One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  Said, ‘Husband’s mother mine, tell him, if he would meet With me again, he must to leave his home prepare.’

  When she had made an end of her verses, the lady Zubeideh said to her, ‘Wilt thou not come down to us, that we may take our fill of thy beauty, O fairest of the fair? Glory be to Him who hath given thee eloquence and beauty!’ But she said, ‘God forbid that what is past should return!’ Then to the mother of the wretched Hassan, ‘By Allah, O my lady,’ said she, ‘it irketh me to part from thee; but, when thy son cometh and the days of separation are long upon him and he craveth reunion with me and meeting and the winds of love and longing agitate him, let him come to me in the Islands of Wac.’ Then she took flight with her children and sought her own country, whilst the old woman wept and buffeted her face and lamented till she swooned away. When she came to herself she said to the lady Zubeideh, ‘O my lady, what is this thou hast done?’ And Zubeideh said to her, ‘O my lady the pilgrim, I knew not that this would happen and hadst thou told me of the case and acquainted me with her condition, I had not gainsaid thee. Nor did I know that she was of the Flying Jinn; else had I not suffered her to don the dress nor take her children: but now words profit nothing; so do thou acquit me of offence against thee.’ And the old woman could do no otherwise than answer, ‘Thou art acquitted.’

  Then she went forth the palace and returning to her own house, buffeted her face till she swooned away. When she came to herself, she wearied after her daughter- in-law and her children and for the sight of her son and repeated the following verses:

  Your absence, on the day of parting, when you went From home, enforced me weep for grief and dreariment.

  I cry out, for the smart of separation’s pains, What while mine eyelids still with scalding tears are brent,

  ‘Parting this is: shall aye retuning be for us? Concealment’s done away by your abandonment.’

  Would God they would return and keep their troth! Ah, then, Time would belike restore the days of my content.

  Then she dug three raves in the house and betook herself to them with weeping all tides of the day and watches of the night; and when her son’s absence was long upon her and grief and longing and unquiet waxed upon her, she recited these verses:

  Thine image ‘twixt mine eyelids still harbours, when they close, As in my heart thy memory in throbbing and repose.

  Yea, and thy love for ever runs in the bones of me, As in the fruited branches the sap in summer flows.

  Indeed, my breast is straitened, the day I see thee not, And e’en my censors hold me excuséd for my woes.

  O thou, for whom love-longing hath gotten hold of me, For love of whom distraction for ever on me grows,

  Have mercy, as thou fearest the Merciful, on me: The love of thee hath made me to taste of death, God knows.

  Meanwhile, when Hassan came to the princesses, they conjured him to tarry with them three months [and he consented and sojourned with them for that time], after which they gave him eve loads of gold and the like of silver and one load of victual and accompanied him on his homeward way, till he conjured them to return, whereupon the youngest came up to him, to bid him farewell, and embracing him, wept till she fainted. Then she recited the following verses:

  Ah, when shall parting’s fire be quenched by thy return once more? When shall I have my wish of thee and we be as of yore?

  Indeed, the day of severance affrights and troubles me, And languishment for love-taking on me is passing sore.

  Then came forward the second princess and embraced him and recited these verses:

  Like the parting from life is the parting from thee And thy loss as the loss of heaven’s rains is to me.

  Thy departure’s a heart-searing fire, for indeed, In thy presence the gardens of Paradise be.

  Then came forward the third and embraced him and recited these verses:

  We left not to take leave, upon our parting day, For weariness or aught of ill intention; nay,

  My very soul thou art, and how unto my soul Should I, of my free will, I prithee, farewell say?

  Then came forward the fourth and embraced him and recited these verses:

  Nought made me weep, save only when he, in parting guise, Did me of his departure so cruelly apprise.

  Behold this precious union I’ve hung upon mine ear: ’Twas of my tears I wrought it, fast dropping from mine eyes.

  Then came forward the fifth and embraced him and recited these verses:

  Depart thou not; for I’ve no strength without thee to endure Nor unto a departing one courage to say farewell;

  Nor any patience. severance to encounter; no, nor tears To shed upon the ruined house wherein we twain did dwell.

