One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  fair ones to hearten him still.

  This sings to him, t’other, when cheer him would be, Revives

  him forthright with the cups he doth fill;

  And whenever from one he hath need of a kiss, Long draughts

  from his lips, at his case, he doth swill.

  God bless them! Right sweet has my day with them been, And

  wonder delightsome and void of all ill!

  We drank of the wine cup, both mingled and pure, And agreed

  whoso slept, we should touzle at will.

  At this moment, there came a knocking at the door; so they bade him who knocked enter, and behold, it was the Khalif Haroun er Reshid. When they saw him, they all rose to him and kissed the ground before him; and the fumes of the wine forsook Abou Nuwas’s head for awe of the Khalif, who said to him, ‘Hallo, Abou Nuwas!’ ‘At thy service, O Commander of the Faithful,’ answered he, ‘may God preserve thee!’ ‘What state is this I find thee in?’ asked the Khalif; and the poet replied, ‘O Commander of the Faithful, methinks my state dispenses with question.’ Quoth the Khalif, ‘O Abou Nuwas, I have sought direction of God the Most High and appoint thee Cadi of whoremasters.’ ‘Dost thou indeed invest me with that office, O Commander of the Faithful?’ asked Abou Nuwas. ‘I do,’ replied the Khalif. ‘Then, O Commander of the Faithful,’ rejoined Abou Nuwas, ‘hast thou any suit to prefer to me?’ At this the Khalif was wroth and turned away and left them, full of rage, and passed the night, sore angered against Abou Nuwas, whilst the latter spent the merriest and most easeful of nights, till the day dawned and the morning-star appeared and shone, when he broke up the sitting and dismissing the boys, donned his court- dress and set out for the Khalif’s palace.

  Now it was the latter’s custom, when the Divan broke up, to withdraw to his sitting-chamber and summon thither his poets and minions and musicians, each having his own place, which he might not overpass. So, that day, he retired to his saloon, and the minions came and seated themselves, each in his place. Presently, in came Abou Nuwas and was about to take his usual seat, when the Khalif cried out to Mesrour the headsman and bade him strip the poet of his clothes and clap an ass’s pannel on his back. Moreover, he charged him bind a halter about his head and a crupper under his rear and carry him round to all the lodgings of the slave-girls and the chambers of the harem, that the women might make mock of him; then cut off his head and bring it to him. ‘I hear and obey,’ replied Mesrour and accoutring Abou Nuwas, as the Khalif had bidden him, carried him round to all the lodgings of the harem, in number as the days of the year; but he made all the girls laugh with his buffooneries and each gave him something, so that he returned with a pocketful of money.

  Just then, Jaafer the Barmecide, who had been absent on an important business for the Khalif, entered and seeing the poet in this plight, said to him, ‘Hallo, Abou Nuwas!’ ‘At thy service, O our lord,’ answered he. ‘What offence hast thou committed,’ asked Jaafer, ‘to bring this punishment on thee?’ ‘None whatever,’ answered the other, ‘except that I made our lord the Khalif a present of the best of my verses, and he presented me, in return, with the best of his clothes.’ When the Khalif heard this, he laughed, from a heart full of wrath, and [not only] pardoned Abou Nuwas, but gave him a myriad of money.

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  ABDALLAH BEN MAAMER WITH THE MAN OF BASSORA AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL.

  A certain man of Bassora once bought a slave-girl and reared and educated her excellent well. Moreover, he loved her very dearly and spent all his substance in pleasuring and making merry with her, till he had nothing left and want was very sore upon him. So she said to him, ‘O my master, sell me; for thou needest my price and it makes my heart ache to see the sorry plight to which want hath brought thee. It thou sell me and make use of my price, it will be better for thee than keeping me, and haply God the Most High will prosper thee and mend thy fortune.’ He agreed to this, of the straitness of his case, and carried her to the bazaar, where the broker offered her for sale to the Governor of Bassora, by name Abballah ben Maamer et Teimi, and she pleased him. So he bought her, for five hundred dinars, of her master, who took the money and was about to go away, when the girl burst into tears and repeated the following verses:

  May Allah prosper unto thee the money thou hast got! For me,

  nought’s left me but lament and memory and woe.

  I say to my afflicted soul, “Mourn little or mourn much; It

  skills not, for the loved one’s gone and will return no

  mo.”

  When he heard this, he sighed heavily and replied thus:

  Though there be no recourse for thee in this thy case and thou

  Find nought but death to solace thee, excuse me yet and

  know,

  Evening and morn the thought of thee will company with me,

  Wherewith a heart I will console, that’s all fulfilled of

  woe.

  Peace be on thee! Henceforth for us no meeting shall there be

  Nor any union more, except Ben Maamer will it so.

  When Abdallah heard these verses and saw their affliction, he exclaimed, ‘By Allah, I will have no hand in separating you; for it is manifest to me that ye indeed love one another. So take the money and the damsel, O man, and may God bless thee in them! For parting is grievous to true lovers.’ So they kissed his hand and going away, ceased not to dwell together, till death parted them; and glory be to Him whom death overtaketh not!

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  THE LOVERS OF THE BENOU UDHREH.

  There was once, among the Benou Udhreh, a handsome and accomplished man, who was never a day out of love, and it chanced that he became enamoured of a beautiful woman of his own tribe and sent her many messages; but she ceased not to use him with cruelty and disdain, till, for stress of passion and longing and distraction, he fell exceeding sick and took to his bed and forswore sleep. His sickness grew on him and his anguish redoubled upon him, till he was all but dead; and his case became known and his passion noised abroad among the folk. His family and hers were instant with her to visit him, but she refused, till he was at the point of death, when, being told of this, she relented towards him and vouchsafed him a visit. When he saw her, his eyes ran over with tears and he repeated the following verses, from a broken heart:

  If, by thy life, there pass thee by my funeral train, to wit, A

  bier borne on the necks of four, wilt grudge to follow it?

  Wilt thou not follow in its track, that so thou mayst salute

  The sepulchre of one who’s dead, committed to the pit?

  When she heard this, she wept sore and said to him, ‘By Allah, I thought not that passion had come to such a pass with thee, as to cast thee into the arms of death! Had I known this, I had been favourable to thee, and thou shouldst have enjoyed thy desire.’ At this, his tears streamed down, like the cloud- showers, and he repeated the following verse:

  She draweth near to me, when death hath come betwixt us two And proffereth union, when it no profit can me do.

  Then he gave one sigh and died, and she fell on him, kissing him and weeping, till she swooned away. When she came to herself she charged her people bury her in his grave and recited the following verses, with streaming eyes:

  We lived upon the earth a life of comfort and delight: Country

  and tribe and dwelling-place alike of us were proud;

  But Fortune and the shifts of time did rend our loves apart,

  And now the grave uniteth us within a single shroud.

  Then she fell again to weeping and ceased not from tears and lament, till she swooned away. She lay three days, senseless; then died and was buried in his grave. This is one of the strange chances of love.

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  THE VIZIER OF YEMEN AND HIS YOUNG BROTHER

  Bedreddin, Vizier of Yemen, had a young brother of singular beauty and ke
pt strait watch over him. So he applied himself to seek a governor for him and coming upon an elder of dignified and reverend aspect, chaste and pious, lodged him in a house next his own, whence he used to come daily to the Vizier’s dwelling, to teach the latter’s brother. After awhile, the old man’s heart was taken with love for his pupil and longing grew upon him and his entrails were troubled, till, one day, he made moan of his case to the boy, who said, ‘What can I do, seeing that I may not leave my brother day or night? Thou seest how careful he is over me.’ Quoth the governor, ‘My lodging adjoins thine; so, when thy brother sleeps, do thou rise and entering the wardrobe, feign thyself asleep. Then come to the parapet of the roof and I will receive thee on the other side of the wall; so shalt thou sit with me awhile and return without thy brother’s knowledge.’ ‘I hear and obey,’ answered the boy. So, when awhile of the night was past, he entered the closet and waited till his brother lay down on his bed and was drowned in sleep, when he rose and going to the parapet of the roof, found the governor awaiting him, who gave him his hand and carried him to the sitting-chamber, where he had made ready various dainties for his entertainment, and they sat down to carouse.

