Bahar handed her reply to the magic slave, who took it to Afrasiyab on Mount Quartz. Upon reading Bahar’s letter, a fiery “Aah!” rose from Afrasiyab’s breast and scalded his senses and reason. He struck his hands together in anguish and a bank of clouds rose in the skies from which a single cloud swam to Mount Quartz. Riding that cloud were three sorcerers, named Shadeed, Qahhar and Azaab, who were the rulers of the lands adjacent to Mount Quartz. They saluted Afrasiyab and noticed his downcast face and distressed look. They stood humbly before him awaiting their orders.
Finally, Afrasiyab said, “O Shadeed, Qahhar and Azaab, you must immediately depart with a large army and bring back Princess Bahar, whose resentment toward me has driven her to join the enemy. You must first use persuasion but if she refuses to accompany you peacefully, you must fight and take her prisoner. However, Princess Bahar is a powerful sorceress and will not be easily captured. I am now headed for Lord Jamshed’s mausoleum from where I will send you the lord’s mantle. It is a powerful gift of the tilism. You may depart now and wait for it to arrive.”
The three sorcerers returned to their lands. They mustered armies of seventy thousand sorcerers each and departed on their mission. After marching and bivouacking, and after a night and a day they arrived near Mahrukh Magic-Eye’s camp and set up tents and pavilions. The camp was organized, the army bivouacked, and the sorcerer commanders Shadeed, Qahhar and Azaab stationed in their pavilions.
The magic birds brought the news to Queen Mahjabeen and Mahrukh, who sent for the commanders of the army and enjoined them to remain on alert. The camp was alerted and the commanders and sorcerers began invoking their magic lest Shadeed should attack upon seeing them off guard. The bugles began trilling in platoons and regiments and weapons were polished and burnished.
Emperor Afrasiyab returned to the Apple Garden where everyone paid him respects. The emperor sat down despondently on his throne with knitted brow. Heyrat asked, “How are your humors, Your Excellency?” Afrasiyab answered testily, “Your feuding with Bahar has caused her to join hands with the rebels.”
Heyrat replied, “That chit of a girl has become too proud; she no longer considers others her equals. Her evil heart was already set on making mischief and she praised Mahrukh Magic-Eye to my face. Your Honor must not bemoan her leaving us. You have countless faithful servants who would arrest Bahar in a trice at your command and produce her before you.”
Afrasiyab replied, “This is all talk and empty words. I spent hundreds of thousand of rupees in nurturing and training Mahrukh, Nafarman and Bahar, and instructing them in magic. How could I kill them all of a sudden? I still nurse a hope that they will return to my allegiance. Therefore, I am headed for Lord Jamshed’s mausoleum to bring his mantle. I would that you return to the Dome of Light as I don’t require your presence here. It bodes ill for rulers when they antagonize their army commanders instead of winning their hearts and offering them encouragement.”
Afrasiyab then left for Jamshed’s mausoleum while Heyrat returned disconsolate and dejected to the Dome of Light.
After the sorcerers Shadeed, Qahhar and Azaab camped they sent a string of missives to Bahar full of admonitions and injunctions. They asked her to return to the folds of Afrasiyab’s obedience and told her that all was not yet lost. They warned her against siding with the rebels and destroying the faith of their gods Sameri and Jamshed, but each time Bahar offered them a terse reply. The sorcerers wasted a whole day trying to convince her, but to no avail.
Finally, the day came to an end. The sorcerer Night took out stars from its sack of darkness to make its offering and the inauspicious Saturn83 squatted in the heavens to invoke its magic. Thus they conspired together against the morning sun.
Shadeed and the other sorcerers conferred and decided that if they waited until Afrasiyab sent them Jamshed’s mantle they would be called cowards and pansies throughout the length and breadth of the tilism. They convinced themselves that Bahar was an insignificant threat and, rather than waiting for Jamshed’s mantle, they must declare hostilities and arrest her speedily to earn renown on their own. They ordered the drums of war in their camp to be beaten at once.
Mahrukh’s magic birds brought her the news and her camp also answered the call to battle. The drums were beaten and the magic bugle trilled. The battle preparations remained underway for four full watches of the night. Bengalese horns trilled, evil spirits were tamed by songs to wreack havoc, and magic spirits were invoked with blood sacrifices. Then spirits were summoned and tempted to offer their help with sweetmeats. The sorcerers targeted their rivals by composing magic spells with their names and lighting lamps with the blood of wagtails and crows. The wicks of the lamps were trimmed. Soil and rocks from cremation grounds, ashes of oil sellers’ corpses, and bones of the dead were gathered. The spells were readied and the properties of the magical citrons, limes and oranges were assigned to them. Adulations of gods Sameri and Jamshed were sung. The bonfires were stoked to burn the whole night. Then the sorcerers retired to catch a wink of sleep.
The warriors sharpened their shining daggers and ground them on stone to make their edges even keener. Swords were made serrated and broad swords were sharpened to give them deep edges. They became sharp and keen to the degree that one could not safely slide one’s finger along the blade. Every sword became a mirror that reflected the face of death’s bride.84 The iron shone so brightly that men were tricked into marching to the arena believing it was already the morn of battle. The warriors made claims of their bravery the whole night and talked of nothing else but the battle.
Finally, the Conjuror of the Skies produced a golden orb from its eastern pocket and entered, juggling it in the ring of heavens. The Turk of Sun sharpened his luminous dagger on the whetstone of the firmament.
Prince Asad said his morning prayers at the crack of dawn. The sorcerers who had submitted allegiance to him were sworn to the faith of sorcery until the enemy’s destruction, and yet they turned their hearts to thoughts of God to solicit His aid.85
Presently, the morning gong rang in the camp, the bugle sounded, and everyone started preparations for the march to the battlefield. The officers mounted their steeds and the foot-soldiers and troopers made vows of valor.
Dil Aaram came into view bearing aloft Queen Mahjabeen’s throne by magic. Mahrukh Magic-Eye, Shakeel, Nafarman, Surkh Mu Wonder-Mane, and Princess Bahar arrived before Queen Mahjabeen with great majesty, riding magic thrones and peacocks. They made low bows to her and escorted Queen Mahjabeen’s throne. Renowned sorcerers riding magic geese and magic dragons poured into the arena row after row, column after column, rank after rank, file after file. They were joined by Prince Asad with his army of warriors. Displaying his equestrian skills, the prince sat astride a giant steed of enormous rump.
When Prince Asad took position at the head of the army as the commander-in-chief, lightning bolts danced in the arena and terrible, thunderous noises were heard. Dark clouds rose from the direction of the wilderness and, leading their armies, the sorcerers Shadeed, Qahhar and Azaab arrived with great fanfare. They flooded the arena like a tidal wave. They hurled thunderbolts that burned down the shrubbery and removed obstructions between the rival camps, then settled down the dust with magic showers.
The army commanders arranged their men. Warriors on both sides formed fourteen rows as impregnable as the Rampart of Sikander. The criers recited the valorous deeds of past kings to stir thoughts of brave deeds in the hearts of their men, and the minstrels sang martial songs. Their cries and songs turned the warriors’ hearts to thoughts of martyrdom and earning glory on the battlefield.
Sorcerer Qahhar rode to the center of the arena atop his magic dragon and displayed his might by causing showers of fire and stones. He cried out, “O rebels, come out and face me to be chastised as you deserve.”
Nafarman flew her magic peacock to Mahjabeen and sought leave to answer Qahhar’s challenge. Mahjabeen conferred a robe of honor on her and gave her into God’s protectio
n. Nafarman now encountered Qahhar the lost soul.
Both deployed their magic against each other. Qahhar threw a magic coconut at Nafarman, which exploded upon hitting Nafarman’s leg and broke her thigh bone. As Nafarman fell down wounded, Surkh Mu Wonder-Mane came forward on her magic throne and, after obtaining leave for combat, faced Qahhar.
Qahhar threw another magic coconut at Surkh Mu, who foiled his attack. She took out a box carved out of ruby after untying her hair, opened its lid, and tapped out sparkles from it onto the palm of her hand. She blew on them and they flew to the sky, shining brightly like stars. Suddenly, those stars shot down like meteors. They fell on Qahhar and pierced the ground after breaking his spine. A noise like the Day of Judgment was heard. Mahrukh’s sorcerers quickly recited spells and overpowered Qahhar’s magic spirits by slitting open their thighs and making blood sacrifices. At length the clamour subsided.
