One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  ‘O uncle,’ answered they, ‘they are extraordinary; for our father wrought at their contrivance a hundred and thirty and five years, till he brought them to perfection and informed them with secret properties and engraved them after the likeness of the revolving sphere, so that he made them serve him extraordinary services and by their aid he dissolved all enchantments; and when he had made an end of their fashion, death, which needs must all suffer, overtook him. Now the virtue of the cap is, that whoso sets it on his head is hidden from all folk’s eyes, nor can any see him, whilst it abideth on his head; and that of the wand is, that whoso possesseth it hath command and authority over seven tribes of the Jinn, who all serve the wand; and whenever he smiteth therewith on the ground, their kings [appear before him and] do him homage, and all the Jinn are at his service.’

  When Hassan heard this, he bowed his head and said in himself, ‘By Allah, I have need of this wand and cap, and I am worthier of them than these boys. So I will go about to get them from them by craft, that I may use them to free myself and my wife and children from yonder tyrannical queen, and then will we depart from this dismal place, whence there is no deliverance nor fight for mortal man. Doubtless, God caused me not to fall in with these two boys, but that I might get the wand and cap from them.’ Then he raised his head and said to the boys, ‘If ye would have me decide the case, I will make trial of you and see what each of you deserveth. He who overcometh his brother shall have the wand and he who faileth shall have the cap.’ ‘O uncle,’ answered they, ‘we depute thee to make trial of us and do thou decide between us as thou seest fit.’ Quoth Hassan, ‘Will ye hearken to me and have regard to my words?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’ Then said he, ‘I will take a stone and throw it and he who foregoeth his brother thereto and taketh it shall have the wand, and the other shall have the cap.’ And they said, “We consent to this.’

  Then he took a stone and threw it with his might, that it disappeared from sight. The two boys ran after it and when they were at a distance, Hassan donned the cap and taking the wand in his hand, removed from his place, that he might prove the truth of that which the boys had said, with regard to their properties. The younger outran the elder and coming first to the stone, took it and returned with it to the place where they had left Hassan, but found no signs of him. So he called to his brother, saying, ‘Where is the man who was to judge between us?’ Quoth the other, ‘I see him not nor know whether he hath flown up to the height of heaven or sunk into the nether earth.’ Then they sought for him, but saw him not, though all the while he was standing by them. So they reviled each other, saying, ‘The wand and the cap are both gone; they are neither mine nor thine: and indeed our father warned us of this very thing; but we forgot what he said.’ Then they retraced their steps and entered the city.

  When Hassan was thus certified of the truth of their speech, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and returned to the city, with the cap on his head and the wand in his hand. None saw him and he entered the palace and went up into the lodging of Shewahi, who saw him not, because of the cap. Then he went up to a shelf over her head, on which were vessels of glass and chinaware, and shook it with his hand, so that what was thereon fell to the ground. The old woman cried out and buffeted her face; then she rose and restored the fallen things to their places, saying in herself, ‘By Allah, methinks Queen Nour el Huda hath sent a devil to torment me, and he hath played me this trick! I beg God the Most High to deliver me from her and ensure me against her wrath, for, O Lord, if she deal thus abominably with her sister, beating and crucifying her, dear as she is to her father, how will she do with a stranger like myself, against whom she is incensed?’

  Then said she, ‘I conjure thee, O devil, by the Most Merciful God, the Bountiful, the High of Estate, the Mighty of Dominion, Creator of men and Jinn, and by the writing upon the seal of Solomon son of David (on whom be peace!) speak to me and answer me!’ Quoth Hassan, ‘I am no devil; I am Hassan, the afflicted, the distracted lover.’ Then he took the cap from his head and appeared to the old woman, who knew him and taking him apart, said to him, ‘What is come to thy wit, that thou returnest hither? Go and hide; for, if this wicked woman have tormented thy wife thus, and she her sister, how will she do, if she light on thee?’

  Then she told him all that had befallen his wife and that wherein she was of duresse and misery and torment, adding, ‘And indeed the queen repents her of having let thee go and hath sent one after thee, promising him a quintal of gold and my post in her service; and she hath sworn that, if he bring thee back, she will put thee and thy wife and children to death.’ And she wept and discovered to Hassan what the queen had done with her self, whereat he wept and said, ‘O my lady, how shall I do to deliver myself and my wife and children from this tyrannical queen and return with them in safety to my own country?’ ‘Out on thee!’ replied the old woman. ‘Save thyself.’ Quoth he, ‘Needs must I deliver her and my children from the queen in her despite.’ ‘How canst thou rescue them from her?’ said Shewahi. ‘Go and hide thyself, O my son, till God the Most High permit.’

  Then Hassan showed her the wand and the cap, whereat she rejoiced with an exceeding joy and said, ‘Glory be to Him who quickeneth the bones, though they be rotten! By Allah, O my son, thou and thy wife were but lost folk, but now thou art saved, thou and thy wife and children! For I know the wand and I know its maker, who was my master in magic. He was a mighty magician and wrought a hundred and thirty and five years at this wand and cap, till he brought them to perfection, when death the inevitable overtook him. And I have heard him say to his two sons, “O my sons, these things are none of your lot, for there will come a stranger from a far country, who will take them from you perforce, and ye shall not know how he takes them.” “O our father,” said they, “tell us how he will win to take them.” But he answered, “I know not.” And how,’ added she, ‘availedst thou to take them, O my son?’