  Then came forward the sixth and embraced him and recited these verses:

  I said, when the camels away with them fared And longing mine entrails did ravage, ‘Ah me!

  If there were but a king over whom I had power, I would seize, by main force, on each ship on the sea.’

  Then came forward the seventh and embraced him and recited these verses:

  Indeed, the severance from thee hath made my heart to ache: I have no bowels of the like of thee farewell to take.

  God knows I did not leave to speak the parting word to thee, Save of the fear that in the act thy very heart would break.

  Hassan also wept for parting from them, till he swooned, and repeated the following verses:

  Indeed, upon the parting day, my eye with pearls did rain Of dropping tears, whose necklaces I strung in many a skein.

  The cameleer urged on his beasts with them, what while nor strength Nor fortitude I found, nor did my heart with me remain.

  I took my leave of them and turned away in grief, and eke To quit the encampment and the place of meeting I was fain.

  Yea, I turned back, unknowing of the road and comforting My soul but with the thought that I should meet thee yet again.

  List, O my friend, unto the tale of love, and God forbid That I should speak and that thy heart to hearken should not deign!

  Since thou hast lost them, O my soul, forswear the sweet of life Nor covet its continuance, for, wanting them, ‘twere vain.

  Then he bade them farewell and fared on diligently night and day, till he came to Baghdad, the Abode of Peace and Sanctuary of the Abbaside Khalifs, unknowing what had passed in his absence. Here he dismissed the dromedaries and entering his house, went in to his mother, to salute her, but found her worn of body and wasted of bones, for much mourning and watching and weeping and lamentation, till she was grown like a skewer and could make him no answer. He asked her of his wife and children and she wept till she swooned away, whereupon he searched the house for them, but found no trace of them. So he went to the store-closet and finding it open and the chest broken and the feather-dress missing, knew that his wife had possessed herself thereof and flown away with her children. Then he returned with his mother and finding her recovered from her swoon, questioned her of his wife and children, whereupon she wept and said, ‘O my son, may God amply requite thee their loss! These are their three tombs.’

  When Hassan heard these words of his mother, he gave a great cry and fell down in a swoon, in which he lay from the first of the day till noon; wherefore anguish was added to his mother’s anguish and she despaired of his life. However, after awhile, he came to himself and wept and buffeted his face and rent his clothes and went about the house in a state of distraction, reciting the following verses:

  Folk have made moan of passion before me, of past years, And live and dead for absence have suffered pains and fears;

  But that within my bosom I harbour, with mine eyes I’ve never seen the like of nor heard it with mine ears.

  Then he drew his sword, and coming up to his mother, said to her, ‘Except thou tell me the truth of the case, I will strike of thy head and [after] kill myself.’ ‘O my son,’ answered she, ‘put up thy sword and sit down, till I tell thee what hath passed.’ So he sheathed his sword and sat by her side, whilst she re
counted to him all that had passed in his absence, adding, ‘O my son, but that I saw her weep to go to the bath and feared that she would complain to thee, on thy return, and thou wouldst be wroth with me, I had not carried her thither; nor had I brought out the feather-dress, though I died for it, were it not that the princess Zubeideh was wroth with me and took the key from me by force: and thou knowest, O my son, that no hand may measure length with that of the Khalifate. When they brought her the dress, she took it and turned it over, fearing lest somewhat might be lost thereof, but found it whole, wherefore she rejoiced and making her children fast to her middle, donned the feather-vest, after the lady Zubeideh had pulled off to her all that was upon her and clad her therein, in honour of her and because of her beauty. No sooner had she done this than she shook and becoming a bird, walked about the palace, whilst all who were present gazed at her and marvelled at her beauty and grace. Then she flew up to the roof and perching on the cornice, looked at me and said, “When thy son cometh and the nights of separation are long on him and he craveth reunion with me and meeting and the winds of love and longing agitate him, let him leave his native land and journey to the Islands of Wac.” This, then, is her story and what befell in thine absence.’

  When she had made an end of her story, Hassan gave a great cry and fell down in a swoon, from which he ceased not till nightfall, when he revived and fell to buffeting his face and writhing on the floor like a wounded snake. His mother sat by his head, weeping, till midnight, when he came to himself and wept sore and recited the following veres:

  Pause and behold his sorry state whom ye have left to mourn, So haply you will pity him, after despite and scorn.

  For, if ye look on him, ‘fore God, the man you will deny, As ‘twere you knew him not, so sick he is and passion-worn.

  Forslain of love-longing for you he is, and of the dead He’d reckoned be, but for the groans wherewith his breast is torn.

  Think not that separation’s light to him; nay, grievous ’tis Unto the longing; death itself were easier to be borne.

  Then he rose and went round about the house, weeping and lamenting and bemoaning himself, five days, without tasting meat or drink. His mother came to him and conjured him, till he broke his fast, and besought him to leave weeping; but he hearkened not to her and continued to weep and lament, whilst she strove to comfort him and he heeded her not. Then he recited the following verses:

  My soul for love a burden bears, so great, All strength that is would fail beneath its weight.

  I’m all amazed and sore my languor is; Alike are night and morn to this my strait.

  Indeed, till now I went in fear of death, But death today a remedy I rate.

  He abode thus till daybreak when his eyes closed and he [fell asleep, for sheer weariness, and] saw [in a dream] his wife weeping and repentant for that which she had done. So he started up from sleep, crying out and reciting the following verses:

  Their image is never absent a breathing-while from my breast: I have made it within my bosom the place of the honoured guest.

  But that I hope for reunion no instant more would I live, And but that I see them in slumber, I would not lie down to rest.

  He abode thus a whole month, weeping-eyed and mournful-hearted, wakeful by night and eating little, till he bethought him to repair to his sisters and take counsel with them in the matter of his wife, so haply they might help him to regain her. So he summoned the dromedaries and loading fifty of them with rarities of Irak, committed the house to his mother’s care and deposited all his goods in safe keeping, except some few he left with her. Then he set out on his journey and stayed not till he reached the palace of the Mountain of Clouds, when he went in to the princesses and gave them the presents, in which they rejoiced. Then they gave him joy of his safety and said to him, ‘O our brother, what ails thee to come [again so soon], seeing thou wast with us but two months since?’ Whereupon he wept and repeated the following verses:

  I see my soul all pined for loss of her it held so dear; It hath no ease, in any wise, of life and all its cheer.

  My malady is one of those whose remedy’s unknown; And shall a malady be cured, except its leach be here?

  Thou that forbidd’st me the delight of sleep, thou hast me left The wind to question after thee, whenas its wafts draw near,

  From my love’s land but lately borne, my love who doth comprise Beauties that make mine eyes to rain with many a bloody tear.

  O wind, that visitest her land, haply a waft of air The hearts with somewhat of her scent may quicken yet and cheer.

  Then he gave a great cry and swooned away. The princesses sat round him, weeping over him, till he came to himself and repeated these verses:

  It may be Fate at last shall turn its bridle-rein And bring me her I love, for Fortune changeth still;

  And things shall yet betide, despite the things fordone, To further forth my hopes and bring me to my will.

  Then he wept, till he fainted again, and presently coming to himself, recited the following:

  O term of all my pains and all my languishment, Art thou content? Indeed, in passion I’m content.

  Dost thou forsake me thus, without or fault or cause? Turn back to me, I pray, from rigour and relent.

  Then he wept till he swooned away once more and when he came to himself, he repeated these verses:

  Sleep hath my lids departed, but wake is ever nigh And of the hoarded teardrops still lavish is mine eye.

  It weepeth tears like rubies, for love, And evermore With growing distance waxeth the tide of tears more high.

  Longing within my bosom, beloved mine, hath lit A fire that rageth ever and will not cease or die.

  No tear, when I recall thee, I shed, but still herein Is lightning, ay, and thunder of many a groan and sigh.

  Then he wept till he fainted away a fourth time, and presently recovering, recited the following lines:

  Do ye for passion and distress e’en suffer as we do? And is the love of us with you, like to our love for you?

  May Allah love-liking confound! How bitter ’tis, indeed! What is it love would have of us? Ah, would to God I knew!

  Your lovely faces, far and wide though distance ‘twixt us stretch, Still in our eyes, where’er we are, are mirrored, clear and true.

  With memories of your dwelling-place my heart is occupied And still the turtle, when she sings, my trouble doth renew.

  O dove, that callest all the night upon thy mate, with me Thou mak’st grief company and add’st longing my longing to.

  Thou leav’st my lids unsatisfied with weeping and lament For dear ones gone and far away, departed from our view.

  Yea, every time and tide for them I yearn and am consumed With longing, when on me the night falls with its darkling hue.

  When his sisters heard this and saw his condition, the transport of love and longing and the passion and distraction that possessed him were manifest to them and they questioned him of his case. He wept and told them what had befallen in his absence and how his wife had taken flight with her children, wherefore they grieved for him and asked him what she said at leave-taking. ‘O my sisters,’ answered be, ‘she said to my mother, “Tell thy son, when he cometh and the nights of separation are long upon him and he craveth reunion with me and meeting and the winds of love and longing agitate him, let him join me in the islands of Wac.”’ When they heard this, they signed to one another with their eyes and shook their heads, and each looked at her sister, whilst Hassan looked at them. Then they bowed their heads and bethought themselves awhile; after which they raised their heads and said, ‘There is no power and no virtue save in God the Most High, the Supreme! Put forth thy hand to heaven and if thou win thither, then shalt thou win to thy wife and children.’

  When he heard this, the tears ran down his cheeks like rain and wet his clothes, and he recited the following verses:

  Red cheeks and eyes of melting black have charmed my wit away; And still, when cometh sleeplessness, patience farewell doth
say.

  The fair with inhumanity have worn my body sore; No breath of life abideth there that folk discover may.

  Houris, as graceful in their gait as desert antelopes, Whose unveiled beauties if saints saw, they’d doat thereon straightway;

  Faring as fares the garden breeze that blows before the dawn, Trouble and restlessness for love of these on me do prey;

  I hung my hopes upon a maid of them, a loveling fair, For whom my heart is all consumed with fire that rageth aye;

  A loveling soft of sides and proud and graceful in her gait, The darkness dwelleth in her hair, but in her face is day.

  She troubleth me, and champions stout how many have the eyes And cheeks of lovely women stirred to trouble and dismay!

  Then he wept, whilst the princesses wept for his weeping, and they were moved to compassion and jealousy for him. So they fell to comforting him and exhorting him to patience and offering up prayers for his reunion with his wife; whilst his sister [the youngest] said to him, ‘O my brother, take heart and be of good courage and have patience; so shalt thou come to thy desire; for whoso is patient and waiteth, attaineth that he seeketh. Patience is the key of relief and indeed the poet saith:

  Let destiny with slackened rein its course appointed fare And lie thou down to sleep by night, with heart devoid of care;

  ‘twixt the closing of an eye and th’ opening thereof, God hath it in His power to change a case from foul to fair.

  So take heart and brace up thy resolution, for one who is to live ten years diets not when he is but nine. Weeping and grief and mourning engender sickness and disease; wherefore do thou abide with us till thou be rested, and I will cast about how thou mayst win to thy wife and children, so it please God the Most High.’ And he wept sore and recited these verses:

  An if of its disease my body be made whole, I’m still unhealed of that which harbours in my soul.

  Except a lover be united with his love, No cure for love’s disease is nor lovers’ dole.

  Then he sat down beside her and she proceeded to talk with him and comfort him and question him of the manner of his wife’s departure. So he told her and she said, ‘By Allah, O my brother, I had it in mind to bid thee burn the feather-dress, but Satan made me forget it.’ She ceased not to talk with him and caress him and company with him other ten days, whilst sleep visited him not and he delighted not in food; and when the case was long upon him and unrest waxed in him, he recited the following verses: