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THE ARABIAN NIGHTS - TALES OF 1001 NIGHTS Part -5

  Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the fourteenth night, SHE CONTINUED:

 


    I have heard, O auspicious king, that THE DERVISH SAID TO THE LADY OF THE HOUSE:

 

    The princess took in her hand a knife inscribed with Hebrew characters and with this she cut a circle in the middle of the palace. Over this she wrote names, talismans and spells, and she recited words, some intelligible and some unintelligible. After a time, everything grew dark and the `ifrit came down on us in his own shape. His arms were like winnowing forks, his legs like the masts of ships and his eyes like firebrands. We shrank from him in fear, and the princess said: `There is no welcome for you,' at which he turned into a lion and said: `Traitress, you have broken the covenant and the oath. Did we not swear that neither of us would oppose the other?' `You accursed `ifrit,' she said, `am I bound to one like you?' `Take what comes to you,' said the `ifrit, and in his lion shape he opened its mouth and sprang at the girl. She quickly took one of her hairs, shook it in her hand and muttered a spell, so that the hair became a sharp sword. With this she struck a blow at the lion which cut it in two, but its head turned into a scorpion. For her part, the princess turned into a huge snake which attacked the damned `ifrit in his scorpion form. There was a fierce fight, and the scorpion turned into an eagle while the snake became a vulture. For some time the vulture pursued the eagle until it turned into a black cat. The princess then became a brindled wolf and for a time the two creatures fought together in the palace. Then the cat, finding itself beaten, became a large red pomegranate in the middle of the palace fountain. When the wolf came up to it, it rose in the air and fell on the palace floor where it burst, its seeds scattered, each in a different place, until they covered the floor. A shiver ran through the wolf and it became a cock, which started to pick the seeds so as not to leave a single one, but, as was fated, one of them was hidden by the side of the fountain.

 

    The cock then started to crow and to flap its wings, gesturing to us with its beak. We could not understand what it meant and it crowed so loudly that we thought that the palace had fallen in on us. Then it went all around the floor until it saw the grain concealed beside the fountain. It pounced on this to pick it up, but the grain slipped into the middle of the water in the fountain and became a fish which dived down to the bottom. The cock turned into a bigger fish and went down after it. This second fish vanished from sight for some time and then suddenly we heard a loud cry and a scream, which made us shudder. Then out came the `ifrit like a firebrand, with fire coming from his open mouth and fire and smoke from his eyes and nose. He was followed by the princess in the form of a huge burning coal and the two fought for a time until both were covered by thick flames and the palace was choked with smoke. We were terrified and were about to plunge into the water, fearing we might be burned to death. The king recited the formula: `There is no might and no power except with God, the Exalted, and the Omnipotent. We belong to God and to Him do we return.' He added: `I wish that I had not forced her to do this in order to rescue this ape, placing so huge a burden on her to confront this damned `ifrit, who cannot be matched by all the `ifrits to be found in the world. I wish that I had never known this ape ­ may God give him no blessing now or ever. I had wanted to do him a favour for God's sake and to free him from his spell, but my heart has been weighed down by misfortune.'

 

    Meanwhile, I myself, lady, was tongue-tied and could not say anything to him. Then, before we knew what was happening, there was a shout from beneath the flames and the `ifrit was there in the hall with us, blowing fire into our faces. The princess caught up with him and blew back fire at him, while we were struck by sparks from both of them. Her sparks did us no harm, but one of his caught me in the eye while I was still in my ape form and blinded it. Another spark struck the king's face, half of which it burned, together with his beard and lower jaw, while all his lower teeth fell out. Yet another fell on the chest of the eunuch and he was immediately burned to death.

 

    We were sure that we were about to die, but in the midst of our despair we heard a voice extolling God and adding: `He has given victory and aid and has confounded those who disbelieve in the religion of Muhammad, the radiant moon.' This voice belonged to none other than the princess, who had burnt the `ifrit, reducing him to a pile of ashes. She came up to us and said: `Bring me a cup of water.' When this had been fetched, she spoke some incomprehensible words over it, sprinkled me with the water and said: `I conjure you by the Truth, and by the greatest Name of God, return freely to your original shape.' A shudder ran through me and suddenly I had gone back to being a man, although I had lost one eye.

 

    The princess then cried out: `The fire, father, the fire! I have not much longer to live. I have not been used to fighting with a jinni, although, had he been human, I would have killed him long ago. I was not in difficulty until the pomegranate burst and I picked up the seeds, but I forgot the one which contained the `ifrit's life. Had I picked it up in time, he would have died instantly, but I did not know what fate had ordained. Then he came back and we fought a hard battle under the earth, in the sky and in the water. Every time I tried a spell, he would reply with another, until he tried the spell of fire, and there are few who escape when this is used against them. Then destiny came to my aid and I burned him up before he could burn me, after I had summoned him to accept the religion of Islam. But now I am a dead woman may God recompense you for my loss.' Then she cried for help against the fire and went on crying as a black spark leapt up to her breast and from there to her face. When it got there, she wept and recited: `I bear witness that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is the Prophet of God.' We looked at her and all of a sudden she had become a pile of ashes lying beside those of the `ifrit. We grieved for her and I wished that I could have taken the place of my benefactress rather than see her beautiful face reduced to ashes, but God's decrees are not to be revoked.

 

    On seeing what had happened to his daughter, the king plucked out what was left of his beard, struck his face and tore his clothes, as did I, and we both wept for her. The chamberlains and officers of state arrived to find the two piles of ashes and the king lying unconscious. For a time they stood around him in amazement and when he recovered and told what had happened to the princess in her encounter with the `ifrit, they were filled with distress and the women and the slave girls all screamed.

 

    After seven days of mourning, the king gave orders for a huge dome to be built over his daughter's ashes, which was lit with candles and lamps, while the `ifrit's ashes were scattered in the air, subject to God's wrath. The king then fell ill and was at the point of death, but he recovered after a month and his beard grew again. He sent for me and said: `Young man, I passed my days living at ease, protected from the calamities of time, until you came here. How I wish that I had never set eyes on you or your ugly face, for it is you who have brought me to ruin. Firstly, I have lost my daughter, who was worth a hundred men. It was you whom my daughter rescued at the cost of her own life. Secondly, I was injured by fire; I lost my teeth, and my servant died. I recognize that none of this was your fault: all that happened to you and to me came from God ­ to whom be praise. But now, my son, leave my land, for you has caused enough suffering, as was fated for me and for you. Go in peace, but if you come back and I see you again, I shall kill you.'

