‘Abdallah called to me and when I answered he said: “This woman is a tyrannical evil-doer called Lab, which means Royal Sun. When she finds someone whom she admires, she takes him and enjoys him for forty days before transforming him into the shape of some animal. She then sends him off to the shore and looks for someone else, may God curse her and remove all trace of her.” “Father,” I told him, “I am afraid of her,” but he said: “No harm will come to you, as she will not dare to lift a hand against you while I am alive, as she thinks that you are my nephew, whom I regard as a son.”
‘I thanked him, and we spent the night. Next morning she came back, looking more radiant than the sun, and she greeted ‘Abdallah, who kissed the ground before her, as did I. “Get up,” she said, and ‘Abdallah rose and took me by the hand, saying: “Take him, lady, and send him back when you have had enough of him.” She agreed, and I was given a horse with a golden saddle. I rode beside her as people admired my physique and my handsome face, feeling sorry that I was going to be put under a harmful spell.
‘When we reached the royal palace we went in and, after passing through a series of halls, we halted. Taking me by the hand, she led me into a house the like of which I had never seen. It was like paradise, with walls plated with gold, and around it and them were statues of women each holding a musical instrument. It was furnished with all sorts of silk brocade, and at its upper end was a dais on which was a throne of red gold inlaid with various types of gems, sapphires, balkash rubies and emeralds.
‘The queen mounted the dais and took her seat on the throne, taking me up with her and seating me by her side, with her thigh over mine. For a time she issued commands and prohibitions, but then she called up a golden table encrusted with pearls and other gems, to which forty bowls of gold and silver were brought, containing various types of foods. As we ate she put spoonfuls in my mouth, and I kissed her hand until we had had enough. The table was removed, and we washed our hands, after which golden trays were brought in, on which were dishes of china and crystal containing sweetmeats of all kinds, dry, moist and pressed. More inlaid trays were brought with scents, and then came girls carrying musical instruments, each of whom went up to one of the statues, with the girl carrying a lute sitting beneath the statue of a lute girl, the girl with a flute sitting beneath a flautist and the one with cymbals sitting under a cymbal player, each one underneath the appropriate statue. They all began to sing in unison until I thought that the palace was rocking with me as I looked at the splendour of this luxury.
‘We kept on drinking until it became dark, when candles were brought out on gold and silver candlesticks made of wax scented with camphor and amber. The queen was cheerful, and, as she became drunk, so did I. She turned to one of the girls, who was holding a lute in her hand, and said: “Get up! Your voice has changed, and it is killing me.” “By God, lady,” I objected, “she was singing well.” When I had reproved her, she said: “Let her go down and fetch the carved instrument from the wall under which the lute player is sitting.” This girl then sang in a voice such as I had never heard from any of them and played the lute in a way that I had never seen. The queen turned to me and said: “Darling, which of them is the sweetest singer?” “That one,” I said, “for I have never heard a voice like this, and it has filled me with delight, as has her artistry.” The queen said: “These perform at night, and the others by day.” She called to the girls, who all got up and left, while the statues on the wall all came down and sat in their places and sang most beautifully and delightfully with the most entrancing of voices.
‘We sat until midnight when the queen got up and took me by the hand to a lovely chamber, in which there was a niche lined with gold, with cushions of brocade, rugs and mattresses of satin. We went up there, and the queen took off her clothes and got into bed, clasping me to her chest and kissing my face as I kissed hers. I enjoyed her until morning, when she sat up and put on her clothes. I had followed her example when her maids came in to take her to the baths. I got up with them, and they took me to the palace baths, after which I was provided with a robe of honour worth a thousand dinars.
‘I stayed like this for a month and then one day I got up and went out to the palace courtyard, where there was running water, in the middle of which were two birds, one white and one black, while on the palace battlements were birds of various colours, more in number than the drops of water. The black bird was going up and pulling feathers from their heads. I was astonished and I asked the queen to allow me to visit Shaikh ‘Abdallah and then return to her. “Yes, on condition that you don’t stay,” she said, and I agreed.
