One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  When it was the Seventy-eighth Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Chamberlain bade the tent pitchers set up a pavilion spacious enough to receive the subjects flocking to their Sultan, they planted a splendid Sháhmiyánah327 befitting Kings. And as they ended their labours behold, a dust cloud spired aloft and the breeze made it lift and beneath it showed a conquering host; and presently it appeared that this was the army of Baghdad and Khorasan preceded by the Wazir Dandan. And in it all rejoiced at the accession of the “Light of the Place.” Now Zau al-Makan had donned robes of royal estate and girt himself with the sword of state: so the Chamberlain brought him a steed and he mounted surrounded by the Mamelukes and all the company from the tents on foot, to do him service, and he rode on until he came to the great pavilion, where he sat down and he laid the royal dagger across his thighs, whilst the Chamberlain stood in attendance on him and his armed slaves stationed themselves under the entrance awning of the Shahmiyanah, with drawn swords in their hands. Presently, up came the troops and the host and craved admission so the Chamberlain went in to Zau al-Makan and asked his leave whereupon he bade admit them, ten by ten. The Chamberlain acquainted them with the King’s commands, to which they replied, “We hear and we obey;” and all drew up before the pavilion entrance. Then he took ten of them and carried them through the vestibule into the presence of Sultan Zau al-Makan, whom when they saw, they were awed; but he received them with most gracious kindness and promised them all good. So they gave him joy of his safe return and invoked Allah’s blessings upon him after which they took the oath of fealty never to gainsay him in aught and they kissed ground before him and withdrew. Then other ten entered and he entreated them as he had entreated the ethers; and they ceased not to enter, ten by ten, till none was left but the Wazir Dandan. Lastly the Minister went in and kissed the ground before Zau al-Makan, who rose to meet him, saying, “Welcome, O Wazir and sire sans peer! Verily, thine acts are those of a counsellor right dear, and judgement and foreseeing clear are in the hands of the Subtle of Lere.” Then bade he the Chamberlain forthwith go out and cause the tables to be spread and order all the troops thereto. So they came and ate and drank. Moreover the Sultan commanded his Wazir Dandan call a ten days’ halt of the army, that he might be private with him and learn from him how and wherefore his father had been slain. The Wazir obeyed the commands of the Sultan with submission and wished him eternity of glory and said, “This needs must be!” He then repaired to the heart of the encampment and ordered the host to halt ten days. They did as he bade them and, moreover, he gave them leave to divert themselves and ordered that none of the lords in waiting should attend upon the King for service during the space of three days. Then the Wazir went to the Sultan and reported all to him, and Zau al-Makan waited until nightfall, when he went in to his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman and asked her, “Dost thou know the cause of my father’s murder or not?” “I have no knowledge of the cause,” she answered, and drew a silken curtain before herself, whilst Zau al-Makan seated himself without the curtain and commanded the Wazir to the presence and, when he came, said to him, “I desire thou relate to me in detail the cause of the killing of my sire, King Omar bin al-Nu’uman!” “Know then, O King,” replied Dandan, “that King Omar bin al- Nu’uman, when he returned to Baghdad from his chasing and hunting and entered the city, enquired for thee and thy sister, but could not find you and knew that you twain had gone on the Pilgrimage; whereat he was greatly grieved and much angered, and his breast was straitened and he abode thus half a year, seeking news of you from all who came and went but none could give him any tidings. Now while we were in attendance upon him one day, after a whole year had sped since ye were lost to his sight, lo! there came to us an ancient dame with signs of being a devotee, accompanied by five damsels, high bosomed virgins like moons, endowed with such beauty and loveliness as tongue faileth to describe; and, to crown their perfections of comeliness, they could read the Koran and were versed in various kinds of learning and in the histories of bygone peoples. Then that old woman sought audience of the King, and he bade admit her; whereupon she entered the presence and kissed the ground between his hands. I was then sitting by his side and he, seeing in her the signs of asceticism and devoutness, made her draw near and take seat hard by him. And when she had sat down she addressed him and said, ‘Know, O King, that with me are five damsels, whose like no King among the Kings possesseth; for they are endowed with wit and beauty and loveliness and perfection. They read the Koran — and the Traditions and are skilled in all manner of learning and in the history of bygone races. They stand here between thy hands to do thee service, O King of the Age, and it is by trial that folk are prized or despised. ‘Thy father, who hath found mercy;328 looked at the damsels and their favour pleased him; so he said to them, Let each and every of you make me hear something of what she knoweth anent the history of the folk of yore and of peoples long gone before!’ — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