 

    He shouted at me and I left his presence, scarcely believing that I had escaped and without knowing where to go. I thought over what had happened to me ­ how I had been abandoned on my journey, how I had escaped from my attackers, how I had walked for a month before entering the city as a stranger, how I had met the tailor and then the girl in the underground chamber, and how I had escaped from the `ifrit who had wanted to kill me. I relived all my emotions from the beginning to the end and I gave praise to God, saying: `It has cost me my eye but not my life.' Before quitting the city, I went to the baths and shaved off my beard, after which I put on a black hair shirt and poured dust over my head. There is not a day on which I do not weep, thinking of the disasters that have struck me and of the loss of my eye. Every time I think of this, I shed tears and recite these lines:

 

    By God, the Merciful, surely my affair bewilders me;

    I do not know the source of sorrows that have surrounded me.

    I shall endure until endurance itself cannot match mine,

    I shall endure until endurance itself cannot match mine,

    Continuing until God closes my affairs.

    I may be conquered, but I shall not show pain,

    As a thirsty man endures in a hot valley.

    I shall endure until endurance itself learns

    I can endure what is more bitter than aloes,

    Itself the bitterest of all,

    But bitterer than all this would be for patience to betray me.

    The secrets of my secret heart are its interpreter;

    At the heart of the secret is my heart's secret love for you.

    Were mountains to feel my sorrow, they would be crushed;

    Fire would be quenched and winds would cease to blow.

    Whoever claims that Time holds sweetness

    Must sometime meet a day more bitter than aloes.

 

    After that, I wandered through the world visiting cities and making for Baghdad, the House of Peace, in the hope of reaching the Commander of the Faithful and telling him what had happened to me. I arrived at the city tonight and there I found this first companion of mine standing in perplexity. I greeted him and talked to him and then our third companion arrived, greeted us and told us that he was a stranger. `So are we,' the two of us said, `and we have only just come on this blessed night.' The three of us then walked together without knowing each other's stories until fate brought us to this door and we came into your presence. This, then, is the reason why my beard and moustache have been shaven and my eye gouged out. `Yours is a strange story,' said the lady of the house. `You can touch your forelock and go on your way.' `Not before I have heard my companions' stories,' he replied, at which THE THIRD DERVISH STEPPED FORWARD AND SAID:

 

    Great lady, my tale is not like theirs but is more wonderful and more marvellous, and it explains the reason for the shaving of my beard and the plucking out of my eye. They both were victims of fate, but I brought this fate upon myself, burdening my own soul with sorrow. I was a king and the son of a king. After my father's death, I succeeded to the throne, ruled justly and treated my subjects well. I was fond of sailing and my city lay on the shore of a broad sea, in the middle of which many large islands were scattered, and I had fifty merchant ships, fifty smaller pleasure boats and a hundred and fifty warships. It so happened, that I decided to go on a pleasure trip to the islands and I set out with ten ships, taking provisions for a whole month. We had been sailing for twenty days when, one night, cross winds blew against us and the sea became very rough, with tumultuous waves, and we were plunged into thick darkness. Despairing of life, I said: `A man who courts danger is not to be praised, even if he comes out safely.' We called on Almighty God and implored His help, but the wind continued to shift and the waves to clash together until daybreak. The wind then dropped; the sea became calm and the sun came out.

 

    Looking out, we found ourselves by an island and so we landed on the shore, cooked and ate a meal and rested for two days. We then sailed on for another twenty days, when the currents turned against us and, as the captain of my ship did not recognize where we were, we told the lookout to climb to the crow's-nest to scan the sea. He went up the mast and shouted to the captain that to the right he could see fish on the surface, while at some distance away there was a dark shape, showing surface, sometimes as black and sometimes as white. When the captain heard this, he dashed his turban on the deck, tore out hairs from his beard and said: `Good news! We are all dead men; not one of us can escape.' He started to cry, and we all joined in, weeping for ourselves.

 

    I then asked the captain what it was that the lookout had seen. `Master,' he said, `we went off course on the day of the gale when the wind did not die down until the following morning. That meant that we were off course for two days, and since that night we have been astray for eleven days, with no wind to blow us back on course. Tomorrow evening we shall come to an island of black stone that is called the Magnetic Mountain. The currents will force us under its lee and the ship will split apart, nails being drawn out to attach themselves to the rock. This is because God Almighty has set in it a secret power that attracts everything made of iron and God only knows how much of the metal is there, thanks to the many ships that have been wrecked on the rock over the course of time. By the shore there is a vaulted dome of brass set on ten columns and on top of this is a rider and his horse, both made of brass. In his hand the rider carries a brass lance and to his breast is fixed a lead tablet inscribed with names and talismans. It is this rider, O king,' he went on, `who kills everyone who comes his way, and there is no escape unless the rider falls from his horse.'

 

    At that, my lady, the captain wept bitterly and we were convinced that we were doomed. Each of us said farewell to his comrades and left is final instructions in case one should escape. We had no sleep that night and when morning came, we found ourselves close to the mountain. Then the force of the currents took us and when our ships were under the cliffs, they split apart, the nails and every iron object aboard being drawn towards the magnetic rock, to which they stuck. By the end of the day, we were drifting in the water around the mountain, and although some of us still lived, most were drowned, while the survivors could scarcely recognize each other, stunned as they were by the force of the waves and the gusts of wind. As for me, Almighty God preserved my life as it was His intention to distress, torture and afflict me further. I clung to a plank that was driven by the wind until was blown ashore. There I found a beaten track, like a staircase carved in the mountain, leading to the summit. I pronounced the Name of Almighty God...

 

Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the fifteenth night, SHE CONTINUED:

 

    I have heard, O auspicious king that, while the other guests waited, tied up with slaves standing by their heads with drawn swords, THE THIRD DERVISH SAID:

 

    I pronounced the Name of God and called on Him with supplication. Then, gripping the cracks in the rock, I gradually managed to climb up. At that point, by God's permission, the wind died down and He helped me to make my way in safety until I reached the summit, where the only path that I could take led to the dome. I went in and then performed the ritual ablution as well as two rak`as in gratitude to God for bringing me to safety, after which I fell asleep under its shelter. In my sleep, I heard a voice saying: `Ibn Khadib, when you wake, dig beneath your feet and you will find a bow of brass with three lead arrows, on which are inscribed talismans. Take the bow and the arrows and shoot the rider on top of the dome, for in this way you will rescue people from great distress. When you shoot him, he will fall into the sea and the bow will drop at your feet. Take it and bury it where you found it, and when you do this the sea will swell higher and higher, until it comes level with the mountain top. A little boat will then come up in which will be a man of brass ­ but not the one whom you shot. He will come to you with an oar in his hand and you must board his boat, but you are not to pronounce the Name of Almighty God. The man will row you for ten days and bring you to the Sea of Safety, where you will find someone to take you back to your own land, but all this will happen only if you do not mention the Name of God.'

 

    When I awoke, I got up eagerly and did what the voice had told me. I shot the horseman and when he fell into the sea, the bow dropped at my feet and I took it and buried it. The sea then stirred and rose higher until it was level with me on the mountain, and before I had waited long, I saw a little boat making its way towards me, at which I called down praises on Almighty God. When it arrived, I found in it a man of brass with a lead tablet on his breast, inscribed with names and talismans. I boarded it silently, without speaking, and the brass sailor rowed day after day for the full ten days. Then, looking out, to my great joy, I saw the Islands of Safety. Because of the intensity of my joy, I invoked the Name of God, reciting the formula: `There is no god but God,' and crying: `Allahu akbar!' As soon as I did this, the boat tipped me into the sea and then itself overturned.

 

    I knew how to swim, however, and so I swam all that day until nightfall, by which time my arms could no longer support me and my shoulders were tired. Exhausted and in mortal danger, I recited the confession of faith, being sure that I was about to die. A violent wind stirred up the sea and I was carried on by a wave as big as a castle, which hurled me on to the land in accordance with God's will. I climbed up on the shore, where I squeezed out my wet clothes, spreading them out on the ground to dry overnight. The next morning, I put them on and went to see where I could walk. I came to a valley, only to discover, after walking round the edge of it, that I was on a small island surrounded by sea. `Every time that I escape from one predicament,' I said to myself, `I fall into another that is worse.'

 

    While I was thinking over my plight and wishing that I was dead, at a distance I caught sight of a ship with people on it which was making for my island. I got up and sat in a tree, and from there I saw that the ship had come to land, and out of it emerged ten black slaves, each carrying a spade. They walked to the centre of the island where they dug until they had uncovered a trapdoor, which they raised up. They then went back to the ship and returned with bread, flour, butter, honey, sheep and utensils that someone living in the underground chamber would need. The slaves kept on going to and fro from the ship until they had moved all its cargo to the chamber. They then came back bringing the very finest of clothes and in the middle of them was a very old man, a skeletal figure, crushed by Time and worn away. He was wearing a tattered blue robe through which the winds blew west and east, as the poet has said:

 

    What shudders are produced by Time,

     And Time is strong and violent!

    I used to walk without weakness,

    But now I am weak and cannot walk.

 

The old man's hand was being held by a youth cast in the mould of splendour and perfection to the extent that his beauty deserved to be proverbial. He was like a tender branch, enchanting every heart with his grace and enslaving all minds with his coquetry. As the poet has said:

 

    Beauty was brought to be measured against him,

    But bowed its head in shame.

    It was asked: `Have you seen anything like this,

    Beauty?' It answered: `No.'

 

    They walked on, lady, until they reached the underground chamber and went down into it. They stayed out of sight for an hour or more, and then the slaves and the old man came up, but the youth was not with them. They closed the door of the chamber as it had been before, after which they got into the boat and sailed out of sight. I climbed down from my tree and walked to the pile of earth, where I excavated the soil, removed it and worked patiently until I had cleared it all away. There was the trapdoor, made of wood and as big as a millstone. When I lifted it, I could see under it, to my astonishment, a vaulted stone staircase. Down this I went until I reached the bottom and there I found a clean chamber furnished with rugs and silks in which the youth was sitting on a raised dais, leaning back against a round cushion, holding a fan in his hand, with nosegays and scented herbs set before him. He was alone and when he saw me, he turned pale. I greeted him and said: `Calm yourself; don't be alarmed. I mean you no harm. I am a mortal like you, and the son of a king, who has been brought to you by fate to cheer you in your loneliness. What is your story and how is it that you come to be living alone underground?'

 

    When he was sure that I was a man like himself, his colour returned and he let me approach him. Then he said: `My brother, my story is a strange one. My father is a merchant jeweller, who engages in trade, with slaves, black and white, acting for him, sailing to the furthest of lands with his goods, travelling with camels and carrying vast stores of wealth. He had never had a son, but then in a dream he saw that, although he would have one, this son would be short-lived. He woke in the morning after his dream, crying and weeping, and it was on the following night that my mother conceived me, a date that my father noted. When the period of her pregnancy ended, she gave birth to me, to his delight. He gave banquets and fed the mendicants and the poor because, so near the end of his life, he had been granted this gift. Then he summoned all the astrologers and astronomers, the sages and those who could cast a horoscope. They investigated my horoscope and told my father: "Your son will live for fifteen years, after which he will be faced by a danger, but if he escapes, his life will be a long one. The cause of his death will be as follows. In the Sea of Destruction is the Magnetic Mountain on top of which stands a horse of brass with a rider on whose chest is a lead tablet. Fifty days after this rider falls from his horse, your son will die, killed by the man who shoots the rider, his name being `Ajib ibn Khadib." This caused my father great distress, but he gave me the best of upbringings until I reached the age of fifteen. Then, ten days ago, he heard that the rider had fallen into the sea and that the name of the man who had shot him was `Ajib, son of King Khadib. In his fear lest I be killed, my father brought me here. This is my story and this is why I am here all alone.'

