evil ; but in the same notion that 
 the Jews use the word ' Perek,' or ' Pirka,' from the same root, to denote a section or 
 
 Marginal note bv my sheykh. 23 Idem. See also Note 21 to the Introductioii. 
 
294 NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 portion of scripture." 26 The Muslims believe that the copies of the Pentateuch, 
 Psalms, and Gospels, now existing, have been corrupted, and that the passages in 
 them wherein Mohammad is foretold have been altered or expunged : yet they 
 pretend to trace a prophecy of him in the modern copies of the Gospel of St. John, 
 reading, instead of " Paraclete," " Periclyte," which is similar in signification to 
 "Mohammad" and "Ahmad/' both of which are names of the Arabian Prophet; 
 the former of these two names signifying " greatly praised ;" the latter, " more or 
 most laudable." Here it is worthy of remark, that the name of Mohammad, pro- 
 nounced as Europeans generally write it, with an " e " instead of an "a" in the last 
 syllable, might be understood by an Arab in an active instead of a passive sense, as 
 meaning " greatly praising." 
 
 NOTE 113. Shahrazad, in relating this story, says, " the remote will die," instead of 
 " thou wilt die," as the latter expression might seem to be intended as a prophecy of 
 the death of the King Shahriyar, whom she is addressing. See note 8 to Chapter ii. 
 
 NOTE 114. A marriage without witnesses in this case was perfectly lawful. 
 
 NOTE 115. Thrones, carpets, &c., of this kind are mentioned in several Eastern 
 tales, 27 the authors of which may have all taken the idea from the tradition of Solo- 
 mon's mode of travelling through the air. It is said " that he had a carpet of green 
 silk, on which his throne was placed, being of a prodigious length and breadth, and 
 sufficient for all his forces to stand On, the men placing themselves on his right hand, 
 and the spirits [or Jinn] on his left ; and that when all were in order, the wind, at his 
 command, took up the carpet, and transported it, with all that were iipon it, wherever 
 he pleased; the army of birds at the same time flying over their heads, and forming a 
 kind of canopy, to shade them from the sun.'' 28 
 
 NOTE 116. The " Darb-el-Asfar " is a street in the Jemaleeyeh, in the northern 
 part of Cairo. 
 
 NOTE 117. Here it becomes necessary to mention, that many anecdotes are in- 
 serted among the longer stories of the Thousand and One Nights. They are chiefly, I 
 believe, extracted from other works, and many are historical ; but most of them are 
 very inferior in interest to the longer stories ; and, from a hasty perusal of them, I 
 found that it would be advisable to omit, in my translation, the greater number ; in- 
 troducing the rest in their proper places, but appending them to my notes. 29 
 
 Almost the whole of that portion of the Thousand and One Nights which is wanting 
 in Galland's version was translated into French by the late Baron Von Hammer 
 Purgstall ; and from his manuscript French version, a German translation was made 
 by Professor Zinserling ; but the latter alone was published ; the former being after- 
 wards most unfortunately lost by a person to whose care it was intrusted to bring it to 
 England for the purpose of publication. Again, from the German version, a French 
 translation was made, by M. Tre'butien, and published in Paris in 1828; and likewise 
 an English translation of most of the longer stories, and four anecdotes, by the Rev- 
 George Lamb, published in London in 1829. I regret extremely that I am unable to 
 read the German version ; for it is natural to infer that the merits of the version of Von 
 Hammer are more imperfectly reflected in the second, than in the first, of two succes- 
 
 26 Sale s Preliminary Discourse, Sect. iii. whole of the copy from which my translation is 
 
 27 So also (as I learn from Mr. Keightley) " in a made, and had no means of knowing that it con- 
 poem of th? old poet Occleve, in Browne's Shep- tained those anecdotes. Their places in the origi- 
 herd's Pipe." nal will be mentioned as they occur in order. As 
 
 -* Sale's note to verse 20 of the 27th chapter of they rest on better authority -4;han that of the 
 
 the Kur-an. Thousand and One Nights, and illustrate the notes 
 
 29 A few of these anecdotes have been already in which they are inserted, it has been thought 
 
 given from other sources; for at the time of my best to retain them in their wcseiit form in this 
 
 inserting them, I had not received from Cairo the edition. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 295 
 
 sive translations of which one has been made from the other. With respect to Von 
 Hammer's version, the only remarks that I can venture to make are these ; 1st, that he 
 appears to have considerably abridged the stories ; 2ndly, that he has omitted very few 
 of them altogether but such as had been previously translated, and not all of these ; 
 and, 3rdly, that he has generally preserved the best of the verses with which they are 
 interspersed. Thus, in two respects, his plan differs from that which is pursued by 
 me ; for I scarcely ever abridge in the smallest degree, except in the omission of many 
 of the pieces of poetry ; but reject entirely those stories which I think the English 
 reader would find tedious, or otherwise displeasing. And here I must remark, that 
 some pieces of appropriate poetry occur in the versions above mentioned in places where 
 none, or some slightly different, are found in mine, because the pieces' in my original 
 do not always admit of being rendered as they are in the former versions. Of this, the 
 reader may judge by comparing my translation of the first poetical quotation in the 
 third of the following anecdotes with the corresponding couplet in M. Trebutien's 
 version (vol. iii. pp. 280-1), which runs thus : 
 
 " Le ciel a recompense ceux qui honorerent Joseph lorsqu'il etait encore dans sa prison ; ainsi le 
 ciel me mettra peut-etre un jour en etat de reconnaitre vos bienfaits envers moi." 
 
 In my original, as follows : 
 
 " Wa-'asa-lledhee ahda li-yoosufa ahlahu : wa-a'azzahu fi-s-sejni wa-hvva aseeru: 
 An yestejeeba lana wa-yejma'a shemlana : wa-llahu rabbu-l-'alameena kadeeru." 
 
 The same remark applies also in many cases to the prose. M. TreTsutien's version I 
 consider superior to that of Mr. Lamb ; but I regret his having endeavoured to imitate 
 the style of Galland. I have deemed it necessary to make the above observations in 
 justice to Von Hammer and his translators, and to myself; as my reader has now 
 arrived at the point where he is first enabled to compare the versions above mentioned 
 with my own. 
 
 The following anecdotes are selected from a series of nine, commencing with part of 
 the two hundred and sixty-ninth Night, and ending with part of the two hundred and 
 eighty-fifth. 
 
 Liberality of Hatim Y Et-Taee after his Death. 
 
 It is related of Hatim Et-Taee, 30 that, when he died, he was buried on the summit 
 of a mountain, 31 and they made over his grave two troughs of stone, and stone images 
 of damsels with dishevelled hair. Beneath that mountain ran a river; and when 
 travellers arriving there" alighted at that place, they heard a loud crying during the 
 whole night, from nightfall until morn; but when they arose in the morning, they 
 found no one save only the damsels carved of stone. And when Zu-1-Kelaa, 3 - the King 
 
 so Hatim Et-Taee (i e. Hatim of the tribe of for the entertainment of his neighbours and the 
 
 Teiyi) was most highly celebrated for his gene- poor Arabs of the desert. (D'Herbelot.) 
 
 rosity. He lived in " the Time of Ignorance ;" 31 Called 'Owarid, in the district of Teiyi 
 
 but his son Adce became a Muslim, and is num- (Kamoos.) 
 
 bered among the Companions of the Prophet. E2 So in the edition of Breslau: in the Cairo 
 
 Hatim's most famous act of liberality was that edition. Zu-1-Kuraa. Two Kings of El- Yemen 
 
 which he shewed to an ambassador of the Greek named Zu-1-Kelaa are mentioned in the Kamoos, 
 
 Emperor, sent to demand of him, as a present for surnamed the Greater and the Less. My sheykh 
 
 his master, a horse of very great price. The remarks that this anecdote is related at length 
 
 generous Arab, before he knew the object of this in the "Aghanee;" but that the person who 
 
 person's mission, slaughtered his horse to regale demanded Hatim's hospitality was a man named 
 
 him, having nothing at the time in his house to Abu-1-Kheyberee. Zu-1-Kelaa, he adds, lived a 
 
 serve in its stead. It is also said that he often long time before Hatim. 
 caused as many as forty camels to be slaughtered 
 
of Hemyer, alighted in that valley, going forth from his tribe, he passed a night there, 
 and, approaching the place, he heard the crying : so he said, What is this lamentation 
 that is on the summit of this mountain ? They answered him, Here is the sepulchre of 
 Hatim Et-Taee, over which are two troughs of stone, with stone images of damsels with 
 dishevelled hair, and every night, persons who alight in this place hear this lamentation 
 and crying. Upon this Zu-1-Kelaa said, in mockery of Hatmi Et-Taee, Hatim, we 
 are this night thy guests, and lank with hunger. And after sleep had overcome him, 
 he awoke in alarm, exclaiming, O Arabs, come hither to me and to my beast ! And 
 when they came, they found the she-camel convulsed : so they slaughtered her, and 
 roasted her flesh, and ate. They then asked him the cause of this ; and he answered, I 
 was sleeping, and saw in a dream Hatim Et-Taee, who came to me with a sword, and 
 said, Thou hast visited us when we have nothing in our possession. And he wounded 
 my she-camel with the sword. Had ye not slaughtered her, she had died. 
 
 And when the next morning came, Zu-1-Kelaa mounted the beast of one of his com- 
 panions, taking the man up behind him ; and at mid-day they saw a man riding a 
 beast and leading another beast by his hand; and they said to him, Who art thou ? He 
 answered. I am 'Adee the son of Hatim Et-Taee. And where, he added, is Zu-1-Kelaa, 
 the Prince of Hemyer ? So they answered him, This is he. And he said to Zu-1-Kelda, 
 Mount this she-camel, instead of thine own ; for thy she-camel, my father hath slaugh- 
 tered for thee. And who, said Zu-1-Kelaa, informed thee ? 'Adee answered, My 
 father came to me in sleep this last night, and said to me, O 'Adee, Zu-1-Kelaa, the King 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 297 
 
 of Hemyer hath demanded my hospitality, and I have slaughtered for him his she- 
 camel: so repair thou to him with a she-camel for him to ride; for I have nothing 
 in my possession. Zu-1-Kclaa therefore took her, and wondered at the generosity dis- 
 played by Hatini while living and when dead. 
 
 Anecdote of Maan the son of Zaideh. 
 
 As Maan the son of Zaideh 33 was hunting, one day, he thirsted, and found not any 
 water with his young -men. But while he was in this stats, lo, three damsels ap- 
 proached him, carrying three skins of water. He therefore requested drink of them, 
 and they gave it him ; and he demanded something of his young men, to give it to the 
 damsels ; but found that they had no money. So he presented to each of the damsels 
 ten arrows from his quiver, the heads of which were of gold. Whereupon one of them 
 said to her companions, This generous conduct cannot proceed from any but Maan the 
 son of Zaideh : do ye each, then, recite some poetry in his praise. Accordingly, the 
 first said, 
 
 33 Maan the son of Zaideh was compared, for into the favour of the 'Abbasce Khalcefeh El- 
 his liberality, to Hatim Et-Taee. He was one of Mansoor. (See D'Herbelot, art. "Man ou Maan, 
 
 the chief captains of Marwan, the last of the 
 Umawee Khaleefehs, and was eventually received 
 
 II. 
 
 tils de Zaideh," where another and more interest- 
 ing anecdote of him is given.) 
 
 2 Q 
 
He headeth lus arrows with points of gold, and in smiting his enemies dispenseth his muni- 
 ficence, 
 Affording the wounded a means of cure, and grave-clothes for him whose abode is the tomb. 
 
 And the second said, 
 
 A warriour of such excessive liberality, that his benefits arc bestowed both on friends and foes. 
 The heads of his arrows are made of gold, that war may not hinder him from acts of munificence. 
 
 Then the third recited a couplet, in substance the same as that of the first. 
 
 Adventures of Ibraheem the son of El-Mahdee. 34 
 
 Ibraheem the son of El-Mahdee,* 9 and brother of Haroon Er-Rasheed, when the 
 office of Khaleefeh devolved to El-Ma-moon the son of his brother Er-Rasheed, refused 
 to vow allegiance to him, and repaired to Er-Rei, 36 where he assumed to himself the 
 title of Khaleefeh, and thus he continued to do for the space of one year and eleven 
 months and twelve days. His brother's son, El-Ma-moon, remained expecting his re- 
 turn to obedience, and his ranging himself among the number of his followers, until at 
 length, despairing of his doing so, he mounted and set forth with his horsemen and 
 foot-soldiers to Er-Rei. And when the news of his approach was brought to Ibraheem, 
 he found no resource but that of going to Baghdad, where he hid himself, fearing for 
 
 34 This anecdote is related, nearly word for 
 word as in the Cairo edition, by El-Is-h-ikcc, 
 from the " Kowkab el-Wahhaj " of Ibraheem El- 
 Andalusee, afterwards Ed-Dimashkee. 
 
 35 This celebrated personage was a very skilful 
 musician, an admirable singer, remarkably polite 
 and liberal and eloquent. His complexion was 
 
 very dark ; his mother being a black slave, 
 named Shekleh, or Shikleh, whom El-Mahdee had 
 married ; and he was so corpulent, that he 
 received the nickname of Et-Teen, or The Fig. 
 (D'Herbelot, art. "Ibrahim Abou Ishak Ben 
 Mahadi;'' and Ibn Khallikiin.) 
 3 ' A city in the north of the Persian 'Erak. 
 
his life ; and El-Ma-inoon offered to any one who^would point out his place of conceal- 
 ment a hundred thousand pieces of gold. 
 
 Now when 1 heard of this reward that was offered, says Ibraheem, I feared for my- 
 self, and was perplexed at my case. So I went forth from my house at the hour of 
 mid-day, not knowing whither to repair, and I entered a great street that was not a 
 thoroughfare, and, seeing at the upper end of it a barber 3? standing at the door of his 
 house, I advanced towards him, and said to him, Hast thou any place in which I may 
 conceal myself for a while ? He answered, Yes : and opened the door, and I entered 
 a clean house. Then, after he had brought me in, he closed the door upon me, and 
 went away. I suspected, therefore, that he had heard of the reward that was offered, 
 and said within myself, He bath gone forth to betiay me. So I remained in a state of 
 agitation like the pot upon the tire, reflecting upon my case ; but while I was in this 
 state, lo, he came, attended by a porter with all that he required ; and, looking towards 
 me, he said to me, May I be thy ransom ! I was in want of food, and prepared for 
 myself a saucepan-full, the like of which I do not remember ever to have eaten before ; 
 and when I had satisfied myself with it, he said, O my master, it is not consistent with 
 
 37 In the Breslau edition, and in Trebutien's 
 version, and also in IH-Is-hakee, the barber is 
 described as a negro; but in an account of the 
 occurrence resting on good authority (in D'ller- 
 
 belot, ubi supra), he is said to have been a person 
 of very dark complexion, mueli resembling, in this 
 respect, Ibnihecm himself. 
 
300 NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 my station to converse with thee ; but if thou desire to honour thy slave, thine own 
 surpassing judgment will determine. 1 therefore said to him, not imagining that he 
 knew me, And whence hast thou learned that I excel in conversation ? Whereupon he 
 exclaimed, Extolled be the perfection of Allah ! Our lord is too celebrated for me to 
 be ignorant of that. Thou art my master, Ibraheem the son of El-Mahdee, respecting 
 whom El-Ma-moon hath announced that he will give to him who discovereth thee a 
 hundred thousand pieces of gold. And when he said this, he became exalted in my " 
 eye, and his generosity was established in my opinion : so I complied with his desire, 
 and, the remembrance of my children and my family occurring to my mind, I said, 
 
 Perhaps He who restored to Yoosuf his family, and aggrandized him in the prison when he was a 
 
 captive, 
 May answer our prayer, and reunite us ; for God, the Lord of all creatures, is able. 
 
 And when he heard these words from me, he said, O my master, wilt thou permit me 
 to repeat what hath suggested itself to my mind ? I answered, Do so. And he recited 
 two pieces of poetry ; on hearing which, I was filled with the utmost wonder at him, 
 and moved with extreme delight. I then took a purse that I had with me, containing 
 a number of pieces of gold, and threw it towards him, saying to him, I commend thee 
 to the care of God ; for I am about to depart from thee ; I beg thee to employ the 
 contents of this purse in the purchase of some of the things that thou requirest, and 
 thou wilt receive from me an abundant recompense when I am secure from that which 
 I fear. But he gave me back the purse, and said. O my master, paupers like myself are 
 of no estimation with you; yet, consistently with my feelings of generosity, how can I 
 accept payment for the boon which fortune hath granted me in causing thee to shew me 
 such favour and to visit my abode ? By Allah, if thou repeat those words, and throw 
 the purse to me a second time, I will kill myself. So I took the purse, putting it into 
 my sleeve, 38 and the weight of it incommoded me ; and I turned to leave him ; but 
 when I came to the door of his house, he said, O my master, this place is more suited 
 for thy concealment than another, and the supplying thee with provisions is no burden 
 to me ; therefore remain with me until God dispel thy trouble. So I replied, On the 
 condition that thou expend from this purse. And he deceived me by professing his 
 assent to this condition. Accordingly, I remained with him some days ; but he ex- 
 pended nothing from the purse. 
 
 I then attired myself in women's apparel, with the khuff 30 and the veil, and went 
 forth from his house. But when I was in the street, excessive fear overcame me ; and 
 as I was about to pass over the bridge, I found myself in a place sprinkled with 
 water, 40 and a trooper, one of those who had been in my service, saw me and recognised 
 me ; whereupon he called out and said, This is the person of whom El-Ma-moon is in 
 quest ! And he laid hold upon me. I however pushed him and his horse, and threw 
 both down in that slippery place, so that the rider became an example to him who 
 would be admonished, and the people hastened towards him. 
 
 I therefore hurried on until I had passed the bridge, when I entered a great street, 
 and, seeing the door of a house, and a woman standing in the passage, I said, O my 
 mistress, save my life ; for I am a man in fear. She replied, No harm shall befall thee. 
 And she took me up into a supping-room, where she spread furniture for me, and 
 brought to me some food, saying to me, Let thy terror subside. And while she was 
 thus comforting me, the door was knocked with violence. So she went forth and 
 
 38 An Arab often carries things in his long and 40 The ground is generally sprinkled in the 
 ample sleeve, gathering up the greater part of its streets iic., of Arab cities, during the summer, to 
 edge in his hand. cool the air as well as to lay the dust ; but a nar- 
 
 39 A kind of socks, or short boots, of yellow row space is usually left dry, in the middle ; this 
 morocco, still worn by Arab and some other being especially necessary for the camels. 
 Kastcrn ladies, within the slipper, when walking 
 
 abroad, or riding. 
 

 opened it ; and, lo, my acquaintance whom I had pushed upon the bridge came forward, 
 with his head bound, and his blood running down upon his clothes, and his horse was 
 not with him. She said to him, What is this ? What calamity hath befallen thee ? 
 He answered, I caught the man, and he made his escape from me. And he related to 
 her the whole affair. And she took forth a piece of rag, with which she bound his 
 head ; after which, she spread a bed for him, and he lay sick. . Then coming up to me, 
 she said to me, I imagine that thou art the person in question. I replied, Yes. And 
 she said, No harm shall befall thee. She then renewed her generous conduct to me, 
 and I remained with her three days; at the expiration of which, she said to me, I am 
 in fear for thee from this man, lest he come up to thee, and thou fall into the misfor- 
 tune that thou dreadest: therefore save thyself by flight. But I requested her to 
 delay my departure until the night ; and she said, There will be no harm in that. 
 
 So when the night came, I put on the women's apparel, and, going forth from her 
 repaired to the house of an emancipated female slave who had belonged to us ; and 
 when she saw me, she wept, and appeared grieved, and praised God (whose name be 
 exalted !) for my safety, and went forth as though she would go to the market to pro- 
 cure what was requisite fbr my entertainment. But suddenly I beheld Ibraheem El- 
 Alosilee, 41 approaching in the midst of his young men and troopers, with a woman 
 before them ; and, looking narrowly at her, I found that she was the emancipated 
 slave, 'the owner of the house where I was. She walked on before them until she 
 delivered me into their hands, and I was carried, in the women's attire, to El-Ma-moon. 
 
 He held a general council, and caused me to be brought in before him ; and when I 
 entered, I saluted him as Khaleefeh ; 42 but he replied, May God not preserve thee nor 
 bless thee ! So I said to him, Act according to thy good pleasure, O Prince of the 
 Faithful : thou hast the command ; therefore decide upon punishment or pardon ; but 
 pardon is the more agreeable with piety. God hath made thy pardon to excel that of 
 every other person, as He hath made my offence to exceed every other offence, O Prince 
 of the Faithful ; and if thou take vengeance it will be in thy justice, and if .thou 
 pardon it will be in thy generosity. Then I recited these verses : 
 
 My offence against thee is great ; but thou art greater than it: 
 
 So exact thy due, or else, in thy clemency remit it. 
 
 If / have not been of the generous in conduct, do thou be so. 
 
 El-Ma-moon then raised his head, and I quickly recited these other verses : 
 
 See Note 22 to Chap. iii. 
 
 l - Saying-, " Peace be on thee, O Prince of the Faithful '." 
 
302 NOTES TO CHAFIER ELEVENTH. 
 
 I have committed an enormous offence; but thou art disposed to pardon. 
 If thou pardon, thou wilt be gracious ; and if thou punish, thou wilt be just. 
 
 And El-Ma-moon hung down his head, and repeated this couplet : 
 
 When a friend desireth to enrage me, and causeth me to be choked in my anger, 
 I forgive his offences, and pardon him, fearing lest I should live friendless. 
 
 So when I heard these words from him, I perceived from them the odoar of mercy. He 
 then addressed the son of his uncle, and his brother Is-hak, and all his chief officers 
 who were present, and said to them, What course do ye see to be suitable to his case ? 
 Whereupon every one of them advised him to slay me ; but they differed as to the 
 mode of slaughter. El-Ma-moon, however, said to Ahmad the son of Khalid, What 
 savest thou, O Ahmad ? O Prince of the Faithful, he answered, if thou slay him, we 
 find an instance of such a person as thyself who hath slain such as he is ; and if thou 
 pardon him, we find riot an instance of any like thee who hath pardoned one like him. 
 And when El-Ma-moon heard the words of Ahmad the son of Khalid, he hung down 
 his head, and repeated the saying of the poet : 
 
 My family have slain Umeym, my brother : so if I shoot at them, my arrow will revert to me. 
 If I pardon, I shall grant an egregious pardon ; and if I assault, I shall weaken my own bones.* 1 
 
 And he recited also these words of the poet :- 
 
 Forgive thy brother when he mingleth what is right with what is wrong; 
 
 And continue thy kindness to him, whether he be thankful or ungrateful ; 
 
 And abstain thou from reproaching him, whether he err or act justly. 
 
 Dost thou not see that what thou lovest and what thou hatest are conjoined ? 
 
 And that the delight of long life is disturbed by the mixture of grey hairs ? 
 
 And that the thorns" appear upon the branches together with the fruit that is gathered ? 
 
 AVho is he that hath never done evil ? And who hath done good alone? 
 
 If thou triedst the sons of this age, thou wouldst find that most of them had erred. 
 
 On hearing these verses from him, I removed the veil from my head, loudly ex- 
 claiming, God is most great ! 43 and said, May God pardon thee, O Prince of the Faith- 
 ful ! He replied, No harm shall befall thee, O uncle. O Prince of the Faithful, I 
 rejoined, my offence is too great for me to utter any thing in excuse of it, and thy 
 pardon is too great for me to express my thanks. Then, with mirth-exciting modula- 
 tions, I sang these verses : 
 
 Verily the Author of all virtues collected them in the loins of Adam for the Seventh Imam. 46 
 Thou hast filled men's hearts with reverence for thee, and with an humble heart thou guardest 
 
 them all. 
 
 I rebelled not against thee, overwhelmed by delusion, from any motive but that of covetousness ; 4T 
 And thou hast pardoned one whose like never was pardoned before, though none interceded with 
 
 thee, 
 And hast pitied little-ones like those of the kata, 43 and the yearning of a mother with impatient 
 
 heart. 
 
 To this, El-Ma-moon replied, I say, in imitation of the example of our lord Yoosuf (upon 
 our Prophet and upon him be blessing and peace !;, There shall be no reproach cast on 
 you this day : God forgive you ; for He<is the most merciful of those who shew mercy. 49 
 
 43 This latter verse is omitted in my original, <* The kata is a kind of grouse, that deposits its 
 but supplied by my sheykh in the margin. cu'irs in the desert, at a great distance from any 
 
 44 In the original, "And that the i'w;e appeareth.'' water. The comparison in the verse is therefore 
 The requisite correction is made, as usual, by my apt and strong. See De Sacy, Chrestomathie 
 sheykh. Arabe, 2nd ed., vol. ii. p. 370. See also Xote 30 to 
 
 45 This is the usual Muslim cry of victory. the Introduction of the present work. 
 
 4(5 By "the Seventh Imam" is meant El-Ma- 49 These words, beginning, "There shall be no 
 
 moon, the seventh of the 'Abbasee Khaleefehs. reproach," are from the Kur-an, eh. xii. v. 92. 
 
 47 Or, as explained by my sheykh, " coveting thy 
 pardon." 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH 303 
 
 And I restore to thee thy wealth and thy lands, () uncle, and no harm shall hefall thce. 
 So I devoutly supplicated blessings upon him, and recited these verses : 
 
 Thou hast restored my wealth, and not been avaricious of it ; and before thoti didst this, thou 
 
 sparedst my life. 
 I would give my blood to obtain thine approval, and my wealth till 1 drew off the shoe from my 
 
 foot. 
 Were I ungrateful for the favours thou hast granted me, I should be more base Ihan thou art 
 
 generous 
 
 El-Ma-moou then treated me with honour and beneficence, and said to me, O uncle, 
 verily Aboo-ls-hak and El-'Abhas advised me to slay thee. I replied, Verily Aboo-Is-hak 
 and El-'Abbas advised thee faithfully, O Prince of the Faithful ; but thou hast acted as 
 became thyself, and averted that which thou fearedst by doing what thou desiredst. 
 And he said, I have extinguished my rancour by sparing thy life, and 1 have pardoned 
 thee without burdening thee by obligations to intercessors. Then he prostrated him- 
 self in adoration for a long time ; after which he raised his head, and said, O uncle, 
 k newest thou wherefore 1 prostrated myself? I answered, Perhaps thou didst so to 
 thank God for his having made thee master of thine enemy. He replied, I desired not 
 that ; but to thank God that He had inspired me to pardon thee. I then explained to 
 him my case, and told him what had happened to me with the cupper [or barber], and 
 with the trooper and his wife, and the emancipated female slave who betrayed me : 
 whereupon El-Ma-moon gave orders to bring that emancipated female slave. She was 
 in her house, expecting the reward to be sent to her ; and when she came before El-Ma- 
 inoon, he said to her, What induced thee to act as thou didst to thy master ? She 
 answered, Desire for the money. And he said, Hast thou a child or a husband ? She 
 answered, Xo. And upon this he gave orders to inflict upon her a hundred lashes, and 
 commanded that she should be imprisoned for life. He then caused the trooper and his 
 wife and the cupper to be brought ; and when they had all come, he asked the trooper 
 the cause of his having acted as he had done. He answered, Desire for the money. 
 And El-Ma-moon replied, Thou must be a cupper. And accordingly he commissioned a 
 person to place him in the shop of a cupper that he might teach him his art. But the 
 trooper's wife he treated with honour, and he took her into the palace, and said, This 
 is a sensible woman, fit to be employed in affairs of importance. Then he said to the 
 cupper, There hath been such evidence of thy generosity as requireth that extraor- 
 dinary honour should be paid to thee. And he commanded that the house of the 
 trooper should be given up to him, and bestowed upon him, in addition to that, fifteen 
 thousand pieces of gold. 
 
 The Discovery and History of Irem Zat el-'Emad, the Terrestrial Paradise of 
 Sheddad the Son of 'Ad. 50 
 
 It is related that 'Abd-Allah the son of Aboo-Kilabeh went forth to seek a camel 
 that had run away, and while he was proceeding over the deserts of El-Yemen and the 
 district of Seba, he chanced to arrive at a vast city encompassed by enormous fortifica- 
 tions, around the circuit of which were pavilions rising high into the sky. So when he 
 approached it, he imagined that there must be inhabitants within it, of whom he might 
 inquire for his camel ; and accordingly he advanced to it ; but on coining to it, he found 
 that it was desolate, without any one to cheer its solitude. 
 
 I alighted, says he, from my she-camel, and tied up her foot ; and then, composing 
 my mind, entered the city. On approaching the fortifications, I found that they had 
 two enormous gates, the like of which, for size and height, have never been seen else- 
 where in the world,, set with a variety of jewels and jacinths, white and red and yellow 
 
 50 The Breslau edition merely gives a brief of Aboo-Kilabeh discovered it. On the stature of 
 account of the construction of Irem Zat el-'Emad, the 'Adites, see Note 37 to Chapter ii. 
 and mentions, at its close, that 'Abd-Allah the son 
 
and green ; and when I beheld this, I was struck with the utmost wonder at it, and 
 the sight astonished me. I entered the fortifications in a state of terror, and with a 
 wandering mind, and saw them to be of the same large extent as the city, and to com- 
 prise elevated pavilions, every one of these containing lofty chambers, and all of them 
 constructed of gold and silver, and adorned with rubies and chrysolites and pearls and 
 various-coloured jewels. The folding-doors of these pavilions were like those of the for- 
 tifications in beauty, and their floors were overlaid with large pearls and with balls like 
 hazel-nuts composed of musk and ambergris and saffron. And when I came into the 
 midst of the city, I saw not in it a created being of the sons of Adam ; and I almost 
 died of terror. I then looked down from the summits of the lofty chambers and 
 pavilions, and saw rivers running beneath them ; and in the great thoroughfare-streets 
 of the city were fruit-bearing trees, and tall palm-trees ; and the construction of the 
 city was of alternate bricks of gold and silver : so I said within myself, Xo doubt this 
 is the Paradise promised in the world to come. 
 
 I carried away, of the jewels which were as its gravel, and the musk that was as its 
 dust, as much as I could bear, and returned to my district, whepe I acquainted the 
 people with the occurrence. And the news reached Mo'&wiyeh the son of Aboo-Sufyan 
 (who was then Khaleefeh) in the Hejaz : so he wrote to his lieutenant in San'a, of 
 El-Yemen, saying, Summon that man, and inquire of him the truth of the matter. His 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 305 
 
 lieutenant therefore caused me to be brought, and demanded of me an account of my 
 adventure, and of what had befallen me ; and I informed him of what I had seen. He 
 then sent me to Mo'awiyeh, and I acquainted him also with that which 1 had seen ; 
 but he disbelieved it : so 1 produced to him some of those pearls and the little balls of 
 ambergris and musk and saffron. The latter retained somewhat of their sweet scent : 
 but the pearls had become yellow and discoloured. 
 
 At the sight of these, Mo'awiyeh wondered, and he sent and caused Kaab-el- 
 Ahbiir 51 to be brought before him, and said to him, O Kaab-el-Ahbar, I have called thee 
 on account of a matter of which I desire to know the truth, and I hope that thou mayest 
 be able to certify me of it. And whiit is it, O Prince of the Faithful ? asked Kaab-el- 
 Ahbar. Mo'awiyeh said, Hast thou any knowledge of the existence of a city constructed 
 of gold and silver, the pillars whereof are of chrysolite and ruby, and the gravel of 
 which is of pearls, and of balls like hazel-nuts, composed of musk and ambergris and 
 saffron ? He answered, Yes, O Prince of the Faithful. It is Irein Zat el-'Emad, 52 the 
 like of which hath never been constructed in the regions of the earth ; and Sheddad the 
 son of 'Ad the Greater built it. Relate to us, said Mo'awiyeh, somewhat of its history. 
 And Kaab-el-Ahbar replied thus : 
 
 'Ad the Greater had two sons, Shedeed and Sheddad ; and when their father perished, 
 they reigned conjointly over the countries after him, and there was no one of the Kings 
 of the earth who was not subject to them. And Shedeed the Son of 'Ad died : so his 
 brother Sheddad ruled alone over the earth after him. He was fond of reading the 
 ancient books ; and when he met with the description of the world to come, and of 
 Paradise with its pavilions and lofty chambers and its trees and fruits, and of the other 
 things in Paradise, his heart enticed him to construct its like on the earth, after this 
 manner which hath been above mentioned. He had under his authority a hundred 
 thousand Kings, under each of whom were a hundred thousand valiant chieftains, and 
 under each of these were a hundred thousand soldiers. And he summoned them all 
 before him, and said to them, I find in the ancient books and histories the description of 
 the Paradise that is in the other world, and I desire to make its like upon the earth. 
 Depart ye therefore to the most pleasant and most spacious vacant tract in the earth, 
 and build for me in it a city of gold and silver, and spread, as its gravel, chrysolites and 
 rubies and pearls, and as the supports of the vaulted roofs of that city make columns of 
 chrysolite, and fill it with pavilions, and over the pavilions construct lofty chambers, 
 and beneath them plant, in the by-streets and great thoroughfare -streets, varieties of 
 trees bearing different kinds of ripe fruits, and make rivers to run beneath them in 
 channels of gold and silver. To this they all replied, How can we accomplish that 
 which thou hast described to us, and how can we procure the chrysolites and rubies and 
 pearls that thou hast mentioned ? But he said, Know ye not that the Kings of the 
 world are obedient to me, and under my authority , and that no one who is in it disobeyeth 
 my command ? They answered, Yes, we know that. Depart then, said he, to the 
 mines of chrysolite and ruby, and to the places where pearls are found, and gold and 
 silver ; and take forth and collect their contents from the earth, and spare no exertions. 
 Take also for me from the hands of men such of those things as ye find, and spare 
 none, nor let any escape you ; and beware of disobedience. 
 
 51 A famous traditionist, of the tribe of Hemyer, though related as true by Arab historians and 
 who embraced El-IsUm in the reign of 'Omar, others, is pronounced by Ibn-Khaldoon to be an 
 and died in the year of the flight 32, during the invention of the commentators of the Kur-an ; this 
 reign of 'Othmun. (Miskiit el-Masabeeh, vol. i. judieious critic asserting, that ' Irem " is the name 
 p. 161.) The anecdote therefore presents an of an ancient tribe, and that '"emad" is to be 
 anachronism. understood in this case as meaning " a tent-pole;"' 
 
 52 " Irem Ztit el-'Emad " in generally understood so that "IremZat el-'Kmad'' signifies "Irem with 
 to signify " Irem with the Lofty Buildings :" but the [numerous] tent-poles, or tents." In like 
 Von Hammer has remarked (seeTrebutien's trans- manner, the expression " ahlu-l-'emad " is used to 
 lation, vol. iii. p. 286), that the story of this city, signify "people dwelling in tents." 
 
 II. 2 R 
 
^06 NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 He then wrote a letter to each of the Kings in the regions of the earth, command- 
 ing them to collect all the articles of the kinds above-mentioned that their subjects 
 possessed, and to repair to the mines in which these things were found, and extract the 
 precious stones that they contained, even from the beds of the seas. And they collected 
 the things that he required in the space of twenty years ; M after which, he sent forth 
 the geometricians 54 and sages, and labourers and artificers, from all the countries and 
 regions, and they dispersed themselves through the deserts and wastes, and tracts and 
 districts, until they came to a desert wherein was avast open plain, clear from hills and 
 mountains, and in it were springs gushing forth, and rivers running. So they said, 
 This is the kind of place which the King commanded us to seek, and called us to find. 
 They then busied themselves in building the city according to the direction of the King 
 Sheddad, King of the whole earth, in its length and breadth ; and they made through 
 it the channels for the rivers, and laid the foundations conformably with the prescribed 
 extent. The Kings of the various districts of the earth sent thither the jewels and 
 stones, and large and small pearls, and carnelion and pure gold, upon camels over the 
 deserts and wastes, and sent great ships with them over the seas ; and a quantity of 
 those things, such as cannot be described nor calculated nor denned, was brought to 
 the workmen, who laboured in the construction of this city three hundred years. And 
 when they had finished it, they came to the King and acquainted him with the com- 
 pletion ; and he said to them, Depart, and make around it impregnable fortifications, 
 of great height, and construct around the circuit of the fortifications a thousand 
 pavilions, each with a thousand pillars 55 beneath it, in order that there may be in each 
 pavilion a Wezeer. So they went immediately, and did this in twenty years ; after 
 which they presented themselves before Sheddad, and informed him of the accomplish- 
 ment of his desire. 
 
 He therefore ordered his wezeers, who were a thousand in number, and his chief 
 officers, and such of his troops and others as he confided in, to make themselves ready 
 for departure, and to prepare themselves for removal to I re in Zat el-'Emad, in attend- 
 ance upon the King of the world, Sheddad the son of 'Ad. He ordered also such as 
 he chose of his women and his hareem, as his female slaves and his eunuchs, to fit 
 themselves out. And they passed twenty years in equipping themselves. Then 
 Sheddad proceeded with his troops, rejoiced at the accomplishment of his desire, until 
 there remained between him and Irem Zat el-'Emad one day's journey ; when God sent 
 down upon him and upon the obstinate infidels who accompanied him a loud cry from 
 the heaven of his power, and it destroyed them all by the vehemence of its sound.-' 8 
 Neither Sheddad nor any of those who were with him arrived at the city or came in 
 sight of it, and God obliterated the traces of the road that led to it ; but the city 
 remaineth as it was in its place until the hour of the judgment. 
 
 At this narrative related by Kaab-el-Ahbar, Mo'awiyeh wondered, and he said to 
 him, Can any one of mankind arrive at that city ? Yes, answered Kaab-el-Ahbar : a 
 man of the companions of Mohammad (upon whom be blessing and peace !), in appear- 
 ance like this man who is sitting here without any doubt. Esh-Shaabee S7 also s;iith. 
 It is related on the authority of the learned men of Hemyer, in El- Yemen, that when 
 Sheddad and those who were with him were destroyed by the loud cry, his son 
 
 5:5 Here it is added, " and the number of the r6 This was not the final catastrophe of the 
 
 Kings ruling in the earth was three hundred and tribe of 'Ad. The whole of this tribe, except a few 
 
 sixty Kiii^rs ." but this does not agree with what persons, rejecting the admonitions of the prophet 
 
 lias been said before. Hood, were destroyed by a hot and suffocating 
 
 54 In the original, " muhendiseen,'' a term often wind. 
 
 applied to architects, and engineers. 5 ~ There was a traditionist surnamed Esh- 
 
 55 Instead of " 'alam " (standard or banner, &c.,) Shaabee, another surnamed Esh-Shoabee, and a 
 in the Cairo edition, I read " "amood" (pillars), third surnamed Esh Sheabee ; and which of them 
 agreeably with the description in the edition of is here meant 1 know not, the short vowel-signs 
 Ureslau. not being written. 
 
Sheddad the Less reigned after him ; for his father Sheddad the Greater had left him 
 as successor to his kingdom, in the land of Hadramot and Seba, on his departure with 
 the troops who accompanied him to Irem Zat el- Emad. And as soon as the news 
 reached him of the death of his father on the way before his arrival at the city of Irem, 
 he gave orders to carry his father's body from those desert tracts to Hadramot, and to 
 excavate a sepulchre for him in a cavern. And when they had done this, he placed his 
 bodv in it, upon a couch of gold, and covered the corpse with seventy robes interwoven 
 with gold and adorned with precious jewels ; and he placed at his head a tablet of gold, 
 whereon were inscribed these verses : 
 
 Be admonished, O them who art deceived by a prolonged life ! 
 
 I am Sheddad the son of 'Ad, the lord of the strong fortress ; 
 
 The lord of power and might and of excessive valour. 
 
 The inhabitants of the earth obeyed me, fearing my severity and threats ; 
 
 And I held the east and west under a strong dominion. 
 
 And a preacher 56 of the true religion invited us to the right way ; 
 
 But we opposed him, and said, Is there no refuge from it ? 
 
 And a loud cry assaulted us from a tract of the distant horizon ; 
 
 Whereupon we fell down like corn in the midst of a plain at harvest ; 
 
 And now, beneath the earth, we await the threatened day. 
 
 Etb-Tha'alibee also saith, It happened that two men entered this cavem, and found 
 at its upper end some steps ; and having descended these, they found an excavation, 
 the length whereof was a hundred cubits, and its breadth forty cubits, and its height a 
 hundred cubits. And in the midst of this excavation was a couch of gold, upon 
 which was a man of enormous bulk, occupying its whole length and breadth, covered 
 
 58 The Prophet Hood, vulgarly believed tc: be Hebcr. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH 
 
 with ornaments and with robes interwoven with gold and silver ; and at his head 
 was a tablet of gold, whereon was an inscription. And they took that tablet, and 
 carried away from the place as much as they could of bars of gold and silver, and other 
 things. 
 
 Anecdote of Is-hak El-M6silee and Khadeejeh and 
 El-Ma-moon. 
 
 I went forth one night, says Is-hak El-M6silee, 59 
 from the presence of El-Ma-Moon, and, turning 
 into a by-street, I saw something hanging from 
 one of the houses there. So I felt it, to discover 
 what it was, and found that it was a large basket, 60 
 with four handles, and covered with brocade ; 
 whereupon I said within myself, There must be 
 some cause for this. And I was perplexed at my 
 case. 
 
 Intoxication induced me to seat myself in the 
 basket ; and when I had done so, lo, the people of 
 the house drew it up with me in it, thinking that 
 I was the person whom they were expecting. And 
 when they had raised it to the top of the wall, 
 behold, four damsels were there, and they said to 
 me, Descend, and may ample enjoyment attend 
 chee. Then a damsel walked before me with a 
 candle until I descended into a mansion in which 
 were sitting-rooms spread [with carpets and other 
 furniture], the like of which I had never seen except in the palace of the Khaleefeh. 
 And after I had sat a while, suddenly some curtains were raised on one side of the 
 apartment, and, lo, maids walked in with candles in their hands, and with perfuming- 
 vessels containing aloes- wood ; and among them was a damsel like the rising full moon. 
 So 1 rose ; and she said, Thou art a welcome visiter. Then having desired me to be 
 seated, she inquired of me my story. I therefore answered her, I came forth from 
 certain of my brethren, and, turning into this street, found a basket let down ; 
 whereupon the wine induced me to seat myself in it, and it was drawn up, with me in 
 it, to this house. This, said I, is my case. And she said, No harm shall befall thee, 
 and I hope thou wilt approve of the result of thine adventure. And what, she added, 
 is thine occupation ? I answered, That of a merchant in the market of Baghdad, 
 And she said, Canst thou repeat any verses ? Some trifling pieces, I answered. Then 
 mention them to us, said she, and recite to us somewhat of them. But I replied, The 
 visiter is bashful : do thou begin. Thou hast spoken truly, she said. And she recited 
 some elegant verses, of the poetry of ancient and of recent composers, some of their 
 most admirable effusions ; and I listened, and knew not whether to wonder most at her 
 beauty and loveliness, or at the charming style of her rehearsal. After this she said, 
 Hath thy bashfulness passed away ? Yea, by Allah, I answered. And she said, If 
 thou wilt, recite to us somewhat of that which thou art able to rehearse. So I 
 recited to her an abundance of pieces by a number of old writers ; and she approved 
 them, and said, By Allah, I did not imagine that there existed among the sons of the 
 common people such a person as this. 
 
 59 A very famous musician, and the favourite 
 boon companion of El-Ma-moon. He was the son 
 of Ibrahecm El-Mosilee. See Note 22 to Chapter 
 
 M This kind of basket, called " zembeel " or 
 " zimbeel," is f ormed of palm-leaves. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 309 
 
 
 
 She then gave orders to bring the food ; and it was brought, and she began to take 
 and to put before me ; and varieties of sweet-smelling flowers were there, with rare 
 fruits, such as are usually found nowhere but in the abodes of Kings. Afterwards she 
 called for the wine, and she drank a cup, and handed one to me, saying, This is the 
 time for conversation and relating stories. I therefore began to converse with her, 
 and to say I have been told that such and such things happened, and there was a man 
 who said so and so, until I had related to her a number of agreeable stories; with 
 which she was delighted ; and she said, I wonder how it is that one of the merchants is 
 able to repeat stories like these ; for they are such as are proper for Kings. So 1 said, 
 I had a neighbour who used to converse with the Kings, and serve as their boon- 
 companion ; and when he was unoccupied, I used to visit his house, and sometimes he 
 would relate what thqu hast heard. And she replied, By my life, thou hast retained 
 them well. We continued OUT conversation, whenever I was silent she beginning, 
 until we had -passed the greater part of the night, the fumes of the aloes-wood 
 imparting a constant odour to the air ; and I was in such a state that if El-Ma-moon 
 could have imagined it. he would have flown with desire to enjoy it. She then said, 
 Verily thou art one of the most pleasant and polished of men ; for thou art a person of 
 surpassing good breeding ; and there is but one thing wanting. And what, said I, 
 is that ? She answered, Couldst thou sing verses to the sounds of the lute ? So I 
 replied, I used to devote myself to this art of old ; but not being endowed with a 
 talent for it, I relinquished it ; and my heart is inflamed on that account. 1 should be 
 glad to sing something well on the present occasion, that my night's enjoyment might 
 be complete. 
 
 On hearing this, she said, It seemeth thou hast proposed that the lute should be 
 brought. I replied, It is thine to decide : thou art the conferrer of favours, and art 
 entitled to thanks for thy kindness. And she gave orders to bring a lute ; and when 
 it was brought, she sang with a voice which I had never heard equalled in sweetness, 
 with a charming manner, and admirable skill in striking the chords, and altogether 
 with consummate excellence : after which she said, Knowest thon by whom this air 
 was composed, and whose are the verses ? I answered, No. And she said, the verses 
 are by such-a-one, and the air is Is-hak's. I said, And is Is-hak (may I be thy 
 ransom !) endowed with such talent ?- Wonderful ! wonderful ! she exclaimed : Is-hak 
 surpasseth all in this art. And I said, Extolled be the perfection of Allah, who hath 
 given to this man what He hath not given to any beside him ! And how then 
 wouldst thou be charmed, she added, if thou heardest this air sung by him ! Thus we 
 continued to pass the time until daybreak, when an old woman, who seemed to be her 
 nurse, addressed her and said, The time hath arrived. So she arose at her words, and 
 said, Keep thou our conduct secret ; for social meetings are confidential. May I be 
 thy ransom ! I replied : I required no charge on that subject. I then bade her 
 farewell, and she sent a damsel to walk before me to the door of the house, and she 
 opened to me, and I went forth to my own abode. 
 
 Having arrived there, I performed the morning-prayers, and slept ; and the 
 messenger of El-Ma-moon came to me ; so I repaired to him, and remained with him 
 that day. And when the hour of nightfall came, I reflected upon the pleasure that I 
 had enjoyed during the preceding night, and it was such as none but the fool could be 
 withheld from. I therefore went forth, and, coming to the basket, seated myself in it, 
 and was drawn up to the place in which I was the night before. The damsel said to 
 me, Thou hast been assiduous. But I replied, I do not think myself to have been 
 otherwise than neglectful. We then chatted together, as in the preceding night, each 
 of us supplying subjects of conversation, and reciting poetry, and relating strange 
 tales, until dawn ; when I departed to my abode, and performed the morning-prayers, 
 and slept. 
 
 The messenger of El-Ma-moon then camo to me, and I repaired to him; and after 
 I had passed the day with him, and the hour of nightfall arrived, the Prince of the 
 
310 NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 Faithful said to me, I conjure thee to sit here until I have gone and accomplished an 
 object that I have in view and come back. But when the Khaleefeh had gone away 
 from me, disquieting thoughts arose in my mind, and, reflecting upon my late enjoy- 
 ment, what I might experience from the Prince of the Faithful seemed of little moment to 
 me. So I sprang up and retired, and went forth running until T came to the basket ; 
 whereupon I seated myself in it, and it was drawn up with me to the place. of my 
 former visits ; and the damsel said, Probably thou art our friend ? Yea, by Allah, I 
 answered. And she said, Hast thou made our house thine abode ? I answered, May I 
 be thy ransom ! The right of a stranger to hospitality is for three days ; and if I 
 return after that period, ye shall be free to shed my blood. We then sat amusing 
 ourselves as on the former occasions; and when the time of departure drew near, 
 knowing that El-Ma-moon would certainly question me, and would not be content 
 with any thing but an explanation of the affair, t said to her, I see thee to be one of 
 those who take pleasure in singing, and T have a cousin who is more comely than 
 myself in countenance, and of higher rank, and more accomplished manners, and he is 
 most nearly acquainted of all the creatures of God (whose name be exalted!; witli 
 Is-hak. Upon this she said, Art thou a spunger and dost thou urge an impertinent 
 request ? I answered her, Thou art the arbitress of the matter. And she replied, If 
 thy cousin be as thou hast described him, we shall have no dislike to be acquainted 
 with him. Then the time came, and I arose and went homewards. 
 
 But before I arrived at my house, the messengers of El-Ma-moon rushed upon me, 
 and violently bore me away to him. I found him sitting upon a throne, and incensed 
 against me ; and he said, O Is-hak, hast thou swerved from allegiance ? I answered, 
 No, by Allah, O Prince of the Faithful. What then is thy story ? said he : relate the 
 affair to me with truth. So I replied, Well; but in privacy. He therefore made a 
 sign to those who were before him ; whereupon they retired ; and I told him the story, 
 and said to him, I promised her that thou wouldst pay her a visit. And he said, Thou 
 hast done well. We then occupied ourselves with our usual pleasures that day ; but 
 the heart of El-Ma-moon was intent upon the damsel ; and scarcely had the appointed 
 time arrived when we departed. 1 charged him, saying, Refrain from calling me by 
 my name before her ; and be as though thou \vert my attendant 61 in her presence. 
 And we agreed on this subject. 
 
 We proceeded until we came to the place where the basket had been hung, and we 
 found two baskets : so we seated ourselves in them, and they were drawn up with us to 
 the same place. The damsel then advanced and saluted us ; and when El-Ma-moon 
 beheld her, he was astonished at her beauty and loveliness. She began to relate 
 stories to him, and to recite verses, and afterwards caused the wine to be brought, and 
 we drank ; she making him the object of her particular favour, and rejoicing in his 
 society, and he shewing the same favour to her, and alike delighted with her. And she 
 took the lute, and sang these verses : 62 
 
 The beloved visited me towards the close of night. I stood, to shew him honour, until he sat 
 
 down. 
 
 1 said, O my intimate, and all my desire, hast thou come this night and not feared the watch ? 
 He answered, The love-smitten feared : but his desire had forcibly deprived him of his reason. 
 
 B1 So in the Calcutta edition of the first two Muslims, these odes deserve attention from their 
 
 hundred Nights : in the Cairo edition "but I will striking similarity to the Song of Solomon ; and, 
 
 be thy attendant." as Mr. Lane remarks, decide the question of 
 
 62 From the Calcutta edition of the first two the object of the latter. They are confessedly 
 
 hundred Nights, vol. i. p. 4^5. [These verses, addressed to the Prophet, in a spiritual sense, and 
 
 slightly varied, form the conclusion of one of the *o understood by the persons who sing them, 
 
 inuweshshahs, or religious hive-odes, usually sung although the vulgar apply them to human love, 
 
 at zikrs in Egypt, and cited in the .Modern Kgyp- See the Modern Egyptians, vol. ii. eh. xi. ED.] 
 tians. As specimen? of the religious poetry of thr 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. -HI 
 
 She then said to me, And is thy cousin of the merchants ? And she pointed towards 
 El-Ma-moon. 1 answered, Yes. And she said, Verily ye nearly resemble each other. 
 I replied, Yes. 
 
 And when El-Ma-moon had drunk three pints, 63 being moved with joy and 
 merriment, he called out and said, O Is-lmk ! I replied, At thy service, O Prince of the 
 Faithful. Sing, said he, this air. And when the damsel discovered that he was the 
 Khalfefeh, she retired into another apartment. So after I had finished my song, 
 El-Ma-rnoon said to me, See who is the master of this house. Whereupon an old 
 woman quickly answered and said, It belongeth to El-Hasan the son of Sahl. And he 
 said. Bring him hither unto me, The old woman, therefore, was absent for a short 
 time, and, lo, El-Hasan came in. El-Ma-moon said to him, Hast thou a daughter ? He 
 answered, Yes : her name is Khadeejeh. 64 Is she married ? said the Khaleefeh. 
 El-Hasan answered, No, by Allah. Then, said El-Ma-moon, I demand her of thee as 
 my wife. El-Hasan replied, She is thy handmaiden, and at thy disposal, O Prince of 
 the Faithful. And the Khaleefeh said, I marry her on the condition of paying in 
 ready money, as her dowry, thirty thousand pieces of gold, which shall be brought to 
 thee this next morning : so, after thou shalt have received the money, do thou convey 
 her to us in the following night. He replied, I hear, and obey. We then went forth ; ' 
 and he said O Is-hak, tell not this story to any one. I therefore kept it a secret until 
 El-Ma-moon died. 
 
 Never had such pleasures altogether fallen to the lot of any one, as those which I 
 enjoyed during these four days, keeping company with El-Ma-moon by day, and 
 with Khadeejehby night. By Allah. I have seen no one among men like El-Ma-moon, 
 and I have not beheld among women the like of Khadeejeh, nor any who approached 
 her in intelligence and sense and elocution. And God is all-knowing. 
 
 [Some Arab authors have, not without reason, pronounced this anecdote an inven- 
 tion of Is-hak. It is well known that El-Ma-moon married the daughter of his 
 Wezeer El-Hasan the son of Sahl ; but that he became acquainted with her in the 
 manner above described is highly improbable. The marriage took place at Fern es-Silh, 
 on the bank of the Tigris, near Wasit, and was celebrated with a magnificence scarcely 
 credible. El-Hasan, the father of the bride, scattered, among the officers and other 
 chief persons who were present, balls of musk of the size of hazel-nuts, containing 
 papers inscribed with the names of lands and of female slaves, and the descriptions of 
 beasts, &c., and into whose hand soever a ball fell, the property of which the name or 
 description was written upon the enclosed paper was delivered to him, whether it were 
 a piece of land, or other possession, or a horse, or a female slave, or a memlook. After 
 that, he scattered, among the rest of the people, pieces of gold and silver, and bags of 
 musk, and balls 65 of ambergris. He expended upon the entertainment of El-Ma-moon 
 and his companions, and all his troops and other attendants, the number of whom was 
 incalculable, even the camel-drivers, and the hired conductors of beasts, and the boat- 
 men, so that none had occasion to purchase anything for himself or for his beast. It 
 is said that El-Ma-moon remained with El-Hasan nineteen days, the latter providing 
 the Khaleefeh and all who were with him each day, with every thing that they 
 required ; and that the sum which he expended upon them was fifty millions of pieces 
 of silver. 66 El-Ma-moon, on his departure, gave orders to present him with ten 
 millions of pieces of silver, and allotted him Es-Silh as a possession ; whereupon 
 El-Hasan sat, and distributed the money among his grandees and companions and 
 retinue. El-Ma-moon likewise gave up to him the revenue of Faris and of the cities 
 of El-Ahwaz for the period of a year. It is related, also, that when El-Ma-moon first 
 
 63 See vol. i. p. 197. " Literally, " eggs." 
 
 ''* Her true name, or that by which she was r6 Equivalent to about a million and a quarter of 
 
 generally known, was IJooran. pounds sterling. 
 
312 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 entered the apartment of the bride, and seated himself with her, her grandmother 
 scattered over them both a thousand large pearls from a tray of gold ; and that a 
 candle of ambergris, 6 " weighing forty menns, 68 in a lantern * 9 of gold, was lighted 
 that night ; but that El-Ma-moon disapproved of it, and pronounced it an act of 
 prodigality. 70 ] 
 
 er Probably of wax, with an admixture of 
 ambergris. 
 
 68 The "menu" is general!}' said to be two 
 pounds. 
 
 ra In the text from which I translate, " toor " or 
 
 "towr;" but this I suppose to be an error of the 
 press, and the rigrht reading to be " tennoor." 
 
 " Ibn-Khallikan, De Slane's edition, vol. i. pp, 
 136-8. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CHIEFLY FROM THE EDITION OF BHESLATJ, COMMENCING WITH PAHT OF THE 
 
 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVKNTY-FIEST NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH 
 
 THE TWO HUNDRED AND NINETIETH. 
 
 THE STORY OF ABU-L-HASAX THE WAG, OH THE 
 SLEEPER AW A KKXED. 1 ' 
 
 THERE was a merchant in Baghdad, in the reign of the Khalee- 
 feh Haroon Er-Rasheed, and he had a son named Abu-1-Hasan the 
 Wag. 2 And this merchant died, leaving to his son vast wealth : 
 whereupon Abu-1-Hasan divided his property into two equal por- 
 tions, one of which he laid aside, and of the other he expended. He 
 took as his familiar friends a number of the sons of the merchants, 
 ii. 2 s 
 
314 THE STORY OF ABU-L-HASAX THE \V.\C,, 
 
 and others, and gave himself up to the delights of good drinking and 
 good eating, until all the wealth that he had appropriated to this 
 purpose was consumed. And upon this he repaired to his associates 
 and relations and boon-companions, and exposed to them his case, 
 shewing them how little property remained in his possession ; but 
 none of them paid any regard to him, or uttered a word in reply. 
 So he returned to his mother, with a broken heart, and told her of 
 the treatment that he had experienced from his associates, that they 
 would neither do him justice nor even reply to him. But she said, 
 Abu-1-Hasan, thus are the sons of this age : as long as thou hast 
 any thing, they draw thee near to them ; and when thou hast no- 
 thing, they cast thee off. She was grieved for him, and he sighed 
 and wept. 
 
 He then sprang up, and went to the place in which was depo- 
 sited the other half of his wealth, and upon this he lived agreeably. 
 He took an oath that he would not thenceforth associate with any 
 one of those whom he knew, but only with the stranger, and that he 
 would not associate with any person but for one night, and on the 
 following morning would not recognise him. Accordingly, every 
 night, he went forth and seated himself on the bridge, and when a 
 stranger passed by him, he invited him to an entertainment, and 
 took him to his house, where he caroused with him that night, until 
 the morning : he then dismissed him ; and after that, he would not 
 salute him if he saw him. 
 
 Thus he continued to do for a whole year ; after which, as he 
 was sitting one day upon the bridge as usual, to see who might 
 come towards him, Er-Rasheed and certain of his domestics passed 
 by in disguise ; for the Khaleefeh had experienced a contraction of 
 the bosom, and come forth to amuse himself among the people. So 
 Abu-1-Hasan laid hold upon him, and said to him, O my master, 
 hast thou any desire for a repast and beverage ? And Er-Rasheed 
 complied with his request, saying to him, Conduct us. And Abu-1- 
 Hasan knew not who was his guest. The Khaleefeh proceeded 
 with him until they arrived at Abu-1-Hasan's house : and when Er- 
 Rasheed entered, he found in it a saloon, such that if thou beheldest 
 it, and lookcdst towards its walls, thou wouldst .behold wonders ; 
 and if thou observedst its conduits of water, thou wouldst see a 
 fountain encased with gold. And after he had seated himself there, 
 Abu-1-Hasan called for a slave-girl, like a twig of the Oriental willow, 
 who took a lute, and extemporized and sang these verses : 
 
OK THE SLEEPER AWAKENED. 315 
 
 O thou who ever dwellest in my heart, while thy person is distant from my sight ! 
 Thou art my soul ; though I see it not, it is nearer to me than anything beside. 
 
 And when Er-Rasheed heard these verses, he said, to her, Thou hast 
 performed well. God bless thee ! Her eloquence pleased him, and 
 he wondered at Abu-1-Hasan and his entertainment. 
 
 He then said to Abu-1-Hasan, O young man, who art thou ? 
 Acquaint me with thy history, that I may requite thee for thy 
 kindness. But Abu-1-Hasan smiled, and replied, my master, far 
 be it from me that what hath happened should recur, and that I 
 should be in thy company again after this time ! And why so ? 
 said the Khaleefeh, and why wilt thou not acquaint me with thy 
 case ? So Abu-1-Hasan told him his story, and when the Khalee- 
 feh heard it, he laughed violently, and said, By Allah, O my bro- 
 ther, thou art excusable in this matter. Then a dish of roast goose 
 was placed before him, and a cake of fine bread; 3 and Abu-1-Hasan 
 sat, and cut off the meat, and put morsels into the mouth of the 
 Khaleefeh, and they continued eating until they were satisfied ; when 
 the basin and ewer were brought, with the potash ; 4 and they washed 
 their hands. After this, Abu-1-Hasan lighted for his guest three 
 candles and three lamps, spread the wine-cloth, and brought clear 
 strained, old, perfumed wine, the odour of which was like fragrant 
 musk, and, having filled the first cup, said, my boon-companion, 
 bashfulness is dismissed from us, with thy permission. Thy slave is 
 by thee, may I never be afflicted by the loss of thee ! And he 
 drank the cup, and filled the second, which he handed to the 
 Khaleefeh, waiting upon him as a servant. And the Khaleefeh was 
 pleased with his actions, and the politeness of his words, and said 
 within himself, By Allah, I will certainly requite him for this ! 
 Abu-1-Hasan then, after he had kissed the cup, handed it to the 
 Khaleefeh, who accepted it from his hand, kissed it and drank it, 
 and handed it back to him. Abu-1-Hasan still continued serving 
 him. He filled and drank, and filled again and handed the cup 
 to the Khaleefeh, after he had kissed it three times, reciting these 
 verses ,: 
 
 Thy presence with us is an honour, and we confess it to be so ; 
 And if thou absent thyself from us, we have none to fill thy place. 
 
 Drink, he added, and may it be attended with health and vigour. 
 And they drank and caroused until midnight. 5 
 
 After this, the Khaleefeh said to his host, O Abu-1-Hasan, is 
 there any service that thou wouldst have performed, or any desire 
 
316 THE STOEY OF ABU-L-HASAN THE WAG, &c. 
 
 that them wouldst have accomplished ? And Abu-1-IIasan answered, 
 In our neighbourhood is a mosque, to which belong an Imam and 
 four sheykhs, and whenever they hear music or any sport, they incite 
 the Walee against me, and impose fines upon me, and trouble my life, 
 so that I suffer torment from them. If I had them in my power, 
 therefore, I would give each of them a thousand lashes, that I might 
 be relieved from their excessive annoyance. 
 
 Er-Rasheed replied, May Allah grant thee the accomplishment 
 of thy wish ! And without his being aware of it, he put into a cup 
 a lozenge of benj, and handed it to him ; and as soon as it had 
 settled in his stomach, he fell asleep immediately. Er-Rasheed then 
 arose and went to the door, where he found his young men waiting 
 for him, and he ordered them to convey Abu-1-Hasan upon a mule, 
 and returned to the palace ; Abu-1-Hasan being intoxicated and 
 insensible. And when the Khaleefeh had rested himself in the 
 palace, he called for his Wezeer Jaafar, and 'Abel-Allah the son of 
 Tahir, the \\Ydee of Baghdad, and certain of his chief attendants, 
 and said to them all, In the morning, when ye see this young man 
 (pointing to Abu-1-Hasan) seated on the royal couch, pay obedience 
 to him, and salute him as Khaleefeh, and whatsoever he commandeth 
 you, do it. Then going in to his female slaves, he directed them 
 to wait upon Abu-1-Hasan, and to address him as Prince of the 
 Faithful ; after which he entered a private closet, and, having let 
 down a curtain over the entrance, slept. 
 
 So when Abu-1-Hasan awoke, he found himself upon the royal 
 couch, with the attendants standing around, and kissing the ground 
 before him ; and a maid said to him, our lord, it is the time for 
 morning-prayer: upon \vhich he laughed, and, looking round about 
 him, lie beheld a pavilion whose walls were adorned with gold and 
 ultramarine, and the roof bespotted with red gold, surrounded by 
 chambers with curtains of embroidered silk hanging before their 
 doors ; and he saw vessels of gold and China-ware and crystal, and 
 furniture and carpets spread, and lighted lamps, and female slaves, 
 and eunuchs and other attendants; whereat he was perplexed in his 
 mind, and said, By Allah, either I am dreaming, or this is Para- 
 dise, and the Abode of Peace. And he closed his eyes. So a 
 eunuch said to him, O my lord, this is not thy usual custom, Prince 
 of the Faithful. And he was perplexed at his case, and put 
 Ins head into his bosom, and then began to open his eyes by little 
 and little, laughing, and saying, What is this state in which I find 
 
myself? And he bit his finger; and when he 
 found that the bite pained him, he cried, Ah ! 
 and was angry. Then raising his head, he called 
 one of the female slaves, who answered him, At 
 thy service, Prince of the Faithful ! And he 
 said to her, What is thy name ? She answered, 
 Shejeret-ed-Ihirr. 6 And he said, Knowest 
 thou in what place I am, and who I am ? 
 Thou art the Prince of the Faithful, she 
 answered, sitting in thy palace, upon the 
 royal couch. He replied, I am perplexed at 
 my case, rny reason hath departed, and it 
 seemeth that I am asleep ; but what shall I 
 say of my yesterday's guest ? I imagine nothing 
 but that he is a devil or an enchanter, who hath 
 sported with my reason. 
 
 All this time, the Khaleefeh was observ- 
 ing him, from a place where Abii-1-IIasan 
 
318 
 
 
 fl 
 
 V'' 
 
 THE STORY OF ABU-L-HASAN THE WAG, 
 
 could not see him. And Abu-1-Hasan looked 
 towards the chief eunuch, and called to him. 
 So he came, and kissed the ground before 
 him, saying to him, Yes, Prince of the 
 Faithful. And Abu-1-Hasan said to him, 
 Who is the Prince of the Faithful ? Thou, he 
 answered. Abu-1-Hasan replied, Thou liest. 
 And addressing another eunuch, he said to 
 him, my chief, as thou hopest for Allah's 
 protection, tell me, am I the Prince of the 
 Faithful ? Yea, by Allah, answered the eu- 
 nuch : thou art at this present time the Prince 
 of the Faithful, and the Khaleefeh of the 
 Lord of all creatures. And Abu-1-Hasan, 
 perplexed at all that he beheld, said, In one 
 night do I become Prince of the Faithful ? 
 Was I not yesterday Abu-1-Hasan ; and to- 
 day am I Prince of the Faithful ? He re- 
 mained perplexed and confounded until the 
 morning, when a eunuch advanced to him 
 and said to him, May Allah grant a happy 
 morning to the Prince of the Faithful ! And 
 he handed to him a pair of shoes of gold 
 stuff, reticulated with precious stones and 
 rubies ; and Abu-1-Hasan took them, and, 
 after examining them a long time, put them 
 into his sleeve. So the eunuch said to him, 
 These are shoes to walk in. And Abu-1- 
 Hasan replied, Thou hast spoken truth. I 
 put them not into my sleeve but in my fear 
 lest they should be soiled. He therefore 
 took them forth, and put them on his feet. 
 And shortly after, the female slaves brought 
 him a basin of gold and a ewer of silver, 
 and poured the water upon his hands ; and 
 when he had performed the ablution, they 
 spread for him a prayer-carpet ; and he prayed; 
 but knew not how to do so. He continued 
 his inclinations and prostrations until he had 
 performed twenty rek'ahs ; 7 meditating, and 
 within himself, By Allah, T am none 
 
OR THE SLEEPEH AWAKENED. 
 
 319 
 
 other than the Prince of the Faithful, in 
 truth ; or else this is a dream, and all these 
 things occur not in a dream. He therefore 
 convinced himself, and determined in his mind, 
 that he was the Prince of the Faithful ; and 
 he pronounced the salutations, 8 and finished 
 his prayers. They then brought him a mag- 
 nificent dress; and looking at himself, as he 
 sat upon the couch, he retracted, and said, 
 All this is an illusion, and a machination of 
 the Jtinn. 
 
 And while he was in this state, lo, one of 
 the memlooks came in, and said to him, O 
 Prince of the Faithful, the chamberlain is at 
 the door, requesting permission to enter. Let 
 him enter, replied Abu-1-Hasan. So he came 
 in, and, having kissed the ground before him, 
 said, Peace be on thee, Prince of the 
 Faithful ! And Abu-1-Hasan rose, and de- 
 scended from the couch to the floor ; where- 
 upon the chamberlain exclaimed, Allah ! Al- 
 
TIII: STOIJY or ABU-L-HASAX THK WAG, &c. 
 
 
 lah ! Prince of the Faithful ! Knowest 
 thou not that all men are thy servants, and 
 under thy authority, and that it is not proper 
 for the Prince of the Faithful to rise to any 
 one ? Abu-1-Hasan was then told that Jaafar 
 El-Barmekee, and Abel-Allah the son of 
 Tahir, and the chiefs of the memlooks, begged 
 permission to enter. And he gave them per- 
 mission. So they entered, and kissed the 
 ground before him, each of them addressing 
 him as Prince of the Faithful. And he was 
 delighted at this, imd returned their saluta- 
 tion ; after which, he called the Walce, who 
 approached him, and said, At thy service, O 
 Prince of the Faithful ! And Abu-1-Hasan 
 said to him, Repair immediately to such a 
 street, and give a hundred pieces of gold to 
 the mother of Abu-1-Hasan the Wag, with 
 my salutation : then take the Im;im of the 
 mosque, and the four sheykhs, and inflict upon 
 each of them a thousand lashes; 1 ' and when 
 thou hast done that, write a bond against 
 them, confirmed by oath, that they shall pot 
 reside in the street, after thou shalt have 
 paraded them through the city, mounted on 
 beasts with their faces to the tails, and hast 
 proclaimed before them, This is the recom- 
 pense of those who annoy their neighbours ! 
 And beware of neglecting that which I 
 have commanded thee to do. So the Walce 
 did as he was ordered. And when Abu-1- 
 Hasan had exercised his authority until the 
 close of the day, he looked towards the cham- 
 berlain and the rest of the attendants, and said 
 to them, Depart. 
 
 He then called for a eunuch who was 
 near at hand, and said to him, I am hungry, 
 and desire something to eat. And he replied, 
 I hear and obey: and led him by the hand 
 into the eating-chamber, where the attendants 
 placed before him a table of rich viands ; and 
 
ten slave-girls, high bosomed virgins, stood 
 behind his head. Abu-1-Hasan, looking at one 
 of these, said to her, What is thy name? 
 She answered, Kadeeb-el-Ban. 10 And he said 
 to her, Kadeeb-el-Ban, who am I? Thou 
 art the Prince of the Faithful, she answered. 
 But he replied, Thou liest, by Allah, thou 
 slut! Ye girls are laughing at me. So she 
 said, Fear Allah, Prince of the Faithful: 
 this is thy palace, and the female slaves are 
 thine. And upon this he said within himself, 
 It is no great matter to be effected by God, 
 to whom be ascribed might and glory ! Then 
 the slave-girls led him by the hand to the 
 drinking-chamber, where he saw what as- 
 tonished the mind; and he continued to say 
 within himself, No doubt these are of the 
 Jiinn, and this person who was my guest is 
 one of the Kings of the Jann, who saw no 
 way of requiting and compensating me for 
 my kindness to him but by ordering his 
 
 ii. 
 
 2 T 
 
322 
 
 THE STORY OP ABU-L-HASAN THE WAG, &c. 
 
 'On? to address me as Prince of the Faithful. 
 All these are of the Jann. May Allah then 
 ,, ,. r .. deliver me from them happily! And while 
 *' he was thus talking to himself, lo, one of 
 the slave-girls filled for him a cup of wine ; 
 and he took it from her hand and drank it ; 
 after which, the slave-girls plied him with 
 wine in abundance ; and one of them threw 
 into his cup a lozenge of benj ; and when 
 it had settled in his stomach, he fell down 
 senseless. 
 
 Er-Rasheed then gave orders to convey 
 him to his house ; and the servants did so, 
 and laid him on his bed, still in a state of in- 
 sensibility. So when he recovered from his 
 intoxication, in the latter part of the night, he 
 found himself in the dark ; and he called out, 
 Kadeeb-el-Ban ! Shejeret-cd-Durr ! But no one 
 answered him. His mother, however, heard 
 him shouting these names, and arose and 
 came, and said to him, What hath happened 
 to thee, O my son, and what hath befallen 
 thee ^ Art thou mad ^. And when he heard 
 the words of his mother, he said to her, Who 
 art thou, ill-omened old woman, that thou 
 addressest the Prince of the Faithful with these 
 expressions ^ She answered, I am thy mother, 
 my son. But he replied, Thou liest : I 
 am the Prince of the Faithful, the lord of 
 the countries and the people. Be silent, she 
 said, or else thy life will be lost. And she 
 began to pronounce spells and to recite charms 
 over him, and said to him, It seemeth, O my 
 son, that thou hast seen this in a dream, and 
 all this is one of the ideas suggested by the 
 Devil. She then said to him, 1 give thee good news, at which thou 
 wilt be rejoiced. And what is it? said he. She answered, The 
 Khaleefeh gave orders yesterday to beat the Imam and the four 
 sheykhs, and caused a bond to be written against them, confirmed by 
 oath, that they shall not transgress henceforth against any one by 
 
 
their impertinent meddling' ; and he sent me a hundred pieces of gold, 
 with his salutation. And when Abu-1-Hasan heard these words from 
 his mother, he uttered a loud cry, with which his soul almost quitted 
 the world ; and he exclaimed, I am he who gave orders to beat the 
 sheykhs, and who sent thee the hundred pieces of gold, with my 
 salutation, and I am the Prince of the Faithful. 
 
 Having said this, he rose up against his mother, and beat her 
 with an altnond-stick, until she cried out, O Muslims ! u And he 
 beat her with increased violence, until the neighbours heard her cries, 
 and came to her relief. He was still beating her, and saying to her, 
 O ill-omened old woman, am I not the Prince of the Faithful ? Thou 
 hast enchanted me ! And when the people heard his words, they 
 said, This man hath become mad. And not doubting his insanity, 
 they came in and laid hold upon him, bound his hands behind him, 
 and conveyed him to the madhouse. 12 There every day they punished 
 him, dosing him with abominable medicines, and flogging him with 
 whips, making him a madman in spite of himself. Thus he continued, 
 stripped of his clothing, and chained by the neck to a high window, 
 for the space of ten days ; after which, his mother came to salute him. 
 And he complained to her of his case. So she said to him, my 
 son, fear God in thy conduct : if thou wert Prince of the Faithful, 
 thou wouldst not be in this predicament. And when he heard what 
 his mother said, he replied, By Allah, thou hast spoken truth. It 
 
324 THE STORY OF ABU-L-HASAN THE WAG, 
 
 seemeth that I was only asleep, and dreamt that they made me 
 Khaleefeh, and assigned me servants and female slaves. So his 
 mother said to him, O my son, verily Satan doeth more than this. 
 And he replied, Thou hast spoken truth, and I beg forgiveness of 
 God for the actions committed by me. 
 
 They therefore took him forth from the madhouse, and conducted 
 him into the bath ; and when he recovered his health, he prepared 
 food and drink, and began to eat. But eating by himself was not 
 pleasant to him ; and he said to his mother, O my mother, neither 
 life nor eating, by myself, is pleasant to me. She replied, If thou 
 desire to do according to thy will, thy return to the madhouse is 
 most probable. Paying no attention, however, to her advice, he walked 
 to the'bridge, to see for himself a cup-companion. And while he was 
 sitting there, lo, Er-Rasheed came to him, in the garb of a merchant ; 
 for, from the time of his parting with him, he came every day to the 
 bridge, but found him not till now. As soon as Abu-1-Hasan saw 
 him, he said to him, A friendly welcome to thee, King of the Jiinn ! 
 So Er-Rasheed said, What have I done to thee ? AVhat more couldst 
 thou do, said Abu-1-Hasan, than thou hast done unto me, O filthiest 
 of the Jiinn ? I have suffered beating, and entered the madhouse, and 
 they pronounced me a madman. All this was occasioned by thee. I 
 brought thee to my abode, and fed thee with the best of my food ; and 
 after that, thou gavest thy Devils and thy 'Ons entire power over me, 
 to make sport with my reason from morning to evening. Depart from 
 me, therefore, and go thy way. 
 
 The Khaleefeh smiled at this, and, seating himself by his side, 
 addressed him in courteous language, and said to him, O my brother, 
 when I went forth from thee, I inadvertently left the door open, and 
 probably the Devil went in to thee. 13 Abu-1-Hasan replied, Inquire 
 not respecting that which happened to me. And what possessed 
 thee, he added, that thou leftest the door open, so that the Devil came 
 in to me, and that such and such things befell me ? And he related 
 to the Khaleefeh all that had happened to him from first to last, while 
 Er-Rasheed laughed, but concealed his laughter : after which, the 
 Khaleefeh said to him, Praise be to God that He hath dispelled from 
 thee that which thou hatest, and that I have seen thee again in 
 prosperity ! But Abu-1-Hasan replied, I will not again take thee 
 as my boon-companion, nor as an associate to sit with me; for the 
 proverb saith, He who stumbleth against a stone and returneth to it 
 is to be blamed and reproached : and with thee, my brother, I will 
 
OR THE SLEEPER AWAKENED. 325 
 
 x 
 
 riot carouse, nor will I keep company with thee ; since I have not 
 found thy visit to be followed by good fortune to rne. 14 The Khaleefeh, 
 however, said, I have been the means of the accomplishment of thy 
 desire with regard to the Imam and the sheykhs. Yes, replied Abu-1- 
 Hasan. And Er-Rasheed added, Perhaps something will happen to 
 thee that will rejoice thy heart more than that. Then what dost thon 
 desire of me ? said Abu-1-Hasan. My desire, answered Er-Rasheed, 'is 
 to be thy guest this night. And at length Abu-1-Hasan said, On the 
 condition that thou swear to me by the inscription on the seal of 
 Suleyman the son of Daood (on both of whom be peace !) that thou 
 wilt not suffer thy 'Efreets to make sport with me. And Er-Rasheed 
 replied, I hear and obey. 
 
 So Abu-1-Hasan took him to his abode, and put the food before 
 him and his attendants, and they ate as much as satisfied them ; and 
 when they had finished eating, the servants placed before them the 
 wine and exhilarating beverages, and they continued drinking and 
 carousing until the wine rose into their heads. Abu-1-Hasan then 
 said to the Khaleefeh, my boon-companion, in truth I am perplexed 
 respecting my case. It seemeth that I was Prince of the Faithful, 
 and that I exercised authority and gave and bestowed : and truly, 
 my brother, it was not a vision of sleep. But the Khaleefeh replied, 
 This was a result of confused dreams. And having said this, he put 
 a piece of benj into the cup, and said, By my life, drink this cup. 
 Verily I will drink it from thy hand, replied Abu-1-Hasan. So he 
 took the cup, and when he had drunk it, his head fell before his feet. 
 The Khaleefeh then arose immediately, and ordered his young men to 
 convey Abu-1-Hasan to the palace, and to lay him upon his couch, 
 and commanded the female slaves to stand around him ; after which 
 he concealed himself in a place where Abu-1-Hasan could not see him, 
 and ordered a slave-girl to take her lute and strike its chords over 
 Abu-1-Hasan' s head, and desired the other slave-girls to play upon 
 their instruments. 
 
 It was then the close of the night, and Abu-1-Hasan, awaking, 
 and hearing the sounds of the lutes and tambourines and flutes, and 
 the singing of the slave-girls, cried out, O my mother ! Whereupon 
 the slave-girls answered, At thy service, O Prince of the Faithful ! 
 And when he heard this, he exclaimed, There is no strength nor 
 power, but in God, the High, the Great ! Come to my help this night ; 
 for this night is more unlucky than the former ! He reflected upon 
 all that had happened to him with his mother, and how he had beaten 
 
her, and how he had been taken into the madhouse, and he saw the 
 marks of the beating that he had suffered there. Then looking at 
 the scene that surrounded him, he said, These are all of them of the 
 Jann, in the shapes of human beings ! I commit my affair unto 
 Allah ! And looking towards a memlook by his side, he said to him, 
 Bite my ear, that I may know if I be asleep or awake. The memlook 
 said, How shall I bite thine ear, when thou art the Prince of the 
 Faithful ? But Abu-1-Hasan answered, Do as I have commanded 
 thee, or I will strike off thy head. So he bit it until his teeth met 
 together, and Abu-1-Hasan uttered a loud shriek. Er-Rasheed (who 
 was behind a curtain in a closet), and all who were present, fell down 
 with laughter, and they said to the memlook, Ail thou mad, that thou 
 bitest the ear of the Khaleefeh ? And Abu-1-Hasan said to them, Is 
 it not enough that hath befallen me, ye wretches of Jinn ? But ye 
 are not in fault : the fault is your chiefs, who transformed you from 
 the shapes of Jinn into the shapes of human beings. I implore help 
 against you this night by the Verse of the Throne, and the Chapter of 
 Sincerity, and the Two Preventives ! 15 Upon this Er-Kasheed exclaimed 
 
THE STORY OF ABU-L-HASAN THE WAG, &c. 327 
 
 from behind the curtain, Thou hast killed us, O Abu-1-Hasan ! And 
 Abu-1-Hasan recognised him, and kissed the ground before him, 
 greeting him with a prayer for the increase of his glory, and the 
 prolongation of his life. Er-Rasheed then clad him in a rich dress, 
 gave him a thousand pieces of gold, and made him one of his chief 
 boon-companions. 
 
 Abu-1-Hasan, after this, became a greater favourite with the 
 Khaleefeh than all the other boon-companions, so that he sat with the 
 Khaleefeh and his wife the lady Zubeydeh, the daughter of El-Kasim, 
 and he married her female Treasurer, whose name was Nuzhet-el-Fuad. 16 
 With this wife he resided, eating and drinking, and enjoying a delight- 
 ful life, until all the money that they possessed had gone ; whereupon 
 he said to her, O Nuzhet-el-Fuad ! And she answered, At thy service. 
 I desire, said he, to practise a trick upon the Khaleefeh, and thou 
 shalt practise a trick upon the lady Zubeydeh, and we will -obtain 
 from them immediately two hundred pieces of gold, and two pieces of 
 silk. Do what thou desirest, replied she : and what, she asked, is it ? 
 He answered, We will feign ourselves dead. I will die before thee, 
 and lay myself out : then do thou spread over me a napkin of silk, 
 and unfold my turban over me, and tie my toes, and put upon my 
 stomach a knife and a little salt : n after which, dishevel thy hair, and 
 go to thy lady Zubeydeh, and tear thy vest and slap thy face, and 
 shriek. So she will say to thee, What is the matter with thee ? And 
 do thou answer her, May thy head long survive Abu-1-Hasan the 
 Wag ; for he is dead ! Whereupon she will mourn for me, and weep, 
 and will order her female Treasurer 18 to give thee a hundred pieces of 
 gold, and a piece of silk, 19 and will say to thee, Go, prepare his corpse 
 for burial, and convey it forth to the grave. So thou shalt receive 
 from her the hundred pieces of gold, and the piece of silk, and come 
 hither. And when thou comest to me, I will rise, and thou shalt lay 
 thyself down in rny place, and 1 will go to the Khaleefeh, and say to 
 him, May thy head long survive Nuzhet-el-Fuad ! And I will tear 
 my vest, and pluck my beard ; upon which he will mourn for thee, 
 and will say to his Treasurer, Give to Abu-1-Hasan a hundred pieces 
 of gold, and a piece of silk : and he will say to me, Go, prepare her 
 corpse for burial, and convey it forth to the grave. So I will come to 
 thee. And Nuzhet-el-Fuad was delighted with this, and replied, 
 Truly this is an excellent stratagem ! 
 
 She forthwith closed his eyes, and tied his feet, covered him with 
 the napkin, and did all that her master told her; after which, she 
 
328 THE STORY OF ABU-L-HASAN THE WAG, 
 
 tore her vest, uncovered her head, and dishevelled her hair, and went 
 in to the lady Zubeydeh, shrieking and weeping. When the lady 
 Zubeydeh, therefore, beheld her in this condition, she said to her, 
 What is this state in which I see thee, and what hath happened unto 
 thee, and what hath caused thee to weep? And Nuzhet-el-Fuad wept 
 and shrieked, and said, O my mistress, may thy hea'd long survive 
 Abu-1-Hasan the Wag ; for he is dead ! And the lady Zubeydeh 
 mourned for him, and said, Poor Abu-1-Hasan the Wag ! Then, 
 after weeping for him a while, she ordered the female Treasurer to give 
 to Nuzhet-el-Fuad a hundred pieces of gold, and a piece of silk, and 
 said, O Nuzhet-el-Fuad, go, prepare his body for burial, and convey it 
 forth. So she took the hundred pieces of gold, and the piece of silk, 
 and, returning to her abode, full of joy, went in to Abu-1-Hasan, and 
 acquainted him with what had happened to her; upon which he arose 
 and rejoiced, and girded his waist and danced, and took the hundred 
 pieces of gold, with the piece of silk, and laid them up. 
 
 He then extended Nuzhet-el-Fuad, and did with her as she had 
 done with him ; after which, he tore his vest and plucked his beard 
 and disordered his turban, and ran without stopping until he went in 
 to the Khaleefeh, who was in his hall of judgment; and in the condi- 
 tion above described, he beat his bosom. So the Khaleefeh said to 
 him, What hath befallen thee, O Abu-1-Hasan ? And he wept, and 
 said, Would that thy boon-companion had never been, nor his hour 
 come to pass ! 20 The Khaleefeh therefore said to him, Tell me. He 
 replied, May thy head long survive, O my lord, Nuzhet-el-Fu;id ! 
 And the Khaleefeh exclaimed, There is no deity but God ! and struck 
 his hands together. He then consoled Abu-1-Hasan, and said to him, 
 Mourn not : I will give thee a concubine in her stead. And he 
 ordered his Treasurer to give him a hundred pieces of gold, and a 
 piece of silk. The Treasurer therefore did as he was commanded, and 
 the Khaleefeh said to Abu-1-Hasan, Go, prepare her corpse for burial, 
 and convey it forth, and make a handsome funeral for her. And he 
 took what the Khaleefeh gave him, and went to his abode joyful, and, 
 going in to Nuzhet-el-Fmid, said to her, Arise ; for our desire is 
 accomplished. She therefore arose, and he put before her the hundred 
 pieces of gold, and the piece of silk. So she rejoiced ; and they put 
 these pieces of gold on the other pieces, and the piece of silk on the 
 former one, and sat conversing, and laughing at each other. 
 
 But as to the Khaleefeh, when Abu-1-Hasan departed from him, 
 and went with the pretence of preparing the corpse of Nuzhet-el-Fuad 
 
OR THE SLEEPER AWAKENED. 329 
 
 for burial, he mourned for her, and having dismissed the council, 
 arose and went in, leaning upon Mesroor his executioner, to console 
 the lady Zubeydeh for the loss of her slave-girl. He found her, how- 
 ever, sitting weeping, and waiting for his arrival, that she might 
 console him for the loss of Abu-1-Hasan the Wag. The Khaleefeh 
 said, May thy head long survive thy slave-girl Nuzhet-el-Fuad ! But 
 she replied, O my lord, Allah preserve my slave-girl ! Mayest thou 
 long survive thy boon-companion Abu-1-Hasan the Wag ; for he is 
 dead ! And the Khaleefeh smiled, and said to his eunuch, Mesroor, 
 verily women are of little sense. By Allah, was not Abu-I -Hasan just 
 now with me ? Upon this, the lady Zubeydeh said, after uttering a 
 laugh from an angry bosom, Wilt thou not give over thy jesting ? Is 
 not the death of Abu-l-Hasa*i enough, but thou must make my slave-girl 
 to be dead, as though we had lost them both, and thou must pronounce 
 me of little sense ? The Khaleefeh replied, Verily Nuzhet-el-Fuad is 
 the person who is dead. And the lady Zubeydeh rejoined, In truth 
 he was not with thee, nor didst thou see him ; and none was with me 
 just now but Nuzhet-el-Fuad, who was mourning and weeping, with 
 her clothes rent in pieces ; and I exhorted her to have patience, and 
 gave her a hundred pieces of gold, and a piece of silk ; and I was 
 waiting for thee, that I might console thee for the loss of thy boon- 
 companion, Abu-1-Hasan the W r ag ; and I was going to send for thee. 
 On hearing this, the Khaleefeh laughed, and said, None is dead but 
 Nuzhet-el-Fuad. And the lady Zubeydeh said, No, no, O my lord : 
 none is dead but Abu-1-Hasan. But the K^aleefeh now became 
 enraged ; the vein between his eyes, which was remarkable in members 
 of the family of Hashim, 21 throbbed, and he called out to Mesroor the 
 Executioner, saying to him, Go forth and repair to the house of Abu-1- 
 Hasan the Wag, and see wh'ch of the two is dead. 
 
 Mesroor, therefore, went forth running. And the Khaleefeh said 
 to the lady Zubeydeh, Wilt thou lay me a wager ? She answered, 
 Yes, I will, and I say that Abu-1-Hasan is dead. And I, replied the 
 Khaleefeh, lay a wager, and say that none is dead but Nuzhet-el- 
 Fuad , and our wager shall be, that I stake the Garden of Delight 
 against thy pavilion, the Pavilion of the Pictures. 22 And they sat 
 waiting for Mesroor to return with the information. Now as to 
 Mesroor, he ran without ceasing until he entered the by-street in 
 which was the house of Abu-1-Hasaii the Wag. Abu-1-Hasan was 
 sitting reclining against the window, and turning his eyes, he saw 
 Mesroor running along the street. So he said to Nuzhet-el-Fuad, It 
 n. 2 u 
 
330 THE STORY OF AHU-L-HASAN THE WAG, 
 
 seemeth that the Khaleefeh, after I went forth from him, dismissed 
 the court, and hath gone in to the lady Zubeydeh to console her, and 
 that she, on his arrival, hath arisen and consoled him, and said to 
 him, May God largely compensate thee for the loss of Abu-1-Hasan 
 the Wag ! whereupon the Khaleefeh hath said to her, None is dead 
 but Nuzhet-el-Fuad. May thy head long survive her ! And she 
 hath replied, None is dead but Abu-1-Hasan the Wag, thy boon-com- 
 panion. And he hath said again to her, None is dead but Nuzhet-el- 
 Fuad. So they have become obstinate, and the Khaleefeh hath been 
 enraged, and they have laid a wager, in consequence of which, Mesroor 
 the Executioner hath been sent to see who is dead. It is therefore 
 the more proper that thou lay thyself down, that he may see thee, 
 and go and inform the Khaleefeh, who Avill thereupon believe my 
 assertion. 
 
 Accordingly, Nuzhet-el-Fuad extended herself, and Abu-1-Hasan 
 covered her. with her izar, and seated himself at her head, weeping. 
 And lo, Mesroor the eunuch came up into the house of Abu-1-Hasan, 
 and saluted him, and saw Nuzhet-el-Fuad stretched out ; upon which 
 he uncovered her face, and exclaimed, There is no deity but God ! 
 Our sister Nuzhet-el-Fuad is dead ! How speedy was the stroke of 
 fate ! May Allah have mercy upon her, and acquit thee of respon- 
 sibility ! He then returned, and related what had happened before 
 the Khaleefeh and the lady Zubeydeh, laughing as he spoke. So the 
 Khaleefeh said to him, O thou accursed, this is not a time for laugh- 
 ing. Tell us which of them is dead. He therefore replied, By Allah, 
 my lord, Verily Abu-1-Hasan is well, and none is dead but Nuzhet- 
 el-Fuad. And upon this the Khaleefeh said to Zubeydeh, Thou hast 
 lost thy pavilion in thy play. And he laughed at her, and said, 
 Mesroor, relate to her what thou sawest. So Mesroor said to her, In 
 truth, my mistress, I ran incessantly until I went in to Abu-1-Hasan 
 in his house ; whereupon I found Nuzhet-el-Fuad lying dead, and 
 Abu-1-Hasan sitting at her head, weeping; and I saluted him and 
 consoled him, and seated myself by his side ; and uncovering the 
 face of Nuzhet-el-Fuad, I beheld her dead, with her face swollen. I 
 therefore said to him, Convey her forth presently to the grave, that 
 we may pray over her. And he replied, Yes. And I came, leaving 
 him to prepare her corpse for burial, in order to inform you. Upon 
 this, the Khaleefeh laughed, and said, Tell it again and again to thy 
 mistress, the person of little sense. But when the lady Zubeydeh 
 heard the words of Mesroor, she was enraged, and said, None is 
 
OR THE SLEEPER AWAKENED. 331 
 
 deficient in sense but he who believeth a slave. And she abused 
 Mesroor, while the Khaleefeh continued laughing ; and Mesroor was 
 displeased, and said to the Khaleefeh, He spoke truth who said, that 
 women are deficient in sense and religion. 23 
 
 The lady Zubeydeh then said, O Prince of the Faithful, thou 
 sportest and jestest with me, and this slave deceiveth me for the pur- 
 pose of pleasing thee; but I will send, and see which of them is dead. 
 The Khaleefeh replied, Do so. And she called to an old woman, a 
 kahramaneh, and said to her, Repair quickly to the house of Nuzhet- 
 el-Fuad, and see who is dead, and delay not thy return. And she 
 threw money to her. So the old woman went forth running; the 
 Khaleefeh and Mesroor laughing. The old woman ran without 
 ceasing until she entered the street, when Abu-1-Hasan saw her and 
 knew her ; and he said to his wife, O Nuzhet-el-Fuad, it seemeth that 
 the lady Zubeydeh hath sent to us to see who is dead, and hath not 
 believed what Mesroor hath said respecting thy death : wherefore she 
 hath sent the old woman, the kahramaneh, to ascertain the truth of 
 the matter. It is therefore more proper now for me to be dead, that 
 the lady Zubeydeh may believe thee. 
 
 Then Abu-1-Hasan laid himself along, and Nuzhet-el-Fuad 
 covered him, and bound his eyes and his feet, and seated herself at 
 his head, weeping. And the old woman came in to Nuzhet-el-Fuad, 
 and saw her sitting at the head of Abu-1-Hasan, weeping) and 
 enumerating his merits; and when Nuzhet-el-Fuad saw the old 
 woman, she shrieked, and said to her, See what hath befallen me ! 
 Abu-1-Hasan hath died, and left me single and solitary ! Then she 
 shrieked again, and tore her clothes in pieces, and said to the old 
 woman, my mother, how good he was ! The old woman replied, 
 Truly thou art excusable ; for thou hadst become habituated to him, 
 and he had become habituated to thee. And knowing how Mesroor 
 had acted to the Khaleefeh and the lady Zubeydeh, she said to 
 Nuzhet-el-Fuad, Mesroor is about to cause a quarrel between the 
 Khaleefeh and the lady Zubeydeh. And what is this cause of 
 quarrel, my mother? said Nuzhet-el-Fuad. The old woman 
 answered, my daughter, Mesroor hath come to them and told them 
 that thou wast dead, and that Abu-1-Hasan was well. O my aunt, 
 replied Nuzhet-el-Fuad, I was just now with my lady, and she gave 
 me a hundred pieces of gold, and a piece of silk : and see thou my 
 condition, and what hath befallen me. I am perplexed ; and what 
 shall I do, single and solitary ? Would that I had died, and that he 
 
332 THE STORY OF ABU-L-HASAN THE WAG, 
 
 had lived ! Then she wept, and the old woman wept with her, and 
 advancing, and uncovering the face of Abu-1-Hasan, saw his eyes 
 bound, and swollen from the bandage. And she covered him, and 
 said, Truly, O Nuzhet-el-Fuad, thou hast been afflicted for Abu-1- 
 Hasan. And she consoled her, and went forth from her running 
 until she went in to the lady Zubeydeh, when she related to her the 
 story ; on hearing which, the lady Zubeydeh laughed, and said, Tell 
 it to the Khaleefeh, who hath pronounced me of little sense, and 
 caused this ill-omened, lying slave to behave arrogantly towards me. 
 But Mesroor said, Verily this old woman lieth ; for I saw Abu-1- 
 Hasan in good health, and it was Nuzhet-el-Fuad who was lying 
 dead. The old woman replied, It is thou who liest, and thou desirest 
 to excite a quarrel between the Khaleefeh and the lady Zubeydeh. 
 Mesroor rejoined, None lieth but thou, O ill-omened old woman, and 
 thy lady believeth tbee, for she is disordered in mind. And upon 
 this, the lady Zubeydeh cried out at him, enraged at him and at his 
 words; and she wept. 
 
 At length the Khaleefeh said to her, I lie, and my eunuch lieth, 
 and thou liest, and thy female slave lieth. The right course, in my 
 opinion, is this, that we four go together to see who among us 
 speaketh truth. So Mesroor said, Arise with us, that I may bring 
 misfortunes upon this ill-omened old woman, and bastinade her for 
 her lying. thou imbecile n mind ! exclaimed the old woman : is 
 thy sense like mine ? Nay, thy sense is like that of the hen. And 
 Mesroor was enraged at her words, and would have laid violent hands 
 upon her; but the lady Zubeydeh, having pushed him away from her, 
 said to him, Immediately will her veracity be distinguished from 
 thine, and her lying from thine. They all four arose, laying wagers 
 one with another, and went forth and walked from the gate of the 
 palace until they entered the gate of the street in which dwelt Abu-1- 
 Hasan the Wag ; when Abu-1-Hasan saw them, and said to his wife 
 Nuzhet-el-Fuad, In truth, every thing that is slippery is not a pan- 
 cake, and not every time that the jar is struck doth it escape 
 unbroken. 24 It seemeth that the old woman hath gone and related 
 the story to her lady, and acquainted her with our case, and that she 
 hath contended with Mesroor the eunuch, and they have laid wagers 
 
 J O 
 
 respecting our death : so the Khaleefeh and the eunuch and the lady 
 Zubeydeh and the old woman have all four come tOAis. And upon 
 this, Nuzhet-el-Fuad rose from her extended position, and said, What 
 is to be done ? Abu-1-Hasan answered her, We will both feign our- 
 
OR THE SLEEPER AWAKENED. 
 
 333 
 
 selves dead, and lay ourselves out, and hold in our breath. And she 
 assented to his proposal. 
 
 They both stretched themselves along, bound their feet, closed 
 their eyes, and held in their breath, lying with their heads in the 
 direction of the Kibleh, 25 and covered themselves with the izar. Then 
 the Khaleefeh and Zubeydeh and Mcsroor and the old woman 
 entered the house of Abu-1-Hasan the Wag, and found him and his 
 wife extended as if they were dead. And when the lady Zubeydeh 
 saw them, she wept, and said, They continued to assert the death of 
 my female slave 26 until she actually died ; but I imagine that the 
 death of Abu-1-Hasan so grieved her that she died after him in conse- 
 quence of it. The Khaleefeh, however, said, Do not prevent me with 
 thy talk and assertions ; for she died before Abu-1-Hasan, because 
 Abu-1-Hasan came to me with his clothes torn in pieces, and with his 
 beard plucked, and striking his bosom with two clods ; 27 and I gave 
 him a hundred pieces of gold, with a piece of silk, and said to him, 
 Go, prepare her body for burial, and I will give thee a concubine 
 better than she, and she shall serve in her stead : and it appears 
 that her loss was insupportable to him ; so he died after her. I have 
 therefore overcome thee, and gained thy stake. But the lady 
 Zubeydeh replied in many words, and a long dispute ensued between 
 them. 
 
334 THE STORY OF ABU-L-HASAX THE WAG, &c. 
 
 The Khaleefeh then seated himself at the heads of the two pre- 
 tended corpses, and said, By the tomb of the Apostle of Allah (God 
 bless and save him !), and by the tombs of my ancestors, if any one 
 would tell me which of them died before the other, I would give 
 him a thousand pieces of gold. And when Abu-1-Hasan heard these 
 words of the Khaleefeh, he quickly rose and sprang up, and said, It 
 was I who died first, O Prince of the Faithful. Give me the thousand 
 pieces of gold, and so acquit thyself of the oath that thou hast sworn. 
 Then Nuzhet-el-Fuad rose and sat up before the Khaleefeh and the 
 lady Zubeydeh, who rejoiced at their safety. But Zubeydeh chid her 
 female slave. The Khaleefeh and the lady Zubeydeh congratulated 
 them both on their safety, and knew that this pretended death was a 
 stratagem for the purpose of obtaining the gold : so the lady Zubeydeh 
 said to Nuzhet-el-Fuad, Thou shouldst have asked of me what thou 
 desiredst without this proceeding, and not have tortured my heart on 
 thine account. I was ashamed, O my mistres"s, replied Nuzhet-el- 
 Fuad. But as to the Khaleefeh, he was almost senseless from laugh- 
 ing, and said, O Abu-1-Hasan, thou hast not ceased to be a wag, and 
 to do wonders and strange acts. Abu-1-Hasan replied, Prince of 
 the Faithful, this stratagem I practised in consequence of the dissipa- 
 tion of the wealth that I received from thy hand ; for I was ashamed 
 to ask of thee a second time. When I was alone, I was not tenacious 
 of wealth ; but since thou hast married me to this female slave who is 
 with me, if I possessed all thy wealth I should make an end of it. 
 And when all that was in my possession was exhausted, I practised 
 this stratagem, by means of which I obtained from thee these hundred 
 pieces of gold, and the piece of silk, all of which are an alms of our 
 lord. And now make haste in giving me the thousand pieces of gold, 
 and acquit thyself of thine oath. 
 
 At this, the Khaleefeh and the lady Zubeydeh both laughed ; and 
 after they had returned to the palace, the Khaleefeh gave to Abu-1- 
 Hasan the thousand pieces of gold, saying to him, Receive them as a 
 gratuity on account of thy safety from death. In like manner also 
 the lady Zubeydeh gave to Nuzhet-el-Fuad a thousand pieces of gold, 
 saying to her the same words. Then the Khaleefeh allotted to Abu-1- 
 Hasan an ample salary and ample supplies, and he ceased not to live 
 with his wife in joy and happiness, until they were visited by the 
 terminator of delights, and the separator of companions, the devastator 
 of palaces and houses, and the replenisher of the graves. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TWELFTH 
 
 NOTE 1. This story is not in the edition of Cairo, nor in the MS. of the Thousand 
 and One Nights from which Galland translated, 1 though he has introduced it in his 
 version ; and I am not aware of its being found in any copy of that work, except the 
 one from which the Breslau edition is printed. From these circumstances, and from 
 my having discovered that its chief and best portion is a historical anecdote, related as 
 a fact, I am inclined to think that it is not a genuine tale of the Thousand and One 
 Nights, and that it has been inserted in some copies of that work (perhaps only in one, 
 to supply a deficiency. But as it exists in one copy, and is one of the best tales in 
 Galland's version, I have gladly given it a place in the present collection. The place 
 which it occupies in the order of the Nights, in the edition of Breslau, I have 
 mentioned at the head of this chapter ; but in the order of the Talcs in that edition, it 
 follows the story of Es-Sindibad of the Sea and Es-Sindibad of the Land. 
 
 The author by whom I have found the chief portion of this tale related as a 
 historical anecdote is El-Is-hakee, who finished his history shortly before the close of 
 the reign of the 'Osmanlee Sultan Mustafa, apparently in the year of the Flight 1032 
 (A.D. 1623). He does not mention his authority; and whether it is related by an 
 older historian, I do not know ; but perhaps it is founded upon fact. 
 
 The story is narrated in El-Is-hakee's work in a simple and agreeable manner : in 
 the Breslau Thousand and One Nights it is given more fully, but in language of a 
 vulgar style, and abounding with errors, of which a few will be found particularized in 
 the following notes. I have, therefore, here availed myself of both these works, each of 
 which in this case, possesses merits that the other does not. To the former, as far as 
 it has enabled me to do so, I have adhered more closely ; but the additions 1 have made, 
 of the best parts of the narrative in the latter work, constitute the main portion of my 
 translation of the tale. Abu-1-Hasan's marriage, and the subsequent events, are not 
 related by El-Is-hakee. 
 
 Galland has evidently added to this story considerable embellishments of his own 
 invention, and made it in many parts inconsistent with Arab manners and customs. 
 
 1 See Von Hammer's " Notice sur les douze Manuscrits oonnus dcs Millc et Une Xuits, qui existent 
 en Europe," in Trebutien. 
 
336 NOTES TO CHAPTER TWELFTH. 
 
 But his version of it appears to have been mainly derived from an Arabic original 
 more full than the corresponding text in the Breslau edition; for I distinguish in 
 it several poetical and other passages which are not in the tale as given in that 
 edition, and which are certainly not invented by him. For instance, near the com- 
 mencement of the story, I observe a loose translation of four verses occurring in the 
 Cairo edition in an earlier tale : see page 305, in vol. i. of the present work. 
 
 NOTE 2. The word "khaleea," which I render "wag" (though this is not its 
 primary meaning, nor do I find it so explained in any Dictionary, except one in MS. of 
 my own composition), is generally used in the present day to signify " waggish/'' 
 " frolicksome," or "witty," and has been so used by many good writers. That it 
 is to be thus understood here, and not in the sense of an " abandoned person," or 
 a " reprobate," is evident from the manner in which it is employed at the close of the 
 tale. In like manner, " khala'ah " signifies " waggishness," &c. 
 
 NOTK 3. In the original, " kumajeh." This word appears to be from the Persian 
 " kumaj," or " kuinash " (" unleavened bread," or "bread baked in the ashes") ; but it 
 is commonly used to signify "fine flour," and I have not found it used in any other 
 sense. 
 
 NOTE 4. Potash is used for washing the hands after eating ; but the most common 
 substitute for soap I have observed to be " dukak," which is the meal of the lupin, 
 called in Arabic "turnius," vulgarly "tirmis." 
 
 NOTE 5. In illustration of this part of the story, as it respects the character of 
 Haroon Er-Rasheed, see Note 22 to Chapter iii. (vol. i. p. 194). 
 
 NOTE 6. See Note 18 to Chapter vii. 
 
 NOTE 7. The morning-prayers consist of only four rek'ahs; namely, two sunneh 
 (or ordained by the Prophet), and two fard ('. e., of divine appointment). Respecting 
 the "rek'ah," see Note 1 to the Introduction. 
 
 NOTE 8. After the sunneh prayers, and after the fard, the worshipper, looking 
 upon his right shoulder, says, " Peace be on you, and the mercy of God !" then, looking 
 upon the left shoulder, he repeats the same words. These salutations are considered 
 by some as addressed only to the guardian angels who watch over the believer, and note 
 all his actions ; but others say that they are addressed both to angels and men 
 (i. e., believers only), who may be present : no person, however, returns them. Some 
 hold that every believer is attended by two angels ; others say, five ; others, sixty, or a 
 hundred and sixty. 
 
 NOTE 9. In the Breslau edition, four hundred lashes. 
 
 NOTE 10. " Kadeeb-el-Ban " signifies " the Twig of the Oriental willow." 
 
 NOTE 11. See Note 78 to Chapter v. 
 
 NOTE 12. Or hospital. The same building, in an Arabian city, generally serves 
 both as an hospital for the sick and an asylum for the mad. 
 
 NOTE 13. " Shut your doors at night," said the Prophet ; " and at the time of 
 doing it, remember [or rather repeat] God's name ; because the Devil cannot open the 
 door which has been shut in the name of God." 2 As I have remarked in my work 
 on the Modern Egyptians, 3 it is a common custom of many learned and devout 
 persons, and some others, to say, " In the name of God, the Compassionate, the 
 Merciful," on locking a door, covering bread, laying down their clothes at night, and 
 on other occasions, to protect their property (as well as themselves) from evil genii, or 
 devils. 
 
 Mishkat-el-.Masabceh, vol. ii. p. 311. s Vol. i. oh. x. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER TWELFTH. 37 
 
 NOTE 14. Literally, " I have not seen thee to have a heel prosperous to me." 
 
 NOTE 15. See Notes 44 and 18 to Chapter x. "The Chapter of Sincerity " is the 
 112th (or last but two) of the Kur-an. 
 
 NOTE 16. " Nuzhet-el-Fuad " signifies " the Delight of the Heart." 
 
 NOTE 17. Two of the customs here mentioned, namely, tying the toes of the 
 corpse, and placing a knife, or rather, a sword, upon the body, are still common in 
 some Muslim countries ; but I did not hear of their being observed in Egypt, nor of the 
 custom of putting the salt with the knife or sword. Iron and salt are both believed to 
 repel genii, and to prevent their approach (see vol. i. pp. 30 and 32), and hence, perhaps, 
 are thus used. 
 
 NOTE 18. Nuzhet-el-Fuad must have resigned her office of Treasurer on marrying 
 Abu-1-Hasan. 
 
 NOTE 19. Abu-1-Hasan expected the present of the money for the purpose of 
 defraying the expenses of the funeral, and the piece of silk for grave-clothing. See 
 Note 11 to Chapter vi. 
 
 NOTE 20. This is a common kind of ejaculation. By the " hour," in this instance, 
 we may understand either "the hour of Abu-1-Hasan 's birth, or that in which he was 
 appointed the Khaleefeh's boon-companion. 
 
 NOTE 21. Literally "the Hashimee vein." The vein of anger between the 
 eyes," appears to have been especially remarkable in descendants of Hashim. Whether 
 it was so in Hashim himself, I do not find ; but it is mentioned among the character- 
 istics of his great-grandson, the Prophe 
 
 NOTE 22. The word rendered "pictures" generally signifies "carved images," 
 " effigies," or " models." I suppose pictures to be here meant because carved images 
 are generally representations of living creatures, which representations are forbidden 
 by the Muslim law. [The " Garden of Delight " has been mentioned in the story of 
 Noor-ed-Deen and Enees-el-Jelees. ED ] 
 
 NOTE 23. This is a saying of the Prophet, and is often quoted by a Muslim to 
 silence his wife. 
 
 NOTE 24. The text here is faulty; but Dr. Habicht has pointed out the corrections, 
 and I only differ from him in adding the article (in the Arabic) to the last word of the 
 latter of the two proverbs. 
 
 NOTE 25. Here, also, the text appears to be faulty. I read "kibleh " for "keeleh " 
 or " keyleh." Some Muslims turn the head of the corpse in the direction of the Kibleh, 
 or Mekkeh : others, the right side, inclining the face in that direction. In the latter 
 position the corpse is placed in the tomb. 
 
 NOTE 26. In this passage, again, I am obliged to have recourse to a conjectural 
 emendation. 
 
 NOTE 27. The word here rendered "two clods " also signifies "two lumps of stone," 
 or "two bricks." Beating the bosom with two clods of hard, dry earth, in a case of 
 extreme distress, is not an uncommon action with the Arabs of the lower orders. 
 
 ii. 2 x 
 
COMMENCING WITH PART OP THE TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIFTH 
 
 NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE TWO HUNDRED 
 
 AND NINETY-FOURTH. 
 
 THE STORY OP MOHAMMAD 'ALEE THE JEWELLER, 
 OR THE 'FALSE KHALEEFEH.' 
 
 IT is related that the Khaleefeh Havoon Er-Rasheed was troubled 
 one night with an exceeding restlessness, in consequence of which he 
 summoned his Wezeer Jaafar El-Barmekee, and said to him, My 
 bosom is contracted, and I desire this night to amuse myself in the 
 streets of Baghdad, and to observe the employments of the people ; 
 but on the condition that we disguise ourselves in the garbs of mer- 
 chants, so that no one may know us. And the Wezeer replied, I 
 hear and obey. They arose immediately, and, having pulled off the 
 magnificent apparel with which they were then clad, put on the attire 
 of merchants. And they were three; the Khaleefeh, and Jaafar, and 
 Mesroor the Executioner. 
 
THE STORY OF MOHAMMAD 'ALEE THE JEWELLER, &c. 339 
 
 They walked from place to place until they arrived at the Tigris, 
 when they saw an old man sitting in a boat ; and approaching him, 
 they saluted him and said to him, O sheykh, we desire of thy favour 
 and kindness that thou wouldst amuse us in this thy boat, and take 
 this piece of gold as thy hire. But the sheykh said, Who is he that 
 can amuse himself here ? For the Khaleefeh Htiroon. Er-llasheed 
 embarketh every night on the river Tigris on board a small vessel, 
 attended by a crier who proclaimeth and saitb, O all ye companies of 
 men, great and small, noble and plebeian, young men and youths, 
 whosoever embarketh in a vessel and traverseth the Tigris, I will 
 strike off his head, or hang him upon the mast of his vessel ! Ye 
 have now almost encountered him ; for his bark is approaching. 
 So the Khaleefeh and Jaafar said, O sheykh, take these two pieces of 
 gold, and convey us into one of those arches, that we may remain 
 there until the bark of the Khaleefeh hath passed. And the sheykh 
 replied, Give me the gold, and our reliance be upon God, whose 
 name be exalted ! He took the gold, set his boat afloat with them, 
 and proceeded a little way ; and, lo, the bark approached from the 
 bosorn of the Tigris, and in it were lighted caudles and cressets.' 2 
 The sheykh therefore said to them, Did I not tell you that the 
 Khaleefeh passed along the river every night ? Then he began to 
 say, O excellent Protector, remove not the veils of thy protection ! 
 He conveyed them into an arch, and spread a black meezer 3 over 
 them ; and they gratified their curiosity by gazing at the spectacle 
 from beneath the meezer. They beheld at the head of the bark a 
 man having in his hand a cresset of red gold, in which he was 
 burning aloes-wood : he wore a vest of red satin ; upon one of his 
 shoulders was a piece of yellow embroidered stuff; 4 upon his head a 
 muslin turban ; and upon his other shoulder, a bag of green silk full 
 of aloes-wood, from which he supplied the cresset with fuel instead of 
 using common firewood. They saw likewise another man, at the 
 stern of the bark, clad as the former one, and having in his hand a 
 similar cresset. And there were also in the bark two hundred mem- 
 looks, standing on the right and left ; and in it was placed a throne 
 of red gold, upon which was sitting a handsome young man, like the 
 moon, clad in a dress of black, 5 with embroidery of yellow gold. 
 Before him was a man resembling the Wezeer Jaafar, and at his 
 head stood a eunuch like Mesroor, with a drawn sword in his hand. 
 And they saw moreover twenty boon-companions. 
 
 Now when the Khaleefeh beheld this, he said, O Jaafar. The 
 
340 THE STORY OF MOHAMMAD 'ALEE, THE JEWELLER, 
 
 Wezecr replied, At thy service, O Prince of the Faithful. And the 
 Khaleefeh said, Probably this is one of iny sons ; either El-Ma-moon* 
 or El-Emeen. Then gazing at the young man as he sat on the 
 throne, he beheld him to be of consummate beauty and loveliness, 
 and justness of stature; and after attentively observing him, he 
 looked towards the Wezeer, and said, O Wezeer. At thy service, 
 replied Jaafar. And the Khaleefeh said, By Allah, this person 
 sitting on the throne hath not omitted anything appertaining to the 
 distinctions of the Khaleefeh ; and he who is before him is as though 
 he were thyself, O Jaafar ; and the eunuch who is standing at his 
 head, as though he were Mesroor ; and these boon-companions are as 
 though they were my boon-companions. My reason is confounded 
 at this affair ! By Allah, I am full of wonder at this event, O 
 Jaafar ! And I also, by Allah, O Prince of the Faithful, replied 
 the Wezeer. The bark then passed on until it disappeared from 
 before their eyes ; whereupon the sheykh put forth with his boat, 
 and said, Praise be to God for our safety, and that no one hath 
 fallen in with us ! And the Khaleefeh said, O sheykh, doth the 
 Khaleefeh every night embark on the Tigris ? The sheykh answered, 
 Yes, my master ; and for a whole year he hath continued to do so. 
 And the Khaleefeh said, O sheykh, we desire of thy favour that thou 
 wouldst wait for us here next night, and we will give thee five pieces 
 of gold ; for we are strangers, and wish to amuse ourselves, and we 
 are lodging in [the quarter of] El-Khandak. The sheykh replied, I 
 am entirely at your service. 
 
 Then the Khaleefeh and Jaafar and Mesroor departed from the 
 sheykh and returned to the palace, and having taken off their mer- 
 chants' attire, and put on the apparel of state, each seated himself in 
 his place. The emeers and wezeers came in, and the chamberlains 
 and lieutenants, and the council was fully attended. And when the 
 day closed, and all ranks of the people had dispersed, each having 
 gone his way, the Khaleefeh Haroon Er-Rasheed said, Jaafar, arise 
 with us that we may amuse ourselves with the sight of the other 
 Khaleefeh. Whereupon Jaafar and Mesroor laughed. 
 
 They clad themselves again in the attire of merchants, and went 
 forth and pursued their way through the city, in a state of the utmost 
 hilarity. They went out from a private door ; and when they arrived 
 at the Tigris, they found the sheykh, the owner of the boat, sitting 
 waiting for them. So they embarked with him in the boat ; and 
 they had not long sat with him when the bark of the False Khaleefeh f> 
 
OR THE FALSE KHALEEFEH. 341 
 
 approached them ; and looking attentively at it, they saw in it two 
 hundred memlooks, different from those of the preceding night, and 
 the bearers of the cressets proclaiming as usual. And the Khaleefeh 
 said, O Wezeer, this is such a thing that if I heard of it I could not 
 believe it ; but I have beheld it with my eyes. He then said to the 
 owner of the boat in which they were sitting, Take, sheykh, these 
 ten pieces of gold, and convey us towards them ; for they are in the 
 light, and we are in the dark so we shall see them, and amuse our- 
 selves by observing them, and they will not see us. The sheykh 
 therefore took the ten pieces of gold, and, steering his boat towards 
 them, proceeded in the gloom that surrounded the bark of the False 
 Khaleefeh, until they arrived at the gardens, where they beheld a 
 walled enclosure. At this enclosure the bark of the False Khaleefeh 
 anchored; and, lo, young men were standing there, with a mule 
 saddled and bridled; and the False Khaleefeh, having landed, 
 mounted the mule, and proceeded in the midst of the boon-com- 
 panions; the cresset-bearers vociferating, and the household-atten- 
 dants busying themselves in performing their several services for the 
 False Khaleefeh. 
 
 Haroou Er-Rasheed then landed, together with Jaafar and Mes- 
 roor, and they made their way through the midst of the memlooks, 
 and walked on before them. But the cresset-bearers, looking towards 
 them, and beholding three persons whose dress was that of the mer- 
 chants, and who appeared to be strangers, were displeased with them, 
 and they made a sign, and caused them to be brought before the 
 False Khaleefeh, who, when he saw them, said to them, How came 
 ye to this place, and what brought you at this time ? So they 
 answered, O our lord, we are a party of foreign merchants : we 
 arrived this day, and came forth to-night to walk, and, lo, ye 
 approached, and these persons came and laid hold upon us, and 
 placed us before thee. This is our story. And the False Khaleefeh 
 replied, No harm shall befall you, as ye are strangers ; but had ye 
 been of Baghdad, I had struck off your heads. Then looking towards 
 his Wezeer, he said to him, Take these persons with thee; for they 
 are our guests this night. And the Wezeer replied, I hear and obey, 
 O our lord. After this, the False Khaleefeh proceeded, and they 
 with him, until they arrived at a lofty and grand palace, strongly 
 constructed, such as no Sultan hath possessed, rising from the dust 
 and reaching to the skirts of the clouds. Its door was of saj, 7 
 adorned with brilliant gold; and through this door one passed into a 
 
saloon with a fountain and a slightly-elevated platform/ and carpets, 
 and cushions covered with brocade, and small pillows, and long 
 mattresses; 9 in it a curtain was hung ; and there was furniture that 
 astonished the minds of the spectators, and that one would fail to 
 describe ; and upon the door were inscribed these two verses : 
 
 This palace on which be blessing and peace ! fortune hath invested with its 
 
 loveliness : 
 In it are varieties of wonders and rarities, so that the penmen are perplexed in 
 
 describing it. 
 
 The False Khaleefeh, having entered, together with the company, 
 proceeded and seated himself upon a throne of jewelled gold, upon 
 which was a prayer-carpet of yellow silk ; and when the boon-com- 
 panions had taken their scats, and the executioner had stationed 
 
THE STORY OP MOHAMMAD 'ALEE THE JEWELLER, &c. 343 
 
 himself before his master, the servants spread the table, and the 
 party ate. The dishes were then removed, and the hands were 
 washed, and the attendants brought the wine-service. The bottles 
 and the cups were arranged, and the wine circulated until it came 
 to the Khaleefeh Haroon Er-Rasheed ; but he refused to drink ; 
 whereupon the False Khaleefeh said to Jaafar, Wherefore doth not 
 thy companion drink ? my lord, answered the Wezeer, for a long 
 time he hath not drunk of this beverage. The False Khaleefeh 
 therefore said, I have another beverage, suitable to thy companion, 
 and it is a kind of cider. And he gave orders to bring it. So they 
 brought it immediately ; and the False Khaleefeh advanced towards 
 Haroon Er-Rasheed, and standing before him, said to him, Whenever 
 the turn cometh round to thee, drink of this beverage. They then 
 continued merrily taking the cups of wine, until it rose into their 
 heads and overpowered their reason ; when the Khaleefeh Haroon 
 Er-Rasheed said to his Wezeer, Jaafar, by Allah, we have not 
 vessels like these. Would, then, that I knew the history of this 
 young man ! But while they were talking together privately, the 
 young man cast a glance towards them, and found the Wezeer 
 whispering to the Khaleefeh : so he said, Whispering is an act of 
 rudeness. The Wezeer therefore replied, No rudeness is committed 
 here : but this my companion saith, Verily I have travelled into most 
 countries, and caroused with the greatest of Kings, and associated 
 with the warriours, yet I have not witnessed an entertainment better 
 conducted than this, nor experienced a more joyous night than the 
 present ; save that the people of Baghdad say, Drink without music 
 sometimes occasioneth the headache. 
 
 And when the False Khaleefeh heard these words, he smiled, and 
 became cheerful. He had in his hand a rod, and he struck a round 
 cushion 10 with it ; whereupon a door opened, and there came forth 
 from it a eunuch bearing a throne of ivory inlaid with brilliant gold, 
 and followed by a damsel of surpassing beauty and loveliness and 
 elegance and consummate grace. The eunuch placed the throne, and 
 the damsel seated herself upon it, resembling the sun shining forth 
 in the clear sky. In her hand was a lute of Indian manufacture, and 
 she placed it in her lap, and, leaning over it as the mother leaneth 
 over her child, sang to it. But first, with emotion, she played over 
 four and twenty airs, so that she astonished the minds of her hearers. 
 Then returning to her first air, with exhilarating modulations she 
 sang these verses : 
 
nil THE STOHY OF MOHAMMAD 'ALEE THE JEWELLER, 
 
 The tongue of love in my heart addressetli thee, informing thee that I am 
 
 enamoured of thee ; 
 And 1 have evidence in the burning of a tortured heart, and a wounded eye, and 
 
 incessant, tears. 
 I knew not love until I loved thee ; but God's decree overtaketh his creatures. 
 
 And when the False Khaleefeh heard these verses sung by the damsel, 
 he uttered a great cry, and rent the dress that was upon him to the 
 skirt ; whereupon a curtain was let down over him, and the attendants 
 brought him another dress, more handsome than the former one, and 
 he put it on. 
 
 He then sat as before ; and when the cup came to him, he again 
 struck the rod upon the round cushion ; and, lo, a door opened, and 
 there came forth from it a eunuch bearing a throne of gold, and 
 behind him was a damsel more beautiful than the first damsel. And 
 she seated herself upon the throne, having in her hand a lute that 
 would sadden the heart of the envious ; and she sang to it these two 
 verses : 
 
 How can I be patient, with the fire of love in niy heart, and the tears ever pour- 
 ing in a flood from my eye ? 
 
 By Allah, life hath no sweetness to rejoice me. And how can a heart filled with 
 grief be happy ? 
 
 And the young man, on hearing these verses, again uttered a great 
 cry, and tore the clothes that were upon him to the skirt ; and the 
 curtain was let down over him, and they brought him another suit, 
 which he put on. 
 
 Then composing himself upon his seat, he resumed his former 
 state, entering cheerfully into conversation ; and when the cup came 
 to him, he struck the round cushion, and there came forth a eunuch 
 followed by a damsel handsomer than the one who had just preceded 
 her. The eunuch had with him a throne, and the damsel seated her- 
 self upon it, with a lute in her hand, and sang to it these verses : 
 
 Cease from your abandonment, and abate your cruelty; for my heart, by your 
 existence, hath not relinquished you ! 
 
 Have mercy on a disordered, sad, mourning, lover, full of desire, and enslaved by 
 his passion for you ! 
 
 Sickness hath wasted him, through the excess of his ecstasy, and he hath suppli- 
 cated the Deity for thine approval . 
 
 O full moon, 11 whose place is in my heart ! how can I prefer any mortal to you ? 
 
 And again, when the young man heard these verses, he uttered a 
 great cry, rending the clothes that were upon him, and they let down 
 the curtain over him, and brought him other clothes. 
 
OR THE FALSE KHALEEFEH. 345 
 
 After this, he resumed his former state with his boon-companions, 
 and the cups circulated ; and when the cup came to him, he struck 
 the round cushion as before ; whereupon the door opened, and a page 
 came forth from it with a throne, and behind him was a damsel. He 
 set the throne for her, and she seated herself upon it, and, taking the 
 lute, tuned it, and thus sang to it : 
 
 When will disjunction and hatred cease, and the pleasures that have passed re- 
 turn unto me ? 
 
 Yesterday we were united in the same abode, in happy converse, and saw the 
 enviers heedless ; 
 
 But fortune hath betrayed us and disunited us, having left our residence like 
 the desert. 
 
 Wouldst thou have me relinquish the beloved, O my censurer ? I find my heart 
 would not comply with the censurer's wish. 
 
 Cease then to blame me, and leave me in my passion ; for my mind hath not 
 been void of cheering thoughts of the beloved. 
 
 O my lord, 12 who hast been faithless and changing, think not that my heart on 
 account of thine estrangement hath relinquished thee. 
 
 And the False Khaleefeh, when he had heard the damsel's song, again 
 uttered a great cry, tore the clothes that were upon him, and fell 
 down in a fit ; upon which the attendants would have let fall the 
 curtain over him as usual ; but its cords were immoveable ; and 
 Haroon Er-Rasheed, looking towards the young man, beheld upon 
 his body the marks of beating with mikra'ahs. So after he had 
 looked, and certified himself of the fact, he said to his Wezeer, O 
 Jaafar, by Allah, he is a comely young man, but an abominable 
 thief. How, said Jaafar, hast thou discovered that, O Prince of the 
 Faithful ? The Khaleefeh rejoined, Didst thou not see upon his sides 
 the scars occasioned by whips. 
 
 Then the attendants let down the curtain over their master, and 
 brought him another suit of clothing ; and after he had put it on, he 
 composed himself on his seat as at first, with his boon-companions ; 
 but looking towards the Khaleefeh and Jaafar, he saw them convers- 
 ing together privately; whereupon he said to them, What is the 
 news, O ye two young men ? So Jaafar answered, our lord, good 
 news ; 13 save that it is a fact not concealed from thee that this my 
 companion is of the merchants, and he hath journeyed to all the great 
 cities and the regions of the earth, and hath associated with the Kings 
 and with the best of men, and he saith to me, Verily that which hath 
 been done by our lord the Khaleefeh this night is excessive extrava- 
 gance, and I have not seen any one do as he hath done in all the 
 countries of the earth ; for he hath rent such and such suits of 
 ii. 2 v 
 
346 THE STORY OF MOHAMMAD 'ALEE THE JEWELLER, 
 
 apparel; each suit, of the value of a thousand pieces of gold; and 
 this is exceeding extravagance. But the False Khalcefeh replied, 
 What is this ! Verily the wealth is mine, and the stuff is mine ; 
 and this is one of the means of bestowing presents upon the servants 
 and other attendants: for every suit of apparel that I have rent is for 
 one of the boon-companions who are present, and I have assigned to 
 them, with each suit of apparel, five hundred pieces of gold. The 
 Wezeer therefore said, Excellently hast thou done, O our lord. And 
 he recited these two verses : 
 
 The virtues have built a mansion in the rnidst of thy hand, and thou hast made 
 
 thy wealth common to all men. 
 If the virtues should ever close their doors, thy hands would be a key that would 
 
 open their lock. 
 
 And when the young man heard these verses from the mouth of the 
 Wezeer Jaafar, he gave orders to present him with a thousand pieces 
 of gold, and a suit of apparel. 
 
 The cups then circulated among them again, and the wine was 
 pleasant to them, and Er-Rasheed, addressing his Wezeer, said, O 
 Jaafar, inquire of him respecting the marks of the beating upon his 
 sides, that we may see what he will say in his answer. Jaafar replied, 
 Hasten not, our lord, but sooth thy mind ; for patience is more 
 becoming. The Khaleefeh, however, said, By my head, and by the 
 tomb of El-'Abbas, 14 if thou ask him not, I will assuredly stop thy 
 breath. And upon this, the young man looked towards the Wezeer, 
 and said, What is the matter with thee and thy companion, that ye 
 are whispering together ? Acquaint me with the subject of your con- 
 versation. Jaafar answered, It is good. But the young man replied, 
 1 conjure thee by Allah that thou tell me your story, and conceal 
 from me nothing of your affair. So the Wezeer said, my lord, he 
 saw upon thy sides the marks occasioned by whips and nnkra^ahsj and 
 he wondered thereat extremely, and said, How can the Khalcefeh be 
 beaten ? and he desireth to know the cause. And when the young 
 man heard this, he smiled, and said, Know that my story is extra- 
 ordinary, and my case is wonderful : if it were engraven upon the 
 understanding, it would be a lesson to him who would be admonished. 
 Then he groaned, and recited these verses : 
 
 My story is wonderful, surpassing all wonders. I swear by love that my ways 
 
 have become strait to me. 
 
 If then ye desire to hear me, listen ; and let every one in this assembly be silent. 
 Attend to my words; for they are significant, and my speech is true : it is not 
 
 false. 
 
OK THE FALSE KHALEEFEH. 
 
 347 
 
 I am a victim of desire, and of ardent passion, and my murderess surpasseth all 
 
 the high-bosomed damsels. 
 She hath a deep black eye, like an Indian sword, and she sftooteth arrows from 
 
 the bows of her eyebrows. 
 Now my heart feeleth that among you is our Imam, the Khaleefeh of this age, 
 
 and of excellent descent ; 
 And that the second of you is he who is called Jaafar, his Wezeer, a Saheb 15 
 
 and the son of a Saheb ; 
 And that the third of you is Mesroor, his Executioner : then if this my assertion 
 
 be not false, 
 I "have attained the whole of what I wish by this occurrence; and in every 
 
 respect my heart is rejoiced. 
 
 But when they heard these words from his mouth, Jaafar swore to 
 him, making use of an ambiguous oath, that they were not the persons 
 whom he had mentioned. And upon this, the young man laughed, 
 and said, 
 
 Know, O my lords, that I am not the Prince of the Faithful, but 
 that I have only called myself by this title to obtain what I desire 
 fro'm the sons of the city. In truth, my name is Mohammad 'Alee 
 the son of 'Alee the Jeweller. My father was of the higher order of 
 society, and he died, and left to me great wealth, in gold and silver, 
 and pearls and coral,' and rubies and chrysolites and other jewels, as 
 well as landed property, baths and fields and gardens, and shops and 
 ovens, and male black slaves and female slaves, and pages. And it 
 happened one day, that I was sitting in my shop, with my servants 
 
348 THE STORY OF MOHAMMAD 'ALEE THE JEWELLER, 
 
 and dependants around me, and, lo, a damsel approached, mounted 
 upon a mule, and attended by three other damsels, like moons ; and 
 when she came up to me, she alighted at my shop, and, seating her- 
 self with me, said to me, Art thou Mohammad the Jeweller ? I 
 answered her, Yes, I am he, thy memlook and thy slave. And she 
 said, Hast thou a necklace of jewels suitable to me? my mistress, 
 I answered, what I have I will exhibit to thee and place before thee ; 
 and if any of them please thee, it will be of the good fortune of the 
 memlook , and if none of them please thee, of his ill luck. I had a 
 hundred necklaces of jewels, and I exhibited to her all of them ; but 
 none of those pleased her, and she said, I desire better than I have 
 seen. Now I had a small necklace which my father had bought for 
 a hundred thousand pieces of gold, and the like of it existed not in 
 the possession of any one among the great Sultans : so I said to her, 
 I have yet a necklace of fine stones and jewels, the like of which no 
 one of the great or of the small possesseth. And she replied, Shew 
 it to me. And when she saw it, she said, This is the thing that I 
 desire, and it is what I have wished for all my life. Then she said to 
 me, What is its price ? I answered her, Its price to my father was 
 a hundred thousand pieces of gold. And she replied, And thou shalt 
 have five thousand pieces of gold as profit. I said, O my mistress, 
 the necklace and its owner are at thy service, and there is no opposi- 
 tion on my part. But she replied, Thou must receive a profit, and 
 thou wilt still be entitled to abundant thanks. She then immediately 
 arose, quickly mounted the mule, and said to me, O my master, in 
 the name of Allah, do me the favour to accompany us, that thou 
 mayest receive the price ; for this thy day is to us like milk. 16 
 
 I therefore arose, and, having closed the shop, proceeded with her 
 in security until we arrived at the house; and I found it to be a 
 mansion displaying evident signs of prosperity : its door was adorned 
 with gold and silver and ultramarine, and upon it were inscribed these 
 two verses : 
 
 O mansion, may mourning never enter thee, nor fortune act treacherously to 
 
 thine owner ! 
 An excellent mansion to every guest art thou when other places are strait unto 
 
 him. 
 
 The damsel alighted, and entered the house, ordering me to seat 
 myself upon the mastabah of the door until the money-changer should 
 come. 17 So I sat awhile at the door ; and, lo, a damsel came forth to 
 me and said to me, O my master, enter the vestibule ; for thy sitting 
 
OR THE FALSE KHALEEFEH. 349 
 
 at the door is dishonourable. I rose, therefore, and entered the vesti- 
 bule, where I seated myself upon the wooden sofa ; ls and while I was 
 sitting there, a damsel came forth and said to me, O my master, my 
 mistress saith to thee, Enter, and seat thyself at the door of the saloon, 
 to receive thy money. Accordingly I rose, and entered the house, 
 and when I had sat a moment, I beheld a throne of gold, with a 
 silken curtain over it, and the curtain was raised, and there appeared 
 beneath it the damsel who had purchased of me the necklace. She 
 had displayed a face like the disk of the moon, and the necklace was 
 upon her neck. My reason was disturbed, and my mind was con- 
 founded at the sight of that damsel, by reason of her excessive beauty 
 and loveliness. And when she beheld me, she rose from the throne, 
 and came towards me, saying to me, light of my eye, is every one 
 who is comely like thee, without sympathy for his beloved ? O my 
 mistress, I replied, all beauty is centred in thee, and is one of thy 
 charms. And she said, O Jeweller, know that I love thee, and I did 
 not believe that I could bring thee into my abode. Then she bent 
 over me, and I kissed her, and she kissed me ; after which she said 
 to me, I am a virgin whom no man hath approached, and I am not 
 unknown in the city. Knowest thou who I am ? I answered, No, 
 by Allah, O my mistress. And she rejoined, I am the lady Dunya, 
 the daughter of Yahya the son of Khalid El-Barmekee, and my 
 brother is Jaafar, the Wezeer of the Khaleefeh. So when I heard 
 these her words, I drew back from her, saying to her, O my mistress, 
 I am not in fault in making advances towards thee. Thou excitedst 
 my love. But she replied, No harm shall befall thee ; and thou 
 must attain thy wish by the means that God approveth ; for the dis- 
 posal of myself is in my own power, and the Kadee shall officiate for 
 me in performing the ceremony of my contract. I desire to be to thee 
 a wife, and that thou be to me a husband. 
 
 She then summoned the Kadee and the witnesses, and busily occu- 
 pied herself in preparing ; and when they came, she said to them, 
 Mohammad 'Alee the son of 'Alee the Jeweller hath demanded me 
 in marriage, and given me this necklace as my dowry ; and I have 
 accepted his proposal, and consented. So they performed the con- 
 tract of my marriage to her, and I took her as my wife. And after 
 this, she caused the wine-vessels to be brought, and the cups circulated 
 in the most agreeable and perfect order ; and when the wine pene- 
 trated into our heads, she ordered a damsel, a lute-player to sing. 
 She therefore did so, and others sang after her, one after another, 
 
350 THE STORY OF MOHAMMAD 'ALEE THE JEWELLER, 
 
 until ten damsels had sung. Then the lady Dunya took the lute, and, 
 with delightful modulations, sang these verses : 
 
 I swear by the pliancy of thy gracefully-moving figure, that I am suffering the 
 
 torture of thine estrangement. 
 Pity then a heart that is burning with thy love, O bright as the full moon in the 
 
 darkness of night ! 
 
 And when she had finished, I took the lute from her, and, playing in 
 an extraordinary manner, sang thus : 
 
 Extolled be the perfection of my Lord who hath given thee all beauty, so that 
 
 I have become thy captive ! 
 O thou who hast an eye by which thou captivatest mankind, pray that I may be 
 
 safe from the arrows that thou shootest ! 
 
 And on hearing my song, she rejoiced exceedingly. 
 
 I resided with her a whole month, abandoning my shop and 
 family and home ; and she said to me one day, light of the eye, 
 O my master Mohammad, I have determined to day to visit the bath, 
 and do thou remain upon this couch, and not move from thy place 
 until I return to thee. She conjured me to do so, and I replied, I 
 hear and obey. Then she made me swear that I would not move 
 from my place, and, taking her female slaves with her, went to the 
 bath. And by Allah, my brothers, she had not arrived at the end 
 of the street when the door was opened and there came in through it 
 an old woman, who said, O my master Mohammad, the lady Zubeydeh 
 summoneth thee ; for she hath heard of thy polite accomplishments, 
 and elegance, and of the excellence of thy singing. I replied, By 
 Allah, I will not rise from my place until the lady Dunya cometh. 
 But the old woman rejoined, my master, cause not the lady Zubey- 
 deh to be incensed against thee, and to become thine enemy. Arise 
 then, and answer her summons, and return to thy place. So I arose 
 immediately and repaired to her, the old woman preceding me, until 
 she conducted me to the lady Zubeydeh; and when I came to her, 
 she said to me, light of the eye, art thou the beloved of the lady 
 Dunya ? I answered, I am thy memlook and thy slave. And she 
 said, He hath spoken truth who hath described thee as distinguished 
 by beauty and loveliness and good breeding and every charming 
 quality ; for thou surpassest the description : but sing to me, that I 
 may hear thee. So I replied, I hear and obey. And she gave me 
 the lute, and I sang to it these verses : 
 
OR THE FALSE KHALEEFEH. 351 
 
 The heart of the lover is wearied in his suit, and his body becoineth the spoil of 
 
 diseases. 
 Among the riders of these haltered camels is none other than a lover whose 
 
 beloved is among the caravan. 
 I commit to God's care a nioonlike beauty in your tents, whom my heart loveth, 
 
 but who is veiled from my eye ; 
 Now consenting, now angry : how sweet is her feigned coyness ! for every thing 
 
 that the loved-one doth is loved. 
 
 And when I had finished the song, she said to me, Allah give health 
 to thy body, and sweetness to thy voice ! for thou art perfect in 
 comeliness and polite accomplishments and in singing. And now 
 arise and repair to thy place before the lady Dunya cometh ; lest she 
 find thee not, and be incensed against thee. 
 
 So I kissed the ground before her, and went forth, and proceeded 
 with the old woman before me until I arrived at the door from which 
 I had come out. But when I entered, and came to the couch, I 
 found that the lady Dunya had returned from the bath, and she was 
 sleeping upon the couch. I therefore seated myself at her feet, and 
 pressed them with my hands ; 19 whereupon she opened her eyes, and 
 seeing me, drew up her feet, and kicked me down from the couch, 
 and said, traitor, thou hast violated thine oath, and perjured thyself. 
 Thou gavest me a promise that thou wouldst not move from thy place, 
 and thou hast broken thy promise, and gone to the lady Zubeydeh. 
 By Allah, were it not for my fear of disgracing myself, I would de- 
 molish her palace over her head ! She then said to her black slave, 
 O Sawab, arise, and strike off the head of this lying traitor ; for we 
 have no further need of him. So the slave advanced, and, having 
 torn a strip from his skirt, bound my eyes with it, and was about to 
 strike off my head. But the female slaves, great and small, came to 
 her, and said, our mistress, this is not the first who hath been guilty 
 of a fault, and he knoweth not thy temper, nor hath he committed an 
 offence that requireth his slaughter. And upon this she said, By 
 Allah, I must cause him to bear some mark of my resentment. 
 Accordingly she gave orders to beat me, whereupon they beat me 
 on my sides, and these scars which ye have beheld are the result. 
 After that, she commanded that I should be turned out ; and they 
 took me forth to a distance from the mansion, and threw me down. 
 
 I raised myself, and walked on by a few steps at a time until I 
 arrived at my abode, when I caused a surgeon to be brought, and 
 shewed him the wounds occasioned by the beating ; and he treated 
 me with kindness, and applied hiuiself to my cure. And when 1 
 
352 THE STORY OF MOHAMMAD 'ALEE THE JEWELLER, 
 
 recovered, and had entered the bath, and my pains and disorders had 
 ceased, I went to the shop, and, taking all the goods that it contained, 
 sold them, and with their united price I bought for myself four hun- 
 dred memlooks, such as no King ever collected ; and every day two 
 hundred of them rode forth with me. I also made this bark, for the 
 construction of which I expended five thousand pieces of gold ; and I 
 called myself the Khaleefeh, appointing each of my servants to the 
 office of some one of the dependants of the Khaleefeh, and equipping 
 him in his costume, and proclaimed, Whosoever amuseth himself 
 upon the Tigris, I will strike off his head without delay. Thus I 
 have continued to do for a whole year ; but I have heard no tidings 
 of the damsel, nor seen any trace of her. 
 
 Then the young man lamented, and poured forth tears, and recited 
 these verses : 
 
 By Allah, I shall never forget her, nor draw near to any but such as may draw 
 her to me. 
 
 She is like the full moon in her aspect. Extolled be the perfection of her Maker ! 
 Extolled be her Creator ! 
 
 She hath made me full of mourning, sleepless, love-sick , and my mind is con- 
 founded by her charms. 
 
 And when Haroon Er-Rasheed heard his words, and knew his 
 transport and ardour and desire, his mind was disturbed with sorrow 
 for him, he was lost in wonder, and he said, Extolled be the perfection 
 of God, who appointeth for every thing a cause ! Then they begged 
 leave of the young man to depart ; and he gave them permission ; 
 Er-Rasheed determining to do him justice, and to treat him with the 
 utmost munificence. 
 
 They departed from him, proceeding to the palace ; and when 
 they had remained sitting there a while, and changed their clothes, 
 and put en the robes of state, Mesroor the Executioner stood before 
 the Khaleefeh and Jaafar, and the Khaleefeh said to Jaafar, O Wezeer, 
 bring hither to me the young man with whom we were last night. 
 The Wezeer replied, I hear and obey. And he repaired to him, and 
 saluted him, and said to him, Answer the summons of the Prince of 
 the Faithful, the Khaleefeh Haroon Er-Rasheed. So the young man 
 went with him to the palace, with a heart contracted in consequence 
 of the summons ; and when he went in to the Khaleefeh, he kissed 
 the ground before him, greeted him with a prayer for the endurance 
 of his glory and prosperity, and for the attainment of his desires, the 
 continuance of his beneficence, and the cessation of evil and punish- 
 
OR THE FALSE KHALEEFEH. 353 
 
 merits, and, addressing him in the best manner he was able, said, 
 Peace be on thee, O Prince of the Faithful, and Protector of the con- 
 gregation of the believers ! Then he recited these two verses : 
 
 May thy gate never cease to be repaired to as a Kaabeh, and may its dust ever 
 
 mark the foreheads of men ! 
 That throughout all countries it may be proclaimed, This is the Makam, and 
 
 thou art Ibraheem. 20 
 
 And the Khaleefeh smiled in his face, returned hi^s salutation, and 
 looking at him with the eye of respect, caused him to draw near and. 
 to seat himself before him, and said to him, Mohammad 'Alee, I 
 desire of thee that thou relate to me what happened to thee this last 
 night ; for it was of a wonderful and surprising kind. The young 
 man replied, Pardon, O Prince of the Faithful ! Give me the hand- 
 kerchief of indemnity, 21 that my terror may subside, and my heart be 
 appeased. And the Khaleefeh said, Thou hast security from fear and 
 sorrows. 
 
 So the young man began to relate to him the events which had 
 happened to him from first to last. And the Khaleefeh, knowing that 
 the young man was enamoured, and parted from the object of his 
 passion, said to him, Dost thou desire me to restore her to thee ? 
 This, answered the young man, will be an instance of the abundant 
 beneficence of the Prince of the Faithful. And thereupon the Kha- 
 leefeh, looking towards the Wezeer, said to him, Jaafar, bring to 
 me thy sister, the lady Dunya, the daughter of the Wezeer Yahya 
 the son of Khalid. So Jaafar replied, I hear and obey. He brought 
 her immediately ; and when she stood before him, the Khaleefeh said 
 to her, Knowest thou who is this ? Prince of the Faithful, she 
 said, how should women have knowledge of men ? And the Khaleefeh 
 smiled, and said to her, O Dunya, this is thy lover, Mohammad 'Alee 
 the son of the Jeweller : we have become acquainted with the case, 
 and heard the story from its beginning to its end, and understood 
 what was public and what was private of it ; and the thing is not 
 concealed, though it was veiled. O Prince of the Faithful, she replied, 
 it was written in the Book [of God's decrees], and I beg forgiveness 
 of God the Great for the actions committed by me, and request of thy 
 goodness that thou wilt pardon me. And upon this the Khaleefeh 
 laughed, and, having summoned the Kadee and the witnesses, re- 
 newed the contract of her marriage to her husband Mohammad 'Alee 
 the son of the Jeweller; and there resulted to them the utmost 
 felicity ; and to the envious, mortification. The Khaleefeh also made, 
 
 II. 2 'L 
 
354 THE STORY OF MOHAMMAD 'ALEE THE JEWELLER, &c. 
 
 the young man one of his boon-companions ; and he and his wife 
 continued in happiness and delight and cheerfulness until they were 
 visited by the terminator of delights, and the separator of com- 
 panions. 22 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. 
 
 NOTE 1. THIS story, and that in the next chapter of the present work, have, I 
 believe, been translated into French, by M. Caussin, and published in the edition of the 
 Thousand and One Nights mentioned in the first of the notes to ray eleventh chapter. 
 
 NOTE 2. The kind of cresset here mentioned, called in Arabic " mesh'al," is a staff 
 with a cylindrical frame (commonly of iron) at the top, filled with naming wood, or 
 having two, three, four, or five of these receptacles for fire. The mesh'al with a 
 single receptacle for fire is the most common, and the entire length is generally about 
 seven feet. Two different kinds are figured in my work on the Modern Egyptians, 
 vol. i. ch. vi. They are borne in various nocturnal processions, and often before a 
 horseman riding by night. 
 
 NOTE 3. The term "meezer" or "mi-zer" is properly applied to a cloth which is 
 wrapped round the waist and reaches to the knees, or lower ; and is now also used to 
 signify a pair of drawers. 
 
 NOTE 4. What is here meant is doubtful. A cresset-bearer before a horseman 
 might be properly described as having on his shoulder an embroidered saddle-cover, 
 called in Arabic " ghashiyeh." This was usually borne before a King, and a less costly 
 kind is now often seen on the shoulder of a groom preceding a horseman of the higher 
 or middle rank. 
 
 NOTE 5. See Note; 52 to Chapter ii. 
 
 NOTE 6. Literally, " the second, or the other Khaleefeh." So also in the other 
 instances in which I use the term " False Khaleefeh." 
 
 NOTE 7. " Saj " is the name of an Indian tree, the wood of which is imported into 
 Arabian countries ; but our Orientalists disagree as to its species. De Sacy 1 thinks it 
 likely that " saj " is an Indian name adopted by the Arabs : if so, the tree so called is 
 probably the teak (as he first supposed) ; this tree being termed in Sanscrit, "saka." 2 
 
 NOTE 8. In the original, " shadharwan." This word, which I here render in 
 accordance with the manner in which my sheykh has explained it in several places, is 
 
 1 See his Chrestomathie Arabe, vol. iii. pp. 473 
 et seq., 2nd ed. 
 
 * Johnson's edition of Richardson's Persian, 
 Arabic, and English Dictionary, voce " saj." 
 
356 NOTES '1O CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. 
 
 also written " shadarwan " and " shadirwan," and is, I believe, generally applied to a 
 fountain, or jet d'eau, with pieces of glass, or glass bells, which, being put in motion by 
 the water, produce a constant tinkling. The word is Persian. 
 
 NOTE 9. The "long mattresses" here mentioned are those described in Note 12 
 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 10. For a knowledge of the particular kind of round cushion here mentioned, 
 by the term, " mudovvwarah," I am indebted to Mr. Salame ; for although I have one, 
 which I purchased of an Arab at Gibraltar, I either did not inquire, or else forgot, the 
 name. It is generally about fifteen inches in diameter, three or four inches thick, and 
 covered with velvet or leather, embroidered or otherwise ornamented. Cushions of 
 this kind I did not see in the East ; but they are common among the Arabs in Western 
 Africa, and have of late years been imported into England, where they are used as 
 footstools. The Arabs use them generally to recline against, and sometimes as pillows 
 for the head. 
 
 NOTE 11. Literally, "O full moons." The plural is used for the reason explained 
 in Note 34 to Chapter x. 
 
 Note 12. Here again the plural is used in the original, to convey a superlative 
 sense. 
 
 Note 13. It is a general custom among the Arabs, when a person is asked 
 "What is the news?" to reply, "Good" (kheyr), even when the news to be imparted 
 is bad. 
 
 NOTE 14. I believe I have before mentioned El-' Abbas, as an uncle of the Prophet, 
 and ancestor of the Khaleefehs of Baghdad, who were hence called the 'Abbasse Kha- 
 leefehs. 
 
 NOTE 15. See Note 8 to the Introduction. 
 
 NOTE 16. It is common with the Arabs to say that a day is like milk, or white as 
 milk, to imply that it is fortunate ; and that it is like mud, or black as mud, to signify 
 the contrary. 
 
 NOTE 17. A money-changer is employed by Kings and grandees to pay and receive 
 their money. 3 
 
 NOTE 18. See Note 39 to Chapter ii. 
 
 NOTE 19. The action here mentioned is accompanied with a gentle rubbing. The 
 object in this case was to awake the lady. See Note 55 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 20. These two verses may be explained by the following amplified para- 
 phrase. " May thy palace never cease to be an object of desire, a place where prayer 
 will be answered, resorted to by multitudes, like the Temple of Mekkeh ; and may men 
 ever exhibit tokens of the honours or benefits that they have received there in paving 
 their homage, as a person who has just prayed upon the bare ground exhibits a fore- 
 head marked with the dust : thus throughout every country it will be known, that thy 
 palace is like the station of Ibraheem (or Abraham), a place within the inner enclosure 
 of the Kaabeh, where prayer is especially blessed. 4 and that thou art like Ibraheem 
 himself." But my sheykh remarks, that these verses are not well applied except in 
 praise of a person whose name is Ibraheem. 
 
 NOTE 21. See Note 95 to Chapter v. 
 
 NOTE 22. This story is followed by four anecdotes, ending with part of the two 
 hundred and ninety-ninth night. The third and fourth of these are here subjoined. 
 
 1 Marginal note by niy sheykh. 4 See the Kur-an, ch. ii. v. lilt. 
 
NOTES TO CHAFl'ER THIRTEENTH. 357 
 
 Anecdote of a Disinterested Lover. 
 
 It is related that Khalid the son of 'Abd-Allah El-Kusheyree 5 was Governor of 
 El-Basrah ; and there came to him a number of men grasping a young man of surpass- 
 ing comeliness and evident good breeding and abundant intellect, of handsome figure, 
 of sweet odour, and of a grave and dignified appearance ; and they brought him forward 
 unto Khalid. So Khalid inquired of them his story, and they said, This is a thief, whom 
 we caught yesterday in our abode. And when Khalid looked at him, the beauty of his 
 appearance, and his cleanliness, excited his admiration, and lie said, Loose him. Then, 
 approaching him, he asked him his story ; and the young man answered, The people 
 have spoken truth, and the case is as they have related. And what, said Khalid, 
 induced thee to do this, when thou hast so comely an appearance and so handsome a 
 form ? He answered, Covetousness of worldly goods, and the decree of God, whose 
 perfection be extolled, and whose name be exalted! And upon this, Khalid said, Muv 
 thy mother be bereft of thee ! Hadst thou not in the comeliness of thy ftice, and the 
 soundness of thy sense, and in thy good breeding, what would suffice to restrain thee 
 from thieving? Abstain from this language, O Emeer, replied the young man, and 
 proceed to do what God (whose name be exalted!; hath ordained; for such is the 
 recompense of that which my hands have done, and God is not tyrannical towards his 
 servants. And Khalid remained a while silent, reflecting upon the affair of the young 
 man ; after which he desired him to draw near, and said to him, Thy confession before 
 the witnesses hath perplexed me so that I know not what to do ; and I do not think 
 thee to be a thief. Probably thou hast some story to tell that is not one of theft. 
 Acquaint me then with it. But the young man replied, O Emeer, let nothing be 
 imagined by thee, except that which I have confessed to thee ; for I have no story to 
 relate but this, that I entered the house of these people, and stole what I could, and 
 they caught me, and took the property from me, and conveyed me unto thee. Upon 
 this, therefore, Khalid gave orders to imprison him, and commanded a crier to proclaim 
 throughout El-Basrah, Ho ! whosoever desireth to witness the punishment of such-a- 
 one, and the cutting off of his hand, let him come in the morning to such a place ! 
 
 And when the young man had been a while in the prison, and they had put the 
 irons upon his feet he sighed heavily, shed copious tears, and recited these verses : 
 
 Khalid hath threatened me with the cutting off of my hand if I reveal not to him her story ; 
 lint I said, Far be it from me that I should reveal the love for her which my heart cntertaineth ! 
 The cutting off of my hand for that which I have confessed is easier to my heart than disgracing 
 her. 
 
 And the persons who were commissioned to guard him, hearing this, came to Khalid, 
 and acquainted him with that which he had said. So when the night grew dark, he 
 gave orders to bring him into his presence ; and on his coming before him, he urged 
 him to speak, and found him to be sensible, well-bred, intelligent, polite and discreet. 
 He gave orders to bring him food ; and he ate, and conversed a while with him ; after 
 which, Khalid said to him, I know that thou hast a story to tell that is not one of 
 theft : so when the morning cometh, and the people are present, with the Kadee, and 
 he asketh thee respecting the theft, deny it, and assert that which may avert from 
 thee the punishment of amputation; for the Apostle of God (may God bless and save 
 him!) hath said, In cases of doubt, avert t-he punishments fixed by the law. He then 
 gave orders to take him back to the prison, where he remained that night. 
 
 And in the morning the people came to witness the amputation of the young mini's 
 
 5 "El-Kusheyree" is probably put by a mistake period of nearly fifteen years, in the rcifrn of the 
 
 of a copyist for " el-Kasree." Khalid the son of Khalcefeh Hisha'm the son of 'Abd-Kl-Melik, as 
 
 'Abd-Allah El-Kasm> was a famous Governor of related by Ibn-Khallikan. 
 Kl-'Krak lin which Kl-Hasrah is situate) for a 
 
358 NOTES TO CHAFIER THIRTEENTH. 
 
 hand, and there was not any one in El-Basrah, man or woman, who did not come to 
 behold the punishment of that young man. Khalid mounted, attended by the chief 
 persons of El-Basrah, and others, and, having summoned the Kadees, gave orders to 
 bring the young man, who approached, jumping in the chains ; and not one of the 
 people beheld him without weeping for him, and the voices of the women rose in 
 shrieks. So the [chief] Kadee commanded to silence the women, and then said to the 
 young man, These people assert that thou enteredst their house, and stolest their pro- 
 perty. Probably thou stolest less than the nisab. 6 Nay, he replied, I stole a complete 
 nisab. Probably, rejoined the Kadee, thou art a partner of the people in some of the 
 property. But the young man replied, Nay : the whole of it was theirs : I had no right 
 in it. And upon this, Khalid was enraged, and came to him and struck him upon his 
 face with the whip, repeating this verse as applicable to his own case : 
 
 Man desireth that his wish may be granted unto him ; but God refuseth all save what Himself 
 desireth. 
 
 He then called for the butcher, who came, and drew forth the knife, and, stretching 
 forth the young man's hand, put the knife upon it. 
 
 But a damsel hastened forward from the midst of the women, clad in tattered and 
 dirty garments/ and cried out, and threw herself upon the young man ; after which 
 ohe displayed a face like the moon ; whereupon a great clamour arose among the people, 
 and a fiery excitement of the passions of the spectators well nigh ensued in consequence 
 of this spectacle. Then the damsel cried out with her loudest voice, I conjure thee by 
 Allah, O Emeer, that thou hasten not the amputation until thou shalt have read this 
 note. And she gave him a note, which Khalid opened and read, and, lo, in it were 
 written these verses : 
 
 O Khalid, this person is a distracted slave of love, wounded by a glance shot from the bows of my 
 
 eye-lashes. 
 An arrow from my eye hath prostrated him ; for he is wedded to the ardour of love, and recovereth 
 
 not from his malady. 
 He hath avowed a deed that he hath not committed, thinking this better than the disgrace of his 
 
 enamoured. 
 Have patience then with the afflicted lover ; for he is one of the noble of mankind, not a thief. 
 
 When Khalid, therefore, read the verses, he withdrew, and separated himself from 
 the people, and, having summoned the woman, inquired of her respecting the case. 
 So she informed him that this young man was enamoured of her, and that she was 
 enamoured of him ; and that he had repaired to the house of her family with the desire 
 of visiting her, and thrown a stone into the house to acquaint her with his arrival ; but 
 that her father and her brothers heard the sound of the stone, and came up to him ; 
 and when he perceived them, he collected all the linen of the house, making it appear 
 to them that he was a thief, in order to protect the honour of his beloved. Therefore 
 when they saw him thus engaged, they took him and said, This is a thief, and 
 brought him to thee ; whereupon he confessed that he had committed theft, and 
 persisted in doing so, that he might not disgrace me. These things he did, making 
 himself a thief, from the excess of his kindness, and the generosity of his mind. And 
 Khalid replied, Verily he is worthy of the accomplishment of his desire. Then having 
 called the young man to him, he kissed him between the eyes ; and he gave orders to 
 bring before him the damsel's father, and said to him, O sheykh, we had determined 
 upon the execution of the sentence upon this young man by the amputation of his 
 hand ; but God (to whom be ascribed might and glory !) hath preserved me from that 
 act ; and I have ordered that ten thousand pieces of silver be given to him, for his 
 
 6 This term here means property amounting in " It is probably meant that she had clad herself 
 
 value to a quarter of a ilccnar. See Note 32 to in this manner to testify her grief. 
 Chapter v. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. 
 
 359 
 
 generous exposure of his hand in order to preserve thy honour and the honour of thv 
 daughter, and to protect you both from reproach. I have ordered also that ten thou- 
 sand pieces of silver shall be given to thy daughter, in consideration of her having 
 informed me of the truth of the affair ; and I beg that thou give me permission to 
 marry her to him. O Emeer, replied the sheykh, I give thee pennission to do so. 
 And Khalid praised God, and thanked Him, and recited an eloquent khutbeh ; 8 after 
 which he said to the young man, I marry to thee this damsel, such-a-one, who is here 
 present, with her permission and consent, and with the permission of her father, for a 
 dowry consisting of this money, the amount of which is ten thousand pieces of silver. 
 And the young man replied, I accept from thee this offer of marriage. Then Khalid 
 gave orders to carry the money to the house of the young man, borne in procession, 
 upon trays ; and the people dispersed full of happiness. I have not witnessed (says 
 the narrator) a day more strange than that day, beginning with weeping and misfor- 
 tunes, and ending with joy and happiness. 
 
 [In the following anecdote, mention is made of an event of a most melancholy 
 nature, the knowledge of which has caused me to derive less pleasure than 1 should 
 find, if ignorant of the fact, in many of the best stories in the present collection ; and 
 I therefore think that some of my readers may prefer passing over it unread.] 
 
 8 See Note 39 to Chapter iv. 
 
360 NOTES TO CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. 
 
 Anecdote o/-':iufar El-Barmekee. 
 
 A Bedawee of a distant desert 9 used, every year to bring an ode to Jaafar El- 
 Barinekee, who used to give him a thousand pieces of gold as a largess for his ode ; 
 and the Bedawee took the money and departed, and remained expending from it 
 upon his family until the close of the year. Now this Bedawee brought him the ode 
 according to his custom, and, when he came, found Jaafar hanged ; 10 and he came to 
 the place where he was hanged, and there, having made his camel lie down, wept 
 violently, mourned greatly, and recited his ode, and slept. And in his sleep he saw 
 Jaafar El-Barmekee, who said to him, Thou hast wearied thyself, and come to us, and 
 found us in the state thou seest : but repair to El-Basrah, and inquire for a man whose 
 name is so-aud-so, one of the merchants of El-Basrah, and say to him, Jaafar El-Bar- 
 mekee saluteth thee, and saith to thee, Give me a thousand pieces of gold, by the token 
 of the bean. 
 
 When the Bedawee, therefore, awoke from his sleep, he repaired to El-Basrah, and 
 inquired for that merchant ; and, having met with him, he acquainted him with the 
 words that Jaafar had said in the dream ; whereupon the merchant wept violently, so 
 that his soul almost quitted the world He then treated the Bedawee with honour, 
 seating him by him, and making his stay pleasant ; and the Bedawee remained with 
 him three days, honourably entertained. And when he desired to depart, the merchant 
 gave to him a thousand and five hundred pieces of gold, saying to him, The thousand 
 are what I am commanded to give thee, and the five hundred are a present to thee 
 from myself, and thou shalt receive every year a thousand pieces of gold. 
 
 And at his departure, the Bedawee said to the merchant, I conjure thee by "Allah to 
 acquaint me with the affair of the bean, that I may know its foundation. So the 
 merchant replied, I was, at the commencement of my career, in a state of poverty, 
 going about with hot beans 11 through the streets of Baghdad, and selling them as a 
 means of subsistence. And I went forth on a cold and rainy day, without sufficient 
 clothing on my body to preserve me from the bleakness of the air, now shivering from 
 the severity of the cold, and row falling in the water of the rain, in so horrible a state 
 that the skin quaketh at thinking upon it. Now Jaafar was sitting that day in a 
 pavilion overlooking the street, and with him were his chief attendants and concubines ; 
 and his eye fell upon me ; whereupon he was moved with pity for my condition, and 
 sent to me one of his servants, who took me and led me in to him ; and when he saw 
 me, he said to me, Sell the beans that thou hast with thee to my attendants. So I 
 began to mete them with a measure that I had with me, and every one who took a 
 measure of beans filled the measure with gold, until all that I had with me was 
 exhausted, and there remained nothing in the basket [except one beanj. Then I col- 
 lected together the gold that had accrued to me ; and Jaafar said to me, Doth aught 
 of the beans remain with thee ? I answered, I know not. And searching in the 
 basket I found in it nothing but one bean ; whereupon Jaafar took it from me, and 
 split it in twain ; and he took one half of it, and gave the other half to one of his con- 
 cubines, saying, For what sum wilt thou buy the half of this bean ? She answered, 
 For twice the quantity of this gold. So I was confounded at my case, and said within 
 myself, This is impossible. But while I was wondering, lo, the concubine gave orders 
 to one of her female slaves, who brought a quantity of gold twice as much as that 
 
 9 In the original are a few introductory words, culars of this case, respecting which there are 
 vhk-h I omit because they are inappropriate. various different assertions. 
 
 10 In the original, "masloob," which generally n In the original, "el-fool el-hdrr." These are 
 signifies " crucified." Jaafar was first beheaded. beans soaked for a while in water, and then boiled. 
 I think it rig-ht to omit a description of the parti- Note by my slicykh. 
 
NOTES TO CHAFFER THIRTEENTH. 
 
 361 
 
 which was already collected. Then Jaafar said, And I will huy the half that I have 
 taken for twice the quantity of the whole. And he said to me, Receive the price of 
 thy bean. And he gave orders to one of his servants, who collected together the whole 
 of the money and put it into my basket ; and I took it and departed. After that, I came 
 to El-Basrah, and trafficked with the money in my possession, and God gave me ample 
 wealth. To God therefore be praise and thanks ! So if I give thee every year a thou- 
 sand pieces of gold, derived from the munificence of Jaafar, it injureth me not at ill. 
 Observe, then, the generous disposition of Jaafar, and the praise bestowed upo'i him 
 living and dead. The mercy of God (whose name be exalted !) be on him ! 
 
 II. 
 
 3 A 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY-NINTH 
 
 NIGHT AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE THREE HUNDRED 
 
 AND FIFTH. 
 
 THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 1 
 
 HAROON ER-RASHEED was sitting one day upon the imperial 
 throne,, when there came in to him a young man of the eunuchs, with 
 a crown of red gold set with pearls and jewels, comprising all kinds 
 of jacinths and jewels such as no money would suffice to procure. 
 This young man kissed the ground before the Khaleefeh, and said to 
 him, Prince of the Faithful, the lady Zubeydeh kisseth the ground 
 

 THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY 363 
 
 before thee, and saith to thee, Thou knowest that she hath made this 
 crown,, and it wanteth a large jewel to be affixed to its summit ; and 
 she hath searched among her treasures, but found not among them a 
 large jewel such as she desireth. So the Khaleefeh said to the cham- 
 berlains and lieutenants, Search for a large jewel such as Zubeydeh 
 desireth. They therefore searched, but found nothing that suited 
 her; and they acquainted the Khaleefeh with this; in consequence 
 of which his bosom became contracted, and he said, How is it that I 
 am Khaleefeh, and King of the Kings of the earth, and am unable to 
 procure a jewel ? Wo unto you ! Inquire of the merchants. And 
 they inquired of the merchants ; but they answered them, Our lord 
 the Khaleefeh will not find the jewel save with a man of El-Basrah, 
 named Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy. So they informed the Khaleefeh 
 of this ; and he ordered his Wezeer Jaafar to send a note to the 
 Emeer Mohammad Ez-Zubeydee, the Governor of El-Basrah, desiring 
 him to fit out Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy, and to bring him before 
 the Prince of the Faithful. The Wezeer, therefore, wrote a note to 
 that effect, and sent it by Mesroor. 
 
 Mesroor immediately repaired with it to the city of El-Basrah, 
 and went in to the Emeer Mohammad Ez-Zubeydee, who rejoiced at 
 seeing him, and treated him with the utmost honour. He then read 
 to him the note of the Prince of the Faithful Haroon Er-Ilasheed, and 
 he said, I hear and obey. He forthwith sent Mesroor with a number 
 of his retinue to Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy, and they repaired to 
 him, and* knocked at his door ; whereupon one of the pages came 
 forth to them, and Mesroor said to him, Say to thy master, The 
 Prince of the Faithful summoneth thee. So the page went in and 
 acquainted him with this ; and he came forth, and found Mesroor, 
 the chamberlain of the Khaleefeh, attended by the retinue of the 
 Emeer Mohammad Ez-Zubeydee; upon which he kissed the ground 
 before him, and said, I hear and obey the command of the Prince of 
 the Faithful : but enter ye our abode. They replied, We cannot do 
 so, unless to pay a hasty visit, as the Prince of the Faithful hath 
 commanded us ; for he is expecting thine arrival. But he said, Have 
 patience with me a little, that I may arrange my business. And they 
 entered the house with him, after excessive persuasion; and they 
 beheld, in the passage, curtains of blue brocade embroidered with 
 red gold. Then Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy ordered some of his 
 pages to conduct Mesroor into the bath which was in the house ; and 
 they did so. And he saw its walls and its marble pavements to be of 
 
36-1. 
 
 THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 
 
 extraordinary construction : it was decorated with gold and silver, and 
 its water was mixed with rose-water. The pages paid all attention to 
 Mesroor and those who were with him, and served them in the most 
 perfect manner ; and when they came forth from the hath, they clad 
 them with honorary dresses of brocade interwoven with gold; after 
 which, Mesroor and his companions entered, and found Aboo-Moham- 
 mad the Lazy sitting in his pavilion. Over his head were hung cur- 
 tains of brocade interwoven with gold, and adorned with pearls and 
 jewels ; the pavilion was furnished with cushions embroidered with 
 red gold ; and he was sitting upon his mattress, which was upon a 
 couch set with jewels. When Mesroor came in to him, he welcomed 
 him and met him, and, having seated him by his side, gave orders to 
 bring the table ; and when Mesroor beheld that table, he said, By 
 Allah, I have never seen the like of this in the palace of the Prince of 
 the Faithful ! It comprised varieties of viands, all placed in dishes of 
 gilt China-ware. \Ve ate, says Mesroor, and drank, and enjoyed our- 
 selves until the close of the day, when he gave to each of us five 
 thousand pieces of gold. And on the following day, they clad us in 
 green dresses of honour, embroidered with gold, and treated us with 
 the utmost honour. Mesroor then said to Aboo-Mohammad the 
 Lazy, It is impossible for us to remain longer than this period, from 
 our fear of the Khaleefeh. But Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy replied, 
 our lord, have patience with us until to-morrow, that we may pre- 
 pare ourselves, and then we will proceed with you. So they remained 
 that day, and passed the night until the morning ; when the pages 
 equipped a mule for Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy, with a saddle of 
 
THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 365 
 
 gold adorned with varieties of pearls and jewels ; whereupon Mesroor 
 said within himself, When Aboo-Mohammad presenteth himself before 
 the Khaleefeh with this equipage, I wonder whether he" will ask him 
 how he obtained such wealth. 
 
 After that, they took leave of Mohammad Ez-Zubeydee, and, 
 going forth from El-Basrah, journeyed on until they arrived at the 
 city of Baghdad ; and when they went in to the Khaleefeh, and stood 
 before him, he ordered Aboo-Mohammad to seat himself. So he sat, 
 and, addressing the Khaleefeh with politeness, said, O Prince of the 
 Faithful, I have brought with me a present in token of service : then 
 may I produce it, with thy permission ? Er-Rasheed answered, There 
 will be no harm in that. Accordingly Aboo-Mohammad gave orders 
 to bring a chest, which he opened, and he took forth from it some 
 rarities, among which were trees of gold, the leaves whereof were 
 formed of white 2 emeralds, and its fruits of red and yellow jacinths, 
 and white pearls ; whereat the Khaleefeh wondered. Then he caused 
 a second chest to be brought, and took forth from it a tent of brocade, 
 adorned with pearls and jacinths, and emeralds and chrysolites, and 
 varieties of other jewels : its poles were of new Indian aloes-wood ; its 
 skirts were adorned with emeralds ; and upon it were represented the 
 forms of all living creatures, as birds and wild beasts ; all these 
 designs being adorned with jewels, jacinths and emeralds, and chry- 
 solites and balass rubies, and all kinds of minerals. And when Er- 
 Rasheed beheld it, he rejoiced exceedingly. Aboo-Mohammad the 
 Lazy then said, O Prince of the Faithful, imagine not that I have 
 brought to thee this, fearing any thing or coveting aught ; for the 
 truth is, that I saw myself to be a man of the common people, and 
 saw that this was not suitable to any one but the Prince of the 
 Faithful ; and if thou give me permission, I will gratify thee with 
 the sight of some of the feats that I am able to accomplish. To this 
 Er-Rasheed replied, Do what thou wilt, that we may see. And Aboo- 
 Mohammad said, I hear and obey. Then he moved his lips, and 
 made a sign to the battlements 3 of the palace; whereupon they 
 inclined towards him ; and he made another sign to them, and they 
 resumed their proper position. After this, he made a sign with his 
 eye, and there appeared before him private chambers with closed 
 doors ; and he addressed some words towards them, whereat the 
 voices of birds replied to him. And Er-Rasheed wondered at this 
 extremely, and said to him, Whence obtainedst thou all this power, 
 when thou art not known otherwise than by the appellation of Aboo- 
 
366 THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 
 
 Mohammad the Lazy, and they have informed me that thy father was 
 a cupper 4 serving in a public bath, and that he left thee nothing ? 
 
 Prince of the Faithful, he answered, hear my story ; for it is won- 
 derful and extraordinary : if it were engraven on the understanding, 
 it would be a lesson to him who would be admonished. Er-Rasheed 
 said, Relate what thou hast to tell, and acquaint me with it, Aboo- 
 Mohammad. So he said, 
 
 Know, O Prince of the Faithful (may God continue thy glory and 
 power !), that the account of the people, that I am known by the sur- 
 name of the Lazy, and that my father left me not any property, is 
 true ; for my father was no other than thou hast said : he was a 
 cupper in a public bath. In my youth I was the laziest of all beings 
 existing upon the face of the earth. My laziness was so great that 
 when I was sleeping in the hot season and the sun came upon me, I 
 was too sluggish to rise and remove from the sun to the shade. Thus 
 
 1 remained fifteen years, at the expiration of which period my father 
 was admitted to the mercy of God (whose name be exalted !), and left 
 me nothing. But my mother used to act as a servant to some people, 
 and feed me and give me drink, while I lay upon my side. And it 
 happened that my mother came in to me one day, bringing five pieces 
 of silver ; and she said to me, O my son, I have been told that the 
 sheykh Abu-1-Mu/affar hath determined to make a voyage to China. 
 This sheykh loved the poor, and was one of the virtuous. And my 
 mother said, my son, take these five pieces of silver, and repair with 
 us to him, and we will request him to buy for thee with it something 
 from the land of China : perhaps a profit may thence accrue to thee, 
 of the bounty of God, whose name be exalted ! But I was too lazy to 
 rise and go with her. And upon this she swore by Allah, that if I 
 did not rise and accompany her she would not feed me nor give me to 
 drink nor come in to me, but would leave me to die of hunger and 
 thirst. So when I heard her words, Prince of the Faithful, I knew 
 that she would do so, on account of her knowledge of my laziness. I 
 therefore said to her, Seat me. And she did so, while I wept. Bring 
 me my shoes, said I. And she brought them ; and I said, Put them 
 on my feet. And she put them on. I then said, Lift me up from 
 the ground. And when she had done this, I said, Support me, that 
 I may walk. So she supported me, and I continued walking, and 
 stumbling upon my skirts, until we arrived at the bank of the river, 
 when we saluted the sheykh, and I said to him, O uncle, art thou El- 
 Muxaftar? He answered, At thy service. And I said, Take these 
 
THE STORY OF ABOO MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 
 
 3fi7 
 
 pieces of silver, and buy with them for me something from the land 
 of China : perhaps God may give me a profit from it. And the 
 sheykh Abu-1-Muzaffar said to his companions, Do ye know this 
 young man ? They answered, Yes : this person is known by the 
 name of Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy ; and we have never seen him to 
 have come forth from his house except on this occasion. The sheykh 
 Abu-1-Muzaffar then said, O my son, give me the money, and may 
 the blessing of God (whose name be exalted !) attend it. And he 
 received the money from me, saying, In the name of God. After 
 which, I returned with my mother to the house. 
 
 The sheykh Abu-1-Muzaffar set forth on the voyage, and with him 
 a company of merchants, and they proceeded without interruption 
 until they arrived at the land of China ; when the sheykh sold and 
 bought, and set forth to return, he and those who were with him, 
 after they had accomplished their desires. But when they had con- 
 tinued out at sea for three days, the sheykh said to his companions, 
 Stay the vessel ! The merchants asked, What dost thou want ? . And 
 he answered, Know that the deposite committed to me, belonging to 
 Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy, I have forgotten : so return with us, that 
 we may buy for him with it something by which he may profit. But 
 
 &- --- 3 
 
 
368 THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 
 
 they replied, We conjure thee by Allah (whose name be exalted !) that 
 thou take us not back ; for we have traversed a very long distance, 
 and in doing so we have experienced great terrors, and exceeding 
 trouble. Still he said, We must return. They therefore said, Receive 
 from us several times as much as the profit of the five pieces of silver, 
 and take us not back. So he assented to their proposal ; and they 
 collected for him a large sum of money. 
 
 Then they proceeded until they came in sight of an island con- 
 taining a numerous population, where they cast anchor; and the 
 merchants landed to purchase thence merchandise consisting of 
 minerals and jewels and pearls and other things. And Abu-1- 
 Muzaffar saw a man sitting, with a great number of apes before 
 him ; and among these was an ape whose hair was plucked off. The 
 other apes, whenever. their master was inadvertent, laid hold upon this 
 plucked ape, and beat him, and threw him upon their master ; who 
 arose thereat, and beat them, and chained and tormented them, for 
 doing this ; and all these apes became enraged in consequence against 
 the other, and beat him again. Now when the sheykh Abu-l-Muzaf- 
 far saw this ape, he grieved for him, and shewed kindness to him, and 
 said to his owner, Wilt thou sell me this ape ? The man answered, 
 Buy. And the sheykh said, I have with me, belonging to a lad who 
 is an orphan, five pieces of silver. Wilt thou sell him to me for that 
 sum ? He answered, I sell him to thee. May God bless thee in 
 him ! Then the sheykh took possession of him, and paid the money 
 to his owner; and the slaves of the sheykh took the ape, and tied him 
 in the ship. 
 
 After this, they loosed the sails, and proceeded to another island, 
 where they cast anchor. And the divers who dived for minerals and 
 pearls and jewels and other things came down ; and the merchants 
 gave them money as their hire for diving. So they dived ; and the 
 ape, seeing them do this, loosed himself from his cord, leaped from 
 the vessel, and dived with them ; whereupon Abu-1-Muzaffar ex- 
 claimed, There is no strength nor power but in God, the High, the 
 Great ! We have lost the ape, with the luck of this poor youth for 
 whom we bought him! They despaired of the ape; but when the 
 party of divers came up, lo, the ape came up with them, having in his 
 hands precious jewels ; and he threw them down before Abu-l-Mu- 
 zaffar, who wondered at this, and said, Verily, there is a great mystery 
 in this ape ! 
 
 Then they loosed, and proceeded to an island called the Island of 
 
THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 369 
 
 the Zimooj, 5 who are a people of the blacks, that eat the flesh of the 
 sons of Adam. And when the blacks beheld them, they came to them 
 in boats, and, taking all that were in the ship, bound their hands 
 behind them, and conducted them to the King, who ordered them to 
 slaughter a number of the merchants. So they slaughtered them, and 
 ate their flesh. The rest of the merchants passed the night imprisoned, 
 in great misery ; but in the night the ape arose and came to Abu-1- 
 Muzaffar, and loosed his chains. And when the merchants beheld 
 Abu-1-Muzaffar loosed, they said, God grant that our liberation may 
 be effected by thy hands, Abu-1-Muzaffar ! But he replied, Know 
 ye that none liberated me, by the will of God (whose name be ex- 
 alted !), but this ape ; and I have bought my liberty of him for a 
 thousand pieces of gold. So the merchants said, And we in like 
 manner : each of us buyeth his liberty of him for a thousand pieces 
 of gold, if he release us. The ape therefore arose and went to them, 
 and began to loose one after another, until he had loosed them all 
 from their chains ; and they repaired to the ship, and embarked in it, 
 and found it safe; nothing being lost from it. 
 
 They loosed immediately, and continued their voyage, and Abu-1- 
 Muzaffar said, O merchants, fulfil the promise that ye have given to 
 the ape. They replied, We hear and obey. And each of them paid 
 him a thousand pieces of gold. Abu-1-Muzaffar also took forth from 
 his property a thousand pieces of gold ; and a great sum of money 
 was thus collected for the ape. They then continued their voyage 
 until they arrived at the city of El-Basrah ; whereupon their com- 
 panions came to meet them ; and when they had landed, Abu-1- 
 Muzaffar said, Where is Aboo-Mobammad the Lazy ? The news 
 therefore reached my mother, and while I was lying asleep, my 
 mother came to me and said, my son, the sheykh Abu-1-Muzaffar 
 hath arrived, and come to the city : rise then, and repair to him and 
 salute him, and ask him what he hath brought for thee : perhaps God 
 (whose name be exalted !) hath blessed thee with something. So I 
 replied, Lift me from the ground, and support me, that I may go 
 forth and walk to the bank of the river. I walked on, stumbling 
 upon rny skirts, until I came to the sheykh Abu-1-Muzaffar; and 
 when he beheld me, he said to me, Welcome to him whose money 
 was the means of my liberation and the liberation of these merchants, 
 by the will of God, whose name be exalted ! He then said to me, 
 Take this ape ; for I bought him for thee ; go with him to thy house, 
 and wait until I come to thee. I therefore took the ape before me, 
 
 II. 3 B 
 

 and went, saying within myself, By Allah, this is none other than 
 magnificent merchandise! I entered my house, and said to my 
 mother, Every time that I lie down to sleep, thou desirest me to 
 arise to traffic : see then with thine eye this merchandise. Then I 
 sat down ; and while I was sitting, lo, the slaves of Abu-1-Muzaffar 
 approached me, and said to me, Art thou Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy ? 
 I answered them, Yes. And behold, Abu-1-Muzaffar approached, 
 following them. I rose to him, arid kissed his hands, and he said to 
 me, Come with me to my house. So I replied, I hear and obey. I 
 proceeded with him until I entered the house, when he ordered his 
 slaves to bring the money ; and they brought it, and he said, my 
 son, God hath blessed thee with this wealth as the profit of the five 
 pieces of silver. They then carried it in the chests upon their heads, 
 and he gave me the keys of those chests, saying to me, Walk before 
 the slaves to thy house ; for all this wealth is thine. 
 
 I therefore went to my mother, and she rejoiced at this, and said, 
 O my son, God hath blessed thee with this abundant wealth ; so give 
 over this laziness, and go down into the market-street, and sell and 
 buy. Accordingly, I relinquished my lazy habits, and opened a shop 
 in the market-street, and the ape sat with me upon my mattress : 
 when I ate, he ate with me; and when I drank, he drank with me; 
 
THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 371 
 
 and every day be absented bimself from me from morning until noon, 
 when be came, bringing with him a purse containing a thousand 
 pieces of gold, and he put it by my side, and sat down. Thus he 
 ceased not to do for a long time, until abundant wealth had accrued 
 to me ; whereupon I bought, Prince of the Faithful, possessions 
 and rabas, 6 and planted gardens, and purchased rnemlooks and male 
 black slaves and female slaves. 
 
 And it happened one day that I was sitting, and the ape was 
 sitting with me upon the mattress, and, lo, he looked to the right and 
 left ; whereat I said within myself, What is the matter with this ape ? 
 And God caused the ape to speak, with an eloquent tongue, and he 
 said, O Aboo- Mohammad! On hearing this, I was violently terrified ; 
 but he said, Fear not. I will acquaint thee with my condition. I 
 am a Marid of the Jinn ; but I came to thee on account of thy 
 poverty, and now thou knowest not the amount of thy wealth ; and 
 I have a want for thee to perform, the accomplishment of which will 
 be productive of good to thee. What is it ? I asked. He answered, 
 I desire to marry thee to a damsel like the full moon. And how so ? 
 said I. To-morrow, he answered, attire thyself in thy rich clothing, 
 mount thy mule with the saddle of gold, and repair with me to the 
 market of the sellers of fodder : there inquire for the shop of the 
 Shereef, 7 and seat thyself by him, and say to him, I have come to 
 thee as a suitor, desiring thy daughter. And if he say to thee, Thou 
 hast not wealth nor rank nor descent, give him a thousand pieces of 
 gold : and if he say to thee, Give me more, do so, and excite his 
 cupidity for money. So I replied, I hear and obey : to-morrow I will 
 do this, if it be the will of God, whose name be exalted ! 
 
 Accordingly, when I arose in the morning, I put on the richest of 
 my apparel, mounted the mule with the saddle of gold, and, having 
 gone to the market of the sellers of fodder, inquired for the shop of 
 the Shereef, and found him sitting in his shop. I therefore alighted 
 and saluted him, and seated myself with him. I had with me ten of 
 my black slaves, and memlooks ; and the Shereef said, Perhaps thou 
 hast some business with us which we may have the pleasure of per- 
 forming. So I replied, Yes : I have some business with thee. And 
 what is it ? he asked. I answered, I have come unto thee as a suitor, 
 desiring thy daughter. He replied, Thou hast not wealth nor rank 
 nor descent. And upon this I took forth and presented to him a 
 purse containing a thousand pieces of red gold, saying to him, This 
 is my rank and descent ; and he whom may God bless and save hath 
 
372 THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LA/Y. 
 
 said, An excellent rank is [that conferred by] wealth. How good 
 also is the saying of the poet ! 
 
 Whoso possesseth two dirhems, his lips have learned varieties of speech, which 
 
 he uttereth : 
 His brethren draw near and listen to him, and thou seest him haughty among 
 
 mankind. 
 Were it not for his money, in which he glorieth, thou wouldst find him in a most 
 
 ignominious state. 
 When the rich man erreth in speech, they reply, Thou hast spoken truly, and 
 
 not uttered vanity : 
 But when the poor man speaketh truly, they reply, Thou hast lied, and make 
 
 void what he hath asserted. 8 
 
 Verily money, in every habitation, investeth men with dignity and with comeli- 
 ness : 
 It is the tongue for him who would be eloquent, it is the weapon for him who 
 
 would fight. 
 
 And when the Shereef heard these words, and understood the verses, 
 he hung down his head for a while towards the ground; after which, 
 he raised his head, and said to me, If it must be, I desire of thee 
 three thousand pieces of gold besides. So I replied, I hear and obey. 
 I immediately sent one of the memlooks to my house, and he brought 
 rne the money that the Shereef had demanded ; and when the Shereef 
 saw this come to him, he arose from the shop, and said to his young 
 men, Close it. Then he invited his companions from the market to 
 his house, and, having performed the contract of my marriage to his 
 daughter, said to me, After ten days I will introduce thee to her. 
 
 I returned to my house, full of joy, and "in privacy informed the 
 ape of that which had happened to me ; whereupon he said, Excel- 
 lently hast thou done. And when the time appointed by the Shereef 
 approached, the ape said to me, I have a want for thee to perform : if 
 thou accomplish it for me, thou shalt obtain of me what thou wilt. 
 And what is thy want ? said J. He answered, At the upper end of 
 the saloon in which thou wilt pay thy first visit to the daughter of 
 the Shereef is a closet, upon the door of which is a ring of brass, and 
 the keys are beneath the ring. Take them, and open the door. Thou 
 wilt find a chest of iron, at the corners of which are four talismanic 
 flags ; in the midst is a basin filled with money, and by its side are 
 eleven serpents, and in the basin is tied a white cock with a cleft 
 tomb ; and there is also a knife by the side of the chest. Take the 
 knife, and kill with it the cock, tear in pieces the flags, and empty the 
 chest ; and after that, go forth to the bride. This is what I require 
 of thee. And I replied, I hear and obey. 
 
 I then went to the house of the Shereef, and, entering the saloon, 
 
THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 373 
 
 I looked towards the closet which the ape had described to me. And 
 when I was left alone with the bride, I wondered at her beauty and 
 loveliness, and her justness of stature and form ; for she was such that 
 the tongue cannot describe her beauty and loveliness. I was exceed- 
 ingly delighted with her; and when midnight came, and the bride 
 slept, I arose, took the keys, and opened the closet, and, taking the 
 knife, I killed the cock, threw down the flags, and overturned the 
 chest; whereupon the damsel awoke, and saw that the closet was 
 opened, and the cock killed ; and she exclaimed, There is no strength 
 nor power but in God, the High, the Great ! The Marid hath taken 
 me ! And her words were not ended when the Marid encompassed 
 the house, and snatched away the bride. Upon this, a clamour en- 
 sued ; and, lo, the Shereef approached, slapping his face, and said, 
 Aboo-Mohammad, what is this deed that thou hast done unto us ? 
 Is this the recompense we receive from thee ? I made this talis- 
 man in this closet through my fear for my daughter from this accursed 
 wretch ; for he was desirous of taking this damsel during a period of 
 six years, and could not do so. But thou shalt no longer remain with 
 us : so go thy way. 
 
 I therefore went forth from the house of the Shereef, and, having 
 returned to my own abode, searched for the ape ; but I found him not, 
 nor saw any trace of him : so I knew that he was the Marid who had 
 taken my wife, and that he had practised a stratagem against me so 
 that I had acted thus with the talisman and the cock which prevented 
 his taking her. I repented, and tore my clothes in pieces, and slap- 
 ped my face. No region was wide enough for me ; so I went forth 
 immediately, seeking the desert, and stopped not until the evening 
 overtook me; and I knew not whither to go. But while I was 
 absorbed in meditation, lo, two serpents approached me ; one, tawny- 
 coloured; and the other, white ; and they were contending together. 
 I therefore took up a stone from the ground, and struck with it the 
 tawny serpent, and killed it ; for it was oppressing the white oue. 
 Then the white serpent departed, and was absent for a while ; after 
 which it returned, accompanied by ten other white serpents ; and they 
 came to the dead serpent, and tore it in pieces, so that there remained 
 only his head ; which having done, they went their way. 
 
 Thereupon I laid myself prostrate on my bosom in that place, 
 through weariness ; and while 1 was so lying, meditating upon my 
 case, a being whose voice I heard, but whose form I saw not, uttered 
 these two verses : 
 

 Let destiny run with slackened reins, and pass not the night but with careless 
 
 mind ; 
 
 For between the closing of an eye and its opening, God effecteth a change in the 
 state of affairs. 
 
 On hearing this, Prince of the Faithful, I was vehemently affected, 
 and inspired with the utmost trouble of mind; and I heard a voice 
 behind me reciting this couplet : 
 
 O Muslim, whose guide is the Kur-an, rejoice in it ; for safety hath come to thee ; 
 And fear not what Satan hath suggested; for we are people whose religion is the 
 true one. 
 
 So I said to the person who addressed me, By the Object of thy 
 worship, inform me who thou art ! Whereupon the invisible 
 speaker assumed the form of a man, and replied, Fear not ; for thy 
 kind conduct hath become known to us, and we are a tribe of the 
 believing Jinn ; if then thou hast any want, acquaint us with it, that 
 
THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 375 
 
 we may have the pleasure of performing it. I therefore said to him, 
 Verily I have a great want ; for I have heen afflicted with a heavy 
 calamity. And unto whom hath happened the like of my calamity ? 
 And he said, Perhaps thou art Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy. I 
 replied, Yes. And he said, OAboo-Mohammad, I am a brother of 
 the white serpent, whose enemy thou killedst. We are four brothers 
 by the same father and mother, and we are all thankful for your kind- 
 ness. And know that he who was in the form of an ape, and who 
 practised this artifice with thee, is one of the Miirids of the Jinn ; and 
 had he not employed this stratagem, he had never been able to take 
 the damsel ; for of a long time he hath been desirous of taking her, 
 and this talisman prevented him ; and had the talisman remained, he 
 could not have obtained access to her. But fear not on account of 
 this affair : we will convey thee to her, and we will slay the Marid ; 
 for thy kindness is not lost upon us. He then uttered a great cry, 
 with a terrible voice ; and, lo, a troop approached him, and he inquired 
 of them respecting the ape; upon which one of them answered, I 
 know his abode. He said, Where is his abode ? And he answered, 
 In the City of Brass, upon which the sun riseth not. And he said, 
 
 Aboo-Mohammad, take one of our slaves, and he will carry thee on 
 his back, and will instruct thee how thou shalt take the damsel. But 
 know that the slave is one of the Marids ; and when he carrieth thee, 
 mention not the name of God while he beareth thee; for if thou men- 
 tion it, he will fly from thee, and thou wilt fall and perish. So I 
 replied, I hear and obey. 
 
 I took one of their slaves, and he stooped, and said, Mount. And 
 
 1 mounted. He then soared with me into the sky until he had 
 ascended out of sight of the world ;' and I saw the stars resembling 
 the firm mountains, and heard the Angels extolling the perfection of 
 God in Heaven. All this while the Marid was conversing with me 
 and amusing me, and diverting me from mentioning God, whose name 
 be exalted ! But while I was in this state, lo, a person clad in green 
 garments, 9 and having long locks of hair, and a resplendent counte- 
 nance, and in his hand a spear from which sparks flew forth, approached 
 and said to me, O Aboo-Mohammad, say, There is no deity but God : 
 Mohammad is God's Apostle or I will smite thee with this spear. 
 My heart was already rent in pieces by my abstaining from mention- 
 ing God (whose name be exalted !) : so I said, There is no deity but 
 God : Mohammad is God's Apostle. And immediately that person 
 smote the Marid with the spear; whereupon he dissolved, and became 
 
376 
 
 THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 
 
 aslies j and I fell from his back, and continued descending to the 
 earth until I dropped into a roaring sea, agitated with waves. 
 
 But, lo, there was a ship, containing five sailors ; and when they 
 saw me, they came to me, and took me up into the vessel, and began 
 to speak to me in a language which P knew not. I therefore made a 
 sign to them that I knew not their language. And they proceeded 
 on their voyage until the close of the day, when they cast a net, and 
 caught a large fish, which they broiled ; and they gave me to eat. 
 They continued their voyage until they had conveyed me to their city ; 
 upon which they took me in to their King, and placed me before him ; 
 and I kissed the ground, and he bestowed upon me a dress of honour. 
 Now this King was acquainted with Arabic, and he said, I appoint 
 thee to be one of my guards. And I said to him, AVhat is the name 
 of this city ? He answered, Its name is Henad, 10 and it is in the land 
 of China. Then the King delivered me to the Wezeer of the city, 
 commanding him to shew me the city. The inhabitants of this city 
 were originally infidels ; in consequence of which, God (whose name 
 
THE STORY OF ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 377 
 
 be exalted !) had turned them into stones. I amused myself by taking 
 a view of it ; and have beheld nowhere a greater abundance of trees 
 and fruits than it possessed. 
 
 I resided there for the space of a month, after which I went to a 
 river, and seated myself upon its banks ; and while I was sitting, lo, 
 a horseman came and said, Art thou Aboo -Mohammad the Lazy? I 
 answered him, Yes. And he said, Fear not; for thy kind conduct 
 hath become known unto us. So I asked him, Who art thou ? And 
 he answered, I am a brother of the serpent, and thou art near unto 
 the place of the damsel to whom thou desirest to obtain access. Then 
 he took off his clothes, and, having clad me with them, said to me, 
 Fear not; for the slave who perished beneath thee was one of our 
 slaves. And after this, the horseman took me up behind him, and 
 conveyed me to a desert, where he said to me, Alight from behind me, 
 and proceed between these two mountains until thou seest the City of 
 Brass: then stop at a distance from it, and enter it not till I return 
 to thee, and instruct thee; how to act. So I replied, I hear and obey. 
 I alighted from behind him, and walked on until I arrived at the 
 city, when I saw that its woll was of brass ; and I went round about 
 it, hoping to find a gate to it : but I found none. And while I was 
 going round it, lo, the brother of the serpent approached me, and 
 gave me a talismanic sword that would prevent any one from seeing 
 me. He then went his way; and he had been but a short time 
 absent from me when cries rose, and I beheld a number of persons 
 whose eyes were in their breasts ; and when they saw me, they said, 
 Who art thou, and what cast thee into this place ? So 1 acquainted 
 them with the occurrence ; and they replied, The damsel whom thou 
 hast mentioned is with the Marid in this city, and we know not what 
 he hath done with her; and we are brothers of the serpent. Then 
 they added, Go to that spring, sec by what channel the water entereth, 
 and enter thou with it ; for it will convey thee into the city. 
 
 I therefore did so. I entered with the water into a grotto beneath 
 the earth, and, rising thence, beheld myself in the midst of the city, 
 and found the damsel sitting upon a couch of gold, with a canopy of 
 brocade over her, and round the canopy was a garden containing trees 
 of gold, the fruits of which were of precious jewels, such as rubies and 
 chrysolites, and pearls and coral. And when the damsel saw me, she 
 knew rne ; and, having saluted me first, she said to me, O my master, 
 who brought thee to this place ? So I informed her of the events 
 that had happened ; and she replied, Know that this accursed wretch, 
 
 ii. 3 c 
 
378 THE STORY OP ABOO-MOHAMMAD THE LAZY. 
 
 from the excess of las affection for me, hath acquainted me with that 
 which will injure him and that which will benefit him, and hath 
 informed me that there is in this city a talisman with which, if he 
 desired to destroy all who are in the city, he could destroy them ; and 
 whatsoever he should order his 'Efreets to do, they would comply with 
 his command ; and that talisman is upon a pillar. And where, said 
 I, is the pillar ? She answered, In such a place. And what is that 
 talisman? I asked. She answered, It is the figure of an eagle, and 
 upon it is an inscription which I know not. Take it, and place it 
 before thee, and take a censer with fire, and throw into it a little 
 musk, whereupon there will rise from it a smoke which will attract 
 the 'Efreets. If thou do so, they will all present themselves before 
 thee ; not one of them will remain absent ; and they will obey thy 
 command, and do whatsoever thou shalt order them. Arise, there- 
 fore, and do that, and may the blessing of God (whose name be 
 exalted! attend the act. So I replied, I hear and obey. 
 
 I arose, and went to that pillar, and did all that she desired me to 
 do, and the 'Efreets came and presented themselves before me, each of 
 them saying, At thy service, O my master ! Whatsoever thou corn- 
 mandest us to do, we will do it. I therefore said to them, Chain the 
 Marid who brought this damsel from her abode. And they replied, 
 We hear and obey. They repaired immediately to that Marid, and 
 chained him, making his bonds tight ; and returned to me, saying, 
 We have done what thou hast commanded us. And I ordered them 
 to return. I then went back to the damsel, and, having acquainted 
 her with what had happened, said, O my wife, wilt thou go with me ? 
 She answered, Yes. And I went forth with her by the subterranean 
 grotto by which I had entered ; and we proceeded until we came to 
 the party who had directed me to her; when I said to them, Direct 
 me to a route that shall lead me to my country. 
 
 Accordingly they guided me and walked with me to the shore of 
 the sea, and placed us on board a ship ; and the wind was favourable, 
 and the ship conveyed us on until we arrived at the city of El-Basrah. 
 And when the damsel entered the bouse of her father, her family saw 
 her, and rejoiced exceedingly at her return. I then fumigated the 
 eagle with musk, and, lo, the 'Efreets approached me from every 
 quarter, saying, At thy service, and what dost thou desire us to do ? 
 And I commanded them to transport all that was in the City of 
 Brass, of money and minerals and jewels, to my house which was in 
 El-Basrah ; and they did so. After that, I commanded them to bring 
 
THE STORY OF ABOO-^OHAMMAD THE LAZY. 
 
 379 
 
 the ape ; and they brought him in an abject and despicable state ; 
 whereupon I said to him, accursed, why didst thou act perfidiously 
 to me ? And I ordered them to put him into a bottle of brass. So 
 they put him into a narrow bottle of brass, and stopped it over him 
 with lead. And I resided with my wife in joy and happiness. I 
 have now, Prince of the Faithful, of precious treasures, and extra- 
 ordinary jewels, and abundant wealth, what cannot be expressed by 
 numbers, nor confined by limits; and if thou desire any thing, of 
 wealth or aught else, I will command the Jinn to bring it to thee 
 immediately. All this I have received from the bounty of God, 
 whose name be exalted ! 
 
 And the Prince of the Faithful wondered at this story extremely. 
 He gave him imperial presents in return for his gift, and treated him 
 with the favour that was suitable to him. 11 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. 
 
 NOTE 1. THIS story I suppose to be the same as that which is entitled, iu the list 
 of the contents of Von Hammer's MS., as given by Trc'butieu, "Aboubekr Alkozlan ;" 
 the surname, or nickname, which I render " the Lazy," being in my original " El- 
 Keslan." 
 
 NOTE 2. So in the two editions of Cairo and Breslau ; but what a white emerald 
 is I know not. Perhaps the word which I have rendered " white " may here signify 
 " bright." 
 
 NOTE 3. The battlements here mentioned (in the original, " sharareef," plural of 
 "shurrafeh,") are in general merely ornamental, and of various different forms in dif- 
 ferent buildings. 
 
 NOTE 4. The Arab cupper is generally a barber, and shaving is a more common 
 operation in the bath than bleeding. 
 
 NOTE 5. The "Zunooj," also called "Zinj" and "Zenj," are, properly speaking, 
 an Ethiopian nation, the inhabitants of the country commonly called by us " Zangue- 
 bar." 
 
 NOTE 6. By the term "possessions" we may here understand property consisting 
 of houses, &c., such being the general meaning of the word so rendered. " Ilaba " is a 
 term commonly applied to a range of dwelling-rooms over shops or magazines. 
 
 NOTE 7. " Shereef " (signifying "noble"), and "seyd" or "seyyid" (".master," or 
 "lord"), are titles given to any descendant of the Prophet, however low his station. 
 Men and women of this caste often contract marriages with persons who are not mem- 
 bers of the same ; and as the title of shereef is inherited from either the father or the 
 mother, the number of persons who enjoy this distinction has become very considerable. 
 The men are privileged to wear the green turban; but not all of them do so. Many of 
 the women wear a green face-veil. 
 
 NOTE 8. " It is related that a rich man informed his friends who were sitting with 
 him, that the mice had eaten an iron utensil belonging to him, and they pronounced 
 his assertion to be true : then a poor man told them that the mice had eaten his palm 
 stick [or staff], and they declared his assertion to be false. So he said to them, How 
 is it that ye do not admit the truth of my assertion that the mouse ate the palm-stick, 
 and ye admit its having eaten the iron P" 1 
 
 1 Marginal note by my shcykh. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. 
 
 381 
 
 NOTE 9. By this description, El-Khidr is evidently meant. See Note 2 to the 
 Introduction (vol. i. p. 20> [The City of Brass mentioned just before the passage to 
 which this note refers is not to be confounded with the city of the same name described 
 in Chapter xxi. of this translation. See Note 1 to that chapter. ED.] 
 
 NOTE 10. " Henad " I suppose to be an imaginary name, as the city so called is 
 said to have been near to the regions of the Jinn. 
 
 NOTE 11. The three anecdotes here following occupy the next place to the story 
 of Aboo-Mohammad the Lazy, and end with part of the three hundred and eighth 
 Night. 
 
 Anecdote of Yahya the Son of Khalid El-Barmekee. 
 
 It is related that Haroon Er-Rasheed called for one of his guards, named Saleh, 
 before the period at which he became changed against the Barmekees, and when the 
 man came before him he said to him, O Saleh, go to Mansoor, and say to him, Thou 
 owest us a million pieces of silver, and we require that thou bring to us this sum 
 immediately. I command thee also, O Saleh, that if this sum be not paid to thee 
 forthwith, before sunset, thou sever his head from his body, and bring it to me. So 
 Saleh replied, I hear and obey. He repaired to Mansoor, and informed him of that 
 which the Prince of the Faithful had said ; whereupon Mansoor exclaimed, I perish, by 
 Allah ; for the price of all my property and all that my hand possesseth, if sold for its 
 highest value, would not exceed a hundred thousand : hovr then, O Saleh, can I procure 
 the remaining nine hundred thousand pieces of silver ? Saleh therefore said to him, 
 Contrive for thyself some stratagem by which thou mayest save thyself quickly, or thou 
 perishest ; for I cannot grant thee a moment's delay after the period which the Kha 
 leefeh hath prescribed me, nor can I fail in aught of that which the Prince of the 
 Faithful hath commanded me to do. Hasten then to employ a stratagem by which to 
 save thy life before the period shall have expired. Mansoor replied, O Saleh, I beg 
 thee of thy kindness to take me to my house, that I may bid farewell to my children 
 and my family, and give my directions to my relations. Accordingly, says Saleh, 1 
 went with him to his house, and he began to take leave of his family ; and a clamour 
 arose in his abode, with weeping and crying, and supplication for the aid of God, whose 
 name be exalted ! 
 
 Then Saleh said to him, It hath occurred to my mind that God may effect thy 
 relief by means of the Barmekees : so repair with us to the house of Yahya the son or 
 Khalid. And when they went to Yahya the son of Khalid, he acquainted him with his 
 case; whereat Yah yh, grieved, and hung down his head for awhile towards the ground; 
 after which, he raised his head, and, having called his treasurer, said to him, How 
 
382 NOTES TO CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. 
 
 much money is in our treasury ? He answered, The sum of five thousand pieces of 
 silver. And Yahya ordered him to bring it. He then sent a messenger to his son El- 
 Fadl, with a note, the purport of which was, There have been offered to me for sale 
 some estates of great value, that will never be laid waste : 2 so send to us some money. 
 And he sent to him a million pieces of silver. Then he sent another man to his son 
 Jaafar, with a note, of which the purport was this : We have an important affair to 
 transact, and want for that purpose some money. And Jaafar sent to him immediately 
 a million pieces of silver. And Yahya continued to send messengers to the Barmekees 
 until he had collected from them for Mansoor a great sum of money. Saleh and Man- 
 soor, meanwhile, knew not of this proceeding ; and Mansoor said to Yahya, O my lord, 
 I have laid hold upon thy skirt, and I know not how to procure this money but from 
 thee, agreeably with thy usual generosity : complete for me then the remainder of my 
 debt, and make me thine emancipated slave. A*nd Yahya hung down his head and 
 wept, and said, O page, the Prince of the Faithful presented to our slave-girl Denaneer 3 
 a jewel of great value. Repair then to her, and tell her to send to us this jewel. So 
 the page went, and brought it to him ; and he said, O Mansoor, I purchased this jewel 
 for the Prince of the Faithful from the merchants for two hundred thousand pieces of 
 gold, 4 and the Prince of the Faithful presented it to our slave-girl Denaneer, the lute- 
 player ; and when he seeth it with thee, he will know it, and will treat thee with 
 honour, and spare thy life on our account, in honour of us ; and thy money, O Mansoor, 
 is now complete. 
 
 So I carried the money and the jewel, says Saleh, to Er-Rasheed, taking Mansoor 
 with me ; but while we were on the way, I heard him repeat this verse, applying it to 
 his own case : 
 
 It was not from love that my feet went towards them ; but because I feared to be smitten by the 
 arrows. 
 
 And I wondered at the wickedness of his disposition, and his worthlessness and depra- 
 vity, and the baseness of his origin and birth ; and I retorted and said to him, There is 
 not upon the face of the earth any one better than the Barmekees, nor is there any 
 more base or more evil than thyself ; for they bought thee off from death, and saved 
 thee from destruction, bestowing upon thee the means of thy deliverance, and thou 
 hast not thanked them nor praised them, nor behaved in the manner of the ingenuous ; 
 but hast requited their kindness with these words. I then went to Er-Rasheed, and 
 related to him the story, acquainting him with all that had happened; and Er-Rasheed 
 wondered at the generosity of Yahya, and his munificence and kind disposition, and at 
 the vileness of Mansoor, and ordered that the jewel should be restored to Yahya the 
 son of Khalid, saying, Any thing we give unto him, it is not fit that we revoke. And 
 Saleh returned to Yahya the son of Khalid, and related to him the story of Mansoor, 
 acquainting him with his evil conduct. But Yahya replied, O Saleh, when a man is in 
 want, with a contracted heart and with a troubled mind, for whatsoever proceedeth 
 from him he is not to be reproached ; for it doth not come from his heart. And he 
 sought excuses for Mansoor. And upon this, Saleh wept, and said, The revolutions of 
 time will never bring about the existence of a person like thee. Alas, then, how can 
 it be that one endowed with a nature like thine and generosity like thine shall be 
 buried in earth ! And he recited these verses : 
 
 Hasten to accomplish any kind intention ; for it is not always that generosity can be exercised. 
 How many a man, when able, hath withheld himself from an act of generosity till poverty pre- 
 vented him ! 
 
 ~ By this, an allusion is meant to the thanks and 3 Plural of " deeniir," " a piece of gold." 
 praise which he would receive, and which would * Equivalent, at least, to lour times the amount 
 never cease. (Marginal note l,y i.iv slievkh.) of Mansoors debt. 
 
Another Anecdote of Yahyk the Son of Khalid El-Barmekee. 
 
 It is related also, that there existed, between Yahya the son of Khalid, and 'Abd- 
 Allah the son of Malik El-Khuza'ee, a secret enmity, which neither of them mani- 
 fested ; 5 and the reason of this enmity between them was, that the Prince of the Faith- 
 ful, Haroon Er-Rasheed, loved 'Abd- Allah the son of Malik so greatly as to occasion 
 Yahya the son of Khalid and his sons to say, that 'Abd-Allah enchanted the Prince of 
 the Faithful. Thus they continued for a long time, with hatred in their hearts. 
 
 And it happened that Er-Rasheed bestowed the government of Irmeeneeyeh 6 upon 
 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik El-Khusa'ee, and despatched him thither. And after he 
 had established himself there in the seat of government, there came to him a man of 
 the inhabitants of El-'Erak, of surpassing good breeding, and acuteness and intelli- 
 gence ; but his means had become contracted, and his wealth had passed away, and his 
 prosperity had vanished : so he forged a letter in the name of Yahya the son of Khalid 
 to 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik, and journeyed to him in Irmeeneeyeh. On arriving at 
 his door, he delivered the letter to one of his chamberlains, who took the letter and 
 delivered it to 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik El-Khuza'ee ; and he opened it and read it, 
 and, considering it, he knew that it was forged. So he gave orders to bring the man ; 
 and when he presented himself before him, he prayed for him and praised him and the 
 members of his court ; and 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik said to him, What induced thee 
 to undergo this long toil, and to come to me with a forged letter ? But be of good 
 
 5 In the Brcslau edition, this anecdote is related 
 somewhat differently : it is there said to have been 
 founded upon an enmity between Jaafar El- 
 Barmekee (the son of Yahya) and a Governor of 
 Egypt. So also in the works of some Arab his- 
 
 torians : see, for instance, Fakhr-ed-Deen, in I)e 
 Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe, vol. i., page 26 of the 
 Arabic text, 2nd ed. 
 
 6 By this name may be understood either (he 
 whole or a part of Armenia. 
 
aSi NOTES TO CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. 
 
 heart; for we will not disappoint thy labour. The man replied, May God prolong the 
 life of our lord the Wezeer ! If my coining be troublesome to thee, employ no pretext 
 to repel me ; for God's earth is wide, and the Bestower of the means of subsistence 
 existeth : the letter that I have brought to thee from Yahya the son of Khalid is 
 genuine, not forged. So 'Abd-Allah said, I will write a letter to my agent in Baghdad, 
 and order him to inquire respecting this letter that thou hast brought to me ; and if it 
 prove to be true and genuine, not forged, I invest thee with the government of one of 
 my districts, or I give thee two hundred thousand pieces of silver, with horses and 
 excellent camels of high value, and an honorary gift besides, if thou desire a present : 
 but if the letter prove to be forged, I give orders that thou shalt be beaten with two 
 hundred blows of a staff', and that thy beard shall be shaven. Then 'Abd-Allah com- 
 manded that he should be taken into a chamber ; and that what he required should be 
 put for him there until he should have ascertained his case. After this, he wrote a 
 letter to his agent in Baghdad, the purport whereof was as follows : 
 
 There hath come unto me a man with a letter which he asserteth to be from Yahya 
 the son of Khalid, and I have an evil opinion of this letter. It is therefore necessary 
 that thou neglect not this affair ; but go thyself and ascertain the case of this letter, 
 and hasten to send me a reply, that we may know the truth or the falsity of the 
 matter. 
 
 So when the letter was brought to him in Baghdad, he mounted immediately, and 
 repaired to the mansion of Yahya the son of Khalid. He found him sitting with his 
 boon-companions and chief attendants, and he saluted him, and delivered to him the 
 letter ; and Yahya the son of Khalid read it, and said to the agent, Return to me to- 
 morrow, that I may write for thee the answer. Then looking towards his boon-com- 
 panions, after the departure .of the agent, he said, What shall be the recompense of him 
 who beareth a letter forged in my name, and taketh it to mine enemy ? And every 
 one of the boon -companions offered some opinion, and each of them proposed some kind 
 of punishment. But Yahya said to them, Ye have erred in that which ye have pro- 
 posed, and this advice which ye have given hath arisen from the baseness and mean- 
 ness of your minds. Ye all know the close favour in which 'Abd-Allah is held by the 
 Prince *>f the Faithful, and ye know the wrath and enmity that subsisteth between me 
 and him. Now God (whose name be exalted !) hath made this man a means of effecting 
 a reconciliation between us, and hath fitted him for that purpose, and appointed him to 
 extinguish the fire of hatred in our hearts, which hath been increasing for a period of 
 twenty years ; and by his intervention our affairs shall be peaceably adjusted. It is 
 incumbent on me to satisfy this man by verifying his opinions and amending his cir- 
 cumstances ; and I will write for him a letter to 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik El-Khu- 
 x.a'ee, to the effect that he shall treat him with increased honour, and continue to exalt 
 and respect him. And when the boon-companions heard this, they invoked blessings 
 upon him, and wondered at his generosity and the abundance of his kindness. He 
 then demanded the paper and the inkhorn, and wrote to 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik 
 a letter in his own hand, of the following purport : 
 
 In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Thy letter hath arrived : 
 may God prolong thy life ! and I have read it, and rejoiced at thy safety, and been 
 delighted at the tidings of thy well-being and thy general prosperity. Now thou 
 imaginedst that that ingenuous man forged a letter as from me, and did not bear an 
 epistle from me : but the case was not so ; for the letter I myself wrote, and it was not 
 forged; and I hope from thy liberality and kindness and excellence of disposition that 
 thou wilt satisfy the hope and wish of that ingenuous and generous man, and regard 
 him with the respect that he meritcth, and cause him to attain his desire, and make 
 him a particular object of overflowing kindness and abundant favour ; and whatsoever 
 thou dost for him, I shall regard myself as the object of it, and shall be thankful to 
 thee. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. 
 
 383 
 
 Then he directed the letter and sealed it and delivered it to the agent. So the 
 agent sent it to 'Abd-Allah, who, when he read it, was delighted at its contents, and, 
 having caused that man to be brought to him, said to him, Whichever of the two 
 things that I promised thee is the more agreeable to thee I will present to thee. And 
 the man replied, The gift will be more agreeable to me than any thing else. Accord- 
 ingly, 'Abd-Allah gave orders to present him with two hundred thousand pieces of 
 silver, and ten Arab horses, five of them with housings of silk, and five with jewelled 
 saddles such as are used in processions of state, and with twenty chests of clothes, and 
 ten memlooks, horsemen, together with what was appropriate of costly jewels. Then 
 he bestowed upon him a dress of honour, and sent him to Baghdad magnificently 
 equipped. 
 
 When he arrived, therefore, at Baghdad, he repaired to the door of the mansion of 
 Yahya the son of Khalid before he went to his family, and he begged permission to go 
 in to him. So the chamberlain went in to Yahya, and said to him, O our lord, at our 
 door is a man of respectable appearance and comely form and good condition, with a 
 number of pages, desiring to come in to thee. And he gave him permission to enter; 
 and when he came in to him, he kissed the ground before him, and Yahya said to him, 
 Who art thou ? The man answered, O master, I am he who was killed by the tyranny 
 of fortune, and thou hast brought me to life from the grave of calamities, and raised 
 me to the paradise of desires. I am he who forged a letter in thy name, and conveyed 
 it to 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik El-Khuza ee. And what, said Yahyea, hath he done 
 with thee ; and what hath he given to thee ? He answered, He gave me of the bene- 
 fits proceeding from thy liberality and benevolence, and the comprehensive favours and 
 universal generosity, and thy magnanimity and ample bounty, so that he enriched me, 
 and he distinguished me by especial beneficence, and bestowed presents upon me ; and 
 I have brought all his gifts and his presents ; they are at the door, and the case is 
 submitted unto thee, to decide upon it as thou wilt. Upon this Yahya replied, The 
 action that thou hast done for me is better than that which I have performed for thee, 
 and thou art entitled to abundant thanks from me, and great bounty, since thou hast 
 changed the enmity that subsisted between me and that highly-revered man into sin- 
 cere friendship and affection. I will therefore give thee the like of that which 'Abd- 
 Allah the son of Malik hath given thee. He then ordered that he should be presented 
 with money and horses, and chests of clothing, such as 'Abd-Allah had bestowed upon 
 him ; and thus that man's original prosperity was restored to him by the kindness of 
 these two generous men. 
 
 II. 
 
 3 D 
 
386 NOTES TO CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. 
 
 Anecdote of El-Ma-moon and a Learned Man. 
 
 It is said that there was not among the Khaleefiehs of the descendants of El-' Abbas 
 any more learned in all the sciences than El-Ma-moon. On two days in every week, 
 he used to preside at discussions of the learned men ; and the professors of religion and 
 law, and the scholastic theologians, by whom the discussions were carried on, used to 
 sit in his presence according to their several ranks and degrees. Now on one occasion, 
 while he was sitting with them, there came in to his assembly a stranger, clad in white, 
 tattered clothing, who seated himself at the lower end, behind the professors, in an 
 obscure place. And when they began the discussion, and entered upon the considera- 
 tion of the different propositions, it being their custom to submit the proposition to 
 the members of the assembly one after another, and for each who could offer some 
 quaint addition to what others advanced, or some extraordinary, witty saying, to men- 
 tion it, the question was proposed to them by turns until it came to that stranger ; 
 whereupon he gave a reply better than the replies of all the professors ; and the Kha- 
 leefeh approved it, and ordered that he should be raised from the place that he had 
 taken to a higher one. Then, when the second question came to him, he gave a reply 
 better than the first ; and El-Ma-moon ordered that he should be raised to a place of 
 higher dignity. And when the third question went round, he gave a reply better and 
 more just than the two former replies; upon which El-Ma-moon ordered that he should 
 sit near unto himself. And after the discussion was ended, the attendants brought the 
 water, and the guests washed their hands ; and they brought the repast, and they ate. 
 
 The professors then arose and went forth; but El-Ma-moon prevented the stranger 
 from going out with them : he caused him to draw near unto him, and treated him 
 with courtesy, promising him to bestow favours and benefactions upon him. And after 
 this, the banquet of wine was prepared, the comely boon-companions came, and the 
 wine circulated; but when it came round to that man, he rose npon his foot, and said, 
 If the Prince of the Faithful give me permission, I will speak one word. El-Ma-moon 
 replied, Say what thou wilt. And he said, The possessor of eminent judgment (whose 
 eminence may God increase !) knoweth that the slave was to-day, in this noble assembly, 
 one of the obscure among the people, and one of the mean among the company, and 
 that the Prince of the Faithful hath raised him to a place near unto his own person, 
 small as is the wisdom that he hath displayed, and hath elevated him to a rank above 
 others, so that he hath attained to a goal to which his ambition did not aspire ; and 
 now he desireth to divest him of that small degree of wisdom which hath exalted him 
 after his meanness, and enriched him after his poverty. But may God forbid, and by 
 no means suffer, that the Prince of the Faithful should envy him for the small degree 
 of wisdom and fame and excellence that he possesseth ; for if the slave drink wine, 
 wisdom will depart far from him, and ignorance will draw near to him, and he will be 
 deprived of his politeness, and will return to his former contemptible station, and be- 
 come despicable and obscure in the eyes of men. I therefore hope that the po- 
 of eminent judgment, of his bounty and generosity and princely qualities and excellent 
 disposition, will not despoil him of this jewel. And when the Khaleefeh El-Ma-moon 
 heard these words from him, he praised him and thanked him, caused him to sit 
 again in his place and treated him with respect, gave orders to present him with a 
 hundred thousand pieces of silver and to mount him upon a horse, and gave him mag- 
 nificent apparel. And in every assembly he exalted and favoured him above all the 
 professors, so that he became the highest of them in rank and degree. And God is all- 
 knowing.' 
 
 7 A similar anecdote has occurred in p. 106 of vol. i ED. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE THEEE HUNDRED AND EIGHTH NIGHT, 
 
 AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE THREE HUNDRED AND 
 
 TWENTY-SEVENTH. 
 
 THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 
 
 THERE was, in ancient times, a certain merchant in the land of 
 Khurasan, 1 whose name was Mejd-ed-Deen, 2 and he had great wealth, 
 and black slaves, and memlooks and pages ; but he had attained to 
 the age of sixty years, and had not been blessed with a son. After 
 this, however, God (whose name be exalted !) blessed him with a son, 
 and he named him 'Alee Slier. 3 
 
388 THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 
 
 When this boy grew up, he became like the full moon ; and when 
 he had attained to manhood, and was endowed with every charm, his 
 father fell sick of a fatal disease. So he called his son, and said to 
 him, O my son, the period of death hath drawii near, and I desire to 
 give thee a charge. And what is it, my father ? said the young 
 man. He answered, I charge thee that thou be not familiar with any 
 one among mankind, and that thou shun what may bring injury and 
 misfortune. Beware of the evil associate ; for he is like the black- 
 smith : if his fire burn thee not, his smoke will annoy thee. How 
 excellent is the saying of the poet ! 
 
 There is none in thy time whose friendship thou shouldst covet ; nor any intimate 
 
 who, when fortune is treacherous, will he faithful. 
 Live then apart, and rely upon no man : I have given thee, hi these words, good 
 
 advice, and sufficient. 4 
 
 And the saying of another : 
 
 Men are as a latent disease : rely not therefore upon them. 
 Thou wilt find guile and artifice in them if thou examine them. 
 
 And that of another : 
 
 Intercourse with men profiteth nothing, unless to pass time in idle conversation. 
 Then converse with them little, except for the purpose of acquiring knowledge 
 or rectifying an afl'air. 
 
 And the saying of another : 
 
 If a person of sagacity hath tried mankind, I have eaten the.ni, when he hath but 
 
 tasted ; 5 
 And I have seen their affection to he nought but deceit, and their religion I 
 
 have seen to be nought but hypocrisy. 
 
 The young man replied, O my father, I hear and obey. Then what 
 next dost thou counsel me to do ? His father answered, Do good 
 when thou art able; persevere in comely conduct towards men, and 
 avail thyself of opportunities to .dispense kind actions ; for a wish is 
 not always of easy accomplishment ; and how good is the saying of 
 the poet ! 
 
 It is not at every time and season that acts of beneficence are easily performed. 
 When thou art able, then, hasten to do them, lest they should become difficult 
 to execute. 
 
 And the son replied, I hear and obey. Then what more ? my son, 
 answered the father, Be mindful of God : He will then be mindful of 
 thee. Guard also thy wealth, and be not prodigal of it ; for if thou 
 be prodigal of it, thou wilt become in need of the assistance of the 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHfiR AND ZUMURRUD. 389 
 
 least of mankind : and know that the estimation in which a man is 
 held is according to that which his right hand possesseth. How ex- 
 cellent is the saying of the poet ! 
 
 When my wealth becometh little, no friend consorteth with me ; but when it 
 
 increaseth, all men are my friends. 
 How many enemies for the sake of wealth have borne me company ! And how 
 
 many friends for its loss have become my enemies. 
 
 And what besides ? said the young man. His father answered, O 
 my son, consult him who is older than thyself, and hasten not to per- 
 form a thing that thou desirest to do : have compassion also upon him 
 who is thine inferior ; then he who is thy superior will have compas- 
 sion upon thee ; and oppress not any, lest God give power over thee 
 to one who will oppress thee. How excellent is the saying of the 
 poet ! 
 
 Add to thy judgment another's, and ask counsel ; for the truth is not concealed 
 
 from the minds of two. 
 A man's mind is a mirror, which sheweth him his face ; but by means of two 
 
 mirrors he will see his back. 
 
 And that of another : 
 
 Deliberate, and haste not to accomplish thy desire ; and be merciful, so shalt 
 
 thou meet with one merciful : 
 For there is no hand but God's hand is above it ; nor oppressor that shall not meet 
 
 with an oppressor. 
 
 Beware of drinking wine ; for it is the chief of every evil : it dispelleth 
 the reason, and bringeth contempt upon the drinker : and how good 
 is the saying of the poet ! 
 
 By Allah, wine shall not disturb me while my soul is united with my body, and 
 
 while words explain my thoughts ; 
 Nor ever will I childishly attach myself to it, nor choose any one as my associate 
 
 but the sober. 
 
 This is my charge to thee, and do thou keep it before thine eyes ; and 
 may God supply my place to thee ! Then he fainted, and remained a 
 while silent ; after which he recovered his senses, and begged forgive- 
 ness of God, pronounced the professions of the faith, and was admitted 
 to the mercy of God, whose name be exalted ! 
 
 His son wept for him and lamented. He made becoming prepara- 
 tions for his burial ; great and small walked in his funeral-procession, 
 the reciters of the Kur-an recited around his bier, and his son omitted 
 not the performance of any honour that was due to the deceased. 
 
390 THE STOUV OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 
 
 They then prayed over him and interred him, and inscribed upon his 
 tomb these two verses : 
 
 Thou wast formed of dust, and earnest to life, and learnedst eloquence of discourse 
 And to dust thou returnedst, and became irpse, as though from the dust 
 
 thou hadst never issued. 
 
 His son 'Alee Sher grieved for him violently, and observed the cere- 
 monies of mourning for him in the manner usual at the death of 
 persons of distinction. He remained mourning for his father until 
 his mother died a short time after him ; when he did with the corpse 
 of his mother as he had done with that of his father. And after this, 
 he sat in the shop to sell and buy, and associated with no one of the 
 creatures of God (whose name be exalted !), conforming to the charge 
 of his father. 
 
 Thus he continued to do for the space of a year ; but after the 
 expiration of the year, the sons of the licentious women obtained 
 access to him by stratagems, and became his companions, so that he 
 inclined with them unto wickedness, and declined from the path of 
 rectitude ; he drank wine by cupfuls, and to the beauties morning and 
 evening he repaired; and he said within himself, My father hath 
 amassed for me this wealth, and if I dispose not of it, to whom shall 
 I leave it ? By Allah, I will not do but as the poet hath said : 
 
 If during the whole of thy life thou collectest and amassest property, 
 When wilt thou enjoy the wealth which thou hast thus acquired ? 
 
 He ceased not to squander his wealth night and day until he had 
 expended the whole of it and was reduced to poverty. Evil was his 
 condition, and disturbed was his mind, and he sold the shop and the 
 dwellings and other possessions ; and after that, he sold his clothes, 
 not leaving for himself more than one suit. 
 
 Now when intoxication had quitted him and reflection had come, 
 he fell into grief; and he sat one day from dawn until the time of 
 afternoon-prayers without breaking fast ; whereupon he said within 
 himself, I will go round to those upon whom I spent my wealth : 
 perhaps one of them will feed me this day. He therefore went round 
 to all of them ; but on each occasion of his knocking at the door of 
 one of them, the man denied himself, and hid himself from him ; so 
 hunger tortured him. And he went to the market of the merchants, 
 and found there a ring of persons crowding together, and the people 
 flocking thither ; upon which he said within himself, What can be the 
 reason of the assembling of these people ? By Allah, I will not re- 
 
THE STORY OP 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 391 
 
 move from this place until I have gratified myself with a sight of this 
 ring. Then advancing to it, he found there a damsel of quinary* 5 
 stature, of just figure, rosy-cheeked, high-bosomed; she surpassed 
 the people of her age in beauty and loveliness, and in elegance and 
 every charm. The name of this damsel was Zumurrud; 7 and when 
 'Alee Sher beheld her, he wondered at her beauty and loveliness, and 
 said, By Allah, I will not depart until I see to what sum the price of 
 this damsel will amount, and know who will purchase her. So he 
 stood among the merchants, and they imagined that he would buy, 
 as they knew the abundance of wealth that he had inherited from his 
 parents. 
 
 The broker, having stationed himself at the head of the damsel, 
 then said, merchants ! O possessors of wealth ! who will open the 
 bidding for this damsel, the mistress of moon-like beauties, the pre- 
 cious pearl, Zumurrud the curtain-maker, the object of the seeker's 
 wishes, and the delight of the desirer ? Open the bidding ; for the 
 opener is not obnoxious to blame or reproach ! And one of the mer- 
 chants said, Let her be mine for five hundred pieces of gold. Another 
 said, And ten. And a sheykh, named Rasheed-ed-Deen, 8 who had 
 blue eyes, 9 and a foul aspect, said, And a hundred. Another then 
 said, And ten. And the sheykh, said, For a thousand pieces of gold. 
 And upon this, the tongues of the merchants were tied, and they were 
 silent. The broker therefore consulted the damsel's owner ; but he 
 said, I am under an oath that I will not sell her save unto him whom 
 she will choose : so consult her. The broker accordingly came to her 
 and said, O mistress of moon-like beauties, this merchant desireth to 
 purchase thee. And she looked at him, and, seeing him to be as we 
 have described, she said to the broker, I will not be sold to a sheykh 
 whom old age hath reduced to a most evil condition. Divinely gifted 
 was he who said, 
 
 I asked her for a kiss, one day ; and she beheld my hoariness (but I was pos- 
 sessed of wealth and affluence), 
 
 And she turned away from me, saying, Xay : by Him who created mankind out 
 of nothing, 
 
 I have no desire for hoary hairs. Shall my mouth while I am living be stuffed 
 with cotton ? 10 
 
 And when the broker heard her words, he said to her, By Allah, thou 
 art excused, and thy value is ten thousand pieces of gold. Then he 
 informed her owner that she approved not of that sheykh ; and he 
 replied, Consult her respecting another. And another man advanced 
 
392 THE STOKY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 
 
 and said, Let her be mine for the sum that the sheykh of whom she 
 approved not offered for her. But the damsel, looking at that man, 
 found that he had a dyed beard ; whereupon she said, What is this 
 disgrace, and this dubious conduct, and blackening of hoary hairs ! 
 And after expressing great wonder, she recited these verses : 
 
 A spectacle indeed did such-a-one present to me, a neck, by Allah, to be beaten 
 with shoes ! u 
 
 thou who art fascinated by my cheek and my figure, dost thou thus disguise 
 
 thyself, and care not ; 
 
 Dyeing disgracefully thy hoary hairs, and concealing them for fraudulent pur- 
 poses ? a 
 
 Thou goest with one beard and returnest with another, as though thou wert one 
 of the puppetmen. 13 
 
 And the broker, when he heard her verses, said to her, By Allah, thou 
 hast spoken truth. The merchant who had bidden for her asked, 
 What was it that she said ? So the broker repeated the verses to 
 him ; and he knew that he w r as in fault, and gave up the idea of pur- 
 chasing her. Then another merchant advanced and said, Ask her if 
 she will consent to be mine for the sum that thou hast heard. He 
 therefore consulted her for him ; and she looked at him, and saw that 
 he was one-eyed, and replied, This man is one-eyed, and the poet hath 
 said of such a person, 
 
 Keep not company with the one-eyed for a single day ; but beware of his malig- 
 nity and falsehood ; 
 
 For had there been any good in him, God had not caused the blindness in his 
 eye. 14 
 
 The broker then [pointing to another] said to her, Wilt thou be sold 
 to that merchant ? And she looked at him, and, seeing that he was 
 a short man, with a beard descending to his girdle, she answered, 
 This is he of whom the poet hath said, 
 
 1 have a friend with a beard which God hath made to grow to a useless length. 
 It is like unto one of the nights of winter, long and dark and cold. 
 
 The broker therefore said to her,'O my mistress, see who among 
 the persons here present pleaseth thee, and say which he is, that I 
 may sell thee to him. So she looked at the ring of merchants, and as 
 she examined their physiognomies, one after another, her eye fell upon 
 'Alee Sher. The sight of him occasioned her a thousand sighs, and 
 her heart became enamoured of him ; for he was of surprising loveli- 
 ness, and more bland than the northern zephyr ; and she said, O 
 broker, I will not be sold to any but to this my master, with the 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 393 
 
 comely face and surpassing figure, of whom one of his describers hath 
 thus said : 
 
 They displayed thy lovely face, and then blamed the person who was tempted. 
 If they had desired to protect me, they had veiled thy beautiful countenance. 
 
 None then shall possess me but he ; for his cheek is smooth, and the 
 moisture of his mouth is like Selsebeel, 15 a cure for the sick, and his 
 charms perplex the poet and the prose-writer. He is as the poet hath 
 said of him, 
 
 His saliva is like wine; and his breath, like musk; and those his fore-teeth 
 
 resemble camphor. 
 Ridwan hath sent him forth from his abode in his fear that the Hooreeyehs might 
 
 be tempted. 16 
 Mankind reproach him for his pride ; but for pride the full moon is to be excused. 
 
 The person with the curling hair, and the rosy cheek, and the en- 
 chanting glance, of whom the poet hath said, 
 
 Oft a fawn-like person hath promised me a meeting, and my heart hath been rest- 
 less and mine eye expectant. 
 
 His eyelids assured me of the truth of his promise ; but how can they, languishing 
 as they are, fulfil it ? 
 
 And when the broker heard the verses that she recited on the 
 charms of 'Alee Sher, he wondered at her eloquence, as well as at the 
 splendour of her beauty. But her owner said to him, Wonder not at 
 her beauty, that putteth to shame the sun of day, nor at her having 
 her memory stored with the elegant effusions of the poets ; for she 
 also reciteth the glorious Kur-an according to the seven readings, 17 
 and relateth the noble traditions as authentically transmitted, and 
 writeth the seven different hands, 1 * and knoweth of the sciences what 
 the very learned sage knoweth not, and her hands are better than gold 
 and silver ; for she maketh curtains of silk, and selleth them, gaining, 
 by every one, fifty pieces of gold ; and she worketh a curtain in eight 
 days. 19 So the broker said, O the good fortune of him in whose 
 house this damsel shall be, and who includeth her among his choice 
 treasures ! Her owner then said to him, Sell her to whomsoever she 
 chooseth. 
 
 Accordingly the broker returned to 'Alee Sher, and, having kissed 
 his hands, said, O my master, purchase this damsel ; for she hath 
 made choice of thee. And he described her to him, telling him what 
 she knew, and said to him, Happy will be thy lot if thou purchase 
 her ; for He who is not sparing of his gifts hath bestowed her upon 
 thee. So 'Alee Sher hung down his head for a while towards the 
 
 II. 3 E 
 
ground, laughing at his case, and saying within himself, I am to the 
 present hour without breakfast ; but I am ashamed before the mer- 
 chants to say that I have no money wherewith to purchase her. And 
 the damsel, seeing him hanging down his head, said to the broker, 
 Take me by the hand and lead me to him, that I may display myself 
 to him, and excite his desire to possess me ; for I will not be sold to 
 any but him. The broker therefore took her and stationed her before 
 'Alee Sher, saying to him, What is thy good pleasure, O my master ? 
 But he returned him no answer. So the damsel said, my master, 
 and beloved of my heart, wherefore wilt thou not purchase me ? Pur- 
 chase me for what thou wilt, and I will be a means of good fortune to 
 thee. And he raised his head towards her, and said, Is a person to be 
 made by force to purchase ? Thou art dear at the price of a thousand 
 pieces of gold. She replied, rny master, purchase me for nine 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 395 
 
 hundred. He said, No. For eight hundred, she rejoined. He said, 
 No. And she ceased not to abate the price until she said to him, For 
 one hundred pieces of gold. But he said, I have not a hundred com- 
 plete. And she laughed, and said to him, How much dost thou want 
 of a hundred ? He answered, I have not a hundred nor less than a 
 hundred. By Allah, I possess not either white or red, either a piece 
 of silver or a piece of gold. So see for thyself some other desirous cus- 
 tomer. And when she knew that he had nothing, she said to him, 
 Take my hand, as though thou wouldst examine me in a by-lane. He 
 therefore did so ; and she took forth from her pocket a purse contain- 
 ing a thousand pieces of gold, and said to him, Weigh out from it 
 nine hundred as my price, and retain the remaining hundred in thy 
 possession, as it will be of use to us. 
 
 So he did as she desired him. He purchased her for nine 
 hundred pieces of gold, and, having paid her price from that purse, 
 repaired with her to the house. And when she arrived there, she 
 found that the house presented plain, clear floors; having neither 
 furniture nor utensils in it. She therefore gave him a thousand 
 pieces of gold, saying to him, Go to the market, and buy for us, with 
 three hundred pieces of gold, furniture and utensils for the house. 
 And he did so. Then she said to him, Buy for us food and beverage 
 with three pieces of gold. And he did this. Next she said to him, 
 Buy for us a piece of silk, as much as will suffice for a curtain, and 
 buy gold and silver thread, and silk thread of seven different colours. 
 And this also he did. She then spread the furniture in the house, 
 and lighted the candles, and sat eating and drinking with him ; after 
 which, they embraced each other, and presented the spectacle thus 
 described by the poet : 
 
 Eyes have not beheld a more beautiful sight than that of two lovers side by side, 
 Embracing each other, in the garments of content, pillowing themselves with 
 
 wrist and arm. 
 
 When hearts have become united together, the censurers beat upon cold iron. 
 O thou who reproachest the lovers for their passion, canst thou reform a heart 
 
 that is spoiled ? 
 If in thy life one person delight thee, thou hast thy desire ; then live with that 
 
 one. 
 
 The love of each became fixed in the heart of the other ; and on 
 the following morning the damsel took the curtain, and embroidered 
 it with the coloured silks, and ornamented it with the gold and silver 
 thread. She worked a border to it, with the figures of birds, and 
 represented around it the figures of wild beasts, and there was not a 
 
396 THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 
 
 wild beast in the world that she omitted to portray upon it. She 
 continued working upon it for eight days ; and when it was finished, 
 she cut it and glazed it, and then gave it to her master, saying to 
 him, Repair with it to the market, and sell it for fifty pieces of gold 
 to a merchant, and beware of selling it to any one passing along the 
 street, because that would be a cause of separation between me and 
 thee; for we have enemies who are not unmindful of us. And he 
 replied, I hear and obey. He repaired M'ith it to the market, and 
 sold it to a merchant as she had desired him ; after which he bought 
 another piece of silk, together with the silk thread, and the gold and 
 silver thread, as before, and what they required of food, and, having 
 brought these things to her, gave her the rest of the money. And 
 every eight days she gave him a curtain to sell for fifty pieces of gold. 
 
 Thus she continued to do for the space of a whole year. And 
 after the expiration of the year, he went to the market with the cur- 
 tain as usual, and gave it to the broker ; and there met him a Chris- 
 tian, who offered him sixty pieces of gold. He refused to sell it to him ; 
 but the Christian ceased not to increase the sum until he offered him 
 a hundred pieces of gold, and he bribed the broker with ten pieces of 
 gold. So the broker returned to 'Alee Sher, informed him of the 
 price that had been offered, and made use of artifice to induce him to 
 sell the curtain to the Christian for that sum, saying to him, my 
 master, fear not this Christian; for no harm shall befall thee from 
 him. The merchants also arose and urged him. So he sold it to the 
 Christian, though his heart was full of fear, and, having taken the 
 price, returned to the house. But he found the Christian walking 
 behind him ; and he said, Christian, wherefore art thou walking 
 behind me ? my master, he answered, I have a want to accomplish 
 at the upper end of the street : may God never cause thee to have any 
 want ! And 'Alee Sher arrived not at his abode without the Chris- 
 tian's overtaking him : so he said to him, O accursed, wherefore dost 
 thou follow me whithersoever I go ? The Christian replied, my 
 master, give me a draught of water, for I am thirsty, and thou wilt 
 receive thy recompense from God, whose name be exalted ! 'Alee 
 Sher therefore said within himself, This is a tributary, 20 and he hath 
 demanded of me a draught of water : so by Allah I will not disappoint 
 him. 
 
 Then he entered the house, and took a mug of water; and his 
 slave-girl Zumurrud, seeing him, said to him, my beloved, hast 
 thou sold the curtain ? He answered, Yes. And she said. To a 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 397 
 
 merchant or a passenger ? For my heart is impressed with a pre- 
 sentiment of separation. He answered, I sold it not but to a mer- 
 chant. But she said, Acquaint me with the truth of the matter, that 
 I may provide against my case. And wherefore, she added, tookest 
 thou the mug of water ? To give drink to the broker, he answered. 
 And she exclaimed, There is no strength nor power but in God, the 
 High, the Great ! and recited these two verses : 
 
 O thou who seekest separation, act leisurely, and let not the embrace of the 
 
 beloved deceive thee ! 
 Act leisurely ; fbr the nature of fortune is treacherous, and the end of every 
 
 union is disjunction. 
 
 He then went forth with the mug, and found the Christian within 
 the passage of the house. So he said, Hast thou come in hither, 
 dog? How is it that thou enterest my abode without my permis- 
 sion ? my master, he answered, there is no difference between the 
 door and the passage ; and I shall not move from this my place but 
 to go forth ; yet thanks are due to thee for bounty and kindness, and 
 liberality and obliging conduct. Then he took the mug of water, and 
 drank what it contained ; after which he handed it to 'Alee Sher, who 
 took it, and expected that he would rise : but he rose not. So 'Alee 
 Sher said to him, Wherefore dost thou not rise and go thy way? The 
 Christian answered, O my lord, be not of those who confer favour and 
 then make it a subject of reproach, nor of those of whom the poet 
 hath said, 
 
 They are gone who, if thou stoodest at the door, would give the most generous 
 
 aid at thy petition ; 
 And if thou stoodest at the door of any after them, they would reproach thee for 
 
 a draught of water bestowed on thee. 
 
 O my lord, he added, I have drunk ; but I desire of thee that thou 
 give me to eat of any thing that is in the house : it will be equal to me 
 if it be a morsel of bread or a biscuit and an onion. 'Alee Sher re- 
 plied, Rise, without contention. There is nothing in the house. 
 But the Christian rejoined, O my lord, if there be nothing in the 
 house, take these hundred pieces of gold, and bring us something 
 from the market, though it be but a single cake of bread, that the 
 bond of bread and salt may be established between me and thee. 21 So 
 'Alee Sher said within himself, Verily this Christian is mad : I will 
 therefore take of him the hundred pieces of gold, and bring him 
 something worth two pieces of silver, and laugh at him. And the 
 Christian said to him, my master, I only desire something that will 
 
ays THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 
 
 banish hunger, though it be but a stale cake of bread and an onion ; 
 for the best of provision is that which dispelleth hunger ; not rich 
 food ; and how excellent is the saying of the poet ! 
 
 Hunger is banished by a stale cake of bread. Why then are my grief and 
 
 troubles so great ? 
 Death is most just, since it acteth impartially both to the Khaleefeh and the 
 
 miserable pauper. 
 
 'Alee Sher therefore said to him, Wait here while I lock the 
 saloon and bring thee something from the market. And the Christian 
 replied, I hear and obey. Then 'Alee Sher went away from him, and 
 locked the saloon, putting a padlock upon it ; and, taking the key 
 with him, he repaired to the market, bought some fried cheese, and 
 honey and bananas and bread, and brought them to him. And when 
 the Christian saw this, he said, O my lord, this is a great quantity, 
 sufficient for ten men, and I am alone : perhaps then thou wilt eat 
 with me. 'Alee Sher replied, Eat thou alone ; for I am satiated. But 
 the Christian rejoined, O my lord, the sages have said, He who eateth 
 not with his guest is baseborn. So when 'Alee Sher heard these 
 words, he sat and ate with him a little ; and was about to withdraw 
 his hand, when the Christian took a banana, peeled it, and divided it 
 in two, and put into one half of it some refined benj, mixed with 
 opium, a dram of which would make an elephant to fall down. Then 
 he dipped this half of the banana into the honey, and said to 'Alee 
 Sher, my lord, by thy religion thou shalt take this. And 'Alee 
 Sher was ashamed to make him swear falsely : he therefore took it 
 from him, and swallowed it, and scarcely had it settled in his stomach 
 when his head fell before his feet, and he became as though he had 
 been a year asleep. 
 
 So when the Christian beheld this, he rose upon his feet, as 
 though he were a bald wolf, or empowered fate ; he took with him 
 the key of the saloon, and, leaving 'Alee Sher prostrate, went running 
 to his brother, and acquainted him with what he had done. And the 
 cause of his conduct was this : The brother of this Christian was the 
 decrepit old man who had desired to purchase Zumurrud for a thou- 
 sand pieces of gold, and she accepted him not, but lampooned him 
 with verses. He was an infidel in his heart, but a Muslim externally, 
 and he named himself Rasheed-ed-Deen. And when Zumurrud lam- 
 pooned him, and accepted him not as her master, he complained to 
 his brother, the Christian who employed this stratagem to take her 
 from her master 'Alee Sher, and whose name was Barsoom ; and he 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHKR AND Zl'MURRUD. 399 
 
 replied, Grieve not on account of this affair ; for I will employ a 
 stratagem to take her without a piece of silver or of gold : because 
 he was a skilful, crafty, wicked magician. Then he ceased not to 
 devise plots and stratagems until he practised the stratagem which we 
 have described ; and having taken the key, he repaired to his brother, 
 and acquainted him with what had happened. 
 
 Upon this, Rasheed-ed-Deen mounted his mule, took his young 
 men, and repaired with his brother to the house of 'Alee Sher, taking 
 with him also a purse containing a thousand pieces of gold, that, if 
 the Walee met him he might give it to him. He opened the saloon, 
 and the men who were with him rushed upon Zumurrud, and took her 
 by force, threatening her with slaughter if she should speak ; but the 
 house they left as they found it, taking nothing from it, and they left 
 'Alee Sher lying in the passage. Then they closed the door upon 
 him, having put the key of the saloon by his side ; and the Christian 
 Rasheed-ed-Deen took the damsel to his pavilion, where he put her 
 among his female slaves and concubines, and said to her, impudent 
 wench, I am the sheykh whom thou wouldst not accept as thy master, 
 and whom thou lampoonedst, and I have taken thee without expend- 
 ing a piece of silver or of gold. She replied, with her eyes filled with 
 tears, God will sufficiently requite thee, wicked old man, for thy 
 separating me from my master. O impudent wench! he rejoined, 
 thou inflamed with love ! thou shalt see what torture I will inflict 
 upon thee. By my faith, if thou do not comply with my command, 
 and adopt my religion, I will inflict upon thee varieties of torture ! 
 But she said, If thou cut my flesh in pieces, I will not abandon the 
 faith of El-Islarn ; and perhaps God (whose name be exalted !) will 
 send me speedy relief; for He is able to do whatsoever He willeth; 
 and the wise have said, An evil in the body rather than an evil in 
 religion. And upon this he called out to the eunuchs and female 
 slaves, saying to them, Throw her down ! So they threw her down. 
 And he ceased not to inflict upon her cruel blows, while she called for 
 aid ; but she was not aided. Then she abstained from imploring aid, 
 and began to say, God is my sufficiency, and He is indeed sufficient ! 
 until her voice failed, and her groaning became inaudible. And 
 when his heart was satisfied with punishing her, he said to the 
 eunuchs, Drag her by her feet, and throw her into the kitchen, and 
 give her nothing to eat. The accursed wretch then passed that night, 
 and on the following morning he desired that she should be brought, 
 and he repeated the beating; after which he ordered the eunuchs to 
 
400 THE STORY OF 'ALEE 8HER AND ZUMURUUD. 
 
 throw her in her place ; and they did so. And when the pain occa- 
 sioned by the beating became alleviated, she said, There is no deity 
 but God : Mohammad is God's Apostle ! God is rny sufficiency, and 
 excellent is the Guardian ! Then she implored aid of our lord Mo- 
 hammad, 22 may God bless and save him ! Such was her case. 
 
 Now as to 'Alee Sher, he continued lying asleep until the follow- 
 ing day, when the intoxication occasioned by the benj quitted his 
 head, and he opened his eyes, and called out, saying, O Zumurrud ! 
 But no one answered him. He therefore entered the saloon, and 
 found the interior desolate, and the place of visitation distant : so he 
 knew that this event had not happened unto him but through the 
 Christian ; and he yearned and wept, and sighed and complained, and 
 recited verses. He repented when repentance was of no avail, weep- 
 ing, and tearing his clothes ; and he took two stones, and went round 
 about the city, beating his bosom with them, and crying, O Zunmr- 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND /UMUKRUD. 40] 
 
 rud ! The children therefore surrounded him, and said, A madman ! 
 A madman ! And every one who knew him wept for him, and said, 
 This is such-a-one. What hath befallen him ? Thus he continued 
 to do until the close of the day : and when the darkness of night came 
 over him, he slept in one of the by-streets until the morning. And 
 he went round about the city again with the stones till evening, when 
 he returned to his saloon to pass the night there. 
 
 Then a female neighbour of his, who was an old woman, one 
 of the virtuous, said to him, O my son, may God preserve thee ! 
 When becamest thou mad ? And he answered her with these two 
 verses : 
 
 They said, Thou ravest upon the person thou lovest. And I replied, The sweets 
 
 of life are only for the mad. 
 Drop the subject of my madness, and bring her upon whom I rave. If she cure 
 
 my madness, do not blame me. 23 
 
 So his neighbour, the old woman, knew that he was a lover separated 
 from his beloved ; and she said, There is no strength nor power but 
 in God, the High, the Great ! my son, I desire of thee that thou 
 relate to me the story of thy calamity. Perhaps God may enable 
 me to assist thee to overcome it, with his good pleasure. He there- 
 fore told her all that had befallen him with Barsoom the Christian, 
 the brother of the magician who called himself Rasheed-ed-Deen ; 
 and when she knew that, she said to him, my son, verily thou 
 art excused. Then she poured forth tears, and recited these two 
 verses : 
 
 Sufficient is the torment of lovers in this world. By Allah, Hell shall not 
 
 torment them after it ! 
 For they have perished of their passion, and chastely concealed it : and the truth 
 
 of this the tradition attesteth. 24 
 
 And after she had finished these verses, she said to him, O my son, 
 arise now, and buy a crate, like the crates used by the goldsmiths, and 
 buy bracelets and seal-rings and ear-rings, and other ornaments suited 
 to women ; and be not sparing of money. Put all those things into 
 the crate ; then bring the crate, and I will put it on my head, as a 
 female broker, and I will go about and search for her in the houses 
 until I obtain tidings of her, if it be the will of God, whose name be 
 exalted ! 
 
 'Alee Sher rejoiced at her words, and kissed her hands. He then 
 went quickly, and brought her what she desired; and when the things 
 were made ready for her, she arose and attired herself in a patched 
 gown, put over her head a honey-coloured izar, and, taking in her 
 
 II. 3 F 
 
402 THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 
 
 hand a walking-staff, bore the crate about through the by-lanes and 
 to the houses, and ceased not to go about from place to place, and 
 from quarter to quarter, and from by-street to by-street, until God 
 (whose name be exalted!) guided her to the pavilion of the accursed 
 Rasheed-ed-Deen the Christian, within which she heard a groaning. 
 So she knocked at the door; whereupon a slave-girl came down and 
 opened to her the door, and saluted her. And the old woman said to 
 her, I have with me these trifles for sale. Is there among you any 
 one who will buy aught of them? The girl answered her, Yes : 
 and she took her into the house, and seated her. The female slaves 
 then seated themselves around her, and each of them took something 
 from her ; and the old woman began to address them with courtesy, 
 and to make the prices of the goods easy to them ; so that they were 
 delighted with her, on account of her kindness, and the gentleness of 
 her speech. Meanwhile, she looked round narrowly at the different 
 quarters of the place, to discover the female whose groaning she had 
 heard, and her eye fell upon her : so she treated the female slaves with 
 additional favour and kindness ; and, looking at the damsel whom she 
 had heard groaning, she found her to be Zumurrud, laid prostrate. 
 She recognised her, and wept, and said to the female slaves, my 
 children, wherefore is this damsel in this condition ? And they re- 
 lated to her the whole story, adding, This affair is not of our choice ; 
 but our master commanded us to do thus; and he is now on a jour- 
 ney. And she said, O my children, I desire of you a favour, which 
 is, that ye loose this poor damsel from her bonds, and leave her so 
 until ye know of the return of your master, when ye shall bind her 
 again as she was ; and ye will gain a recompense from the Lord of all 
 creatures. They replied, We hear and obey. And they loosed her 
 and fed her and gave her to drink. The old woman then said, Would 
 that my leg had broken and that I had not entered your abode ! And 
 after that, she went to Zumurrud, and said to her, O. my daughter, 
 God preserve thee ! God will dispel from thee thine affliction. And 
 she told her that she had come from her master 'Alee Slier, and made 
 an agreement with her, that she (Zumurrud) should, in the following 
 night, listen for a sound ; saying, Thy master will come to thee and 
 stand by the mastabah of the pavilion, and will whistle to thee ; and 
 when thou nearest him, do thou whistle to him, and let thyself down 
 to him by a rope, and he will take thee and go. So the damsel 
 thanked her for this. 
 
 The old woman then went forth, and, returning to 'Alee Slier, 
 
informed him of what she had done, and said to him, Repair this next 
 night, at midnight, to such a quarter ; for the house of the accursed 
 is there, and its appearance is of such and such a description. Station 
 thyself beneath his pavilion, and whistle : she will thereupon let her- 
 self down to thee, and do thou take her and depart whither thou wilt. 
 He therefore thanked her for this ; and having waited till the night 
 became dark, and the appointed time arrived, he went to that quarter 
 which she had described to him, where he saw the pavilion, and he 
 knew it. And he seated himself upon a mastabah beneath it ; but 
 sleep overcame him, and he slept. Glory be to Him who sleepeth 
 not ! For a long time he had not slept, from the ecstasy of his pas- 
 sion : so he became like one intoxicated. 
 
 And while he was asleep, lo, a certain robber came forth that 
 night, and went about the skirts of the city, to steal something; and 
 destiny cast him beneath the pavilion of that Christian. So he went 
 
401 THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHKR AM) ZUMURRUD. 
 
 around it ; but found no way of ascending arid entering it ; and he 
 continued walking round it until he came to the mastabah, when he 
 beheld 'Alee Sher asleep. And he took his turban ; and when he had 
 done so, immediately Zumurrud looked forth, and, seeing him stand- 
 ing in the dark, imagined him to be her master. She therefore 
 whistled to him, and the robber whistled to her ; and she let herself 
 down to him by the rope, having with her a pair of saddle-bags full 
 of gold. So when the robber saw this, he said within himself, This is 
 no other than a wonderful thing, occasioned by an extraordinary cause. 
 He then took up the saddle-bags, and took Zumurrud upon his 
 shoulders, and went away with both like the blinding lightning ; 
 whereupon the damsel said to him, The old woman told me that thou 
 wast infirm on my account ; but, lo, thou art stronger than the horse. 
 And lie returned her no answer. So she felt his face, and found that 
 his beard was like the broom of the public bath ; ffi as though he were 
 a hog that had swallowed feathers, and their down had come forth 
 from his throat. And she was terrified at him, and said to him, 
 What art thou ? x He answered her, wench, I am the sharper 
 Jawan the Kurdee, 27 of the gang of Ahmad Ed-Denef : we are forty 
 sharpers, all of whom will this -night receive thee as their slave. And 
 when she heard his words, she wept, and slapped her face, knowing 
 that fate had overcome her, and that she had no resource but that of 
 resignation to the will of God, whose name be exalted ! She therefore 
 endured with patience, and committed herself to the disposal of God 
 (whose name be exalted!), and said, There is no deity but God! 
 Each time that we are delivered from anxiety we fall into greater 
 anxiety ! 
 
 Now the cause of Jawan's coming to the place above mentioned 
 was this : He had said to Ahmad Ed-Denef, O sharper, I entered 
 this place before the present time, and know a cavern without the 
 town, affording room for forty persons; and I desire to go before you 
 to it, and to place my mother in that cavern. Then I will return to 
 the city, and steal from it something for your luck, and keep it for you 
 until ye come ; so your entertainment on that day shall be of my 
 supplying. And Ahmad Ed-Denef replied, Do what thou desirest. 
 Accordingly he went before them to that place, and put his mother in 
 the cavern ; and when he went forth from it, he found a trooper lying 
 asleep, with a horse tethered by him : so he slaughtered him, and 
 took his clothes, and his horse and arms, and hid them in the cavern 
 with his mother, tethering the horse there. He then returned to the 
 
city, and walked on till he came to the pavilion of the Christian, 
 where he did what we have described. 
 
 He ran on with the damsel without stopping until he deposited 
 her with his mother, to whom he said, Take care of her till I return 
 to theC in the morning. And having said this, he departed. So 
 Zumurrud said within herself, Why am I thus careless about liberating 
 myself by some stratagem ? Wherefore should 1 wait until these forty 
 men arrive ? Then she looked towards the old woman, the mother of 
 Jawari the Kurdee, and said to her, O my aunt, wilt thou not arise 
 and go with me without the cavern, that I may dress thy hair in the 
 sun? Yea, by Allah, my daughter, answered the old woman; for 
 of a long time I have been far from the public bath ; these hogs 
 incessantly taking me about from place to place. So Zumurrud went 
 forth with her, and continued the operation until the old woman fell 
 asleep ; whereupon Zumurrud arose, and clad herself in the clothes of 
 the trooper whom Jawan the Kurdee had killed, and, having bound 
 his sword at her waist, and put on his turban, so that she appeared 
 like a man, mounted the horse, and took the saddle-bags full of gold 
 with her, saying, O kind Protector, protect me, I conjure Thee by the 
 dignity of Mohammad ; God bless and save him ! Then she said 
 within herself, If I go to the city, perhaps some one of the family of 
 the trooper may see me ; and no good will happen unto me. So she 
 
406 THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHKU AND /I'Ml'liKUD. 
 
 refrained from entering the city, and proceeded over the bare desert, 
 with the saddle-bags and the horse, eating of the herbs of the earth, 
 and feeding the horse of the same, and drinking and giving him to 
 drink of the waters of the rivers, for the space of ten days. 
 
 And on the eleventh day, she approached a pleasant and secure 
 city, established in prosperity : the winter had departed from it with 
 its cold, and the spring had come with its flowers and its roses ; its 
 flowers were gay and charming to the sight, its rivers were flowing, 
 and its birds were warbling. Now when she came to this city, and 
 approached its gate, she found there the troops and the emeers and 
 the chiefs of its inhabitants ; and she wondered when she saw them 
 thus collected, and said within herself, The people of this city are all 
 assembled at its gate, and there must be some cause for this. She 
 then proceeded towards them ; and when she drew near to them, the 
 troops hastened forward to meet her, and, having alighted, kissed the 
 ground before her, and said, God aid thee, our lord the Sultan ! 
 The great officers arranged themselves in ranks before her, and the 
 troops ranged the people in order, and exclaimed, God aid thee, and 
 make thine arrival a blessing to the Muslims, Sultan of all 
 creatures ! God establish thee, O King of the age, and incomparable 
 one of the age and time ! So Zumui-rud said to them, What is your 
 story, ye people of this city ? The chamberlain answered, Verily 
 He who is not sparing of his benefits hath bestowed favour upon thee, 
 and made thee Sultan over this city, and ruler over the necks of all 
 whom it containeth. Know that it is the custom of the inhabitants 
 of this city, when their King dieth, and hath left no son, for the 
 troops to go forth without the city, and to remain three days; and 
 whatsoever man arriveth by the way by which thou hast come, they 
 make him Sultan over them. And praise be to God who hath directed 
 unto us a man of the sons of the Turks, of comely countenance ; for 
 had one of less consideration than thyself come unto us, he had been 
 Sultan. Now Zumurrudwas a person of judgment in all her actions; 
 so she said, Think me not one of the common people among the 
 Turks : nay, I am of the sons of the great ; but I was incensed 
 against my family, and went forth from them and left them ; and 
 look ye at this pair of saddle-bags full of gold that I have brought 
 beneath me, to give alms out of it to the poor and needy all the way. 
 And on hearing this, they prayed for her, and were extremely rejoiced 
 at her arrival; and she was also pleased with them. She then said 
 within herself, Since I have attained to this, perhaps God will unite 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 407 
 
 me with my master in this place ; for He is able to do whatsoever He 
 willeth. And she proceeded, accompanied by the troops, until they 
 entered the city, when the troops alighted and walked before her 
 till they had conducted her into the palace. She there alighted, and 
 the erneers and grandees conveyed her with their hands beneath her 
 arm-pits, and seated her upon the throne. Then all of them kissed 
 the ground before her. And when she was seated on the throne, 
 she gave orders to open the treasuries ; and they were opened ; and 
 she bestowed presents upon all the troops ; whereupon they offered up 
 prayers for the continuance of her reign; and the people, and all the 
 inhabitants of the provinces, acknowledged her authority. 
 
 She remained thus for some time, commanding and forbidding, 
 and the hearts of the people were impressed with exceeding respect for 
 her, on account of her generosity, and her abstinence from what is 
 forbidden. She remitted the custom-taxes, liberated the persons con- 
 fined in the prisons, and redressed the grievances of her subjects ; so 
 that all the people loved her. But whenever she thought upon her 
 master, she wept, and supplicated God to effect her union with him. 
 And thinking upon him one night, and upon her days that had passed, 
 she poured forth tears, and recited these two verses : 
 
 My desire for thee, though protracted, is fresh ; and the tears have wounded 
 
 my eye, and increase. 
 When I weep, I weep from the pain of ardent love ; for separation, to the lover, 
 
 is a fierce affliction. 
 
 And when she had ended these verses, she wiped away her tears, and 
 went up into the pavilion. Then she entered the Hareem, and 
 assigned separate apartments for the female slaves and concubines, 
 appointing them allowances and supplies, and asserted that she desired 
 to remain in a place alone, for the purpose of assiduously employing 
 herself in devotion; and she betook herself to fasting and praying, so 
 that the emeers said, Verily this Sultan is of exceeding piety. She- 
 retained of the eunuchs only two lads to serve her. 
 
 For a year she sat upon the throne of her kingdom, and heard no 
 tidings of her master, nor discovered any trace of him. And upon 
 this she was disquieted, and, her disquietude becoming excessive, she 
 summoned the wezeers and chamberlains, and commanded them to 
 bring to her the geometricians and builders, and gave orders that they 
 should make for her, beneath the palace, a horse-course a league in 
 length and a league in breadth. So they did as she commanded them 
 in the shortest time, and the horse-course was agreeable to her desire 
 
408 THE STOP.Y OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMUIIKUI). 
 
 And when it was finished, she descended into it, A great pavilion 
 was pitched for her in it, chairs were arranged for the emeers, and she 
 gave orders to spread in that horse-course a long table covered with 
 all kinds of rich viands; and they did as she commanded. Then she 
 ordered the lords of the empire to eat ; and they ate ; after which she 
 said to the emeers, I desire, when the new month commenceth, that 
 ye do thus, and proclaim in the city, that no one shall open his shop, 
 but that all the people shall come and eat of the King's banquet ; and 
 that whosoever of them acteth contrary to this order shall be hanged 
 at the door of his house. 28 So when the new mouth commenced, they 
 did as she commanded them ; and they continued to observe this 
 custom until the commencement of the first month of the second 
 year; when Zumurrud descended into the horse-course, and the crier 
 proclaimed, all ye companies of men, whosoever openeth his shop 
 or his magazine or his house shall be hanged immediately at the door 
 of his abode : for it is incumbent on you that ye all come to eat of the 
 King'c banquet! And when the proclamation was ended, the table 
 having been prepared, the people came in companies, and she ordered 
 them to seat themselves at the table, to eat until they were satisfied, of 
 all the dishes. Accordingly, they sat and ate as she had commanded 
 them, while she sat upon the throne of her kingdom looking at them ; 
 and every one at the table said within himself, The King is looking at 
 none but me. They continued eating, and the emeers said to the 
 people, Eat ye, and be not ashamed ; for the King liketh your doing 
 so. They therefore ate until they were satisfied, and departed praying 
 for the King ; and some of them said to others, In our lives we have 
 not seen a Sultan that loveth the poor like this Sultan. They 
 prayed for length of life for her ; and she returned to her palace, full 
 of joy at the plan which she had devised, and said within herself, If it 
 be the will of God (whose name be exalted !), by this means 1 shall 
 obtain tidings of my master 'Alee-Sher. 
 
 And when the second month commenced, she did the same, as 
 usual. They prepared the table, and Zumurrud descended, and seated 
 herself upon her throne, and ordered the people to sit and eat. And 
 while she was sitting at the head of the table, and the people were 
 seating themselves at it, company after company, and person after 
 person, her eye fell upon Barsoom the Christian, who had bought the 
 curtain of her master ; and she knew him, and said, This is the com- 
 mencement of the dispelling of my affliction, and the attainment of 
 my desire. Then Barsoom advanced, and seated himself among the 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHEK AND ZUMUURUI). 
 
 409 
 
 people to eat ; and he looked at a dish of rice sweetened with sugar 
 sprinkled over it ; but it was far from him ; so he pressed towards it, 
 and, stretching forth his hand to it, reached it and put it before him. 
 Upon this, a man by his side said to him, Why dost thou not eat of 
 that which is before thee ? Is not this a disgrace to thee ? How is 
 it that thou stretchest forth thy hand to a thing that is distant from 
 thee? Art thou not ashamed? But Barsoom replied, I will eat of 
 none but it. So the man rejoined, Eat : may God not give thee enjoy- 
 ment in it ! And a man who was a hashshash ^ said, Let him eat of 
 it, that I too may eat with him. The man before mentioned, however, 
 said to him, O most ill-omened of hashshashes, this is not your food, 
 but it is the food of the emeers ; therefore leave it that it may return 
 to those to whom it belongeth, that they may eat it. But Barsoom 
 disobeyed him : betook from it a mouthful, and put it into his mouth, 
 and was about to take the second, when Zumurrud, observing him, 
 called out to certain of the soldiers, and said to them, Bring this man 
 before whom is the dish of sweet rice, and let him not eat the mouth- 
 ful that is in his hand ; but throw it down from his hand. So four 
 of the soldiers came to him and dragged him along upon his face, 
 after they had thrown down the mouthful from his hand ; and they 
 stationed him before Zumurrud. Upon this, the people refrained 
 from eating ; one of them saying to another, By Allah, he was unjust ; 
 for he would not eajt of the food suited to persons of his own class. 
 Another said, I was content with this kishk that is before me. And 
 the hashshash said, Praise be to God, who prevented my eating aught 
 
 n. 
 
410 THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 
 
 of this dish of sweet rice ; for I was waiting for it to stop before him 
 and for him to enjoy it, when I would have eaten with him ; but what 
 we have witnessed befell him. And the people said,, one to another, 
 Wait that we may see what will happen to him. 
 
 Now when they brought him before the Queen Zumurrud, she 
 said to him, Wo to thee, blue-eyed ! What is thy name, and what 
 is the reason of thy coming to our country? And the accursed 
 refused to give his true name, and, having a white turban, 31 he 
 answered, King, my name is 'Alee, and my business is that of a 
 weaver, and I have come to this city for the sake of traffic. Zumurrud 
 said, Bring ye to me a geomantic tablet, and a pen of brass. And 
 they brought her what she demanded immediately ; and she took the 
 geomantic tablet and the pen, and performed an operation of geo- 
 mancy, designing with the pen a figure like that of an ape ; after 
 which she raised her head, and looked attentively at Barsoom for a 
 long time, and said to him, dog, how is it that thou liest unto 
 Kings ? Art thou not a Christian, and is not thy name Barsoom, and 
 hast thou not come to search for something ? Tell me then the truth, 
 or, by the Glory of the Deity-, I will strike off thy head ! And the 
 Christian w r as agitated ; and the erneers and others who were present 
 said, This King is acquainted with geomancy. Extolled be the per- 
 fection of Him who hath endowed him with this knowledge ! Then 
 she called out to the Christian, saying to him, Tell me the truth, or I 
 destroy thee ! And the Christian replied, Pardon, King of the age ! 
 Thou art right in thy geomantic divination ; for the most remote 32 is 
 a Christian. So the emeers and others who were present wondered at 
 the King's exactness in discovering the truth by geomancy, saying, 
 Verily this King is an astrologer of whom there is not the like in the 
 world ! The Queen then ordered that the Christian should be flayed, 
 that his skin should be stuffed with straw, and hung over the gate of 
 the horse-course, and that a pit should be dug without the city, and 
 his flesh and his bones should be burnt in it, and dirt and filth thrown 
 upon his ashes. They replied, We hear and obey : and did all that 
 she had commanded them. And when the people saw what had 
 befallen the Christian, they said, His recompense was that which hath 
 befallen him : and what an unlucky mouthful was that unto him ! 
 One of them said, Divorcement shall be incumbent on the remote [if 
 I break this vow] : in my life henceforth I will never eat of sweet 
 rice ! M And the hashshash said, Praise be to God who hath saved 
 me from that which hath befallen this man, by his preserving me from 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SH^R 'AND ZUMURRUD 411 
 
 eating that rice ! Then all the people went forth ; and they had 
 become prohibited from sitting opposite to the sweet rice, in the place 
 of that Christian. 
 
 Again, when the third month commenced, they spread the table 
 as usual, and covered it with the dishes, and the Queen Zumurrud sat 
 upon the throne, the troops standing in the customary manner, but 
 fearing her awful power. The people of the city then entered as they 
 were wont, and went around the table, looking for the place of the 
 dish of rice ; and one of them said to another, hajj 34 Khalaf ! The 
 other replied, At thy service, hajj Khalid ! And the former said, 
 Avoid the dish of sweet rice, and beware of eating of it ; for if thou 
 eat of it thou wilt be hanged. Then they seated themselves around 
 the table to eat ; and while they were eating, and the Queen Zumurrud 
 was sitting on the throne, a glance of her eye fell upon a man entering 
 with a hurried pace from the gate of the horse-course, and, looking 
 attentively at him, she found that he was Jawan the Kurdee, the 
 robber who murdered the trooper : and the cause of his coming was 
 this : He had left his mother, and gone to his companions, and said 
 to them, I obtained yesterday excellent booty : I murdered a trooper, 
 and took his horse ; and there fell to my lot the same night a pair of 
 saddle-bags full of gold, and a damsel whose value is greater than the 
 gold in the saddle-bags ; and I have put all this booty in the cavern, 
 with my mother. So they rejoiced at this, and repaired to the cavern 
 at the close of the day. Jawan the Kurdee entered before them, and 
 they followed him ; and he desired to bring to them the things of 
 which he had told them; but he found the place desolate. He there- 
 fore inquired of his mother the truth of the matter, and she acqxiainted 
 him with all that had happened ; on hearing which, he bit his hands 
 in repentance, 33 and said, By Allah, I will search about for this 
 impudent wench, and take her from the place in which she is, though 
 she be within the shell of a pistachio-nut, and I will satisfy my malice 
 upon her ! Accordingly, he went fouth to search for her, and ceased 
 not to go about the surrounding districts until he came to the city of 
 the Queen Zumurrud. And when he entered the city, he found no 
 man in it : he therefore inquired of some of the women who were 
 looking out from the windows, 36 and they informed him that on the 
 first day of every month the Sultan made a banquet, and the people 
 went and ate of it ; and they directed him to the horse-course in which 
 the table was spread. 
 
 So he came hurrying on, and, not finding a vacant place in 
 

 
 which to seat himself except one opposite the dish above mentioned, 
 he seated himself there, and, as the dish was before him, stretched 
 forth his hand to it. Upon this, the people called to him, saying, O 
 our brother, what dost thou desire to do ? He answered, I desire to 
 eat of this dish until I am satiated. And one of them said to him, If 
 thou eat of it thou wilt be hanged. But he replied, Be silent, and 
 utter not these words. Then he stretched forth his hand to the dish, 
 and drew it before him. The hashshash before mentioned was sitting 
 by his side, arid when he saw Jawan draw the dish before him, he 
 fled from his place ; the effect of the hasheesheh 37 instantly passed 
 away from his head, and he seated himself afar off, saying, I have 
 nothing to do with this dish. Jawan the Kurdee stretched forth his 
 hand to the dish, and it resembled the foot of a raven ; and he ladled 
 the rice with it, and took it forth resembling the foot of a camel. 38 
 Then he compressed the handful into the form of a ball, so that it was 
 like a great orange; he threw it rapidly into his mouth, and it 
 descended into his throat, making a noise like thunder ; and the 
 bottom of the dish appeared in the place from which it was taken. 
 So a man by his side said to him, Praise be to God, who hath not 
 made me to be a dish of meat before thee ; for thou hast exhausted 
 the dish by a single mouthful ! And the hashshash said, Let him 
 eat ; for I imagine that I behold in him the figure of the hanged. 
 Then looking towards him, he said to him, Eat ; may God not give 
 thce enjoyment ! And Jawan stretched forth his hand to take the 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 413 
 
 second mouthful, and was about to press it into the form of a ball like 
 the first mouthful, when the Queen called to some of the soldiers, 
 saying to them, Bring that man quickly, and suffer him not to eat the 
 mouthful that is in his hand. 
 
 The soldiers therefore ran to him, while he was bending his head 
 over the dish, and they seized him and took him and placed him 
 before the Queen Zumurrud. Upon this, the people exulted over 
 him, saying, one to another, Verily he deserveth it ; for we gave him 
 good advice, and he would not follow it. This place is predestined to 
 occasion the slaughter of him who sitteth in it, and that rice is 
 unfortunate to every one who eateth of it. Then the Queen Zumurrud 
 said to him, What is thy name, and what is thine occupation, and 
 what is the reason of thy coming to our city? O our lord the Sultan, 
 he answered, my name is 'Osman, and my occupation is that of a 
 gardener, and the reason of my coming to this city is, that I am going 
 about searching for a thing that I have lost. And the Queen said, 
 Bring me the geomantic tablet. So they placed it before her ; and 
 she took the pen, and, having performed an operation of geomancy, 
 meditated upon it a while ; after which she raised her head, and said 
 to him, Wo to thee, O wicked wretch ! How is it that thou liest unto 
 Kings ? This geomantic experiment informeth me that thy name is 
 Jawan the Kurdee, and thine occupation is that of a robber, that thou 
 takest the property of men by iniquitous means, and slayest the soul 
 that God hath forbidden to be slain unless for a just cause. Then she 
 called out to him and said, hog, tell me thy true story, or I will cut 
 off thy head ! And when he heard her words, his complexion became 
 sallow, and his teeth appeared, and, imagining that if he spoke the 
 truth he would save himself, he replied, Thou hast spoken truth, O 
 King; but I vow repentance unto thee from this time, and return 
 unto God, whose name be exalted ! The Queen, however, said to him, 
 It is not lawful unto me to leave a viper in the path of the Muslims. 
 And she said to some of her attendants, Take him and flay him, and 
 do unto him as ye did unto the like of him last month. So they did 
 as she commanded them. And when the hashshash saw the soldiers 
 seize that man, he turned his back to the dish of rice, and said, Verily, 
 to present my face unto thee is unlawful ! And as soon as they had 
 finished eating, they dispersed, and went to their abodes : the Queen 
 also went up into her palace, and gave permission to the memlooks to 
 disperse. 
 
 And when the fourth month commenced, they descended into the 
 
414, THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 
 
 horse-course as usual, and made ready the banquet, and the people 
 sat waiting for permission. The Queen then approached, and sat 
 upon the throne, looking at them ; and she observed that the place 
 opposite the dish of rice, affording room for four persons, was vacant ; 
 whereat she wondered. And while she was looking about, she beheld 
 a man entering from the gate of the horse-course, with a quick pace, 
 and he ceased not to hurry on until he stopped over the table, where 
 he found no place vacant but that opposite the dish of rice. So he 
 seated himself there ; and she looked at him attentively, and found 
 that he was the Christian who had named himself Rasheed-ed-Deen ; 
 whereupon she said within herself, How fortunate is this repast, by 
 which this infidel hath been insnared ! Now the cause of his coming 
 was wonderful ; and it was this. When he returned from his journey, 
 the people of his house informed him that Zumurrud was lost, together 
 with a pair of saddle-bags full of money ; on hearing which, he rent 
 his clothes, and slapped his face, and plucked his beard. Then he 
 sent his brother Barsoom to search for her through the surrounding 
 districts ; and when he was tired of waiting for news of him, he went 
 forth himself to gearch through the provinces- for his brother and 
 Zumurrud, and destiny impelled him to Zumurrud' s city. He entered 
 that city on the first day of the month, and when he walked along its 
 great thoroughfare-streets, he found them desolate, and saw the shops 
 closed, and the women at the windows ; so he inquired of some 
 of them respecting this circumstance, and they told him that the King 
 made a banquet for all the people on the first of every month, and all 
 ate of it ; none being able to sit in his house or in his shop ; and they 
 directed him to the horse-course. 
 
 On his entering the horse-course, he found the people crowding 
 around the food, and found no place vacant except that opposite the 
 well-known dish of rice. So he seated himself in it, #nd stretched 
 forth his hand to eat of that dish; whereupon the Queen called to 
 some of the soldiers, saying, Bring ye him who hath seated himself 
 opposite the dish of rice. And they knew him from the former 
 occurrences of the same kind, and seized him, and stationed him 
 before the Queen Zumurrud, who said to him, Wotothee! What 
 is thy name, and what is thine occupation, and what is the reason of 
 thy coming unto our city? He answered, King of the age, my 
 name is Rustum, 39 and I have no occupation, for I am a poor 
 darweesh. And she said to her attendants, Bring me the geoinantic 
 tablet, and the u,eu of brass. So they brought her what she demanded 
 
THE STORY OP 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURBUD. 415 
 
 as usual : and she took the peri, and made some marks with it upon 
 the tablet, and remained a while contemplating it : then raising her 
 head and looking towards him, she said, O dog, how is it that thou 
 liest unto the Kings ? Thy name is Rasheed-ed-Deen the Christian, 
 and thine occupation is, to practise stratagems against the female 
 slaves of the Muslims, and to take them ; and thou art a Muslim 
 externally, but in heart a Christian. Declare then the truth; for if 
 thou do not, I will strike off thy head. And he hesitated to reply ; 
 but afterwards said, Thou hast spoken truth, O King of the age. So 
 she gave orders that he should be stretched upon the ground, and 
 receive upon each foot a hundred lashes, and upon his body a thou- 
 sand lashes ; and after that, that he should be flayed, and his skin 
 stuffed with hards of flax ; then, that a pit should be dug without the 
 city, and his body be burnt in it, and dirt and filth thrown upon his 
 ashes. And they did as she commanded them. 
 
 After this, she gave leave to the people to eat, and when they had 
 finished, and gone their ways, the Queen Zumurrud went up into her 
 palace, and said, Praise be to God who hath appeased my heart by the 
 punishment of those who wronged me ! And she thanked the Creator 
 of the earth and the heavens. Then her master 'Alee Sher occurred 
 to her mind, and she shed copious tears; after which, returning to 
 her reason, she said within herself, Perhaps God, who hath given me 
 power over mine enemies, may grant me the return of my beloved. 
 She begged forgiveness of God (to whom be ascribed might and 
 glory !), and said, Perhaps God will soon reunite me with my beloved 
 'Alee Sher > for He is able to do whatsoever He willeth, and is gracious 
 
41G THE STOKY OF 'ALEE SHfiR AND ZUMUKKUD. 
 
 unto his servants, and acquainted with their states. She praised God 
 again, continued her prayers for forgiveness, and resigned herself to 
 the course of destiny, assured that every thing which hath a beginning 
 must come to an end; and recited the saying of the poet : 
 
 Endure thy state with an easy mind ; for in the hand of God are the destinies of 
 
 things ; 
 And what is forbidden will not happen unto thee, nor will that which is appointed 
 
 fail to befall thee. 
 
 She continued for the whole of that month occupying herself by 
 day in judging the people, and commanding and forbidding, and by 
 night weeping and lamenting for the separation of her beloved 'Alee 
 Sher; and when the next month commenced, she gave orders to 
 spread the table in the horse-course as usual, and sat at the head of 
 the people. They were waiting for her permission to eat, and the 
 place before the dish of rice was vacant ; and as she sat at the head of 
 the table, she kept her eye fixed upon the gate of the horse-course, to 
 see every one who entered it. And she said within herself, O Thou 
 who restoredst Yoosuf to Yaakoob, and removedst the affliction from 
 Eiyoob, favour me by the restoration of my master 'Alee Sher, by thy 
 power and greatness ; for Thou art able to accomplish every thing ! 
 Lord of all creatures ! O Guide of those who go astray ! O 
 Hearer of cries ! O Answerer of prayers ! Hear my prayer, Lord 
 of all creatures ! And her supplication was not ended when there 
 entered from the gate of the horse-course a person whose figure was 
 like a branch of the Oriental willow ; but he was of emaciated frame, 
 and sallowness appeared in his countenance : he was the handsomest of 
 young men, perfect in judgment and in polite accomplishments. 
 When he entered, he found no place vacant but that which was before 
 the dish of rice : he therefore sat in that place ; and when Zumurrud 
 beheld him, her heart palpitated. She looked at him with a scruti- 
 nizing glance, and it was evident to her that he was her master 'Alee 
 Sher, and she was inclined to cry aloud for joy ; but she stilled her 
 mind, fearing to disgrace herself among the people : her bowels were 
 moved with compassion, and her heart throbbed; yet she concealed 
 what she felt. And the cause of 'Alee Sher's coming was this : 
 
 When he lay asleep upon the mastabah, and Zumurrud descended, 
 and Jawan the Kurdee took her, he awoke afterwards, and found 
 himself with uncovered head ; so he knew that some man had come 
 upon him wrongfully, and taken his turban while he was asleep. He 
 uttered the sentence which preserveth the person who pronounceth it 
 
from being confounded; that is, Verily to God we belong, and verily 
 unto Him we return ! Then he went back to the old woman who 
 had acquainted him with the situation of Zuraurrud, and knocked at 
 her door ; whereupon she came forth to him ; and he wept before her 
 until he fell down in a fit. And when he recovered he informed her 
 of all that had befallen him ; on hearing which, she blamed him, and 
 severely reproved him for that which he had done, and said to him, 
 Verily thy calamity and misfortune have arisen from thyself. She 
 ceased not to blame him until blood ran from his nostrils, and he fell 
 down again in a fit ; and on his recovering from his fit he beheld the 
 old woman weeping on his account, pouring forth tears, and in a state 
 of anguish; and he recited these two verses : 
 
 How bitter unto lovers is separation, and how sweet unto them is union ! 
 May God unite every separated lover, and preserve me, for I am of their 
 number I 40 
 
 The old woman mourned for him, and said to him, Sit here while I 
 ascertain the news for thee, and I will return quickly. And he 
 replied, I hear and obey. Then she left him and went away, and 
 was absent from him until midday, when she returned to him, and 
 IT. 3 H 
 
418 THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD. 
 
 said, 'Alee, I imagine nothing but that thou wilt die in thy grief; 
 for thou wilt not again see thy beloved save on the Sirat ; 41 for the 
 people of the pavilion, when they arose in the morning, found the 
 window that overlooketh the garden displaced, and Zumurrud lost, 
 and with her a pair of saddle-bags full of money belonging to the 
 Christian ; and when I arrived there, I found the Walee standing at 
 the door of the pavilion, together with his officers ; and there is no 
 strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great ! Mow when 
 'Alee Sher heard these words from her, the light before his face became 
 converted into darkness ; he despaired of life, and made sure of death, 
 and ceased not to weep until again he fell down in a fit ; and after he 
 recovered from his fit, love and separation so afflicted him that he was 
 attacked by a severe sickness, and w r as confined to his house. The old 
 woman, however, continued to bring the physicians to him, and to 
 give him beverages, and make pottages for him, during the space of a 
 whole year, until his soul returned to him. And when the second 
 year commenced, the old woman said to him, my son, this sadness 
 and grief that thou sufFerest will not restore to thee thy beloved : arise 
 then, brace up thy nerves, and search for her through the surrounding 
 districts ; perhaps thou mayest meet with tidings of her. And she 
 ceased not to encourage him and to strengthen his mind until she 
 cheered him ; and she conducted him into the bath, gave him wine to 
 drink, and fed him with fowls. Thus she did every day for the space 
 of a month, till he gained strength, and set forth on his journey, and 
 he ceased not to travel until he arrived at the city of Zumurrud. 
 
 Having entered the horse-course, he seated himself at the table, 
 and stretched forth his hand to eat ; and upon this, the people grieved 
 for him, and said to him, young man, eat not of this dish ; for 
 affliction will befall him who eateth of it. But he replied, Suffer me 
 to eat of it, and let them do unto me what they desire : perhaps I may 
 be relieved from this wearying life. Then he ate the first morsel; 
 and Zumurrud desired to have him brought before her; but it 
 occurred to her mind that he might be hungry : so she said within 
 herself, It is proper that I suffer him to eat until he satisfy himself. 
 He therefore continued eating ; and the people were confounded at his 
 case, looking to see what would happen unto him. And when he had 
 eaten and satisfied himself, she said to certain of the eunuchs, Go to 
 that young man who eateth of the rice, and bring him courteously, 
 and say to him, Answer the summons of the King, to reply to a little 
 question. So they said, We hear and obey : and they went to him, 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHfill AND ZUMURRUD. 419 
 
 and, standing over his head, said to him, our master, have the 
 goodness to answer the summons of the King, and let thy heart be 
 dilated. lie replied, I hear and obey : and he went with the 
 eunuchs ; while the people said, one to another, There is no strength 
 nor power but in God, the High, the Great ! What will the King do 
 with him ? But some of them said, He will do nought but good with 
 him ; for if he meant to do him harm, he had not suffered him to eat 
 until he was satisfied. And when he stood before Zumurrud, he 
 saluted, and kissed the ground before her ; and she returned his salu- 
 tation, receiving him with honour, and said to him, What is thy 
 name, and what is thine occupation, and what is the reason of thy 
 coming unto this city ? So he answered her, King, my name is 
 'Alee Sher, I am of the sons of the merchants, and my country is 
 Khurasjin, and the reason of my coming unto this city is to search 
 for a slave-girl whom I have lost : she was dearer to me than my 
 hearing and my sight, and my soul hath been devoted to her ever 
 since I lost her. This is my story. Then he wept until he fainted ; 
 whereupon she gave orders to sprinkle some rose-water upon his face ; 
 and they did so until he recovered, when the Queen said, Bring to me 
 the geomantic tablet, and the pen of brass. They therefore brought 
 them ; and she took the pen, and, having performed an operation of 
 geomancy, considered it a while, after which she said to him, Thou 
 hast spoken truly. God will unite thee with her soon : so -be not 
 uneasy. She then ordered the chamberlain to take him to the bath, 
 and to attire him in a handsome suit of the apparel of Kings, to 
 mount him upon one of the most excellent of her horses, and after 
 that, to bring him to the palace at the close of the day. The cham- 
 berlain replied, I hear and obey : and led him away from before her, 
 and departed. And the people said, one to another, Wherefore hath 
 the King treated the young man with this courtesy ? One said, Did 
 I not tell you that he would do him no harm ? for his appearance is 
 comely ; and from the King's waiting until he had satisfied himself, I 
 knew that. And every one of them said something. Then the people 
 dispersed, and went their ways. 
 
 Zumurrud scarcely believed that the night was approaching when 
 she should be alone with the beloved of her heart ; and as soon as the 
 night came, she entered her chamber, and sent to her beloved 'Alee 
 Sher. And when they brought him, he kissed the ground before her, 
 and prayed for her; and she said within herself, I must jest with him 
 a while, without making myself known to him. So she said, O 'Alee, 
 
420 
 
 THE STORY OF 'ALEE SHER AND ZUMURRUD 
 
 hast thou gone to the bath ? He answered, Yes, O my lord. And 
 she said, Arise, eat of this fowl and meat, and drink of this sherbet of 
 sugar, and wine ; for thou art tired ; and after that, come hither. 
 He replied, I hear and obey : and he did as she commanded him ; 
 and when he had finished eating and drinking, she said to him, Come 
 up unto me, and rub my feet. 42 He therefore began to rub her feet 
 and her legs, and found them softer than silk. And after she had 
 continued a while jesting with him, she said, my master, hath all 
 this happened, and dost thou not know me ? He asked, And who art 
 thou, O King ? And she answered, I am thy slave-girl Zumurrud. 
 So when he knew this, he kissed her, and embraced her, throwing 
 himself upon her like the lion upon the sheep. 
 
 And on the following morning Zumurrud sent to all the troops, 
 and the lords of the empire, and summoned them, and said to them, 
 I desire to journey to the city of this man. Choose for you therefore 
 a viceroy to exercise authority among you until I return to you. And 
 they replied, We hear and obey. She then betook herself to preparing 
 the necessaries for the journey, as food and money and other supplies, 
 and rarities, and camels, and mules, and set forth from the city ; and 
 she continued her journey with him until she arrived at the city of 
 'Alee Sher, when he entered his abode, and gave gifts and alms and 
 presents. He was blessed with children by her, and they both lived 
 in the utmost happiness until they were visited by the terminator of 
 delights and the separator of companions. Extolled be the perfection 
 of the Eternal ; and praise be to God in every case ! 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. 
 
 NOTE 1. THOUOH the scenes of this story are Khurasan and some neighbouring 
 country, in, or adjacent to, the north or north-east of Persia, its character throughout 
 is Arabian. 
 
 NOTE 2. "Mejd-ed-Deen" signifies "the Glory of the Religion." 
 NOTE 3. On this first occasion of the mention of 'Alee Slier, the surname (Sher) is 
 omitted in the edition from which I translate; namely, that ,f Cairo. As there after- 
 wards written, this surname may be pronounced either " Shar" or (by what is termed 
 "imaleh") "Sher:'' but the latter is the preferable pronunciation, as the word is 
 evidently the Persian " Sher," signifying " a Lion." In the edition of Breslau it is 
 " Sheer," or " Sheyr." 
 
 NOTE 4. This couplet has occurred before : so also have the sixth in the same 
 paragraph, slightly varied, and the eighth, and one in my original which I omit because 
 it is similar to the eighth, which it immediately follows. See vol. i. of the present 
 work, pp. 240, 334 ; and (for the couplet that I omit) p. 57 in this volume. For this 
 last also, a little varied, see vol. i. p. 240. 
 
 NOTE 5. A person who only tastes a thing may find sweetness in it, when it is 
 bitter at the heart. "Dhaka," in the original, is put, by an error of the compositor, 
 for "Dhaka." 1 
 
 NOTE 6. See Note 42 to Chapter x. 
 
 NOTE 7. "Zumurrud" signifies " Emerald." 
 
 NOTE 8. " Rasheed-ed-Deen " signifies, in this case, 
 
 1 Rightly directed in Re- 
 
 ligion," or "Orthodox." 
 
 NOTE 9. The Arabs in general entertain a prejudice against blue eyes; a prejudice 
 said to have arisen from the great number of blue-eyed persons among certain of their 
 northern enemies. 
 
 NOTE 10. She compares the old man's mustaches to cotton, with which the 
 
 ' -MiU'irinal iiutc by my sheykli. 
 
422 NOTES TO CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. 
 
 nostrils, &c., of a corpse are stuffed (See the second paragraph of Xote 11 to Chapt-rr 
 vi.) From this it appears that the Arabs sometimes stuff the month of a corpse with 
 cotton ; but I have never heard of their doing so. 
 
 NOTE 11. Slapping the hack of the neck is a common Arab custom, like slapping 
 the face, or boxing the ears, in England ; and beating with the shoe or slipper is one 
 of the greatest insults that an Arab can offer. The verse to which this note refers is, in 
 my original, immediately followed by one too coarse to be translated. 
 
 NOTE 12. The Prophet forbade the dyeing of the hair black. See Mishkat el- 
 Masabeeh, vol. ii. pp. 360 and 362. 
 
 NOTE 13. The puppetmen here mentioned are the exhibitors of what wo term 
 " Chinese shadows," a show common in Arabian and other Eastern countries. 
 
 NOTE 14. See Note 81 to Chapter v. 
 
 NOTE 15. " Selsebeel " is the name of a fountain in Paradise. 
 
 NOTE 16. See Note 53 to Chapter viii. 
 
 NOTE 17. See Note 48 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 18. Seven different styles of writing are used by the Arabs in the present 
 day. Herbin has given descriptions and specimens of them in an Essay on Oriental 
 Caligraphy at the end of his " Developpemens des Principes de la Langue Arabe 
 Moderne." 
 
 NOTE 19. On the Occupations of tha Hareem. Next to the service of her husband 
 or master, the care of her children, and attending to other indispensable domestic 
 duties, the most important occupation of the wife or concubine-slave is that of spinning 
 or weaving or needle-work. " Sitting for an hour employed with the distaff is better 
 for women," said the Prophet, " than a year's worship ; and for every piece of cloth 
 woven of the thread spun by them they shall receive the reward of a martyr." 'Aisheh, 
 the Prophet's wife, thus declared the merit of spinning : " Tell the women what I say. 
 There is no woman who spins until she hath clothed herself but all the angels in the 
 Seven Heavens pray for forgiveness of her sins ; and she will go forth from her grave 
 on the day of judgment wearing a robe of Paradise, and with a veil upon her head, and 
 before her shall be an angel, and on her right an angel who will hand her a draught of 
 the water of Selsebeel ; 3 and another angel will come to her, and carry her upon his 
 wings, and bear her to Paradise. And when she enters Paradise, eighty thousand 
 maidens will meet her, eacli maiden bringing a different robe ; and she will have man- 
 sions of emeralds with three hundred doors, at each of which doors will stand an angel 
 with a present from the Lord of the Throne.'" 3 The arts above mentioned are pursued 
 by the females in the hareeins of the middle and higher classes. " Their leisure hours 
 are mostly spent in working with the needle; particularly in embroidering handker- 
 chiefs, head-veils, &c., upon a frame called ' mensej,' with coloured silks, and gold. Many 
 women, even in the houses of the wealthy, replenish their private purses by ornament- 
 ing handkerchiefs and other things in this manner, and employing a dellaleh (or female 
 broker) to take them to the market, or to other hareeins, for sale." 4 
 
 Thus it was in ancient Greece. We are told of Andromache, that 
 
 Far in the close recesses of the dome, 
 Pensive she ply'd the melancholy loom ; 
 A growing work employ'd her secret hours, 
 Confus'dly gay with intermingled flow'rs. 5 
 
 2 See above, Xotc 15 of the present series. 4 From my work on the Modern Kgyptians. 
 
 s Xuzhct el-Mntaaminil, &<., sect. 7. vol. i. ch. vi. 
 
 5 Pope's Homer's Iliad, Im.ik xxii. linos uGC-0. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. 423 
 
 Such also, until the decline of the Empire, was the habit of the Roman matrons. Of 
 Augustus it is said, that his ordinary apparel was entirely of the manufacture of his 
 wife, sister, daughter, and nieces. 6 
 
 NOTE 20. The word which I render " a tributary " (namely, " dhimmee,") signifies 
 a client of the state, or one who, by paying an annual tribute, is entitled to the protec- 
 tion of the Muslims and to most of the civil rights which the latter enjoy. 
 
 NOTE 21. On the Obligation imposed by eating Bread and Salt. The obligation which 
 is imposed by eating another person's bread and salt, or salt alone, or eating such things 
 with another, is well known ; but the following example of it may be new to some 
 readers. Yaakoob the son of El-Leys Es-Saffar, 7 having adopted a predatory life, ex- 
 cavated a passage one night into the palace of Dirheni the Governor of Sijistan, or 
 Seestan ; and after he had " made up a convenient bale of gold and jewels, and the most 
 costly stuffs, was proceeding to carry it off," when he happened in the dark to strike his 
 foot against something hard on the floor. Thinking it might be a jewel of some sort 
 or other, a diamond perhaps, he picked it up and put it to his tongue, and, to his equal 
 mortification and disappointment, found it to be a lump of rock-salt ; for having thus 
 tasted the salt of the owner, his avarice gave way to his respect for the laws of hospi- 
 tality ; and throwing down his precious booty, he left it behind him, and withdrew 
 empty-handed to his habitation. The treasurer of Dirhem repairing the next day, 
 according to custom, to inspect his charge, was equally surprised and alarmed at 
 observing that a great part of the treasure and other valuables had been removed ; but 
 on examining the package which lay on the floor, his astonishment was not less, to find 
 that not a single article had been conveyed away. The singularity of the circumstance 
 induced him to report it immediately to his master : and the latter causing it to be 
 proclaimed throughout the city, that the author of this proceeding had his free pardon, 
 further announced, that on repairing to the palace, he would be distinguished by the 
 most encouraging marks of favour." Yaakoob availed himself of the invitation, relying 
 upon the promise, which was fulfilled to him ; and from this period he gradually rose 
 in power until he became the founder of a Dynasty. 8 
 
 NOTE 22. The Prophet is often invoked as an intercessor ; but not otherwise. 
 
 NOTE 23. Nearly the same couplet has occurred before : see page 104 in this 
 volume. The idea expressed in the latter part of the first verse is found in a couplet in 
 Dryden's Spanish Friar : 
 
 There is a pleasure sure in being mad 
 Which none but madmen know : 
 
 and in Cowper's Task we have the following : 
 
 There is a pleasure in poetic pains 
 Which none but poets know : 
 
 upon which Mr. Keightley remarks, " Though I think there is imitation here, I would 
 not positively assert it.'' 9 
 
 NOTE 24. This is, as my sheykh states in a marginal note, the tradition of the 
 Prophet, namely, his saying, " Whoso is in love, and acteth chastely, and concealeth 
 [his passion], and dieth, dieth a martyr."' 
 
 NOTE 25. The kind of broom here mentioned, called " mikashsheh," is short and 
 
 6 Suet. Au?. 73. 8 Price's " Mahommedan History," vol. ii. 
 
 " " Es-Safiar " signifies " the Brasier." 229 et seq. 
 
 9 " Talcs and Popular Fictions," &c., p. 11. 
 
 PP. 
 
421 NOTES TO CHATTER FIFTEENTH. 
 
 flat, and is sometimes made of the thickest part of a palm-stick ; the larger portion of 
 which, being well soaked, is beaten until the fibres separate. 
 
 NOTE 26. From this question it seems that she feared he might be a Jinnee. 
 
 NOTE 27. " Kurdee" is the appellation of an individual of the nation called " El- 
 Kurd," whose country, " Kurdistan," is on the south of Armenia. Salah-ed-Deen 
 (commonly called by Europeans " Saladin") was of this nation. " Jawan " is a Persian 
 word, from the same' root as the Latin " juvenis," and has the same meaning. 
 
 NOTE 28. On feasts of this kind, see Note 7 to Chapter viii. 
 
 NOTE 29. A " hashshash " is a person addicted to the intoxicating hemp, called 
 "hasheesh" and " hasheesheh." See Note 46 to Chapter ii., and the fourth paragraph 
 of Note 22 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 30. " Kishk " (as the word is commonly pronounced, but properly 
 " keshik,") is prepared from wheat, first moistened, then dried, trodden in a vessel to 
 separate the husks, and coarsely ground with a hand-mill : the meal is mixed with 
 milk, and about six hours afterwards is spooned out upon a little straw or bran, and 
 then left for two or three days to dry. When required for use, it is either soaked or 
 pounded, and put into a sieve, over a vessel ; and then boiling water is poured on it. 
 What remains in the sieve is thrown away : what passes through is generally poured 
 into a saucepan of boiled meat or fowl, over the fire. Some leaves of white bete, fried 
 in butter, are usually added to each plate of it. 10 
 
 NOTE 31. See Note 55 to Chapter ii., and Note 98 to Chapter x. 
 
 NOTE 32. The narrator uses this expression, fearing to say, "/am a Christian." 
 even in repeating the words of another. See Note 8 to Chapter ii. 
 
 NOTE 33. This expression again, like that just noticed, is worthy of remark. If a 
 man, reading this work aloud, said, " Divorcement shall be incumbent upon me if 
 henceforth I eat of sweet rice," some persons, having heard him say so, might swear 
 that he applied the words seriously to himself, and had thereby bound himself to 
 divorce his wife if ever he ate of that dish. See Note 48 to Chapter viii. 
 
 NOTE 34. " Hajj " signifies " pilgrim," and is the usual Arab title of one who has 
 performed the pilgrimage to Mekkeh and Mount 'Arafat. The Turks and Persians use 
 instead of it, the synonymous Arabic word "hajjee," [The Christians also give the 
 title of Hajj to one who has performed the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. ED.] 
 
 NOTE 35. See a note at the foot of page 61 in this volume. 
 
 NOTE 36. The streets being deserted by the men of the city, it was a fit opportu- 
 nity for the women to look out from the windows, and for those who were neighbours 
 thus to converse with each other. 
 
 NOTE 37. See above, Note 29. 
 
 NOTE 38. " His hand descends into the dish resembling the foot of a raven [with 
 the thumb and first and second fingers nearly joined, and the other fingers turned up 
 towards the palm of the hand], and comes up [so full that it is] like the foot of a 
 camel," is a common proverb, applied to a coarse glutton. See Burckhardt's "Arabic 
 Proverbs," No. 756 
 
 NOTE 39. Properly, " Rustam " (the name of the most celebrated of the Persian 
 heroes) ; but pronounced by the Arabs, and generally, I believe, by the Turks, " Rus- 
 tum." 
 
 '*> From my work on the Modern Egyptians, vol. ii. ch. xiii. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. 
 
 425 
 
 NOTE 40. The words hero rendered " I am of their number " also signify, " I am at 
 
 the point of death," or " in the agonies of death;" but the first is my sheykh's 
 
 reading, and is more logical. 
 
 NOTE 41. The Sirat is the bridge which all must pass on the day of judgment, 
 extending over the midst of Hell, finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a 
 sword. 
 
 NOTE 42. See Note 55 to Chapter Hi. 
 
 II. 
 
 3 i 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 COMMKNCINO WITH PAIIT OF THE THEEE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVENTH 
 
 NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE THREE HUNDRED AND 
 
 THIRTY-FOURTH. 
 
 THE STORY OF 1BN-MANSOOR AND THE LADY BUDOOR AND 
 JUBEYR THE SON OF 'OMEYR ESH-SHEYBANEE. 
 
 IT is related that the Prince of the Faithful, Haroon Er-Rasheed, 
 was restless one night, and sleep was difficult unto him : he ceased 
 not to turn over from side to side, through the excess of his restless- 
 ness ; and when this state wearied him, he summoned Mesroor, and 
 said to him. Mesroor, see for me some one who will divert me from 
 
THE STORY OF IBN-MANSOOR, &c. 427 
 
 this restlessness. 1 Mesroor said, O my lord, wilt thou enter the. 
 garden in the palace, and amuse thyself with the sight of the flowers 
 it contained^ and look at the planets, and the beauty of their dispo- 
 sition, and the moon among them shining upon the water? He 
 answered, O Mesroor, verily my soul inclineth not to any thing of that 
 kind. my lord, rejoined Mesroor, there are in thy palace three 
 hundred concubines, each of whom hath a separate apartment. 
 Order, then, every one of them to retire into her apartment, and, 
 go thou about and amuse thyself by the sight of them while they 
 know not. The Khaleefeh replied, Mesroor, the palace is mine, 
 and the female slaves are my property ; yet my soul inclineth not to 
 any thing of that kind. Mesroor then said, my lord, order the learned 
 men and the sages and the poets to come before thee, and to enter 
 into discussions, and recite verses to thee, and relate to thee tales and 
 histories. My soul, replied the Khaleefeh, inclineth not to any thing 
 of that kind. Mesroor said, O my lord, order the pages and the 
 boon-companions and the men of politeness to come before thee, and 
 to entertain thee with strange witticisms. But the Khaleefeh replied, 
 O Mesroor, my soul inclineth not to aught of that kind. Then, said 
 Mesroor, O my lord, strike off my head : perhaps that will put an end 
 to thy restlessness, and dispel the uneasiness which thou sufferest. 
 And Er-Rasheed laughed at his words, and said to him, Mesroor, 
 see who of the boon-companions is at the door. So Mesroor went 
 forth, and returned saying, my lord, he who is at the door is 'Alee 
 the son of Mansoor, the Wag, of Damascus. The Khaleefeh said, 
 Bring him unto me. Mesroor therefore went and brought him ; and 
 when Ibn 2 -Mansoor entered, he said, Peace be on th.ee, Prince of 
 the Faithful ! And the Khaleefeh returned his salutation, and said, 
 O Ibn-Mansoor, relate to us somewhat of thy stories. O Prince of 
 the Faithful, said he, shall I relate to thee a thing that I have actually 
 witnessed, or a thing of which I have heard ? The Prince of the 
 Faithful answered, If thou have witnessed any thing extraordinary, 
 relate it to us ; for hearing a thing as reported by others is not like 
 witnessing. So Ibn-Mansoor said, O Prince of the Faithful, give up 
 to me exclusively thy hearing and thy mind. Er-Rasheed replied, 
 Ibn-Mansoor, see, I hear with mine ear, and look at thee with mine 
 eye, and attend to thee with my mind. And Ibn-Mansoor said, 
 
 O Prince of the Faithful, know that I have an appointment eveiy 
 year from Mohammad the son of Suleyman El-Hashimee, the Sultan 
 of El-Basrah ; and I went to him as I was wont, and when I came to 
 
428 THE STORY OF 1BN-MANSOOR, &c. 
 
 him, I found him prepared to mount for the chase. I saluted him, 
 and he saluted me, and said to me, Ibn-Mansoor, mount, and 
 accompany us to the chase. But I replied, my lord, I Itave not 
 power to ride : seat me therefore in the mansion of entertainment, 
 and give a charge respecting me to the chamberlains and lieutenants. 
 And he did so; and then went to hunt. And they paid me the 
 utmost honour, and entertained rne in the best manner. And I said 
 within myself, Allah ! it is wonderful that for a long time I have been 
 in the habit of corning from Baghdad to El-Basrah, and know not in 
 this place aught but the way from the palace to the garden, and from 
 the garden to the palace ; and when shall I find such an opportunity 
 to amuse myself with a sight of the quarters of El-Basrah as on this 
 occasion ? I will therefore arise immediately, and walk out alone to 
 amuse myself, and let the food that I have eaten digest. 
 
 Accordingly I attired myself in the richest of my apparel, and 
 walked through a part of El-Basrah. Now thou knowest, Prince 
 of the Faithful, that there are in it seventy streets, the length of each 
 of which is seventy leagues by the measure of El-'Enik. 3 So I lost 
 my way in its by-streets, and thirst overcame me ; and while 1 was 
 walking, Prince of the Faithful, lo, a great door, with two rings of 
 yellow brass, and with curtains of red brocade hung over it, and by 
 the two sides of it were two mastabahs, and above it was a trellis for 
 grape-vines, which overshadowed that door. I stopped to divert 
 myself with a sight of this mansion; and while I stood, I heard 
 a voice of lamentation, proceeding from a sorrowful heart, warbling 
 melodious sounds, and singing these verses : 
 
 My body hath become the dwelling-place of diseases and afflictions, 
 
 On account of a fawn whose abode and home are distant. 
 
 O two zephyrs of the desert that have stirred up my anguish ! 
 
 By Allah, your Lord, turn to my [heart's] abode, 
 
 And reproach him ; perhaps reproach will change his conduct. 
 
 Five more stanzas like the above followed, and I said within myself, 
 The person from whom these melodious sounds have proceeded, if 
 comely, possesseth the united charms of comeliness and eloquence and 
 sweetness of voice. I then approached the door, and began to raise 
 the curtain by little and little ; and, lo, I beheld a fair damsel like 
 the moon when it appeareth in its fourteenth night, with joined eye- 
 brows, and languishing eyelids, and a bosom like two pomegranates ; 
 she had thin lips, like two pieces of carnelion, 4 a mouth like the seal 
 of Suleyman, 5 and a set of teeth that would sport with the reason of 
 
the poet' and the prose-writer. Altogether she comprised all the 
 charms of loveliness, and was a source of disturbance unto women and 
 men. The beholder could not satisfy himself with gazing at her 
 beauty ; and she was as the poet hath said, 
 
 When she approacheth, she killeth ; and when she turneth her back, she maketh 
 
 sill men to be enamoured of her. 
 She is like the sun, and like the full moon ; but oppression and aversion are not 
 
 in her nature. 
 Paradise is opened when she exhibiteth herself, and the full moon is seen above 
 
 her neck-rings. 
 
 Now while I was looking at her through the interstice of the 
 curtains, lo, she cast a glance, and beheld me standing at the door ; 
 whereupon she said to her slave-girl, See who is at the door. The 
 slave-girl therefore arose and came to me, and said, O sheykh, hast 
 thou no modesty; and do hoariness and disgraceful conduct exist 
 together ? I answered her, O my mistress, as to hoariness, we have 
 
430 THE STORY OF IBN-MANSOOR, &c. 
 
 experienced it ; but as to disgraceful conduct, I do not think that I 
 have been guilty of it. But her mistress said, And what conduct can 
 be more disgraceful than thine intrusion upon a house that is not thine 
 own, and thy looking at a hareem that is not thine ? So I answered 
 her, my mistress, I have an excuse for doing so. And what 
 is thine excuse ? she asked. I answered her, Verily I am a stranger, 
 and thirsty ; and thirst hath almost killed me. And upon this she 
 said, We accept thine excuse. Then calling one of her female slaves, 
 she said, Lutf, 6 give him a draught in the mug of gold. Where- 
 upon she brought me a mug of red gold set with pearls and jewels, 
 full of water perfumed with strong-scented musk, and covered with a 
 napkin of green silk ; and I began to drink, and prolonged my drink- 
 ing, stealing glances at her in the meanwhile, until I had stood a 
 length of time. I then returned the mug to the slave-girl, and 
 remained standing. So she [the lady] said, sheykh, go thy way. 
 But I replied, my mistress, I am troubled in mind. Respecting 
 what ? said she. And I answered, Respecting the changes of fortune, 
 and the vicissitudes of events. She replied, It becometh thee ; for 
 fortune giveth rise to wonders. But what (she added) hast thou 
 witnessed of its wonders, that thou reflectest upon it ? I am reflecting, 
 I answered, upon the owner of this house ; for he was my sincere 
 friend in his life-time. And she said to me, What was his name ? I 
 answered, Mohammad the son of 'Alee the Jeweller; and he was 
 possessed of great wealth. 7 But hath he, I asked, left children ? 
 Yes, said she ; he hath left a daughter, who is named Budoor, 8 and 
 she hath inherited all his riches. So I said to her, It seemeth that 
 thou art his daughter. She replied, Yes : and laughed. Then she 
 said, O sheykh, thou hast prolonged the discourse ; therefore go thy 
 way. I replied, I must go; but I see that thy charms are changed : 
 acquaint me then with thy case : perhaps God may grant thee relief 
 by means of me. And she said to me, sheykh, if thou be of the 
 number of those who are worthy of being intrusted with secrets, we 
 will reveal to thee our secret. Inform me therefore who thou art, that 
 I may know whether thou art a fit depositary for a secret, or not ; for 
 the poet hath said, 
 
 None kcopcth a secret but a faithful person : with the best of mankind it rc- 
 
 maineth concealed. 
 I h:\ve kept my secret in a house with a lock, whose key is lost, and whose door 
 
 is scaled. 9 
 
 So I said to her, O my mistress, if thou desircst to know who I am, I 
 

 am 'Alee the son of Mansoor, the Wag, of Damascus, the boon- 
 companion of the Prince of the Faithful, Haroon Er-Rasheed. 
 
 And when she heard my name, she descended from her chair, and 
 saluted me, and said to me, Thou art welcome, O Ibn-Mansoor. Now 
 I will acquaint thee with my state, and intrust thee with my secret. 
 I am a separated lover. my mistress, said I, thou art comely, and 
 lovest none but whomsoever is comely. Who then is he that thou 
 lovest ? She answered, I love Jubeyr the son of 'Omeyr Esh- 
 Sheybanee, the Emeer of the Benee-Sheyban. 10 And she described to 
 me a young man than whom there was none more handsome in 
 El-Basrah. I said to her, O my mistress, hath any interview or cor- 
 respondence taken place between you ? Yes, she answered ; but we 
 have loved with the tongue ; not with the heart and soul ; since he 
 hath not fulfilled a promise, nor performed a covenant. So I said to 
 her, O my mistress, and what hath been the cause of the separation 
 that hath occurred between you ? She answered, The cause was this : 
 I was sitting one day, and this my slave-girl was combing my hair ; 
 and when she had finished combing it, she plaited my tresses, and my 
 beauty and loveliness charmed her ; so she bent over me, and kissed 
 my cheek; and just at that time he came in suddenly, and, seeing 
 the slave-girl kiss my cheek/he drew back instantly in anger, deter- 
 mining upon a lasting separation, and recited these two verses : 
 
432 THE STORY OF IBN-MANSOOR, 
 
 If another have a share in the object of my love, I abandon my beloved, and live 
 
 alone. 
 My beloved is worthless if she desire aught of which her lover doth not approve. 
 
 And from the time of his withdrawing in aversion from me to the 
 present day, neither letter nor reply hath come to us from him, O 
 Ibn-Mansoor. And what, said I, dost thou desire ? She answered, 
 I desire to send to him a letter by thee ; and if thou bring me his 
 answer, thou shalt receive from me five hundred pieces of gold ; and if 
 thou bring me not his answer, thou shalt receive, as a compensation 
 for thy walk, one hundred pieces of gold. So I replied, Do what 
 seemeth fit unto thee. And she said, I hear and obey. Then she 
 called one of her female slaves, and said, Bring to me an inkhorn, and 
 a piece of paper. And she brought them to her : and she wrote these 
 verses : 
 
 My beloved, wherefore this estrangement and hatred ? And when shall forgive- 
 ness and indulgence be granted ? 
 
 Why dost thou abandon me in aversion ? Thy face is not the face that I was 
 wont to know. 
 
 Yes : the slanderers have falsified my words, and thou hast leaned to their re- 
 port; so they have increased in their excesses. 
 
 If thou hast believed their tale, God forbid thou shouldst continue to do so; for 
 thou knowest better. 
 
 By thy life inform me what is it thou hast heard ; for thou knowest what hath 
 been said, and wilt act justly. 
 
 If it be true that I have uttered the words, words admit of interpretation, and 
 they admit of change. 
 
 Suppose that the words were revealed by God : people have changed and cor- 
 rupted the Pentateuch. 11 
 
 What falsehoods have been told of persons before us ! Even Yoosuf was blamed 
 in the presence of Yaakoob ! 
 
 For myself and the slanderer and thee together there shall be an awful day ot 
 judgment. 
 
 She then sealed the letter, and handed it to me ; and I took it 
 and went to the house of Jubeyr the son of 'Omeyr Esh-Sheybanee. 
 I found that he was hunting ; so I seated myself to wait for him ; and 
 while I sat, lo, he approached, returning from the chase; and when I 
 beheld him, O Prince of the Faithful, upon his horse my reason was 
 confounded by his beauty and loveliness. Looking aside, he beheld 
 me sitting at the door of his house ; and as soon as he saw me, he 
 alighted from his horse, and came to me and embraced and saluted 
 me ; and it seemed to me as though I held in my embrace the world 
 and all that it containeth. Then he conducted me into his house, and 
 seated me upon his couch, and gave orders to bring the table ; where- 
 upon they brought forward a table of khoolenj 12 of Khurasan, the feet 
 
AND THE LADY BUDOOR, &c. 433 
 
 of which were of gold, and upon it were all kinds of viands, varieties 
 of meats, fried and roasted, and such like ; and when I seated myself 
 at the table, I looked at it, and found inscribed upon it these verses : 
 
 Stay by the cranes that are lodged in the porringers, and alight among the tribe 
 
 of fried meats and sikbajes ; 
 And mourn over the daughters of the kata I have done so continually and over 
 
 the browned meat amid the chickens. 13 
 
 Then Jubeyr the son of 'Orneyr said, Stretch forth thy hand to our 
 food, and comfort our heart by eating of our provision. But I replied, 
 By Allah I will not eat of thy food a single mouthful until thou per- 
 form my want. He said, And what is thy want? And I handed 
 forth to him a letter; and when he had read it and understood its 
 contents, he tore it in pieces and threw it upon the floor, saying to 
 me, O Ibn-Mansoor, whatsoever want thou hast, we will perform it, 
 except this thing which concerneth the writer of this letter ; for to her 
 letter I have no reply to give. So I rose from his side in anger; but 
 he laid hold upon my skirts, and said to me, O Ibn-Mansoor, I will 
 tell thee what she said to thee, though I was not present with you 
 two. I asked him, What was it that she said to me ? And he 
 replied, D.id not the writer of this letter say to thee, If thou bring me 
 his answer, thou shalt receive from me five hundred pieces of gold; 
 and if thou bring me not his answer, thou shalt receive from me, as 
 a compensation for thy walk, one hundred pieces of gold ? I answered, 
 Yes. And he said, Sit with me this day, and eat and drink, and 
 enjoy thyself and be merry, and receive five hundred pieces of gold. 
 
 So I sat with him, and ate and drank, and enjoyed myself and 
 was merry, and entertained him in the night by conversation ; and 
 afterwards I said, O my master, there is no music in thy house. He 
 replied, Verily for a long time we have drunk without music. Then 
 calling one of his female slaves, he said, Shejeret-ed-Durr ! Where- 
 upon a slave-girl answered him from her private chamber, bringing a 
 lute of Indian manufacture enclosed n a bag of silk ; and she came, 
 and seated herself, and, having placed the lute in her lap, played upon 
 it one and twenty airs ; after which she returned to the first air, and, 
 with exciting modulations, sang these verses : 
 
 Whoso hath not tasted love's sweetness and its bitterness doth not distinguish 
 
 between the company and the absence of the beloved : 
 And he who hath declined from love's right road doth not distinguish between the 
 
 smoothness and the ruggedness of his path. 
 I ceased not to oppose the votaries of love until I experienced both its sweetness 
 
 and its bitterness ; 
 II. 3 K 
 
434 THE STORY OF IBN-MANSOOR, 
 
 And I have drunk up the cup of its bitterness until I have abased myself both to 
 the slave and the free. 
 
 How many a night hath the beloved caroused with me, and I have sipped the 
 sweet draught that issued from her lips ! 
 
 How short was each night when we were together ! The nightfall and daybreak 
 were simultaneous .' 
 
 Fortune made a vow that she would disunite us; and now hath Fortune accom- 
 plished her vow. 
 
 Fate decreed, and the sentence cannot be reversed. Who is he that can oppose his 
 Lord's command ? 
 
 And when the slave-girl had finished her song, her master uttered a 
 great cry, and fell down in a fit ; upon which the slave-girl said, May 
 God not punish thee, sheykh ; for of a long time we have drunk 
 without music, fearing for our master, lest he should experience the 
 like of this fit. But go to yon private chamber, and sleep there. So 
 I went to the private chamber to which she directed me, and slept 
 there until the morning; when, lo, a page came to me, bringing a 
 purse in which were five hundred pieces of gold ; and he said, This is 
 what my master promised thee; but return thou not to the damsel 
 who sent thee, and let it be as though thou hadst not heard of this 
 affair, and as though we had not heard. So I replied, I hear and 
 obey. 
 
 I then took the purse, and went my way; but I said within 
 myself, Verily the damsel hath been expecting me since yesterday. 
 By Allah I must return to her, and acquaint her with that which hath 
 taken place between me and him ; for, if I return not to her, probably 
 she will revile me, and will revile every one who cometh forth from my 
 country. 14 Accordingly, I went to her, and found her standing 
 behind the door ; and when she beheld me, she said, Ibn-Mansoor, 
 
AND THE LADY BUDOOR, &c. 435 
 
 thou hast not accomplished for me any thing. Who, said I, informed 
 thee of this ? She answered, O Ibn-Mansoor, I have a further 
 intuition; that, when thou handedst him the paper, he tore it in 
 pieces and threw it down, and said to thee, O Ibn-Mansoor, whatso- 
 ever want thou hast, we will perform it for thee, except the affair of 
 her who wrote this letter ; for to her I have no reply to give. Where- 
 upon thou rosest from his side in anger ; but he laid hold upon thy 
 skirts, and said to thee, Ibn-Mansoor, sit with me this day ; for 
 thou art my guest, and eat and drink, and enjoy thyself and be merry, 
 and receive five hundred pieces of gold. So thou sattest with him, 
 and atest and drunkest, and enjoyedst thyself and wast merry, and 
 entertainedst him by night with conversation ; and the slave-girl sang 
 such an air and such verses ; upon which he fell down in a fit. So, 
 O Prince of the Faithful, I said to her, Wast thou with us ? She 
 replied, Ibn-Mansoor, hast thou not heard the saying of the 
 poet ? 
 
 The hearts of lovers have eyes, which see what spectators see not. 
 
 But, Ibn-Mansoor, she added, night and day succeed not one 
 another during the course of an event without changing it. Then she 
 raised her eyes towards heaven, and said, O Object of my worship, 
 and my Master, and my Lord, as Thou hast afflicted me by the love 
 of Jubeyr the son of 'Omeyr, so do Thou afflict him by the love of 
 me, and transfer the affection from my heart to his ! After this, she 
 gave me a hundred pieces of gold, as a compensation for my walk, 
 and I took it, and repaired to the Sultan of El-Basrah, whom I found 
 returned from the chase ; and I received from him my appointment 
 and returned to Baghdad. 
 
 And when the next year arrived, I went to the city of El-Basrah, 
 to demand my appointment as usual, and the Sultan paid it to me ; 
 and when I was about to return to Baghdad, I reflected in my mind 
 upon the case of the damsel Budoor, and said, By Allah I must repair 
 to her, and see what hath taken place between her and her beloved. 
 So I went to her house; and I found the ground before her door 
 swept and sprinkled, and servants and dependants and pages there ; 
 whereupon I said, Probably anxiety hath overwhelmed the damsel's 
 heart, and she hath died, and some one of the emeers hath taken up 
 his abode in her house. I therefore left her house, and repaired to 
 that of Jubeyr the son of 'Omeyr Esh-Sheybanee ; and I found its 
 mastabahs demolished, and found not pages at its door as usual ; so I 
 
said within myself, Probably he hath died. Then I stood before the 
 door of his house, and, pouring forth tears, bewailed its condition in 
 these verses : 
 
 iny lord, who hast departed, and whom my heart followeth, return, and so mv 
 
 festive days shall be renewed to me ! 
 
 1 pause at your house, bewailing your abode, with pouring tears, and with con- 
 
 vulsed eyelids.' 
 
 I ask the house with its mourning remains, Where is the dispenser of beneficence 
 
 and favours ? 
 Go thy way [it answerethj ; for the friends have departed from the dwelling, and 
 
 beneath the dust are buried. 
 May God not deprive us of the view of their merits in all their extent, and be their 
 
 virtues never hidden ! 
 
 And while I was bewailing the people of the house in these verses, 
 O Prince of the Faithful, lo, a black slave came forth to me from the 
 house, and said, O sheykh, be silent! May thy mother be bereft of 
 
THE STORY OF IBN-MANSOOK, &c. 437 
 
 thee ! Wherefore do I behold thee bewailing this house in these 
 verses ? So I answered him, I used to know it as the abode of one of 
 my sincere friends. He said, And what was his name ? I answered, 
 Jubeyr the son of 'Omeyr Esh-Sheybanee. And he said, And what 
 hath happened unto him ? Praise be to God, he is still blest with his 
 riches and prosperity and property ; but God hath afflicted him with 
 the love of a damsel named the lady Budoor, and he is overwhelmed 
 by his love of her, and by the violence of his transport and torment, 
 so that he is like a great rock overthrown : for when he is hungry, he 
 saith not to his servants, Give me food ; and when he is thirsty, he 
 saith not, Give me drink. And I said, Ask permission for me to go 
 in to him. my master, he asked, wouldst thou go in to him who 
 understandeth, or to him who understandeth not ? I answered, I 
 must go in to him whatever be the case. So he entered the house 
 and asked permission, and then returned giving it to me. 
 
 I therefore went in to him, and I found him like a mass of stone 
 thrown down, understanding neither sign nor open speech. I spoke 
 to him ; but he answered me not ; and one of his attendants said to 
 me, O my master, if thou knowest any poetry, recite it to him, and 
 raise thy voice in doing so ; for thereupon he will be aroused. Ac- 
 cordingly, I recited these two verses : 
 
 Hast thou relinquished the love of Budoor, or art thou stubborn ? And dost thou 
 
 pass the night wakeful, or do thine eyelids sleep ? 
 If thy tears continue to flow in torrents, then know that thou wilt pass eternity in 
 
 Paradise. 15 
 
 And when he heard these verses he opened his eye, and said to me, 
 Welcome, Ibn-Mansoor. My emaciation hath become excessive. 
 And I asked him, saying, O my master, is there any thing that thou 
 wouldst have me do for thee ? He answered, Yes : I desire to write 
 a letter to her, and to send it to her by thee; and if thou bring me 
 her answer thou shalt receive from me a thousand pieces of gold ; and 
 if thou bring me not her answer, thou shalt receive from me, as a 
 compensation for thy walk, two hundred pieces of gold. So I replied, 
 Do what seemeth fit to thee. And he called one of his female slaves, 
 and said, Bring me an inkhorn and a paper. She therefore brought 
 him what he demanded ; and he wrote these verses : 
 
 I conjure you by Allah, my mistress, act gently towards me; for love hath 
 
 deprived me of my reason ! 
 My passion for you hath enslaved me, and clad me with the garment of sickiu'*s, 
 
 and rendered me abject. 
 
438 THE STORY OF IBN-MANSOOR, 
 
 I was wont, before this, to think lightly of love, and regard it, O my mistress, as 
 an easy matter ; 
 
 But when it had shewn me the waves of its sea, I submitted to God's judgment, 
 and excused the afflicted, 
 
 If you will, have mercy, and grant me a meeting ; and if you will kill me, still for- 
 get not to shew favour. 16 
 
 He then sealed the letter, and handed it to me, and I took it and 
 repaired with it to the house of Budoor. I began to raise the curtain 
 by little and little as before; and, lo, ten slave-girls, high-bosomed 
 virgins, resembling moons; and the lady Budoor was sitting in the 
 midst of them, like the full moon in the midst of the stars, or like the 
 sun unobscured by clouds; and she was free from grief and pain. 
 And while I was looking at her, and wondering at her being in this 
 state, she cast a glance towards me, and saw me standing at the door ; 
 whereupon she said to me, A friendly and free and an ample welcome 
 to thee, O Ibn-Mansoor ! Enter. So I entered, and, having saluted 
 her, handed to her the paper ; and when she had read it, and under- 
 stood its contents, she laughed, and said to me, Ibn-Mansoor, the 
 poet lied not when he said, 
 
 I will brook my love for thee resolutely till a messenger from thee come unto me. 
 
 Ibn-Mansoor, she added, I will now write for thee an answer, that 
 he may give thee what he hath promised thee. And I replied, May 
 God compensate thee well ! Then she called one of her female slaves, 
 and said, Bring me an iukhorn and a paper. And when she had 
 brought her what she demanded, she wrote to him some harsh verses. 
 
 1 therefore said to her, By Allah, my mistress, there remaineth not 
 unto him before his death any more than the period that will expire 
 on his reading this paper. I then tore it, and said to her, Write to 
 him something different from these verses. And she replied, I hear 
 and obey : but she wrote to him some verses more severe than the 
 former ones. So I said to her, By Allah, my mistress, he will not 
 read these verses without his soul's quitting his body. She replied, 
 Ibn-Mansoor, my transport hath attained to such a pitch that I 
 have said what I have said. I rejoined, Hadst thou said more than 
 that, it had been just in thee ; but a disposition to pardon is one of 
 the qualities of the generous. And when she heard my words, her 
 eyes filled with tears, and she wrote to him a note by Allah, 
 Prince of the Faithful, there is not in thine assembly any one who can 
 write the like of it. She wrote in it these verses : 
 
AND THE LADY WTDOOR, &c. 439 
 
 How long shall this coyness and aversion continue ? Thou hast satisfied the 
 
 malice which the enviers hore me. 
 Perhaps I did wrong, and was not aware of it : then inform me what thou hast 
 
 been told concerning me. 
 I desire to welcome thee, O my beloved, as I welcome sleep to my eye and my 
 
 eyelid : 
 And since thou hast drunk the pure cup of love, if thou see me intoxicated, do not 
 
 blame me, 
 
 And when she had finished writing the letter, and sealed it, she 
 handed it to me ; and I said to her, my mistress, verily this note 
 will cure the sick, and satisfy the thirsty. 
 
 I took the letter, and went forth ; and she called me after I had 
 gone forth from her, and said to me, Ibn-Mansoor, say to him, 
 She will be this night thy guest. So I rejoiced at this exceedingly. 
 I repaired with the letter to Jubeyr the son of 'Omeyr ; and when I 
 went in to him, I found him with his eye fixed upon the door, waiting 
 for the answer ; and as soon as I handed to him the paper, he opened 
 it and read it, and understood its meaning, and, uttering a great cry, 
 fell down in a fit. And when he recovered, he said, Ibn-Mansoor, 
 did she write this note with her hand, and did she touch it with her 
 fingers ? O my master, said I, and do people write with their feet ? 
 And by Allah, Prince of the Faithful, my words to him were not 
 ended when we heard the clinking of her anklets in the passage, as 
 she entered. On beholding her, he rose upon his feet, as though he 
 no longer felt any pain, and embraced her as the letter Lam embraces 
 Alif, 17 and the disease of him who cannot escape from his ailment 
 quitted him. 18 Then he seated himself; but she sat not : so I said to 
 her, my mistress, wherefore hast thou not sat down ? She answered, 
 O Ibn-Mansoor, I will not sit down save on the condition that hath 
 been made between us. And what, I asked, is that condition between 
 you two ! No one, she answered, knoweth the secrets of lovers. She 
 then put her mouth to his ear, and said something privately to him ; 
 to which he replied, I hear and obey. And he arose, and whispered 
 to one of his slaves ; whereupon the slave absented himself for a while, 
 after which he carne back, accompanied by a Kaclee and two witnesses. 
 And Jubeyr arose, and, having brought a purse containing a hundred 
 thousand pieces of gold, said, O Kaclee, perform the ceremony of my 
 contract of marriage to this damsel for this sum as a dowry. The 
 Kaclee therefore said to her, Say, I consent to that. And she said so. 
 So they performed the ceremony of the contract ; and after that, the 
 damsel opened the purse, filled her hand with part of its contents, and 
 
440 THE STORY OF IBN-MANSOOR, 
 
 gave to the Kndee and the witnessses. Then she handed to him 
 [Jubeyr] what remained in the purse, and the Kadee and witnesses 
 departed. 
 
 I sat with them in joy and gladness until the greater part of the 
 night had passed, when I said within myself, They are two lovers, and 
 during a long period they have been separated , so I will arise imme- 
 diately, that I may sleep in a place remote from them, and leave them 
 together alone. Accordingly I arose ; but the damsel laid hold upon 
 my skirts, and said to me, What hath thy mind suggested to thee ? 
 I answered, Such and such things. And she replied, Sit, and when 
 we desire thy departure, we will dismiss thee. I therefore remained 
 sitting with them until the approach of the dawn, when she said, 
 Ibn-Mansoor, go to yon private chamber ; for we have furnished it 
 for thee, and it is thy sleeping-place. And I arose, and slept in it 
 until the morning ; and when I got up, there came to me a page with 
 a basin and ewer, and I performed the ablution, and recited the morn- 
 ing-prayers ; after which I sat. And while I was sitting, lo, Jubeyr 
 and his beloved came forth from a bath that was in the house, 
 wringing their locks; and I bade them good morning, congra- 
 tulating them on their safety and their reunion, and said to Jubeyr, 
 What beginneth with stipulation endeth with content. He replied, 
 Thou hast spoken truth, and thou art entitled to liberal treatment. 
 Then calling his treasurer, he said to him, Bring to me three thousand 
 pieces of gold. So he brought him a purse containing that sum, and 
 Jubeyr said to me, Do us the favour to accept this. But I replied, I 
 will not accept it until thou inform me what was the cause of the 
 transition of the love- from her to thee, after that excessive repulsion. 
 And he said, I hear and obey. Know that we have a festival called 
 the Festival of the New-year's-days, when the people go forth and 
 embark in boats, and amuse themselves upon the river. 19 And I went 
 forth to amuse myself with my companions, and saw a boat wherein 
 were ten slave-girls like moons, and this lady Budoor was in the 
 midst of them, having her lute with her; and she played upon it 
 eleven airs ; after which she returned to the first air, and sang these 
 verses : 
 
 Fire is cooler than the fires of iny bosom ; and rock is softer than the heart of my 
 
 lord. 
 Verily I wonder at his composition, with a heart of rock in a body soft as water. 
 
 And I said to her, Repeat the two verses and the air. But she would 
 not. So I ordered the boatmen to pelt her ; and they pelted her with 
 
AND THE LADY BUDOOE, &c. 
 
 441 
 
 oranges until we feared that the boat in which she was would sink. 
 Then she went her way : and this was the cause of the transition of 
 the love from her heart to mine. I therefore, says Ibn-Mansoor. 
 congratulated them on their reunion, and, taking the purse with its 
 contents, repaired to Baghdad. 
 
 And the bosom of the Khaleefeh was dilated, and the restlessness, 
 and the contraction of the heart that he suffered, ceased to trouble 
 him. 20 
 
 TI. 
 
 3 L 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 NOTE 1. Intention of the Air-ocd. HABOON Eu-PiASiiEED seems to have been, like 
 many other Easterns, much troubled with sleeplessness. The usual means employed to 
 relieve or divert a person thus suffering are story-telling, music, and a gentle kneading 
 or pressing of the flesh ; and for the same purpose the air-bed was invented. El- 
 Makreezee relates, 1 in his account of the constructions of Khumaraweyb (the Governor 
 of Egypt), 2 the son of Ahmad, the son of Tooloon, that upon his complaining of exces- 
 sive sleeplessness, his physician advised him to make a pool of quicksilver. This pool 
 he made in front of his palace, which was in the place now called the Rumeyleh : 3 it 
 was fifty cubits in length and the same in breadth; and its construction, and the filling 
 it with quicksilver, cost a great sum of money. At the corners of the pool were pegs of 
 pure silver, to which were attached, by rings of silver, strong bands of silk ; and a bed 
 of skins, inflated with air, being thrown upon the pool and secured in the midst of it 
 by the bands of silk, remained in a continual state of agreeable vacillation while the 
 Prince lay upon it. 
 
 NOTE 2. '' Ibn " signifies "son ;" and '' Ibn-Mansoor," " tl.c Son of Mansoor." 
 NOTE 3. This is, of course, a monstrous exaggeration 
 
 NOTE 4. So in the edition of Breslau. In the Cairo edition, "like two nk-ho- 
 wanehs. ' This name is generally given to the chamomile. 
 NOTE 5. See Note 43 to Chapter x. 
 NOTE 6. " Lutf " signifies " elegance," " delicacy," &c. 
 NOTE 7. We may suppose that he had learnt this of son.e passenger. 
 NOTE 8. See Note 34 to Chapter x. 
 
 NOTE 9. Nearly the same couplet has occurred before. See Note 19 to Chapter iii. 
 NOTE 10. " Benee-Sheyban " is the name of two tribes of Arabs. 
 
 1 Inhis"Khitat." 
 
 2 In the latter p:irt of the ninth century of our 
 era. '^ Ahmad the son of Tooloon was the founder 
 of the virtually-independent dynasty of the Benee- 
 Tooloon, which governed Egypt from the year of 
 
 the Flight (cir ) 255 to 292. Khumuraweyh, the 
 son and successor of Ahmad, ruled from tin' year 
 270 t <->:>_'. ; 
 
 3 This is a large vacant space in front of the 
 citadel of Cairo. 
 
NOTES TO CHAFfER SIXTEENTH. 443 
 
 NOTE 11. See Note 112 to Chapter xi. 
 
 NOTE 12. " Khoolenj," also written "khalenj," is explained in dictionaries as tlio 
 name of a tree from which wooden bowls are made. 
 
 NOTE 13. The word which I render " cranes " (" gharaneek ") may perhaps here 
 signify some other kind of long-necked aquatic birds. That which I render " porrin- 
 gers " is " sekareej," plural of " sukroojeh," also written " sukrujeh," and " sukurjeh," of 
 Persian origin : the meaning which I have given to it (and which I find in a MS. dic- 
 tionary of my own) appears to have been unknown to my sheykh. On the "sikbaj " 
 see Note 98 to Chapter v. ; but, I may add, there are other kinds of sikbaj than that 
 which is there mentioned : vinegar, I believe, enters into the composition of all. In- 
 stead of " mourn over," we may read "call ;" but I prefer the former sense, as it im- 
 plies the celebration of the excellences of that which is mourned over. . The "kata " is 
 a kind of grouse, and has been before mentioned. The " browned meat " (in the 
 original, " mohammar,") is meat cut into small pieces, and fried for a long time, till it 
 becomes of a reddish-brown colour. Four other verses follow in the original ; but I 
 have omitted them in my text, as I consider them inappropriate, and of little merit. I 
 however insert them here : 
 
 O the sighing of my heart for two dishes 4 offish that were placed by a cake of new bread on the 
 
 stairs ! 5 
 God be praised for the supper ! How^excellent it was, with the pulse steeped in the vinegar of 
 
 the jars, 6 
 
 And the rice dressed with buffalo's milk, hi which hands were plunged even to the armlets ! 
 O my soul, be patient ; for God is bountiful : if thy means be narrow, He will give thee relief. 
 
 NOTE 14. " Such is the custom of men; when anyone acteth ill towards them, 
 they revile both him and every one who cometh from his country." 7 
 
 NOTE 15. He who dieth. of love will enjoy Paradise. See Note 24 to Chapter xv. 
 NOTE 16. That is, forget not to beg mercy for me. 
 
 NOTE 17. Lam and Alif, when not united with any other letter, generally have 
 the form of two nearly upright strokes, crossing each other obliquely, and connected at 
 the feet. 
 
 NOTE 18. This phrase (in the original, " zalet 'anhu 'illetu-lledhee la yensarif"), 
 which I have freely rendered, bears another meaning, and conveys an allusion to a rule 
 of grammar, with which the Arabic scholar is acquainted, and of which others will not 
 require an explanation. 
 
 NOTE 19. On the Festival of the New-year's-days. The Festival of the New-year's- 
 da vs. commencing at the Vernal Equinox, is generally said to have been of Persian 
 origin ; but I think it not improbable that it originated from the Jewish Passover. It 
 was the principal festival among the ancient Persians, and continued six days. " On 
 the first [called by them ' Now-roz,' and by the Arabs ' Norooz,'] the King gave his 
 chief attention to promote the happiness of the body of the people ; on the second, he 
 entertained the doctors and astrologers; on the third, the priests, and counsellors of 
 state; on the fourth, the princes of the blood, and grandees; on the fifth, the royal 
 children ; and on the sixth, which was considered as the King's particular day, his sub- 
 
 4 Literally " two colours " ("loneyn"). Several plural of "dekkoojeh," or perhaps "dukkoojeh" 
 different dishes are commonly called so many (for I am doubtful as to the first vowel). It is 
 " 16ns," or " colours." applied to a small kind of jar, and I find it in the 
 
 5 The words which 1 render "on the stairs" dictionary above mentioned, and in Bocthor's and 
 (" fi-1-ma'areeji ") may perhaps admit of some Caussin de Perceval's " Dictionuaire Fran^ais- 
 better interpretation. Arabe." 
 
 6 The word rendered "jars" is "dekakcej," ~ Marginal note by my sheykh. 
 
444 JSTOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 jects made him free gifts agreeable to their rank. On the eve of the Now-roz, a young 
 man of an elegant figure, personating the new year, was stationed at the door of the 
 royal bedchamber, which he entered without ceremony the moment the sun appeared 
 above the horizon. The King, immediately addressing him, said, ' What art thou ? 
 Whence dost thou come ? Whither dost thou go ? What is thy name ? Wherefore 
 dost thou approach ? And what dost thou bring ?' To which toe answered, ' I am the 
 fortunate and the blessed : I am sent hither by God, and bring with me the new year.' 
 Then sitting down, another appeared with a large silver dish, in which were wheat, 
 barley, peas, vetches, sesame, and rice (seven ears and nine grains of each), with a 
 lump of sugar, and two new-coined pieces of gold, which, as an oifering, were placed 
 before the King. Then entered the prime-minister, the general of the forces, the lord 
 high treasurer, and the superintendent of war ; after whom followed the nobles and 
 people, according to their dignity and respective classes. A large loaf, made of the 
 above-mentioned grains, being then presented to the King, after eating part of it he 
 offered some to those who were around him, saying, ' This is the new day, of the new 
 month, of the new year, of the new time ; when all things consistent with time must 
 be renewed.' Then investing his nobles with rich robes, he blessed and distributed 
 amongst them the presents which had been brought. The origin of this solemnity is 
 carried up to one of their ancient Kings, called Jemshed, who then made his first public 
 entry into Istakhr (Persepolis), which he had just finished ; and, amongst other regula- 
 tions, ordered that the Persian era should commence from that day." 8 
 
 A custom similar to that described in the passage to which this note refers prevails 
 at the present day in Egypt. It is termed li Shemm en-Neseem " (or " the Smelling of 
 the Zephyr "), and is observed on the first day of the Khamaseen, which is a period of 
 forty -nine days (when hot southerly winds are of frequent occurrence), commencing 
 on the day immediately following the Coptic festival of Easter Sunday, and terminating 
 on the Day of Pentecost, or Whit Sunday. Early in the morning of the first day of 
 this period, many persons, especially women, break an onion, and smell it ; and in the 
 course of the forenoon, many of the citizens of Cairo ride or walk a little way into the 
 country, or go in boats, generally northwards, to take the air, or, as they term it, smell 
 the air, which, on that day, they believe to have a wonderfully-beneficial effect. The 
 greater number dine in the country, or on the river. The 'ulama (or learned), how- 
 ever, have their Shemm en-Neseem at a fixed period of the solar year ; the first three 
 days of the spring-quarter corresponding with the Persian Now-roz. 
 
 Having mentioned the period of the Khamaseen, I may add that I believe it has 
 been called by all European writers who have mentioned it, except myself, " el-Kham- 
 seen," or by the same term differently expressed, signifying "the Fifty;" i.e. "the 
 Fifty Days ;" but it is always termed by the Arabs " el-Khamaseen," which signifies 
 " the Fifties," being a vulgar plural of " Khamseen." In like manner, the Arabs call 
 the corresponding period of the Jewish calendar by a term exactly agreeing with " el- 
 Khamaseen ;" namely " el-Khainseenat ;" only its last day being termed "el-Kham- 
 seen ;" as may be seen in an extract from El-Makreezee, given by De Sacy. 9 This 
 eminent orientalist, however, appears to have had no authority but that of Europeans 
 for the name of the above-mentioned period of the Coptic calendar ; for he has followed 
 the travellers, and written it " khamsin." 
 
 NOTE 20. This story is followed by sixteen anecdotes, ending with part of the 
 three hundred and fifty -seventh night ; eleven of which I translate, and here insert. 
 
 'Richardson's Persian, Arabic, and English page 98 of the Arabic text . See also pp. 292 and 
 Dieiionary, Johnson's edition, voce "mah." 320 of his translation and notes. 
 
 9 See his Chrestomathie Arabe, 2nd ed., vol. i. 
 
Instances of the Vicissitudes of Fortune. 
 
 It is related that a man was burdened with numerous debts, and his circumstances 
 became strait unto him; so he left his people and his family, and went forth wandering 
 in perplexity and at random. He ceased not to proceed until he approached, after a 
 length of time, a city with lofty walls, and great buildings, and he entered it in a state 
 of abasement and despondency. His hunger had become violent, and the journey had 
 wearied him; and as he walked through one of its great thoroughfare-streets, he saw 
 a company of the great passing along; whereupon he proceeded with them until they 
 entered an abode resembling the abode of Kings, and he entered with them, and they 
 went in until they came to a man sitting at the upper end of the mansion. He was of 
 magnificent appearance, and great dignity, and surrounded by pages and servants, as 
 though he were of the sons of the wezeers ; and when he saw the party he rose to 
 them, and treated them with respectful hospitality. So trouble of mind overcame the 
 man above mentioned at witnessing this thing, and he was confounded at that which 
 he beheld of the beauty of the building, and the servants and dependants. He there- 
 fore drew back, in perplexity and distress, fearing for himself, until he seated himself 
 in a place alone, remote from the people, that no one might see him. And while lie 
 was sitting, lo, there approached a man with whom were four dogs, of the dogs of the 
 chase, decked with varieties of silk and brocade, and having, upon their necks, collars 
 of gold with chains of silver; and he chained each of them in a separate place. Then 
 
446 NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 he went away, and returned bringing to each dog a dish of gold full of rich food, and 
 he put before each of them his separate dish, and departed and left them. This man 
 therefore began to look at the food, on account of the violence of his hunger, and 
 desired to advance to one of the dogs and to eat with him ; but his fear of them pre- 
 vented him. Presently, however, one of the dogs looked at him, and God (whose name 
 be exalted !) inspired him with a knowledge of his case : so he drew back from the dish, 
 and made a sign to the man, who thereupon approached, and ate until he was satisfied, 
 when he would have departed ; but the dog made a sign to him that he should take the 
 dish, with the food remaining in it, for himself, and pushed it towards him with his 
 fore-paw. He therefore took it, and went forth from the house, and proceeded without 
 any one following him. 
 
 He then journeyed to another city, where he sold the dish, and, having purchased 
 merchandise with its price, returned with it to his own town. There he sold what he 
 had brought, and discharged the debts that lie owed, and his wealth increased so that 
 he became in a state of abundant affluence and perfect prosperity ; and he ceased not 
 to reside in his town for a length of time ; after which, he said within himself, I must 
 journey to the city of the owner of the dish, and take for him a handsome and suitable 
 present, and pay him the price of the dish which one of his dogs bestowed upon me. 
 Then he took a present befitting that person, and took with him the price of the dish, 
 and set forth on his journey. 
 
 He ceased not in his journey days and nights until ho arrived at that city, and lie 
 entered it, desiring to meet with the man; and he walked along its great thoroughfare- 
 streets until he approached his abode. But he saw nothing of it save mouldering 
 ruins, and a raven uttering its lamentable cry, and dwelling-places rendered desolate, 
 and circumstances changed, and a state of things so altered as not to be recognized ; 
 whereupon his heart and soul were agitated, and he recited the words of the poet : 
 
 The recesses are devoid of their hidden treasures, as hearts are devoid of sciences and piety ; 
 And the valley is changed altogether, and its gazelles arc not those antelopes, nor is its sand- 
 heap that sand-heap. 
 
 And the saying of another : 
 
 The phantom of Soadb, 10 came by night to rouse me, towards morning, while my companions were 
 
 sleeping in the desert : 
 But when we awoke to behold the nightly phantom, I saw the air vacant, and the place of 
 
 visitation distant. 
 
 And when that man beheld those mouldering ruins, and saw what the hands of fortune 
 had openly done unto them, and found of the substance nothing but traces, knowledge 
 rendered it needless for him to ask information. He then looked aside, and saw a 
 miserable man, in a state that made the skin to quake at it, and rock to be moved with 
 sympathy for it ; and he said, O thou ! u what have fortune and time done with the 
 master of this place, and where are his shining full moons and brilliant stars, 1 - and 
 what hath been the cause of the event that hath happened unto his structures, that 
 there remaineth of them naught save the walls? He answered, He is this miserable 
 wretch whom thou seest, sighing on account of that which hath come upon him. But 
 knowest thou not (he added) that in the saying of the Apostle is a lesson to him who 
 would follow it, and an admonition to him who would be directed aright, his saying 
 (God bless and save him !), Verily it is the way of God (whose name be exalted !) not to 
 
 111 " Soada " is a female proper name, and often '' The expression thus rendered is generally 
 
 used as a lictitious name, applied to a beautiful used as one of slight contempt. 
 woman. 
 
 12 That is, " Where are his beautiful damsels, like full moons and stars r" 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 447 
 
 elevate any thing of this world without afterwards bringing it down ? If thou inquire 
 respecting the cause of this event, there is nothing in the vicissitudes of fortune won- 
 derful. I was the master of this place, and its founder and proprietor and builder, and 
 the possessor of its shining full moons and magnificent appurtenances and splendid 
 rarities and beautiful slave-girls : fortune however hath turned from me, and taken 
 away the servants and the wealth, and reduced rne to this present condition, and 
 brought upon me events that it before kept concealed. But there must be a cause for 
 this thine inquiry. Acquaint me then with it, and cease to wonder. So the man 
 acquainted him with the whole affair, being the while in grief and distress, and said to 
 him, I have brought thee a present such as souls desire, and the price of thy dish of 
 gold that I took ; for it was the cause of enriching me after my poverty, and of the 
 replenishment of my abode after it was desolate, and of the dissipation of the anxiety 
 and straitness that I suffered. But the other man shook his head, and wept and 
 sighed and lamented, and said, O thou ! I imagine thou art a madman : for this con- 
 duct proceedeth not from a man of sense. How should one of our dogs make thee a 
 present of a dish of gold, and I take it back ? My taking back that which my dog 
 hath presented would be wonderful ; and were I in the severest anxiety and disease, by 
 Allah there should not find acceptance with me, from thee, any thing of the value of a 
 nail-pairing. So go to the place whence thou earnest, in health and safety. The man 
 therefore kissed his feet, and went forth on his return, praising him ; and on parting 
 with him, and taking leave of him, recited this verse : 
 
 The men and the dogs are gone together ; and on the men and the dogs be peace ! 
 And God is all-knowing. 13 
 
 13 In Trebutien's translation, this anecdote is 
 briefly related. The owner of the dogs is there 
 described as complaining of the injustice of for- 
 tune, and the other man is said to have replied, 
 
 You are wrong in accusing destiny of injustice : if 
 you are ignorant of the cause of your ruin, I will 
 acquaint you with it. You have fed the dogs iu 
 dishes of gold, and left the poor to die of hunger. 
 
448 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 Hosam-ed-Deen the Walee, and a Sharper. 
 
 There was, in the fortified coast-town of Alexandria, a Walee named Hosam-ed- 
 Deen ; 14 and as he was sitting in his seat of office one night, there came to him a 
 trooper, who said to him, Know, O our lord the Walee, that I entered this city in the 
 present night, and took up my lodging in such a Khan, and slept there until a third of 
 the night had passed; and when I awoke, I found my pair of saddle-bags cut open, 
 and there had been stolen from it a purse containing a thousand pieces of gold. And 
 his words were not ended when the Walee sent, and caused the Mukaddams 15 to come 
 before him, and ordered them to bring all who were in the Khan, commanding them 
 also to imprison those persons till the morning. So when the morning came, he gave 
 orders to bring the instruments of punishment. 16 He then caused those men to 
 be brought before him in the presence of the trooper, the owner of the money, and was 
 about to punish them. 
 
 But, lo, a man approached, forcing his way among the people until he stood before 
 the Walee and the trooper ; and he said, O Emeer, release all these people ; for they 
 are unjustly treated : I am the person who took the property of this trooper, and here 
 is the purse that I took from his saddle-bags. Then he produced it from his sleeve, and 
 placed it before the Walee and the trooper. So the Walee said to the trooper, Receive 
 thy property and take possession of it, and thou hast nothing further to demand of the 
 people. And those people, and all who were present, began to praise that man, and to 
 pray for him. But the man said, O Emeer, there was no cleverness in my presenting 
 myself before thee, and bringing this purse : rather there would be cleverness in taking 
 this purse a second time from this trooper. And how, said the Walee, didst thou do, O 
 sharper, when thou tookest it ? 
 
 O Emeer, he answered, I was standing in Cairo in the market of the money- 
 changers, and saw this trooper when he took this gold in change and put it into the 
 purse ; and I followed him from by-street to by -street without finding any way of 
 taking the property from him. Then he set forth on his journey, and I followed him 
 from town to town, trying stratagems against him on the way ; but could not take it 
 from him. And when he entered this city, I followed him until he entered this Khan ; 
 
 whereupon I took my lodging 
 next to him, and watched him 
 until he slept and I heard his 
 snoring ; when I walked gently 
 towards him, cut open the sad- 
 dle-bags with this knife, and 
 took the purse thus : So saying, 
 he stretched forth his hand, and 
 took the purse from before the 
 Walee and the trooper, both of 
 whom, with the rest of the people, 
 drew back, looking at him, and 
 believing that he would only 
 shew them how he took the purse 
 from the saddle-bags : but, lo, he 
 
 14 " TTosam-ed-Deen " signifies " the Sharp Sword 
 of the Religion." 
 
 15 His ehief officers. 
 
 16 Whips or sticks. 
 
NOTES TO CHAFFER SIXTEENTH. 449 
 
 ran, and threw himself into a pool of water. 1 " So the Walee cried out to his depen- 
 dants and said, Overtake him, and descend after him. They however had not pulled 
 off their clothes and descended the steps before the sharper had gone his way : and 
 they searched for him ; hut found him not ; for the by-streets of Alexandria all com- 
 municate one with another. The men therefore returned without catching the 
 sharper; and the Walee said to the trooper, Thou hast no claim upon the people; 
 for thou hast known thine offender, and taken possession of thy property, and not 
 guarded it. And the trooper arose, his money was lost, and the people were saved 
 from his hands and from those of the Walee, entirely through the favour of God, 
 whose name be exalted ! 
 
 The Three Walees. 
 
 El-Melik en-Nasir 13 summoned one day the three Walees, the Walee of El-Kahireh, 19 
 the Walee of Boolak, 20 and the Walee of Misr el-Kadeemeh, 21 and said, I desire that 
 each of you acquaint me with the most wonderful thing that hath happened to him dur- 
 ing the period of his holding the office of Walee. And they replied, We hear and obey. 
 
 Accordingly, the Walee of El-Kahireh said, Know, O our lord the Sultan, that the 
 most wonderful thing that hath happened to me during the period of my holding the 
 office of Walee was as follows : There were, in this city, two legal witnesses,- who 
 gave testimony respecting blood and wounds ; but they were addicted to the love of 
 [disreputable] women, and the drinking of wine, and iniquity ; and I could succeed in 
 no stratagem to revenge myself upon them. So being unable to do this, I charged the 
 vintners, and the sellers of dried fruits, and those of fresh fruits, and the dealers in 
 candles, and the keepers of houses prepared for vicious practices, that they should in- 
 form me of these two witnesses whenever they might be in a place drinking, or com- 
 mitting any act of iniquity, whether they should be together or separate, and if they 
 bought, or either of them bought, any thing of these persons that was designed for the 
 purpose of carousing ; and that they should not conceal it from me. They replied, 
 that they heard and obeyed. And it happened that a man came to me one night, and 
 said, O our lord, know that the two witnesses are in such a place, in such a by-street, 
 in the house of such-a-one, and that they are engaged in abominable iniquity. So I 
 arose and disguised myself, I and my young man, and I repaired to them without any 
 one accompanying me save my young man, and stopped not on the way until I stood 
 before the door and knocked ; whereupon a female slave came to me and opened to me 
 the door, and said, Who art thou ? So I entered without answering her ; and 1 beheld 
 the two witnesses and the master of the house sitting, with common women, and with 
 abundance of wine. But when they saw me, they rose to me, treated me with honour, 
 seated me at the upper end of the apartment, and said to me, Welcome to thee, as an 
 excellent guest, and a polite boon-companion ! They met me without fearing me or 
 being alarmed ; and after that, the master of the house arose from them, and, having 
 been absent a while, returned bringing three hundred pieces of gold, without the least 
 fear ; and they said, Know, O our lord the Walee, that thou canst do more than dis- 
 grace us, and that it is in thy power to chastise us ; but naught save fatigue would 
 
 17 The Egyptian thieves are notorious for their by the Egyptians " Masr el-'Ateekah," which has 
 dexterity, and often escape by plunging with their the same meaning ; and by Europeans, impro- 
 booty into the Nile. Of this trick I experienced perly, " Old Cairo." 
 
 an instance. ** The word rendered " two legal witnesses " is 
 
 18 There were several Sultans of Egypt thus the dual of " 'adl," which literally signifies "just;" 
 surnamed. but is a term applied to a legal or unobjection- 
 
 19 Cairo; now commonly called by its inhabitants able witness. The two men here mentioned were 
 " Masr," for " Misr." legal witnesses because their immoral practices 
 
 20 Boolak is the principal port of Cairo. could not be proved against them. 
 
 21 That is, " Old Misr ;" now commonly called 
 
 II. o M 
 
450 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 accrue to thee from doing so. It is advisable, therefore, that thou receive this sum, and 
 protect us , for God (whose name be exalted I) is named the Excellent Protector, and 
 He loveth of his servants such as are liberal of protection j and thou wilt receive a 
 reward and recompense. So I said to myself, Receive this gold from them, and protect 
 them this time ; and if thou have them in thy power another time, take thy revenge 
 upon them. I coveted the money, and took it from them, and left them and departed, 
 no one knowing what I had done. But suddenly on the following day a sergeant of 
 the Kadee came to me, and said, C) Walee, have the goodness to answer the summons 
 of the Kadee ; for he citeth thee. I arose, therefore, and went with him to the Kadee, 
 not knowing the cause of this; and when I went in to him, I saw the two witnt-.-.-i's 
 and the master of the house who gave me the three hundred pieces of gold sitting with 
 him ; and the master of the house arose and sued me for three hundred pieces of gold. 
 It was not in my power to deny it ; and he produced a written obligation, and those 
 two legal witnesses testified against me that I owed the money. So it was established 
 with the Kadee by the testimony of the two witnesses, and he ordered me to pay that 
 sum. I therefore went not forth from them until they had received from me the three 
 hundred pieces of gold ; and I was enraged, purposing every kind of mischief against 
 them, and repented that I had not tormented them ; and I departed in a state of the 
 utmost confusion. 
 
 Then arose the Walee of Boolak, and said, As to myself, O our lord the Sultan, the 
 most wonderful thing that hath happened to me since I have been Walee was this : I 
 had debts to pay amounting to three hundred thousand 23 pieces of gold ; and, being 
 distressed thereby, I sold what was behind me and what was before me and what was 
 in my hand, 24 and thus collected one hundred thousand pieces of gold and no more. 
 
 33 In the Breslau edition, three thousand ; a more probable sum. - 4 That is, all that I possessed 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 451 
 
 I therefore remained in great perplexity ; and while I was sitting in my house one 
 night, in this state, a person knocked at the door; upon which I said to one of the 
 young men, See who is at the door. And he went forth, and then returned to me with 
 sallow countenance, changed in complexion, and with the muscles of his side quivering. 
 So I said to him, What hath befallen thee ? And he answered, Verily at the door is a 
 man stripped of his proper clothing, and clad in apparel of leather, and with a sword, 
 and in his girdle is a knife, and with him is a party of men equipped in the same 
 manner, and he asketh for thee. I therefore took my sword in my hand, and went 
 forth to see who these were ; and, lo, they were as the young man had said. I asked 
 them, What is your affair ? And they answered, We are robbers, and we have acquired 
 this night vast booty, and assigned it to thee, that thou mayest thereby help thyself to 
 manage the affair on account of which thou art in anxiety, and pay the debt that thou 
 owest. I said to them, And where is the booty ? And they brought before me a great 
 chest full of vessels [apparently] of gold and silver. So when I beheld it, I rejoiced, 
 and said within myself, I will pay the debt that I owe from this, and there will remain 
 to me as much again as the amount of that debt. I therefore took it, and entered the 
 house, and said within myself, It would not be consistent with humanity in me to let 
 them go without any thing. Accordingly, I took the hundred thousand pieces of gold 
 that were in my possession, and gave it to them, thanking them for what they had 
 done; and they took the pieces of gold and went their way under the covering of 
 night, without any one's knowing of their coming. But when the morning arrived, I 
 saw that the contents of the chest were gilded brass, and tin, the svhole of them worth 
 but five hundred pieces of silver; and the thing afHicted me : the pieces of gold that I 
 had were lost : and my grief was increased. 
 
 Then the Walee of Misr el-Kadeemeh arose and said, O our lord the Sultan, with 
 regard to myself, the most wonderful thing that hath happened to me during the period 
 of my holding the office of Walee was this : I hanged ten robbers, each 011 a separate 
 gallows, and charged the guards to watch them, and not to suffer the people to take 
 away any one of them. But on the morrow I came to see them, and beheld two men 
 hanged upon one gallows : so I said to the guards, Who did this, and where is the" 
 gallows on which was the second of these hanged men ? They however denied the 
 fact ; and I was about to beat them, when they said, Know, O Emeer, that we slept 
 last night, and when we awoke, we found that one hanged man had been stolen, 
 together with the gallows 011 which he was suspended; whereupon we feared thee; 
 and, lo, a peasant on a journey approached us having with him an ass ; and we seized 
 him and killed him, and hanged him instead of the one that was stolen, on this gallows. 
 And I wondered at this, and said to them, What was with the peasant ? They answered, 
 With him was a pair of saddle-bags on the ass. And what, said I, was in them ? They 
 answered, We know not. And I said to them, Bring me the saddle-bags. So they 
 placed them before me; and I gave orders to open them; and, lo, in them was a 
 murdered man, cut in pieces ; and when I saw this, I wondered at it, and said within 
 myself, Extolled be the perfection of God! The cause of the hanging of this peasant 
 was naught but the crime that he had committed against this murdered man; and thy 
 Lord is not tyrannical towards his servants ! 25 
 
 The Money-changer and the Sharper. 
 
 It is related that a man of the money-changers had with him a purse full of gold, 
 and he had passed by the robbers ; \\ hereupon one of the sharpers said, I am able to 
 take this purse. The others said to him, How wilt thou do? And he replied, Sec ye. 
 Then he followed the money-changer to his abode, and the latter entered, and, having 
 
 The last anecdote in this volume, told of the .justice of Providence, similar to that related by 
 prophet Moses, presents an illustration of the the \\Yilee of Misr el-Kadeemch. ED. 
 
452 NOTES TO CHAFfKR SIXTEENTH. 
 
 thrown down the purse upon the suffeh, 26 called to a slave-girl to bring a ewer of water 
 for ablution ; and the slave-girl took the ewer to him, and followed him into a private 
 chamber, leaving the street-door-open. So the robber entered, took the purse, and re- 
 paired with it to his companions, whom he told what had happened to him with the 
 money-changer and the slave-girl. They replied, By Allah, that which thou hast done 
 was a clever exploit, and not every man is capable of performing such ; but (they added) 
 immediately the money-changer will come forth from the private chamber, and, not 
 finding the purse, will beat the slave-girl, and inflict upon her a painful punishment ; 
 and it seemeth that thou hast not done any thing for which thou art to be praised. If 
 then thou be a clever sharper, save the slave-girl from the beating and punishment. 
 So he said to them, If it be the will of God (whose name be exalted!), I will save the 
 slave-girl and the purse. 
 
 Then the robber returned to the house of the money-changer, and found him 
 punishing the slave-girl on account of the purse ; and he knocked at his door ; where- 
 upon the money-changer said to him, Who is this ? And he answered him, I am the 
 young man of thy neighbour in the Keysareeyeh. 2 '' The money changer therefore 
 came forth to him, and said to him, What is thy business ? And he answered him, My 
 master saluteth thee, and saith to thee, thy habits are all changed. How is it that 
 thou throwest down such a thing as this purse at the door of the shop, and goest and 
 leavest it ? Had any stranger found it, he had taken it and gone away. And had not 
 my master seen it and taken care of it, thou hadst lost it. He then took forth the 
 purse, and showed it to him ; and when the money-changer saw it, he said, This is my 
 purse itself. And he stretched forth his hand to take it from the sharper ; but the 
 latter said to him, By Allah I will not give it to thee until thou write a paper to my 
 master stating that thou hast received the purse from me; for I fear he may not 
 believe me that thou hast taken the purse and received it safely unless thoa write for 
 me a paper and seal it with thy seal. So the money-changer entered to write for him 
 a paper acknowledging the safe arrival of the purse as he had told him, and the robber 
 went his way with the purse, and the slave girl was saved from the punishment. 
 
 [The next anecdote describes a trick exactly of the same kind as that related by the 
 second of "the Three Walees ;'* and therefore I omit it.] 
 
 Anecdote of Ibraheern the Son of El-Mahdee. 28 
 
 It is related that the Prince of the Faithful, El-Ma-moon, said to Ibraheem the son 
 of El-Mahdee, Tell us the most wonderful thing that thou hast witnessed. And he 
 replied, I hear and obey, O Prince of the Faithful. 
 
 ** The term "suffeh" is generally applied in remarks, in a marginal note, "The author of the 
 
 Egypt to a shelf of marble or of common stone, 'Ekd has related this anecdote more fully, and 
 
 about four feet high, supported by two or more says that its narration was thus occasioned. A 
 
 arches, or by a single arch, under which are spunger found ten criminals, and followed them, 
 
 placed utensils in ordinary use, such as perfuming- imagining that they were going to a feast : but, 
 
 vessels, and the basin and ewer which are used lo, they were going to slaughter. And when they 
 
 for washing before and after meals, and for the were put to death, and he remained, he was 
 
 ablution preparatory to prayer. Water-bottles brought before the Khaleefeh ; and Ibruheem the 
 
 coffee-cups, &c., are placed upon the suffeh. This son of El-Mahdee related this anecdote to obtain 
 
 term is also applied to a bench, or sofa ; and to a the liberation of that man: whereupon the 
 
 porch, or roofed vestibule, or the like. Khaleefch pardoned him." Here then we have 
 
 -" See Xote 18 to Chapter v. tne origin of "the Barber's story of himself," in 
 
 88 This anecdote differs little from one before page 3-i2 of the first volume of this work. The 
 
 inserted in this work (vol. i. p. 202); but I hope 'Ekd above-mentioned is a very celebrated mis- 
 
 the differences, though slight, are such as will cellany, the author of which was I bn-Abd-Rabbuh, 
 
 render it acceptable to the reader. Respecting or, more properly, Rabbihi, of Cordova: 
 
 Ibraheem the son of El-Mahdee, see a note at the he died in the year of the Flight 328 (A.D. 940), in 
 
 foot of page 298 in this volume. My sheykh the 82nd year of his age. 
 
NOTES TO CHAFFER SIXTEENTH. 453 
 
 Know that I went forth one day to divert myself, and my course led me to a place 
 where I smelt the odour of food, and my soul longed for it. I stopped, Prince of the 
 Faithful, in perplexity, unable to depart from the spot or to enter that dwelling; and 
 I raised my eyes, and, lo, there was a lattice-window, behind which were a hand and 
 wrist, than which I had never beheld any more beautiful. My reason fled at the sight 
 of them, and I forgot the odour of the food on account of that hand and wrist, and 
 began to devise a stratagem by means of which to obtain access to that dwelling. 
 And, lo, there was a tailor near unto that place : so I advanced to him and saluted him, 
 and he returned my salutation. I then said to him, To whom belongeth this house ? 
 He answered, To a man of the merchants. And I said, What is his name ? His 
 name, he answered, is such-a-one the son of such-a-one, and he carouseth with none 
 but the merchants. And while we were speaking, lo, there approached two comely, 
 intelligent men, and he informed me that they were his most particular associates, and 
 acquainted me with their names. 
 
 I therefore urged on my beast until I met them, when I said to them, May I be 
 your ransom ! The father of such-a-one 29 hath thought you tardy. And I proceeded 
 with them till we arrived at the door; whereupon I entered, and the two men entered 
 also ; and when the master of the house saw me with them, he doubted not that I was 
 their associate : so he welcomed me, and seated me in the highest of the places. Then 
 the servants brought the table, and I said within myself, God hath granted me the 
 attainment of my desire with respect to these viands, and there remain the hand and 
 the wrist. And after this, we removed for the purpose of carousal to another apart- 
 ment, which I found decked all over with elegant objects ; and the master of the house 
 busied himself in shewing me courtesy, addressing his conversation to me, as he ima- 
 gined me to be a guest of his guests, while they in like manner treated me with the 
 utmost courtesy, imagining me to be a companion of the master of the house. They all 
 continued incessantly their politeness to me until we had drunk several cups, when 
 there came forth to us a damsel like a willow-branch, of the utmost elegance and come- 
 liness of appearance, and she took a lute, and, with exciting modulations, sang these 
 verses : 
 
 Is it not wonderful that one house should contain us, and yet thou drawest not near, nor 
 
 speakest ? 
 
 Only eyes reveal the secrets of souls, and the breaking of hearts by love's fire inflamed. 
 We have only signals with the eyes and eyebrows, and sidelong glances, and the hand saluting. 
 
 Disquieting feelings were excited in me, O Prince of the Faithful, and I was moved 
 with delight by the excess of her beauty, and the elegance of her verses that she sang, 
 and envied her for the excellence of her performance ; but I said, Thou wantest one 
 thing, O slave-girl. And upon this, she threw the lute from her hand in anger, and 
 said, \Vlien were ye wont to bring impertinent dolts into your assemblies ? 
 
 So I repented of that which I had done, and I saw that the party were displeased 
 with me ; wherefore I said, All that I hoped for hath eluded me, and I see no resource 
 bv which to avert reproach from me save this : I demanded a lute, and said, I will 
 shew what was omitted by her of the air that she played. And the party replied, We 
 hear and obey. They immediately brought me a lute, and I tuned its strings, and 
 sang these verses : 
 
 This is thy lover, prostrated in his passion ; the enamoured, whose tears are running down upon 
 
 his body ; 
 He hath one "hand raised in supplication to the Compassionate, for the attainment of his hope 
 
 and the other on his heart. 
 O thou who beholdest one perishing of his love, his death is occasioned by his eye and by his 
 
 hand. 
 
 15 He calls the master of the house by a surname, such as " Abu-1-Hasan," or "the Father of Hasan." 
 
454 NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 And upon this the slave-girl sprang up, and threw herself upon my feet, kissing them, 
 and said, It is thine to excuse, O my master ! By Allah I knew not thy dignity, nor 
 have I ever heard the like of this performance. Then the party began to honour and 
 exalt me, after they had been moved with extreme delight ; and each of them requested 
 me to sing. I therefore sang an exciting piece, and the party became intoxicated, 
 their reason quitting them, so that the two guests were carried away to their houses, 
 and the master of the house alone remained with the slave-girl. And after he had 
 drunk some cups with me, he said, my master, my life hath passed unprofitably, 
 since I have not known such a person as thyself before the present time. Ey Allah, 
 then, O my master, tell me who thou art, that I may know my cup-companion with 
 whom God hath favoured me this night. And I began to give ambiguous hints, without 
 telling him plainly my name. But he conjured me : so I informed him. And when 
 he knew my name, he sprang iipon his feet, and said, I wondered to think that this 
 excellence could belong to any but thyself ; and fortune hath granted me a favour for 
 which I am unable to render due thanks ; but perhaps this is a dream ; for when did I 
 hope that one connected with the Khaleefeh would visit me in my abode, and pass this 
 night carousing with me. 
 
 I conjured him to sit ; and he sat, and began to enquire of me the cause of my 
 visiting him, in the most polite manner. So I acquainted him with the affair from 
 first to last, concealing nothing of it, and said, With regard to the food, I have attained 
 what I sought ; but with regard to the hand and wrist, I have not attained my desire. 
 He replied, With regard to the hand and wrist, thou shalt attain thy desire, if it be the 
 will of God, whose name be exalted ! Then he said, O such-a-one [mentioning a female 
 name], tell such-a-one that she is to come down. And he proceeded to call for his 
 female slaves, one after another, and to shew them all unto me ; but I saw not the 
 object of my affection, until he said, By Allah, O my master, there remain none save 
 my mother and my sister ; but, by Allah, they must be brought down to thee and 
 shewn to thee, that thou mayest see them. And I wondered at his generosity, and his 
 frankness of mind; and I said, May I be thy ransom ! Begin then with the sister. 
 He replied, With pleasure. Then his sister came down, and he shewed me her hand, 
 and, lo, she was the person whose hand and wrist I had seen. So I said, May I be thy 
 ransom ! This damsel is she whose hand and wrist I saw. And he ordered the young 
 men to bring the witnesses immediately. They therefore brought them; and he pro- 
 duced two myriads 3 of pieces of gold, and said to the witnesses, This our lord, Seyyidee 31 
 Ibraheem the son of El-Mahdee, the uncle of the Prince of the Faithful, demandeth in 
 marriage my sister such-a-one, and I call you to witness that I have married her to him 
 and he lias given her as her dowry a myriad. And after this he said, I marry to thee 
 my sister such-a-one for the said dowry. I replied, I accept that offer, and approve of 
 it. Then he paid one of the two myriads to his sister, and the other to the witnesses ; 
 and said, O our lord, I desire to furnish one of the chambers for thee and thy wife. 
 But 1 was abashed at that which I had experienced of his generosity, and was ashamed 
 to accept his proposal : so I said, Equip her and send her to my abode. And by thy 
 existence, O Prince of the Faithful, there were brought to me, of her paraphernalia, 
 such things that our rooms were too small to contain them, spacious as they were. 
 Then I had by her this boy who is standing before thee. 
 
 And El-Ma-moon wondered at the generosity of this man, and said, Divinely was he 
 gifted ! I have never heard of the like of him ! He ordered Ibraheem the son of El- 
 Mahdee to bring the man that he might see him. So he brought him before the 
 
 30 The word here signifying "a myriad," or does at certain festivals, or in visiting [the mosque 
 
 " ten thousand [pieces of money]," namely of] our lord El-Hoseyn." (Marginal note by my 
 
 "bedreh," is employed in the vulgar Arabic to sheykh.) 
 
 signify " a sum of money which an Kinccr or some 31 " Seyyidee " signifies '' my master." 
 such person throws to the people, as the Uashi 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 455 
 
 Khaicefeh, who desired him to speak, .and his politeness and good breeding so pleased 
 him that he made him one of his chief attendants. And God is the Giver, and the 
 Liberal Bestower. 
 
 Anecdote of a Charitable Woman. 
 
 It is related that a certain King said to the people of his dominions, if any one of 
 you give aught in alms, I will assuredly cut off his hand. So all the people refrained 
 from alms-giving, and none could bestow upon another. And it happened that a 
 beggar came to a woman one day, and hunger tormented him, and he said to her, Give 
 me somewhat as an alms. How, said she, can I bestow an alms upon thee when the 
 King cutteth off the hand of every one who doth so ? But he rejoined, I conjure thee 
 by God (whose name be exalted !) that thou give me an alms. So when he conjured 
 her by God, she was moved with pity for him, and bestowed upon him two cakes of 
 bread. And the news reached the King ; whereupon he gave orders to bring her 
 before him ; and when she came, he cut off her hands. And she returned to her house. 
 
 Then the King, after a while, said to his mother, I desire to marry : therefore, 
 marry me to a comely woman. And she replied, There is, among our female slaves, a 
 woman than whom none more beautiful existeth ; but she hath a grievous defect. And 
 what is it ? he asked. She answered, She is maimed of the two hands. The King 
 however said, I desire to see her. Wherefore she brought her to him, and when he 
 saw her, he was tempted by her beauty, and married her. And that woman was she 
 who bestowed upon the beggar the two cakes of bread, and whose hands were cut oft' 
 on that account. But when he had married her, her fellow-wives envied her, and 
 wrote to the King, telling him that she was unchaste : and she had given birth to a 
 
 ' 
 
 f'ri 
 
 -v 
 
456 NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 son. And the King wrote a letter to his mother, in which he commanded her to go 
 forth with her to the desert, and to leave her there, and return. 
 
 His mother therefore did so : she took her forth to the desert, and returned. And 
 that woman began to weep for the misfortune that had befallen her, and to bewail 
 violently, with a wailing not to be exceeded. And while she was walking, with the 
 child upon her neck, she came to a river, and kneeled down to drink, because of the 
 violence of the thirst that had affected her from her walking and fatigue and grief ; and 
 when she stooped her head, the child fell into the water. So she sat weeping violently 
 for her child ; and while she wept, lo, there passed by her two men, who said to her, 
 What causeth thee to weep ? She answered, I had a child upon my neck, and he fell 
 into the water. And they said, Dost thou desire that we rescue him, and restore him 
 to thee ? She answered, Yes. And upon this they supplicated God (whose name be 
 exalted !), and the child came forth to her safe and unhurt. Then they said to her, 
 Dost thou desire that God should restore to thee thy hands as they were ? She an- 
 swered, Yes. And they supplicated God (whose perfection be extolled, and whose name 
 be exalted !) ; whereupon her hands returned to her in the most perfect state. After 
 this they said to her, Knowest thou who we are ? God, she replied, is all-knowing. 
 And they said, We are thy two cakes of bread which thou gavest as an alms to the 
 beggar, and which alms occasioned the cutting off of thy hands. 32 Therefore praise God 
 (whose name be exalted !) that He hath restored to thee thy hands and thy child. 
 And she praised God (whose name be exalted!), and glorified Him, 
 
 Anecdote of a Charitable Israelite. 
 
 There was, among the Children of Israel, 33 a devout man, having a family who spun 
 cotton ; and he used every day to sell the thread that they spun, and to buy fresh 
 cotton; and with the profit that arose he bought, for his family, food, which they ate 
 that day. And he went forth one day, and sold the thread which they had spun, and 
 there met him one of his brethren, who complained to him of his need ; whereupon he 
 gave him the price of his thread, and returned to his family without either cotton or 
 food. So they said to him, Where is the cotton and the food ? And he answered them, 
 Such-a-one met me, and complained to me of his need ; wherefore I gave him the price 
 of the thread. They said, And what shall we do ; for we have nothing to sell r But 
 they had a broken wooden bowl, and a jar j and he took them to the market. No one 
 however, would buy them of him ; but while he was in the market, there met him a 
 man with a stinking, swollen fish, which no one would buy of him ; and the owner of 
 the fish said to him, Wilt thou sell to me thy unmarketable property for mine ? He 
 answered, Yes : and gave the man the wooden bowl and the jar, receiving from him 
 the fish, which he brought to his family. They said, What shall we do with this fish ? 
 He answered, We will broil it and feed upon it until God (whose name be exalted!) 
 please to supply us with sustenance. They therefore took it, and ripped open its belly, 
 and they found in it a pearl. So they informed the sheykh [the devotee] ; and he said, 
 See if it be pierced ; for if so, it belongeth to some one of the people ; but if it be not 
 
 32 " That is; God (whose name be exalted !) " Yahood," i. e. " Jews." [The Muslims believe 
 made her action to assume the forms of two men, that the Israelites held the true religion until the 
 like as He causeth the virtuous action to assume time of the Messiah, asserting that Mohammad 
 the form of a man who cheereth the dead in his restored the religion of the patriarchs. They also 
 sepulchre." (Marginal note by my sheykh.) say that the coming of Mohammad was prc- 
 
 33 Such of the descendants of Jacob as held the phesied in the Gospel. On the subject of the 
 true faith the Muslims call "the Children of pretended prophecy of his mission, sec Note 112 
 Israel ;" but the dcniers of the Messiah they do to Chapter xi. ED.] 
 
 not honour with this appellation; calling them 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 457 
 
 pierced, it is a gift which God (whose name be exalted !) hath bestowed upon you. And 
 they looked, and, lo, it was not pierced. And when the morning came, he went with 
 it to one of his brethren, of those who were acquainted with pearls ; and this person 
 said, such-a-one, whence gottest thou this pearl ? He answered, It is a gift which 
 God (whose name be exalted !) hath bestowed upon us. And the man said, Verily it is 
 worth a thousand pieces of silver, and I will give thee that sum ; but take it to such-a- 
 one ; for he is of more wealth and knowledge than myself. So he took it to him, and 
 he said, Verily it is worth seventy thousand pieces of silver : not more than that. 
 Then he paid him seventy thousand pieces of silver ; and the sheykh called the porters, 
 who carried for him the money until he arrived at the door of his dwelling ; when a 
 beggar came to him, and said to him, Give me of that which God (whose name be exalted !) 
 hath given unto thee. And he said to the beggar, We were yesterday like thee. Take 
 half of this money. And when he had divided the money into two equal portions, and 
 each of them had taken his half, the beggar said to him, Keep thy money, and take it : 
 may God bless thee in it : for verily I am a messenger of thy Lord, who hath sent me 
 to thee to try thee. And the sheykh said, To God be praise and thanks ! And he 
 ceased not to pass a most comfortable life, he and his family, until death. 
 
 Anecdote of Aboo-Hassan Ez-Ziyadee. 
 
 Aboo-Hassan Ez-Ziyadee saith, My circumstances one day became severely straitened, 
 so that the grocer and the baker and the rest of the tradesmen importuned me, and 
 my affliction became violent, and I found no resource. But while I was in this state, 
 not knowing what to do, lo, there came in to me a young man belonging to me, and he 
 said, At the door is a man on pilgrimage, who desireth to come in to thee. So I said, 
 Give him permission. . And he came in ; and, behold, he was a man of Khurasan. He 
 saluted me, and I returned his salutation ; and he said, Art thou Aboo-Hassan Ez- 
 Ziyadee ? I answered, Yes. And what, said I, dost thou want ? I am a stranger, he 
 answered, and am desirous of performing the pilgrimage, and I have with me a sum of 
 
 II. 
 
 3 N 
 
458 NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 money, the carrying of which is a burden to me : wherefore I desire to deposit with 
 thee these ten thousand pieces of silver until I accomplish my pilgrimage and return : 
 and if the caravan return and thou see me not, know that I have died, and the money 
 is a present from me unto thee; but if I return, it is mine. I replied, Thy desire shall 
 be complied with, if it be the will of God, whose name be exalted ! And he took 
 forth a leathern bag ; and I said to the young man, Bring me a pair of scales. So he 
 brought a pair of scales, and the man weighed the money, and, having delivered it to 
 me, went his way. I then summoned the tradesmen, and paid my debts, and expended 
 and made ample purchases, saying within myself, Ere he returneth, God will aid me 
 with somewhat of his gifts. 
 
 But after a day, the young man came in to me, and said to me, Thy acquaintance 
 the man of Khurasan is at the door. I replied, Give him permission. And he entered, 
 and said, I had determined on performing the pilgrimage ; but news hath been brought 
 to me of the death of my father ; and I have resolved to return ; therefore give me the 
 money that I entrusted to thee yesterday. Now when I heard from him these words, 
 excessive anxiety overcame me, such as none hath ever experienced; and I was 
 perplexed, and returned him not a reply ; for if I denied, I knew that he would 
 require me to swear, and ignominy would have been my lot in the world to come ; and 
 if I informed him that I had expended it, he would [I imagined] have cried out, and 
 disgraced me. So at last I said, God preserve thee in health ! This my abode is not a 
 strong nor a secure place of custody for that money ; and when I received thy leathern 
 bag, I sent it to him with whom it now is : therefore return to us to-morrow to receive 
 it, if it be the will of God, whose name be exalted ! Accordingly he departed from me ; 
 and I passed the night in perplexity on account of the return of the man of Khurasan 
 to me, and sleep came not to me that night, nor could I close my eye. So I arose and 
 went to the young man, and said to him, Saddle for me the "mule. O my lord, he 
 replied, it is now the first third of the night, and indeed nought of the night hath passed. 
 I therefore returned to my bed ; but sleep was forbidden me, and I ceased not to rouse 
 the young man, who continued to turn me back from my purpose, until the dawn rose, 
 when he saddled for me the mule, and I mounted. I knew not whither to go: so I 
 threw the mule's bridle upon her shoulders, and became occupied with reflection and 
 anxieties, while she proceeded to the eastern side of Baghdad. 
 
 And while I was passing on, lo, I beheld a company, and I turned from them, and 
 went out of their way to another way ; but they followed me ; and when they saw me 
 with a teylesan, 34 they hastened towards me, and said to me, Dost thou know the abode 
 of Aboo-Hassan Ez-Ziyadee ? T answered them, I am he. And they said, Answer the 
 summons of the Prince of the Faithful. I therefore proceeded with them until I went 
 in to El-Ma-moon ; and he said to me, Who art thou ? I answered, A man of the 
 companions of the Kadee Aboo Yoosuf, one of the professors of the law and of the 
 traditions. He asked, By what surname of relationship art thou called ? I answered, 
 By the surname of Aboo-Hassan Ez-Ziyadee. And he said, Explain to me thy case. 
 So I explained to him my story, and he wept violently, and said, Wo to thee ! The 
 Apostle of God (may God bless and save him !) suffered me not to sleep this last night 
 because of thee; for when I slept in the beginning of the night, he said to me [in a 
 dream], Aid Aboo-Hassan Ez-Ziyadee. 35 And I awoke, and knew thee not. Then a 
 
 34 I have never had an opportunity of exarnin- 35 " Whoso seeth me in his sleep," said the 
 
 ing the teylesan, so as to be enabled to describe it Prophet, "seeth me truly; for Satan cannot 
 
 exactly. I believe it to be a simple kind of scarf, assume the similitude of my form." Hence 
 
 which is thrown over the head and shoulders, or various points of dispute among the Muslims 
 
 sometimes over the shoulders only. It is peculiar have been settled by dreams. I have given an 
 
 to fakeehs (or professors of religion and law); and instance in my work on the Modern Egyptians, 
 
 I am inclined to think that it is similar, not only vol. i. ch. ix. 
 in this respect, but also in its origin, to our 
 academical scarfs and hoods. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 459 
 
 second time I slept, and he came to me, and said to me, Wo to thee ! Aid Aboo-Hassau 
 Ez-Ziyadee. And I awoke, and knew thee not. Then I slept again, and he came to 
 me, and still 1 knew thee not. And again I slept, and he came to me, and said to me, 
 Wo to thee ! Aid Aboo-Hassan Ez-Ziyadee. So I dared not sleep after that. I 
 remained awake the whole of the remainder of the night, and roused the people, and 
 sent them to seek for thee in every quarter. He then gave to me ten thousand pieces 
 of silver, saying, This is for the man of Khurasan. And after that, he gave me ten 
 thousand more pieces of silver, and said, Make, with this, ample purchases, and reform 
 thy circumstances with it. Then he gave me thirty thousand pieces of silver, saying, 
 Equip thyself with this, and when the day of the state-procession arriveth, come to me, 
 that I may invest thee with an office. 
 
 So I went forth, taking the money with me, and having returned to my house, 
 performed there the morning-prayers; and, lo, the man of Khurasan came. I brought 
 him into the house, and produced to him ten thousand pieces, saying to him, This is 
 thy money, But he replied, This is not my very money. I said Yes. And he asked, 
 What is the cause of this ? I therefore related to him the story ; whereupon he wept, 
 and said, By Allah, hadst thou told me the truth in the beginning of the affair I had 
 not demanded the money of thee ; and now, by Allah, I will not accept aught of this 
 money : thou art absolved of responsibility with respect to it. And he departed from 
 me. I then arranged my affairs, and repaired on the day of the state-procession to 
 the gate of El-Ma-moon, and I went in to him as he sat. And when I presented myself 
 before him, he called me near to him, and produced unto me a written appointment 
 from beneath his prayer-carpet, saying, This is an appointment conferring the office of 
 Kcidee of the Noble City, 36 from the western side [of the mosque], from the Bab es- 
 Selam, 37 to an extent unlimited ; and I have assigned thee such and such allowances 
 every month. Then fear God (to whom be ascribed might and glory !), and be mindful 
 of the solicitude of the Apostle of God (may God bless and save him !) respecting thee. 
 And the people wondered at his words, and asked me their meaning : so I acquainted 
 them with the story from beginning to end, and the report spread among the people. 
 
 And Aboo-Hassan Ez-Ziyadee ceased not to be Kadee in the Noble City until he 
 died, in the days of El-Ma-moon. The mercy of God be on him ! 
 
 A Friend in Need. 
 
 It is related that a man possessed great wealth, and it departed from him, and he 
 became destitute of everything ; whereupon his wife advised him to seek of one of his 
 friends something wherewith to repair his condition. So he betook himself to a friend 
 of his, and mentioned to him his necessity ; and this friend lent him five hundred pieces 
 of gold, that he might traffic with them. Now he was originally a jeweller. He 
 therefore took the gold, and went to the market of jewels, where he opened a shop to 
 buy and sell. And when he sat in the shop, there came to him three men, who 
 inquired of him respecting his father ; and he told them of his death ; upon which they 
 said to him, hath he left any offspring ? He answered, He hath left the slave w who 
 is before you. And who, said they, knoweth that thou art his son ? He answered, 
 The people of the market. And they said to him, Bring them together to us, that they 
 may testify that thou art his son. He therefore collected them, and they testified to 
 that fact. And the three men produced a pair of saddle-bags containing the sum of 
 thirty thousand pieces of gold, together with jewels and precious minerals ; and they 
 
 30 " El-Medeeneh esh-Sherecfeh." This is a 3: This is the name of the principal gate (at the 
 
 common honourable appellation of the city in south-west corner) of the mosque in which the 
 
 which the Prophet is buried; commonly called by Proplu't is buried. 
 
 European writers " Medina." * This is a common expression of humility. 
 
460 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 said, This was deposited with us in trust for thy father. Then they departed ; and 
 there came to him a woman, who demanded of him some of those jewels worth 
 five hundred pieces of gold, and bought them of him for three thousand pieces of gold. 
 And he sold them to her, and took the five hundred pieces of gold that he had borrowed of 
 his friend, and carried them to him, and said to him, Receive the five hundred pieces of 
 gold that I borrowed of thee ; for God hath aided me and prospered me. But his 
 friend replied, I presented thee with them, and gave them up for the sake of God : 
 therefore take them ; and take this paper, but read it not until thou art in thy house, 
 and act agreeably with its contents : so he took the money and the paper, and repaired 
 to his house ; and when he opened the paper, he found written in it these verses : 
 
 The men who came to thee were my relations, my father and my paternal uncle and my 
 
 maternal uncle Silleh the son of 'Alee. 
 In like manner, what thou Boldest for cash, to my mother thou soldest it ; and the money and 
 
 jewels were sent from me. 
 I desired not, by doing so, any detriment to thee ; but to spare thee the embarrassment of bashful- 
 
 nes before me. 
 
 A Drc an. 
 
 It is related also, that a man of Baghdad was possessed of ample riches and great 
 wealth ; but his wealth passed away, and his state changed, and he became utterly 
 destitute, and could not obtain his sustenance save by laborious exertion. And he 
 slept one night, overwhelmed and oppressed, and saw in his sleep a person who said to 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 461 
 
 him, Verily thy fortune is in Cairo : therefore seek it and repair to it. So he journeyed 
 to Cairo ; and when he arrived there, the evening overtook him, and he slept in a 
 mosque. Now there was, adjacent to the mosque, a house; and as God (whose name 
 be exalted I) had decreed, a party of robbers entered the mosque, and thence passed to 
 that house ; and the people of the house, awaking at the disturbance occasioned by the 
 robbers, raised cries ; whereupon the Walee came to their aid with his followers, and 
 the robbers fled. The Walee then entered the mosque, and found the man of Baghdad 
 sleeping there : so he laid hold upon him, and inflicted upon him a painful beating with 
 mikra'ahs, until he was at the point of death, and imprisoned him ; and he remained 
 three days in the prison ; after which, the Walee caused him to be brought, and said to 
 him, From what country art thou ? He answered, From Baghdad. And what affair, 
 said the Walee, was the cause of thy coming to Cairo ? He answered, I saw in my 
 sleep a person who said to me, Verily thy fortune is in Cairo : therefore repair to it- 
 And when I came to Cairo, 1 found the fortune of which he told me to be those blows 
 of the mikra'ahs, that I have received from thee. And upon this the Walee laughed so 
 that his grinders appeared, and said to him, O thou of little sense, /saw three times m 
 my sleep a person who said to me, Verily a house in Baghdad, in such a district, and of 
 such a description, hath in its court a garden, at the lower end of which is a fountain, 
 wherein is wealth of great amount : therefore repair to it and take it. But I went not ; 
 and thou, through the smallness of thy sense, hast journeyed from city to city on 
 account of a thing thou hast seen in sleep, when it was only an effect of confused 
 dreams. Then he gave him some money, and said to him, Help thyself with this to 
 return to thy city. So he took it and returned to Baghdad. Now the house which 
 the Walee had described, in Baghdad, was the house of that man ; therefore when he 
 arrived at his abode, he dug beneath the fountain, and beheld abundant wealth. Thus 
 God enriched and sustained him ; and this was a wonderful coincidence. 39 
 
 El-Mutawekkil and Mahboobeh. 
 
 There were, in the palace of the Prince of the Faithful, El-Mutawekkil 'ala-llah, 
 four hundred 40 concubines, two hundred Greeks, and two hundred muwelledehs 41 and 
 Abyssinians ; and 'Obeyd the son of Tahir gave to El-Mutawekkil four hundred slave- 
 girls, two hundred white, and two hundred Abyssinians and muwelledehs. Among 
 these was a slave-girl of the muwelledehs of El-Basrah, named Mahboobeh. 42 She was 
 preeminent in beauty and loveliness, and in elegance and amorous manners ; she 
 played upon the lute, and sang well, composed verses, and wrote an excellent hand ; 
 and El-Mutawekkil in consequence became captivated by her, and could not bear to be 
 
 39 This anecdote is also related by El-Is-hakee sand, and in Es-Suyootee's History of the Kha- 
 (reign of El-Ma-moon). [I have also found it in leefehs (ed. Lees, Calcutta, 1857), four thousand. 
 a MS. (in Mr Lane's possession) entitled Murshid The two works here mentioned contain the anec- 
 ez-Zoowar ila Kuboor el-Abrar (before cited) ; dote, though differing from each other and from 
 with the difference that it is there related of an the text of it in the Thousand and One Nights. 
 Egyptian saint who travelled to Baghdad, and El-Mutawekkil was the tenth Khaleefeh of the 
 was, in the same manner as above described, house of El-'Abbas; and he reigned from the 
 directed to his house in El-Fustat. ED.] year of the Flight 232 to 247. I refrain from 
 
 40 In my original, " four thousand ;" hut this any comment on his character. Mahboobeh is 
 appears, from what follows, to be a mistake. included among the female poets in the Kitab el- 
 [This alteration is necessary to give consistency Aghanee. See Alii Ispahanensis Liber Cantile- 
 tothe anecdote, but the mistake in the original narum (Proem, p. 32), ed. Kosegarten.Gripesvold: 
 appears to be rather in the enumeration of the 1840. ED.] 
 
 several classes of which El-Mutawekkil's female *' A person born a slave in an Arabian country 
 
 slaves were composed, than in their total number, is called, if a male, "muwelled," and if a female, 
 
 for I find in the Mir-at ez-Zeman (reign of El- " muwelledeh." 
 
 Mutawekkil) the number stated to be five thou- * 2 Mahboobeh signifies " beloved." 
 
462 NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 absent from her a single hour. Bnt when she saw his affection for her, she behaved 
 arrogantly towards him, and was ungrateful for his favours : so he became violently 
 incensed against her, and deserted her, forbidding the inmates of the palace to speak 
 to her. 
 
 She remained in that state some days ; but El-Mutawekkil still had an affection for 
 her ; and he arose in the morning one day, and said to his usual associates, I dreamed 
 this last night that I became reconciled to Mahboobeh. They replied, We beg of God 
 (whose name be exalted !) that such an event may happen when thou art awake. And 
 while he was speaking, lo, a maid-servant came, and communicated some information to 
 him; upon which he arose from the assembly, and entered the abode of the Hareem. 
 And the communication that she made to him was this : she said to him, We heard 
 from the chamber of Mahboobeh the sound of singing, and playing upon the lute, and 
 we know not the cause of this. And when he arrived at her chamber, he heard her 
 singing to the lute, striking it sweetly, and singing these verses : 
 
 I wander through the palace and behold not any one unto whom to complain, nor any one to 
 
 speak to me ; 
 
 As though I had committed an act of rebellion, of which no repentance could avail to acquit me. 
 Is there any intercessor to plead for me with a King who hath paid me a visit in sleep and made 
 
 peace with me, 
 And who, when the daybreak appeared unto us, resumed his desertion, and 1 severed me from 
 
 him? 
 
 So when El-Mutawekkil heard her words, he wondered at these verses, and at this 
 strange coincidence ; at Mahboobeh' s seeing a dream agreeing with his dream. He 
 therefore went in to her in the chamber ; arid when he entered and she was sensible of 
 his presence, she hastened to rise to him, and threw herself upon his feet, kissing them, 
 and saying, By Allah, O my lord, I saw this event in my sleep last night ; and when I 
 awoke, I composed these verses. By Allah, replied El-Mutawekkil, I beheld in my 
 sleep the like of this. Then they embraced each other, and became reconciled ; and he 
 remained with her seven days with their nights. And Mahboobeh had written upon 
 her cheek, with musk, the name of El-Mutawekkil; and his name was Jaafar; and 
 when he beheld his name so written, he composed and recited these verses : 
 
 She wrote Jaafar with musk on her cheek. With my soul would I ransom her who wrote on the 
 
 cheek what I see. 
 
 If her fingers have inscribed one line upon her cheek, she hath deposited many lines in my heart. 
 O thou whom Jaafar among mankind possesseth, may God fill Jaafar ** with the draught of thy 
 
 love ! 
 
 And when El-Mutawekkil died, all the female slaves that had belonged to him dis- 
 missed him from their minds, except Mahboobeh ; for she ceased not to mourn for him 
 until she died, and she was buried by his side. The mercy of God be on them all ! 
 
 43 "Jaafar" signifies "a river." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY- 
 SEVENTH NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE 
 THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIRST. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 THERE was, in ancient times, in the country of the Persians, 1 a 
 mighty King, of great dignity, who had three daughters, like shining 
 full moons and flowery gardens ; and he had a male child, like the 
 moon. He observed two annual festivals, that of the New-year's-day, 
 and that of the Autumnal Equinox ; 2 and it was his custom, on these 
 
464 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 occasions, to open his palaces, and give his gifts, and make proclama- 
 tion of safety and security, and promote the chamberlains and 
 lieutenants : the people of his dominions also used to go in to him 
 and salute him, and congratulate him on the festival, offering him 
 presents and servants : and he loved philosophy and geometry. And 
 while the King was sitting on the throne of his dominions, on a 
 certain day, during one of these festivals, 3 there came into him three 
 sages : with one of them was a peacock of gold; and with the second, 
 a trumpet of brass ; and with the third, a horse of ivory and ebony : 
 whereupon the King said to them, What are these things, and what 
 is their use ? The owner of the peacock answered, The use of this 
 peacock is, that whenever an hour of the night or day passeth, it will 
 flap its wings, and utter a cry." And the owner of the trumpet * said, 
 If this trumpet be placed at the gate of the city, it will be as a de- 
 fender of it ; for if an enemy enter the city, this trumpet will send 
 forth a sound against him ; so he will be known and arrested. And 
 the owner of the horse said, my lord, the use of this horse is, that 
 if a man mount it, it will convey him to whatever country he desireth. 
 Upon this the King said, I will not bestow any favour upon you until 
 I make trial of the uses of these things. Then he made trial of the 
 peacock, and found it to be as its owner had said. And he made 
 trial of the trumpet, and found it as its owner had said. He therefore 
 said to the two sages (the owners of the peacock and the trumpet), 
 Request of me what ye will. And they replied, We request of thee 
 that thou marry to each of us one of thy daughters. Whereupon the 
 King bestowed upon them two of his daughters. Then the third 
 sage, the owner of the horse, advanced, and, having kissed the ground 
 before the King, said to him, O King of the age, bestow upon me 
 like as thou hast bestowed upon my companions. The King replied, 
 When I shall have made trial of that which thou hast brought. And 
 upon this, the King's son advanced and said, O my father, I will 
 mount this horse, and make trial of it, and obtain proof of its use. 6 
 So the King replied, O my son, try it as thou desirest. 
 
 The King's son accordingly arose, and mounted the horse, and 
 urged it with his feet ; but it moved not from its place. He therefore 
 said, O sage, where is its rapidity of pace of which thou boastedst ? 
 And on hearing this, the sage came to him, and showed him a turn- 
 ing-pin, by which to make it ascend ; saying to him, Turn this pin. 
 And the King's son turned it, and, lo, the horse moved, and soared 
 with him towards the upper region of the sky, and ceased not its 
 
THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 405 
 
 flight with him until he was out of sight of the people ; whereupon 
 the prince was perplexed at his case, and repented of his having 
 mounted the horse. He said, The sage hath made use of a stratagem 
 to destroy me, and there is no strength nor power but in God, the 
 High, the Great ! Then he began to examine all the members of the 
 horse ; and while he was doing so he saw a thing like the head of a 
 cock on the horse's right shoulder, and the like on the left shoulder : 
 so he said, I see not any indication except these two buttons. And 
 he turned the button that was on the right shoulder ; upon which the 
 horse bore him upwards with increased velocity into the sky : so he 
 took off his hand from that button, and, looking at the left shoulder, 
 and seeing the button that was there, he turned it ; and the move- 
 ments of the horse became lessened in velocity, and changed from 
 ascending to descending. It ceased not to descend with him towards 
 the earth by little and little, while he continued to exercise caution 
 for his safety ; and when he saw this, and knew the uses of the horse, 
 his heart was filled with joy and happiness, and he thanked God 
 (whose name be exalted !) for the favour that He had shown him in 
 saving him from destruction. He ceased not to descend for the whole 
 of the remainder of the day ; for in his ascent the earth had become 
 distant from him ; and he turned about the face of the horse as he 
 desired, while it descended with him ; when he would, he was carried 
 downwards by it : and when he would, he was borne by it upwards. 
 
 Now when he had obtained what he desired with respect to the 
 horse, he proceeded on it towards the earth, and began to look at its 
 countries and cities, which he knew not ; for he had never seen them 
 before during the whole of his life. And among the objects that he 
 beheld was a city constructed in the most excellent manner, in the 
 midst of a land beautifully verdant, with trees and rivers : upon which 
 he meditated in his mind, and said, Would that I knew what is the 
 name of this city, and in what region it is. He then made a circuit 
 around the city, viewing it attentively, right and left. The day had 
 nearly departed, and the sun was about to set : so he said within 
 himself, I have not found any place in which to pass the night better 
 than this city : I will therefore pass this night in it, and in the morn- 
 ing I will return, to my family and my royal residence, and acquaint 
 my family and my father with that which hath happened to me, and 
 inform him of the things that .mine eyes have seen. Accordingly he 
 began to search for a place in which he might feel secure of the safety 
 of himself and his horse, and where no one might see him ; and while 
 n. 3 o 
 
he was thus engaged, lo, he beheld, in the midst of the city, a palace 
 rising high into the air, surrounded by a large wall with high battle- 
 ments ; whereupon he said within himself, This place is agreeable. 
 
 He turned the button that caused the horse to- descend, and 
 ceased not to be carried downwards on it until he descended steadily 
 on the flat roof of the palace, when he alighted from the horse 
 praising God (whose name be exalted !), and began to go round about 
 the horse, and to examine it, and said, By Allah, he who made thee 
 thus was an expert sage ; and if God (whose name be exalted !) extend 
 the term of my life, and restore me to my country and my family in 
 safety, and reunite me with my father, I will assuredly bestow every 
 favour upon this sage, and treat him with the utmost beneficence. 
 He then sat upon the roof of the palace until he knew that the in- 
 
THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 467 
 
 mates had betaken themselves to sleep. Hunger and thirst pained 
 him ; for since he had parted from his father he had not eaten food; 
 and he said within himself, Verily such a palace as this is not devoid 
 of the necessaries of life. He therefore left the horse in a place alone, 
 and walked down to see for something to eat ; and finding a flight of 
 steps, he descended by them to the lower part of the building, where 
 he found a court paved with marble ; and he wondered at this place, 
 and at the beauty of its construction ; but he heard not in the palace 
 any sound, nor the cheering voice of an inhabitant. So he paused in 
 perplexity, and looked to the right and left, not knowing whither to 
 go. Then he said within himself, there is no better course for me 
 than to return to the place in which is my horse, and to pass the 
 night by it; and when the morning cometh, I mount and depart. 
 
 But while he was addressing himself with these words, he beheld 
 a light approaching the place where be stood, and, looking attentively 
 at that light, he found that it was with a party of female slaves, 
 among whom was a beautiful damsel, of a stature like the letter Alif, 7 
 resembling the splendid full moon, as the poet hath said : 
 
 She came without appointment, in the gloom of nightfall, like the full moon in the 
 
 dark horizon ; 
 Slender-formed ; there is none among the creation like her in excellence of beauty 
 
 or the charms of disposition. 
 I exclaimed, when my eye beheld her beauty, Extolled be the perfection of the 
 
 Creator of mankind ! 
 I guard her from the eyes of every person by seeking refuge with the Lord of Men 
 
 and of the Daybreak. 8 
 
 That damsel was the daughter of the King of this city; and her 
 father loved her with so great an affection that he built for her this 
 palace ; and whenever her heart was contracted, she used to come 
 hither, together with her female slaves, and to remain here a day, or 
 two days, or more ; after which she returned to the palace where she 
 generally resided. It happened that she came that night for the sake 
 of diversion and dilatation of the mind, and she walked among the 
 female slaves, attended by a eunuch armed with a sword ; and when 
 they entered the palace, they spread the furniture, and gave vent to 
 the odours from the perfuming-vessels, and sported and rejoiced. 
 Now while they were thus engaged, the King's son rushed upon that 
 eunuch, struck him a blow which laid him prostrate, and, taking the 
 sword from his hand, ran upon the female slaves who were with the 
 King's daughter, and dispersed them to the right and left. And when 
 the King's daughter saw his beauty and loveliness, she said, Perhaps 
 
468 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 thou art he \vho demanded rne in marriage yesterday of my father, 
 and whom he rejected, and whom he asserted to be of hideous aspect. 
 By Allah, my father lied in saying those words ; for thou art none 
 other than a handsome person. 
 
 Now the son of the King of India had requested her of her father 
 and he had rejected him, because he was disagreeable in aspect ; and 
 she imagined that the prince now before her was he who had de- 
 manded her in marriage. She then came to him, and embraced and 
 kissed him, and seated herself with him. The female slaves, however, 
 said to her, O our mistress, this is not the person who demanded thee 
 in marriage of thy father ; for that person was hideous, and this is 
 handsome ; and he who demanded thee of thy father, and whom he 
 rejected, is not fit to be a servant to this person : but, O our mistress, 
 verily this young man is one of high dignity. And after this, the 
 female slaves went to the prostrated eunuch, and roused him ; where- 
 upon he sprang up in alarm, and searched for his sword, not finding 
 it in his hand. So the female slaves said to him, He who took thy 
 sword, and laid thee prostrate, is sitting with the King's daughter. 
 Now the King had charged this eunuch with the office of guarding 
 his daughter, in his fear for her from misfortunes and evil accidents. 
 The eunuch therefore arose, and went to the curtain, and when he 
 raised it, he saw the King's daughter sitting with the King's son, arid 
 they were conversing together; and as soo as he beheld them, he 
 said to the King's son, O my master, art thou a human being or 
 a Jinnee ? To which the King's son replied, Wo to thee, most ill- 
 omened of slaves ! How is it that thou regardest the sons of the royal 
 Kisras 9 as of the unbelieving devils ? Then, taking the sword in his 
 hand, he said to him, I am the son-in-law of the King, and he hath 
 married me to his daughter, and commanded me to introduce myself 
 to her. So when the eunuch heard these words from him, he said to 
 him, O my master, if thou be of the human species, as thou hast 
 asserted, she is suited to none but thee, and thou art more worthy of 
 her than any other. 
 
 The eunuch then went shrieking to the King ; and he had rent 
 his clothes, and thrown dust upon his head. And when the King 
 heard his crying, he said to him, What hath befallen thee; for thou 
 hast agitated rny heart ? Acquaint me quickly, and be brief in thy 
 words. He therefore answered him, King, go to the assistance of 
 thy daughter; for a devil of the Jinn, in the garb of human beings, 
 and having the form of the sons of the Kings, hath got possession of 
 
THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 469 
 
 her : therefore seize him. And when the King heard these words 
 from him, he thought to slay him, and said to him, How came it to 
 pass that thou wast neglectful of my daughter, so that this event 
 befell her? He then went to the palace wherein was his daughter^ 
 and on his arrival he found the female slaves standing there, and said 
 to them, What is it that hath happened to my daughter? They 
 answered him, O King, while we were sitting with her, suddenly 
 there rushed upon us this young man, who resembleth the full moon, 
 and than whom we have never seen any one more handsome in 
 countenance, with a drawn sword in his hand ; and we inquired of 
 him respecting his business, and he asserted that thou hadst married 
 to him thy daughter : we know nothing more than this ; and we 
 know not whether he be a human being or a Jinnee ; but he is chaste 
 and well bred, and doth not addict himself to that which is disgraceful. 
 So when the King heard their words, his rage was cooled. He then 
 raised the curtain by little and little, and looked, and beheld the 
 King's son sitting with his daughter, conversing; and he was of most 
 comely form, with a face like the shining full moon. 
 
 The King could not control himself, through his jealousy for his 
 daughter. He therefore raised the curtain and entered, with a drawn 
 sword in his hand, and rushed upon them as though he were a Ghool. 10 
 The king's son, on seeing him, said to her, Is this thy father ? She 
 answered, Yes. And upon this, he sprang upon his feet, and, taking 
 his sword in his hand, shouted at the King with an amazing cry 
 which terrified him, and was about to attack him with the sword ; 
 but the King, perceiving that the prince was stronger than he, 
 sheathed his sword, and stood until the King's son came up to him, 
 when he met him with courtesy, and said to him, O young man, art 
 
 
470 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HOIJSK. 
 
 thou a human being or a Jinnee? The King's son re-plied, Were it 
 not that I respect thy right and the honour of thy daughter, I had 
 shed thy blood. How is it that thou derivest me from the devils, 
 when I am of the sons of the royal Kisras, who, if they desired to 
 take thy kingdom, would make thee totter from thy glory and 
 dominion, and despoil thee of all that is in thy dwellings? So the 
 King, 11 on hearing his words, dreaded and feared him ; but said to 
 him, If thou be of the sons of the Kings, as thou hast asserted, how 
 is it that thou hast entered my palace without my permission, and 
 dishonoured me, and come unto my daughter, asserting that thou art 
 her husband, and pretending that I had married thee to her, when I 
 have killed the Kings and the sons of the Kings on their demanding 
 her jof me in marriage ? And who will save thee from my power, 
 when, if I cried out unto my slaves and my young men, and com- 
 manded them to slay thee, they would slay thee immediately ? Who 
 then can deliver thee from my hand ? 
 
 The King's son, however, when he heard these words from him, 
 said to the King, Verily I wonder at thee, and at the smallness of thy 
 penetration. Dost thou covet for thy daughter a husband better 
 than myself; and hast thou seen any one more firm of heart, and 
 superior in requital, and more glorious in authority and troops and 
 guards than I am ? The King answered him, No, by Allah : but I 
 would, O young man, that thou demand her in marriage publicly, 
 that I may marry her to thee ; for if I marry her to thee pi'ivately, 
 thou wilt disgrace me by so taking her. And the King's son replied, 
 Thou hast said well : but, O King, if thy slaves and servants and 
 troops were to assemble against me and slay me, as thou hast 
 imagined, thou wouldst disgrace thyself, and the people would be 
 divided with respect to thee, some believing, and others accusing thee 
 of falsehood. It is my opinion that thou shouldst relinquish this idea, 
 and adopt the course that I will point out to thee. So the King said, 
 Propose what thou wilt. And the King's son rejoined, What I 
 propose to thee is this : either that thou meet me in single combat, 
 and he who killeth the other shall be more deserving and worthy of 
 the kingdom ; or else, that thou leave me this night, and when the 
 morning cometh, that thou send forth to me thy soldiers and troops 
 and young men; and acquaint me with their number. The King 
 replied, Their number is forty thousand horsemen, besides the slaves 
 belonging to me, and their followers, who are equal in number. And 
 the King's son said, When the day beginneth, send them forth to me, 
 
THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 471 
 
 and say to them, This person hath demanded of me my daughter in 
 marriage on the condition that he will meet you all in combat : and 
 
 O v 
 
 he hath pretended that he will overcome and subdue you, and that ye 
 cannot prevail against him. Then leave me with them to combat 
 them ; and if they kill me, the result will be more proper for the 
 concealment of thy secret and the preserving of thine honour; but if 
 I overcome and subdue them, then arn I such a person as the King 
 should desire for his son-in-law. And when the King heard his 
 words, he approved of his advice and accepted it, notwithstanding 
 that he wondered at his saying, and was struck with terror at his 
 determination to meet in combat all his army that he had described 
 unto him. Then they sat conversing. 
 
 And after this, the King called the eunuch, and commanded him 
 to go forth immediately to his Wezeer, and to desire him to collect all 
 the troops, and order them to equip themselves with their arms, and 
 to mount their horses. So the eunuch went to the Wezeer, and ac- 
 quainted him with that which the King had commanded. And upon 
 this the Wezeer summoned the chiefs of the army, and the grandees 
 of the empire, and ordered them to mount their horses, and to go 
 forth equipped with the weapons of war. Meanwhile, the King con- 
 tinued to converse with the young man, being pleased with his 
 conversation and sense and good breeding ; and as they were talking 
 together, the morning arrived. The King therefore arose, and went 
 to his throne, ordered his troops to mount, and caused an excellent 
 horse, one of the best that he possessed, to be brought before the 
 King's son, commanding that it should be equipped for him with 
 handsome saddle and trappings. But the young man said to him, O 
 King, I will not mount until I take a view of the troops, and observe 
 them. And the King replied, It shall be as thou desirest. Then the 
 King proceeded, with the young man before him, until they arrived 
 at the horse-course, when the young man looked at the troops and 
 their number. And the King called out, O companies of men, a 
 young man hath come unto me demanding in marriage my daughter, 
 and I have never beheld any handsomer than he, nor any stronger in 
 heart, nor any greater in intrepidity than he : and he hath asserted 
 that he alone will overcome you and subdue you, and pretendeth that 
 ye, even if your number amounted to a hundred thousand, would be 
 in his estimation but few. But when he conieth forth to combat you, 
 receive him upon the points of your spears, and the edges of your 
 swords ; for he hath undertaken a great enterprise. 
 
172 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC -HORSE. 
 
 The King then said to the young man, O my son, do as thou 
 desirest with them. But he replied, O King, thou hast not treated 
 me equitably. How shall I go forth to combat them when I am on 
 foot and thy people are mounted on horses? So the King said to 
 him, I desired thee to mount, and thou refusedst. Take then of the 
 horses and choose of them that which thou wilt. He replied, None 
 of thy horses pleaseth and I will mount none but the horse on 
 which I came. The King therefore said to him, And where is thy 
 horse ? He answered him, It is on the top of thy palace. In what 
 place in my palace ? asked the King. He answered, On the roof of 
 the palace. And when the King heard his words, he said to him, 
 This is the first instance that hath appeared of thine insanity. 0, wo 
 to thee ! How can the horse be upon the roof ? But now will thy 
 veracity be distinguished from thy lying. Then the King looked 
 towards one of his chief officers, and said to him, Go to my palace, 
 and bring what thou shalt find upon the roof. And the people 
 wondered at the words of the young man ; one saying to another, 
 How can this horse descend the stairs from the roof ? Verily this is 
 a thing the like of which we have never heard ! Now the person 
 whom the King had sent to the palace ascended to its roof, and beheld 
 the horse standing there; and he had seen none more handsome than 
 it ; and he approached it and examined it, and found it to be of ebony 
 and ivory. Some others of the chief officers of the King also went up 
 with this person; and when they beheld the horse, they laughed 
 together, and said, Did the young man speak of such a horse as this ? 
 We imagine that he is no other than a madman : but his case will 
 soon appear to us ; and perhaps he may be a .person of great import- 
 ance. They then raised the horse upon their hands, and carried it 
 without stopping until they came before the King, when they placed 
 it before him ; and the people assembled around it, gazing at it, and 
 wondering at the beauty of its make, and at the beauty of its saddle 
 and bridle. The King also admired it, and wondered at it extremely ; 
 and he said to the King's son, young man, is this thy horse ? He 
 answered, Yes, O King, this is my horse, and thou shalt see a wonder 
 performed by it. The King said to him, Take thy horse and mount 
 it. But he replied, I will not mount it unless the troops retire to a 
 distance from it. So the King commanded the troops that were 
 around him to retire from it as far as an arrow might be shot. 
 
 Then said the young man, O King, I am going to mount my 
 horse, and charge upon thine army, and disperse them to the right 
 

 <f=* 
 
 .._.:. 
 
 . 
 
 WM-M 
 
 and left, and split their hearts. The King replied, Do what thou 
 desirest, and pity them not; for they will not pity thee. And the 
 King's son went to the horse and mounted it. The troops were 
 arranged in ranks before him ; and one said to another, When the 
 young man arriveth between the ranks, we will receive him with the 
 points of the spears, and the edges of the swords. But one of them 
 said, By Allah, it is a calamity ! How shall we kill this young man 
 with the comely face and the surpassing figure ? And another said, 
 By Allah, ye shall by no means reach him unless after a great event ; 
 and the young man hath not done these deeds but from his knowledge 
 of his own valour and preeminence. And when the King's son had 
 seated himself firmly upon his horse, he turned the pin of ascent. 
 The eyes of the spectators were strained to see what he would do ; 
 and his horse bestirred itself, and moved about with violent action, 
 until it had performed the most extraordinary of the motions of horses, 
 and its body became filled with air. Then it rose, and ascended into 
 the sky. So when the King saw that he had risen, and ascended 
 aloft, he called out to his troops, and said, Wo to you ! Take him 
 before he escape from you. But his Wezeer and lieutenants replied, 
 O King, can any one catch the flying bird ? This is none other than 
 a great enchanter. God hath saved thee from him : therefore praise 
 God (whose name be exalted!) for thine escape from his hand. 
 
 The King therefore returned to his palace, after he had witnessed 
 these acts of the King's son ; and when he arrived at his palace, he 
 went to his daughter, and acquainted her with that which had happened 
 to him with the King's son in the horse-course; but he found her 
 greatly lamenting for him, and for her separation from him ; and she 
 fell into a violent sickness, and took to the pillow. So when her 
 ii. 3 P 
 
474 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 father saw her in this state he pressed her to his bosom, kissed her 
 between the eyes, and said to her, my daughter, praise God (whose 
 name be exalted !) and thank Him for our escape from this crafty en- 
 chanter. He began to repeat to her the account of the deeds of the 
 King's son that he had witnessed, describing to her how he had 
 ascended into the air. But she listened to nought of her father's 
 words ; her weeping and wailing increased in violence, and afterwards 
 she said within herself, By Allah, I will not eat food, nor drink any 
 beverage, until God reunite me with him. Therefore exceeding 
 anxiety overcame her father the King on account of this ; the state of 
 his daughter afflicted "him, and he mourned in heart for her; and 
 every time that he addressed her with soothing words, she only in- 
 creased in her passion for the young man. Such was her case. 12 
 
 Now, as to the King's son, when he had ascended into the sky, 
 being alone, he reflected upon the beauty of the damsel, and her 
 loveliness. He had inquired of the King's people respecting the 
 name of the city, and the name of the King, and that of his daughter ; 
 and that city was the city of San'a. 13 He then prosecuted his journey 
 with diligence until he came in sight of the city of his father ; and 
 after he had made a circuit around the city, he bent his course to his 
 father's palace, and descended upon the roof. Having left his horse 
 there, he descended to his father, and went in to him ; and he found 
 him mourning and afflicted on account of his separation : therefore, 
 when his father saw him, he rose to him and embraced him, pressing 
 him to his bosom, and rejoicing exceedingly at his return. And the 
 Prince inquired of his father respecting the sage who made the horse, 
 saying, O my father, what hath fortune done with him ? His father 
 answered him, May God not bless the sage nor the hour in which I 
 beheld him for he was the cause of thy separation from us, and he 
 hath been imprisoned, O my son, since thou absentedst thyself from 
 us. He gave orders, however, to relieve him, and take him forth 
 from the prison, and bring him before him; and when he came before 
 him, he invested him with an honorary dress in token of satisfaction, 
 and treated him with the utmost beneficence; but would not many 
 his daughter to him. So the sage was violently enraged at this, and 
 repented of that which he had done, knowing that the King's son had 
 become acquainted with the secret of the horse and the mode of its 
 motion. Then the King said to his son, It is my opinion that thou 
 shouldst not approach this horse henceforth, nor mount it after this 
 day ; for thou knowest not its properties, and thou art deceived 
 
THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. - 475 
 
 respecting it. The King's son had related to his father what had 
 happened to him with the daughter of the King, the lord of the city, 
 and what had happened to nim. with her father ; and his father said 
 to him, Had the King desired to slay thee, he had slain thee ; but the 
 end of thy life was delayed. 
 