  So he told her how he had taken them from the two boys, whereat she rejoiced and said, ‘O my son, since thou hast gotten [the means of freeing] thy wife and children, give ear to what I shall say to thee. There is no abiding for me with this wicked woman, after the fashion in which she hath dared to use me; wherefore I am minded to depart from her to the caves of the Magicians and abide with them there till I die. But do thou, O my son, don the cap and take the wand in thy hand and enter the place where thy wife and children are. Loose her bonds and smite the earth with the wand, saying, “Be present, O servants of these names!” whereupon the servants of the wand will appear; and if there present himself one of the heads of the tribes, command him what thou wilt.’

  So he bade her farewell and donning the cap, went forth and entered the place where his wife was. He found her bound to the ladder by her hair, well-nigh lifeless, weeping-eyed and mourning-hearted, in the sorriest of plights, knowing no way to deliver herself. Her children were playing under the ladder, whilst she looked at them and wept for them and herself; and he heard her repeat the following verses:

  Nothing is left her but a fluttering spright, Ay, and an eye bereaved of its light.

  A longing one, her entrails are a-fire, Yet still she’s silent in her woes’ despite.

  Her foes weep, pitying her; alas for those Who pity in the exultant foe excite!

  When Hassan saw her in this state of torment and misery and abjection, he wept till he swooned away; and when he revived, he saw his children playing and their mother aswoon for excess of pain; so he took the cap from his head and the children saw him and cried out, saying, ‘O our father!’ Then he covered his head again and the princess came to herself hearing their cry, but only saw her children weeping and crying out, ‘O our father!’ When she heard them name their father and weep, her heart was broken and her entrails rent in sunder and she said to them, ‘What makes you in mind of your father at this time?’ And she wept sore and cried out, from a bleeding heart and an aching bosom, ‘Where are ye and where is your father?’

  Then she recalled the d
ays of her union with Hassan and what had befallen her since her desertion of him and wept till her face was drowned in tears and her cheeks were furrowed with much weeping. Her tears ran down and wet the ground and she had not a hand loose to wipe them from her cheeks, whilst the flies fed their fill on her skin, and she found no helper but weeping and no solace but repeating verses. Then she recited the following:

  I call to mind the parting-day that rent our loves in twain, When, as I turned away, the tears in very streams did rain.

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

  Yea, back I turned, unknowing of the roads nor might shake off The trance of grief and longing love that numbed my heart and brain;

  And worst of all betided me, on my return, was one Who came to me, in lowly guise, to glory in my pain.

  Since the beloved’s gone, O soul, forswear the sweet of life Nor covet its continuance, for, wanting him, ‘twere vain.

  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!

  As ‘twere El Asmai himself. of passion I discourse With fancies rare and marvelous, linked in an endless chain.

  Then she turned right and left, seeking the cause of her children’s crying out, ‘O our father!’ but saw no one and marvelled that they should name him at that time and call upon him. When Hassan heard her verses, he wept till he swooned away and the tears ran down upon his cheeks like rain. Then he drew near the children and uncovered his head to them, [unseen of his wife,] whereupon they saw him and knowing him, cried out, saying, ‘O our father!’ Their mother fell a-weeping again, when she heard them name their father and said, ‘There is no resource against the ordinance of God the Most High! Strange! What makes them bethink them of their father at this time and call upon him, albeit it is not of their wont?’ Then she wept and recited the following verses:

  The land is empty of the moon that shone so bright whilere: Be lavish of your tears, mine eyes; I charge you, do not spare!

  They have departed: how shall I be patient of their loss? Nor heart nor patience after them, is left with me, I swear.

  Lords who are absent, but whose place is in the heart of me, Will you return to me again and be as once you were?

  What were the harm if they returned and I their company Enjoyed and they had ruth upon my tears and my despair?

  They made mine eyes rain wonder-fast upon the parting-day: There’s nought may quench the raging fire that ‘twixt my ribs doth flare.

  I would have had them stay, but Fate was contrary to me And did with sev’rance disappoint my longing for the fair.

  By Allah, O beloved mine, return to me! Enough Of tears, indeed, I’ve shed to win ill-fortune to forbear.

  With this, Hassan could no longer contain himself, but took the cap from his head; whereupon his wife saw him and recognizing him, gave a scream that startled all in the place. Then she said to him, ‘How camest thou hither? Hast thou dropped from the sky or come up through the earth?’ And her eyes filled with tears and Hassan also wept. ‘O man,’ quoth she, ‘this is no time for tears or reproaches. Fate hath had its course and the sight was blinded and the pen hath run with what was ordained of God from all eternity: so, God on thee, whencesoever thou comest, go and hide, lest any see thee and tell my sister and she slaughter thee and me!’ ‘O my lady and lady of all queens,’ answered he, ‘I have ventured myself and come hither, and either I will die or I will deliver thee from this thy strait and return with thee and my children to my country, in despite of thy shrew of a sister.’

