With what delight arrayed were they, what dainties ate And drank! But eaten now within the dust are they.
At this the Amir wept sore; the world grew pale before his eyes and he said, ‘Verily, we were created for a mighty matter!’ Then they proceeded to explore the palace and found it desert and void of living thing, its chambers and dwelling-places laid waste and desolate. In the midst stood a lofty pavilion, with a dome rising high into the air, and about it were four hundred tombs, builded of yellow marble. The Amir drew near unto these and behold, amongst them was a great tomb, wide and long, and at its head a tablet of white marble, whereon were graven the following verses:
How often have I stood, how oft set on in fight! How many a thing, indeed, hath passed before my sight!
How much have I consumed of meat and drink, and songs How many have I heard of singing wench and wight!
How much did I command and eke how much forbid! How many a rampired hold, thou’dst deem beyond man’s might
To take, I’ve stormed and sacked and all the cloistered maids, That hid within its walls, discovered to the light!
But, of my ignorance, I sinned that I might win Hopes that must pass away, undurable and slight.
Bethink thee, then, O man, before thou drink the cup Of death, and reckon up thy reckoning forthright.
Yet but a little while and on thy head the dust Shall sure be strewn and life shall fail unto thy spright.
The Amir and his companions wept; then, drawing near unto the pavilion, they saw that it had eight doors of sandal-wood, studded with nails of gold and stars of silver and inlaid with all manner precious stones. On the first door were written these verses:
That which I left, I left it not of generous purpose; nay, But fate and fortune fore-ordained still o’er mankind bear sway.
What while content and prosperous I was, my hoarding-place, Even was a raging lion fierce, I did defend alway.
Ne’er was I still and of my good so niggard, not a grain Of mustard-seed, though I were cast on fire, I gave away,
Till, of the fore-ordained decree of God, the Lord of Might, The Maker and the Fashioner, I stricken was one day.
Death, sudden, irrevocable, in haste upon me came: I could not ward it with my store, nor eke the vast array
Of troops I gathered neath my hand availed me any jot; Nor friend nor neighbour aided me the feet of fate to stay.
All my life’s days, or if it were in solace or in stress, Still in my journey to the grave I toiled and wearied aye.
I fared the road that all must fare, till, when the money-bags Are full, though dinar, without cease, to dinar thou shouldst lay,
Before the morrow all hath passed to other than thyself And unto thee a bier-bearer and grave-digger bring they,
And all alone, with but thy load of sins and crimes to bear Thee company, thou meetest God upon thy judgment-day.
See with thy neighbours and thy folk how deals the world nor let Its vanities delude thy wit nor lead thy feet astray.
When Mousa heard these verses, he wept till he swooned away; then, coming to himself, he entered the pavilion and saw therein a long tomb, dreadful to look upon, whereon was a tablet of China steel, bearing the following inscription: ‘In the name of the Eternal God, the One, the Everlasting; in His name who begetteth not nor is begotten and to whom there is no like; in the name of God the Lord of Majesty and Might, the Living One who dieth not! O thou who comest to this place, take warning by that which thou seest of the doings of time and the vicissitudes of fortune and be not deluded by the world and its pomps and lies and fallacies and vain allurements, for that it is deceitful and flattering and treacherous, and the things thereof are but a loan, which it will take again from the borrower. It is like unto the dreams of the dreamer and the vain visions of the sleeper or as the mirage of the desert, which the thirsty take for water; and Satan maketh it fair for men even unto death. These are the ways of the world; wherefore put not thou thy trust therein neither incline unto it, for it bewrayeth him who leaneth upon it and committeth himself thereunto in his affairs. Fall not thou into its toils neither take hold upon its skirts, [but be warned by my example]. I possessed four thousand bay horses and a palace, and I had to wife a thousand daughters of kings, high-bosomed maids, as they were moons. Moreover, I was blessed with a thousand sons, as they were fierce lions, and I abode a thousand years, glad of heart and mind, and amassed treasures beyond the competence of all the kings of the regions of the earth, deeming that delight would still endure to me; but there fell on me unawares the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies, he who desolates the abodes of men and lays waste the inhabited places, the slayer of great and small, babes and children and mothers, he who hath no compassion on the poor man, by reason of his poverty, neither feareth he kings, because of their commandment and forbiddance. Yea, we abode in security in this palace, till there descended upon us the judgment of the Lord of the Worlds, the Lord of the heavens and the earths; the vengeance of the Manifest Truth overtook us and there died of us every day two, till a great company of us had perished. When I saw that destruction had entered our dwellings and taken up its abode with us and drowned us in the sea of deaths, I summoned a writer and bade him write these verses and admonitions, the which I let grave, with rule and compass, on these doors and tablets and tombs. Now I had an army of a thousand thousand horsemen, hardy, strong-armed warriors, armed with spears and coats of mail and sharp swords; so I bade them don their long hauberks and gird on their keen swords and mount their high-mettled chargers and couch their dreadful spears; and whenas there fell on us the doom of the Lord of heaven and earth, I said to them, “Ho, all ye soldiers and troopers, can ye avail to ward off that which is fallen on me from the Omnipotent King?” But they availed not unto this and said, “How shall we war with Him to whom no chamberlain bars access, the Lord of the gate that hath no doorkeeper?” Then quoth I to them, “Bring me my treasures.” Now I had in my treasuries a thousand cisterns, in each of which were a thousand quintals of red gold and the like of white silver, besides pearls and jewels of all kinds and other things of price, beyond the competence of the kings of the earth. So they did as I bade them and when they had laid all the treasure before me, I said to them, “Can ye ransom me with all this treasure or buy me therewith one day of life?” But they could not; so I resigned myself to fore-ordained fate and submitted to the judgment of God, enduring patiently that which He decreed unto me of affliction, till he took my soul and made me to dwell in my grave. And if thou ask of my name, I am Koush, the son of Sheddad, son of Aad the Greater.’
An thou wouldst know my name, who lived so long ago, After the shifts of time and fortune’s changes, know
I’m Sheddard’s son, who held dominion o’er mankind And over all the earth was monarch, high and low.
The stubborn peoples all abased themselves to me And all the North was mine from Adnan to Cairo.
In glory still I reigned; the nations of the earth My mischief feared and I their kings did overthrow.
Yea, armies I beheld and tribes beneath my hand; The world and all therein did dread me, friend and foe.
When I took horse, I saw the number of my troops A million cavaliers on neighing steeds arow;
And treasures, too, were mine, past reckoning or count, The which I garnered up ‘gainst fortune’s sudden blow.
Fain had I bought my life with all my wealth, although For but a moment’s space to lengthen it; but no,
God would have nought but that He willed should come to pass; So I abode alone, cut off my brethren fro’,
And death came to me, death that sunders all mankind, And from my state I passed unto the stead of woe.
There found I all I’d wrought of old, for which in pledge I now abide; and I a sinner was, I trow.
Bethink thee, on a brink that standest, and beware The chances of events and fortune’s overthrow.
The Amir Mousa wept till he swooned away, for what he saw of the slaughtering-places of t
he folk; then, as they went about the palace, viewing its sitting-chambers and pleasaunces, they came upon a table of yellow onyx, upborne on four feet of juniper-wood, and thereon these words graven: ‘A thousand kings blind of the right eye and a thousand blind of the left and yet other thousand sound of both eyes have eaten at this table, all of whom have departed the world and taken up their sojourn in the tombs and the burial-places.’
All this the Amir wrote down and left the palace, taking with him nothing but the table aforesaid. Then he fared on with his retinue three days’ space, under the guidance of the Sheikh Abdussemed, till they came to a high hill, whereon stood a horseman of brass. In his hand he held a lance with a broad head of blinding brightness, whereon were graven the following words: ‘O thou that comest hither, if thou know not the way to the Brazen City, rub the hand of this horseman and he will turn round and presently stop. Then take the direction in which he faces and fare on boldly, for it will bring thee, without hardship, to the City of Brass.’