  Now it was the night of the full moon, and as they sat, passing the wine-cup to one another, her rays shone upon them, and the governor fell to singing. But, whilst they were thus in mirth and joyance and good cheer, such as confounds the wit and the sight and defies description, the Vizier awoke and missing his brother, arose in affright and found the door open. So he went up to the roof and hearing a noise of talk, peeped over the parapet and saw a light shining in the governor’s lodging. He looked in and espied his brother and his governor sitting carousing: but the latter became aware of him and sang the following verses, cup in hand, to a lively measure:

  He gave me wine to drink, of his mouth’s nectar rare, Toasting

  with down of cheeks and what adjoineth there;

  Then passed with me the night, embracing, cheek to cheek, A

  loveling midst mankind unpeered and past compare.

  The full moon gazed on us all night; pray then to her, So to

  his brother she to tell of us forbear.

  Now the Vizier was a merry man; so, when he heard this, he said, ‘By Allah, I will not betray you!’ And he went away and left them to their diversion.

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  THE LOVES OF THE BOY AND GIRL AT SCHOOL.

  A boy and a girl once learnt together in a school, and the boy fell passionately in love with the girl. So, one day, when the other boys were heedless, he took her tablet and wrote on it the following verses:

  Tell me, what sayst thou unto him, whom sickness for thy love

  Hath worn and wasted, till he’s grown distraught and

  stupefied?

  Him who of passion maketh moan; for love and longing pain, That

  which is in his heart, indeed, no longer can he hide.

  When the girl took her tablet, she read the verses and wept for pity of him; then wrote thereunder these others:

  An if we see one languishing for very love of us, Our favours,

  surely, unto him shall nowise be denied.

  Yea, and of us he shall obtain that which he doth desire Of

  love-delight, whate’er to us in consequence betide.

  Now it chanced that the teacher came in on them And taking the tablet, unnoticed, read what was written thereon. So he was moved to pity of their case and wrote on the tablet the following verses, in reply to those of the girl:

  Favour thy lover, for he’s grown distracted for desire, And

  reck thou not of punishment nor fear lest any chide.

  As for the master, have no dread of his authority, For he with

  passion an its pains aforetime hath been tried.

  Presently, the girl’s master entered the school and finding the tablet, read the above verses and wrote under them the following:

  May Allah never separate your loves, whilst time abide, And may

  your slanderer be put to shame and mortified!

  But, for the master of the school, by Allah, all my life, A

  busier go-between than he I never yet espied.

  Then he sent for the Cadi and the witnesses and married them on the spot. Moreover, he made them a marriage-feast and entreated them with exceeding munificence; and they abode together in joy and contentment, till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies.

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  EL MUTELEMMIS AND HIS WIFE UMEIMEH.

  It is related that El Mutelemmis once fled from En Numan ben Mundhir and was absent so long that the folk deemed him dead. Now he had a handsome wife, Umeimeh by name, and her family pressed her to marry again; but she refused, for that she loved her husband El Mutelemmis very dearly. However, they were instant with her, because of the multitude of her suitors, and importuned her till she at last reluctantly consented and they married her to a man of her own tribe.

  On the night of the wedding, El Mutelemmis came back and hearing in the camp a noise of pipes and tabrets and seeing signs of festival, asked some of the children what was toward, to which they replied, ‘They have married Umeimeh, widow of El Mutelemmis, to such an one, and he goes in to her this night.’ When he heard this, he made shift to enter the house with the women and saw there the bride seated on her throne. By and by, the bridegroom came up to her, whereupon she sighed heavily and weeping, recited the following verses:

  Ah would, (but many are the shifts of good and evil fate), I

  knew in what far land thou art, O Mutelemmis mine!