 After this, 14 they ate and drank and were merry ; and there was 
 with the King a handsome slave-girl, who played upon the lute; and 
 she took the lute, and began to play upon it, singing of absence, 
 before the King and his son ; and she sang these verses : 
 
 Think not that absence hath made me forget : for if I forget you, what shall I 
 
 remember ? 
 Time passeth ; but never shall our love for you end : in our love for you we will 
 
 die and be raised. 
 
 Then anxious thoughts were aroused in the mind of the King's son 
 by his love of the damsel, the daughter of the King of San'a : so he 
 rose and went to the horse and mounted it, and turned the pin of 
 ascent ; whereupon it soared with him into the air, and rose with him 
 towards the upper region of the sky. And in the morning, his 
 father missed him, and found him not : he therefore went up to the 
 top of the palace, in a state of affliction, and he beheld his son 
 mounting into the air : and upon this he grieved for his separation, 
 and repented extremely that he had not taken the horse and con- 
 cealed it. He said within himself, By Allah, if my son return to me, 
 I will not preserve this horse, that my heart may be at rest respecting 
 my son. And he resumed his weeping and wailing. But as to his 
 son, he ceased not his course through the sky until he came to the 
 city of San'a, when he descended in the place where he descended the 
 first time, and he walked down stealthily until he came to the chamber 
 of the King's daughter; but he found neither her nor her female 
 slaves, nor the eunuch who was her gaurd; and the event greatly 
 afflicted him. Then he went about searching for her through the 
 palace, and at last he found her in a different chamber from that in 
 which he had been with her. She had taken to the pillow, and 
 around her were the female slaves and nurses. And he went in to 
 them and saluted them ; and when the damsel heard his speech, she 
 rose to him and embraced him, and began to kiss him between his 
 eyes, and to press him to her bosom. He said to her, O my mistress, 
 thou hast rendered me desolate during this period. And she replied, 
 Thou hast rendered me desolate, and had thine absence from me con- 
 tinued longer, I had perished without doubt. O my mistress, he 
 
rejoined, what though test thou of my conduct with thy father, and 
 his actions to me ? Were it not for my love of thee, temptation to 
 all creatures, I had slain him, and made him an example to beholders : 
 but I love him for thy sake. And she said to him, How couldst thou 
 absent thyself from me ? Can my life be pleasant after thy departure ? 
 He then said to her, Wilt thou comply with my desire, and listen 
 to my words ? She answered him, Say what thou wilt : for I will 
 consent to that which thou requirest me to do, and will not oppose 
 thce in any thing. And he said to her, Journey with me to my 
 country and my kingdom. She replied, Most willingly. 
 
 So when the King's son heard her words, he rejoiced exceedingly, 
 and, taking her by her hand, he made her swear by God (whose name 
 be exalted !) that she would do so. Then he led her up to the roof 
 of the palace, mounted his horse, and placed her on it behind him, 
 and after he had bound her firmly, he turned the pin of ascent in the 
 slioulder of the horse, and it ascended with them into the sky. Upon 
 this the female slaves cried out, and informed the King her father, 
 and her mother, who thereupon came up in haste to the roof of the 
 palace ; and the King, looking up into the sky, beheld the ebony 
 horse soaring with them in the air. The King was agitated, and 
 
THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 477 
 
 his agitation increased, and he called out and said, son of the King, 
 I conjure thee by Allah that thou have mercy upon me, and have 
 mercy upon my wife, and that thou make not a separation between us, 
 and our daughter ! The King's son, however, answered him not ; 
 but he imagined that the damsel repented of parting from her mother 
 and her father ; so he said to her, temptation of the age, dost thou 
 desire that I restore thee to thy mother and thy father ? my 
 master, she answered, by Allah that is not my desire : my desire is 
 rather to be with thee wherever thou shalt be ; for I am drawn off by 
 my love of thee from every thing else, even from my father and my 
 mother. And when the King's son heard her reply, he rejoiced ex- 
 ceedingly, and began to make the horse proceed gently with them, 
 that it might not disquiet her ; and he ceased not to journey on with 
 her until he beheld a green meadow, in which was a spring of water. 
 There they alighted, and ate and drank ; after which, the King's son 
 mounted his horse again, took her up behind him, and bound her, in 
 his fear for her. He then proceeded with her, and ceased not in his 
 course through the air nntil he arrived at the city of his father. His 
 joy thereat was great ; and he desired to shew to the damsel the seat 
 of his power and the dominion of his father, and to inform her that 
 the dominion of his father was greater than that of her father. He 
 therefore deposited her in one of the gardens in which his father 
 diverted himself, put her in a private chamber that was furnished for 
 his father, and placed the ebony horse at the door of that chamber, 
 charging the damsel to guard it, and saying to her, Sit here until I 
 send to thee my messenger ; for I am going to my father, to prepare 
 for thee a palace, and to display to thee my dominion. And the 
 damsel rejoiced when she heard from him these words, and replied, 
 Do what thou desirest. Then it occurred to her mind that she was 
 not to enter [the city] but with respect and honour, as was suitable 
 to persons of her rank. 
 
 So the King's son left her, and proceeded until he arrived at the 
 city, and went in to his father ; and when his father saw him, he 
 rejoiced at his coming, and met him and welcomed him; and the 
 King's son said to his father, Know that I have brought the King's 
 daughter of whom I informed thee, and I have left her without the 
 city, in one of the gardens, and come to acquaint thee with her arrival, 
 that thou mayest prepare the procession of state, and go forth to 
 meet her, and display to her thy dominion and thy troops and guards. 
 The King replied, Most willingly. And immediately he commanded 
 
478 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 the people of the city to decorate the city in the most handsome 
 manner, and rode forth in a procession equipped in the most perfect 
 manner and with the most magnificent decorations, with all his 
 soldiers and the grandees of his empire, and all his memlooks and 
 servants. The King's son also took forth, from his palace, ornaments 
 and apparel and such things as King's treasure up, and prepared for 
 the damsel a camel-litter of green and red and yellow brocade, in 
 which he seated Indian and Greek and Abyssinian female slaves, and 
 he displayed wonderful treasures. Then he left the camel-litter with 
 the persons that were in it, and went on before to the garden ; and 
 he entered the private chamber in which he had left the damsel, and 
 searched for her; but found her not, nor did he find the horse. Upon 
 this he slapped his face and rent his clothes, and began to go round 
 about through the garden, with a mind confounded ; after which, he 
 returned to his reason, and said within himself, How did she learn 
 the secret of this horse when I did not acquaint her with aught of it ? 
 But perhaps the Persian sage who made the horse hath found her, 
 and taken her, as a requital for that which my father hath done unto 
 him. Then the King's son sought the keepers of the garden, and 
 asked them who had passed by them, saying, Have ye seen any one 
 pass by you and enter this garden ? And they answered, We have 
 not seen any one enter this garden except the Persian sage ; for he 
 entered to collect useful herbs. So when he heard their words, he 
 was convinced that the person who had taken the damsel was that 
 sage. 
 
 Now it happened, in accordance with destiny, that, when the 
 King's son left the damsel in the private chamber that was in the 
 garden, and repaired to the palace of his father to make his prepara- 
 tions, the Persian sage entered the garden to collect some useful 
 herbs, and smelt the odour of musk and other perfumes with which 
 the air was impregnated; and this sweet scent was from the odour of 
 the King's daughter. The sage therefore proceeded in the direction 
 of this odour until he came to the private chamber, when he saw the 
 horse that he had made with his hand standing at the door of the 
 chamber. So when the sage saw the horse, his heart was filled with 
 joy and happiness ; for he had mourned after it greatly since it had 
 gone from his .possession. He approached it, and examined all its 
 members, and found it sound ; but when he was about to mount it 
 and depart, he said within himself, I must see what the King's son 
 hath brought and left here with the horse. Accordingly he entered 
 
THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 479 
 
 the private chamber, and found the damsel sitting there, resembling 
 the shining sun in the clear sky. As soon as he beheld her, he knew 
 that she was a damsel of high dignity, and that the King's son had 
 taken her, and brought her upon the horse, and left her in that private 
 chamber while he repaired to the city to prepare for her a stately pro- 
 cession, and to conduct her into the city with respect and honour. 
 The sage therefore went in to her, and kissed the ground before her; 
 and she raised her eyes towards him, and, looking at him, found him 
 to be of most hideous aspect and disagreeable form ; and she said to 
 him, Who art thou ? He answered her, my mistress, I am the 
 messenger of the King's son, who hath sent me to thee, and com- 
 manded me to remove thee to another garden, near unto the city. 
 And when the damsel heard from him these words, she said to him, 
 And where is the King's son ? He answered her, He is in the city, 
 with his father, and he will come to thee immediately with a grand 
 procession. But she said to him, thou ! could not the King's son 
 find any one to send to me but thee ? And the sage laughed at her 
 words, and replied, O my mistress, let not the hideousness of my face 
 and the disagreeableness of my aspect deceive thee; for hadst thou 
 experienced of me what the King's son hath, thou wouldst approve of 
 me. Verily the King's son hath especially chosen me to send to thee 
 on account of the hideousness of my aspect and the horrible nature of 
 my form, through his jealousy of thee, and his love of thee; for were 
 it otherwise, he hath of memlooks and black slaves, and pages and 
 servants and dependants, an abundance that cannot be calculated. 
 
 So when the damsel heard his reply, it appeared reasonable to her, 
 and she believed it, and arose and went with him, putting her hand in 
 his. She then said to him, O my father, what hast thou brought 
 with thee for me to ride ? O my mistress, he answered, the horse on 
 which thou earnest thou shalt ride. She replied, I cannot ride it by 
 myself. And when he heard this reply from her, the sage smiled, and 
 knew that he had got possession of her; and he said to her, I myself 
 will ride with thee. Then he mounted, and mounted the damsel 
 behind him, and pressing her to him, bound her tightly, while she 
 knew not what he desired to do with her. And after this, he turned 
 the pin of ascent, whereupon the body of the horse became filled with 
 air, and it moved and bestirred itself, and ascended into the sky, and 
 continued incessantly bearing them along until it was out of sight of 
 the city. So the damsel said to him, O thou ! what meant that 
 which thou saidst respecting the King's son, when thou assertcdst 
 
480 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 that he sent thee to me ? The sage replied, May Allah keep the 
 King's son from every thing good ; for he is base and vile ! 0, wo to 
 thee ! she exclaimed ; how is it that thou disobeycst thy lord in that 
 which he hath commanded thee to do ? He replied, He is not my 
 lord. And knowest thou, he added, who I am ? She answered him, 
 I know thee not but as thou hast informed me of thyself. And he 
 said to her, Verily my telling thee this was a stratagem that I made 
 use of against thee and against the King's son. I was lamenting 
 constantly for this horse that is beneath thee, for it is of my making, 
 and he had made himself master of it ; but now I have obtained 
 possession of it and of thee also, and have tortured his heart as he 
 hath tortured mine, and he will never have it in his power henceforth. 
 But be of good heart and cheerful eye ; for I shall be more useful to 
 thee than he. And when the damsel heard his words, she slapped 
 her face, and cried out, my grief! I have neither obtained my 
 beloved nor remained with my father and my mother ! And she wept 
 violently for that which had befallen her, while the sage incessantly 
 proceeded with her to the country of the Greeks, 15 until he descended 
 with her in a verdant meadow with rivers and trees. 
 
 This meadow was near unto a city, in which was a King of great 
 dignity ; and it happened on that day that the King of the city went 
 forth to hunt, and to divert himself, and, passing by that meadow, he 
 saw the sage standing there, with the horse and the damsel by his 
 side. And the sage was not aware of their approach when the slaves 
 of the King rushed upon him, and took him, together with the damsel 
 and the horse, and placed all before the King, who, when he beheld 
 the hideousness of his aspect, and the disagreeableness of his appear- 
 ance, and beheld the beauty of the damsel, and her loveliness, said to 
 her, my mistress, what relation is this sheykh to thee ? The sage 
 hastily answered and said, She is my wife, and the daughter of my 
 paternal uncle. But the damsel declared that he was a liar, as soon 
 as she heard his words, and said. King, by Allah I know him not, 
 and he is not my husband : but he took me away by force and strata- 
 gem. And when the King heard what she said, he gave orders to 
 beat the sage; and they beat him until he almost died. Then the 
 King commanded that they should carry him to the city, and cast 
 him into the prison ; and so they did with him ; and the King took 
 the damsel and the horse from him ; but he knew not the property of 
 the horse, nor the mode of its motion. Thus did it befall the sage 
 and the damsel. 
 
THE STORY OP THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 481 
 
 As to the King's son, he put on the apparel of travel, and, having 
 taken what money he required, journeyed forth in a most evil state, 
 and quickly endeavoured to trace them, seeking them from town to 
 town and from city to city, and inquiring respecting the ebony horse ; 
 and every one who heard his mention of the ebony horse wondered at 
 it, and was greatly astonished at his words. Thus he continued to do 
 for a long period; but notwithstanding his frequent questions and his 
 searching for them, he met with no tidings of them. Then he 
 journeyed to the city of the damsel's father, and there inquired for 
 her, but he heard no tidings of her, and he found her father mourning 
 for her loss. So he returned, and repaired to the country of the 
 Greeks, endeavouring to trace them, and inquiring respecting them. 
 And it happened that he alighted at one of the Khans, and saw a 
 party of the merchants sitting conversing ; and he seated himself near 
 them, and heard one of them say, my companions, I have met with 
 
 u. 
 
 3 o. 
 
482 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 a wonderful thing. And what was it ? they asked. He answered, 1 
 was in a certain district, in such a city (and he mentioned the name 
 of the city in which was the damsel), and I heard its inhabitants 
 talking of a strange story, which was this : The King of the city 
 went forth one day to hunt, attended by a party of his associates 
 and the grandees of his empire, and when they went forth into 
 the desert, they passed by a verdant meadow, and found there a 
 man standing, and by his side a woman sitting, and with him a horse 
 of ebony. As to the man, he was of hideous aspect, very horrible in 
 form ; and as to the woman, she was a damsel endowed with beauty 
 and loveliness, and elegance and perfect grace, and justness of stature ; 
 and as to the ebony horse, it was a wonderful thing : eyes have not 
 beheld its superior in beauty or in comeliness of make. The persons 
 present said to him, And what did the King with them ? He 
 answered, As to the man, the King took him, and asked him respect- 
 ing the damsel, and he pretended that she was his wife, and the 
 daughter of his paternal uncle. But as to the damsel, she declared 
 that he lied in his assertion. So the King took her from him, and 
 gave orders to beat him, and to cast him into the prison. And as to 
 the ebony horse, I know not what became of it. When the King's 
 son therefore heard these words from the merchant, he approached him, 
 and proceeded to question him with mildness and courtesy until he 
 acquainted him with the name of the city and the name of its King ; 
 and when he knew the name of the city and that of its King, he passed 
 the night happy ; and in the morning he went forth on his journey. 
 
 He ceased not to prosecute his journey until he arrived at that 
 city ; but when he desired to enter it, the gate-keepers took him, and 
 would have conducted him into the presence of the King, that he 
 might inquire of him respecting his condition, and of the cause of his 
 coming into that city, and as to what art or trade he was skilled in ; 
 for so was the King's custom to question the strangers respecting 
 their conditions and their arts or trades. But the arrival of the 
 King's son at that city happened to be at eventide; and that was a 
 time at which it was not possible to go in to the King or to consult 
 respecting him. So the gate-keepers took him and conducted him 
 to the prison, to put him in it. When the jailers, however, saw his 
 beauty and loveliness, they could not bear to put him in the prison : 
 on the contrary, they seated him with themselves, outside the prison ; 
 and when the food was brought to them, he ate with them until he 
 was satisfied ; and after they had finished eating, they sat conversing, 
 
THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 483 
 
 and, addressing the King's son, they said to him, From what country 
 art thou ? He answered, I am from the country of Persia, the country 
 of the Kisras. And when they heard his answer, they laughed, and one 
 of them said to him, Kisrawee, 16 I have heard the sayings of men, 
 and their histories, and have observed their conditions ; but I have 
 neither seen, nor heard of, a greater liar than this Kisrawee who is with 
 us in the prison. And another said, Nor have I seen any one more 
 hideous than he in person, or more disagreeable than he in form. 
 
 So the King's son said to them, AVhat instance of his lying hath 
 appeared unto you ? They answered, He pretendeth that he is a sage, 
 and the King saw him as he was going to hunt, and with him a 
 woman of surprising beauty and loveliness, and elegance and perfect 
 grace, and justness of stature, and there was with him also a horse of 
 black ebony, than which we have never seen any more handsome. As to 
 the damsel, she is with the King, and he loveth her; but the woman 
 is mad ; and if that man were a sage as he pretendeth, he had cured 
 her ; for the King is striving to find her remedy, desiring to recover 
 her of her malady. As to the ebony horse, it is in the King's treasury ; 
 and as to the man of hideous aspect, who was with it, te is with us 
 in the prison ; and when the night overshadoweth him, he weepeth 
 and waileth in his grief for himself, and suffereth us not to sleep. 
 
 Now when the keepers of the prison acquainted the King's son 
 with these circumstances, it occurred to his mind that he might 
 contrive a plan by means of which to attain his desire. And when 
 the gate-keepers desired to sleep, they put him into the prison, and 
 closed the door upon him ; and he heard the sage weeping and 
 lamenting for himself in the Persian language, and saying in his 
 lamentation, Wo unto me for the injustice that I have committed 
 against myself and against the King's son, and for that which I did 
 unto the damsel, since I neither left her nor accomplished my desire. 
 All this arose from my ill management ; for I sought for myself that 
 which I deserved not, and which was not suited to me ; and he who 
 seeketh that which is not suited to him falleth into a calamity like 
 that into which I have fallen. And when the King's son heard these 
 words of the sage, he spoke to him in the Persian language, saying, 
 How long wilt thou continue this weeping and lamentation ? Dost 
 thou think that such a misfortune hath befallen thee as hath not 
 befallen any beside thee ? And the sage, on hearing his words, was 
 cheered by him, and complained to him of his case, and of the distress 
 he experienced. 
 
484 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 Then, when the morning came, the gate-keepers took the King's 
 son, and conducted him to the King, and informed him that he had 
 arrived at the city on the preceding day, at a time when it was 
 impossible to go in unto the King. So the King questioned him, 
 and said to him, From what country art thou, and what is thy name, 
 and what thy art or trade, and what the reason of thy coming unto 
 this city ? And the King's son answered, As to my name, it is, in 
 the Persian language, Harjeh ; 17 and as to my country, it is the 
 country of Persia; and I am of the men of science, especially the 
 science of medicine ; for I cure the sick and the mad ; and for this 
 purpose I travel about through the regions and cities, to profit myself 
 by adding science to my science ; and when I see a sick person I cure 
 him. This is my occupation. And when the King heard his words, 
 he rejoiced at them exceedingly, and said to him, O excellent sage, 
 thou hast come to us at a time when we need thee. Then he ac- 
 quainted him with the case of the damsel, and said to him, If thou 
 cure her, and recover her of her madness, thou shalt receive from me 
 all that thou shalt desire. And the King's son, on hearing this, 
 replied, May God confirm the power of the King \ Describe to me 
 every thing that thou hast observed of her madness, and inform me 
 how many days ago this madness attacked her, and how thou tookest 
 her and the horse and the sage. He therefore acquainted him with 
 the matter from beginning to end, and said to him, The sage is in the 
 
THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 485 
 
 prison. And the King's son said, O happy King, and what hast thou 
 done with the horse that was with them ? The King answered him, 
 It remaineth with me to the present time, preserved in one of the 
 private chambers. So the King's son said within himself, It is my 
 opinion that I should examine the horse before every thing else, and 
 if it be sound, and no accident have happened to it, all that I desire 
 is accomplished ; but if I see that its motions are destroyed, I will 
 yet devise some stratagem to save my life. Then looking towards the 
 King, he said to him, O King, it is requisite that I see the horse 
 which thou hast mentioned. Perhaps I may find in it something 
 that will aid me to recover the damsel. The King replied, Most 
 willingly. And he arose, and, taking him by the hand, led him in to 
 the horse ; whereupon the King's son began to go round about the 
 horse, and to examine it and observe its condition; and he found it 
 sound, without any defect. He therefore rejoiced at it exceedingly, 
 and said, May God confirm the power of the King ! I desire to go in 
 to the damsel, that I may see how she will act ; and I beg of God 
 that her recovery may be effected by me, by means of the horse, if it 
 be the will of God, whose name be exalted ! 
 
 He gave orders to take care of the horse, and the King conducted 
 him to the chamber in which was the damsel. And when the King's 
 son went in to her, he found her beating herself, and falling down 
 prostrate as usual ; but she was affected by no madness, and only did 
 thus that no one might approach her. So the King's son, on seeing 
 her in this state, said to her, No harm shall befall thee, O temptation 
 to all creatures ! Then he began to address her gently and courteously 
 until he acquainted her with himself; and when she knew him, she 
 uttered a great cry, and fell down in a fit through the violence of the 
 joy that she experienced ; and the King imagined that this fit was 
 occasioned by her fear of him. And the King's son put his mouth 
 to her ear, and said to her, O temptation to all creatures, spare my 
 life and thine, and be patient arid firm ; for this is a place wherein we 
 stand in need of patience and good management in devising stratagems 
 to make our escape from this tyrannical King. A part of my strata- 
 gem shall be, that I go forth to him and say to him, The disease that 
 she suffereth ariseth from her being possessed by a Jinnee, 13 and I 
 promise thee her recovery. And I will make a condition with him 
 that he shall loose thy bonds, and will assure him that this Jinnee 
 which hath afflicted thee 19 will be dispelled from thee. Therefore if 
 he come in to thee, address him with pleasant words, that he may sec 
 
486 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 that thou hast recovered through my means, and so shall all that we 
 desire be accomplished. And she replied, I hear and obey. He then 
 went forth from her, and, returning to the King, full of joy and 
 happiness, said, fortunate King, I have discovered, through thy 
 good fortune, her remedy and cure, and I have cured her for thee. 
 Arise then and go in to her, and speak gently and mildly to her, and 
 promise her that which shall rejoice her ; for all that thou desirest of 
 her shall be accomplished for thee. The King therefore arose and 
 went in to her ; and when she saw him, she rose to him, and kissed 
 the ground before him, and welcomed him ; whereat the King rejoiced 
 exceedingly. Pie ordered the female slaves and eunuchs to betake 
 themselves to serve her, to conduct her into the bath, and to prepare 
 for her the ornaments and apparel. So they went in to her and 
 saluted her, and she returned their salutation with the most courteous 
 utterance and the most pleasant words. Then they attired her in 
 royal apparel, put upon her neck a necklace of jewels, conducted her 
 to the bath, served her, and brought her out from the bath, resem- 
 bling the full moon. And when she came to the King, she saluted 
 him, and kissed the ground before him. 
 
 The King therefore was greatly rejoiced at seeing her thus, and 
 said to the King's son, All this is occasioned by the blessings atten- 
 dant upon thee ! May God increase to us thy benefactions ! And the 
 King's son replied, King, the perfection of her recovery and the 
 completion of her affair must be effected by thy going forth with all 
 thy guards and thy soldiers to the place where thou foundest her, and 
 the ebony horse that was with her must be taken with thee, that I may 
 there confine from her the Jinnee that hath afflicted her, and imprison 
 him and kill him, so that he may never return to her. The King 
 said, Most willingly. Accordingly he sent forth the ebony horse to 
 the meadow in which he had found the damsel with the horse and the 
 Persian sage, and the King mounted with his troops, taking the 
 damsel with him; and they knew not what he desired to do. And 
 when they arrived at that meadow, the King's son who feigned 
 himself a sage ordered that the damsel and the horse should be placed 
 as far from the King and the troops as the eye could reach, and said 
 to the King, With thy permission and leave, I desire to burn perfumes, 
 and to recite a form of exorcism, and imprison the Jinnee here, that 
 he may never return to her. After which, I will mount the ebony 
 horse, and mount the damsel behind me ; and when I have done 
 that, the horse will move about with violent action, and walk forward 
 
until it cometh to thee, when the affair 
 will be finished, and thou shalt do with her 
 what thou wilt. And when the King 
 heard his words, he rejoiced exceedingly- 
 Then the King's son mounted the horse, 
 and placed the damsel behind him, while 
 the King and all his troops looked at him. 
 And he pressed her to him, and bound her 
 firmly, and turned the pin of ascent ; 
 whereupon the horse rose with them into 
 the air. The troops continued gazing at 
 him until he disappeared from before their 
 eyes ; and the King remained half a day 
 expecting his return to him ; but he re- 
 turned not : so he despaired of him, and 
 repented greatly, and grieved for the sepa- 
 ration of the damsel. Then he took his 
 troops, and returned to his city. 
 
 But as to the King's son, he bent his 
 course to the city of his father, full of joy 
 
488 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE. 
 
 and happiness, and ceased not in his journey until he descended 
 upon his palace, when he took down the damsel into the palace, and 
 felt secure of her. He then repaired to his father and his mother, 
 and saluted them, and acquainted them with the arrival of the 
 damsel; whereat they rejoiced exceedingly. Meanwhile the King 
 of the Greeks, when he returned to his city, secluded himself in 
 his palace, mourning and afflicted. So his wezeers went in to him, 
 and began to console him, saying to him, Verily he who took the 
 damsel is an enchanter ; and praise be to God who hath saved thee 
 from his enchantment and craftiness. And they ceased not until he 
 was consoled for the loss of her. And as to the King's son, he made 
 magnificent banquets for the people of the city, and they continued 
 the rejoicings for a whole month ; after which, he took the damsel as 
 his wife, and they were delighted with each other exceedingly. And 
 his father broke the ebony horse, and destroyed its motions. Then 
 the King's son wrote a letter to the father of the damsel, and in it 
 described to him his state, informing him that he had married the 
 damsel, and that she was with him in the most happy condition. He 
 sent it to him by a messenger, bearing precious presents and rarities ; 
 and when the messenger arrived at the city of the damsel's father, 
 which was San'a of El- Yemen, he transmitted the letter, with the 
 presents, to that King, who, on reading the letter, rejoiced exceed- 
 ingly, accepted the presents, and treated the messenger with honour. 
 He then prepared a magnificent present for his son-in-law, the King's 
 son, and sent it to him by that messenger, who returned with it to the 
 King's son, and informed him of the joy which the King, the father 
 of the damsel, experienced when he brought him the news of his 
 daughter. At this the King's son was affected with great happiness : 
 and every year he wrote to his father-in-law, and sent him a present. 
 
 Thus they continued until the King, the father of the young man, 
 was taken from the world ; and the young man reigned after him 
 over his dominions. He ruled his subjects with equity, and conducted 
 himself among them in a laudable manner; the country was subject 
 to him, and the people obeyed him : and thus they remained, passing 
 the most delightful and most agreeable and most comfortable and most 
 pleasant life, until they were visited by the terminator of delights 
 and the separator of companions, the devastator of palaces and the 
 replenisher of the graves. Extolled then be the perfection of the 
 Living who dieth not, and in whose hand is the dominion that is 
 apparent and the dominion that is hidden." 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH. 
 
 NOTE 1. The words " in the country of the Persians " are not in my original. In 
 the Breslau edition, the King mentioned immediately after is called " a King of the 
 Persians, named the King Saboor," an Arabic corruption of " Shapoor," which was a 
 name borne by several Kings of Persia. In the old version, the court of this monarch 
 is said to have been at Sheeraz. On the origin of the tale of the Magic Horse some 
 remarks will be made in the last note of the present series. 
 
 NOTE 2. On the Persian Festival of the Autumnal Equinox. The sentence to which 
 this note refers I have taken from the Breslau edition, correcting some errors. Of the 
 first of the two festivals here mentioned, I have already given some account. 1 
 
 The festival of the Autumnal Equinox, called " Mihrgan," " Mihrjan," and 
 "Mahrajan" (the last of which terms is that by which the Arabs call it), was one of 
 the greatest of those celebrated by the ancient Persians. It began on the 16th 
 of Mihr, the seventh month. " Many traditional motives are assigned for the origin of 
 this solemnity, which was held for six days; but the most rational conjecture leads 
 us to conclude that it was instituted at this season of the autumnal equinox in honour 
 of their great ostensible deity, the Sun ; as the other high festival of the Now-roz was, 
 on the same principles, intended to celebrate the sun's entering the constellation 
 Aries. The sixteenth was more particularly distinguished than the rest ; all who could 
 afford the purchase anointing themselves then with the oil of ban, 2 sprinkling them- 
 selves with rose-water, and eating of various fruits, from an idea that such observances 
 would defend them from a number of evils which might otherwise distress them in the 
 course of the year. The King, on the first day of this festival, after anointing himself 
 with the oil of ban, dressed in a superb robe of many colours, his head adorned with 
 the royal taj (or diadem), on which was a splendid figure of the Sun, seated himself on 
 his throne; when the high priest, entering alone, with a large silver dish, filled with 
 sugar, peaches, quinces, apples, citrons, pomegranates, the jujube, the lote, a bunch of 
 white grapes, and seven myrtle-berries, muttered over them a prayer, and presented 
 them to the King, who ate of thcan all ; after which, the nobility and others, approach- 
 ing according to their rank, followed their sovereign's example ; when a variety of 
 
 In Note 19 to Chapter xvi. 
 
 II. 
 
 2 Generally called by English writers ''ben.' 
 3 R 
 
490 NOTES TO CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH. 
 
 robes and other rich furniture, from the royal wardrobes, were distributed amongst 
 them in proportion to their degree. On this day it was esteemed fortunate to wean or 
 name children ; and if a son was then born to the King, he was immediately, with 
 great solemnity, consecrated high priest of the Sun." 3 
 
 NOTE 3. The words " during one of these festivals " I have inserted from the 
 Breslau edition. 
 
 NOTE 4. In the Breslau edition, the peacock is described as being in the middle of 
 a basin of silver, and surrounded by four and twenty yonng ones of gold; and the 
 owner of it explains that at the expiration of each hour, the peacock would peck one 
 of its young ones ; then, at the end of another hour, a second of them ; and so on ; and 
 that at the termination of the month, it would open its beak, and that the new moon 
 would be seen in it. 
 
 NOTE 5. Instead of a mere trumpet, the Breslau edition describes " a figure of 
 gold set with fine and precious stones and jewels, with a trumpet of gold in its hand j" 
 but " nakeer" is put for " nefeer," a trumpet. 
 
 NOTE 6. In the Breslau edition, the sage is said to have first mounted the ebony 
 horse, and ascended on it, and descended. Afterwards, the King's youngest daughter, 
 whom he had granted in marriage to the owner of the horse, disgusted with the hideous 
 aspect of this person, implores the assistance of her brother, who remonstrates with the 
 King, and is induced by him to try the wonderful properties of the horse in order that 
 he may consent to the marriage, nearly as in the tale of Cleomades and Claremond, 
 with which, in some other particulars, the story of the Magic Horse in the Breslau 
 edition agrees more nearly than that in the edition of Cairo ; as also does the story in 
 each of these editions more than that in Galland's version. To the tale of Cleomades 
 and Claremond I shall have occasion to revert. 
 
 NOTE 7. See Note 15 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 8. Literally, " by ' Say, I seek refuge with the Lord of Men,' and ' the Day- 
 break :' " that is, by repeating the last Chapter, and the last but one of the Kur-an ; 
 which are called " the Two Preventives." See Note 18 to Chapter x., and Note 58 to 
 Chapter viii. 
 
 NOTE 9. See Note 50 to Chapter x. This would refer the story to a period ante- 
 cedent to the conquest of Persia by the Muslims ; but such is evidently not the idea of 
 the Arab narrator. 
 
 NOTE 10. That is, as though he would eat the Prince. See Note 21 to the 
 Introduction. 
 
 NOTE 11. In the Breslau edition, this King is called " Keysar ;" that is, Caesar : 
 but in the edition from which I translate, his kingdom is El-Yemen, or Arabia Felix. 
 
 NOTE 12. This princess is called, in the Breslau edition, " Shems-en-Nahar," which 
 signifies " The Sun of Day." 
 
 NOTE 13. San'a is the capital of El- Yemen, and a very ancient city. It is cele- 
 brated for its trees and waters, and hence compared to Damascus. 
 
 NOTE 14. From the commencement of this paragraph to the end of the two 
 verses, I have taken from the Breslau edition, correcting some obvious errors. 
 
 NOTE 15. In the original, ' Bilad er-Room." This name is applied by some of 
 the Arab geographers to the territories constituting Modern Greece and European 
 Turkey ; but by others, to the greater part of Asia Minor. The latter I suppose to be 
 
 3 Richardson's Persian, Arabic, and English Dictionary, Johnson's edition, voce " mah." 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH. - 491 
 
 here meant. Instead of " the country of the Greeks," we have in the Breslau edition, 
 China ; and in Galland's version, Kashmeer. 
 
 NOTE 16. " Kisrawee" here signifies " a subject of Kisra ;" i. e. of the Persian 
 Monarch. 
 
 NOTE 17. This name, I fancy, has been altered by a copyist. 
 
 NOTE 18. It is the general belief of the Arabs, that furious or dangerous madness 
 is occasioned by the patient's being possessed by a devil, or evil Jinnee ; and the usual 
 term applied to it (namely "junooii") signifies this. 
 
 NOTE 19. Literally, " this accident," or " misfortune,'' &c. My sheykh, by a 
 note on a later passage, authorizes the rendering which I have adopted. 
 
 NOTE 20. This story differs so little from that of Cleomades and Claremond that 
 it is evident that one of these was derived, immediately or mediately, from the other, 
 or that both of them are derived from a common origin. Of the latter story, Mr. 
 Keightley has given a copious extract, 4 to which he has subjoined several notices of the 
 mention of magic horses of wood, the brazen horse of King Cambuscan, and enchanted 
 horses of flesh and blood. He shews that ' Cleomades and Claremond" was written in 
 the thirteenth century of our era, and remarks, " The story, as every one must see, is 
 that of the Enchanted Horse in the Thousand and One Nights ; and it is a very re- 
 markable instance of the transmission of fictitious narratives, little altered, from distant 
 regions. . . . The Enchanted Horse," he adds, " is in my opinion an ancient Persian 
 tale, from the time of the Shapoors and Yezdejirds." I agree with him in regarding it 
 as an old Persian tale, and think that it is probably derived from the " Hezar Afsaneh." 
 
 In his " Tales and Popular Fictions," ch. ii. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY- 
 FIRST NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE THREE 
 HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIRST. 
 
 THE STORY OF UXS-EL-WUJOOD AND EL- WARD FI-L-AKMAM.' 
 
 THERE was, in ancient times, a King of great dignity, possessed 
 of glory and absolute power, and he bad a ^Vezeer named Ibraheem, 
 wbo bad a daughter of surprising beauty and loveliness, surpassing in 
 elegance and in every grace, endowed with abundant sense and eminent 
 polite accomplishments ; but she loved carousing and wine, and 
 
THE STORY OF UNS-EL-WUJOOD, &c. 493 
 
 comely faces, and pretty verses, and strange histories. The delicacy 
 of her charms enticed the minds of mankind to love. Her name was 
 El- Ward fi-1-Akmam ; * and the reason of her being so named was 
 her excessive delicacy of beauty, and her perfect elegance ; and the 
 King was fond of carousing with her, on account of her accomplished 
 manners. 
 
 Now it was the custom of the King, every year, to collect the 
 chief men of his dominions, and to play with the ball. 3 And on one 
 of those days when he did so, the daughter of the Wezeer sat at a 
 lattice- window to amuse herself; and while they were engaged in the 
 game, she cast a glance, and beheld among the soldiers a young man, 
 than whom there was none more handsome in aspect, nor any more 
 beautiful in appearance ; bright in countenance, with laughing teeth, 
 generous, wide-shouldered. She looked at him again and again, and 
 was not satiated with gazing at him ; and she said to her nurse, 
 What is the name of this young man of comely qualities, who is 
 among the soldiers ? The nurse replied, my daughter, all of them 
 are comely. Who then among them ? Wait, rejoined the damsel, 
 until I point him out to thee. And she took an apple, and threw it 
 upon him. So he raised his head, and beheld the Wezeer's daughter 
 at the window, 4 resembling the full moon in the darkness of night ; 
 and he withdrew not his eye without his heart's being engrossed by 
 love for her ; and he recited the saying of the poet : 
 
 Hath the archer shot me, or have thine eyes ? Thou hast destroyed the heart of 
 
 the enamoured on his looking at thee. 
 Hath the notched arrow been suddenly 6 lanced at me from the midst of an army 
 
 or from a window ? 
 
 And when the game was ended, the damsel said to her nurse, What 
 is the name of this young man whom I have shewn to thee ? She 
 answered, His name is Uns-el-Wujood. 6 And upon this, she shook 
 her head, and laid herself down upon her mattress ; her mind was 
 tired, and she uttered groans, and recited these verses : 
 
 He hath missed not who named thee the Delight of the World, O them who 
 
 impartest both delight and liberality ! ' 
 O thou whose countenance resembleth the full moon, and whose face diffuseth 
 
 light over all the creation ! 
 Thou art without an equal among mankind, the sovereign of beauty, and I have 
 
 witnesses to prove it. 
 Thine eyebrow is like a well-formed Noon ; and thine eye, like Sad, the work of 
 
 the Benevolent. 8 
 
494 THE STORY OF UNS-EL-WUJOOD 
 
 Thy figure resembleth a fresh, slender branch ; and if asked, thou givest every 
 
 thing liberally. 
 Thou surpassest the horsemen of the world in assault, and in imparting delight, 
 
 and in beauty and beneficence. 
 
 She then wrote these verses on a paper, which she wrapped in a 
 piece of silk embroidered with gold, and put beneath the pillow. 
 And one of her nurses was looking at her; so this nurse came to her, 
 and proceeded to engage her with conversation until she slept, when 
 she stole the paper from beneath the pillow, and read it. She 
 therefore knew that she was affected with a violent passion for Uns- 
 el-Wujood ; and after she had read the paper, she put it again in its 
 place. And when her mistress awoke, she said to her, my mistress, 
 I am an admonisher unto thee, and one who pitieth thee. Know that 
 love is difficult, and the concealment of it would melt iron, and 
 occasioneth diseases and infirmities ; and the person who revealeth 
 love is not obnoxious to reproach. Upon this, El-Ward fi-1-Aknuim 
 said to her, my nurse, and what is the remedy for desire ? Its 
 remedy, answered the nurse, is an interview. And how can that be 
 obtained ? said the damsel. The nurse answered, my mistress, it 
 may be obtained by means of letters, and gentle words, and by many 
 compliments and salutations ; for this mode of proceeding bringeth 
 lovers together, and by it things that are difficult are rendered easy ; 
 and if thou have any affair to be performed, my lady, I am most 
 fit to conceal thy secret, and to accomplish thy business, and bear 
 thy letter. And when El- Ward fi-1-Akmam heard these words from 
 her, her reason fled, through joy ; but she withheld herself from 
 replying, that she might see the result of her affair, and said within 
 herself, Verily this thing no one hath known from me, and I will not 
 reveal it to this woman until after I shall have tried her. Then the 
 woman said to her, O my mistress, I saw in my sleep as though a 
 man came to me and said to me, Thy mistress and Uns-el-Wujood 
 love each other : therefore manage their affair, and carry their letters, 
 and accomplish their wants, and conceal their case and their secrets : 
 so wilt thou experience abundant good fortune. Now I have related 
 to thee what I saw, and it is thine to decide. And El-Ward fi-1-Akmam 
 said to her nurse, when she had thus informed her of the dream that 
 she had (as she pretended) seen, Wilt thou conceal secrets, my 
 nurse ? The nurse replied, How should I not conceal secrets when I 
 am of the choicest of the ingenuous ? 
 
 Upon this, therefore, the damsel produced to her the paper upon 
 
AND EL-WARD FI-L-AKMAM. 495 
 
 which she had written the verses, saying to her, Repair with this my 
 note to Uns-el-Wujood, and bring me an answer to it. So she took 
 it, and went with it to Uns-el-Wujood ; and when she went, in to him 
 she kissed his hands, complimented him with the most courteous 
 words, and gave him the paper ; and after he had read it, and under- 
 stood its meaning, he wrote upon the back of it these verses : 
 
 I soothe my heart in my passion, and conceal it ; but my state interpreteth and 
 
 sheweth my love. 
 
 When my tears flow, I say, My eye is sore lest the censurer should see and under- 
 stand my condition. 
 I was free from care, and knew not what was love ; but have become enamoured, 
 
 and with enslaved heart. 
 I submit to you my case, complaining of my passion and my ecstasy, in the hope 
 
 that you will pity, and shew mercy : 
 I have written it with the tears of my eye, that perchance it may explain to you 
 
 the love with which you have affected me. 
 God guard a face that is veiled with loveliness ! The full moon is its slave, and 
 
 the stars are its servants. 
 In beauty, I have never beheld her equal ; and from her motions, the branches 
 
 might learn to wave. 
 I beg, without imposing on yourself a trouble, that you will pay us a visit ; for wo 
 
 should highly esteem it. 
 I give you my soul perhaps you will accept it for to me, union will be Paradise, 
 
 and aversion will be Hell. 
 
 Then he folded the letter, kissed it, and gave it to her, saying to her, 
 O nurse, conciliate the favour of thy mistress. She replied, I hear 
 and obey. And she took from him the letter, and returned to her 
 mistress, and gave it to her; and she kissed it, and put it on her 
 head; after which, she opened it and read it, and understood its 
 meaning ; and she wrote beneath it these verses : 
 
 O thou whose heart is enamoured by our beauty, have patience in thy love, and 
 
 perhaps thou wilt obtain us. 
 When we knew that thine affection was true, and that the passion that hath 
 
 afflicted our heart had afflicted thine, 
 
 We would have granted thee the union thou desirest, and more ; but were pre- 
 vented doing so by our chamberlains. 
 When the night becometh dark, through the excess of our love, fires are kindled 
 
 within our bosoms, 
 And sleep is driven away from our beds, and often are our bodies afflicted by our 
 
 passion. 
 An imperative law in love's code is concealment. Raise not the curtains that are 
 
 lowered over us. 
 My bosom is filled with love of the gazelle. Would that he were never distant 
 
 from our home ! 
 
 And when she had finished her verses, she folded the paper, and 
 gave it to the nurse, who took it, and went forth from her ; but the 
 
496 THE STORY OF UXS-EL-WUJOOD 
 
 chamberlain met her, and said to her, Whither art thou going ? She 
 answered, To the bath. And she was alarmed at him, and the paper 
 fell from her as she went forth from the door in her alarm, and one 
 of the eunuchs, seeing it lying in the way, took it. Then the Wezeer 
 came forth from the Hareem, and seated himself upon his couch, and 
 the eunuch who had picked up the paper repaired to him. So while 
 the Wezeer was sitting upon his couch, lo, that eunuch approached 
 him, with the paper in his hand, and said to him, my lord, I found 
 this paper thrown down in the house, and I took it. The Wezeer 
 therefore took it from his hand, folded as it was, and opened it, and 
 saw written upon it the verses above mentioned. He read them, and 
 understood their meaning; and then, examining the writing, he found 
 it to be that of his daughter ; whereupon he went in to her mother, 
 weeping violently, so that his beard was wetted. His wife said to 
 him, What hath caused thee to weep, my lord ? And he replied, 
 Take this paper, and see its contents. So she took the paper, and 
 read it, and found it to be a letter from her daughter El-Ward fi-1- 
 Akmam to Uns-el-Wujood; upon which she was affected with an 
 inclination to weep ; but she subdued her mind, and restrained her 
 tears, and said to the Wezeer, my lord, there is no profit in weep- 
 ing. The right opinion is this : that we consider a plan by which to 
 protect thy honour, and to conceal the affair of thy daughter. And 
 she proceeded to console him, and to alleviate his sorrows. JBut he 
 said to her, Verily I am in fear for my daughter on account of her 
 passion. Knowest thou not that the Sultan loveth Uns-el-Wujood 
 with a great affection ? There are two causes for my fear. The first 
 is, with respect to myself; she being my daughter. And the second 
 is, with respect to the Sultan ; Uns-el-Wujood being a favourite with 
 the Sultan ; and probably an affair of great moment may hence ensue. 
 What then dost thou see fit to be done in this case ? She replied, 
 Have patience with rne until I shall have performed the prayer for 
 direction in the right course. Then she performed the prayers of 
 two rek'ahs, the prophetic ordinance for seeking to be directed aright; 9 
 and when she had finished her prayers, she said to her husband, In 
 the midst of the Sea of the Kunooz ' is a mountain called the 
 Mountain of the Bereft Mother (and the cause of its being so named 
 will be mentioned hereafter), and to that mountain none can obtain 
 access, unless with difficulty : therefore make for her a place there. 
 
 So the Wezeer agreed with his wife that he should build there an 
 impregnable palace, and place her in it, and put with her the provi- 
 
AND EL- WARD FI-L-AKMlM. 497 
 
 sions necessary for her year after year, and place with her such atten- 
 dants as should cheer her and serve her. He collected the carpenters 
 and builders and architects, and sent them to that mountain ; and 
 they built for her an impregnable palace, such as eyes had never 
 beheld. Then he prepared the provisions for the journey, and the 
 caravan to accompany her; and, going in to his daughter at night, 
 commanded her to set forth on the journey. So her heart felt the 
 pangs of separation, and when she went forth, and saw the preparation 
 for travel, she wept violently, and wrote some words on the door to 
 acquaint Uns-el-Wujood with the transport of passion that she 
 experienced, which was such as. would make the flesh to quake, and 
 melt the heart of rock, and make tears to flow : and what she wrote 
 consisted of these verses : 
 
 By Allah, O house, if the beloved pass by, in the morning, saluting with the 
 
 signals of lovers, 
 Give him from us a pure and fragrant greeting ; for he knoweth not where we 
 
 pass the evening ; 
 And I know not whither they have journeyed with us, proceeding quickly, and 
 
 lightly equipped, 
 By night, when the birds of the thicket, percheu upon the branches, bewail us and 
 
 announce our fate; 
 The tongue of their condition saying, Alas, for the bereavement effected by the 
 
 disjunction of the lovers ! 
 When I saw that the cups of separation were filled, and fate would by force make 
 
 us drink them undiluted, 
 I mixed them with becoming patience, to excuse myself, but now patience con- 
 
 soleth us not for the loss of you. 
 
 And when she had finished her verses, she mounted, and they jour- 
 neyed with her, crossing the deserts and wastes, and the plain and 
 rugged tracts, until they arrived at the Sea of the Kunooz, when they 
 pitched the tents upon th'e shore, and built for her a great vessel, in 
 which they embarked the damsel and her household. The Wezeer 
 had commanded them, that, when they had arrived at the mountain, 
 and had taken her into the palace, together with her household, they 
 should return with the vessel, and, after they had landed, that they 
 should break it up. So they went and did all that he had commanded 
 them, and returned weeping for that which had happened. Such 
 was their case. 
 
 But as to Uns-el-Wujood, he rose from his sleep, and, having per- 
 formed the morning-prayers, mounted, and repaired to attend upon 
 the Sultan. And he passed in his way by the door of the Wezeer, as 
 he was wont to do, in the hope that perhaps he might see some one of 
 n. 3 s 
 
the Wezeer's dependants whom he was accustomed to see ; and he 
 looked at the door, and beheld the verses above-mentioned written 
 upon it. On seeing them he became unconscious of his existence ; a 
 fire was kindled in his vitals, and he returned to his house. He could 
 not rest, nor be patient, and he ceased not to suffer agitation of mind, 
 and transport, until the night came ; when he concealed his case, and 
 disguised himself; and he went forth in the middle of the night, 
 wandering at random, and not knowing whither to go. He journeyed 
 on during the whole of the remainder of that night, and the next day 
 until the heat of the sun became fierce, and the mountains were of a 
 burning heat, and thirst violently oppressed him; but he beheld a 
 tree, and found by the side of it a stream of water. So he went to 
 that tree, and seated himself in its shade, on the bank of that stream, 
 and desired to drink ; but he found that the water had no taste in his 
 mouth. His complexion had changed, his face had become sallow, 
 and his feet were swollen by walking and toil ; and he wept violently, 
 pouring forth tears, and recited these verses : 
 
THE STORY OF UNS-EL-WUJOOD, &c. 
 
 499 
 
 The lover is intoxicated by his passion; but when his desire increaseth, he 
 
 recovereth. 
 Distracted in his love, ardent, bewildered, he findeth no abode nor food that 
 
 pleaseth him. 
 How can life be agreeable to the enamoured who is parted from the object of his 
 
 love ? Were it so, it were wonderful. 
 I melt when I burn with transport for her, my tears flowing down upon niy cheek 
 
 in torrents. 
 Shall I see her or see any one from her abode by whom the afflicted heart may be 
 
 cured ? 
 
 And when he had ended his verses, he wept until he wetted the 
 ground. Then rising forthwith he proceeded from that place ; and 
 as he journeyed on through the deserts and wastes, there came forth 
 upon him a lion, whose neck was closely covered with his hair, and 
 his head was as large as a cupola, and his mouth wider than a door, 
 with teeth like the tusks of the elephant. When Uns-el-Wujood 
 beheld him, he made sure of destruction, and, turning his face towards 
 the Kibleh, 11 he pronounced the two professions of the faith, and 
 prepared for death. But he had read in books, that, if any one 
 attempt to beguile the lion, he may be beguiled by him with kind 
 words, and be rendered gentle by praise. So he began to say to him, 
 lion of the forest and the plain ! bold lion ! father of the 
 generous ! O Sultan of the wild beasts ! verily I am a longing lover, 
 whom passion and separation have consumed, and when I became 
 severed from the beloved I lost my reason : hear then my words, and 
 pity my ardour and desire. And when the lion heard what he said, 
 he drew back from him, and sat upon his tail ; then raising his head 
 towards him, he began to make playful motions to him with his tail 
 
 
500 THE STORY OF UNS-EL-WUJOOD 
 
 and fore-paws; and Uns-el-Wujood, on seeing him do thus, recited 
 these verses : 
 
 Lion of the desert, wilt thou kill me before I meet with her who hath enslaved 
 
 me? 
 
 I am not game ; nor am I fat : the loss of my beloved hath wasted me away. 
 And estrangement from her hath so consumed me that I am like a phantom 
 
 wrapped in grave-clothes. 
 
 Abu-1-Harith ! 12 O lion of strife ! make not the censurers to rejoice at my anguish. 
 
 1 am burning with love, my tears have drowned me, and the absence of the 
 
 beloved hath troubled my mind, 
 
 And my thoughts of her in the darkness of night have made me unconscious of my 
 existence. 
 
 And as soon as he had finished his verses, the lion arose and walked 
 gently towards him, with his eyes filled with tears; and when he 
 came to him he licked him with his tongue, and then walked before 
 him, making a sign to him, as though he would say, Follow me. So 
 he followed him, and the lion proceeded, with Uns-el-Wujood behind 
 him, for some time, until he had ascended to the summit of a moun- 
 tain. Then he descended from that mountain, and Uns-el-AVujood 
 beheld the track of travellers in the desert, and knew it to be that of 
 the people who accompanied El-Ward fi-1-Akmiim. He therefore 
 followed this track; and when the lion saw that he did so, and that 
 he knew it to be the track of the attendants of his beloved, he 
 returned, and went his way. 
 
 Uus-el-Wujood proceeded along the track for days and nights, 
 until he approached a roaring sea, agitated with waves ; and the foot- 
 mai'ks reached to the shore of the sea, and there ended. So he knew 
 that the people had embarked in a vessel on the sea and pursued their 
 course over it ; in consequence of which, his hope of finding them 
 was then cut off, and he poured forth tears, and recited these verses : 
 
 Distant is the place I seek, and my patience hath failed. How can I advance to 
 
 her over the abyss of the sea ? 
 Or how can I be patient when my vitals are consumed by love of her, and I have 
 
 exchanged sleep for wakefulness ? 
 Since the day when she journeyed forth from her home, my heart hath been 
 
 inflamed with a vehement fire. 
 Like Seyhoon and Jeyhoon 13 and Euphrates are my tears : they form a flood more 
 
 copious than deluge and rain. 
 My eyelids are sore from continual weeping, and my heart is tortured with fire and 
 
 sparks. 
 
 And after reciting some more verses he fell down in a fit, and he re- 
 mained in it a long time. Then, recovering, he looked to the right 
 
AND EL-WARD FI-L-AKMAM. 501 
 
 and left ; but saw no one in the desert ; and he feared for himself on 
 account of the wild beasts. 
 
 So he ascended a high mountain, and while he was upon it, he 
 heard the voice of a human being, speaking in a cave ; and he listened 
 to him, and, lo, he was a devotee, who had forsaken the world, and 
 occupied himself with devotion. He knocked at the door of the cave 
 three times ; but the devotee answered him not, nor came forth to 
 him ; and upon this, he uttered groans, and recited these verses : 
 
 How can I find means to attain my desire, and be relieved from anxiety and trouble 
 and weariness ? 
 
 All terrors have united to render me aged in heart and head in the time of my 
 youth, 
 
 And I find not any to aid me in my passion, nor a friend to alleviate my trans- 
 port and toil. 
 
 How great are the troubles that I have suffered ! Fortune seems turned entirely 
 against me. 
 
 Oh, for mercy on the ardent and agitated lover, who hath drunk the cup of separa- 
 tion and abandonment ! 
 
 Fire is in his heart, and his bowels are destroyed, and the pain of disjunction hath 
 deprived him of reason. 
 
 How terrible was the day when I came to her abode, and beheld what was written 
 upon the door ! 
 
 I wept in my anguish till I wetted the ground; -but concealed my case from the 
 near and the distant. 
 
 O thou devotee who art idle in thy cave, as though thou hadst tasted and been 
 captivated by love ! 
 
 After all that I have suffered, if I gain my object, I shall not remember anxiety or 
 fatigue. 
 
 And when he had ended his verses, lo, the door of the cave was 
 opened, and he heard a person saying, Alas ! Mercy ! So he entered 
 the door, and saluted the devotee, who returned his salutation, and 
 said to him, What is thy name ? He answered, My name is Uns-el- 
 Wujood. And the devotee said to him, What is the cause of thy 
 coming unto this place ? He therefore related to him his story from 
 beginning to end, acquainting him with all that had befallen him. 
 And on hearing it, the devotee wept, and said to him, O Uns-el- 
 Wujood, verily I have been in this place twenty years without seeing 
 in it any one, until lately, when I heard weeping and clamour, and, 
 looking in the direction of the sounds, I saw many people, and tents 
 pitched on the shore of the sea, and they built a vessel, in which a 
 party of them embarked, and they proceeded in it over the sea. Then 
 some of those who had embarked in the vessel returned with it, and 
 broke it up, and went their way : and I imagine that those who 
 passed over the sea and returned not are the people whom thou 
 
502 THE STORY OF UNS-EL-WUJOOD 
 
 seekest, O Uns-el-Wujood. In that case, thine anxiety must be great, 
 and thou art excused : but there existeth no lover who hath not 
 endured griefs. Then the devotee recited these verses : 
 
 Uns-el-Wujoodj dost thou think me free from care, when desire and transport kill 
 
 ine and resuscitate me ? 
 I have known love and passion from my early years, since I was an infant nourished 
 
 by milk. 
 Long I struggled with Love, till I became notorious : if thou ask respecting me, 
 
 he will know me. 
 Lovesick and pining, I drank the cup of passion, and well nigh perished by the 
 
 wasting of my body. 
 I was strong; but my strength became impaired, and the army of my patience 
 
 fell beneath the swords of the eyes. 
 Hope not for union with the beloved without torment ; for opposites are ever 
 
 leagued together. 
 Love hath decreed against all its votaries, that relinquishment is forbidden as a 
 
 wicked heresy. 
 
 Then the devotee arose and came to Uus-el-Wujood, and embraced 
 him, and they both wept so that the mountains resounded with their 
 cries. They ceased not to weep until they both fell down senseless ; 
 and when they recovered, they made a vow to be brothers in God 
 (\vho?e name be exalted !) ; after which, the devotee said to Uns-el- 
 Wujood, I will this night pray, and beg of God to be rightly directed 
 as to the course which thou shouldst pursue. And Uns-el-Wujood 
 replied, I hear and obey. 
 
 Meanwhile, when the people had arrived with El-Ward fi-1-Akmam 
 at the mountain, and taken her into the palace, and she beheld it, and 
 beheld its order, she wept, and said, By Allah, thou art a beautiful 
 place; but thou wantest the presence of the beloved in thee. And 
 she saw birds in that island : so she ordered one of her attendants to 
 set a snare for them, and catch some of them, and whenever he caught 
 any, to put them in cages within the palace : and he did as she com- 
 manded him. Then she sat at a lattice-window of the palace, and, 
 reflecting upon the events that had befallen her, her desire and 
 transport and distraction increased ; and she shed tears, and recited 
 these verses : 
 
 O, to whom shall I complain of the desire that I suffer, and my grief, and my dis- 
 junction from my beloved. 
 
 And the flame that rageth within my bosom ; but which I shew not, in my fear of 
 the watcher ? 
 
 I have become extenuated like a tooth-pick, by estrangement and ardour and 
 lamentation. 
 
 Where is the eye of the beloved to see how my state hath become like that of the 
 distracted ? 
 
AND EL-WAKI) FI-L-AKMAM. 
 
 503 
 
 They tyrannized over me wlien they confined me in a place to which he can never 
 come. 
 
 I beg the sun to give a thousand salutations, at the time of its rising, and again at 
 its setting, 
 
 To the loved-one who shameth the full moon in beauty, and surpasseth in figure 
 the slender branch. 
 
 If the rose be compared to his cheek, I say of it, Thou resemblest it not if thou be 
 not of my portion. 14 
 
 The moisture of his mouth is like pleasant wine that would cool me when a fire 
 flameth within me. 
 
 How can I give him up who is my heart and my soul, a cause of wasting and sick- 
 ness to me, but my beloved and my physician ! 
 
 And when the darkness of night overshadowed her, her desire became 
 more violent, and again she reflected upon past events, and recited 
 some verses commencing thus : 
 
 It is dark, and my transport and disease are excited, and desire provoketh my 
 
 usual pain. 
 The torment of separation is constant in my bosom, and trouble of mind hath 
 
 rendered me destitute. 
 
 Now to return to Uns-el-Wujood : the devotee said to him, 
 
504 THE STORY OF UXS-EL-WUJOOD 
 
 Descend into the valley, and bring me, from the palm-trees, some of 
 their fibres. 15 So he descended, and brought him some of the fibres 
 of the palm-trees; and the devotee took them and twisted them, and 
 made of them a kind of net, 16 like those used for carrying straw ; 
 after which he said, Uns-eMYujood, in the midst of the valley is a 
 kind of gourd 17 that groweth up and drieth upon its roots : go down 
 then to it, fill this net with the gourds, and tie it, and throw it into 
 the sea : then place thyself upon it, and proceed upon it into the 
 midst of the sea : perhaps thou wilt attain thy desire ; for he who 
 risketh not himself will not gain his object. To this, Uns-el-Wujood 
 replied, I hear and obey. And he bade him farewell, and departed 
 from him to do as he had directed him, after the devotee had prayed 
 for him. He proceeded, without stopping, to the midst of the valley, 
 and did as the devotee had said to him ; and when he arrived, upon 
 the net, in the midst of the sea, there came upon him a wind which 
 propelled him with the net until he disappeared from before the eyes 
 of the devotee. He ceased not to traverse the surface of the deep, 
 one wave raising him and another depressing him, while he beheld 
 the wonders and terrors of the sea, until destiny cast him upon the 
 Mountain of the Bereft Mother, after three days. He landed like a 
 giddy young bird, distressed by hunger and thirst ; but he found, in 
 that place, rivers flowing, and birds warbling upon the branches, and 
 fruit-bearing trees of the same and of different kinds ; and he ate of 
 the fruits, and drank of the water of the rivers. 
 
 Then he arose and walked; and he beheld something white in the 
 distance; so he proceeded thither until he arrived at it, when he found 
 it to be an impregnable palace. He came to its gate, and found it 
 closed ; and he sat at it for three days : but at length, as he was 
 sitting there, the gate of the palace was opened, and there came forth 
 from it one of the eunuchs, who, seeing Uns-el-AVujood sitting, said 
 to him, Whence hast thou come, and who brought thee hither ? He 
 answered, From Ispahan, and I was on a voyage with merchandise, 
 and the vessel that I was in was wrecked, and the waves threw me 
 upon this island. And the eunuch wept, and embraced him, saying, 
 God prolong thy life, chief of friends ! Verily, Ispahan is my 
 native place, and I have there a cousin, the daughter of a paternal 
 uncle, whom I loved in my youth, and I was passionately attached to 
 her ; but a people stronger than we made war upon us, and took me 
 with their spoil, while I was yet a youth, and sold me : thus have I 
 become reduced to my present condition. And after he had saluted 
 
AND EL-WARD FI-L-AKMAM. 505 
 
 him and wished him long life, he led him into the court of the palace, 
 where, when he entered, he beheld a great pool surrounded by trees 
 with spreading branches, and in it were birds in cages of silver with 
 doors of gold : these cages were hung to the branches, and the birds 
 within them were warbling, and singing the praises of the Requiting 
 King. On his coming to the first of them, he looked at it ; and, lo, 
 it was a turtle-dove ; and when it saw him, it raised its voice, crying, 
 O Bountiful! 18 "Whereupon Uns-el-Wujood fell down in a fit; and 
 on his recovering, he uttered groans, and recited these verses : 
 
 O turtle-dove, art thou enamoured like me ? Pray then to the Lord, and warble, 
 O Bountiful ! 
 
 Is this thy cry occasioned by merriment, or is it by desire dwelling in the heart ? 
 
 If thou meanest from transport on account of the beloved that hath gone, and left 
 thee wasted and pining, 
 
 And like me thou hast lost the object of affection, disjunction must manifest long- 
 felt rapture. 
 
 O, may Allah guard a faithful lover ! I will not relinquish her though my bones 
 decay. 
 
 And when he had finished these verses, he wept until again he fell 
 down in a fit; and after he had recovered, he went on to other cages, 
 and addressed, in a similar manner, a ring-dove, a hezar, 19 a night- 
 ingale, and a wood-pigeon, which last appeared as though it would 
 utter these verses in reply : 
 
 thou lover, thou hast brought to my remembrance the tune when my early 
 
 strength failed, 
 And an object of love, of whose form I was enamoured, endowed with surpassing 
 
 and tempting beauty, 
 Whose voice, as he sat upon the branches on the sand-hill, diverted me from 
 
 listening to the sounds of the flute. 
 A fowler set for him a snare, and took him, while he cried, O, that he would leave 
 
 me at large ! 
 
 1 hoped that he might be a man of compassion ; or that, seeing me to be a lover, 
 
 he would pity me. 
 But God overthrew him after he had thus with cruelty parted me from my 
 
 beloved. 
 My desire for him hath become excessive, and hath tortured me with the fire of 
 
 d injunction. 
 May Allah guard an impassioned lover, who hath struggled with love and hath 
 
 known my sadness, 
 And seeing me so long imprisoned in my cage, will in mercy loose me that I maj 
 
 fly to my beloved. 
 
 He then looked towards his friend, the man of Ispahan, and said to 
 him, What is this palace, and what doth it contain, and who built it ? 
 The man answered him, The Wezeer of such a King built it for his 
 IT. 3 T 
 
506 THE STORY OF UNS-EL-WUJOOD, &c. 
 
 daughter, fearing for her from misfortunes and calamities, and hath 
 lodged her in it, together with her dependants, and it is not opened 
 save once in every year, when their provisions are brought to them. 
 So he said within himself, My desire is accomplished ; but the time 
 to wait is long. 
 
 Now during this period, El-Ward fi-1-Akmam found neither 
 drink nor food agreeable to her, nor sitting nor sleeping. Her desire 
 and transport and distraction of love had increased; and she searched 
 about in the corners of the palace, but found no way of escape for 
 her ; and she poured forth tears, and recited these verses : 
 
 They have cruelly confined me from my beloved, and made me to taste of anguish 
 
 in my prison. 
 They have tortured my heart with the fires of love, by preventing my beholding 
 
 him. 
 In a lofty palace have they imprisoned me, on a mountain placed in the midst of 
 
 the sea. 
 If they would have me forsake him, their wish is vain, for my love is become more 
 
 trying. 
 
 How can I forsake him, when the origin of all that I suffer hath been the behold- 
 ing his face ? 
 The whole of my day js passed in sorrow, and the night I spend in thinking upon 
 
 him. 
 Remembrance of him cheereth me in my solitude, while I find myself destitute of 
 
 his presence. 
 Would that 1 knew if, after all this, fortune will consent to my heart's desire ! 
 
 She then went up to the roof of the palace, and, taking some garments 
 of the stuff of Baala-bekk, tied herself by them, and let herself down 
 until she came to the ground. She was attired in the most magni- 
 ficent of her apparel, and on her neck was a necklace of jewels. And 
 she proceeded over the adjacent deserts and wastes until she came to 
 the shore of the sea, when she saw a fisherman going about in his 
 vessel upon the sea to fish. The wind had cast him towards that 
 island, and he looked, and saw there El- Ward fi-1-Akmam ; but when 
 he beheld her, he was frightened at her, and steered away his boat in 
 flight. So she called him, making many signs to him, and recited 
 some verses, informing him that she was a human being (not a 
 Jinneeyeh, as he feared), and explaining her case; on hearing which, 
 the fisherman wept and sighed and lamented, remembering what had 
 happened to himself in the days of his youth, when love overpowered 
 him, and his desire was violent, and his transport and distraction were 
 excessive, the fires of passion burning him ; and he replied to her in 
 verse, telling her that he had been afflicted by love from his youth. 
 
He then made fast his vessel to the land, and said to her, Embark in 
 the vessel, that I may transport thee to whatsoever place thou desirest. 
 So she embarked in the vessel,, and he set it afloat with her, and when 
 it had proceeded a little way from the land, there blew upon it a 
 favourable wind, and the vessel advanced rapidly until the land dis- 
 appeared from before their eyes. The fisherman then knew not 
 whither to steer; and the wind continued violent for the space of 
 three days ; after which it subsided by the permission of God (whose 
 name be exalted !), and the vessel bore them on until it came to a city 
 on the shore of the sea, where the fisherman desired to make it fast. 
 
 In this city was a King of great power, named Dirbas. 20 He 
 was at that time sitting with his son in his palace, and they were 
 looking from a window, and, casting their eyes towards the sea, they 
 saw that vessel; and on their observing it attentively, they found that 
 there was in it a damsel like the full moon in the sky, having, in her 
 ears, earrings of costly balass rubies, and on her neck, a necklace of 
 precious jewels. The King therefore knew that . she was of the 
 
508 THE STORY OF UNS-EL-WUTOOD 
 
 daughters of the grandees or of the Kings, and he descended from 
 his palace, and went forth from a door opening upon the sea ; where- 
 upon he saw the vessel made fast to the shore ; and the damsel was 
 sleeping, while the fisherman was busy in attaching the vessel. The 
 King roused her from her sleep, and she awoke weeping ; and the King 
 said to her, Whence comest thou, and whose daughter art thou, and 
 what is the cause of thy coming hither ? So she answered him, I am 
 the daughter of Ibraheem, the Wezeer of the King Shamikh, 21 and 
 the cause of my coming hither is a wonderful event and an extra- 
 ordinary affair. And she related to him her whole story, from be- 
 ginning to end, hiding from him nothing; after which, she uttered 
 groans, and recited some verses ; and the King, on hearing them, 
 was convinced of her transport and desire, and was moved with com- 
 passion for her ; and he said to her, Thou hast no cause of fear nor of 
 terror. Thou hast attained thy wish ; for I must accomplish for thee 
 what thou desirest, and procure for thee what thou seekest : and hear 
 from me these words. Then he recited these verses : 
 
 Daughter of the nohle, thou hast gained thine object. Receive good tidings, and 
 
 fear not here fatigue. 
 This day will I collect wealth, and I will send it to Shamikh, attended by horsemen 
 
 and heroe's : 
 I will send to him bags of musk, and brocade, and white silver also will I send, 
 
 and gold. 
 Yea ; and my letters shall inform him for me that I am desirous of alliance with 
 
 him ; 
 And to-day will I use endeavours to aid thee, that what thou wishest for may be 
 
 hastened. 
 I have tasted of love long, and known it, and excuse the person who hath drunk 
 
 the same cup. 
 
 And when he had ended his verses, he went forth to his troops, and, 
 having summoned his Wezeer, caused wealth incalculable to be packed 
 up for him, and commanded him to repair with it to the King 
 Shamikh, saying to him, Thou must without fail bring to me a person 
 who is with him, named Uns-el- Wujood ; and do thou say to him, 
 The King desireth to form an alliance with thee by marrying his 
 daughter to Uns-el-Wujood, thy dependant, 88 and he must be sent 
 with me, that the ceremo'ny of the contract of his marriage to her 
 may be performed in the kingdom of her father. Then the King 
 Dirbas wrote a letter to the King Shamikh, to the effect above men- 
 tioned, and gave it to his Wezeer, strictly charging him to bring Uns- 
 el-Wujood, and saying to him, If thou bring him not to me, thou 
 shalt be displaced from thy station. 
 
AND EL-WARD FI-L-AKMAM. 509 
 
 The Wezeer therefore replied, I hear and obey, and repaired 
 with the present to the King Shamikh. And when he came to him, 
 he delivered to him the salutation of the King Dirbas, and gave him 
 the letter and the present that he had brought. But when the King 
 Shamikh saw them, and read the letter, and saw the name of Uns-el- 
 Wujood, he wept violently, and said to the Wezeer who was sent to 
 him, And where is Uns-el-Wujood ? For he hath gone away, and we 
 know not where he is. Bring him then to me, and I will give to thee 
 double the presents thou hast brought. Then he wept and sighed 
 and lamented, poured forth tears, and recited these verses : 
 
 Restore unto me my favourite : I am not in want of wealth ; 
 Nor do I wish for presents of jewels or of pearls. 
 I brought him up an infant, upon the bed of fondness, 
 And verily I am mourning and troubled for him in mind. 
 
 And after this, he looked towards the Wezeer who had brought the 
 present and the letter, and said to him, Repair to thy lord, and inform 
 him that Uns-el-Wujood hath been absent for a year, and his lord 
 knoweth not whither he hath gone, nor hath he any tidings of him. 
 But the Wezeer replied, O my lord, verily my sovereign said to me, 
 If thou bring him not to me, thou shalt be displaced from the post of 
 Wezeer, and shalt not enter my city. How then can I go to him 
 without him ? So the King Shamikh said to his Wezeer Ibraheem, 
 Go thou with him, accompanied by a party of men, and search for 
 Uns-el-Wujood in every quarter. And he replied, I hear and obey. 
 
 Accordingly he took a party of his dependants, and, accompanied 
 by the Wezeer of the King Dirbas, they proceeded in search of Uns- 
 el-Wujood; and whenever they passed by Arabs 23 or any people, they 
 inquired of them respecting Uns-el-Wujood, saying to them, Hath 
 there passed by you a person of such a name, and of such and such a 
 description? To which they answered, We know him not. They 
 ceased not to inquire in the cities and villages, and to search in the 
 plain and rugged tracts, and the deserts and wastes, until they arrived 
 at the shore of the sea ; when they sought a vessel, and embarked in 
 one, and proceeded in it until they approached the Mountain of the 
 Bereft Mother. Upon this, the Wezeer of the King Dirbas said to 
 the Wezeer of the King Shamikh, On what account is this mountain 
 so named ? And the latter answered, For this reason : A Jinneeyeh 
 sojourned upon it in ancient times, and that Jinneeyeh was of the 
 Jinn of China. She loved a man, and became passionately attached 
 to him ; but she was in fear of her family ; and, her desire becoming 
 
excessive, she searched in the earth for a place wherein to conceal him 
 from them, and found this mountain to be cut off from mankind and 
 from the Jinn, so that no one of either of these races (herself excepted) 
 found the way to it. She therefore carried off her beloved, and placed 
 him there, and used to repair to her family, and to come to him 
 privately ; and thus she ceased not to do for a long time, until she 
 bore him, on that mountain, a number of children. And those 
 merchants who passed by this mountain in their voyages over the sea 
 used to hear the weeping of the infants, like the weeping of a woman 
 bereft of her children; whereupon they said, Is there here a bereft 
 mother ? And the Wezeer of the King Dirbas wondered at these 
 words. 
 
 Then they proceeded until they came to the palace, and they 
 knocked at the door ; upon which the door was opened, and there 
 came forth to them a eunuch, who, knowing Ibraheem, the Wezeer of 
 the King Sluimikh, kissed his hands. And the Wezeer Ibraheem 
 entered the palace, and found in its court a poor man among the 
 
THE STORY OF UNS EL-WUJOOD, &c. 511 
 
 servants ; and he was Uns-el-Wujood. So he said to them, Whence 
 is this man ? And they answered him, He is a merchant : his pro- 
 perty was lost at sea, and he saved himself ; and he is a person ab- 
 stracted from the world. M He therefore left him, and went on into 
 the interior of the palace ; but found no trace of his daughter; and 
 he inquired of the female slaves who were there, and they answered 
 him, We know not how she went, and she stayed not with us save for 
 a short time. And upon this, he poured forth tears, and recited these 
 verses : 
 
 thou mansion, the birds of which were singing, and the thresholds whereof were 
 
 fortunate, 
 Until the enamoured came to thee bewailing his desire, and beheld the doors 
 
 opened ! 23 
 Would that I knew where my soul is gone, tnat was lately in a mansion whose 
 
 mistress now is distant ! 
 It was stored with everything magnificent, and its chamberlains were happy ana 
 
 exalted, 
 And they clothed it with draperies of brocade. O, whither hath its mistress 
 
 departed ? 
 
 Then he wept and sighed and lamented, and said, There is no resource 
 against that which God hath ordained, nor any escape from that 
 which He hath predestined and decreed ! And he ascended to the 
 roof of the palace, and found the garments of the stuff of Baala-bekk 
 tied to the battlements and reaching to the ground. So he knew that 
 she had descended from that place, and gone like one distracted and 
 confounded. And he looked aside, and saw there two birds, a raven 
 and an owl, from the sight of which he augured evil ; and he uttered 
 groans, and recited these verses : 
 
 1 came to the abode of the beloved, hoping, by beholding her, to assuage my 
 
 transport and affliction ; 
 But I found her not in it, nor found I there aught save an ill-omened raven and 
 
 owl ; 
 And the scene seemed to tell me, Thou hast acted cruelly, in severing the two 
 
 desirous lovers : 
 So taste thou the grief which they have tasted, and live in sorrow, weeping and 
 
 burning. 
 
 He then descended, weeping, from the roof of the palace, and ordered 
 the servants to go forth upon the mountain to search for their mistress ; 
 and they did so; but found her not. Meanwhile, Uns-el-Wujood, 
 when he was assured that El- Ward fi-1-Akmam had gone, uttered a 
 great ciy, and fell down in a fit, in which he remained long ; and they 
 imagined that a state of abstraction from the world had overcome him, 
 
512 THE STORY O*' UNS-EL-WUJOOD 
 
 and that he was drowned in the contemplation of the beauty of the 
 majesty of the Requiter. 26 
 
 Now when they despaired of finding Uns-el-Wujood, and the 
 heart of the Wezeer Ibraheem was troubled by the loss of his daughter 
 El-Ward fi-1-Akmam, the Wezeer of the King Dirbas desired to 
 return to his country, though he had not attained his desire by his 
 journeys. So the Wezeer Ibraheem began to bid him farewell ; and 
 the Wezeer of the King Dirbas said to him, I desire to take this poor 
 man with me : perhaps God (whose name be exalted !) may incline the 
 heart of the King to me by the blessing attendant upon him ; for he 
 is a person abstracted from the world ; and after that, I will send him 
 to Ispahan, since it is near unto our country. The Wezeer Ibraheem 
 replied, Do as thou desirest. And each of the Wezeers departed to 
 his own country. The Wezeer of the King Dirbas took with him 
 Uns-el-Wujood, still insensible, and proceeded with him three days, 
 during which he continued in his fit, carried on mules, and not 
 knowing whether he was carried or not. So when he recovered from 
 his fit, he said, In what place am I ? And they answered him, Thou 
 art with the Wezeer of the King Dirbas. Then they went to the 
 Wezeer, and informed him that he had recovered ; whereupon he sent 
 to him rose-water, and sherbet of sugar, and they gave him to drink, 
 and revived him. And they continued their journey until they 
 approached the city of the King Dirbas, when the King sent to the 
 Wezeer, saying to him, If Uns-el-Wujood be not with thee, come not 
 to me ever. When, therefore, he read the order of the King, it 
 afflicted him. Now the Wezeer knew not that El- Ward fi-1-Akmam 
 was with the King, nor did he know the reason of the King's sending 
 him to Uns-el-Wujood, nor the reason of his desiring the alliance 
 with him ; and Uns-el-Wujood knew not whither they were going 
 with him, nor that the Wezeer was sent to seek for him ; nor did the 
 Wezeer know that this was Uns-el-Wujood. And when the Wezeer 
 saw that he was recovered, he said to him, Verily the King hath sent 
 me on a business, and it is not accomplished ; and when he knew of 
 my approach, he sent to me a letter, saying to me in it, If the business 
 be not accomplished, enter not my city. And what, said Uns-el- 
 Wujood, is the business of the King ? The Wezeer therefore related 
 to him the whole story ; and Uns-el-Wujood said to him, Fear not ; 
 but go to the King, and take me with thee ; and I will be surety to 
 thee for the coming of Uns-el-Wujood. 
 
 So the Wezeer rejoiced at this, and said to him, Is it true that 
 
AND EL-WARD FI-L-AKMAM. 513 
 
 thou sayest ? He answered, Yes. And thereupon he mounted, 
 taking him with him, and conducted him to the King ; who, when 
 they came to him, said to the Wezeer, Where is Uns-el-Wujood ? 
 To which Uns-el-Wujood replied, King, I know where Uns-el- 
 Wujood is. And the King called him near to him, and said, In 
 what place is he ? He answered, In a place very near ; but inform 
 me what thou desirest of him, and then I will bring him before thee. 
 The King replied, Most willingly-: but this affair requireth privacy. 
 Then he commanded the people to retire, and, having gone with him into 
 a closet, acquainted him -with the story from first to last ; whereupon 
 Uns-el-Wujood said to him, Supply me with rich apparel, and cause 
 me to be clad in it, and I will bring to thee Uns-el-Wujood quickly. 
 The King therefore brought to him a rich suit, and he put it on, and 
 said, I am Uns-el-Wujood, and a cause of grief to the envious. Then 
 he smote the hearts of beholders by his glances, and recited these 
 verses : 
 
 The mention of the beloved cheereth me in my solitude, and dispelleth my desolate 
 
 feelings in estrangement. 
 I know no fountain but that of tears, which, flowing from mine eye, assuage my 
 
 anguish. 
 My longing is violent : none like it existeth ; and the story of my love and affection 
 
 is wonderful. 
 I pass my night with sleepless eyelid, and walk in my passion between Hell and 
 
 Paradise. 
 I possessed becoming patience; but have lost it; and love's only gift to me is 
 
 affliction, 
 I am wasted by the pain of separation from her, and longing hath changed my 
 
 aspect and form, 
 And mine eyelids are wounded by my tears, the flowing of which I cannot 
 
 prevent. 
 My strength is impaired, and I have lost my heart; and how many griefs in 
 
 succession have I suffered ? 
 And my heart and my head are alike aged by the loss of a mistress, the most 
 
 beautiful of mistresses. 
 In spite of her our disjunction took place, and her only desire is to find and meet 
 
 me. 
 Will fortune, after separation and distance, grant me the enjoyment of union with 
 
 my beloved, 
 Close the book of estrangement after opening it, and efface my trouble by the 
 
 comforts of meeting ? 
 And shall my beloved be my cup-companion, and my griefs be exchanged for pure 
 
 delights ? 
 
 And when he had finished his verses, the King said to him, By Allah, 
 ye are two sincere lovers, and in the heaven of beauty two shining 
 stars ; and your case is wonderful, and your affair extraordinary. 
 
 IT. 3 U 
 
514 THE STORY OF UNS-EL-WUJOOD 
 
 Uns-el-Wujood then said to the King, Where is El-Ward fi-1-Akmam, 
 King of the age ? He answered, She is now with me. And he 
 summoned the Kadee and witnesses, performed the ceremony of the 
 contract of her marriage to him, and treated him with honour and 
 beneficence ; and he sent to the King Shamikh, informing him of all 
 that had happened to him with respect to Uns-el-Wujood and El- 
 Ward fi-1-Akmam. 
 
 On hearing this, the King Shamikh rejoiced exceedingly, and sent 
 to the King Dirbas a letter, the purport of which was this : Since 
 the ceremony of the contract hath taken place at thy residence, it is 
 fit that the festival and the conclusion of the marriage be at mine. 
 He prepared the camels and horses and men, and sent for them ; and 
 when his letter was brought to the King Dirbas, he aided them with 
 a great sum of money, and sent them with a party of his soldiers, 
 who proceeded with them until they entered their city ; and it was a 
 noted day : none more remarkable had ever been witnessed. The 
 King Shamikh collected all the mirth-exciting instruments of music, 
 and made banquets ; and thus they continued seven days ; on each of 
 which the King conferred upon the people costly robes of honour, and 
 bestowed favours upon them. And after this, Uns-el-Wujood went to 
 El- Ward fi-1-Akmam, and embraced her ; and they sat weeping from 
 the excess of joy and happiness ; and El- Ward fi-1-Akmam recited 
 these verses : 
 
 Happiness hath come, dispelling care and grief. We are united, and have morti- 
 fied our enviers. 
 
 The fragrant zephyr of union hath blown, and revived the heart and the bowels 
 and the body ; 
 
 And the beauty of delight hath appeared with perfumes, and our drums of glad 
 tidings have been beaten around us.-" 
 
 Do not imagine that we are weeping from grief; for it is from joy that our tears 
 have flowed. 
 
 How many terrors have we seen ! but they have passed ; and we have borne with 
 patience what roused up anguish. 
 
 One hour of union hath made me forget what rendered us gray from excess of 
 terror. 
 
 Then they embraced each other, and continued to do so until they fell 
 down senseless from the delight of finding themselves together ; and 
 when they recovered, Uns-el-Wujood recited these verses : 
 
 O how sweet are the nights of the fulfilment of promise, when the beloved is just 
 
 to me, 
 
 And when we are uninterruptedly united, and an end is put to our estrangement, 
 And fortune coineth with favours to us, after turninsr awav from us in aversion ! 
 
AND EL-WARD FI-L-AKMAM. 
 