The Amir accordingly rubbed the horseman’s hand and he revolved, like the dazzling lightning, and stopped, facing in a direction other than that wherein they were journeying. So they took the road to which he pointed and finding it a beaten track, fared on days and nights till they came to a pillar of brass, wherein was one sunken up to his armpits. He had two great wings and four arms, two like men’s arms and other two as they were lions’ paws, with claws of iron, and he was black and tall, with hair like horses’ tails and eyes like blazing coals, slit endlong in his face. Moreover, he had a third eye, as it were that of a lynx, amiddleward his forehead, from which flew sparks of fire, and he cried out, saying, ‘Glory to my Lord, who hath adjudged unto me this grievous punishment and sore affliction until the Day of Resurrection!’ When the folk saw him, they lost their reason for affright and turned to flee; and the Amir Mousa said to the Sheikh Abdussemed, ‘What is this?’ ‘I know not,’ answered he, whereupon quoth Mousa, ‘Draw near and question him; haply he will discover to thee his case.’ ‘God assain the Amir!’ replied the Sheikh. ‘Indeed, I am afraid of him;’ but the Amir rejoined, saying, ‘Fear not; he is hindered from thee or any other by that wherein he is.’
So Abdussemed drew near to the pillar and said to him who was therein, ‘O creature, what is thy name and what art thou and how camest thou here on this wise?’ ‘I am an Afrit of the Jinn,’ replied he, ‘by name Dahish, son of El Aamesh, and am confined here by way of punishment, by the judgment of the Almighty, till it please Him, to whom belong might and majesty, to release me.’ Then said Mousa, ‘Ask him why he is prisoned in this column.’ So the Sheikh asked him of this, and he replied, saying, ‘My story is strange and my case extraordinary, and it is on this wise. One of the sons of Iblis had an idol of red cornelian, whereof I was guardian, and there served it a king of the kings of the sea, a prince of great power and prowess, ruling over a thousand thousand warriors of the Jinn, who smote with swords before him and answered to his call in time of need. All these were under my commandment and did my bidding, being all rebels against Solomon, son of David, on whom be peace! And I used to enter the [hollow] belly of the idol and command and forbid them thence. Now this King’s daughter loved the idol and was frequent in prostration to it and assiduous in its service; and she was the fairest woman of her day, accomplished in beauty and grace and elegance. She was described unto Solomon and he sent to her father, saying, “Give me thy daughter to wife and break thine idol of cornelian and testify that there is no god but God and that I am His prophet. If thou do this, that which is ours shall be thine and thy debt shall be our debt; but, if thou refuse, make ready to answer the summons [of God] and don thy grave-clothes, for I will come upon thee with an irresistible host, that shall fill the waste places of the earth and make thee even as yesterday that is passed away and hath no returning.”
When this message reached the King, his pride revolted from obeying Solomon’s bidding and he said to his Viziers, “Know that Solomon, son of David, hath sent, requiring me to give him my daughter to wife and break my idol of cornelian and enter his faith: what say ye of this?” “O mighty King,” answered they, “how shall Solomon do thus with thee? Even could he come at thee in the midst of this vast ocean, he could not prevail against thee, for the Marids of the Jinn will fight on thy side and thou wilt seek succour of thine idol whom thou servest, and he will help thee and give thee the victory over him. So thou wouldst do well to consult thy Lord,” meaning the idol aforesaid, “and hear what he says. If he say, ‘Fight him,’ fight him, and if not, not.” So the King went in forthright to his idol and offered up sacrifices and slaughtered victims; after which he fell down before him, prostrate and weeping, and repeated the following verses:
Lord, I know thy puissance and thy power confess: Solomon would have me break thee. In my stress,
Lord, to thee for succour I myself address. Order; thy commandment I obey no less.
Then I, of my ignorance and lack of wit and recklessness of the commandment of Solomon and want of knowledge of his power, entered the belly of the idol and made answer as follows:
Solomon I fear not, dread him not to foe, For that, of my wisdom, everything I know.
An he would be waging war upon me, lo! I will creep and snatch his life from him, I trow.
When the King heard this, he hardened his heart and resolved to do battle with the prophet; wherefore he beat the messenger grievously and returned a flouting answer to Solomon, threatening him and saying, “Thy soul hath suggested to thee a vain thing: dost thou threaten me with lying words? But gird thyself for battle; for, an thou come not to me, I will assuredly come to thee.”
The messenger returned to Solomon and told him all that had passed, which when the prophet heard, he was exceeding wroth and levied an army of men and Jinn and birds and beasts and reptiles. He commanded his Vizier Ed Dimiryat, King of the Jinn, to assemble the Marids of the Jinn from all parts, and he gathered together unto him six hundred millions of devils. Moreover, by his order, his Vizier Asef ben Berkhiya levied him an army of men, to the number of a thousand thousand or more. These all he equipped with arms and armour and mounting, with his host, upon his magic carpet, flew through the air, whilst the beasts fared under him and the birds flew overhead, till he lighted down on the island of the refractory King and encompassed it about, filling the earth with his hosts. Then he sent to our King, saying, “Behold, I am come: defend thyself against that which is fallen upon thee, or else make thy submission to me and confess my apostleship and give me thy daughter to wife and break thine idol and worship the one God, the alone Worship-Worth, and testify, thou and thine, that there is no god but God and that I am His prophet. This if thou do, thou shalt have peace and pardon; but, if not, it will avail thee nothing to fortify thyself in this island, for God, blessed and exalted be He, hath commanded the wind to obey me; so I will bid it bear me to thee on my carpet and make thee an example to deter others.” But the King made answer to his messenger, saying, “It may not in any wise be as he demandeth; so tell him I come forth to him.” Then he gathered together all the Jinn that were under his hand, to the number of a thousand thousand, and added to them other than they of Marids and Satans from the islands of the sea and the mountain-tops and opened his armouries and distributed to them arms and armour.
Meanwhile the prophet Solomon drew out his host in battle array, dividing the beasts into two bodies, one on the right wing and the other on the left, and bidding them tear the enemies’ horses in sunder. Moreover, he commanded the birds to hover over their heads and whenas the assault should be made, that they should [swoop down upon their battle and] tear out their eyes with their beaks and buffet their faces with their wings; and they answered, saying, “We hear and obey God and thee, O prophet of God!” Then Solomon seated himself [on his carpet] on a throne of alabaster, inlaid with jewels and plated with red gold, and commanding the wind to bear him aloft, arrayed the beasts and vipers and serpents before him, setting his Vizier Asef ben Berkhi
ya and the kings of mankind on his right and his Vizier Ed Dimiryat and the kings of the Jinn on his left. Then they all set on us together, and we gave them battle two days over a vast plain; but, on the third day, disaster befell us and the judgment of God the Most High was executed upon us.
The first to charge upon them were I and my troops, and I said to my companions, “Abide in your places, whilst I sally forth to them and provoke Ed Dimiryat to single combat.” And behold, he came forth as he were a vast mountain, casting out fire and smoke, and shot at me a flame of fire; but I swerved from it and it missed me. Then I cast at him, in my turn, a flame of fire, and it smote him; but his poison overcame my fire and he cried out at me so terrible a cry that meseemed the skies were fallen on me, and the mountains shook at his voice. Then he commanded his hosts to charge; so they rushed on us and we on them, each crying out upon other whilst the air was filled with flames and smoke and hearts were like to cleave in sunder. The birds and the flying Jinn fought in the air and the beasts and men and the Jinn of the earth in the dust, and the battle raged and I fought with Ed Dimiryat, till I was aweary. At last, I grew weak and turned to flee from him, whereupon my companions and tribesmen likewise took to flight and my hosts were put to the rout, and Solomon cried out, saying, “Take yonder proud tyrant, accursed and infamous!” Then man fell upon man and genie upon genie and the armies of the prophet charged down upon us, with the beasts on their right hand and on their left, rending our horses and devouring our men, whilst the birds hovered above them in the air, pecking out our eyes with their claws and beaks and buffeting our faces with their wings, till the most of us lay prone upon the face of the earth, like palm tree trunks, and defeat befell our king and we became a spoil unto Solomon.
As for me, I fled from before Ed Dimiryat; but he followed me three months’ journey, till I fell down for weariness and he overtook me and pouncing upon me, made me prisoner. Quoth I, “By the virtue of Him who hath advanced thee and abased me, spare me and bring me before Solomon, on whom be peace!” So he carried me before Solomon, who received me after the foulest fashion and let bring this pillar and hollow it out. Then he set me therein and chained me and sealed me with his signet, and Ed Dimiryat bore me to this place. Moreover, he charged a great angel to guard me, and this pillar is my prison until the Day of Judgment.’
One Thousand and One Nights Page 329