 

    When I heard this, I was astonished and I said to myself: `I was the man who shot the rider, but by God I shall never kill this youth.' Speaking aloud, I said: `Master, may you be preserved from disease and destruction, and if God Almighty wills it, you shall not see care, sorrow or confusion. I shall sit with you and serve you and then, having kept company with you throughout this period, I shall go on my way and you can take me to some of your mamluks, with whom I can travel back to my own lands.' I sat talking to him until nightfall, when I got up, set

light to a large candle and lit the lamps. After having brought out some food, we sat down to a meal, and we then ate some sweetmeats which I had produced. We sat talking until most of the night had passed, when the youth went to sleep. I put a covering over him and settled down to sleep myself.

 

    In the morning, I got up, heated some water and gently woke my companion. When he was awake, I brought him the hot water and he washed his face and thanked me. `By God,' he said, `when I am free from my present danger and safe from `Ajib ibn Khadib, I shall ask my father to reward you, but if I die, may my blessing be on you even so.' I replied: `May there never be a day on which evil strikes you and may God will it that the day of my death comes before yours.' I produced some food and we ate and I got him to perfume himself with incense. Then I made a draughts board for him and, after eating some sweetmeats, he and I started to play, going on until nightfall, when I got up, lit the lamps and brought out some more food. I sat talking to him until only a little was left of the night, when he fell asleep, after which I covered him up and slept myself. I went on doing this for a period of days and nights, becoming fond of him and forgetting my cares. `The astrologers lied,' I said to myself, `for by God I shall never kill this boy.'

 

    I continued to serve him, to act as his companion and to talk with him for thirty-nine days until the night of the fortieth day. The youth was full of gladness and said to me: `Thanks be to God, my brother, Who has saved me from death, and this is because of your blessing and the blessing brought by your arrival. I pray that God may restore you to your own land.' He then asked me to heat him water for a bath, which I willingly agreed to do. I warmed up a great quantity of water and brought it to him. He had a good bath, using lupine flour, and I helped by rubbing him down and bringing him a change of clothes, after which I made up a high couch for him. He came and lay down to sleep there after his bath, saying: `Brother, cut me up a melon and dissolve some sugar in its juice.' I went to the store cupboard and found a fine melon, which I put on a plate. `Master,' I said to him, `do you have a knife?' `It is on this high shelf above my head,' he replied. So I got up quickly, took the knife and drew it from its sheath, but as I went back, I tripped. With the knife in my hand, I fell on top of the youth and, in accordance with the eternal decree, it quickly penetrated his heart and he died on the spot.

 

    When this happened and I realized that I had killed him, I uttered a loud cry, beat my face and tore my clothes, saying: `To God we belong and to Him do we return. O Muslims, this handsome youth had only a single night left of the dangerous period of forty days that the astrologers and sages had predicted for him, and his death came at my astrologers and sages had predicted for him, and his death came at my hands. How I wish I had not tried to cut this melon. This is an agonizing disaster, but it came about in order that God's decree might be fulfilled.'

 

Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the sixteenth night, SHE CONTINUED:

 

    I have heard, O auspicious king, that THE DERVISH TOLD THE LADY OF THE HOUSE:

 

    When I knew for certain that I had killed him, I got up, climbed the stairs and replaced the soil. Then I looked out to sea and caught sight of the ship making for the shore. I said fearfully: `Now they will come and find the boy dead. They will know that it was I who killed him and they will be bound to kill me.' I made for a high tree, which I climbed, concealing myself among the leaves, and scarcely had I settled there than the black slaves and the youth's old father disembarked and went towards the hidden chamber. They cleared away the earth, found the trapdoor and went down. There they found the youth apparently asleep, his face glowing with the effect of his bath, dressed in clean clothes but with the knife plunged into his breast. They shrieked, wept, struck their faces, wailing and lamenting. The old man fainted for so long that the slaves thought that he would not survive his son. They wrapped the corpse of the youth in his clothes, covered him in a silken sheet and returned to the boat. Behind them came the old man, but when he saw his son laid out, he fell to the ground, poured earth on his head, struck his face and plucked out his beard, while the thought that his son had been killed caused his tears to flow faster and he fainted again. One of the slaves got up and spread a piece of silk on a couch, upon which they laid the old man and then sat by his head.

 

    While all this was going on, I was in the tree above them, watching what was happening. Because of the cares and sorrows that I had suffered, my heart turned grey before my hair and I recited:

 

    How many hidden acts of grace does God perform

    Whose secrets are too subtle to be grasped by clever men?

    How often in the morning trouble comes,

    While in the evening follows joy?

    How many times does hardship turn to ease,

    As pleasure follows the sad heart's distress?

 

    The old man did not recover from his swoon until it was close to evening. Then, looking at the body of his son, he saw that what he had feared had come to pass. He slapped his face and his head and recited these lines:

 

    The loved ones left me with a broken heart,

    And floods of tears rain from my eyes.

    My longing is for what lies distant, but, alas,

    How can I reach this? What can I say or do?

    I wish that I had not set eyes on them.

    What can I do, my masters, in these narrow paths?

    How can I find my solace in forgetfulness?

    The blazing fire of love plays with my heart.

    I wish we had been joined by death

    I wish we had been joined by death

    In an inseparable link.

    In God's Name, slanderer, go slow;

    Join me with them while this can still be done.

    How pleasantly we were sheltered by one roof,

    Living a life of constant ease, until

    Arrows of separation struck and parted us.

    And who is there with power to endure them?

    A blow struck us through the dearest of all men,

    Perfect in beauty, unique in his age.

    I called him ­ but the silent voice preceded me.

    My son, would that your fate had not arrived.

    How may I rush to ransom you, my son,

    With my own life, were that acceptable?

    I say: he is the sun, and the sun sets.

    I say: he is the moon, and moons decline.

    The days bring sorrow and distress for you.

    I cannot do without you. None can take your place.

    Your father longs for you, but you are dead,

    And he is helpless. The envious look at us today

    To see what they have done; how evil was their deed!

 

At that, with a deep sigh his soul parted from his body. `O master,' cried the slaves, and, pouring dust on their heads, they wept more and more bitterly. Then they put his body on the ship beside that of his son and, unfurling the sail, they passed out of sight. I came down from the tree, went through the trapdoor and thought about the youth. Seeing some of his belongings, I recited:

 

    I see their traces and so melt with longing,

    Weeping in places where they used to dwell.

    I ask God, Who decreed that they should leave,

    That one day He may grant that they return?