‘I left her and went to the shaikh, who welcomed me and asked how I was and how I passed my nights. I told him about the birds, and he told me that they had been enchanted by the queen. I told him that I had seen her doing this at midnight, and he said: “If you have seen her casting spells, she has taken against you. Sleep until midnight and then see what type of magic she is performing and then come back and tell me what it is so that I can counter it and, for God’s sake, don’t be too slow or that will be the end of you.” When I went back to the queen I found her waiting for me at the table. “Welcome, darling,” she said; “where have you been? May the world not exist after you have gone! Sit down.” I sat with her, and we ate, but my head was drooping, and she addressed me endearingly and asked me if I had been watching magic. “Yes, lady,” I said, and we sat until nightfall, when I went up to bed. She stayed with me until midnight, when she slowly got up. I opened my eyes and saw her open a chest, from which she took five containers, and from each of these she took red sand, which she scattered around, muttering a spell over it. When it was opposite the couch a stream flowed through it, and then from a small box she removed barley, which she sowed there, and it immediately sprouted up and ripened. She took it, ground it up and made porridge, which she put in a bowl. She then swept up the sand and put it back in the box where it had been, and after all this she came back and lay down to sleep beside me.
‘Next morning she got up and went to the baths, while I went to Shaikh ‘Abdallah to tell him what I had seen. “God damn her!” he exclaimed, and he told me to sit there for a while, while he went to his room. He came back some time later, bringing with him two ratls of porridge. He called to me, and when I answered he said: “Take this gruel and go back to the queen. When she asks where you have been, tell her that you have been with a friend. She will say that she has porridge as good as yours, but you should tell her: ‘One good added to another is an increase of good. Let us eat them both.’ Then take a dish, put the porridge on it, moisten it with water and eat it, as it will do you no harm. When there are only two spoonfuls left, steal away one of them and leave it in your sleeve. She will fetch her own porridge, moisten it and tell you to eat. Pretend to be doing this but instead eat what you put in your sleeve. When she sees that you have eaten it she will say: ‘Leave this human shape of yours and assume the shape that I name.’ Nothing will happen to you, and at that she will show confusion and say that she was only playing with you. Do you then tell her to eat some of your porridge and when she is eating take some water in your hand and dash it in her face, saying: ‘Leave this human shape of yours, for another that I want.’ She will be transformed instantly, and be damned to her.” ’
Badr said: ‘I blessed him and thanked him, after which I took the porridge and went back to the queen in her palace. She greeted me fondly and asked where I had been, at which I told her that I had been with a friend. She said: “We have some porridge,” and I suggested that we should eat both hers and mine. I then took a dish and, after having moistened my porridge, I ate it, but hid away a spoonful in my sleeve. When there was none left she said: “Darling, try my porridge to see which is better, yours or mine.” After this she took her porridge, moistened it and told me to eat it. I pretended to do this, and she saw me chewing. She said: “What am I going to do with you?” Then she took a handful of water and threw it in my face, saying: “Chan
ge from this shape to that of an ugly, grimy mule.” When nothing happened to me she got up, and I could see that she had changed colour. She said: “Darling, don’t hold this against me, for I was playing a joke on you,” but I took some water in my own hand, threw it in her face and said: “Change your shape to that of a dark black mule.” She threw herself on the ground and turned into a mule, with tears pouring down her cheeks. She rubbed her cheeks against my leg, and I tried but failed to bridle her.
‘I left her and went to the shaikh, who asked me what I had done, and I told him the whole story of how I had turned the queen into a mule. He got up and fetched a bridle from his shop, telling me to take it back to her, as when she saw that I had it she would become docile and I could then bridle her and ride her wherever I wanted to go. He added: “You cannot stay anywhere on this island as that would be fatal for you. I would not be able to save you and I want to protect myself.”
‘I thanked him and left with his bridle. When the mule saw it she stretched out her head towards me, and I saddled and bridled her before mounting her and riding out of the city. When I had been travelling for three days I came within sight of a city more beautiful than that of the queen. When I entered it I was met by a handsome man, who greeted me and asked me where I had come from. When I told him that this was the Sorcerers’ City he welcomed me and asked me to go home with him. When he had taken me there he told me to dismount. Shaikh ‘Abdallah had told me that when I did that I was not to let the bridle out of my hand for the blink of an eye, but when my host told me to dismount he shouted to a servant to take the mule to the stable and tie it up there, treating it well. I said: “Sir I cannot be parted from this mule for a single instant, and if you can’t let it into the house with me, then allow me to go on my way.” “If the mule is lost, I’ll give you a thousand dinars as its price,” he said.
‘As he went on talking an old woman came up and stood beside us. “There is no god but God,” she said, adding: “Master, this mule resembles one belonging to my son which died and he still grieves for it. Would you sell it for whatever price you want? I’ll give you a thousand dinars if you ask so that I may content him if only for an hour.” I asked myself: “How can this old woman get a thousand dinars?” and I told her to produce the money and I would sell it to her. At that she produced from beneath her clothes a purse with a thousand dinars and told me to hand over the mule. “I’m not going to sell it,” I told her but my host said: “Don’t do that. You agreed to the sale so take the gold. In this city of ours we don’t recognize lies and only accept fair dealing. You sold the mule and you cannot take back what you said.”
‘I took the purse with the gold and handed over the mule. I took the gold to the mosque and poured it out on my lap, only to discover that these were rounded bits of pottery made to look like gold. I struck myself on the face until blood flowed from my nose and I then left the city only to find three people, including the old woman to whom I had sold the mule and the queen. On seeing me, the queen snorted and said: “Welcome, by God!” The old woman was her mother and had broken the spell, so the queen seized my hand and whistled thrice on three different notes. Immediately an ‘ifrit the size of a huge mountain appeared and set me on his shoulder, and within the blink of an eye we were back in her palace.
‘When she had taken her seat on her throne her maids congratulated her on her safe return. They would have liked to kill me, but the queen stopped them, while I was like a brick tossed down in the middle of them. The queen then got out something white and recited spells over it for some time before putting it in water and sprinkling it over me. Then she said: ‘Leave your human shape and take that of the ugliest of all birds.’ I fell to the ground and turned into an ugly bird, which she put on a shelf in the palace.
‘Just then the black bird appeared together with a white bird, with which it mated. When the white bird got up and spread its feathers the black bird flew away. The queen washed and took some of the water, which she put in a bowl on my shelf, telling me to drink it, as this was all she was going to give me. For three days I did not drink, but then one of the maids felt sorry for me and was impelled to bring me water and attend to my needs.’ She then went to Shaikh ‘Abdallah and told him what had happened. ‘There is no might and no power except with God the Omnipotent!’ he exclaimed, adding: ‘By God, the boy is dead, but you have achieved something, so finish it off by doing your best to take word to his mother.’ The girl asked who this was, and ‘Abdallah said: ‘She is Julnar of the Sea, the most skilful sorceress on the face of the earth, while in particular her mother is the greatest of calamities and disasters. You may be sure that the Almighty will single you out for reward, while Julnar will enrich you, and this will lead you to marriage, and you will be queen of the city.’ After he had encouraged her with these hopes, she agreed and promised to go that night to Julnar.
When it grew dark the girl whistled and recited a spell, which instantly produced a female devil, who said: ‘Give me your command.’ ‘I want you to carry me to Julnar in the White Island, for I have some business with her,’ the girl said. ‘Lady,’ the devil told her, ‘I have been there, and Julnar is in the worst of states because of her son Badr. They have captured Jauhara, the daughter of Samandal, the supreme king of the sea, as well as Samandal himself, and are holding both as prisoners.’ ‘Take me there immediately, Maimuna,’ the girl said, and when Maimuna told her to mount she got on her back. After a mere blink of an eye the flight ended on the roof of Julnar’s palace, and the girl dismounted.
When she saw Julnar she recognized her as a sorceress and greeted her respectfully, saying: ‘Good news, lady! Your son is with Queen Lab, but he has been transformed into the ugliest of shapes, so help him while there is still time.’ The news spread, and Julnar and her brother raised the jinn clans and flew off with the girl, who was telling them the whole story from beginning to end, including the role played by Shaikh ‘Abdallah and how he had helped Badr.
