‘Women are Satans made for woe o’ men; *
I fly to Allah from their devilish scathe:
Source of whatever bale befel our kind, *
In wordly matters and in things of Faith.’”
Continued Amjad, “We desire of thee naught but that thou repeat to our sire these two couplets.” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was ad the Two Hundred and Twenty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Amjad added, speaking to the treasurer, “We desire of thee naught but that thou repeat to our sire these two couplets which thou hast just now heard; and I conjure thee by Allah to have patience with us, whilst I cite to my brother this other pair of couplets.” Then he wept with sore weeping and began,
“The Kings who fared before us showed *
Of instances full many a show:
Of great and small and high and low *
How many this one road have trod!”
Now when the treasurer heard these words from Amjad, he wept till his beard was wet, whilst As’ad’s eyes brimmed with tears and he in turn repeated these couplets,
“Fate frights us when the thing is past and gone; *
Weeping is not for form or face alone366 :
What ails the Nights?367 Allah blot out our sin, *
And be the Nights by other hand undone!
Ere this Zubayr-son368 felt their spiteful hate, *
Who fled for refuge to the House and Stone:
Would that when Khárijah was for Amru slain369 *
They had ransomed Ali with all men they own.”
Then, with cheeks stained by tears down railing he recited also these verses,
“In sooth the Nights and Days are charactered *
By traitor falsehood and as knaves they lie;
The Desert-reek370 recalls their teeth that shine; *
All horrid blackness is their K of eye:
My sin anent the world which I abhor *
Is sin of sword when sworders fighting hie.”
Then his sobs waxed louder and he said,
“O thou who woo’st a World371 unworthy, learn *
’Tis house of evils, ’tis Perdition’s net:
A house where whoso laughs this day shall weep *
The next: then perish house of fume and fret!
Endless its frays and forays, and its thralls *
Are ne’er redeemed, while endless risks beset.
How many gloried in its pomps and pride, *
Till proud and pompous did all bounds forget,
Then showing back of shield she made them swill372 *
Full draught, and claimed all her vengeance debt.
For know her strokes fall swift and sure, altho’ *
Long bide she and forslow the course of Fate:
So look thou to thy days lest life go by *
Idly, and meet thou more than thou hast met;
And cut all chains of world-love and desire *
And save thy soul and rise to secrets higher.”
Now when As’ad made an end of these verses, he strained his brother Amjad in his arms, till they twain were one body, and the treasurer, drawing his sword, was about to strike them, when behold, his steed took fright at the wind of his upraised hand, and breaking its tether, fled into the desert. Now the horse had cost a thousand gold pieces and on its back was a splendid saddle worth much money; so the treasurer threw down his sword, and ran after his beast. — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Twenty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when his horse ran away, the treasurer ran after it in huge concern, and ceased not running to catch the runaway till it entered a thicket. He followed it whilst it dashed through the wood, smiting the earth with its hoofs till it raised a dust-cloud which towered high in air; and snorting and puffing and neighing and waxing fierce and furious. Now there happened to be in this thicket a lion of terrible might; hideous to sight, with eyes sparkling light: his look was grim and his aspect struck fright into man’s sprite. Presentry the treasurer turned and saw the lion making towards him; but found no way of escape nor had he his sword with him. So he said in himself, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! This strait is come upon me for no other cause but because of Amjad and As’ad; and indeed this journey was unblest from the first!” Meanwhile the two Princes were grievously oppressed by the heat and grew sore athirst, so that their tongues hung out and they cried for succour, but none came to their relief and they said, “Would to Heaven we had been slain and were at peace from this pain! But we know not whither the horse hath fled, that the treasurer is gone and hath left us thus pinioned. If he would but come back and do us die, it were easier to us than this torture to aby.” Said As’ad, “O my brother, be patient, and the relief of Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) shall assuredly come to us; for the horse started not away save of His favour towards us, and naught irketh us but this thirst.” Upon this he stretched and shook himself and strained right and left, till he burst his pinion-bonds; then he rose and unbound his brother and catching up the Emir’s sword, said, “By Allah, we will not go hence, till we look after him and learn what is become of him.” Then they took to following on the trail till it led them to the thicket and they said to each other, “Of a surety, the horse and the treasurer have not passed out of this wood.” Quoth As’ad, “Stay thou here, whilst I enter the thicket and search it;” and Amjad replied, “I will not let thee go in alone: nor will we enter it but together; so if we escape, we shall escape together and if we perish, we shall perish together.” Accordingly both entered and found that the lion had sprang upon the treasurer, who lay like a sparrow in his grip, calling upon Allah for aid and signing with his hands to Heaven. Now when Amjad saw this, he took the sword and, rushing upon the lion, smote him between the eyes and laid him dead on the ground. The Emir sprang up, marvelling at this escape and seeing Amjad and As’ad, his master’s sons, standing there, cast himself at their feet and exclaimed, “By Allah, O my lords, it were intolerable wrong in me to do you to death. May the man never be who would kill you! Indeed, with my very life, I will ransom you.” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth the treasurer to Amjad and As’ad, “With my life will I ransom you both!” Then he hastily rose and, at once embracing them, enquired how they had loosed their bonds and come thither; whereupon they told him how the bonds of one of them had fallen loose and he had unbound the other, whereto they were helped by the purity of their intentions, and how they had tracked his trail till they came upon him. So he thanked them for their deed and went with them forth of the thicket; and, when they were in the open country, they said to him, “O uncle, do our father’s bidding.” He replied, “Allah forbid that I should draw near to you with hurt! But know ye that I mean to take your clothes and clothe you with mine; then will I fill two vials with the lion’s blood and go back to the King and tell him I have out vou to death. But as for you two, fare ye forth into the lands, for Allah’s earth is wide; and know, O my lords, that it paineth me to part from you.” At this, they all fell a-weeping; then the two youths put off their clothes and the treasurer habited them with his own. Moreover he made two parcels of their dress and, filling two vials with the lion’s blood, set the parcels before him on his horse’s back. Presently he took leave of them and, making his way to the city, ceased not faring till he went in to King Kamar al-Zaman and kissed the ground between his hands. The King saw him changed in face and troubled (which arose from his adventure with the lion) and, deeming this came of the slaughter of his two sons, rejoiced and said to him, “Hast thou done the work?” “Yes, O our lord,” replied the treasure
r and gave him the two parcels of clothes and the two vials full of blood. Asked the King, “What didst thou observe in them; and did they give thee any charge?” Answered the treasurer, “I found them patient and resigned to what came down upon them and they said to me, ‘Verily, our father is excusable; bear him our salutation and say to him, ‘Thou art quit of our killing. But we charge thee repeat to him these couplets,
‘Verily women are devils created for us. We seek refuge with God from the artifice of the devils. They are the source of all the misfortunes that have appeared among mankind in the affairs of the world and of religion.’’’373
When the King heard these words of the treasurer, he bowed his head earthwards, a long while and knew his sons’ words to mean that they had been wrongfully put to death. Then he bethought himself of the perfidy of women and the calamities brought about by them; and he took the two parcels and opened them and fell to turning over his sons’ clothes and weeping, — And Shahrazed perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Twenty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Kamar la-Zaman opened the two bundles and fell to turning over his sons’ clothes and weeping, it so came to pass that he found, in the pocket of his son As’ad’s raiment, a letter in the hand of his wife enclosing her hair strings; so he opened and read it and understanding the contents knew that the Prince had been falsely accused and wrongously. Then he searched Amjad’s parcel of dress and found in his pocket a letter in the handwriting of Queen Hayat al-Nufus enclosing also her hair-strings; so he opened and read it and knew that Amjad too had been wronged; whereupon he beat hand upon hand and exclaimed, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! I have slain my sons unjustly.” And he buffeted his face, crying out, “Alas, my sons! Alas, my long grief!” Then he bade them build two tombs in one house, which he styled “House of Lamentations,” and had graved thereon his sons’ names; and he threw himself on Amjad’s tomb, weeping and groaning and lamenting, and improvised these couplets,
“O moon for ever set this earth below, *
Whose loss bewail the stars which stud the sky!
O wand, which broken, ne’er with bend and wave *
Shall fascinate the ravisht gazer’s eye;
These eyne for jealousy I ‘reft of thee, *
Nor shall they till next life thy sight descry:
I’m drowned in sea of tears for insomny *
Wherefore, indeed in Sáhirah-stead374 I lie.”
Then he threw himself on As’ad’s tomb, groaning and weeping and lamenting and versifying with these couplets,
“Indeed I longed to share unweal with thee, *
But Allah than my will willed otherwise:
My grief all blackens ‘twixt mine eyes and space, *
Yet whitens all the blackness from mine eyes:375
Of tears they weep these eyne run never dry, *
And ulcerous flow in vitals never dries:
Right sore it irks me seeing thee in stead376 *
Where slave with sovran for once levelled lies.”