  Now El Mutelemmis was a renowned poet: so he answered her with the following verse:

  Right near at hand, Umeimeh! Know, whene’er the caravan Halted,

  I never ceased for thee with longing heart to pine.

  When the bridegroom heard this, he guessed how the case stood and went forth from among them in haste, repeating the following verse:

  I was in luck, but now I’m fall’n into the contrary. A hospitable house and room your reknit loves enshrine!

  So El Mutelemmis took his wife again and abode with her in all delight and solace of life, till death parted them. And glory be to Him at whose command the earth and the heavens shall arise!

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  THE KHALIF HAROUN ER RESHID AND THE PRINCESS ZUBEIDEH IN THE BATH.

  The Khalif Haroun er Reshid loved the Princess Zubeideh with an exceeding love and laid out for her a pleasaunce, in which he made a great pool and led thither water from all sides. Moreover, he set thereabout a screen of trees, which so grew and interlaced over the pool, that one could go in and wash, without being seen of any, for the thickness of the leafage. It chanced, one day, that Zubeideh entered the garden and coming to the basin, gazed upon its goodliness, and the limpidity of the water and the interlacing of the trees over it pleased her. Now it was a day of exceeding heat; so she put off her clothes and entering the pool, which was not deep enough to cover her, fell to pouring the water over herself from an ewer of silver.

  The Khalif heard she was in the pool; so he left his palace and came down to spy upon her, through the screen of the leaves. He stood behind the trees and saw her naked, with all her secret charms displayed. Presently, she became aware of him and turning, saw him behind the trees and was ashamed that he should see her naked. So she laid her hands on her kaze, but it escaped from between them, by reason of its much greatness and plumpness; and the Khalif turned and went away, wondering and reciting the following verse:

  I looked on her whom I adore And longing rose in me full sore.

  But he knew not what to say next; so he sent for Abou Nuwas and bade him make a piece of verse commencing with the above line. ‘I hear and obey,’ replied the poet and in a twinkling extemporized the following lines:

  I looked on her whom I adore, And longing rose in me full sore

&
nbsp; For a gazelle that ravished me, By double lote-trees shaded

  o’er.

  The water on her dainty part With silver ewer did she pour

  And would have hidden it, seeing me, But all too small her

  hands therefor.

  Would I were on it, wel-a-way, An hour or liefer two or more!

  The Khalif smiled and made him a handsome present, and he went away rejoicing.

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  HAROUN ER RESHID AND THE THREE POETS.

  The Khalif Haroun er Reshid was exceeding restless one night; so he rose and walked about his palace, till he happened on a damsel overcome with wine. Now he was greatly enamoured of this damsel; so he toyed with her and pulled her to him, whereupon her girdle fell down and her trousers were unloosed and he besought her of amorous dalliance. But she said to him, ‘O Commander of the Faithful, wait till to-morrow night, for I am unprepared for thee, knowing not of thy coming.’ So he left her and went away.

  On the morrow, he sent a page to her to announce his visit to her apartment; but she sent back to him, saying, ‘The day obliterates the promise of the night.’ So he said to his minions, ‘Make me somewhat of verse, introducing these words, “The day obliterates the promise of the night.”’ ‘We hear and obey,’ answered they; and Er Recashi came forward and recited the following:

  By Allah, an thou feltst my longing and my pain, Repose had

  turned away from thee and taken flight.

  A maid hath made me love-distraught, nor visiting Nor being

  visited, a sad and love-lorn wight.

  She promised me her grace, then turned away and said, “The day

  obliterates the promise of the night.”

  Then Abou Musab came forward and recited these verses:

  When wilt thou put away this dotage from thy spright? Thy heart

  is dazed and rest to thee forbidden quite.