Almost immediately the palace was taken by surprise, and the queen and everyone else in it were seized. The Badr bird was brought to his mother, who spat over him and recited a spell. A shudder ran through him, and he emerged as beautiful as the moon, although hunger and thirst had emaciated him until he was like an old water-skin.
Queen Lab was produced, and she, her mother and everyone in the palace, male and female, were put to death. Julnar then sent for Shaikh ‘Abdallah and when he came she jumped up and kissed the ground in front of him, as did Badr, and after kissing him between the eyes she said: ‘My son, had it not been for this man, you would have died.’ She presented him with a robe of honour and married him to the girl he had sent to tell her about Badr.
With Badr, her brother and her mother she went back to the White City, of which Badr was now king. The citizens stood up for him and came to kiss the ground before him and congratulate him on his safe return. For some days he sat on the throne and then he followed his uncle and told him that he wanted to see Samandal and to marry his daughter. ‘He is eager for that, my son,’ his uncle told him, and when Samandal was produced he welcomed Badr, rising for him and seating him on the royal throne. The qadi was summoned together with Princess Jauhara, Samandal’s daughter. A marriage contract was drawn up as well as an arrangement for the disposition of property, and this was followed by a wedding of unprecedented splendour.
Badr returned half of the kingdom to Samandal and went back himself to Julnar, with everything restored to its proper order. They all lived the best, most pleasant, comfortable and untroubled of lives until they were parted by the Destroyer of Delights and the Separator of Companions.
This is the story. Praise be to God Alone, and blessings and peace be on Muhammad, his family and his companions!
Tale Seven
The Story of ‘Arus al-‘Ara’is and
Her Deceit, As Well
As the Wonders of the
Seas and Islands.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Mercif
ul
Amongst the tales of past times it is recorded that there was once a great and powerful king who had no son. He prayed that Almighty God might grant him one to whom he could leave his throne after his death. Then one night when he lay with his wife she conceived through God’s will, and after nine months of pregnancy she gave birth to the most beautiful girl that had ever been seen. The baby was handed over to nurses, and her father continued to distribute alms and he would come every day to kiss her between the eyes.
This went on until one day the baby fell sick and, although the king collected wise doctors and men of learning and supplied them with whatever they wanted, she died, as God Almighty had willed. The king was broken by grief and spent a month mourning for his daughter and keeping away from his viziers, chamberlains and friends, staying alone with his sorrow.
Amongst his closest associates was a vizier distinguished for excellence of both life and doctrine, a man of generosity who showed sympathy to the poor, the weak and the widows. Many lived off the alms he distributed, and to them he acted as a father. When the king had suffered the loss of his daughter this man was so distressed that he no longer concerned himself with alms, as those who relied on him for food found out.
One day when he was seated by the king’s door a blind man to whom he had been used to showing charity came up and called down blessings on him, before asking why he had interrupted his gifts, adding: ‘I used to live thanks to your grace and that of Almighty God, and the fact that you have stopped has harmed me.’ ‘Don’t you see the sorrow and distress from which we are suffering?’ asked the vizier, adding: ‘By God, this has distracted us from ourselves and from our own children, let alone from anyone else.’
When the blind man asked the cause of this grief, praying that God might distract his heart and remove the pain, the vizier told him that the king had suffered the loss of his fifteen-year-old [sic] daughter and was sunk in mourning. ‘This has had its effect on us,’ the vizier went on, ‘as he is shut up alone, shedding constant tears, while we are left as sheep without a shepherd.’ The blind man said: ‘Almighty God has a way to remove this grief from the vizier, the king and all his subjects, both high and low.’ ‘How is that?’ the vizier asked. The man said: ‘Put me where the king can hear what I say and I shall tell him something to cure his heart and remove his sorrow. If he summons me I shall tell him a story both fine and strange that will make him hate women and girls and make him glad that his daughter died.’ ‘If you manage to do that,’ said the vizier, ‘I shall shower you with bounty and give you whatever you want in the world.’
Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics) Page 20