 515 
 
 Prosperity hath set up her standards for us, and we have drunk from her hand a 
 
 cup of pleasure ; 
 And we have met, and complained to each other of sorrow, and of nights during 
 
 which we have suffered oppression ; 
 But now we have forgotten our griefs, O my mistress ; and may the Compassionate 
 
 pardon what is passed ! 
 How delightful is life, and how sweet is it ! Union hath only increased my 
 
 passion. 
 
 And after this, they embraced again, and continued carousing, and 
 reciting verses and pleasant tales and histories, until they were 
 drowned in the sea of love ; and there passed over them seven days 
 while they knew not night from day, through the excess of their 
 delight and happiness and pleasure and joy. It was as though the 
 seven days were one day not succeeded by another ; and they knew 
 not the seventh day but by the coining of the musical instruments. 28 
 They then went forth from their chamber, and bestowed upon the 
 people money and dresses. And they continued together in the most 
 delightful of joys until they were visited by the terminator of delights 
 and the separator of companions. Extolled be the perfection of Him 
 who changeth not nor ceaseth, and to whom every thing returneth ! 29 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 NOTE 1. THIS story has been given in French, but greatly abridged, by Trebutien ; 
 and in English, still more abridged, by Dr. Scott. I have felt that I could not convey 
 a fair notion of the original without translating not only the whole of the prose (with 
 the exception of a very few words), but also considerably more than half of the poetry. 
 The latter, whatever may be thought of it in other respects, has the merit of being 
 characteristic ; and though specimens of the amatory poetry of the Arabs are not 
 wanting in other parts of the present work, I hope that the reader will excuse their 
 abundance in this story as it is entirely one of love. 
 
 The story is evidently Arabian ; but the countries in which its scenes are laid are 
 doubtful. In one part (as will be shewn in a subsequent note), we seem to have an 
 exaggerated description of a part of the Nile, and of a small island there situate, 
 namely that of Philae. In another, a country is mentioned as near to Ispahan. 
 
 NOTE 2. "El- Ward fi-1-Akmam" signifies " the Eose in the Calyx," or, literally, 
 " in the segments of the Calyx :' 5. e. "the Rose-bud," or "the Unblown Rose." 
 
 NOTE 3. The game here mentioned appears to be that of gofl". 
 
 The lattice-windows in the East generally have small frames opening 
 
 read ''baghtatan" instead of ' burhatan," as recommended by my 
 
 NOTE 4. 
 upon hinges. 
 
 NOTE 5. I 
 sheykh. 
 
 NOTE 6. My sheykh explains the meaning of " Uns-el-Wujood " (vulgarly 
 pronounced " Anas-el-Wnjood ") by the words " Lez/.et (or Ledhdhet) ed-l)uma," 
 which signify "the Delight of the World." " I 'us " is here used, and in many other 
 cases, as synonymous with "eenas" infinitive noun of ' anasa," fourth conjugation), 
 though I do not know that it is so interpreted in any published dictionary ; and " el- 
 wujood" often signifies ''the world;" as in " Hosii-el-Wujood " (a female name}, "the 
 Beauty of the World." 
 
 NOTE 7. In this verse, in the original, there is a play upon the name of Uns-el- 
 Wujood, which I have not attempted to imitate. 
 
 NOTE 8. "Noon" and "Sad" are two letters of the Arabic alphabet. The 
 former, lengthened, as it often is, forms an elegant curve; and the latter, without the 
 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 517 
 
 curve, which is added to it when it occurs alone or at the end of a word, resemhles the 
 outline of a human eye, almond-shaped. " The Benevolent " is one of the many 
 epithets of the Deity. 
 
 NOTE 9. The prayers of two rek'ahs, here mentioned, are not the only practice 
 observed by Muslims with the view of obtaining a right direction ; several others I 
 have described in my work on the Modern Egyptians, towards the close of Chapter xi. 
 in the First Volume. 
 
 NOTE 10. The words which I render "the Sea of the Kunooz" are "Bahr el- 
 Kunooz." The term "bahr" is applied to " a large river" as well as "a sea," and 
 ' Kunooz" may be rendered "Treasures:"' but I prefer retaining the latter of these 
 two Arabic words untranslated, for the following reasons : The people who inhabit the 
 banks and islands of the Nile from a considerable distance north of Aswan as far as 
 Wadee es-Subooa are called " the Kunooz ;" therefore that portion of the Nile which 
 flows through their country may be properly called " Bahr el-Kunooz ;" and Philao, 
 which is in this part of the Nile, near the northern limits of Nubia, is now called "the 
 Island of Anas- (or more properly Uns-] el-\Vujood." Hence it appears to me most 
 probable that the author of this story founded it upon some tradition that was pre- 
 served in Phila? and its neighbourhood ; and without having heard any exaggerated 
 description of that picturesque island, he may have taken the liberty of magnifying it, 
 as well as giving it a new name (which the story required him to do), and of con- 
 verting a great river into a sea. Burckhardt 1 renders " Anas-el- Wujood" " the social 
 pleasures of Wujood ;" and adds, " Wujood, say the Arabs, was the name of the mighty 
 King who built the temples of Philse." But, if my memory deceive me not, I was 
 there told that " Anas-el- Wujood," not simply " Wujood," was the name of the builder 
 of those temples ; and of his history I could learn nothing the tradition relating to 
 him being lost. 
 
 NOTE 11. This is commonly done in expectation of immediate death. 
 
 NOTE 12. " Abu-1-Harith'' is a surname of the lion, given to him on account of 
 his abundant acquisitions. 2 
 
 NOTE 13. Seyhoon and Jeyhoon are the rivers anciently called Jaxartes and Oxus, 
 which flow into the sea of Aral. 
 
 NOTE 14. That is, because he is of my portion, according to my sheykh. But may 
 not the meaning be, because his cheek cannot be rosy if mine be not ? 
 
 NOTE 15. Of these fibres, which grow at the top of the trunk, and which are 
 called in Arabic " leef," are made most of the ropes used by the Arabs. 
 
 NOTE 16. The kind of net here mentioned (in the original " shiuf) has the form 
 of a large sack. 
 
 NOTE 17. So in the Breslau edition. In the edition of Cairo, by the omission of a 
 dot, the word signifies " branch" instead of "gourd." 
 
 NOTE 18. See Note 30 to the Introduction. 
 
 NOTE 19. The " hezar " is a species of nightingale, and is so called from the great 
 variety of its notes; the word "hezar" (which is Persian} signifying "a thousand.' 
 
 NOTE 20. " Dirbas" is one of the many Arabic words signifying "a lion. 1 ' 
 
 NOTE 21. " Shamikh " signifies "high," " lofty," and "proud." 
 
 NOTE 22. This deception is accounted for by the information which El- Ward fi-1- 
 
 Travels in Nubia, i>. 5. - .Marginal ncti; by my slieykli. 
 
CIS NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 Akmam had given to the King, respecting the obstacles that had been raised against 
 her marriage to Uns-el-Wujood. 
 
 NOTE 23. By "Arabs," we are here to understand Bedawees, or Arabs of the 
 Desert. 
 
 NOTE 24. In illustration of this passage, see Note G3 to Chapter iii., particularly 
 pp. 211 et seqq. 
 
 NOTE 25. The Wczeer Ibraheem, it seems, inferred that Uns-el-Wujood had come 
 to this palace, and, seeing the doors opened, had carried off his beloved. 
 
 NOTE 26. " The Eequiter " is one of the epithets of the Deity. 
 
 NOTE 27. The words rendered "around us" literally signify "in the four 
 quarters of the horizon,'' or, " among the flapping [standards]," as my sheykh explains 
 in a marginal note. Perhaps these words, with those immediately connected with 
 them, may be also meant to convey an allusion to the palpitating of the heart 
 occasioned by the hearing of glad tidings. The word which bears the significations 
 above mentioned also signifies "palpitating" or "throbbing;" and that rendered 
 "our drums of glad tidings" may with equal propriety be applied to any things 
 announcing such news. 
 
 NOTE 28. " On the seventh day after a marriage, the wife receives her female 
 relations and friends during the morning and afternoon ; and sometimes the husband 
 entertains his own friends in the evening ; generally hiring persons to perform a 
 khatmeh or a zikr." 3 Professional vocal and instrumental performers are also often 
 hired on this occasion, as on others of a similar kind, to amuse each party of guests. 
 In the case to which the present note refers, we may suppose the musicians to have 
 been sent by the King. 
 
 NOTE 29. Next follows a long series of forty-eight anecdotes, ending with part of 
 the four hundred and twenty-fourth Night. Twenty-two of these I have selected for 
 translation, and here insert. 
 
 Anecdote of a Man and his slave-girl. 
 
 It is related that a man of the inhabitants of El-Ba?rah purchased a slave-girl 
 whom he educated and instructed well; and he loved her extremely, and expended all 
 his property in diversion and amusement while he lived with her, so that nothing 
 remained in his possession, and excessive poverty afflicted him. The slave-girl therefore 
 said to him, O my master, sell me ; for thou art in need of my price, and I am moved 
 with pity for thee by the state of poverty into which thou hast fallen. If thou sell me 
 and employ my price for thy support, it will be better for thee than my remaining 
 with thee ! and perhaps God (whose name be exalted !) will make thy means of 
 subsistence ample. So he assented to her proposiil, on account of the straitness of his 
 circumstances. He took her and went down with her to the market, and the broker 
 offered her for sale to the Governor of El-Basrah, whose name was 'Abd-Allah Ibn- 
 Maamar Et-Teymee; and she pleased him, and he bought her for five hundred pieces 
 of gold, which sum he paid to her master. But when her master had received the 
 money, and was about to depart, the slave-girl wept and recited this couplet : 
 
 May the money which thou hast collected delight thee ! But for me, nought remaineth save 
 
 sorrow and anxiety. 
 I say to my grievously oppressed soul, Mourn little or much : the hclovcd is separated. 4 
 
 3 From my work on the Modern Kgyptiuns, vol. ii. oh. xiv, 
 * That is, my mourning will not profit me. 
 
On hearing which, her master uttered groans, and thus replied : 
 
 If thou have not any resource in this case, and find not aught but death, yet excuse me. 
 Eve and morn the remembrance of you will console me, and comfort a heart severely troubled. 
 Peace be on thee ! Henceforth shall no visit nor meeting take place between us unless Ibn- 
 Maamar willeth. 
 
 And when 'Abd-Allah Ibn-Maamar heard their verses, and witnessed their sorrow, he 
 said, By Allah, I will not be a means of separating you. It hath become evident to 
 me that ye love one another ; so take the money and the slave -girl, O man. May God 
 bless thee in them both ! for the separation of two lovers is painful to them. They 
 both, therefore, kissed his hand, and departed j and they ceased not to live together 
 until death parted them. Extolled be the perfection of Him whom death doth not 
 overtake ! 
 
 Anecdote of Two Victims of Love. 
 
 There was a graceful man of the tribe of 'Odhrah, who was never free from the 
 passion of love for a single day. And it happened that he loved a beautiful woman of 
 his tribe, and he sent messages to her during the space of some days; but she ceased 
 not to treat him with cruelty and aversion until desire and transport and distraction 
 afflicted him, and he fell into a violent sickness. He confined himself to the pillow, 
 and relinquished sleep ; his case became manifest to the people, and his passion 
 notorious ; his infirmity increased, and his pain became severe, so that he almost died. 
 His family and the family of his beloved incessantly begged her to visit him ; but she 
 refused, until he was at the point of death, when they acquainted her with this, and at 
 length she was moved with compassion for him, and granted him the favour of a visit. 
 
520 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER. EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 And upon his beholding her, his eyes poured fortli tears, and, with a broken heart, he 
 recited these words : 
 
 By thy life, when my corpse passeth by thee, borne upon the necks of four men, 
 AYilt thou not follow the bier, to salute the grave in which that corpse shall be laid ? 
 
 And when she heard his words, she wept violently, and said to him, By Allah, I did 
 not imagine that thy desire had risen to such a pitch as to cast thee into the arms of 
 death. Had I known that, I had aided thee in thine affair, and thou hadst enjoyed 
 the union thou desirest. And on his hearing what she said, his tears became like rain ; 
 and he repeated the saying of the poet : 
 
 She drew near at the time when death was parting us, and favoured me with union when it would 
 not profit me. 
 
 Then he uttered a groan, and died. And upon this, she threw herself upon him, 
 kissing him and weeping, and she ceased not to weep until she fell down by him in a 
 fit. And when she recovered, she charged her family that they should bury her in his 
 grave when she should have died. Then she poured forth tears, and recited these 
 two verses : 
 
 We lived upon the earth a life of comfort, and the tribe and abode and home were proud of us : 
 But fortune, with its changes, hath parted us from each other, and now the grave-clothes will 
 unite us 
 
 And after she had ended her verses, she wept violently, and ceased not to weep and 
 wail till she fell down in a fit, in which she remained three days ; and then she died, 
 and was buried in his gravc. ; This was one of the strange coincidences that have 
 happened in love. 
 
 Love in a School. 
 
 A boy and a slave-girl learned in one school, and the boy became affected with a 
 violent passion for the slave-girl : so, one day, when the other boys were inadvertent, 
 he took her tablet, 5 and wrote upon it these two verses: 
 
 5 A wooilcn ImOof , painted whitf. upon which tlio schoolboy writes his lessor.. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 521 
 
 What sayest thou of him whom disease hath wasted by excessive love of thee, and who hath 
 
 become perplexed ; 
 AVho in transport and pain complaineth of his passion, unable to conceal the feelings of his 
 
 heart ? 
 
 When the slave-girl, therefore, took the tablet, she saw these verses written upon it ; 
 and after she had read them, and understood their meaning, she wept in compassion 
 for the boy, and wrote, beneath his lines, this couplet : 
 
 If we behold a lover whom desire hath afflicted, we will confer favours upon him ; 
 
 And that which he requireth of us he shall obtain, whatever happen to us in consequence. 
 
 And it happened that the teacher came in to them, and, finding the tablet at a moment 
 when it was lying unheeded, took it, and read what was upon it ; whereat he was 
 moved with pity far their state, and wrote these two verses (addressed to the girl) 
 beneath those which they had written : 
 
 Receive thy lover, and fear not punishment; for he hath become perplexed in his passion. 
 As to the teacher, fear not his authority ; for he hath long been afflicted by love. 
 
 Then the master of the slave-girl happened to enter the school, and he found the girl's 
 tablet ; so he took it, and read the words of the slave-girl, and those of the boy, and 
 those of the teacher ; and beneath the verses of them all, he wrote this couplet : 
 
 May God never cause a separation between you; and may your slanderer be perplexed and 
 
 wearied ! 
 As to the teacher, never, by Allah, have my eyes beheld a greater fosterer of intrigues. 
 
 The master of the slave-girl then sent for the Kadee and witnesses, and performed the 
 ceremony of her contract of marriage to the youth in their presence. He made for 
 them also a feast, and treated them with great beneficence ; and they continued 
 together in joy and happiness until they were overtaken by the terminator of delights 
 and the separator of companions. 
 
 Anecdote of a Faithless Wife. 
 
 There was a man who had a mill, and an ass which turned it ; and he had a wicked 
 wife, whom he loved ; but she hated him, and loved a neighbour of hers, who detested 
 her, and withheld himself from her. And her husband dreamt that a person said to 
 him, Dig in such a spot in the ass's circuit in the mill : thou wilt find a treasure. 
 And when he awoke, he told his wife of his dream, commanding her to conceal the 
 secret. But she acquainted with it her neighbour whom she loved, for the purpose of 
 ingratiating herself with him, and he promised to come to her at night. Accordingly 
 he came to her in the night, and dug in the circuit of the mill, and they found the 
 treasure, and took it forth. He then said to her, What shall we do with this ? She 
 answered, We will divide it into two equal portions, and thou shalt part thyself from 
 thy wife, and I will devise a stratagem to separate myself from my husband : then 
 thou shalt marry me ; and when we are united, we will put all the irioney together 
 and it shall be in our possession. Her neighbour however replied, I fear that the 
 Devil will seduce thee, and that thou wilt take some other man in my stead ; for gold 
 in the house is like the sun in the world ; and the right opinion is, that the money be 
 all in my keeping, in order that thou mayest eagerly study to effect thy release from 
 thy husband and to come to me. But she rejoined, I also fear the like of that which 
 thou fearest, and I will not give up to thee my share of this money ; for I was the 
 person who gave thee information of it. And when he heard these words from her, 
 covetousness incited him to kill her : so he killed her, and threw her into the place of 
 the treasure; after which, daylight overtook him, and prevented his concealing her. 
 And the miller awoke, and found not his wife; and he went into the mill, attached the 
 
 ii. 3 x 
 
522 NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 ass there, and urged it with his voice ; whereupon it walked on, and then stopped. 
 The miller beat it violently ; but every time that he did so, it drew back ; for it took 
 fright at the dead woman, and could not advance. All this while, the miller knew 
 not the cause of the stopping of the ass ; and he took a knife, and goaded it many 
 times ; yet still it would not move from its place , and upon this, he was enraged at it, 
 and stabbed it in the side, and the ass fell down dead. Then, when day came, the 
 miller saw the ass dead, and his wife dead, and found her in the place of the treasure ; 
 and his rage increased at discovering the loss of the treasure and the slaughter of his 
 wife and the ass, and great sorrow came upon him. All this happened in consequence 
 of his revealing his secret to his wife, and not concealing it. 
 
 Anecdote of a Simpleton and a Sharper. 
 
 A certain simpleton was walking along, holding the halter of his ass, which he was 
 dragging after him ; and two sharpers saw him ; whereupon one of them said to his 
 companion, I will take this ass from this man. How wilt thou take it ? said the other, 
 The first replied, Follow me, and I will shew thee. So he followed him j and that 
 sharper, advancing to the ass, unloosed from it the halter, and gave the ass to his 
 companion; after which, he put the halter upon his own Lead and walked on behind 
 the simpleton until he knew that his companion had gone away with the ass. Then 
 he stopped : so the simpleton dragged him by the halter; but he advanced not. The 
 man therefore looked back at him, and, seeing the halter upon the head of a man, he 
 said to him, What art thou ? The sharper answered, I am thy ass, and my story is 
 wonderful ; and it is this : I had a mother, a virtuous old woman, and I went to her 
 one day in a state of intoxication ; whereupon she said to me, O my son, turn with re- 
 pentance unto God (whose name be exalted !) from these sins. But I took a staff, and 
 beat her with it ; and she uttered an imprecation against me; upon which God (whose 
 name be exalted !) transformed me into an ass, and caused me to fall into thy possession, 
 and I remained with thee all this time. To-day, however, my mother remembered me, 
 and God inclined her heart towards me; so she prayed for me, and God restored me 
 to the human shape as I was. And the simpleton said, There is no strength nor power 
 but in God, the High, the Great ! By Allah, O my brother, absolve me of responsibility 
 for that which I have done unto thee, in riding thee and in other things. Then he 
 left the sharper to go his way. and he himself returned to his house intoxicated with 
 anxiety and grief. His wife therefore said to him, What hath afflicted thee. and 
 where is the ass ? He said to her, Hast thou no knowledge of the case of the ass ? 
 Then I will acquaint thee with it. And he related to her the story; on hearing svhich, 
 she exclaimed, Alas for the punishment that we shall receive from God, whose name be 
 exalted ! How hath it happened that all this time hath passed over us and we have 
 been making a son of Adam to labour for us ! Then she gave alms, 6 and prayed for the 
 
 As an atonement. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 523 
 
 forgiveness of God. And the man remained a long time in the house without work. 
 So his wife said to him, How long wilt thou remain in the house without work ? Go 
 to the market and buy for us an ass with which to work. He therefore went to the 
 market, and stopped by the asses ; and, lo, he beheld his own ass for sale. And when 
 he recognized it, he advanced to it, and, putting his mouth to its ear, said to it, Wo to 
 thee, O unlucky ! Doubtless thou hast returned to intoxication, and beaten thy mother 
 again. By Allah, I will never again buy thee ! Then he left it, and departed. 
 
 Anecdote of El-Hakini bi-amri-llah and a Merchant of Cairo, 
 
 It is related that El-Hakim bi-amri-llah 7 was riding in his state procession one day, 
 and he passed by a garden, where he saw a man surrounded by slaves and servants ; 
 and he demanded of him a draught of water. The man therefore gave him to drink ; 
 after which he said, Perhaps the Prince of the Faithful will honour me by alighting 
 and paying me a visit in this garden. So the King alighted, and his troops also, and 
 entered that garden ; and the man above mentioned caused a hundred carpets to be 
 brought out, and a hundred skins, 8 and a hundred pillows, and a hundred dishes of 
 fruits, and a hundred bowls full of sweets, and a hundred saucers full of sherbet of 
 sugar. El-Hakim bi-amri-llah was amazed at this, and he said, O man, verily thy case 
 is wonderful. Didst thou know of our coming, and prepare for us this ? -The man 
 answered, No, by Allah, O Prince of the Faithful : I knew not of your coming. I am 
 a merchant, of the number of thy subjects, and I have a hundred concubines ; and 
 when the Prince of the Faithful honoured me by alighting and paying me a visit, I 
 sent to each of them, desiring her to send me the dinner in the garden ; and each of 
 them sent somewhat of her furniture and the surplus of her food and her drink. Each 
 of them sendeth to me every day a dish of meat, and a dish of something cooling, and 
 a dish of fruit, and a bowl full of sweetmeat, and a saucer of sherbet ; and this re my 
 dinner every day : I have not added to it any thing for thee. And the Prince of the 
 Faithful prostrated himself, offering up thanks to God (whose name be exalted !), and 
 said, Praise be to God, who hath made to be of the number of our subjects one upon 
 whom He hath bestowed such affluence that he feedeth the Khaleefeh and his troops 
 without preparing for them, but only of the surplus of his food ! Then he gave orders 
 to present to him all that the government-treasury contained of coins struck during 
 that year; and they amounted to three millions and seven hundred thousand ; and he 
 mounted not until he had caused them to be brought, and had given them to that man, 
 saying to him, Make use of them as thy case may require ; for thy generosity is worthy 
 of a greater recompense. Then the King mounted and departed. 
 
 Anecdote of Anooshirwiin. 
 
 The just King, Kisra Anooshirwan, 9 rode forth one day to the chase, and separated 
 himself from his troops, pursuing a gazelle ; and as he proceeded after it, he saw a 
 tract of cultivated land near unto him. He was exceedingly thirsty ; so he repaired 
 thither, and, going to the door of the house of a family, he asked for some water to 
 drink ; whereupon there came forth to him a damsel, who looked at him, and then re- 
 turned to the house, and pressed for him a single sugar-cane, mixed its juice with water, 
 poured it into a cup, and put into it some sweet-scented substance resembling dust. 
 Then she gave it to Anooshirwan, who looked into the cup, and saw in it something 
 
 i El-Hakim bi-amri-llah was the third Khalee- but in this ease, I suppose, for the former pur- 
 
 feh of the house of Fatimch, in Kgypt. He was pose. 
 
 celebrated for tyranny and insanity, and was the 9 Anooshirwan, or Xooshirwan, was the famous 
 
 founder of the relisrion of the Druses. He reigned Persian monarch in whose reign Mohammad was 
 
 from the year of the Flight 3stf to -111. ED. bom, and whose justice has been a theme of 
 
 8 Either to place the food upon or to sit upon ; countless Oriental writers. 
 
like dust. He therefore drank 
 it slowly, until he came to 
 the end of it, when he said to 
 the damsel, O damsel, excel- 
 lent was the water, and how 
 sweet had it been but for 
 those particles swimming 
 upon the surface ; for they 
 rendered it turbid. The 
 damsel replied, O guest, I pur- 
 posely threw into it those 
 particles which rendered it 
 turbid. And why didst thou 
 that ? said the King. She 
 answered, Because I saw thee 
 to be violently thirsty, and 
 feared that thou wouldst 
 drink it at a single draught, 
 and it would have been in- 
 jurious to thee; and had 
 there not been in it those 
 particles upon the surface, 
 thou wouldst have drunk it 
 up quickly at once, and thy 
 doing so would have been 
 hurtful to thee. So the just 
 King, Anooshirwan, won- 
 dered at her words and her 
 intelligence, knowing that 
 what she had said had proceeded 
 from intelligence and acuteness 
 and excellence of understanding ; 
 and he said to her. From how many canes didst 
 thou press that juice ? She answered, From one 
 cane. And Anooshirwan wondered, and demanded 
 the register of the taxes that arose from the vil- 
 lage there; and he saw that its taxes were little ; 
 wherefore he purposed in his mind, when he 
 should return to his seat of government, to increase 
 those taxes ; saying, Wherefore should the taxes of a village from a single sugar-cane 
 of which this juice proceedeth be so little ? 
 
 Then he departed from that village to the chase ; and at the close of the day he re- 
 turned to it, and passing alone by that door again, he asked a second time for water 
 to drink ; upon which that same damsel came forth to him ; and, seeing and knowing 
 him, she returned to bring him the water. But she was long absent from him. So 
 Anooshirwan hastened her, and said, AVherefore hast thou been tardy ? She answered, 
 Because there proceeded not from one cane as much as thou wantest ; therefore I 
 pressed three canes ; and there came not from them as much as before came from one 
 cane. The King said, What is the cause of that ? And she answered, The cause of it 
 is, that the purpose of the Sultan hath become changed. He therefore asked her, 
 Whence learnedst thou this ? She answered, We have heard from the wise, that, when 
 the purpose of the Sultan becometh changed against a people, their prosperity ceaseth, 
 and their blessings are diminished. And Anooshinvsin laughed, and diinissed from his 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 525 
 
 mind that which he had purposed against the people ; and forthwith he married that 
 damsel, being pleased with the excess of her intelligence and acuteness, and the excel- 
 lence of her speech. 
 
 Anecdote of Khusrow and Sheereen and a Fisherman. 
 
 Khusrow, 10 who was one of the Kings [of Persia], was fond of fish ; and he was one 
 day sitting in his saloon, with Sheereen, his wife, when there came a fisherman with a 
 large fish, which he gave to Khusrow. And the King was pleased with that fish, and 
 gave orders to present the man with four thousand pieces of silver. But Sheereen 
 said to him, Evil is that which thou hast done ! And why ? he asked. She answered, 
 Because if, after this, thou give any one of thy dependants this sum, he will despise it, 
 and say, He hath given me the like of the sum which he gave to the fisherman. And 
 if thou give him less than that, he will say, He hath despised me, and given me less 
 than he gave to the fisherman. So Khusrow replied, Thou hast spoken truth; but it 
 is disgraceful in Kings to take back their gifts, and this hath passed. Sheereen how- 
 ever rejoined, I will contrive for thee a means of getting back the present from him. 
 And how so ? said he. She answered, If thou desire that, call the fisherman, and ask 
 him of what species is this fish. And if he say to thee, Of such a species, reply, We 
 desired one of another kind. He therefore sent after the fisherman, who returned ; 
 and this fisherman was a person of intelligence and acuteness ; and the King Khusrow 
 asked him, of what species was the fish which he had brought ; whereupon the fisher- 
 man kissed the ground, and said, This fish is of a mixed kind, and of no one particular 
 species. And Khusrow laughed at his words, and gave orders to present him with four 
 thousand more pieces of silver. 
 
 The fisherman therefore went to the treasurer, and received from him eight thou- 
 sand pieces of silver, which he put into a leathern bag that he had with him ; and he 
 raised it upon his neck, and was about to go forth, when there fell from him one piece 
 of silver; upon which he set down the leathern bag from his shoulders, and stooped to 
 pick up the piece of silver, and took it. Now the King and Sheereen were looking at 
 him ; and Sheereen said, O King, hast thou seen the vileness of this man, and his 
 meanness, in that when there fell from him a piece of silver, it was not easy for him to 
 leave it for one of the pages of the King to take it ? And when the King heard her 
 words, he was enraged at the fisherman, and said, Thou hast spoken truth, O Sheereen. 
 Then he gave orders to bring back the fisherman, and said to him, O thou devoid of 
 spirit ! Thou art not a man ! How was it that thou puttest down this money from 
 thy shoulders, and stoopedst for a piece of silver, and wast too covetous to leave it in 
 its place ? But the fisherman kissed the ground, and answered, May God prolong the 
 life of the King ! I took not up that piece of silver from the ground on account of its 
 value in my estimation ; but I did so because upon one of its faces is the effigy of the 
 King, and upon its other face his name, and I feared that so:ne person might put nis 
 foot upon it unknowingly, and that would be dishonouring the name of the King, and 
 his effigy ; and I should be the one to be blamed for this offence. And the King won- 
 
 10 Khusrow Parw<5z, or ParveX was a very Eastern historians. It is said to have been of 
 famous monarch, grandson of Anooshirwan, and such vast extent, that it was supported by forty 
 contemporary with Mohammad. Having been thousand columns of silver; and that, among 
 driven from his country by his uncle, he " took other magnificent ornaments, a thousand globes, 
 refuge with the Greek Emperor Maurice, by whose suspended in the dome, shewed, by various move- 
 assistance he defeated the usurper, and recovered ments, the motions of the heavenly bodies ; thirty 
 his crown. Khusrow, whilst at Maurice's court, thousand pieces of embroidered tapestry adorned 
 married his daughter Irene [called by the Persians the walls ; and underneath were vaults containing 
 'Sheereen,' signifying 'Sweet'], who is highly immense treasures in gold, silver, and precious 
 celebrated in the East for her singular beauty. . . . stones." (Richardson's Persian, Arabic, and Eng- 
 The throne of this prince is celebrated by many lish Dictionary, Johnson's edition, voce parwdz.) 
 
526 NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 dered at his words, and approved what he said, and gave orders to present him with 
 four thousand more pieces of silver. He also commanded a crier to proclaim and say, 
 It is not fit that any one should follow the counsel of women; for he who followeth 
 their counsel will lose with his piece of silver two pieces of silver beside. 
 
 Anecdote of Yahya El-Bannekee. 
 
 It is related that Yahya the son of Khalid El-Barmekee went forth from the palace 
 of the Khaleefeh to return to his house, and saw, at the door of the house, a man, who, 
 when he approached, rose and saluted him, and said to him, O Yahya, I am in need of 
 that which is in thy hand, and I beg of God to conciliate thy favour for me. And 
 Yahya gave orders to appropriate to him a place in his house, and commanded his 
 treasurer to take to him every day a thousand pieces of silver, and directed that he 
 should be fed with the choicest of his food. Thus the man remained a whole month ; 
 at the expiration of which, he had received thirty thousand pieces of silver; but he 
 feared that Yahya would take from him the money, on account of its large amount : so 
 he departed privily. And they informed Yahya of this. He however replied, By 
 Allah, had he remained with me for his life, and for all his days, 1 had not withheld 
 my gifts, nor deprived him of the honours of my hospitality. And the excellencies of 
 the Barmekees were incalculable, and their virtues cannot be fully described : especially 
 those of Yahya the son of Khalid ; for he chiefly abounded in illustrious actions, as the 
 poet hath said of him : 
 
 I asked Liberality, Art thou free ? He answered, No ; but I am the slave of Yahya the sou of 
 
 Khiilid. 
 By purchase? said I. God forbid! he answered; for he had me by inheritance from father after 
 
 father. 
 
 Mohammad El-Emeen and the Slme-girl El-Bedr el-Kebeer. 
 
 Jaafar the son of Moosa El-Hadee n had a slave-girl, a lute-player, whose name was 
 El-Bedr el-Kebeer, 1 ' 2 and there was not in her time any more beautiful in face, or of 
 more just figure, or more graceful, or more skilful in the art of singing, and striking 
 the chords : she was endowed with the utmost loveliness and elegance, and every 
 charm. And Mohammad El-Emeen 13 the son of Zubeydeh heard of her, and besought 
 Jaafar to sell her to him : but he replied, Thou knowest that it becometh not such a 
 person as myself to sell female slaves and to set prices upon concubines ; and were she 
 not brought up in my house, I would send her as a present to thee, and not covetously 
 withhold her from thee. Then Mohammad El-Emeen repaired one day, for the purpose 
 of exhilaration, to the house of Jaafar, who thereupon shewed him the hospitality 
 suitable to friends, and ordered his slave-girl El-Bedr el-Kebeer to sing to him and 
 make him merry. She therefore tuned the instruments, and sang with the sweetest 
 of melodious tones. And Mohammad El-Emeen betook himself to drinking and making 
 merry, and ordered the cup-bearers to give abundance of wine to Jaafar, that they 
 might intoxicate him. He then took the slave-girl with him, and repaired to his resi- 
 dence ; but he extended not his hand towards her. And in the morning he gave orders 
 to invite Jaafar ; and when he came he placed the wine before him, and commanded 
 the slave-girl to sing to him within the curtain. When Jaafar, therefore, heard her 
 voice, he knew her; and he was enraged at this; but he shewed not his rage, by 
 reason of the nobleness of his nature, and his magnanimity ; and he manifested no 
 
 11 El-Hadcc was the brother and immediate 12 Literally, " the Great Full Mooii." 
 
 predecessor of Ilaroon Er-Rashced. u The turn and next successor of Hit. > 
 
 Buheed. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 527 
 
 change in his convivial converse. And as soon as the carousal was ended, Mohammad 
 El-Emeen gave orders to one of his dependants to fill the skiff in which Jaafar had 
 come to him, with pieces of gold and silver, and varieties ot jewels and jacinths and 
 rich apparel, and exceeding wealth. So he did as he commanded him, putting into the 
 skiff a thousand myriads of pieces of money, and a thousand large pearls, each pearl ot 
 the value of twenty thousand pieces of silver; and he ceased not to put in it varieties 
 of rarities, until the boatmen called out for aid, and said, The skiff cannot carry any 
 thing more. And he ordered them to convey the wealth to the house of Jaafar. Such 
 are the noble actions of the great. May God have mercy on them ! 
 
 Anecdote of El-Fadl and Jaafar the Barrnekees. 
 
 Sa'eed the son of Salim El-Bahilee saith, My circumstances became difficult in 
 the time of Haroon Er-Rasheed ; many debts were accumulated upon me, burdening 
 my back, and I was unable to discharge them. My means were contracted, and I 
 became perplexed, not knowing what to do ; for payment was vehemently urged upon 
 me, the persons to whom I was indebted surrounded my door, those who had demands 
 to make crowded upon me, and the creditors constantly importuned me. Thus my in- 
 vention of expedients was straitened, and my trouble of mind was excessive. So when 
 1 saw my affairs involved in difficulty, and my circumstances changed, I repaired to 
 'A bd- Allah the son of Malik El-Khuza'ee, and besought him to aid me by his advice, 
 and direct me to the door of relief by his good counsel ; and he said, No one can save 
 
528 NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 thee from thy trouble and anxiety, and straitness and grief, except the Barmekees. I 
 replied, And who can bear their pride, and endure their haughtiness ? Thou wilt bear 
 that, he rejoined, for the sake of amending thy circumstances. I therefore rose from 
 his presence, and went to El-Fadl and Jaafar, the sons of Yahya the son of Khalid, 
 related to them my case, and shewed them my condition. And they said, May God 
 give thee his aid, and render thee independent of his creatures by his beneficence, and 
 liberally bestow on thee abundant prosperity, and grant thee sufficiency above any 
 being beside Him ; for He is able to do whatsoever He willeth, and is gracious unto 
 his servants, and acquainted with their wants. 
 
 So I departed from them, and returned to 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik with con- 
 tracted bosom, perplexed mind, and broken heart, and repeated to him what they had 
 said ; and he replied, It is expedient that thou remain to-day with us, that we may see 
 what God (whose name be exalted !) will decree. I therefore sat with him a while ; 
 and, lo, my young man approached and said, O my master, at our door are many mules, 
 with their loads, and with them is a man who saith, I am the agent of El-Fadl the son 
 of Yahya, and Jaafar the son of Yahya. Upon this, 'Abd-Allah the son of Malik, said, 
 I hope that relief hath approached thee : rise then, and see what is the affair. 
 Accordingly, I rose from his presence, and hastened running to my house, and saw at 
 my door a man with a note, in which was written, 
 
 When thou hadst been with us, and we had heard thy words, we repaired, after 
 thy departure, to the Khaleefeh, and informed him that thou hadst been reduced to 
 the ignominious necessity of begging ; whereupon he commanded us to convey to thee, 
 from the government-treasury, a million pieces of silver. But we said to him, This 
 money he will disburse to his creditors, and he will pay with it his debts ; and whence 
 is he to sustain himself? So he gave orders to present thee with three hundred 
 thousand pieces of silver besides. And each of us also hath sent to thee, of his proper 
 wealth, a million pieces of silver. The whole sum, therefore, is three millions and 
 three hundred thousand pieces of silver, wherewith thou shalt amend thy circumstances 
 and affairs. 
 
 See then this generosity evinced by these noble persons. May God (whose name be 
 exalted !) have mercy on them ! 
 
 Anecdote of a Deceitful Wife. 
 
 It is related that a woman practised a stratagem against her husband ; and it was 
 this : Her husband brought her a fish, on a Friday, and desired her to cook it and 
 make it ready by the time that the congregational prayers should be ended. He then 
 went forth to his work ; and her friend came to her, and invited her to attend a 
 wedding in his house ; to which she assented. She put the fish into a water-jar in her 
 abode, and went with him, and remained absent from her house until the next Friday ; 
 while her husband was searching in other houses, and inquiring for her ; but no one 
 gave him any tidings of her. Then she came on the following Friday, and took forth 
 to him the fish alive, and, having collected a number of people before him, related to 
 them her tale ; whereupon they pronounced the man a liar, and said to him, It is 
 impossible that the fish should remain alive all this time. They made it appear evident 
 that he was mad, and imprisoned him and laughed at him. 
 
 Anecdote of a Homicide. 
 
 The shereef Hoseyn the son of Reiyan hath related, that the Prince of the Faithful, 
 'Omar the son of El-Khattab, was sitting one day to judge the people, and to exercise 
 jurisdiction among his subjects, attended by the chiefs of his companions, of those 
 possessed of judgment and just perception. And as he sat, there approached him a 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 529 
 
 young man, of the most comely of young men, of 
 clean apparel, upon whom two of the most comely 
 of young men had laid hold ; and they dragged 
 him by the upper edge of his vest, and stationed 
 him before the Prince of the Faithful. So the 
 Prince of the Faithful looked at the two young 
 men, and at the other, and, having ordered them 
 to withdraw from him, caused him to draw near 
 unto him, and said to the two young men, What 
 is your affair with him ? O Prince of the Faith- 
 ful, they answered, we are two brothers by the 
 same mother, and suited to follow the truth. We 
 had a father, a very old man, prudent, honoured 
 among the tribes, free from meannesses, well 
 known for virtues, who reared us from infancy, 
 and bestowed on us great favours, a person of 
 abundant virtues and illustrious actions, deserving 
 of the praise of the poet : 
 
 They said, Is Aboo Sakr of Shcyban? I answered 
 
 them, Nay, by my life ; but Sheyban is of him : ' * 
 For how many a father hath derived eminence from 
 
 a noble son, as did 'Adnan from God's Apostle ! 
 
 And he went forth to an orchard belonging to him, to recreate himselt among its trees, 
 and to pluck its ripe fruits, and this young man slew him, swerving from the path of 
 rectitude. We therefore request thee to retaliate his offence, and to pass sentence 
 upon him in accordance with the command of God. 
 
 So 'Omar cast a terrifying glance at the young man, and said to him, Thou hast 
 heard what these two young men have stated. What then sayest thou in reply ? 
 Now that young man was of firm heart and bold tongue ; he had cast off the garments 
 of dastardy, and divested himself of the apparel of fear : so he smiled, and spoke with a 
 most eloquent tongue, complimenting the Prince of the Faithful with elegant 
 language. Then he said, By Allah, O Prince of the Faithful, I have retained in my 
 mind their charge, and they have spoken truth in that which they have said in relating 
 what happened and the command of God is a determinate decree. But I will state 
 my case before thee, and it is thine to decide upon it. Know, O Prince of the 
 Faithful, that I am of the choicest of the genuine Arabs, who are the most noble of the 
 races under heaven. I grew up in the dwellings of the desert, and gloomy times of 
 oppressive sterility afflicted my people ; wherefore I came to th environs of this town, 
 with my family and wealth and children. I followed one of the roads around it 
 leading amid its gardens of trees, with she-camels of high estimation and dear unto 
 me, among which was a male camel of high breed and ot numerous offspring and 
 beautiful form, whereby they bore abundantly, and he walked among them like a king 
 wearing a crown. Now one of the she-camels ran away to the orchard of the father of 
 these two young men, and its trees appeared above the wall, and she reached them 
 with her lips . so I drove her away from that orchard. But, lo. a sheykh appeared 
 through an interstice of the wall, tht flame of his rage casting forth sparks, and with a 
 stone in his right hand; and he walked like the lion that swayeth 15 in his pace, and, 
 smiting the male camel with that stone, he killed it , for the stone struck its eye. 
 Therefore when I saw that the male, camel had fallen down down by my side, I felt the 
 burning coals of anger lighted in my heart, and I took up that same stone, and soiote 
 
 u "Sheyban " is the name of a tribe. 
 
 15 I read " khatara," as recommended by my sheykh, instead of " hadara " or '' hadira. " 
 
 ii. 3 v 
 
530 NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 him with it, and it was the cause of his destruction. Thus he found an evil result to 
 his action ; the man being killed with that wherewith he had killed. And when he 
 was struck with the stone, lie uttered a great cry and a painful shriek ; whereupon I 
 hastened from my place , but these two young men hastened after me, and laid hold 
 upon me ; and they brought me unto thee, and placed me before thee. 
 
 On hearing this, 'Omar (may God, whose name be exalted, be well pleased with 
 him ! said, Thou hast confessed the crime that thou hast committed : liberation hath 
 become difficult, retaliation is necessary and there is no opportunity of escape. The 
 young man replied, 1 hear and obey the sentence which the Imam hath passed, and 
 consent to that which the law of El-Islam requireth. But I have a young brother, 
 and he had an old father, who, before his death, assigned him abundant wealth, and a 
 great sum of gold, and committed the care of him to me, calling God to witness 
 against me, and saying This is in trust with thee for thy brother : keep it then carefully. 
 I therefore received that money from him, and buried it , and no one knoweth of it 
 hut myself. So if thou now pass sentence of death upon me, the wealth will be lost, 
 and thou wilt be the cause of its loss, and the child will sue thee for his right on the 
 day when God will judge his creatures. But if thou grant me three days' delay, I will 
 appoint some one to act as guardian to the boy, and I will return to discharge my 
 obligation ; and I have one who will be my surety for the fulfilment of this promise. 
 And upon this, the Prince of the Faithful hung down his head. Then he looked at 
 those who were present, and said., Who will be surety unto me for his return to his 
 place ? And the young man looked at the faces of those who composed the assembly, 
 and, pointing to Aboo-Dharr 16 in preference to the rest of the persons present, said, 
 This will be my guarantee and my surety. So 'Omar (may God, whose name be 
 exalted, be well pleased with him !) said, O Aboo-Dharr, hast thou heard this saying, 
 and wilt thou be surety unto me for the return of this young man ? He answered, 
 Yes, O Prince of the Faithful : I will be surety for him for three days. 'Omar, there- 
 fore, consented to this, and gave permission to the young man to depart. 
 
 And when the period of delay had drawn towards its close, and the time had 
 almost expired, or had expired, the young man had not come unto the assembly of 
 Omar, whom the Companions '' were surrounding like the stars around the moon. 
 Aboo-Dharr was present, and the plaintiffs were waiting, and they said. Where is the 
 delinquent, O Aboo-Dharr? How shall he who hath fled return? But we will not 
 move from our place until thou bring him to us, that our blood-revenge may be taken. 
 -Aboo-Dharr replied, By the Omniscient King, if the three days expire and the 
 young man shalt not have come, I will discharge the obligation of surety, and 
 surrender myself to the Imam ! And 'Omar (may God be well pleased with him !) 
 said, By Allah, if the young man delay his coming, I will assuredly pass sentence upon 
 Aboo-Dharr according as the law of El-Islam requireth ! And upon this, the tears of 
 the persona present flowed, and the sighs of the spectators rose, and great was the 
 clamour. The chiefs of the Companions proposed to the two young men to take the 
 pecuniary compensation, and obtain the thanks of the people. But they refused, and 
 would admit nothing but the taking of the blood-revenge. 
 
 While the people, however, were in a state of tumult and clamour in their 
 lamentation for Aboo-Dharr, lo, the young man approached, and stood before the 
 Imam, and greeted him with the most courteous salutation. His face was shining 
 brightly, and glistening with perspiration . and he said to the Imam, I have com- 
 mitted the youth unto his maternal uncles, and acquainted them wHh all his affairs 
 and informed them of what had been done with his wealth : then I rushed into the 
 sultry mid-day heat, and fulfilled my promise with the fidelity of the ingenuous. 
 And the people wondered at his veracity and good faith, his ready offering of himself 
 
 10 A celebrated and highly-esteemed relater of the sayings and actions of the Prophet. 
 I; The Companions of the Prophet. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 531 
 
 to death, and his holdness. And some of them said, How generous a young man art 
 thou, and how faithful in the performance of thy promise and duty ! But the young 
 man replied, Are ye not convinced that when the period of death hath come, no one 
 can escape from it ? Verily I fulfilled my promise that it might not be said, Fidelity 
 hath departed from among men. And Ahoo-Dharr said, By Allah, O Prince of the 
 Faithful, 1 became surety for this young man and knew not of what tribe he was, nor 
 had I seen him before that day. But when he turned -from all else who were present, 
 and desired me, and said, This will be surety and guarantee for me, I deemed it not 
 right to reject him, and humanity refused to disappoint his desire ; for there is no evil 
 in complying with a desire, that it may not be said, Virtue hath departed from among 
 men. And upon this, the two young men said, O Prince of the Faithful, we give up 
 to this young man the blood of our father, since he hath converted sadness into a cause 
 of cheerfulness, that it may not be said, Kindness hath departed from among men. 
 And the Imam rejoiced at the pardon granted to the young man, and at his veracity 
 and his fidelity in the performance of his duty, and he highly extolled the humanity of 
 Aboo-Dharr above his companions, and approved of the resolution of the young men in 
 the shewing of kindness : he bestowed upon them grateful thanks, and recited, as appli- 
 cable to their case, the saying of the poet: 
 
 He who actcth kindly among men will be requited for it. Kindness is not lost with God nor 
 with men. 
 
 Then he offered to pay them the fine for their father's blood from the government- 
 treasury. But they said, Verily we pardoned him from a desire of seeing the face of 
 God, the Bountiful, the Exalted ; and he whose intention is of this nature doth not 
 make his kindness to be followed by reproach for his benefits, nor by detriment. 
 
 Anecdote of an Impudent Thief. 
 
 A man, who was a robber, turned with repentance unto God (whose name be 
 exalted !), and his repentance was sincere, and he opened for himself a shop in which 
 to sell stufl's. This life he led for a length of time ; and it happened, one day, that he 
 locked his shop, and went to his house ; and one of the artful robbers came, and, 
 having disguised himself in the garb of the owner of. the shop, took forth from his 
 sleeve some keys. This was in the night ; and he said to the watchman of the market, 
 Light for me this candle. So the watchman took it from him, and went to light it ; 1S 
 and the robber opened the shop, and lighted another candle that he had with him ; 
 and when the watchman came again, he found him sitting in the shop, with the 
 account-book in his hand, and he was looking at it, and calculating with his fingers. 
 Thus he continued to do until the first appearance of daybreak, when he said to the 
 watchman, Bring me a camel-driver with his camel, to convey for me some of the 
 merchandise. Accordingly he brought him a camel-driver with his camel, and the 
 robber took and gave him four bales of stuffs, which he placed upon the camel. Then 
 he locked the shop, gave to the watchman two pieces of silver, and followed the camel- 
 driver ; the watchman believing that he was the owner of the shop. 
 
 And when the morning arrived, and daylight appeared, the owner of the shop came, 
 and the watchman began to greet him with prayers for his prosperity, on account of 
 the two pieces of silver. So the owner of the shop disavowed what he said, and 
 wondered at it; and when he opened the shop, he found the wax that had run down 
 from the candles, and the account-book thrown down, and, examining the shop, he 
 found four bales of stuffs missing ; whereupon he said to the watchman, What hath 
 happened ? He therefore told him of that which had been done in the night, and of 
 
 '" See Note 7 to Chapter v. 
 
532 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 what had been said to the camel-driver respecting the bales ; and the owner of the 
 shop said, Bring to me the camel-driver who took up the bales with thee at daybreak. 
 The watchman replied, I hear and obey ; and brought him. And the owner of the 
 shop said to him, Whither conveyedst thou the stuffs at daybreak ? He answered, To 
 such a landing-place, and I stowed them in the vessel of such-a-one. And the merchant 
 said to him, Go with me thither. He accordingly went thither with him, and said to 
 him, This is the vessel, and this is her owner. So he said to the boatman, Whither 
 conveyedst thou the merchant and the stuffs ? He answered, To such a place, and he 
 brought to me a camel-driver, who placed the stuffs upon his camel, and departed, and 
 I know not whither he went, The owner of the shop said to him, Bring me the camel- 
 driver who conveyed the stuffs from thee. And he brought him ; and he said to him, 
 Whither conveyedst thou the stuffs from the vessel, with the merchant ? To such a 
 place, he answered. And he said to him, Go with me thither, and shew it to me. 
 And the camel-driver went with him to a place distant from the bank of the river, 
 acquainted him with the Khan in which he had deposited the stuffs, and shewed him 
 the magazine of the [pretended] merchant. So he advanced to the magazine and 
 opened it, and found the four bales of stuff's in their original state, unopened; and he 
 gave them to the camel-driver. The robber had placed his cloak upon the stuffs ; and 
 the owner of the stuff's handed it also to the camel-driver, who placed the whole upon 
 his camel. Then he closed the magazine, and departed with the camel-driver. And, 
 lo, the robber confronted him, and followed him until he had embarked the stuff's in 
 the boat ; when he said to him, my brother, mayest thou be in the keeping of God ! 
 Thou hast taken thy stuffs, and nought of them is lost : so give me the cloak. And 
 the merchant laughed at him, and gave him the cloak, and did not molest him ; and 
 eacli of them went his way. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTEK EIGHTEENTH. 533 
 
 Compact of Mesroor with Ibn-El-Karibee. 
 
 The Prince of the Faithful, Haroon Er-Rasheed, was troubled one night with an 
 exceeding restlessness ; so he said to his Wezeer Jaafar the son of Yahya El-Bannekee, 
 I am sleepless this night, and my heart is contracted, and I know not what to do. 
 Xo\v his eunuch Mesroor was standing before him, and he laughed. The Khaleefeh 
 therefore said to him, At what dost thou laugh ? Dost thou laugh in contempt of me, 
 or because thou art mad ? He answered, No, by Allah, O Prince of the Faithful, by 
 thy relationship to the chief of Apostles, I did it not willingly ; but I went forth 
 yesterday to walk without the palace, and proceeded until I came to the bank of the 
 Tigris, where I saw a crowd of people collected together : so I stopped, and I saw a 
 man making the people laugh. He is named Ibn-El-Karibee. And I remembered 
 just now his words, and laughter overcame me ; for which I beg thy pardon, O Prince 
 of the Faithful. Upon this, the Khaleefeh said, Bring him unto me immediately. 
 Mesroor therefore went forth and hastened until he came to Ibn-El-Karibee ; and he 
 said to him, Answer the summons of the Prince of the Faithful. I hear and obey, 
 replied Ibn-El-Karibee. And Mesroor said to him, But on the condition that, if thou 
 go in to him and he bestow upon thee any thing, the quarter of it shall be thine, and 
 the rest be mine. Xay, replied Ibn-El-Karibee ; thou shalt have half, and I half. 
 But Mesroor said, No. And Ibn-El-Karibee said, I will have a third, and thou shalt 
 have two thirds. 19 And to this, Mesroor assented, after excessive striving. 
 
 Then Ibn-El-Iaribee arose and went with him, and when he came into the presence 
 of the Prince of the Faithful, he greeted him with the salutation usually given to 
 Khaleefehs, and stood before him ; and the Prince of the Faithful said to him, If thou 
 do not make me laugh, I beat thee three times with this leathern bag. So Ibn-El- 
 Karibee said within himself, And it will be no great matter if three blows be inflicted 
 with this leathern bag, when beating with whips hurteth me not. For he imagined that 
 the leathern bag was empty. He then uttered sayings that would make the enraged 
 to laugh, with varieties of drolleries ; but the Prince of the Faithful laughed not, nor 
 even smiled; and Ibn-El-Karibee wondered at him, and was vexed, and feared; and 
 the Prince of the Faithful said to him, Now thou hast deserved the beating. Accord- 
 ingly, he took the leathern bag, and beat him once ; and there were in it four pebbles, 
 each pebble of the weight of two pounds ; and the blow fell upon his neck : so he 
 uttered a great cry, and, remembering the agreement made between him and Mesroor, 
 he said, Pardon, O Prince of the Faithful ! Hear from rue two words ! The 
 Khaleefeh replied, Say what thou wilt. And he said, Verily Mesroor imposed 011 me a 
 condition, and I agreed with him respecting it ; and it was, that of whatsoever the 
 Prince of the Faithful should bestow upon me, one third of it should be for me, and 
 two thirds for him ; and he consented not to this my proposal save after excessive 
 striving. Now thou hast not bestowed on me aught save beating, and this blow is my 
 share, and the remaining two blows are his share ; for I have received my share, and 
 lii'i-e he is standing, O Prince of the Faithful ; therefore pay him his. And when the 
 Prince of the Faithful heard his words, he laughed until he fell backwards; and, 
 having called Mesroor, he gave him a blow, whereupon he cried out, and said, O Prince 
 of the Faithful, the third sufficeth me, and do thou give him the two thirds. And 
 the Khaleefeh laughed at them, and gave orders to present each of them with a 
 thousand pieces of gold. And they departed, rejoiced at that which he had bestowed 
 upon them. 
 
 '' In the original, " thou shall have a third, and / will have two thirds;" but this is inconsistent both 
 with what precedes and what follows. 
 
534 NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 Anecdote of a Devotee, Son of Haroon Er-Rasheed. 20 
 
 The Prince of the Faithful, Haroon Er-Rasheed, had a son who had attained the 
 age of sixteen years, and he was averse from the world, following the course of the 
 abstinent and the devotees. He used to go forth to the hurial-grounds, and to say, 
 Ye were in possession of the world ; but that saved you not ; and ye have gone unto 
 your graves. Would then that 1 knew what ye said, 21 and what was said unto you ! 
 And he wept as the fearful and Lhe dreading, and recited the saying of the poet : 
 
 The funerals constantly terrify me, and the weeping of the wailing women grieveth me. 
 
 And it happened that his father passed hy him one day, proceeding in state, sur- 
 rounded by his wezeers and the great men of his empire and of the people of his 
 dominions, and they saw the son of the Prince of the Faithful with a woollen jubbeh - 2 
 upon his body, and a piece of woollen stuff (as a turban) upon his head. So one of 
 them said to another, This youth hath disgraced the Prince of the Faithful among the 
 Kings, and if he reproved him, he would relinquish his present course. And the. 
 Prince of the Faithful, hearing their words, spoke to him on that subject, and said to 
 him, O my child, thou hast disgraced me by thy present life. But his son looked at 
 him, and answered him not. Then he looked at a bird upon one of the babtlements of 
 the palace, and said to it, O bird, by Him who created thee, drop upon my hand. 
 Whereupon the bird darted down upon the youth's hand. And he said to it, Return 
 to thy place. And it returned. He then said to it, Drop upon the hand of the Prince 
 of the Faithful. But it refused to do so. And the youth said to his father, Thou hast 
 disgraced me among the Welees 23 by thy love of the world, and I have resolved to part 
 from thee, never to return unto thee save in the world to come. Then he went down 
 the river to El-Basrah, where he employed himself in working with the labourers in 
 mud ; 24 and he worked not each day save for a piece of silver and a sixth : 25 with the 
 sixth, he fed himself; and with the piece of silver, he gave alms. 
 
 Aboo-'Ainir of El-Basrah hath related as follows: A wall having fallen in my 
 house, I went forth to the station of the labourers, to see for a man to repair it ; and 
 my eye fell upon a comely youth, of beautiful countenance ; whereupon I went to him 
 and saluted him and said to him, O my friend, dost thou desire service? He answered, 
 Yes. And I said, Arise and come with me to build a wall. He replied, On certain 
 conditions which I will impose upon thee. O niy friend, said I, what are they ? He 
 answered, The hire shall be a piece of silver and a sixth ; and when the Mueddin 
 
 20 This anecdote seems to be founded upon one they ask thee concerning thy religion, say to them, 
 which I have before related, of 'Alee the son of ' El-Islam is my religion ;' and when they ask thee 
 Kl-Ma-moon. See vol. i. p. 210. concerning thy book of direction, say to them, 
 
 21 This, as my sheykh explains, alludes to the 'The Kur-an is my book of direction, and the 
 questions put by the two Angels, M unkar (vulgarly Muslims are my brothers;' and when they ask 
 called Xakir) and Xekeer, who examine the dead, thee concerning thy Kibleh, say to them, ' The 
 and torture the wicked, in the grave. When the Kaabeh is my Kibleh , and 1 have lived and died 
 dead has been deposited in the grave, a person in the assertion, that there is no deity but God, 
 (called a Mulakkin) is generally employed to and Mohammad is God's Apostle :' and they will 
 instruct him how to answer these questions, and say, ' Sleep, O servant of God, in the protection 
 usually addresses him thus : " O servant of God ! of God.'" (From my work on the Modern 
 O son of a handmaid of God ! know that, at this Egyptians.) 
 
 time, there will come down to thee two angels ** See Note 29 to Chapter vi. 
 
 commissioned respecting thee and the like of thee. 23 The favourites of God, or saints. 
 
 When they say to thee, Who is thy Lord ?' answer "* That is, in building, in which mud is largely 
 
 them, ' God is my Lord,' in truth ; and when they used, with, or instead of, lime. 
 
 ask thee concerning the Prophet, or the man who 25 The name of the sixth of the dirhem (which 
 
 hath been sent unto you, say to them, ' Mohammad latter, as it was the standard of silver coin, I call 
 
 is the Apostle of God,' with veracity ; and when " a piece of silver,") is " danik." 
 
NOTES TO CHAFFER EIGHTEENTH. 535 
 
 chanteth the call to prayer, thou shalt let me go to pray with the congregation. I 
 replied, Well. Then I took him and went with him to the house, and he worked in a 
 manner of which 1 have not seen the like. And I mentioned to him the dinner; but 
 lie said, No : so I knew that he was fasting. And when he heard the call to prayer, 
 he said to me, Thou knowest the condition. I replied, Yes. And ho loosed his girdle, 
 and applied himself to the ablution, performing it in a manner that I have not seen 
 surpassed. 26 He then went forth to prayer, and, having prayer with the congregation, 
 he returned to his work. And when the afternoon-call to prayer was chanted, he 
 performed the ablution again and went to prayer, and returned to his work. Upon 
 this I said to him, O my friend, the period of work is ended ; for the work of the 
 labourers is until the time of afternoon-prayers. But he replied, Extolled be the 
 perfection of God! Verily my work is until night And he ceased not tc work till 
 night, when I gave him two pieces of silver ; on seeing which, he said, What is this ? 
 I answered, By Allah, this is but a portion of thy hire, on account of thy diligence in 
 my service. But he threw them back to me, saying, I desire not any addition to that 
 for which we agreed together I urged him ; but could not prevail upon him. So I 
 gave him a piece of silver and a sixth, and he went away. 
 
 And when the next morning came, I went early to the station ; but found him not. 
 I therefore inquired respecting him ; and it was told me, He cometh not hither save 
 on Saturday only. And when the next Saturday arrived I repaired to that place, and 
 found him ; and I said to him, In the name of Allah, do me the favour to come to 
 work. He replied, On the conditions which thou knowest. I said, Yes. And I went 
 with him to my house, and stood and looked at him without his seeing me. And he 
 took a handful of mud, and placed it upon the wall, and, lo, the stones ranged them- 
 selves, one upon another. So I said, Thus are the Welees of God ! He worked that 
 day, and exceeded what he had done before and when the night came, I paid him 
 his hire, and he took it and departed. 
 
 Again, on the third Saturday, I went to the station ; but found him not ; wherefore 
 I asked respecting him, and was answered, He is sick, and lying in the booth of such 
 a woman. This was an old woman well known for devotion, and she had a booth of 
 reeds in the burial-ground. And I went to the booth, and entered it ; and, lo, he was 
 lying upon the ground, with nothing under him : he had placed his head upon an 
 unburnt brick, and his face was beaming with light. I saluted him, and he returned 
 my salutation ; and I seated myself at his head, weeping on account of his youth, and 
 his absence from his native place, and his aptness to the obedience of his Lord. Then 
 I said to him, Hast thou any want ? He answered, Yes. And what is it ? I asked. 
 He answered, To-morrow come to me, at the mid-time between sunrise and noon, and 
 thou wilt find me dead. Wash me. and dig my grave, without acquainting any one 
 with it ; and shroud me In this jubbeh that is upon me ; and after unsewing it, search 
 its breast, take forth what is within it, and keep it in thy possession. Then, when 
 thou hast prayed over me, and deposited my body in the earth, repair to Baghdad, and 
 watch for the Khaleefeh, Haroon Er Rasheed, until he cometh forth, and give him 
 what thou shalt find in the breast of my iubbeh, with my salutation. Having sail 
 this, he repeated the professions of the faith, and praised his Lord with the most 
 eloquent words, and recited these verses : 
 
 Convey the deposite of him whom death awaiteth to Er-Rashecd; for thou wilt be rewarded for 
 
 that net ; 
 And say to him, A stranger, desirous of beholding thee, long loving and distant, hath offered thee 
 
 lug homage. 
 
 K Numerous ejaculations (short prayers) are or less neglect these. See my ' : Modern Ee;-pt- 
 uttered by the more strict Muslims in the per- ians," vol. i. ch. lii. 
 formance of the ablution ; but most persons more 
 
X either hatred nor weariness hath removed him from thee ; for by kissing thy right hand, 27 he is 
 
 brought near to God 
 But that which hath estranged him from thee, O my father, is a soul which forbeareth to share 
 
 thy worldly pleasures. 
 
 Then he employed himself in begging God's forgiveness, and in prayer, and invoking 
 blessings upon the Chief of the Just,' 23 and reciting some verses of the Kur-an, and 
 repeated these lines : 
 
 my father, be not thou deceived by enjoyment; for life will pass away, and enjoyment will end. 
 When thou art informed that a people are oppressed, know that thou wilt be inquired of respect- 
 ing them j 29 
 And when thou conveyest a corpse unto the tombs, know that thou likewise wilt be borne after it. 
 
 And when the youth had ended his charge and his recitations, I departed from him 
 and went to my house. And Dn the following morning I repaired to him again, at the 
 mid-time between sunrise and noon, and found that he had died. May the mercy of 
 God he on him ! So i washed him, and unsewcd his jubbeh, and 1 found in its breast 
 a ruby worth thousands of pieces of gold ; whereupon I said within myself, By Allah, 
 this young man hath abstained from worldly pleasures with the extreme of abstinence 
 
 Then, after I had buried him, I repaired to Baghdad, and, arriving at the palace 
 of the Khaleefeh, I watched for Er-Rasheed's coming forth until he came , when I 
 presented myself before him in one of the streets, and gave to him tht ruby. As soon 
 as he saw it, he knew it, and fell down in a fit ; upon which the servants laid hold 
 upon me ; but when he recovered, he said to them, Loose him, and send him with 
 courtesy to the palace. So they did as he commanded them ; and on his entering his 
 palace, he summoned me, and took me into his chamber, and said to me, What did the 
 owner of this ruby ? I answered him, He is dead. And I described to him his case ; 
 whereupon he wept, and said, The son hath profited, and the father hath been disap- 
 
 That is, by honouring thee as his father 
 
 -' On the day of judgment. 
 
 i8 The Prophet. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 537 
 
 pointed ! Then he called out, O such-a-one ! (naming a female) ; and a woman came 
 forth ; but when she saw me, she was about to return : so he said to her. Come hither. 
 Thou needest not mind him. She therefore entered and saluted, and he threw to her 
 the ruby ; on seeing which she uttered a great cry, and fell down in a fit. And when 
 she recovered from her fit, she said, O Prince of the Faithful, what hath God done with 
 my son ? He said to me, Acquaint her with his case. And weeping overcame him. 
 Accordingly I informed her of his case ; and she began to weep, and to say with a faint 
 voice, O, how I longed to meet thee ! O delight of mine eye ! Would that I had 
 given thee to drink when thou foundest not any to do so ! Would that I had cheered 
 thee when thou foundest not a cheerer ! Then she poured fortia tears, and recited 
 these verses : 
 
 I weep for a stranger who died in solitude, with no friend unto whom to complain of his misery. 
 After glory, and union with those who loved him, he became lone and desolate, seeing no one. 
 AVhat fortune concealeth a while will be manifest. Death never spareth any one among us. 
 O absent ! my Lord decreed thine absence ; and after nearness thou becamest remote from me ! 
 Though death makes me hopeless of meeting thee now, O my son, we shall meet on the day of 
 account. 
 
 And I said, O Prince of the Faithful, was he thy son ? He answered, Yes ; and before 
 I held this office he used to visit the learned men, and keep company with the just ; 
 and when I assumed this office he avoided me, and estranged himself from me. So I 
 said to his mother, This youth is devoted unto God (whose name be exalted !), and 
 probably adversities may befall him, and he may be afflicted with trials ; therefore give 
 to him this ruby, that he may find it in the time of his wanting it. Accordingly, she 
 gave it to him, conjuring him to retain it, and he complied with her desire and took it 
 from her. Then he left our worldly enjoyments to us, and absented himself from us, 
 and ceased not to remain absent from us until, pious and pure, he met God, to whom 
 be ascribed might and glory ! 
 
 And after this, the Khaleefeh said to me, Arise, and shew me his tomb. I therefore 
 went forth with him, and journeyed on until I shewed it to him ; whereupon he wept 
 and lamented until he fell down in a fit ; and when he recovered from his fit, he 
 begged forgiveness of God, and said, Verily to God we belong, and verily unto Him we 
 return ! And he invoked blessings on his son. After which, he asked me to become 
 his associate ; but I replied, O Prince of the Faithful, I have, in the case of thy son, the 
 most momentous of admonitions. 30 
 
 Anecdote of an Illiterate Schoolmaster. 31 
 
 It is related that a certain man among the collegians, 32 neither acquainted with 
 writing nor with reading, practised stratagems upon the people for the purpose of 
 obtaining his bread. And it occurred to his mind one day that he should open for 
 himsflf a school, and teach boys in it to read. So he collected writing-tablets and 
 written papers, and hung them up in a place, and he enlarged his turban, 33 and seated 
 
 30 The first of the next two anecdotes in my informed of several similar imitations, and of one 
 original (both of which I omit) is that of a school- which I know to be a fact. 
 
 master mentioned (on the authority of the " Kitab "* In the original, " mujawireen." This appella- 
 
 cl-'Onwan &c.") hi vol. i. p. 468. See a foot-note tion is given to persons who reside in or near a 
 
 (Xo. 20) in p. 294 of this volume. collegiate mosque, for the purpose of study, attend- 
 
 3 1 I have related an anecdote almost exactly ing lectures, &c. 
 
 similar to this, as descriptive of a late occurrence, :43 Most of the professors of religion and law 
 
 in my work on the Modern Egyptians (vol. i. eh. ii.). used to wear, and many do still, a very large and 
 
 It appears therefore that my informant's account formal turban : and a great turbau is generally 
 
 was not true as to time, or that the man alluded regarded by the vulgar as an indication of great 
 
 to by him was, in the main, an imitator. The learning. 
 latter is not improbable, as I have been credibly 
 
 ii. 3 z 
 
538 NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 himself at the door of the school. The people therefore, passing hy him, and looking 
 at his turban, and at the writing-tahlets and papers, imagined that lie was an excellent 
 fakeeh, 31 and brought to him their children. And he used to say to this one, Write ; 
 and to this, Read ; and thus the boys taught one another. But as he was sitting 
 one day at the door of the school as usual, lo, a woman approached from a distance, 
 with a letter in her hand ; whereupon he said within himself, Without doubt this 
 woman is coming to me, that I may read to her the letter that she holdeth ; and how 
 shall I manage with her, when I know not how to read writing ? He meditated upon 
 descending to flee from her ; but she came up to him before he had descended, and 
 said to him, Whither goest thou ? He answered her, I desire to perform the noon- 
 prayers, and to return. Noon, she replied, is yet distant : therefore read for me this 
 letter. And he took it from her, and turned it upside down, and began to look at it ; 
 and one moment he shook his turban, and another moment moved about his eyebrows, 
 and manifested rage. Now the husband of the woman was absent, and the letter was 
 sent to her from him. So when she saw the fakeeh in this state, she said within 
 herself, No doubt my husband is dead, and this fakeeh is ashamed to tell me that he is 
 dead. She therefore said to him, O my master, if he be dead, tell me. And he shook 
 his dead, and was silent. And the woman said to him, Shall I rend my clothes ? 
 Rend, he answered. Shall I slap my face ? she asked. He answered her, Slap. 
 
 So she took the letter from his hand, and returned to her abode ; and she and her 
 children began to weep ; whereupon some of her neighbours, hearing the weeping, 
 inquired respecting her state; and were answered, A letter hath come to her acquaint- 
 ing her with the death of her husband. But a man among them replied, Verily this 
 assertion is false ; for her husband sent me a letter yesterday informing me in it that 
 he was well, in prosperity and health, and that after ten days he will be with her. 
 And he arose immediately, and, coming to the woman, said to her, Where is the letter 
 that hath come to thee ? She therefore brought it to him, and he took it from her 
 and read it, and, lo, it contained these words : To proceed, I am well, in prosperity 
 and health, and after ten days I shall he with you ; and I have sent unto you a quilt 
 and a niekmarah. 85 So she took the letter, and returned witli it to the fakeeh, and 
 said to him, What induced thee to act as thou hast done with me ? And she acquainted 
 him with that which her neighbour had said, respecting the safety of her husband, 
 and his having sent to her a quilt and a mekmarah ; whereupon he replied, Thou hast 
 spoken truth ; but, O respectable woman, excuse me ; for I was at that time enraged, 
 troubled in mind, and, seeing the mekmarah wrapped up in the quilt, I imagined that 
 he had died, and that they had shrouded him. And the woman knew not the trick : 
 so she said to him, Thou art excused. And she took the letter from him, and departed. 
 
 The Rukh'. 3 " 
 
 A man of the people of Western Africa 3 '' had travelled in various regions, and 
 traversed the wastes and the seas, and destiny cast him upon an island, where he 
 remained a long time. Then he returned to his country, bringing with him the quill- 
 
 34 This appellation is now usually given only to 36 Or Rukhkh ; but an accent very well denotes 
 a person versed in religion and law; the term what the Arabs call "teshdeed," and should, I 
 '' fikee," which is a corruption of " fakeeh," being think, be always employed in a case of this kind, 
 commonly applied to a man who merely recites the to avoid the combination of four consonants with- 
 Kur-an &c. professionally, or who teaches chil- out a vowel following them. 
 
 dren. 7 Called by the Arabs " El-Maghrib." This 
 
 35 The term " mekmarah " is interpreted by my name is generally given to the districts of Northern 
 sheykh, but rather vaguely. I believe it to be a Africa west of Egypt. The inhabitants of those 
 belt or girdle containing a purse for money, com- parts are called " Maghrabees." 
 
 monly called " kamar " 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 539 
 
 part of a feather from the wing of a young rukh', which was in the egg, and had not 
 come forth from it into the world ; and that quill held as much as a goat's skin of 
 water. It is said that the length of the wing of the young rukh', at the time of its 
 coming forth from the egg, is a thousand fathoms ; and the people wondered at that 
 quill when they saw it. This man was named 'Abd-Er- Rahman El-Maghrabee ; and 
 he became commonly known by the surname of the Chinese, on account of his long 
 residence in China ; and he used to relate wonders. 38 
 
 Result of Restraint upon two Lovers. 
 
 El-Kasim the son of 'Adee hath related that a man of the tribe of the Benee- 
 Temeein said, I went forth to seek a stray beast, and, coming to the waters of the 
 tribe of Teiyi, I saw two parties of people, near unto each other, and among one of 
 them words were passing like as among the people of the other. And I looked 
 attentively, and saw among one of the parties a young man whom disease had 
 emaciated, so that he was like a worn-out, dried-up water-skin; and while I was 
 looking at him, he recited these verses : 
 
 Wherefore doth the beauteous damsel not return? Is it from niggardness hi her, or aversion ? 
 I fell sick, and each member of my family visited me. Then wherefore wast thou not seen among 1 
 
 them ? 
 
 Hadst thou been sick, I had come unto thee, and threats would not have prevented my doing so. 
 1 missed thee amen.? them, and became desolate. Grievous was thy loss, O my heart's abode ! 
 
 And a damsel of the other party heard his words, and hastened towards him. Her 
 family followed her; but she encountered them with blows; and the young man, 
 perceiving her, sprang towards her, while the people of his party quickly followed him. 
 He however dragged himself from them, and she in like manner dragged herself from 
 her party until she liberated herself, and each of them ran to the other till they met 
 between the two parties, and embraced each other : then they fell down upon the 
 ground, dead. Upon this, an old man came forth from one of the adjacent tents, and, 
 standing over them, exclaimed, Verily to God we belong, and verily unto Him we 
 return ! and wept violently ; after which he said, May God (whose name be exalted !) 
 have mercy on you both ! 13y Allah, if ye were not united in your lives, I will 
 assuredly unite you after death ! Then he gave orders to prepare them for burial ; 
 and they were washed, and shrouded in the same grave-clothes ; one grave was dug for 
 them, and the people prayed over them, and buried them in that grave ; and there was 
 not a male nor a female among the two parties that 1 did not see weeping for them, 
 and slapping [the face]. So I inquired of the old man respecting them ; and he 
 answered me, This was my daughter, and this was the son of my brother. Their love 
 hath brought them to the issue which thou beheldest. I said to him, May God give 
 thee reparation ! Didst thou not marry them to each other? He answered, I feared 
 reproach and disgrace, and now I have fallen into both. This is one of the wonders in 
 the histories of lovers. 
 
 38 One of his wonderful stories, related in the which I omit. One of these (an adventure of 
 
 original, I here omit, that I may not anticipate Is-hak the son of Ibraheem) 1 should translate 
 
 incidents in the voyages of Es-Sindibad; in my were it not nearly the same as that of Mukharik, 
 
 notes on which, I shall have occasion to revert to in vol. 1. p. 202 ; and similar also to tiiat of 
 
 it. (See Notes 22 and 62 to Chapter xx.) The Ibrahccin the sou of Kl-Mahdee, in the present 
 
 above anecdote is followed in the original by four volume, \>. -10 J. 
 
540 NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 Anecdote of a Distracted Lover. 
 
 Abu-1-' Abbas El-Mubarrad M saith, I repaired to El-Bereed, 40 with a party of men, 
 on some business, and, passing by the Convent of Heraclius, 41 we alighted in its shade ; 
 and there came to us a man who said to us, There are in the convent some madmen, 
 among whom is one that uttereth wisdom ; and if ye saw him, ye would wonder at his 
 words. So we all arose and entered the convent, and we saw a man sitting in a 
 private chamber, upon a skin, with his head uncovered, and his eye fixed upwarda 
 towards the wall. We saluted him, and he returned our salutation without looking at 
 us; and a man said, Recite to him some poetry ; for when he heareth poetry, he will 
 speak. I therefore recited these two verses : 
 
 them best of all men to whom Eve 42 hath given birth! hut for thee, the world were not 
 
 beautiful nor pleasant. 
 
 The man whom God sheweth thy form 4i hath obtained immortality, and will grow neither 
 decrepit nor hoary. 
 
 And when he heard me say this, he turned towards us, and recited thus : 
 
 God knoweth that I am in affliction. I cannot make manifest the pain that I feel. 
 Two souls have I : one place containeth one soul ; and another place, the other. 
 
 1 imagine that my absent soul is like my present, and that she experienceth what I do. 
 
 Then he asked, Have I said well or ill ? We answered him, Thou hast not said ill ; 
 but well and admirably. And he stretched forth his hand to a stone that was by him, 
 and took it. So we imagined that he would smite us with it, and we fled from him. 
 But he began to beat with it his own bosom, with violent blows, and said, Foar ye not. 
 Draw near to me, and hear from me something : receive it from me. We therefore 
 approached him ; and he recited these verses : 
 
 When they made their white camels ktieel down, near daybreak, they mounted, and the camel 
 
 departed with the beloved. 
 My eye, through the interstice of the prison, beheld them, and I said, in my anguish, with tears 
 
 overflowing, 
 
 camel-driver turn, that I may bid her farewell; for in parting, and in bidding her farewell, I 
 
 shall die. 
 
 1 am faithful to the vow of love, and have not broken it. Would that I knew how she hath ** 
 
 acted with regard to it ! 
 
 He then looked towards me, and said, Hast thou any knowledge of what the beloved 
 hath done ? I answered, Yes : she hath died. May God (whose name be exalted !) 
 have mercy on her ! And upon this, his countenance changed, and he sprang upon his 
 feet, and said, How knewest thou her death ? I answered, Had she been alive, she 
 had not left thee thus. And he replied, Thou hast spoken truth, by Allah : but I also 
 love not life after the loss of her. Then the muscles of his side quivered, and he fell 
 upon his face ; whereat we hastened to him, and moved him, and found him dead. 
 The mercy of God ("whose name be exalted 1} be on him ! And we wondered at this, 
 and grieved for him violently ; and we prepared his body for the grave, and buried 
 him. And when I returned to Baghdad, and went in to El-Mutawekkil, lie saw the 
 traoes of tears upon my face ; whereupon he said, What is this ? So I related to him 
 the storv; and it distressed him, and he said, What induced thee to act so ? By Allah, 
 if I knew that thou mourn edst not for him, I should reprove thee for it. And lie 
 mourned for him all the rest of the day. 
 
 S9 A famous grammarian and rhetorician. He * 2 In Arabic, " Howwa. ' 
 
 died at the age of 80, in the year of the Flight ** For " araka " and " sooretahu " in the Cairo 
 
 286, or 285. El-Muzhir, MS. in my possession. edition, I read "anlhu" and "sooretaka" as in 
 
 *" Name of a place. the Breslau edition, vol. viii. p. 271. 
 
 41 Called by-the Arabs " Hirakl." 44 Literally, " they have." 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 541 
 
 The Converted Prior. 
 
 Aboo-Bekr the son of Mohammad El-Ambaree saith, I went forth from El-Ainbar, 45 
 on one of my journeys, to 'Ammooriyeh, 46 in the country of the Greeks, 47 and alighted 
 on the way, at the Convent of the Lights, in a village near 'Ammooriyeh, whereupon 
 there came forth to me the chief of the convent, the Prior, whose name was 'Abd-El- 
 Meseeh ; 48 and he conducted me into the convent. I found in it forty monks ; and 
 they honoured me that night with a hospitable entertainment. Then on the morrow 
 I departed from them, after I had seen, of their exceeding diligence in their exercises, 
 and of their devotion, what I had not seen exhibited by others, and I returned to El- 
 Ambar. And in the following year 1 performed the pilgrimage to Mekkeh ; and 
 while I was compassing the House, 49 lo I beheld 'Abd-El-Meseeh the monk compassing 
 also, and with him five persons of his companions, the monks. Therefore when I was 
 sure that I knew him, I advanced to him, and said to him, Art thou 'Abd-El-Meseeh 
 the monk ? He answered, Rather I am 'Abd-Allah the suppliant. So I began to kiss 
 his hoary hairs, and to weep ; and, taking him by the hand, I turned to a side of the 
 Temple, and said to him, Acquaint me with the cause of thy conversion to El-Islam. 
 And he replied, It was one ot the most wonderful of wonderful events, and it was 
 this. 
 
 A party of Muslim devotees passed by the village in which is our convent, and sent 
 a young mau to buy for them food, and he beheld in the market a Christian damsel 
 selling bread ; and she was of the most beautiful of women in form. On beholding her 
 he was fascinated by her and fell down upon his face in a fit, and when he recovered, 
 he returned to his companions, and informed them of that which had befallen him, and 
 said to them, Depart ye to your business ; for I go not with you. They reproved him 
 and admonished him ; but he paid no regard to them ; so they departed from him ; 
 and he entered the village, and seated himself at the door of the shop of that woman. 
 She therefore asked him what he wanted, and he informed her that he was enamoured 
 of her ; whereupon she turned from him. He remained in his place three days 
 without tasting food ; keeping his eye fixed upon her face, and when she saw that he 
 would not depart from her, she went to her family, and told them of him ; and they 
 set upon him the boys, who pelted him with stones until they fractured his ribs and 
 broke his head ; notwithstanding which, he would not depart. The people of the 
 village, therefore, resolved to kill him ; but a man of them came to me, and acquainted 
 me with his case : upon which I went forth to him, and beheld him laid prostrate; and 
 I wiped the blood from his face, and conveyed him to the convent, where I applied 
 remedies to his wounds, and he remained with me fourteen days. As soon, however, 
 as he was able to walk he went forth from the convent to the door of the damsel's 
 shop, and sat again gazing at her. And when she saw him, she rose to him, and said 
 to him, By Allah, I am moved with compassion for thee. Wilt thou then adopt my 
 religion, that I may marry thee ? But he answered. God preserve me from abandon- 
 ing the religion of the Unity, and adopting the religion of Polytheism ! Then depart 
 from me, said the damsel. My heart, he replied, will not consent to my doing so. 
 And she turned her face from him. And the boys seeing him again, came to him, and 
 pelted him as before with stones, and he fell upon his face, saying, Verily my helper is 
 God, who sent down the Book, 50 and He taketh charge of the just ! I therefore went 
 forth from the convent, and drove from him the boys, and lifting up his head from the 
 
 A city on the Euphrates. 49 The Kaabeh, which the pilgrims compass 
 
 46 The ancient Amorium, in Phrypia. seven times. 
 
 Kr-Room. *> The Kur-tfn. 
 
 +8 " The Servant of the Messiah." 
 
ground, I heard him say, O my Lord, unite me with her in Paradise ! I conveyed him 
 to the convent ; but he died before I had arrived there with him ; and I took him forth 
 from the village, dug a grave for him, and buried him. 
 
 And in the following night, when half of it was spent, that woman shrieked out as 
 she lay in her bed; whereupon the people of the village came together to her, asking 
 her what had happened to her ; and she answered, While I was asleep, this Muslim 
 came in to me, and, taking me by my hand, went away with me to Paradise. But 
 when he arrived with me at its gate, its Guardian prevented my entering it, saying, It 
 is denied unto the infidels. So I made profession of El-Islam to him, and entered with 
 him ; and I beheld in it pavilions and trees such as I cannot describe to you. Then 
 lie took me to a pavilion of jewels, and said to me, Verily this pavilion is for me and 
 thee, I will not enter it but with thee ; and after five nights thou wilt be with me in 
 it, if it be the will of God, whose name be exalted ! And thereupon he stretched forth 
 his hand to a tree at the door of that pavilion, and plucked from it two apples, which 
 he gave to me, saying, Eat this, and conceal the other, that the monks may see it. I 
 therefore ate one ; and I have tasted nothing more sweet than it. He then took me 
 by my hand, and went forth with me until he conducted me to my house ; and when 
 I awoke, I found the taste of the apple in my mouth, and the other apple with me. 
 Having said this, she produced the apple, and it shone in the darkness of night as 
 though it were a glistening star. So they brought the woman to the convent, and the 
 apple with her; and she related to us the vision, and produced to us the apple. We 
 had seen nothing like it among all the fruits of the world ; and I took a knife, and 
 divided it in pieces according to the number of my companions ; and we had not tasted 
 any thing more delicious than its flavour, nor smelt any thing more sweet than its 
 odour. But we said, Perhaps this was a devil who presented himself to her to seduce 
 her from her religion. And her family took her and departed. And she abstained 
 from eating and drinking : and when the fifth night arrived, she rose from her bod, 
 went forth from her house, and repaired to the grave of that Muslim ; and she threw 
 herself upon it, and died ; her family not knowing what she had done. 
 
 Then, in the morning, there came to the village two Muslim sheykhs, attired in 
 apparel of hair-cloth, and accompanied by two women in the like garb ; and they said, 
 O people of the village, ye have among you a Weleeyeh 51 of God; she hath died a 
 Muslimeh, and we will take charge of her in preference to you. So the people of the 
 
 M A female saint. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 543 
 
 village sought that woman, and they found her upon the grave, dead. But they said, 
 Tins \viis our friend: she died in our religion, and we will take charge of her. The 
 two sheykhs said, Nay: she died a Muslimeh, and we will take charge of her. And 
 the altercation and dispute between them became violent. Therefore one of the two 
 sheykhs said, The sign of her having embraced El-Islam shall be this ; the forty monks 
 of the convent shall come together, to drag her from the grave ; and if they be able to 
 lift her from the ground, she died a Christian ; but if they cannot do so, one of us shall 
 advance and drag her ; and if she come with him, she died a Muslimeh. And to this 
 the people of the village consented. The forty monks assembled, and encouraged one 
 another, and came to her to lift her ; but they could not do so ; and we tied to her 
 waist a great rope, and attempted to drag her ; but the rope broke, and she moved not. 
 The people of the village also advanced and did the like : yet she moved not from her 
 place. So when we were unable to lift her by any means that we adopted, we said to 
 one of the two sheyks, Advance thou, and lift her. Accordingly one of them 
 advanced to her, and wrapped her in his cloak, and saying, In the name of God, the 
 Compassionate, the Merciful, and through the religion of the Apostle of God, may 
 God favour and preserve him! he carried her in his bosom. The Muslims conveyed 
 her to a cavern there, and put her in it ; and the two women came, and washed her 
 and shrouded her. Then the two sheykhs carried her, and prayed over her, and buried 
 her by the side of his grave, and departed ; we having witnessed all this. 
 
 And when some of us were in private with others of our associates, we said, 
 Verily the truth is most deserving of being followed, and the truth hath become 
 manifest to us by ocular witness, and we can have no proof of the truth of El-Islam 
 more manifest to us than what we have beheld with our eyes. Then I embraced El- 
 Islaui, and so also did all the monks of the convent, and the people of the village. 
 After this, we sent to the people of El-Jezeereh, 52 supplicating for a professor of 
 religion and law, to teach us the ordinances of El-Islam, and the precepts of the 
 religion ; and a professor, a just man, came to us, and taught us the rites of divine 
 worship, and the precepts of El-Islam ; so that we are now enjoying abundant happi- 
 ness; and to God be praise and thanks ! 
 
 Aboo-'Eesa and Kurrat-el-'Eyn. 
 
 'Amr the son of Mes'adah hath related, that Aboo-'Eesa the son of Er-Rasheed and 
 brother of El-Ma-moon was enamoured of Kurrat-el-'Eyn, 53 the slave-girl of 'Alee the 
 son of Hisham, and she also was enamoured of him ; but Aboo-'Eesa concealed his love, 
 find revealed it not, nor complained of it to any one, nor acquainted any one with his 
 secret. Thus he did from his magnanimity and generosity. He endeavoured, how- 
 ever, to purchase her of her lord by every expedient. But he could not attain his 
 object ; and when his patience failed him, and his transport of love became violent, 
 and he found no means of obtaining her, he went in to El-Ma-moon on a festival-day, 
 after the departure of the people from him, and said, O Prince of the Faithful, if thou 
 wouldst try thy heart this day and pay unexpected visits, thou wouldst distinguish the 
 people of generosity from others, and wouldst know the place of each of them, and the 
 quality of his mind. Aboo-'Eesa desired, by these words, to get an opportunity of 
 sitting with Kurrat-el-'Eyn in the house of her lord. And El-Ma-moon replied, 
 Verilv this advice is right. He gave orders to prepare a bark which was named the 
 Flyer: 54 so they brought it forward to him, and he embarked in it, together with a 
 party of his chief officers ; and the first pavilion that he entered was that of Homeyd 
 
 ' 2 Mesopotamia. M " Et-Teijiir." Perhaps this is put for the 
 
 53 " The Delight of the Eye." feminine, " teiyarah," the name of a kind of swift 
 
 vessel. 
 
544 NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 Et-Taweel, of Toos. They went in to him in the pavilion when he expected them not, 
 and found him sitting upon a mat, with the singers before him, having lutes and flutes 
 and other instruments of music in their hands ; and after El-Ma- moon had sat a while, 
 there were hrought to him dishes of the flesh of beasts, without any of -the flesh of 
 birds ; and El-Ma-moon paid no regard to any of those viands. So Aboo-'Eesa said, 
 O Prince of the Faithful, we entered this place unexpected, and its owner knew not 
 of thine approach. Arise then and go with us to a place prepared for thee and suited 
 to thee. 
 
 The Kbaleefeh accordingly arose, with his chief officers and his brother Aboo-'Eesa, 
 and they repaired to the house of 'Alee the son of Hishain. And when he knew of 
 their coming, he received them in the most honourable manner, kissing the ground 
 before the Khaleefeh. Then he conducted them into the pavilion, and opened a 
 chamber, such as none had seen surpassed in beauty. Its floor and columns and walls 
 were of varieties of marbles, it was decorated with various kinds of Greek paintings, 55 
 and its floor was spread with mats of Es-Sind, 56 and furniture of El-Basrah, made to 
 suit the length and breadth of the chamber. El-Ma-moon sat a while contemplating 
 the apartment and the roof and the walls ; after which he said, Give us some food. 
 And there were brought to him immediately nearly a hundred dishes of fowls, besides 
 other birds, and thereeds 57 and fries and cold things ; and when he had eaten, he said, 
 Give us something to drink, 'Alee. And there was brought to him aromatic wine, 
 prepared with fruits and fragrant spices, in vessels of gold and silver and crystal ; and 
 those who brought in that wine were pages like moons, attired in garments of stuff of 
 Alexandria interwoven with gold, and before their bosoms were bottles of crystal 
 containing rose-water infused with musk El-Ma-moon wondered exceedingly at that 
 which he beheld, and said, O Abu-1-Hasan. 58 Whereupon he sprang to the carpet and 
 kissed it, and then, standing before the Khaleefeh, replied, At thy service, O Prince of 
 the Faithful. And the Khaleefeh said, Let us hear some mirth-exciting songs. His 
 host replied, I hear and obey, O Prince of the Faithful. Then he said to one of his 
 servants, Bring the singing slave-girls. So the eunuch replied that he' heard and 
 obeyed ; and, after he had been absent a moment, returned with ten eunuchs bringing 
 ten chairs of gold. And when they had placed the chairs, there came ten maids like 
 shining full moons and flowery gardens, attired in black brocade, and with crowns of 
 gold upon their heads ; and they walked forward until they seated themselves upon 
 the chairs, when they sang varieties of melodies. Then those slave-girls departed, 
 and ten others came, and sang ; and after these, came ten others ; and again, after 
 them, ten others. 
 
 El-Ma-moon then said, Bring forward the boat. And he was about to embark and 
 go. But 'Alee the son of Hisham arose and said, O Prince of the Faithful, I have a 
 slave-girl whom I purchased for ten thousand pieces of gold, and who hath captivated 
 my whole heart, and I desire to shew her to the Prince of the Faithful. If she please 
 him, and he 'approve of her, she shall be his ; and if not, let him hear from her 
 something. So the Khaleefeh said, Bring her unto me. And there came forth a 
 damsel like a twig of the Oriental willow, with fascinating eyes, and eyebrows like two 
 bows, and upon her head was a crown of red gold set with large pearls and with jewels, 
 beneath which was a bandage whereon was worked with chrysolites this verse : 
 
 A Jinneeyeh, and she hath Jinn who teach her to smite hearts by means of a stringless bow. 
 
 This damsel walked forward like a fugitive gazelle ; and she would have fascinated a 
 devotee. She continued to advance till she seated herself upon a chair ; and when El- 
 
 55 Or carvings. M A surname, I suppose, of 'Alee the son of 
 
 56 Western India. Hisham. 
 
 57 Crumbled or sliced bread, with broth, Ac. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 545 
 
 Ma-moon beheld her, he wondered at her beauty and loveliness ; and Aboo-'Eesa was 
 pained in heart ; his complexion became sallow, and his whole state changed. El-Ma- 
 moon therefore said to him, What is the matter with thee, O Aboo-'Eesa, that tin- 
 state hath changed ? He answered, O Prince of the Faithful, it is by reason of a 
 malady that cometh upon me sometimes. And the Khaleefeh said to him, Hast thou 
 known this slave-girl before the present day ? Yes, O Prince of the Faithful, he 
 answered. And can the moon (he added) be hidden ? Then El-Ma-moon said to her, 
 What is thy name, O damsel ? She answered, My name is Kurrat-el-'Eyn, O Prince 
 of the Faithful. And he said to her, Sing to us, O Kurrat-el-'Eyn. So she sang ; and 
 the Khaleefeh said to her, Divinely art thou gifted ! By whom are these verses ? 
 She answered, By Deabil El-Khuza'ee, and the air is by Zurzoor Es-Sagheer. And 
 Aboo-'Eesa looked at her, and weeping choked him, so that the company wondered 
 at him. 
 
 Then the damsel looked towards El-Ma-moon, and said to him, Prince of the 
 Faithful, wilt thou give me permission to change the words of my song ? He answered, 
 Sing what thou wilt. And, with exciting modulations, she sang these verses : 
 
 If thou please one and he also please thee publicly, be more careful of preserving thy love in 
 secret ; 
 
 And reject the assertions of the slanderers ; for seldom do they wish for aught but the estrange- 
 ment of the lover. 
 
 They have averred that whenever the lover approacheth, he is wearied ; and that absence is the 
 remedy for passion. 
 
 We have tried both remedies, and not been cured ; but nearness of abode is better than distance : 
 
 Yet nearness of abode is of no advantage when the person thou lovest doth not love thee. 
 
 And when she had finished her song, Aboo-'Eesa said, O Prince of the Faithful, if we 
 be disgraced, 59 we shall be at ease. Wilt thou give me permission to reply to her ? 
 The Khaleefeh answered him, Yes : say to her what thou wilt. And he restrained his 
 tears, and sang these two verses: 
 
 T was silent, and said not that I was a lover ; but concealed my affection from my own heart. 
 If my love, notwithstanding, appear in my eye, 'tis because it is near to the shining moon. 
 
 Then again the damsel took the lute and sang ; and again Aboo-'Eesa sang in reply to 
 her ; and when he had ended, 'Alee the son of Hisham sprang to his feet and kissed 
 them, saying to him, O my master, God hath answered thy prayer, and heard thy 
 secret, and consented to thy taking her with all her appurtenances of rarities and 
 beautiful things, if the Prince of the Faithful have no desire for her. And El-Ma-moon 
 said, If we had a desire for her, we had given Aboo-'Eesa the preference to ourself, 
 and aided him in the attainment of his desire. Then El-Ma-moon arose, and em- 
 barked in the boat. Aboo-'Eesa remained behind to take Kurrat-el-'Eyn, and he took 
 her and departed with her to his abode, with a dilated heart. Consider then the 
 generosity of 'Alee the son of Hisham. 
 
 liy revealing our love. 
 
 II. 4 A 
 

 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE FOUR 
 HUNDRED AND T\VEN'TT-FOURTH NIGHT. 
 AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE FOUR 
 HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOURTH. 
 
 THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 
 
 THERE was, in the city of Cairo, 
 a merchant who had abundance of 
 wealth and ready money, and jewels 
 and minerals, and possessions in- 
 calculable, and his name was Hasan 
 the Jeweller of Baghdad. God had 
 also blessed him with a son, of hand- 
 some countenance, of just stature, rosy- 
 cheeked, endowed with elegance and 
 perfection, and beauty and loveliness ; 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 547 
 
 and he named him 'Alee of Cairo. He had taught him the Kur-an 
 and science, and eloquence and polite literature ; and he became excel- 
 lent in all the sciences, and was employed by his father in commerce. 
 Now a disease attacked his father, and so increased that he felt 
 sure of death. So he summoned his son 'Alee of Cairo, and said to 
 him, my son, verily this world is transitory, and the world to come 
 is everlasting ; every soul must taste of death, and now, O my son, 
 my decease hath drawn near, and I desire to give thee a charge. If 
 thou act according to it, thou wilt not cease to be safe and prosperous 
 until thou shalt meet God (whose name be exalted !) ; but if thou act 
 not according to it, excessive trouble will befall thee, and thou wilt 
 repent of thy neglecting my charge. O my father, said 'Alee, how 
 should I refuse to attend, or to act according to thy charge, when 
 obedience to thee is an obligation divinely imposed upon me, and the 
 attending to thy words is absolutely incumbent upon me ? And his 
 father rejoined, my son, I leave to thee dwelling-places and man- 
 sions and goods and wealth incalculable ; so that if thou expend of 
 that wealth every day five hundred pieces of gold, nought of it will be 
 missed by thee. But, my son, be mindful of holding the fear of 
 God, and obeying the ordinances which He hath appointed thee, and 
 following the precepts of El-Mustafa 1 (may God bless and save 
 him !) in the things that he is related to have commanded and for- 
 bidden in his traditional laws. Be assiduous in the performance of 
 acts of beneficence, and the dispensing of kindness, and associating 
 with the good and just and learned; and mind that thou care for the 
 poor and the needy, and shun avarice and niggardness, and the com- 
 pany of the wicked, and those who are objects of suspicion. Regard 
 thy servants and thy family with benignity, and thy wife also; for she 
 is of the daughters of the great, and she is now likely to bear thee 
 issue : perhaps God will bless thee with virtuous offspring by her. 
 He ceased not to admonish him, and to weep, and say to him, my 
 son, I beg of God, the Bountiful, the Lord of the magnificent throne, 
 that He save thee from every difficulty that may befall thee, and grant 
 thee his ready relief. And his sou wept violently, and said, my 
 father, by Allah I am dissolved by these words : it seemeth that thou 
 utterest the language of him who biddeth farewell. His father replied, 
 Yes, O my son ; I know my state ; and forget not thou my charge. 
 Then the man began to repeat the two professions of the faith, and to 
 recite [portions of the Kur-an], until the known period arrived ; when 
 he said to his son, Draw near to me, my son. So he drew near to 
 
518 THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 
 
 him, and his father kissed him, and uttered a groan, whereupon his 
 soul quitted his body, and he was admitted to the mercy of God, 
 whose name be exalted ! 
 
 His son was affected with extreme grief, a clamour arose in his 
 house, and the companions of his father came together to him. He 
 betook himself to preparing his corpse for burial, and expediting 2 the 
 funeral, and conveyed forth the body in a magnificent manner. They 
 bore the corpse to the place of prayer, and prayed over it ; after which 
 they departed with it to the burial-ground, and buried it, and recited 
 over it what was easy of the sublime Kur-an. Then they returned to 
 the house, and consoled the son of the deceased, and each of them 
 went his way ; and the son of the deceased performed for him the 
 ceremonies of the Fridays, and recitations of the whole of the Kur-an, 
 to the end of forty days. 3 He remained in the house, and went not 
 forth save to the place of prayer ; and Friday after Friday he visited 
 his father's tomb. 
 
 He ceased not to persevere in his prayer, and his recitation [of the 
 Kur-an], and his devotion, for a length of time, until his fellows, of 
 the sons of the merchants, came in to him and saluted him, and said 
 to him, How long shall continue this mourning of thine, and the 
 relinquishment of thine occupation and thy traffic, and of thine 
 assembling with thy companions ? This conduct will weary thee, and 
 excessive injury will result from it unto thy body. And when they 
 came in to him, Iblees the accursed was with them, suggesting evil to 
 them. So they proceeded to recommend to him that he should go 
 . forth with them to the market, and Iblees seduced him to comply with 
 their request until he consented to go forth with them from the house, 
 in order to the accomplishment of an event which God (whose perfec- 
 tion be extolled, and whose name be exalted !) would bring to pass. 
 They then said to him, Mount thy mule, and repair with us to such a 
 garden, that we may amuse ourselves there, and that thy grief and 
 trouble of mind may be dispelled. 
 
 He therefore mounted his mule, took his slave with him, and 
 accompanied them to the garden which they desired to visit. And 
 when they came into the garden, one of them went and prepared for 
 them the dinner, and caused it to be brought thither. So they ate, 
 and enjoyed themselves, and sat conversing until the close of the day, 
 when they mounted and departed, each of them returning to his abode. 
 And they passed the night ; and when the morning arrived, they came 
 to him again, and said to him, Arise, and accompany us. Whither ? 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 549. 
 
 he asked. They answered, To such a garden ; for it is better than that 
 to which we went first, and more pleasant. And he mounted and went 
 with them to that garden ; and when they had arrived there, one of 
 them went and made ready their dinner, and brought it to the garden, 
 together with intoxicating wine; and they ate. Then they brought 
 the wine ; and he said to them, What is this ? They answered him, 
 This is what dispelleth grief, and manifesteth happiness. And they 
 ceased not to recommend it to him until they overcame him, and he 
 drank with them ; and they continued conversing and drinking till 
 the close of the day, when they returned to their abodes. But 'Alee 
 of Cairo was affected with a giddiness from drinking, and he went to 
 his wife in this state : so she said to him, How is it that thou art 
 changed ? He answered, We were to-day making merry and enjoying 
 ourselves ; but one of our companions brought us some liquor, which 
 my companions drank, and I with them, and this giddiness came upon 
 me. His wife therefore said to him, O my master, hast thou forgotten 
 the charge of thy father, and done that which he forbade thee to do, 
 in associating with people who are objects of suspicion? But he 
 answered her, Verily these are of the sons of the merchants, and are 
 not persons who are objects of suspicion : they are only people of 
 pleasure and enjoyment. 
 
 He continued incessantly every day with his companions in this 
 manner. They went from place to place, eating and drinking, until 
 they said to him, Our turns are ended, and the turn is come to thee. 
 And he replied, A friendly and free and an ample welcome to you ! 
 And when he arose in the morning, he made ready all that the case 
 required, of food and drink, much more than they had done, and took 
 with him the cooks and the farrashes and the coffee-makers/ and they 
 repaired to Er-R6dah and the Nilometer. 5 There they remained a 
 whole month, eating and drinking, and hearing music, and enjoying 
 themselves ; and when the month had passed, 'Alee saw that he had 
 expended a sum of money of large amount ; but Iblees the accursed 
 deceived him, and said to him, If thou shouldst expend every day as 
 much as thou hast already, thy wealth would not fail thee. So he 
 cared not for expending his wealth. He continued to do thus for the 
 space of three years ; his wife admonishing him, and reminding him 
 of the charge of his father; but he attended not to her words until all 
 the ready money that he had was exhausted. Then he began to take 
 of the jewels, and to sell them, and expend their prices, till he ex- 
 hausted them also. After this, he betook himself to selling the houses 
 
and other immoveable possessions until none of them remained. And 
 when they were gone, he proceeded to sell the fields and gardens, one 
 after another, till all of them were gone, and there remained nothing 
 in his possession but the house in which he resided. He therefore 
 wrenched out its marbles and its wood- work, and expended of the 
 money which they produced, till he made an end of them all ; and he 
 considered in his mind, and found that he had nothing to expend : so 
 he sold the house, and expended its price. Then, after that, the 
 person who had bought of him the house came and said to him, See 
 for thyself a lodging ; for I am in want of my house. 
 
 He now considered in his mind, and found that he had nothing 
 requiring a house except his wife, who had borne him a son and a 
 daughter ; and there remained not with him any servants ; but there 
 were only himself and his family. So he took for himself an apart- 
 ment in one of the Hoshes, 6 and there he resided, after grandeur and 
 delicacy, and abundance of servants and wealth ; and he became 
 destitute of one day's food. His wife therefore said to him, Of this I 
 used to caution thee, saying to thee, Keep the charge of thy father. 
 But tliou wouldst not attend to my words ; and there is no strength 
 nor power but in God, the High, the Great! Whence shall the little 
 children obtain food ? Arise then, and go round to thy companions, 
 the sons of the merchants. Perhaps they will give thee something 
 wherewith we may sustain ourselves this day. Accordingly he arose 
 and repaired to his companions, one after another ; but every one of 
 them unto whom he went hid his face from him, and made him to 
 
THE STOKY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 551 
 
 hear painful words, such as he abhorred, and not one of them gave 
 him any thing. So he returned to his wife, and said to her, They 
 have not given me any thing. And upon this, she arose and went to 
 her neighbours, to demand of them something wherewith they might 
 sustain themselves that day. She repaired to a woman whom she 
 knew in the former days, and when she went in to her, and her friend 
 saw her state, she arose and received her kindly, weeping, and saying 
 to her, What hath befallen you ? She therefore related to her all that 
 her husband had done ; and her friend said to her, An ample and a 
 friendly and free welcome to thee ! Whatsoever thou requirest, de- 
 mand it of me, without compensation. And she replied, May God 
 requite thee well ! Then her friend gave her as much provision as 
 would suffice her and her family for a whole month ; and she took it, 
 and returned to her abode. And when her husband saw her, he wept, 
 and said to her, Whence obtainedst thou that ? She answered him, 
 From such a woman ; for when I informed her of that which hath 
 happened, she failed not in aught ; but said to me, All that thou 
 requirest, demand of me. And upon this, her husband said to her, 
 Since thou hast this, I will repair to a place that I desire to visit. 
 Perhaps God (whose name be exalted !) will dispel our trouble. 
 
 He took leave of her, and kissed his children, and went forth, not 
 knowing whither to go. He walked on without stopping until he 
 arrived at Boolak/ where he beheld a vessel about to depart, to Dim- 
 yiit ; 8 and a man who had been a companion of his father saw him ; 
 so he saluted him, and said to him, Whither desirest thou to go ? He 
 answered, I desire to go to Dimyat ; for I have companions respecting 
 whom I would inquire, and whom I would visit : then I will return. 
 And the man took him to his house, treated him honourably, made 
 
552 . THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 
 
 for him provisions for the voyage, and, having given him some pieces 
 of gold, embarked him in the vessel that was going to Dimyat. And 
 when they arrived at that place, he landed, but knew not whither to 
 go. While he was walking, however, a man of the merchants saw 
 him, and was moved with sympathy for him, and he took him with 
 him to his abode. He therefore remained with him some time ; after 
 which he said within himself, How long shall I thus reside in other 
 men's houses ? Then he went forth from the house of that merchant, 
 and beheld a vessel about to sail to Syria; and the man with whom 
 he was lodging prepared for him provisions for the voyage, and em- 
 barked him in that vessel, and it proceeded with its passengers until 
 they arrived at the coast of Syria. 'Alee of Cairo there landed, and 
 he journeyed until he entered Damascus ; and as he was walking in 
 its great thoroughfare-streets, a man of the benevolent saw him, and 
 took him to his abode, where he remained some time. And after that, 
 he went forth, and beheld a caravan about to journey to Baghdad ; 
 upon which it occurred to his mind that he should journey with it. 
 So he returned to the merchant in whose abode he was residing, took 
 leave of him, and went forth with the caravan ; and God (whose per- 
 fection be extolled, and whose name be exalted !) moved a man of 
 the merchants with sympathy for him : he therefore took him as his 
 guest, and 'Alee ate and drank with him until there remained between 
 them and Baghdad one day's journey. Then there carne upon the 
 caravan a party of robbers who were intercepters of the way, and they 
 took all that was with them, and only a few escaped. 
 
 Every person of the caravan went to seek for a place of refuge. 
 But as to 'Alee of Cairo, he repaired to Baghdad, and he arrived there 
 at sunset: he reached not, however, the gate of the city until he 
 beheld the gate-keepers about to close it. So he said to them, Let 
 me come in -to you. And they admitted him among them, and said 
 to him, Whence hast thou come, and whither dost thou go ? He 
 answered, I am a num of the city of Cairo, and I brought with me 
 merchandise and mules and loads, and slaves and young men, and I 
 came on before them to see for me a place in which to deposit my 
 merchandise ; but as I preceded them, mounted on my mule, there 
 met me a party of the intercepters of the way, who took my mule and 
 my things, and I escaped not from them till I was about to yield my 
 last breath. And they treated him with honour, and said to him, 
 Thou art welcome. Pass the night with us until the morning, and 
 then we will see for thce a place suitable to thce. And he searched 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 553 
 
 in his pocket, and found a piece of gold remaining of those which the 
 merchant at Booliik had given him : so he gave that piece of gold to 
 one of the gate-keepers, saying to him, Take this and change it, and 
 bring us something to eat. He therefore took it, and repaired to the 
 market, where he changed it, and he brought to 'Alee some bread and 
 cooked meat ; and he ate with then), and slept with them till the 
 morning. 
 
 Then one of the gate-keepers took him and conducted him to a 
 man of the merchants of Baghdad, to whom he related his story ; and 
 that man believed him, imagining that he was a merchant, and that 
 he had brought with him loads of goods. So he took him up into 
 his shop, treated him with honour, and sent to his abode, whence he 
 caused to be brought for him a magnificent suit of his own clothing ; 
 and he conducted him into the bath. I went with him, says 'Alee of 
 Cairo, into the bath, and when we came forth, he took me and con- 
 ducted me to his abode, where dinner was brought to us, and we ate, 
 and enjoyed ourselves. He then said to one of his slaves, Mes'ood, 
 take thy master, and show him the two houses that are in such a 
 place, and whichever of them pleaseth him, give him the key of it, 
 and come back. I therefore went with the slave until we came to a 
 by-street wherein were three houses adjacent to each other, new and 
 closed ; and he opened the first house, and I looked over it, and we 
 came forth, and went to the second, which he opened, and I looked 
 over it. And he said to me, Of which of the two shall I give thee 
 the key ? I said to him, And to whom belongeth this great house ? 
 He answered, To us. So I said to him, Open it, that we may look 
 over it. He replied, Thou hast no need of it. Why so ? I asked. 
 He answered, Because it is haunted, and no one lodgeth in it but in 
 the morning he is a corpse; and we open not its door to take forth the 
 dead from it ; but go up on the roof of one of the two other houses, 
 and thence take it up ; and cfti that account my master hatti aban- 
 doned it, and said, I will not henceforth give it to any one. But I 
 said to him, Open it to me, that I may look over it. And I said 
 within myself, This is what I desire. I will pass the night in it, and 
 in the morning be a corpse, and be relieved from this state in which 
 I now am. So he opened it, and I entered it, and saw it to be a 
 magnificent house, of which there existed not the like ; and I said to 
 the slave, I choose none but this house; therefore give me its key. 
 But he replied, I will not give thee the key till I consult my master. 
 -Then he went to his master, and said to him, The merchant of 
 ii. 4 n 
 
554 THE STORY OP 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 
 
 Cairo saith, I will not lodge but in the great house. He therefore 
 arose, and came to 'Alee of Cairo, and said to him, O my master, thou 
 hast no need of this house. 'Alee however replied, I will not lodge 
 in any but it, and I care not for these words. So the man said to 
 him, Write a voucher agreed upon between me and thee, that, if any 
 thing happen to thee, I am not implicated with thee. 'Alee replied, 
 So be it. And the merchant brought a Shahid 9 from the Kadee's 
 court, and wrote a voucher testifying against him, and, having taken 
 it into his keeping, gave him the key. He therefore took it, and 
 entered the house; and the merchant sent furniture to him with a 
 slave, who spread it for him upon the mastabah that was behind the 
 door, and returned. 
 
 After that, 'Alee of Cairo arose and went within, and he saw a 
 well in th.s court of the house, with a bucket over it : so he let it 
 down into the well, and filled it, and performed the ablution with its 
 contents, and recited his divinely-ordained prayers. Then he sat a 
 little ; and the slave came to him with the supper from the house of 
 his master, bringing for him also a lamp and a candle and candlestick, 
 and a basin and ewer, and a water-bottle ; and he left him, and re- 
 turned to his master's house. So 'Alee lighted the candle, and supped, 
 and enjoyed himself, and performed the prayers of nightfall; after 
 which he said within himself, Arise, go up-stairs, and take the bed, 
 and sleep there, rather than here. Accordingly he arose, and took 
 the bed, and carried it up-stairs ; and he beheld a magnificent saloon, 
 the ceiling of which was gilded, and its floor and its walls were cased 
 with coloured marbles. He spread his bed, and sat reciting some- 
 what of the sublime Kur-an ; and suddenly a person called to him 
 and said to him, 'Alee ! O son of Hasan ! shall I send down upon 
 thee the gold ? And where, said 'Alee, is the gold that thou wilt 
 send down ? And he had not finished saying so when he poured 
 down upon him gold as from a catapult ; and the gold ceased not to 
 pour down until it had filled the saloon. And when it was finished, 
 the person said, Liberate me, that I may go my way ; for my service 
 is finished. 
 
 Upon this, 'Alee of Cairo said to him, I conjure thee by Allah the 
 Great that thou inform me of the cause of [the descent of] this gold. 
 And he replied, This gold was preserved for thee by a talisman from 
 ancient times, and we used to come to every one who entered this 
 house, and say to him, O 'Alee ! O son of Hasan ! shall we send 
 down the gold ? And he would fear at our words, and cry out ; 
 
whereupon we would descend to him and break his neck, and depart. 
 But when thou earnest, and we called thee by thy name and the name 
 of thy father, and said to thee, Shall we send down the gold ? thou 
 saidst to us, And where is the gold ? so we knew that thou wast its 
 owner, and we sent it down. There remaineth also for thee a treasure 
 in the land of El- Yemen ; and if thou wilt journey and take it and 
 bring it hither, it will be better for thee. And I desire of thee that 
 thou liberate me, that I may go my way. But 'Alee said, By Allah 
 I will not liberate thee until thou shalt have brought hither to mo 
 that which is in the land of El-Yemen. He said, If I bring it to 
 thee, wilt thou liberate me, and wilt thou liberate the servant of that 
 treasure ? Yes, answered 'Alee. And he said to him, Swear to me. 
 So he swore to him. And he was about to go; but 'Alee of Cairo 
 said to him, I have yet one thing for thee to perform And what is 
 it ? he asked. 'Alee answered, I have a wife and children in Cairo, 
 
55G THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CA1HO. 
 
 in such a place ; and it is requis'te that thou bring them to me, easily, 
 without injury. And he replied, I will bring them to thee in a stately 
 procession, and in a litter, 10 and with servants and other attendants, 
 together with the* treasure that \ve will bring thee from the land of 
 El- Yemen, if it be the will of God, whose name be exalted ! Then he 
 obtained permission of him to be absent three days, after which period 
 he promised him that all that treasure should be in his possession; 
 and he departed. 
 
 And in the morning, 'Alee searched about the saloon for a place 
 in which to deposit the gold; and he saw a slab of marble at the edge 
 of the leewan of the saloon, in which was a turning-pin. So he turned 
 the pin, and the slab removed, and there appeared to him a door, 
 which he opened, and he entered, and beheld a large treasury, in which 
 were bags of linen, sewed. He therefore proceeded to take the bags 
 and to till them with the gold and put them into the treasury until 
 he had removed all the gold and put it into the treasury, when he 
 closed the door, and turned the pin ; whereupon the slab of marble 
 returned to its place. Then he arose and descended, and seated him- 
 self upon the mastabah that was behind the door. And while he was 
 sitting, a person knocked at his door; and he rose and opened it, and 
 saw that this person was the slave of the owner of the house; and 
 when the slave saw him there, he returned quickly to his master, to 
 give him the good tidings. And on his coming to his master, he said 
 to him, my master, verily the merchant who hath taken up his 
 lodging in the house that is haunted by the Jinn is well, in prosperity, 
 and he is sitting upon the mastabah that is behind the door. So his 
 master arose, full of joy, and repaired to that house, taking with him 
 the breakfast; and when he saw 'Alee of Cairo he embraced him, and 
 kissed him between his eyes, and said to him, What hath God done 
 unto thee ? He answered, Well ; and I slept not but up-stairs, in the 
 saloon that is cased with marble. And the merchant said to him, 
 Did any thing come to thee, or didst thou see aught ? No, answered 
 'Alee ; I only recited as much as was easy to me of the sublime Kur- 
 tin, and slept until the morning, when I rose, and performed the 
 ablution, and prayed, and descended and seated myself upon this 
 mastabah. And the merchant said, Praise be to God for thy safety ! 
 Then he arose and left him, and sent to him black slaves and mem- 
 looks, and female slaves, and furniture, and they swept the house, 
 above and below, and spread for him magnificent furniture; and there 
 remained with him three memlooks and three male black slaves and 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 557 
 
 four female slaves to serve him : the rest returned to the house of 
 their master. And when the merchants heard of him, they sent to 
 him presents of every precious thing, even of eatables and beverages 
 and clothes, and took him with them into the market, and said to 
 him, When will thy merchandise come ? He answered them, After 
 three days it will enter. 
 
 Then, when the three days had passed, the servant of the first 
 treasure, who poured down to him the gold from the house, came to 
 him and said to him, Arise, meet the treasure that I have brought 
 thee from El- Yemen, and thy hareem, with whom is a portion of the 
 treasure in the form of magnificent merchandise ; and all who are 
 with it, of mules and horses and camels, and servants and memlooks, 
 all of them are of the Jiinn. Now that servant had repaired to Cairo, 
 where he found that the wife of 'Alee, and his children, during this 
 period had become reduced to excessive nakedness and hunger; and 
 he conveyed them from their place in a litter to the exterior of Cairo, 
 and clad them in magnificent apparel, of the apparel that formed part 
 of the treasure of El- Yemen. And when he came to 'Alee, and in- 
 formed him of that news, he arose and repaired to the merchants, and 
 said to them, Arise, and go forth with us from the city to meet the 
 caravan with which is our merchandise, and honour us by taking with 
 you your hareems to meet our hareem. So they answered him, We 
 hear and obey. They sent and caused their hareems to be brought, 
 went forth all together, and alighted in one of the gardens of the city, 
 where they sat conversing. And while they were thus engaged, lo, a 
 dust rose iu the midst of the desert. They therefore arose to see 
 what was the cause of that dust ; and it dispersed, and discovered 
 mules and 'akkams and famishes and light-bearers, 11 who approached 
 singing and dancing until they drew near; when the chief of the 
 'akkarns advanced to 'Alee of Cairo, kissed his hand, and said to him, 
 O my master, we have been tardy in the way ; for we desired to enter 
 yesterday ; but we feared the intercepters of the way ; so we remained 
 four days at our station, until God (whose name be exalted !) dispelled 
 them from us. And the merchants arose and mounted their mules, 
 and proceeded with the caravan ; the hareems remaining behind with 
 the hareem of 'Alee of Cairo until they mounted with them ; and they 
 entered in magnificent procession. The merchants wondered at the 
 mules loaded with chests, and the women of the -merchants wondered 
 at the apparel of the wife of the merchant 'Alee, and at the apparel 
 of her children, saying, Verily the like of this apparel existeth not in 
 
the possession of the King of Bagh- 
 dfid or any other person of all the 
 Kings and great men and merchants. 
 They ceased not to advance in 
 their stately procession, the men 
 with the merchant 'Alee of Cairo, and the women with his hareem, 
 until they entered the house and alighted, and brought the mules 
 with their loads into the midst of the court. Then they put down 
 the loads, and stowed them in the magazines, and the hareems went up 
 with the hareem of 'Alee to the saloon, and they saw it to be like a 
 garden abounding with trees, spread with magnificent furniture. 
 They sat in joy and happiness, and remained sitting until noon, when 
 dinner was brought up to them, consisting of the best of viands and 
 sweetmeats ; and they ate, and drank excellent sherbet, and scented 
 themselves after it with rose-water and perfume. 12 Then they took 
 leave of him, and departed to their abodes, men and women. And 
 when the merchants had returned to their dwellings, they sent to him 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 
 
 559 
 
 presents according to their conditions. Their hareems also sent gifts 
 to his hareem, until there had been brought to them an abundance of 
 female slaves, and male black slaves, and memlooks, and of all kinds 
 of things, such as grains, and sugar, and other goods incalculable. 
 Aud as to the merchant of Baghdad, the owner of the house in which 
 'Alee was residing, he remained with him, and quitted him not ; and 
 he said to him, Let the slaves and the servants take the mules and 
 other beasts into one of the houses, for the sake of rest. But 'Alee 
 replied, They will set forth on their journey this night to such a place. 
 And he gave them permission to go out from the city, that when the 
 night should come they might set forth on their journey ; and they 
 scarcely believed his giving them permission to do so when they took 
 leave of him and departed to the exterior of the city, and soared 
 through the air to their abodes. 
 
 The merchant 'Alee sat with the 
 owner of the house in which he resided 
 until the expiration of a third of the 
 night, when they separated, and the 
 owner of the house repaired to his 
 abode. Then the merchant 'Alee went 
 up to his hareem, and saluted them, 
 and said to them, What happened 
 unto you after my departure, during 
 this period? So his wife informed 
 him of what they had suffered from 
 hunger and nakedness and fatigue ; 
 he said to her, Praise be to God 
 
560 THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 
 
 for safety ! And how came you ? O my master, she answered, I was 
 sleeping with my children last night, and suddenly one raised me 
 from the ground, together with my children, and we soared through 
 the air; but no injury befell us; and we ceased not to soar along 
 until we alighted upon the ground in a place like an encampment .of 
 Arabs, where we saw loaded mules, and a litter borne by two great 
 mules, surrounded by servants consisting of pages and men. So I 
 said to them, \Yho are ye, and what are these loads, arid in what place 
 are we ? And they answered, We are the servants of the merchant 
 'Alee of Cairo, the son of the merchant Hasan the Jeweller, and he 
 hath sent us to take you and to convey you to him in the city of 
 Baghdad. I said to them, Is the distance between us and Baghdad 
 long or short ? And they answered me, Short ; for between us and it 
 is no more than the space to be traversed during the darkness of night. 
 Then they placed us in the litter, and the morning came not before we 
 were with you, no injury having befallen us. And who, said 'Alee, 
 gave you this apparel ? She answered, The chief of the caravan 
 opened one of the chests that were upon the mules, took forth from it 
 these garments, and attired me in a suit, and each of thy children in a 
 suit ; after which he locked the chest from which he took forth the 
 dresses, and gave me its key, saying to me, Take care of it until thou 
 give it to thy husband : and here it is, carefully kept in my posses- 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 561 
 
 sion. Then she produced it to him ; and he said to her, Knowest 
 thou the chest ? She answered, Yes, I know it. So he arose and 
 descended with her to the magazines, and shewed her the chests ; and 
 she said to him, This is the chest from which he took forth the dresses. 
 He therefore took the key from her, and put it into the lock, and 
 opened the chest ; and he saw in it many dresses, together with the 
 keys of all the other chests : so he took them forth, and proceeded to 
 open the chests, one after another, and to arnuse himself with a sight 
 of their contents, consisting of treasured jewels and minerals, the like 
 of which existed not in the possession of any of the Kings. 
 
 He then locked the chests, took their keys, and went up with his 
 wife to the saloon, saying to her, This is of the bounty of God, whose 
 name be exalted ! And after this, he took her and led her to the 
 marble slab in which was the turning pin, and he turned it, and 
 opened the door of the treasury, and entering with her shewed her 
 the gold that he had deposited in it ; whereupon she said to him, 
 AVhence came to thee all this ? He answered her, It came to me 
 through the bounty of my Lord. And he related to her what had 
 happened to him from first to last ; on hearing which, she said to him, 
 O my master, all this is through the blessing attendant upon the 
 prayer of thy father, when he prayed for thee before his death, and 
 said, I beg God that He cast thee not into affliction without granting 
 thee speedy relief. So praise be to God (whose name be exalted !) for 
 his giving thee relief, and making amends to thee by bestowing on 
 thee more than hath been lost by thee ! I conjure thee then by Allah, 
 O my master, that thou return not to thy former ways of associating 
 with those who are objects of suspicion. Be mindful of preserving the 
 fear of God (whose name be exalted !) in pi'ivate and in public. She 
 continued to admonish him, and he replied, I accept thine admonition, 
 and beg God (whose name be exalted !) to remove far from us the 
 wicked, and to adapt us to the obedience of Him, and to the compli- 
 ance with the precepts of his Prophet; may God bless and save him ! 
 
 He lived with his wife and children a most comfortable life, and 
 he took for himself a shop in. the market of the merchants, placed in 
 it some of the jewels and precious minerals, and sat in it, attended by 
 his children and his memlooks, and became the greatest of the mer- 
 chants in the city of Baghdad. So the King of Baghdad heard of 
 him, and sent a messenger to him, desiring his presence ; and when 
 the messenger came to him, he said to him, Answer the summons of 
 the King ; for Ife desireth thee. And he replied, I hear and obey ; 
 ii. 4 c 
 
562 THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 
 
 and prepared a present for the King. He took four trays of red gold, 
 and filled them with jewels and minerals, such as existed not in the 
 possession of the Kings ; and he took the trays, and went up with 
 them to the King ; and when he went in to him, he kissed the ground 
 before him, and greeted him with a prayer for the continuance of his 
 glory and blessings, addressing him in the best manner he could. The 
 King said to him, merchant, thou hast cheered our country by thy 
 presence. And he replied, King of the age, the slave hath brought 
 thee a present, and hopeth that thou wilt in thy favour accept it. Then 
 he placed the four trays before him ; and the King uncovered them 
 and examined them, and saw that the contents were jewels such as he 
 possessed not, their value being equal to treasuries of wealth. He 
 therefore said to him, Thy present is accepted, O merchant ; and if it 
 be the will of God (whose name be exalted !), we will recompense thee 
 with the like of it. And 'Alee kissed the King's hands, and departed 
 from him. 
 
 Then the King summoned his grandees, and said to them, How 
 many of the Kings have demanded rny daughter in marriage? They 
 answered him, Many. And he said to them, Hath any one of them 
 presented me with the like of this present ? And they all answered, 
 No ; for there existeth not in the possession of any of them its like. 
 And the King said, I beg of God (whose name be exalted!) that I 
 may have the happiness of marrying my daughter to this merchant. 
 Then what say ye ? They answered him, The thing should be as thou 
 judgest. And he ordered the eunuchs to carry the four trays with 
 their contents into his palace. He then had an interview with his 
 wife, and put the trays before her ; and she uncovered them, and saw 
 in them things like which she possessed not a single piece. So she 
 said to him, From which of the Kings is this ? Probably it is from 
 one of the Kings who have demanded my daughter in marriage. He 
 answered, No : but it is from a merchant of Cairo, who hath come 
 unto us in this city ; and when I heard of his coming, I sent to him a 
 messenger to bring him to us that we might become acquainted with 
 him, as we might probably find in his possession some jewels which 
 we might purchase of him to fit out our daughter. He therefore 
 obeyed our command, and brought us these four trays, which he 
 offered us as a present ; and I saw him to be a handsome young man, 
 of dignified appearance, and perfect intelligence, and elegant form, 
 almost like one of the sons of the Kings. And on my seeing him, my 
 heart inclined to him, and my bosom became dilated at beholding him, 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 563 
 
 and I desired to marry my daughter to him. I displayed the present 
 to the great men of my kingdom, and said to them, How many of the 
 Kings have demanded my daughter in marriage. And they answered, 
 Many. And hath any one of them, said I, brought me the like of 
 that ? To which they all answered, No, by Allah, King of the age ; 
 for there existeth not in the possession of any one of them the like of 
 that. And I said to them, I beg of God (whose name be exalted !) 
 that I may have the happiness of marrying to him my daughter. 
 What then say ye? They answered, The thing should be as thou 
 judgest. Now what sayest thou ? She answered him, The affair is 
 for God to decide, and thee, King of the age ; and what God willeth 
 is that which will be. And he replied, If it be the will of God (whose 
 name be exalted !), we will not marry her but to this young man. 
 
 He passed the next night, and when the morning came, he went 
 up to his court, and gave orders to bring the merchant 'Alee of Cairo, 
 and all the merchants of Baghdad. So they all came, and when they 
 presented themselves before the King, he commanded them to sit. 
 They therefore seated themselves. He then said, Bring the Kadee 
 of the court. And he came before him ; and the King said to him, 
 Kadee, write the contract of my daughter's marriage to the mer- 
 chant 'Alee of Cairo. But 'Alee of Cairo said, Pardon, O our lord 
 the Sultan. It is not fit that a merchant like me be son-in-law of the 
 King. The King however replied, I have bestowed upon thee that 
 favour, together with the office of Wezeer. Then he invested him with 
 the robe of a Wezeer immediately ; whereupon he seated himself on 
 the chair of the Wezeer, and said, O King of the age, thou hast 
 bestowed upon rne this favour, and I am honoured by thy beneficence ; 
 but hear a word that I would say to thee. He replied, Say, and fear 
 not. And he said, Since thy noble command hath been given to 
 marry thy daughter, it is fit that she be married to my son. Hast 
 thou a son ? asked the King. Yes, answered 'Alee. And the King 
 said, Send to him immediately. He replied, I hear and obey ; anrf 
 he sent one of his memlooks to his son, and caused him to be brought; 
 and when he came into the presence of the King, he kissed the ground 
 before him, and stood respectfully. And the King, looking at him, 
 saw him to be more lovely than his daughter, and more beautiful than 
 she in stature, and justness of form, and in elegance and in every 
 charm. He said to him, What is thy name, my son? And he 
 answered, O our lord the Sultan, my name is Hasan. And his age 
 at that time was fourteen years. Then the King said to the Kadee. 
 

 Write the contract of the marriage of my daughter Hosn-el-Wujood !3 
 to Hasan the son of the merchant 'Alee of Cairo. So he wrote the 
 contract of their marriage, and the affair was finished in the most 
 agreeable manner; after which, every one who was in the court went 
 his way, and the merchants went down behind the Wezeer 'Alee of 
 Cairo until he arrived at his house, instated in the office of Wezeer ; 
 and they congratulated him on that event, and went their ways. He 
 then entered the apartment of his wife, who, seeing him clad in the 
 robe of a Wezeer, said to him, What is this ? He therefore rekted to 
 her the case from beginning to end, and said to her, The King hath 
 married his daughter to Hasan my son. And she rejoiced at this 
 exceedingly. 
 
 Then 'Alee of Cairo passed the night, and when the morning 
 arrived he went up to the court, and the King met him graciously, 
 and seated him by his side, treating him with especial favour, and said 
 to him, Wezeer, we desire to celebrate the festivity, and to introduce 
 thy son to my daughter. 'Alee replied, our lord the Sultiin, what 
 
 thou judgcst to be well is well. And the 
 
 King gave orders to cele- 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF.CAIRO. 565 
 
 brate the festivity. They decorated the city, and continued the fes- 
 tivity thirty days, in joy and happiness; and after the thirty days were 
 ended, Hasan, the son of the Wezeer 'Alee, took the King's daughter 
 as his wife, and was delighted with her beauty and loveliness. The 
 King's wife, too, when she saw her daughter's husband, loved him 
 greatly ; and in like manner, she was exceedingly pleased with his 
 mother. Then the King gave orders to build a palace for Hasan, the 
 son of the Wezeer ; and they built for him quickly a magnificent 
 palace, in which he resided ; and his mother used to remain with him 
 some days, and then descend to her house. So the King's wife said 
 to her husband, O King of the age, the mother of Hasan cannot reside 
 with her son and leave the Wezeer, nor can she reside with the Wezeer 
 and leave her son. He replied, Thou hast spoken truth. And he 
 gave orders to build a third palace, by that of Hasan, the son of the 
 Wezeer ; and they built it in a few days ; after which the King com- 
 manded to remove the goods of the Wezeer to that palace ; and they 
 did so ; and the Wezeer took up his abode in it. The three palaces 
 communicated, one with another : so when the King desired to speak 
 with the Wezeer, he walked to him in the night, or sent to bring him ; 
 and in like manner did Hasan and his mother and his father. They 
 ceased not to live together in an agreeable manner, and to pass a 
 pleasant life, for a length of time. 
 
 After this, an illness attacked the King, and his malady increased : 
 so he summoned the grandees of his kingdom, and said to them, A 
 violent disease hath attacked me, and perhaps it is that which will 
 occasion my death : I have therefore summoned you to consult you 
 respecting an affair, and do ye give me the advice that ye judge to be 
 good. They said, Respecting what wouldst thou consult us, King ? 
 And he answered, I have become old, and have fallen sick, and am in 
 fear for my kingdom after me, on account of the enemies ; wherefore 
 I desire that ye all agree in the choice of one, that I may inaugurate 
 him as King during my life, and that ye may be at ease. To this 
 they all replied, We all approve of the husband of thy daughter, Hasan, 
 the son of the Wezeer 'Alee ; for we have observed his good sense, 
 and perfection and intelligence, and he knoweth the rank of the great 
 and the small. The King said to them, And do ye approve of that ? 
 They answered, Yes. He said to them, Perhaps ye say that before 
 me through a modest respect for me, and behind my back ye will say 
 otherwise. But they all replied, By Allah our words are the same in 
 public and in secret ; they change not ; and we approve of him with 
 
56(5 THE ST,ORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 
 
 joyful hearts and dilated bosoms. He therefore said to them, If the 
 affair be so, bring the Kaclee of the holy law, and all the chamberlains 
 arid lieutenants and chief men of the kingdom, before me to-morrow, 
 and we will finish the affair in the most agreeable manner. And they 
 replied, We hear and obey. 
 
 They departed from him, and summoned all the 'Ulama, 14 and the 
 chief persons among the Emeers, and when the morning came, they 
 went up to the court, and sent to the King, begging permission to 
 come in to him ; and he gave them permission. So they entered, and 
 saluted him, and said, We have all come before thee. And the King 
 said to them, Emeers of Baghdad, whom do ye like to be King over 
 you after me, that I may inaugurate him during my life in the presence 
 of you all ? They all answered, We have agreed to accept Hasan, the 
 son of the Wezeer 'Alee, and husband of thy daughter. And he said, 
 If the case be so, arise ye all, and bring him before me. So they all 
 arose, and entered his palace, and said to him, Come with us to the 
 King. For what purpose? said he. And they answered him, For an 
 affair advantageous to us and to thee. He therefore arose and pro- 
 ceeded with them until they went in to the King, when Hasan kissed 
 the ground before him ; and the King said to him, Sit, O my son. 
 So he sat ; and the King said to him, Hasan, all the Emeers have 
 petitioned in thy favour, and agreed to make thee King over them 
 after me, and I desire to inaugurate thee during my life, in order to 
 conclude the affair. But upon this, Hasan arose, and kissed the 
 ground before the King, and said to him, O our lord the King, verily 
 among the Emeers is he who is older than I, and of higher dignity : 
 therefore release me from that affair. All the Emeers however said, 
 We do not choose but that thou be King over us. He said to them, 
 My father is older than I, and I and my father are the same, and it is 
 not right to advance me above him. But his father replied, I do not 
 approve of aught but that of which my brethren approve, and they 
 have approved of thee, and agreed to have thee : oppose thou not the 
 command of the King, nor the command of thy brethren. And Hasan 
 hung down his head towards the ground, in modest respect for the 
 King, and for his father. So the King said to them, Do ye approve 
 of him ? They answered, We do approve of him. And they all 
 recited, in testimony thereof, seven times, the Opening Chapter of the 
 Kur-an. Then the King said, Kadee, write a legal voucher testi- 
 fying of these Emeers, that they have agreed to acknowledge, as 
 Sultan, Hasan, the husband of my daughter, and that he shall be 
 
THE STORY OF 'ALEE OF CAIRO. 567 
 
 King over them. He therefore wrote the voucher to that effect, and 
 signed it, after they had all inaugurated him as King. The King did 
 so likewise, and ordered him to sit upon the throne of the kingdom. 
 After this, all arose, and kissed the hands of the King Hasan, the son 
 of the Wezeer, and paid homage to him ; and he exercised authority 
 that day in an admirable manner, and conferred magnificent dresses of 
 honour upon the grandees of the kingdom. 
 
 Then the court broke up, and Hasan went in to the father of his 
 wife, and kissed his hands ; and he said to him, O Hasan, be mindful 
 to preserve the fear of God in thy conduct towards thy subjects. 
 Hasan replied, Through thy prayer for me, my father, God's 
 guidance will be given me. He then entered his own palace, and his 
 wife met him, with her mother and their dependants, and they kissed 
 his hands, and said to him, May the day be blessed ! and they con- 
 gratulated him on the dignity to which he had been raised. Then he 
 arose and went from his palace into that of his father ; and they re- 
 joiced exceedingly at the favour which God had granted him in con- 
 ferring upon him the sovereignty; and his father charged him to 
 preserve the fear of God, and to act with clemency to his subjects. 
 He passed the next night in joy and happiness until the morning ; 
 when he performed his divinely-ordained prayers, and finished his 
 concluding supplication, 15 and went up to the court. All the troops 
 also went up thither, and the dignitaries ; and he judged among the 
 people, commanding to act kindly, and forbidding iniquity, and he 
 invested and displaced, and ceased not to exercise authority until the 
 close of the day ; whereupon the court broke up in the most agreeable 
 manner, and the troops dispersed, each person going his way. Then 
 Hasan arose and entered the palace ; and he saw that the illness of 
 his wife's father had become heavy upon him : so he said to him, No 
 harm betide thee ! And the old King opened his eyes, and said to 
 him, Hasan ! He replied, At thy service, my lord. And the old 
 King said to him, Now hath the end of my life drawn near; therefore 
 take care of thy wife and her mother, and preserve the fear of God, and 
 an affectionate obedience to thy parents ; stand in awe of the majesty 
 of the Requiting King, and know that God commaudeth justice and 
 the doing of good. The King Hasan replied, I hear and obey. Then 
 the old King remained three days after that, and was admitted to the 
 mercy of God, whose name be exalted ! So they prepared his body 
 for burial, and shrouded it, and performed for him recitations of por- 
 tions and of the whole of the Kur-an until the end of the forty days ; 
 
508 
 
 THE STORY OP 'ALEE OP CAIRO. 
 
 and the King Hasan, the son of the Wezeer, became absolute 
 monarch. His subjects rejoiced in him, and all his days were happy, 
 and his father ceased not to be chief Wezcer on his right hand, and he 
 took another Wezeer on his left. His affairs were well ordered, and 
 he remained King in Baghdad a long time ; he was also blessed with 
 three male children by the daughter of the old King, and they 
 inherited the kingdom after him ; and they passed a most comfortable 
 and happy life, until they were visited by the terminator of delights 
 and the separator of companions. Extolled be the perfection of Him 
 who is eternal, and in whose power it lieth to annul and to confirm ! 1G 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINETEENTH. 
 
 NOTE 1. 
 Elect." 
 
 " EL-MCSTAFA " is one of the names of Mohammad, and signifies " the 
 
 XOTE 2. " When any one of you dies," said the Prophet, " yon must not keep him 
 in the house ; hut carry him quickly to his grave :'' l and again, he said. " Be quick in 
 lifting up a bier; for if the deceased be a good man, it is good to take him up quickly, 
 and carry him to his grave, to cause the good to arrive at happiness ; and if the 
 deceased be a bad man, it is a wickedness which ye put from your neck." 2 
 
 NOTE 3. Ceremonies observed after a Death. Towards the eve of the first Friday after 
 the funeral, and, often, early in the morning of the Thursday, the women of the family 
 of the deceased repeat their wailing, in the house, accompanied by some of their female 
 friends : male friends of the deceased also visit the house shortly before or after sunset ; 
 and three or four persons are hired to perform a recitation of the whole of the Kur-an. 
 On the following morning, some or all of the members of the deceased's family, but 
 chiefly the women, visit the tomb ; they or their servants carrying palm-branches, 
 and sometimes sweet basil, to lay upon it. The palm-branch is broken into several 
 pieces, and these, or the leaves only, are placed on the tomb. Often, also, the visitors 
 take with them some kind of food, as bread, pancakes, sweet cakes of different kinds, 
 or dates, to distribute to the poor on this occasion. They recite the Opening Chapter 
 of the Kur-an; or, if they can afford it, employ a person to recite first the Thirty- 
 sixth Chapter, or a larger portion of the Kur-an ; and many persons cause a recitation 
 of the whole of the Kur-an to be performed at the tomb, or in the house, by men hired 
 for that purpose. These ceremonies are repeated on the same days of the next two 
 weeks.), and again on the eve and morning of the Friday which completes, or next 
 follows, the first period of forty days 3 after the funeral ; whence this Friday is called 
 " El-Arba'een," or " Jum'at el-Arba'een." 
 
 NOTE 4. This is one of the instances in which coffee is mentioned in the Thousand 
 and One Nights in a manner not to be mistaken ; but perhaps by a copyist. The word 
 
 1 Mishkat el-Masabceh, vol. i. p. 387. 
 
 Idem. p. 371. 
 
 II. 
 
 St/r <;<;nesis, 1. 3. 
 4 D 
 
570 NOTES TO CHAPTER NINETEENTH. 
 
 rendered "coffee-makers" is ' kahwejeeyeh," plural of "kahwejee," a compound of 
 Arabic and Turkish, pronounced by the Turks "kahvejee." It occurs also in the same 
 passage in the Breslau edition. 
 
 NOTE 5. Er-Rddah is a very pleasant island in the Nile, about two miles and a half 
 in length, near Cairo ; lying to the south-west of that city. Its name signifies "The 
 Garden," &c. The Nilometer is at its southern extremity, of which a view is given, 
 from one of my drawings, at page 550. 
 
 NOTE 6. The term "hdsh ' generally signifies ' the court of a house ; " but it is 
 often applied, as in this case, to a court surrounded by mean lodgings, inhabited by 
 persons of the lower orders. 
 
 NOTE 7. Boolak is the principal port of Cairo. It was founded, and became a con- 
 siderable town, in the eighth century of the Flight (or the fourteenth of our era). The 
 plain upon which it is situate arose in consequence of a gradual change in the course of 
 the Nile, which formerly flowed very near by the western side of Cairo. 
 
 NOTE 8. Dimyat is the town commonly called by us Damietta. Its name is gene- 
 rally pronounced by the modern Egyptians Dumyat. 
 
 NOTE 9. See Note 48 to Chapter xi. 
 
 NOTE 10. A takhtarawan, described in Note 8 to Chapter viii. 
 
 NOTE 11. the terms " 'akkam " and " farrash " have been explained in Note 28 to 
 Chapter xi. and Note 16 to Chapter x. By "light-bearers " are meant men who bear 
 the kind of cresset described in Note 2 to Chapter xiii. 
 
 NOTE 12. See Note 8 to Chapter iii. 
 
 NOTE 13. " Hosn el-Wujood" signifies " the Beauty of the World." See Note 6 
 to Chapter xviii. 
 
 NOTE 14. " 'Ulama " is the plural of " 'alim," which signifies a man of science or 
 learning, but is a term more particularly given to a doctor of the law. European 
 writers generally use the plural form of this appellation for the singular. 
 
 NOTE 15. See Note 18 to Chapter x. 
 
 NOTE 16. This story is followed by an anecdote, of which I here give a translation. 
 
 Anecdote of a Townsman and a Bedawccyeh. 
 
 It is related that a man of the pilgrims slept a long sleep, and then awoke, and saw 
 no trace of the other pilgrims. So he arose and walked on ; but he wandered from 
 the way, and he proceeded until he saw a tent, and an old woman at its door, and 
 he found by her a dog asleep. He approached the tent, saluted the old woman, and 
 begged of her some food ; whereupon she said to him, Go to yon valley, and catch as 
 many serpents as will suffice thee, that I may broil some of them for thee. The man 
 replied, I dare not catch serpents, and I never ate them. The old woman therefore 
 said, I will go with thee', and catch some of them, and fear thou not. Then she went 
 with him, and the dog followed her, and she caught as many of the serpents as would 
 suffice, and proceeded to broil some of them. The pilgrim could not refrain from 
 eating ; for he feared hunger and emaciation : so he ate of those serpents. And after 
 this, being thirsty, he demanded of the old woman some water to drink ; and she said 
 to him, Go to the spring, and drink of it. Accordingly. he went to the spring; but he 
 found its water bitter ; yet he could not refrain from drinking of it, notwithstanding 
 
its exceeding bitterness, on account of the violence of his thirst. He therefore drank, 
 and then returned to the old woman, and said to her, I wonder at thee, O thou old 
 woman, and at thy residing in this place, and thy feeding thyself with this food, and 
 thy drinking of this water. How then, said the old woman, is your country ? He 
 answered her, Verily in our country are spacious and ample houses, and ripe and deli- 
 cious fruits, and abundant sweet waters, and excellent viands, and fat meats, and 
 numerous sheep, and every thing good, and blessings of which the like exist not save in 
 the Paradise that God (whose name be exalted \ ) hath described to his just servants. 
 All this, replied the old woman, I have heard ; but tell me, have you any Sultan who 
 ruleth over you, and oppresseth in bis rule while ye are under his authority ; and who, 
 if any one of you cornmitteth an offence, taketh his wealth, and destroyeth him; and 
 who, if he desire, turneth you out from your houses, and eradicateth you utterly ? 
 The man answered her, That doth sometimes happen. And the old woman rejoined, 
 If so, by Allah, that dainty food and elegant life and those delightful comforts, with 
 oppression and tyranny, are penetrating poison ; and our food, with safety, is a salutary 
 antidote. Hast thou not heard that the most excellent of beons, after El-Islam, are 
 safety and health. 4 
 
 Now these may be through the justice of the Sultan, the vicegerent of God upon 
 his earth, and through his good policy. The Sultan of former times loved to be distin- 
 guished by the lowest degree of awfulness; because, when his subjects saw him, they 
 feared him : but the Sultan of this age loveth to be distinguished by the most perfect 
 policy and the utmost awfulness; because men now are not like those of former days. 
 This our age is one of a people opprobrious, and greatly calamitous ; since they are 
 noted for folly, and for hardness of heart, and are bent upon vehement hatred, and 
 upon enmity. Therefore, if the Sultan (in God, whose name be exalted, be our 
 refuge !) should be weak among them, or not characterized by policy and awfulness, no 
 doubt that would be the cause of the ruin of the country. And among the proverbs is 
 this : The oppression of the Sultan for a hundred years, rather than the oppression of 
 the subjects, one over another, for a single year. And when the subjects oppress, God 
 setteth over them an oppressive Sultan and a violent King. Thus it is related in the 
 histories, that there was sent up to El-Hajjaj the son of Yoosuf, 3 one day, a petition 
 wherein was written, Fear God, and oppress not God's servants with every kind of op- 
 pression. And when he had read the petition, he ascended the pulpit (and he was 
 eloquent), and he said, O ye people, verily God (whose name be exalted \] hath set me 
 over you on account of your actions ; and if I die, ye will not be free from oppres- 
 sion with these wicked actions ; for God (whose name be exalted !) hath created 
 
 4 The following words appear to be the narrator's. 
 
 5 See Note 140 to Chapter x. 
 
572 NOTES TO CHAPTER NINETEENTH. 
 
 many like me; and it' I be not, there will be one worse than I, and move severe in 
 oppression, and more violent in impetuosity. As the poet hath said, 
 
 There is no hand but God's hand is above it, nor oppressor that shall not meet with an oppressor. 
 
 Oppression is feared; but justice is the best of all qualities. We beg God to amend 
 our states. 
 
 [The above anecdote is followed by the Story of Taweddnd, the Learned Slave-girl, 
 ending with part of the four hundred and sixty-second Night. This story almost 
 entirely consists in a display of Taweddud's profound knowledge in religion, &c., in 
 which she surpassed the most eminent professors in an examination before Haroon Er- 
 Rasheed ; and as it would not only require a volume of commentary, but be extremely 
 tiresome to most readers of the present work, I omit it. 
 
 Next is a series of eighteen anecdotes (or rather fictions related as facts), ending 
 with part of the four hundred and eighty-second Night. From these I have selected 
 for translation only four. Almost all of them relate to saints and miracles. The first 
 of those which I translate is preceded in the original by two of a similar kind.] 
 
 A Tyrannical Klnj and the A/ujcl of Death. 
 
 A tyrannical King, one of the Kings of the Children of Israel, was one day sitting 
 upon his throne, and he beheld a man who had entered the door of the palace, having 
 an offensive form and a terrible appearance. So the King shuddered at his sudden 
 intrusion upon him, and was terrified at his appearance ; and he sprang up in his lace, 
 and said, Who art thou, O man, and who gave thee permission to intrude upon me, and 
 who commanded thee to come to my abode ? He answered, The Lord of the abode 
 commanded me, and none excludeth me, nor do I require permission to go in unto 
 Kings, neither do I fear the rule of a Sultan, nor the multitude of guards : I am he 
 whom no tyrant hindereth, and none can escape from my grasp : I am the terminator 
 of delights and the separator of companions. And when the King heard these words, 
 he fell upon his face, a treinour crept through his body, and he fell down in a fit ; and 
 on his recovery he said, Art thou the Angel of Death ? He answered, Yes. And the 
 King said, I conjure thee by Allah to give me one day's delay, that I may beg forgive- 
 ness of my sin, and seek pardon of my Lord, and restore the wealth that is in my 
 treasuries to its owners, so that I may not suffer the affliction of a reckoning with 
 respect to it, and the misery of punishment on account of it. But the Angel of -Death 
 replied, Far, far from thee be that ! Tho i hast no way of attaining that wish. How 
 can I grant thee a delay when the days of thy life are reckoned, and thy breaths are 
 numbered, and thy moments are fixed and written? The King said, Grant me an 
 hour's delay. He replied, Verily the hour is included in the account, and it hath past 
 while thou wast heedless, and hath expired while thou wast careless. Thou hast ful- 
 filled the number of thy breaths, save that there remaineth to thee one breath only. 
 And the King said, Who will be with me when I am removed to my grave ? He 
 answered, Nought will be with tliee but thy work. 6 The King replied, I have [done] 
 no work. And the Angel of Death said, Without doubt thine abode will be in the fire; 
 and thy destination, to suffer the anger of the Omnipotent. Then he seized his soul : 
 so he tumbled from his throne, and fell to the ground ; and a clamour arose among the 
 people of his kingdom; their voices were raised, and their cries and weeping were 
 loud ; and had they known the indignation that he had gone to endure from his Lord, 
 their weeping for him had been greater, and their lamentation had been more violent 
 and more abundant. 
 
 See foot-note in page -156 of this volume. 
 
NOTES TO CHAPTER NINETEENTH. 573 
 
 Advantages of Piety and Industry 
 
 There was, among the Children of Israel, a good man, who applied himself diligently 
 to the worship of God, and abstained from worldly enjoyments, discarding them from 
 his heart ; and he had a wife who aided him in his pursuit, and who always obeyed 
 him. They lived by making trays and fans, 7 working all the day . and at the close of 
 the day. the man went forth with the things that he had made in his hand, and walked 
 with them along the streets and roads, seek ing a purchaser, to whom to sell them ; and 
 they fasted continually.* 1 Now one day 9 the man went forth as usual, and an event 
 befell him which constrained him to throw himself from the top of a lofty house, in 
 order to avoid an act of disobedience unto his Lord : but God sent to him an angel, who 
 bore him upon his wings, and set him down upon the ground in safety, without any 
 injury happening to him. And when he rested upon the ground, he praised God 
 (to whom be ascribed might and glory !) for the protection which He had afforded him, 
 and the mercy that He had granted him, and returned without any obstacle to his 
 wife. He had been long absent from her, and entered bringing nothing with him : so 
 she asked him respecting the cause of his tardiness, and respecting the things which 
 he had taken forth in his hand, and as to what he had done with them, and how he 
 had returned without any thing. He therefore informed her of the temptation that 
 had happened to him, and that he had thrown himself down from that place, and God 
 had saved him. And his wife said, Praise be to God who hath averted from thee the 
 temptation, and interposed between thee and the calamity ! Then she said, O man, 
 verily the neighbours have been accustomed to observe that we light our oven every 
 night, and if they see us this night without fire, they will know that we are destitute. 
 Thankfulness to God requireth the concealment of our poverty, and the conjoining of 
 the fast of this night with that of the past day, and spending it in the service of God, 
 whose name be exalted ! Accordingly she ai-ose and went to the oven, filled it with 
 firewood, and set light to it to delude the women who were her neighbours ; and she 
 recited these verses ; 
 
 I will conceal the desire and the griefs that I suffer, and will light my fire to delude my neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 I approve of that which my Lord hath decreed : perhaps He will see my submission, and approve 
 me. 
 
 After this, she and her husband arose, and performed the ablution, and began to 
 pray. But, lo, one of her female neighbours begged permission to light from their oven. 
 They therefore said to her, Go to the oven, and do as thou desirest. And when the 
 woman drew near to the oven to take the fire, she called out, O such-a-one ! (mention- 
 ing the name of the woman of the place) come to thy bread before it burneth. So she 
 said to her husband, Heardest thou what this woman said ? And he replied, Arise and 
 see. She arose, therefore, and went to the oven, and, lo, it was filled with fine white 
 bread ; and she took the cakes of bread and went in to her husband, thanking God (to 
 whom be ascribed might and glory !) for the abundant good, and great favour, which 
 He had bestowed. They ate of the bread, and drank some water, and praised God, 
 whose name be exalted ! Then the woman said to her husband, Come, let us supplicate 
 God (whose name be exalted !j : perhaps He will favour us with something that will 
 render us independent of the trouble necessary to obtain our livelihood, and of the 
 fatigue of working, and will aid us to employ ourselves in his worship and to occupy 
 
 " The former are made of rushes, &c. : the latter, the " Two Festivals," when fasting is unlawful ; 
 
 .f palm-leaves or of leathers. and other inslune, > an: mentioned by historians. 
 
 8 That is, every day; eating ,,i,ly in the ni^ht. " A portion ofnn oilgiual 1 here omit. 
 
 I remember a man in Cairo who <ii<l *o. e.xeijit mi 
 
574 NOTES TO CHARTER NINETEENTH. 
 
 ourselves with his service. He replied, Well. So the man supplicated his Lord, and 
 the woman said Amen to his supplication ; and, lo, the roof clove asunder, and there 
 descended a ruby, which illuminated the chamber by its lustre; whereupon they 
 increased in their thanksgiving and praise. They were greatly rejoiced with that ruby, 
 and said as many prayers as God (whose name be exalted !) willed. 10 Then, at the 
 close of the night, they slept; and the woman saw in her sleep as though she entered 
 Paradise, and beheld many pulpits ranged in order, and chairs set ; whereupon she 
 said, What are these pulpits, and what are these chairs ? She was answered, These are 
 the pulpits of the prophets, and these are the chairs of the just and the good. And 
 where, said she, is the chair of my husband, such-a-one ? She was answered, It is this. 
 And she looked at it, and, lo, in its side was a hole. She therefore said, What is this 
 hole ? And she was answered, It is the hole of the ruby that descended upon you from 
 the roof of your house. So she awoke weeping and mourning for the defect of the 
 chair of her husband among the chairs of the just ; and she said, O man, supplicate thy 
 Lord to restore this ruby to its place; for the endurance of hunger and poverty during 
 the days that are few will be a lighter matter than the hole in thy chair among the 
 people of excellencies. And the man supplicated his Lord, and, lo, the ruby flew up to 
 the roof, while they looked at it : and they ceased not to live in their poverty and 
 devotion until they met God, to whom be ascribed might and glory. 
 
 Anecdote of a Muslim Warriour and a Christian Maiden. 
 
 The Prince of the Faithful, 'Omar the son of El-Khattab, sent an army of the 
 Muslims against the enemy, in Syria, and they besieged vehemently one of their 
 fortresses ; and there were among the Muslims two men, brothers, to whom God had 
 given impetuosity and boldness against the enemy, so that the lord of that fortress said 
 to his auxiliaries, and to his heroes who were before him, If these two Muslims were 
 made prisoners, or. slain, I should suffice you against the rest of the Muslims. They 
 ceased not to set snares f >T these two men, and to employ stratagems against them, 
 laying ambushes, and increasing the number of the men in the lurking-places, until 
 one of the two Muslims was taken prisoner, and the other was slain a martyr. So the 
 captive Muslim was carried to the lord of that fortress; and when the latter saw him, 
 he said, Verily the slaughter of this man would be an evil, and his return to the 
 Muslims would be a calamity. I wish that he would embrace the Christian faitR, to 
 be an auxiliary and a helper to us. And one of his Batreeks ll said, O Enieer, I will 
 seduce him so that he shall apostatize from his religion ; for the Arabs are exceedingly 
 fond of women, and I have a daughter endowed with loveliness and perfect beauty : so 
 if he see her, he will be seduced by her. The Enieer therefore said, He is committed 
 unto thee : then convey him away. 
 
 Accordingly he conveyed him to his abode, and clad the damsel in attire which 
 increased her beauty and loveliness ; after which, he took the man into the house, and 
 caused the food to be brought ; and the Christian damsel stood before him as a maid 
 serving her master and waiting for him to give her some command which she should 
 perform. And when the Muslim saw what had befallen him, he kept himself from sin 
 by seeking refuge with God (whose name be exalted I) ; he closed his eyes, and occupied 
 himself with the worship ofhis Lord, and reciting the Kur-an. Now he had an excel- 
 lent voice, and an effective talent in the use of it ; and the Christian damsel was 
 affected with a violent love for him, and became greatly enamoured of him ; and this 
 
 10 That is, very many. to one who commanded ten thousand men. It 
 
 11 " Batreek," or " Bitreek," (from " patricius ") should not be confounded with " Batreek " or 
 is a title which was formerly given by the Arabs " Batrak," which signify a " Patriarch." 
 
 to a Christian general; according to the Kunioos, 
 
NOTES TO CHAFfER NINETEENTH. 575 
 
 state of affairs continued seven days, until the damsel said, Would that he may consent 
 to my embracing El-Islam ! And when her patience failed, and her heart was contracted, 
 she threw herself down before him, and said, I conjure thee by thy religion that thou hear 
 my words ! He replied, And what wouldst thou say ? She answered, Propose to me 
 El-Islam. So he proposed it to her and she became a Muslimeh. Then she purified 
 herself, and he taught her how to pray ; and when she had done so, she said, O my 
 brother, verily my embracing El-Islam was on thine account, and from my wish to have 
 thee near unto me. He replied, El-Islam forbiddeth marriage unless there be two 
 legal witnesses, and a dowry, and a guardian; 12 and I find not the two witnesses, nor the 
 guardian, nor the dowry ; but if thou contrive means of our going forth from this place, 
 I may hope to arrive in the abode of the Muslims, and I will make a covenant with 
 thee that I will have no wife among the Muslimehs but thee. So she said, I will con- 
 trive a stratagem to accomplish that. She then called her father and her mother, and 
 said to them, Verily the heart of this Muslim hath become softened, and he desireth 
 to embrace the faith ; and I will grant him the accomplishment of that which he 
 desireth of me. He hath said, however, This shall not happen unto me in a town where 
 my brother was killed ; but if I go forth from it, that my heart may be diverted, I will 
 do as thou desirest. No harm will ensue if ye send me forth with him to another 
 town ; for I am a surety to you and to the King for the accomplishment of that which 
 ye desire. 
 
 So her father went to their Emeer, and informed him ; and he was greatly rejoiced 
 at that, and gave orders to send her forth with him to the town that she had men- 
 tioned. Accordingly they went forth, and when they had arrived at the town, and 
 remained the rest of the day, and the darkness of night overshadowed tlftin, they 
 departed, and pursued their way, like as one of the poets hath said, 
 
 They said, The time of our departure hath drawn near. I replied, How oft shall I be threatened 
 
 with departure ? 
 
 I have nothing to do but to cross the waste, and to traverse the earth, mile after mile. 
 If the beloved journey towards another land, I travel thither, a son of the road; 
 I make my desire my director to her, and it sheweth me the way without other guide. 
 
 And they proceeded throughout the night. The young man had mounted a swift 
 horse and placed her behind him ; and he ceased not to traverse the earth until morn- 
 ing was near, when he turned with her from the road and set her down ; and they 
 performed the ablution, and recited the morning prayers. But while they were thus 
 engaged, they heard the clashing of weapons, and the clinking of bits and bridles, and 
 the voices of men, and the sounds of the hoofs of horses. So he said to her, O such-a- 
 onc (mentioning her name), this is a troop of the Christians in pursuit, which hath 
 overtaken us ; what then shall be our resource, when the horse hath become wearied and 
 jaded so that he cannot stir a step ? But she replied, Wo to thee ! Art thou alarmed 
 and afraid ? He said, Yes. Where then, she rejoined, is the power of thy Lord, of 
 which thou toldest me, and His succour to those who seek it ? Come let us humble 
 ourselves before Him, and supplicate Him : perhaps He will grant us His succour, and 
 make us to participate in His gracious protection ; extolled be His perfection, and 
 exalted be His name ! And he replied, Excellent, by Allah, is that which thou hast 
 said ! Accordingly they began to humble themselves before God (whose name be 
 exalted !), and he recited these verses : 
 
 Verily I am hourly in need of thine assistance, and should be though a crown were placed upon 
 
 my head. 
 Thou art my greatest want, and if my hand obtained what I desire, I should have no wants 
 
 remaining. 
 
 ' See Note 39 to Chapter iv. (vol. i. pp. 285 and 286). 
 
: 
 
 Thou hast not any thing that Thou withholdest ; for the flood of thy munificence floweth copiously 
 
 and in torrents ; 
 
 But I am excluded by my transgression : yet resplendent is the light of thy pardon, O Clement ! 
 O Dispeller of anxiety, remove my affliction ! for who but Thyself can dispel this anxiety ? 
 
 And while he was supplicating, and the damsel was saying Amen to his supplication, 
 and the trampling 6f the horses was approaching them, the young man heard the 
 voice of his brother the martyr, saying, O my hrother, fear not nor grieve; for the 
 approaching troop is the troop of God, and it is his Angels, whom He hath sent unto 
 you to witness your marriage. Verily God hath gloried in you before his Angels, 
 and given you the recompense of the blessed and the martyrs, and contracted for you 
 the earth, so that in the morning thou wilt be among the mountains of El-Medeeneh. 
 And when thou meetest 'Omar the son of El-Khattab (may God be well pleased with 
 him '.), greet him with salutation from me, and say to him. May God recompense thee 
 well for the Muslims; for thou hast given good counsel, and laboured with diligence. 
 Then the Angels raised their voices, saluting him and his wife, and said, Verily God 
 (whose name be exalted !) decreed her in marriage to thee before the creation of your 
 father Adam (on whom be peace !) by two thousand years. And upon this they 
 experienced joy and happiness, and security and gladness confidence was increased, 
 and the guidance of the pious was confirmed : and when daybreak came, they performed 
 the morning-prayers. 
 
 Now 'Omar the son of El-Khattab (may God be well pleased with him !) used to 
 perform the morning-prayers in the darkness before dawn ; and sometimes he entered 
 the place of prayer in the mosque, followed by two men, and began with the Chapter 
 of Cattle, 1 * or the Chapter of Women ; u whereupon the sleeper awoke, and he who 
 would perform the ablution performed it, and he who was at a distance came, so that 
 the first rek'ah was not completed before the mosque was filled with people. Then he 
 
 13 The sixth Chapter of the Kur-an. " The fourth Chapter of the same. 
 
NOTES TO CHARIER NINETEENTH. 577 
 
 performed the second rek'ah with the recitation of a light chapter, and doing it quickly. 
 But on that day, he recited in the first rek'ah a light chapter, doing it quickly, and in 
 like manner in the second ; and when he had pronounced the salutations, 16 he looked 
 towards his companions, and said, Come forth with us that we may meet the bride- 
 groom and bride. So his companions wondered, and understood not his words ; and he 
 advanced, with them following him, until he went forth to the gate of the city. 
 
 The young man, as soon as the light appeared to him, and he beheld the standards 
 of El-Medeeueh, advanced towards the gate, with his wife behind him ; and 'Omar and 
 the Muslims his companions met him and saluted him. And when they entered the 
 city, 'Omar (may God be well pleased with him !) gave orders that a feast should be 
 prepared ; and the Muslims came and ate. The young man entered with his bride ; 
 and God (whose name be exalted!) blessed him by her with children who fought in the 
 way of God, 16 and kept their genealogies, because they gloried in them ; and they 
 ceased not to pass a most comfortable life, and to enjoy the most perfect happiness, 
 until they were visited by the terminator of delights and the separator of companions. 
 
 The Justice of Providence. 
 
 A certain prophet employed himself in devotion upon a lofty mountain, beneath 
 which ran a spring of water ; and during the day he used to sit upon the summit of the 
 mountain, so that people saw him not. There he repeated the praises of God (whose 
 name be exalted !), and saw such persons as came to drink at the spring. And as he 
 was one day sitting looking towards the spring, he beheld a horseman, who approached, 
 and alighted from his horse, put down a leathern bag that was slung to his neck, and 
 rested, and drank of the water ; after which he departed, leaving the leathern bag, in 
 which were pieces of gold. And, lo, a man came to drink of the water, and he took the 
 leathern bag with the money, and drank of the water, and departed in safety. Then 
 there came after him a man who was a wood-cutter, bearing a heavy bundle of firewood 
 upon his back, and he seated himself by the spring, to drink of the water. But, lo, the 
 horseman first mentioned approached in a state of distress, and he said to the wood- 
 cutter, Where is the leathern bag that was here? He answered, I know nothing of it. 
 And the horseman drew his sword, struck the wood-cutter, and slew him ; and he 
 searched in his clothes, and found nothing : so he left him, and went his way. 
 
 And that prophet said, O Lord, one person took a thousand pieces of gold, and 
 another hath been slain unjustly. But God said to him by revelation, Occupy thyself 
 with thy devotion ; for the government of the kingdom is not thine affair. Verily the 
 lather of this horseman had taken by force a thousand pieces of gold of the property of 
 the father of this man ; so I have put the son in possession of his father's property : 
 and verily the wood-cutter had slain the father of this horseman ; wherefore 1 have 
 enabled the son to take retaliation. And thereupon that prophet said, There is no 
 deity but Thou ! Extolled be thy perfection ! Thou art all-knowing witli respect to 
 secret things ! 17 
 
 [Next to the series of anecdotes from which the above are selected, follows the 
 Story of Hasib Kereem-ed-Deen, 18 or rather, a combination of the stories of Hasil>, 
 Bulookiya, and Janshah, ending with the five hundred and thirty-sixth Night. It is 
 
 15 At the cud of his prayers. See note 8 to sec the Kur-aan, ch. xviii. vv. 6-1 et seqq., corn- 
 Chapter xii. radioing, " And [coming to the rock] they found 
 
 16 That is, for the defence of religion. one of our servants." 
 
 ' This prophet was Moses. The story is also '" In the translations derived (through the 
 
 related hy El-Kazweenee, in tlif preface to his medium of the German) from Von Hammer's, 
 
 Aj:iih ol-Makhlookat. For a bettor one of the called "Jumasp." 
 Bamekind, more agreeing with Parudl's "Hermit, " 
 
 II. 4 E 
 
578 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER NINETEENTH. 
 
 mainly a compound of the most extravagant absurdities, and would, I think, be 
 extremely tedious to many readers of the present translation, with the exception of the 
 portion relating to Janshah ; but this is similar hi its general character, and in the 
 incidents upon which it is chiefly founded, to the Story of Hasan of El- Basrah, which 
 is one that I purpose to include in this work. I therefore pass on to the five hundred 
 and thirty-seventh Night, with which commences the Story of Es-Sindibad of the Sea 
 (the famous Voyager) and Es-Sindibad of the Land. 
 
 The stories which I omit in these volumes I do not consider destitute of interest or 
 value, nor should I regard them, with the exception of a few, as unworthy of being 
 presented to English readers, if some were abridged, and considerable alterations 
 were made in others, when the omission of gross passages would render them incoherent ; 
 but even if they were thus abridged and altered, I should not think it advisable to 
 introduce them in this collection, which is designed to comprise no tales that are greatly 
 inferior in interest to those in the old version.] 
 
 END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
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