 

    I then went out and passed my time wandering around the island by day and going into the underground chamber by night. In this way a month went by and, as I looked out over the western tip of the island, I could see that with every day that passed the water was drying up. Eventually there was very little of it left to the west and there was no longer any current. By the end of the month, to my joy, the sea had dried up in that direction and, sure that I was now safe, I got up and waded through what water was left until I reached the mainland. There I encountered sand dunes in which camels would sink up to their hocks, but, steeling myself, I managed to cross them, and then far off I caught a glimpse of a fire burning brightly. I made for it, hoping to find relief. Meanwhile I recited:

 

    It may perhaps be that Time will direct its reins

    Towards some good ­ but Time is envious.

    Were it to aid hopes and fulfil my needs,

    It might bring pleasure after this distress.

 

    When my course brought me nearer, I saw a palace with a door of brass which, when the sun shone on it, gleamed from a distance like fire. I was delighted at the sight and sat down opposite the door. Scarcely had I taken my seat when there came towards me ten young men, wearing splendid clothes, with a very old companion. All the young men had lost their right eyes, and I was astonished by their appearance and at this coincidence. When they saw me they greeted me and asked me about myself and about my story. They were amazed when I told them what had happened to me and of my misfortunes, and they then brought me into the palace. Ranged around the hall were ten couches, each spread with and covered in blue material. In the middle of these was a small couch whose coverings, like those of the others, was also blue.

 

    When we entered the room, each of the young men went to his own couch and the old man went to the small one in the middle. He told me to sit down, but warned me not to ask questions about him and his companions or why they were one-eyed. He then brought food for each man in one container and drink in another and he did the same for me. After that, they sat asking me about my circumstances and my adventures, and their questions and my replies took up most of the night. Then they said: `Shaikh, bring us our due.' `Willingly,' the old man replied, and after going away into a closet, he came back carrying on his head ten trays, each with a covering of blue, and gave one to each of the young men. Then he lit ten candles, fixing one to each tray, and removed the covers. There beneath the covers on the trays was nothing but ashes and grime from cooking pots. All the young men rolled up their sleeves and, with tears and sobs, they smeared and slapped their faces, tore their clothes and beat their breasts, saying: `We were seated at our ease but our inquisitiveness did not leave us.' They went on doing this until it was nearly morning, when the old man got up and heated water for them with which they washed their faces before putting on fresh clothes.

 

    When I saw this, I said: `I am astonished, amazed and afire with curiosity.' I forgot what had happened to me and, unable to keep silent, I asked them: `Why have you done this, after we had become pleasantly tired? You are men of sound minds ­ praise be to God ­ and it is only madmen who act like this. I implore you by what you hold dearest to tell me your story and why you have lost your eyes and why you smear your faces with ashes and grime.' They turned to me and said: `Young man, do not be led astray by your youth and do not press your question.' Then they got up and so did I, after which the old man brought out food, and when we had eaten and the plates had been removed, they sat talking until nightfall. The old man then rose and lit candles and lamps, before bringing us food and drink.

 

    We sat talking in a friendly way to one another until midnight. `Bring us our due,' they then told the old man, `as it is time for sleep.' He brought the trays with the black ashes and they did what they had done on the first night. The same thing went on for a whole month while I stayed with them, as every night they would smear their faces with ashes before washing them and then changing their clothes. I was astonished at this and became more and more uneasy, to the extent that I could neither eat nor drink. `Young men,' I said, `you must satisfy my concern and tell me why it is that you smear your faces.' They said: `It is better to keep our secret hidden,' but as I was too perplexed to eat or drink, I insisted that they tell me. `This will go hard with you,' they replied, `as you will become like us.' `There is no help for it,' I said, `unless you allow me to leave you and go back to my family, so that I may no longer have to watch all this. As the proverb has it, it is better for me to be far away from you, for what the eye does not see the heart does not grieve over.' At this, they took a ram, slaughtered it and skinned it, then told me to take a knife, wrap the skin around me and sew it up. They went on: `A bird called a rukh will swoop on you and lift you up, before setting you down on a mountain, where you should slit open the skin and come out. The bird will be scared away from you and will go off, leaving you alone. Walk on for half a day and you will find in front of you a strange-looking palace. Enter it and you will have achieved what you wanted, as it was because we went into it that we blacken our faces and each of us has lost an eye. It would take a long time to explain all this, as each of us has a tale to tell of how his right eye was plucked out.'

 

    I was pleased when I heard this, and after I had done what they had instructed, the bird came and carried me off, leaving me on the mountain top. I got out of the skin and walked on until I reached the palace, where I found forty girls, beautiful as moons, at whom no one could tire of looking. On seeing me, they all greeted me warmly. `We have been expecting you for a month,' they said, `and praise be to God Who has brought us one who deserves us and whom we deserve.' They seated me on a high dais and said: `Today you are our lord and master and we are your slave girls, under your command, so give us your orders.' I was astonished by all this, but they brought me food and we ate together, after which they fetched drink. They clustered around me and five of them spread out a mat around which they set out quantities of scented flowers, together with fruits, fresh and dried. Then they brought wine and we sat down to drink as they sang to the music of the lute.

 

    The wine circulated and such was my delight that I forgot all worldly cares. `This is the life,' I said, and I stayed with them until it was time to cares. `This is the life,' I said, and I stayed with them until it was time to sleep. `Take whichever of us you choose to sleep with you,' they said. So I took one of them, with a beautiful face, dark eyes, black hair, well- spaced teeth, perfect in all aspects, with joining eyebrows, like a supple bough or a sprig of sweet basil, astonishing and amazing the mind. As the poet has said:

 

    It shows ignorance to compare her to a tender branch,

    And how far is she unlike a gazelle!

    How can the dear gazelle have a form like hers

    Or honeyed lips like hers ­ how sweet a drink ­

    Or her wide eyes, that act as murderers,

    Capturing the desperate lover, tortured and then slain?

    I yearn for her; mine is a heathen love;

    No wonder that the lovesick is in love.

 

    I recited to her:

 

    My eyes see nothing but your loveliness;

    Apart from you no thought enters my heart,

    For every thought of mine is fixed on you;

    In your love is my death and my rebirth.

 

I then got up and spent a night of unsurpassed pleasure sleeping with her. In the morning, the girls took me to the baths, washed me and gave me the most splendid of clothes to wear. Then they brought out food and drink and we ate and drank, the wine circulating until nightfall. This time I chose another lovely, pliant girl. As the poet describes:

 

    I saw upon her breast two caskets sealed with musk,

    Withheld from any lover's grasp,

    Guarded with arrows she shoots from her eyes ­

    Arrows that strike down any who attack.

 

I passed the most delightful of nights, sleeping with her until dawn. In short, my lady, I spent a whole year with these girls, enjoying a carefree life, but as the next year began, they said: `Would that we had never known you, but if you listen to us you can save yourself.' They then started to weep and when I asked them what the matter was, they explained: `We are the daughters of kings, and we have been gathered together here for a period of years. We go away for forty days and then stay here for a year, eating, drinking, enjoying ourselves and taking our pleasure, after which we go off again. This is our custom and we are afraid that when we leave you, you will not do what we tell you. Here are the keys of the palace, which we are handing over to you. In the palace are forty rooms, thirty-nine of which you may enter, but you must take care not to open the door of the fortieth, or else you will be forced to leave us.' `If that is so,' I said, `then I shall certainly not open it.'

 

    One of them then came to me, embraced me, wept and recited the lines:

 

    If after separation we come close again,

    The frown upon Time's face will turn into a smile.

    If a sight of you serves as kohl for my eyes,

    I shall forgive Time all its evil deeds.

    I shall forgive Time all its evil deeds.

 

    Then I recited:

 

    When she came close to say farewell, she and her heart

    Were allies there to longing and to love.

    She wept moist pearls, while my tears, as they flowed,

    Were like carnelians, forming a necklace on her breast.

 

    On seeing the girls' tears, I swore that I would never open the forbidden room, and after I had said goodbye, they went outside and flew away. So I sat in the palace by myself and when evening approached, I opened the door to the first chamber and went in. There I found a virtual paradise, a garden with green trees, ripe fruits, tuneful birds and gushing waters. I felt at rest as I walked among the trees, smelling sweet-scented flowers and listening to the song of the birds as they glorified the One God, the Omnipotent. I looked at apples whose colour was midway between red and yellow, as the poet has said:

 

    An apple's nature has combined two shades ­

    The beloved's cheek and the complexion of the timorous lover.

 

Then I looked at quinces that put to shame the scent of musk and ambergris, as the poet has said:

 

    Within the quince are all mankind's delights;

    Its fame surpasses every other fruit.

    Its taste is wine and its scent diffused musk,

    Golden in colour, shaped like the full moon.

  

I then looked at apricots whose beauty delighted the eye like polished rubies, and after that I left the chamber and locked the door again. Next day I opened the door to the second chamber, went in and found a large space, with date palms and a flowing stream whose banks were carpeted with rose bushes, jasmine, marjoram, eglantine, narcissus and gillyflowers. Breezes passed over these scented flowers and the scent spread in all directions, filling me with perfect happiness. I left this chamber, locked the door behind me and opened the third. Here I found a hall, paved with coloured marble, valuable minerals and precious stones. In it were cages of sandalwood and aloes wood, with singing birds, such as the nightingale, the ringdove, blackbirds, turtledoves and the Nubian song thrush. I was delighted by this; my cares were dispelled and I slept there until morning. Then I opened the fourth door to discover a large chamber with forty closets whose doors were standing open. I went in and saw an indescribable quantity of pearls, sapphires, topazes, emeralds and other precious stones. In my astonishment I exclaimed: `I do not think that there is a single king who has all this in his treasury.' Joy filled me, my cares leaving me, and I said: `I am the supreme ruler of the age; my wealth is a gift granted me by God's grace; the forty girls are under my authority, and they have no other man besides me.' I went from place to place until thirty-nine days had passed, during which time I had opened all the rooms except for the one whose door I had been told not to open.

 

    This one, which made the number up to forty, preoccupied me and, in order to bring me misery, Satan incited me to open it. I could not hold out against this, and so with only one day left before the girls were due out against this, and so with only one day left before the girls were due to return, I went to the chamber, opened the door and went in. I found a fragrance the like of which I had never smelt before. It overcame my senses and I fell down in a faint, which lasted for an hour. Then I plucked up my courage and went further into the room, whose floor I found spread with saffron. Light was given by lamps of gold and candles from which was diffused the scent of musk and ambergris, and I saw two huge censers, each filled with aloes wood, ambergris and honeyed perfume whose scent filled the room. I saw a horse, black as darkest night, in front of which was a manger of clear crystal, filled with husked sesame, together with a similar manger filled with rosewater scented with musk. The horse was harnessed and bridled and its saddle was of red gold.

 

    When I saw this, I was astonished and said to myself: `There must be something of great importance here.' Satan led me further astray and so I took hold of the horse and mounted it. It didn't move and so I kicked it, and when it still refused to move, I took the whip and struck it. As soon as it felt the blow, it neighed with a sound like rumbling thunder and, opening up a pair of wings, it flew off with me, carrying me up into the sky way above the ground. After a time, it set me down on a flat roof and whisked its tail across my face, striking out my right eye and causing it to slide down my cheek. It then left me and I came down from the roof to find the ten one-eyed youths. `No welcome to you,' they said. `Here I am,' I replied. `I have become like you, and I want you to give me a tray of grime with which to blacken my face and to let me sit with you.' `No, by God,' they said, `you may not do that. Get out!'

 

    They drove me away, leaving me in dire straits, thinking over the misfortunes that had overtaken me. I was sad at heart and tearful when I parted from them, and I said to myself in a low voice: `I was resting at my ease, but my inquisitiveness would not leave me.' So I shaved off my beard and whiskers and wandered from place to place. God decreed that I should remain safe and I reached Baghdad yesterday evening, where I found these two men standing in perplexity. I greeted them and introduced myself as a stranger. `We too are strangers,' they said, so we agreed to go together, all of us being dervishes and all being blind in the right eye. This, lady, is why I am clean shaven and have lost my eye.

 

`You can touch your forelock and go,' she told him, but he replied: `Not before I have heard what these other people have to say.'

 

    The lady of the house then turned to the caliph, Ja`far and Masrur and said: `Tell me your story.' Ja`far came forward and told her the story that he had told to the doorkeeper when they entered and when she heard this, she allowed them all to leave. In the lane outside, the caliph asked the dervishes where they were proposing to go as dawn had not yet broken. When they said that they did not know, he told them to come and spend the night with him. `Take them,' he said to Ja`far, `and bring them to me in the morning, so that we may write down what has happened.' Ja`far did as he was told and the caliph went up to his palace, but found himself unable to sleep that night.

 

    In the morning, he took his seat on the imperial throne, and when his officials had assembled, he turned to Ja`far and told him to bring the three ladies, the two bitches and the three dervishes. Ja`far got up and brought them all, the ladies being veiled. Ja`far turned to them and said: `You are forgiven because of your earlier kindness, although you did not know who we were. I can tell you now that you are standing before the fifth of the caliphs of the Banu `Abbas, Harun al-Rashid, the brother of Musa al-Hadi and son of al-Mahdi Muhammad, the son of Abu Ja`far al-Mansur, the son of Muhammad, the brother of al-Saffah, son of Muhammad. You are to tell nothing but the truth.'

 

    When the ladies heard what Ja`far had said as spokesman for the Commander of the Faithful, the eldest of them came forward and said to the caliph: `Commander of the Faithful, mine is a story which, were it written with needles on the inner corners of the eyeballs of mankind, would serve as a warning to those who take heed and counsel to those who profit from counsel.'

 

Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the seventeenth night, SHE CONTINUED:

 

    I have heard, O auspicious king, that when the lady of the house stood before the caliph, SHE SAID:

 

    Mine is a strange story. The two black bitches are my sisters. Three of us were full sisters and these two, the doorkeeper and the housekeeper, were born of a different mother. When our father died, each of us took her share of the inheritance. Some days later, my mother died, leaving us three thousand dinars, and so each of us, I being the youngest, inherited a thousand dinars. My sisters were thus equipped with dowries and each married. Their husbands stayed for a time, but then they collected trade goods and, each of them taking a thousand dinars from his wife, they all went off on a voyage together, leaving me behind. They his wife, they all went off on a voyage together, leaving me behind. They were away for five years, during which time the men lost their money and were ruined, abandoning their wives in foreign parts.

 

    After five years, my eldest sister came to me in the most squalid of states, dressed as a beggar, with tattered clothes and a dirty old shawl. When I saw her, I didn't recognize her at first and took no notice of her. Then, realizing who she was, I asked her what had happened, but she said: `It is no use talking, sister, the pen of fate has written God's decree.' So I sent her to the baths, gave her clothes to wear and said: `Sister, you have been given to me in exchange for my father and mother. My share of what the three of us inherited has been blest by God and it has allowed me to thrive and become prosperous. You and I are equal partners.' I treated her with all kindness and she stayed with me for a whole year.

 

    We were concerned about our other sister, but it was not long before she too arrived in an even worse plight than the eldest. I treated her even better than I had treated her sister and both of them shared in my wealth. Sometime later, they told me that they wanted to marry again as they could not bear to remain without husbands. `My dears,' I said, `there is no longer any benefit to be got from marriage and good men are hard to find now. I don't see any advantage in your proposal and you have already had experience of marriage.' My sisters did not accept that and married without my approval although I covered all their costs. They then left with their husbands, who very soon afterwards played them false, took all that they had and went off, abandoning them.

 

    Once again they came back to me, covered in shame, apologized and said: `Don't blame us. You may be younger than us but you are more intelligent; we shall never again mention marriage, so take us as your intelligent; we shall never again mention marriage, so take us as your slave girls that we may have a bite to eat.' `Welcome, sisters,' I said. `No one is dearer to me than you.' And I kissed them and honoured them even more than before. This went on for a full year, after which I decided to fit out a ship to go to Basra. I chose a large one and loaded it with goods, merchandise and everything needed for the voyage. I asked my sisters whether they would prefer to sit at home until I returned from my voyage or whether they would like to come with me. `We will go with you,' they said, `as we cannot bear to be parted from you,' and so I took them along.

 

    I had divided my wealth in two, taking half with me and leaving the other half behind, with the idea that, were the ship to be wrecked and we survived, there would be something to support us on our return. We sailed for some days and nights, but the ship then went astray as the captain had not kept to the right course and without realizing it, we were sailing in the wrong direction. This went on for some time and over a period of ten days we had fair winds. After that, the lookout climbed up to investigate; he called out: `Good news!' and came down full of joy

and told us that he had seen what looked like a city resembling a dove. We were delighted and, within an hour, we could see the place in the distance. We asked the captain its name, but he said: `By God, I don't know. I have never seen it before and never in my life have I sailed on this sea. But things have turned out safely and all we have to do is put in to harbour. Look out your merchandise and if you can sell, sell and then buy up whatever is there; if that does not work, we can rest here for two days, buy provisions and go on with our voyage.'

 

    We put in and the captain went up to the city. He was away for a time and when he came back he told us: `Come up and wonder at what God has done to those He created, and seek refuge from His anger.' We went to the city and when we came to the gate, we saw that it was guarded by men with sticks in their hands, but when we got nearer we found that they had been turned to stone, while in the city itself we found that everyone had been transformed to black stone and there was no trace of life. We were astonished, but as we threaded our way through the markets, we discovered that the traders' wares and the gold and silver had remained unchanged. This delighted us and, thinking that there must be some mystery here, we split up and walked through the city streets, each concerned to collect her own booty, money and fabrics.

 

    I myself went to the castle, which turned out to be strongly fortified, and I then entered the royal apartments, where all the utensils were made of gold and silver. There I saw the king wearing robes of bewildering splendour, seated with his chamberlains, officers and viziers. When I approached, I found that he was sitting on a throne studded with pearls and gems, wearing cloth of gold, with every jewel gleaming like a star. Standing around him were fifty mamluks, dressed in silks of various kinds, with drawn swords in their stone hands ­ an astonishing sight. I then walked into the hall of the harem, whose walls were covered with hangings of silk with gold-embroidered branches. The queen was there asleep, wearing a robe ornamented with fresh pearls. On her head was a crown studded with gemstones of all kinds, while around her neck were necklaces of all sorts. Everything she was wearing, dress and ornaments, was unchanged, but she herself had been transformed to black stone.

 

    I then found an open door and went up to it. There were seven steps and these led to a chamber whose marble floor was spread with gold- embroidered carpets. In it there was a couch made of juniper wood, inset embroidered carpets. In it there was a couch made of juniper wood, inset with pearls and precious stones, together with two large emeralds, covered by a pearl-studded hanging. There was also a door from which I could see a light shining. I went to stand over it and there in the centre on a small chair I found a jewel the size of a duck's egg, burning like a candle and shedding light, while spread over the couch was an amazing array of silks. The sight filled me with astonishment. On looking further, I saw lighted candles. `Someone must have lit these,' I said to myself, and I then went to another room and proceeded to search all through the building, forgetting myself in my astonishment at all this and plunged in thought.

 

    I continued exploring until nightfall, but then, wishing to leave, I found I had lost my way and had no idea where the gate was. So I went back to the chamber with the lighted candles, sat down on the couch and, after reciting a portion of the Quran, wrapped myself in a coverlet, trying in vain to sleep but becoming uneasy. Then at midnight I heard a beautiful voice reciting the Quran. This filled me with joy and I followed the sound until I came to a small room whose door was shut. I opened it and looked inside, to find a chapel with a prayer niche in which hung lighted lamps together with two candles. In this chapel a prayer rug had been put down and on this sat a handsome young man with, before him, a copy of the holy Quran from which he was reading.

 

    Wondering how he alone had been saved from out of all the inhabitants of the city, I entered and greeted him. He looked up and returned my greeting, at which I said: `By the truth of what you have recited from the Book of God, I implore you to answer my question.' He looked at me, smiling, and replied: `Servant of God, do you tell me why you came here and I will tell you what happened to me and the people of this city and how it was that I escaped.' So I told him my story, which filled him with wonder, and then I asked him about the townspeople. `Wait, sister,' he said, and he then closed the Quran and put it into a bag of satin, before making me sit beside him. When I looked at him, I saw him to be the moon when it comes to the full, excellent in his attributes, supple and handsome; his appearance was like a sugar stick, with a well-proportioned frame. As the poet has said:

 

    To the astrologer watching by night

    Appeared a beautiful form dressed in twin robes.

    Saturn had granted him black hair,

    Colouring his temples with the shade of musk.

    From Mars derived the redness of his cheek,

    While Sagittarius shot arrows from his eyelids.

    Mercury supplied keenness of mind

    While the Bear forbade the slanderers to look at him.

    The astrologer was bewildered by what he saw

    And the ground before him was kissed by the full moon.

 

Almighty God had clothed him in the robe of perfection and embroidered it with the beauty and splendour of the down of his cheek, as the poet has said:

 

    I swear by the intoxication of his eyelids,

    By his waist and by the arrows that his magic shoots,

    By the smoothness of his flanks, the sharpness of his glance,

    His white complexion and the darkness of his hair,

    His eyebrow that denies sleep to my eye,

    His eyebrow that denies sleep to my eye,

    Controlling me as he orders and forbids,

    By his rosy cheek and the myrtle of its down,

    By the carnelian of his mouth, his pearly teeth,

    By his neck and by the beauty of his form,

    With pomegranates showing on his chest,

    By his haunches that quiver whether he moves or is still,

    By his slender waist and by his silken touch,

   

The lightness of his spirit and all the beauty he encompasses.

    I swear by his generous hand and by his truthful tongue,

    His high birth and his lofty rank.

    For those who know of musk, it is his scent,

    And he it is who spreads the scent of ambergris.

    Compared with him the radiant sun

    Is nothing but the paring of a fingernail.

 

    The glance that I gave him was followed by a thousand sighs and love for him was fixed in my heart. `My master,' I said, `answer my question.' `Willingly,' he replied, and he went on: `Know, servant of God, that this is my father's city and he is the king whom you saw sitting on the throne turned into black stone, while the queen whom you saw in the hall is my mother. All the people of the city were Magians, worshipping fire rather than Almighty God. They would swear by fire, light, shadows, the heat of the sun and the circling sphere. After my father had for long been without a son, late in his life I was born to him. He brought me up until I was a grown man, and good fortune always preceded me. With us there was an old Muslim woman who believed in God and His Apostle in secret, while in public she followed the practices of my people. My father had faith in her because he saw that she was trustworthy and chaste, and he showed her great respect, thinking that she was his co-religionary. When I grew older he entrusted me to her, saying: "Take him; give him a good upbringing; ground him in the tenets of our faith and look after him." When she had taken me, she taught me about the religion of Islam with the obligations of ritual purification and of prayer, and she made me learn the Quran by heart, telling me to worship none but Almighty God. When she had done all this, she told me to keep it hidden from my father and not to tell him lest he kill me. So I kept the secret for a few days, but then the old woman died and the people of the city sank ever further into unbelief and presumptuous error.

 

    `While they were in this state, suddenly they heard a mighty voice like the rumbling of thunder, calling out in tones that could be heard far and near: "Citizens, turn away from the worship of fire and worship God, the Merciful King." The people were startled and they all came to my father, the king, and asked: "What is this alarming voice that we have heard, astounding and terrifying us?" "Do not be alarmed or frightened by it," he replied, "and do not let it turn you from your religion." Their hearts inclined to what he said; they persisted in their worship of fire and they acted even more wickedly until a year had passed from the first time that they had heard the voice. They then heard it for a second time and, after three years, for a third time once each year ­ but they still clung to their beliefs. Then, at dawn one day, divine wrath descended and they, together with their animals and their flocks, were turned to black stone. I was the only one to escape and since that happened, I have been living like this ­ praying, fasting and reciting the Quran ­ but I can no longer endure being alone, with no one to keep me company.'

 

    I had lost my heart to him, so I asked him whether he would go to Baghdad with me where he could meet the men of learning and the faqihs, and so add to his knowledge, understanding and grasp of religious law. `Know,' I went on, `that the slave who stands before you is the mistress of her people, with command over men, eunuchs and slaves. I have a ship laden with merchandise and it was fate that led us here in order that we should see these things, and it was ordained by destiny that you and I should meet.'

 

    I continued to prompt him to leave with me, flattering him and using my wiles until he agreed to accept.

 

Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the eighteenth night,

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