And his weeping and wailing redoubled; and, after he had ended his lamentations and his verse, he forsook his friends and intimates, and denying himself to his women and his family, cut himself off from the world in the House of Lamentations, where he passed his time in weeping for his sons. Such was his case; but as regards Amjad and As’ad they fared on into the desert eating of the fruits of the earth and drinking of the remnants of the rain for a full month, till their travel brought them to a mountain of black flint377 whose further end was unknown; and here the road forked, one line lying along the midway height and the other leading to its head. They took the way trending to the top and gave not over following it five days, but saw no end to it and were overcome with weariness, being unused to walking upon the mountains or elsewhere.378 At last, despairing of coming to the last of the road, they retraced their steps and, taking the other, that led over the midway heights, — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Twenty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princes Amjad and As’ad returned from the path leading to the Mountain- head and took that which ran along the midway heights, and walked through all that day till nightfall, when As’ad, weary with much travel, said to Amjad, “O my brother, I can walk no farther, for I am exceeding weak.” Replied Amjad, “O my brother, take courage! May be Allah will send us relief.” So they walked on part of the night, till the darkness closed in upon them, when As’ad became weary beyond measure of weariness and cried out, “O my brother, I am worn out and spent with walking,” and threw himself upon the ground and wept. Amjad took him in his arms and walked on with him, bytimes sitting down to rest till break of day, when they came to the mountain-top and found there a stream of running water and by it a pomegranate-tree and a prayer-niche.379 They could hardly believe their eyes when they saw it; but, sitting down by that spring, drank of its water and ate of the fruit of that granado-tree; after which they lay on the ground and slept till sunrise, when they washed and bathed in the spring and, eating of the pomegranates, slept again till the time of mid-afternoon prayer. Then they thought to continue their journey, but As’ad could not walk, for both his feet were swollen. So they abode there three days till they were rested, after which they set out again and fared on over the mountain days and nights, tortured by and like to die of thirst, till they sighted a city gleaming afar off, at which they rejoiced and made towards it. When they drew near it, they thanked Allah (be His Name exalted!) and Amjad said to As’ad, “O my brother, sit here, whilst I go to yonder city and see what it is and whose it is and where we are in Allah’s wide world, that we may know through what lands we have passed in crossing this mountain, whose skirts had we followed, we had not reached this city in a whole year. So praised be Allah for safety!” Replied As’ad, “By Allah, O my brother, none shall go down into that city save myself, and may I be thy ransom! If thou leave me alone, be it only for an hour, I shall imagine a thousand things and be drowned in a torrent of anxiety on shine account, for I cannot brook shine absence from me.” Amjad rejoined, “Go then and tarry not. So As’ad took some gold pieces, and leaving his brother to await him, descended the mountain and ceased not faring on till he entered the city. As he threaded the streets he was met by an old man age-decrepit, whose beard flowed down upon his breast and forked in twain;380 he bore a walking-staff in his hand and was richly clad, with a great red turband on his head. When As’ad saw him, he wondered at his dress and his mien; nevertheless, he went up to him and saluting him said, “Where be the way to the market, O my master?” Hearing these words the Shaykh smiled in his face and replied, “O my son, meseemeth thou art a stranger?” As’ad rejoined, “Yes, I am a stranger.” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Twenty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Shaykh who met As’ad smiled in his face and said to him, “O my son, meseemeth thou art a stranger?” and As’ad replied, “Yes, I am a stranger.” Then rejoined the old man, “Verily, thou gladdenest our country with thy presence, O my son, and thou desolatest shine own land by reason of shine absence. What wantest thou of the market?” Quoth As’ad, “O uncle, I have a brother, with whom I have come from a far land and with whom I have journeyed these three months; and, when we sighted this city, I left him, who is my elder brother, upon the mountain and came hither, purposing to buy victual and what else, and return therewith to him, that we might feed thereon.” Said the old man, “Rejoice in all good, O my son, and know thou that to-day I give a marriage-feast, to which I have bidden many guests, and I have made ready plenty of meats, the best and most delicious that heart can desire. So if thou wilt come with me to my place, I will give
thee freely all thou lackest without asking thee a price or aught else. Moreover I will teach thee the ways of this city; and, praised be Allah, O my son, that I, and none other have happened upon thee.” “As thou wilt,” answered As’ad, “do as thou art disposed, but make haste, for indeed my brother awaiteth me and his whole heart is with me.” The old man took As’ad by the hand and carried him to a narrow lane, smiling in his face and saying, “Glory be to Him who hath delivered thee from the people of this city!” And he ceased not walking till he entered a spacious house, wherein was a saloon and behold, in the middle of it were forty old men, well stricken in years, collected together and forming a single ring as they sat round about a lighted fire, to which they were doing worship and prostrating themselves.381 When As’ad saw this, he was confounded and the hair of his body stood on end though he knew not what they were; and the Shaykh said to them, “O Elders of the Fire, how blessed is this day!” Then he called aloud, saying, “Hello, Ghazbán!” Whereupon there came out to him a tall black slave of frightful aspect, grim-visaged and flat nosed as an ape who, when the old man made a sign to him, bent As’ad’s arms behind his back and pinioned them; after which the Shaykh said to him, “Let him down into the vault under the earth and there leave him and say to my slave girl Such-an-one, ‘Torture him night and day and give him a cake of bread to eat morning and evening against the time come of the voyage to the Blue Sea and the Mountain of Fire, whereon we will slaughter him as a sacrifice.’” So the black carried him out at another door and, raising a flag in the floor, discovered a flight of twenty steps leading to a chamber382 under the earth, into which he descended with him and, laying his feet in irons, gave him over to the slave girl and went away. Meanwhile, the old men said to one another, “When the day of the Festival of the Fire cometh, we will sacrifice him on the mountain, as a propitiatory offering whereby we shall pleasure the Fire.” Presently the damsel went down to him and beat him a grievous beating, till streams of blood flowed from his sides and he fainted; after which she set at his head a scone of bread and a cruse of brackish water and went away and left him. In the middle of the night, he revived and found himself bound and beaten and sore with beating: so he wept bitter tears; and recalling his former condition of honour and prosperity, lordship and dominion, and his separation from his sire and his exile from his native land. — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say,
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