Sorcerer Azaab came into the arena next. Shakeel rode out to fight him astride his magic dragon. Azaab repeatedly attacked Shakeel with his trident but Shakeel foiled his attacks. Then Shakeel recited a spell and dealt a sword’s blow to Azaab. The magic sword fell on Azaab like a lightning bolt and burned down the garden of his soul; the second enemy commander was also dispatched to hell.
Sorcerer Shadeed entered the arena in high dudgeon. He put his hand in his sorcerer’s sack and threw a magic snake into the arena, which bit Shakeel. The latter tried to recite counterspells but they proved ineffective. When Shakeel fell down unconscious Mahrukh dispatched attendants to bring him back to the camp. Sorcerer exorcists were deputed to watch over the wound so that the magic venom did not kill him.
Surkh Mu Wonder-Mane now entered the arena and Shadeed deployed the same magic snake against her. Surkh Mu cut a peacock shape out of paper and recited a spell that made it come alive. As the magic snake darted toward Surkh Mu, her magic peacock swooped down and carried it away in its beak.
As both friends and foe alike praised Surkh Mu’s magic, Shadeed went into a mad rage. He notched an arrow and let fly after reciting a spell. Surkh Mu struck her hands together and forty magic shields barred the arrow’s flight. Shadeed’s magic arrow, however, pierced through all of them and struck Surkh Mu’s shoulder; injured, she retired from the arena.
Shadeed called out, “O Bahar, I have come to arrest you. Come out and face me! How long will you hide in corners and nooks?”
Bahar sat on her throne with great allure and magnificence, with bouquets placed around her. Several hundred attendants clad in gold finery, wearing pearls in their ears and carrying flower baskets, stood humbly before her. When Shadeed issued his challenge she flew on her throne, picked up a bouquet and threw it toward the jungle. A black cloud that was darker than the pitch black night rose from the mountains and darkness fell over the entire expanse. Bahar now opened her vanity box and applied silver dust and tilak to her forehead. Suddenly, everyone saw a moon and stars light up the darkness that engulfed them. The day became a moonlit night.
As Shadeed recited counterspells and clapped, Bahar threw a second bouquet and called out, “O spring, appear!” Suddenly a cool breeze picked up and the sorcerers in Shadeed’s army began clapping wildly with joy. Bahar threw a third bouquet and thousands of comely moon-like women materialized carrying musical instruments. Some of them were of the Turkic race, others Frankish, yet others Indian. They represented every race and tribe and their beauty was the envy of the sun and the moon. They played their instruments so alluringly that the enemy army became enamored of their Venusian charms.
Bahar now threw a fourth bouquet. Everyone in the enemy camp shut their eyes and upon opening them, saw spring appear in all its glory. The redolence of the flowers spread with the moonlight. For miles on end, the eye saw only gardens and orchards. The flower buds yawned and blossomed. Drunk on its own perfume, the fragrant breeze circulated and like a tipsy guest in a wine house, crashed against the ewers of trees.
Bahar dismounted and entered the flower garden followed by her female musicians. When Shadeed and his men marched after them they saw Bahar approaching. Her beauty was so dazzling and complete that even if a houri had beheld it she would have given herself in slavery to Bahar.
A violent passion for Bahar suddenly overcame Shadeed.
Bahar signalled to one of her attendants, who brought a knife and a basin and called out, “O admirers of Princess Bahar’s incomparable beauty, which resembles the brilliant sun, your merciless mistress needs a blood sacrifice from her admirers. Here is the blade and the basin. Come and prove your passion.”
The sorcerers in Shadeed’s camp ran and competed with each other to be the first to make the sacrifice. They hurried before Bahar’s attendant, who slit open their arms and collected the blood in the basin. When one lost consciousness another replaced him and died in the same manner. An amazing spectacle unfolded as blood sacrifices claimed man after man and the living vied with each other to make the fatal offering.
Bahar signalled another attendant to summon Shadeed. The attendant loudly called, “O Shadeed! Hasten before Princess Bahar, who summons you to her presence!” Shadeed walked toward Bahar upon hearing her call.
Bahar called to and led Shadeed deeper into her magic garden. He followed her voice spellbound, importuning and begging her to show him favor. When he approached he saw Bahar promenading in the garden carrying a flower cane. She wore a garland on her arm. Her hair was tied in a bun to one side of her head, the skirt of her mantle had slipped down to uncover her bosom, and the bottoms of her trousers were as tight as skin and gathered in folds at the knees.
Shadeed felt a frenzy of passion take hold of him a hundred times more powerfully than before. As he stood humbly before her, Bahar hit him with her flower cane and said, “Is this how you fulfill your lover’s duties? Heyrat cursed and abused me before the whole court but you never sought recompense from her!”
Shadeed answered, “O solace of my soul, indeed, I never learned of the incident.” Bahar hit him a few more times with her flower cane and said, “O bastard, now that you have learned of the incident what laurels have you won in defending my honor?” Shadeed answered, “At a word from you I will thrash Heyrat with my shoe and drag her before you.” Bahar lashed him even more severely with the cane and said, “O clown, would you only act if I ordered you? Do you not feel any violent compulsion yourself to avenge my disgrace?”
After being hit with Bahar’s magic cane, Shadeed became oblivious to every consideration. His senses were completely lost to Bahar’s spell and he said, “O beloved, I will drag that harridan Heyrat before you by her hair this very instant.” Bahar said, “I have no trust in your word. Send for the commanders of your army.” Shadeed sent for them and Bahar stopped her attendant from blood-letting them further.
When Shadeed’s commanders streamed before Bahar, she said to them, “I swear to the truth of what I state upon my honor and wish to inform you that Heyrat cursed and abused me. The one who kills her like a dog I will reward by sharing my bed with him.”
Bahar now ordered her attendant to put magic garlands on the arms of all commanders and tied one on Shadeed’s arm with her own hands.
Shadeed and his entire army headed for the Dome of Light feverishly reciting love couplets while thousands of others lay dead from the blood-letting. Except for its tents and equipages, their whole camp was emptied.
After they were gone, Bahar removed the silver dust from her forehead and recited a spell and clapped, causing the magic spring to disappear. The moonlit night was dispelled and the sun reappeared.
Kettledrums were beaten in celebration and Mahrukh Magic-Eye’s camp trussed up all the loot from Shadeed’s camp. Mahjabeen scattered gold pieces over Bahar as a sacrifice to protect her from evil and sang her praises. A resplendent robe of honor was conferred on Bahar by Queen Mahjabeen. Their armies took rest and festivities began in celebration of the day’s events. The tabla began playing and a dance recital started.
While Mahrukh’s camp was o
ccupied in these revels, Shadeed crossed the River of Flowing Blood in great disarray and distress, arriving near the Dome of Light spellbound by Bahar’s beauty and full of the violent fervor induced by his desire.
He began hurling abuse at Heyrat and shouting, “Catch that whore Heyrat! Bring me that harridan and strumpet! How dare that wretch abuse my beloved Bahar!” Shadeed and his army began ravaging the City of Disregard. They killed any sorcerer who resisted them. A great tumult arose and the citizens shouted for redress and succor.
Heyrat, who was present in the Dome of Light, heard these noises and sent sorcerers to investigate the matter. They soon returned and apprised the empress of the situation.
Heyrat ordered the gong-ringers who inhabited the ground tier of the Dome of Light to stop Shadeed and his men. They immediately confronted Shadeed and skirmished with the marauding army. Magic was deployed by sorcerers on both sides. The gong-ringers were mighty sorcerers and they killed Shadeed’s men in the thousands. Shadeed himself, however, fought his way to the Dome of Light but because it was protected by a tilism he was unable to climb it and fell down each time he tried.
Leaving Shadeed trying to climb the dome and his army fighting with the gong-ringers, we return to give an account of what passed with Emperor Afrasiyab when he left Heyrat and entered the dark, secret region of Zulmat.
Afrasiyab crossed the Desert of Being and forded the River of Fire to arrive near the mausoleum of Jamshed. Hundreds of thousands of sorcerers were stationed there in gruesome and dreadful magical guises. A palace entirely made of jewels was suspended in the air. Thousands of bells hung from the palace of as many domes. The palace was appointed with seven swings where Jamshed’s seven handmaidens sat.
Hoshruba Page 29