  When it was the Seventy-ninth Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan said unto King Zau al-Makan, “Thy father, who hath found mercy, glanced at the damsels and their favour pleased him and he said to them, ‘Let each and every of you make me hear something of what she knoweth anent the history of the folk of yore and of peoples long gone before!’ Thereupon one of them came forward and, kissing the ground before him, spake as follows329 ‘Know, O King, that it behoveth one of good breeding to eschew impertinence and adorn himself with excellencies, and observe the Divine injunctions and avoid mortal sins; and to this he should apply himself with the assiduity of one who, if he stray therefrom, falleth into perdition; for the foundation of good breeding is virtuous behaviour. And know that the chief cause and reason of man’s existence is the endeavour after life everlasting, and the right way thereto is the service of Allah. Wherefore it behoveth thee to deal beneficently with the people: and swerve not from this canon, for the mightier men are in dignity, the more their need of prudence and foresight; and indeed Monarchs need this more than the many, for the general cast themselves into affairs, without taking thought to the issue thereof. Be thou prodigal of thy life and thy good in the way of Allah, and know that, if an enemy dispute with thee, thou mayst dispute with him and refute him with proofs and be proof against him; but as for thy friend, there is none can judge between thee and him save righteousness and fair dealing. Choose, therefore, thy friend for thyself, after thou hast proved him. If he be of the brotherhood of futurity,330 let him be zealous in observing the externals of the Holy Law and versed in its inner meaning, as far as may be; and if he be of the brotherhood of the world, let him be free born, sincere, neither a fool nor a perverse, for the fool man is such that even his parents might well flee from him, and a liar cannot be a true friend. Indeed the word, Siddík331 (‘friend’) deriveth from Sidk (‘truth’) that welleth up from the bottom of the heart; and how can this be the case, when falsehood is manifest upon the tongue? And know, that the observance of the Law profiteth him who practiseth it: so love thy brother, if he be of this quality and do not cast him off, even if thou see in him that which irketh thee, for a friend is not I like a wife, whom one can divorce and re-marry: nay, his heart is like glass: once broken, it may not be mended. And Allah bless him who saith,

  ‘Ware how thou hurtest man with hurt of heart; * ’Tis hard to win

  thee back the heart offended:

  For hearts indeed, whence love is alien made, * Like broken glass

  may nevermore be mended.’

  The maiden continued and concluded with pointing out to us what sages say, ‘The best of brethren is he who is the most constant in good counsel; the best of action is that which is fairest in its consequence, and the best of praise is not that which is in the mouths of men. It is also said, ‘It behoveth not the servant to neglect thanking Allah especially for two favours, health and reason.’ Again it is said,
‘Whoso honoureth himself, his lust is a light matter to him, and he who maketh much of his small troubles, Allah afflicteth him with the greater; he who obeyeth his own inclination neglecteth his duties and he who listeneth to the slanderer loseth the true friend. He who thinketh well of thee, do thou fulfill his thought of thee. He who exceedeth in contention sinneth, and he who against upright standeth not on ward, is not safe from the sword. Now will I tell thee somewhat of the duties of Kazis and judges. Know, O King, that no judgement serveth the cause of justice save it be given after proof positive, and it behoveth the judge to treat all people on the same level, to the intent that the great may not hunger for oppression nor the small despair of justice. Furthermore he should extract proof from the complainant and impose an oath upon the defendant; and mediation is admissible between Moslems, except it be a compromise sanctioning the unlawful or forbidding the lawful.332 If thou shalt have done aught during the day, of which thy reason is doubtful but thy good intention is proved, thou (O Kazi) shouldst revert to the right, for to do justice is a religious obligation and to return to that which is right is better than persistence in wrong. Then (O judge) thou shouldest study precedents and the law of the case and do equal justice between the suitors, withal fixing thine eyes upon the truth and committing thine affair to Allah (be He extolled and exalted!). And require thou proof of the complainant, and if he adduce evidence let him have due benefit of it; and if not, put the defendant to his oath; for this is the ordinance of Allah. Receive thou the testimony of competent Moslem witnesses, one against other, for Almighty Allah hath commanded judges to judge by externals, He Himself taking charge of the inner and secret things. It behoveth the judge also to avoid giving judge meet, whilst suffering from stress of pain or hunger,333 and that in his decisions between folk he seek the face of Allah Almighty for he whose intent is pure and who is at peace with himself, Allah shall guarantee him against what is between him and the people.’ Quoth al-Zuhri,334 ‘There are three things for which, if they be found in a Kazi, he should be deposed; namely, if he honour the base, if he love praise and if he fear dismissal. And Omar bin Abd al-Aziz once deposed a Kazi, who asked him, ‘Why hast thou dismissed me? It hath reached me,’ answered Omar, ‘that thy converse is greater than thy condition.’ It is said also that Iskandar335 said to his Kazi, ‘I have invested thee with this function and committed to thee in it my soul and mine honour and my manliness; so do thou guard it with thy sense and thine understanding.’ To his Cook he said, ‘Thou art the Sultan of my body; so look thou tender it as thine own self.’ To his Secretary he said, ‘Thou art the controller of my wit: so do thou watch over me in what thou writest for me and from me.’” Thereupon the first damsel backed out from the presence and a second damsel came forward. — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

  When it was the Eightieth Night,

  She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan said to Zau al-Makan, “Thereupon the first damsel backed out from the presence and a second damsel came forward and, kissing the ground seven times before the King thy father, spake as follows, ‘The sage Lukmán336 said to his son, ‘There be three who are known only in three several cases; the merciful man is unknown save in time of wrath, the brave only in battle, and thy friend in time of need.’ It is said that the oppressor shall be depress though by people praised, and that the oppress is at rest though by people blamed. Quoth Allah Almighty,337 ‘Assuredly deem not that those who rejoice in what they have done, and who love to be praised for what they have not done, shall escape reckoning of punishment: indeed there is reserved for them a grievous penalty.’ And he said338 (on whom be salvation and salutation!), ‘Works are according to intention and to each man is attributed that which he intendeth.’ He said also, ‘In the body is a part which being sound the rest is sound, and which being unsound the whole is unsound.’ And this is the heart. Now this heart is the most marvellous of what is in man, since it is that which ordereth his whole affair: If covetise stir in it, desire destroyeth him, and if affliction master it, anguish slayeth him; if anger rage in it, danger is hard upon him; if it be blest with contentment, he is safe from discontent; if fear surprise it, he is full of mourning; and if calamity overtake it, affliction betideth him. If a man gain the use of wealth, peradventure he is diverted thereby from the remembrance of his Lord; if poverty choke him his heart is distracted by woe, or if disquietude waste his heart, weakness causeth him to fall. Thus, in any case, nothing profiteth him but that he be mindful of Allah and occupy himself with gaining his livelihood in this world and securing his place in the next. It was asked of a certain sage, ‘Who is the most ill conditioned of men?’; and he answered, ‘The man whose lusts master his manhood and whose mind soareth over high, so that his knowledge dispreadeth and his excuse diminisheth; and how excellently saith the poet,

  Freest am I of all mankind fro’ meddling wight * Who, seeing

  others err, self error ne’er can sight:

  Riches and talents are but loans to creature lent, * Each wears

  the cloak of that he bears in breast and sprite:

  If by mistaken door attempt on aught thou make, * Thou shalt go

  wrong and if the door be right, go right!’

  Continued the maiden, ‘As for anecdotes of devotees, quoth Hisham bin Bashar, ‘I asked Omar bin Ubayd, What is true piety?’; and he answered, ‘The Apostle of Allah (to whom be salutation and salvation!) hath explained it when he sayeth, The pious is he who forgetteth not the grave nor calamity and who preferreth that which endureth to that which passeth away; who counteth not the morrow as of his days but reckoneth himself among the dead.’ And it is related that Abu Zarr339 used to say, Want is dearer to me than wealth, and unheal is dearer to me than health.’ Quoth one of the listeners, ‘May Allah have mercy on Abu Zarr!’. For my part, I say, ‘Whoso putteth his trust in the goodness of the election of Almighty Allah should be content with that condition which Allah hath chosen for him.’ Quoth one of the Companions of the Prophet, ‘Ibn Abi Aufa340 once prayed with us the dawn prayer. When he had done, he recited, ‘O Thou Enwrapped!’341 till he came to where Allah saith, ‘When there shall be a trumping on the trumpet,’ and fell down dead. It is said that Sabit al-Banani wept till he well nigh lost his eyes. They brought him a man to medicine him who said to him, ‘I will cure thee, provided thou obey my bidding’ Asked Sabit, ‘In what matter?’ Quoth the leach, ‘In that thou leave weeping!’ ‘What is the worth of mine eyes?’, rejoined Sabit, ‘if they do not weep?’ Quoth a man to Mohammed bin Abdillah, ‘Exhort thou me!’” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.