  But she smiled and shook her head, saying, ‘Far, O my life, far is it from the power of any save God the Most High to deliver me from this my stress! Save thyself by flight and cast not thyself into destruction; for she hath troops without number, that none may withstand. Grant that thou tookest me and wentest forth with me, how canst thou win to thy country and escape from these islands and the perils of these dreadful places? Verily, in thy way hither, thou hast seen the wonders and dangers and terrors of the road, such as none may escape, not even one of the rebellious Jinn. Depart, therefore, forthright and add not anguish to my anguish and trouble to my trouble, neither do thou pretend to rescue me from this my plight; for who shall bring me to thy country, through all these valleys and thirsty deserts and fatal places?’ ‘By thy life, O light of mine eyes,’ rejoined Hassan, ‘I will not depart this place but with thee!’ ‘O man,’ quoth she, ‘thou knowest not what thou sayst! How canst thou avail unto this thing and what manner of man art thou? None can escape from these realms, even had he command over Jinn and Afrits and warlocks. So fly and leave me; peradventure God will bring about a change.’ ‘O lady of fair ones,’ answered Hassan, ‘I came but to deliver thee with this wand and cap.’ And he told her what had befallen him with the two boys; but, whilst he was speaking, up came the queen and heard them talking.

  When he was ware of her, he put on the cap and was hidden from sight, and she entered and said to the princess, ‘O harlot, who is he with whom thou wast talking?’ ‘Who is with me that should talk with me,’ answered Menar es Sena, ‘except these little ones?’ Then the queen took the whip and beat her, whilst Hassan stood by, nor did she leave beating her till she fainted; whereupon she bade remove her to another place. So they loosed her and carried her to another chamber, whilst Hassan followed [unseen]. There they cast her down, senseless, and stood looking upon her, till she revived and recited the following verses:

  Long, long have I bewailed the sev’rance of our loves, With tears that from my lids streamed down like burning rain,

  And vowed that, if the days should reunite us two, My lips should never speak of severance again,

  And to the enviers, ‘Die of sheer despite!’ I’d say; ‘By Allah, I have won my wishes to attain!’

  Joy loath o’ercome me so, that, for the very stress Of that which gladdens me, to weeping I am fain.

  Tears are become to you a habit, O mine eyes, So that ye weep as well for gladness as for pain.

  Then the slave-girls went out from her and Hassan took off the cap; whereupon his wife said to him, ‘See, O man, all this hath befallen me by reason of my having gainsaid thee and transgressed thy commandment and gone forth without thy leave. But, I conjure thee by Allah, reproach me not for mine offence and know that women know not a man’s worth till they have lost him. Indeed, I have sinned and done evil; but I crave pardon of God the Great for that I did, and if He reunite us, I will never again disobey thee in aught.’ Quoth Hassan (and indeed his heart ached for her), ‘It was not thou that sinnedst, but I, for I departed and left thee with one who knew not thy rank nor thy worth. But know, O beloved of my heart and fruit of mine entrails and light of mine eyes, that God (blessed be He!) hath given me power to release thee; so wouldst thou have me carry thee to thy father, there to accomplish what God decreeth unto thee, or wilt thou presently depart with me to my country, now that relief is come to thee?’ ‘Who can deliver me save the Lord of the skies?’ answered she. ‘Go to thine own country and put away from thee false hope; for thou knowest not the perils of these parts: but, if thou obey me not, thou wilt see.’ And she recited the following verses:

  What thou wouldst have is law to me and pleasing in my sight! What ails thee, then, to look on me with anger and despite?

  Whate’er befell, now God forbid the love that was of old ‘Twixt uS should e’er forgotten be, forspent and ended quite!

  For from our side the spy ceased not, estrangement till he saw Between us, when he cast about our loves to disunite.

  Yes, I was constant in fair thought of thee, for all the spy Dealt ill and did with evil words to evil thoughts excite.

  We’ll keep the secret of our loves and guard it from the folk, Albeit with reproach the sword of blame be bared to smite.

  My days in longing do I pass, so may a messenger With tidings of acceptance come from thee and heal my spright.


  Then she wept and her children wept also and the slave-girls heard them: so they came in to them and found them weeping, but saw not Hassan with them; wherefore they wept for pity of them and cursed Queen Nour el Huda. Then Hassan took patience till it was night and her guards had gone to their sleeping-places, when he went up to her and loosing her, pressed her to his bosom and kissed her on the head and between the eyes, saying, ‘How long have we wearied for our country and for reunion there! Is this our meeting in sleep, or on wake?’ Then he took up the elder boy and she took up the younger and they went forth. God covered them with the veil of His protection, so that they came safe to the outer door of the palace, but found it locked from without, and Hassan said, ‘There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High, the Supreme! We are God’s and to Him we return!’ With this they despaired of escape and Hassan beat hand upon hand, saying, ‘O Thou that dispellest troubles! Verily, I had bethought me of every thing and considered its issue but this; and now, when it is day, they will take us, and what resource have we in this case?’ And he recited the following verses: