Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics)

by Malcolm C (Tr Lyons

  Are you far from me or near,

  Wounded, or dead, or carried off?

  I wish I was a cross hung around his neck,

  That I might taste the pleasure of his scent,

  Or that I was a doctor and might feel his tender hand.

  She also recited:

  I wish that I might share his suffering,

  That I were blind, or in the grave with him.

  Then she said:

  I wish that I might come to kiss his mouth,

  And feel the gaps between his teeth,

  Or would I were a cave for him to shelter in,

  A belt around his waist as token of his faith,

  A sacrifice, to mix with spittle in his mouth.

  While she was weeping for him, Mauhub was with Bahram, the daughter of al-Kharsa’, resting on the shore of the river under her castle walls in the shape of a crocodile. When night fell al-Kharsa’ brought him out to her daughter, restoring him to his handsome shape, dressing him in fine clothes and anointing him with the finest perfume. She gave him a splendidly bedecked seat and strained the best wine for him. The two of them ate and drank in luxury, and when dawn broke she turned him back into a crocodile, and he stayed where he had been.

  Things went on like this for seven successive years, but at the end of this time a boat on its way to Cairo with a merchant on board passed where the crocodile was. A wind got up, and as those on board feared to be wrecked they anchored by the crocodile. As they were looking at the disturbed waves of the Nile, it raised its head, and the merchant saw that it had yellow ears, in which were two huge pearls. In his amazement he went close to it but he told no one about this until he reached Cairo, where he sold his goods. When he told the story of the crocodile, Mahliya’s agents disbelieved him, but they told their mistress, and when she heard of the crocodile with pearls in its ears she summoned the sorcerers and soothsayers and asked them whether they had ever heard of such a thing in their own lands, and they all agreed that they never had.

  Mahliya ordered ships to be brought up, and she took with her on board her particular favourites from amongst the soothsayers, viziers and sorcerers, as well as the merchant who had seen the crocodile. She sailed to Ansina, and the merchant showed her where the crocodile had been, opposite which was the castle of al-Kharsa’ and her daughter Bahram. She had an inner feeling that the crocodile must have been Mauhub and so she arrested Bahram and her mother, as well as all the sorcerers of Ansina, putting them to various tortures. One of Bahram’s maids acknowledged what her mistress had done with Mauhub, as she herself was in love with him and was jealous of Bahram.

  Bahram was tortured by Mahliya until she confessed and removed Mauhub from the shore of the Nile in his proper shape and his finery, releasing him from his spell. Mahliya embraced him, and they both indulged in protracted tears. Both Bahram and her mother were carried off in chains; their castle was demolished and their wealth plundered. When Mahliya returned to her own palace all the different classes of Cairenes asked to have the prisoners transferred to them so that they could charge themselves with their punishment and torture them. Mahliya thanked them, distributing alms and splendid robes of honour, and she gave thanks to God, Who had given her back Mauhub.

  She crucified the sorceress al-Khansa’ alive and had arrows shot at her until she died, and she had weights tied to Bahram and had her drowned in the Nile. It is said – and God knows better – that for a number of years before that the Nile flood had not reached its full height but in the year that Bahram was drowned it peaked at sixteen cubits. This led to the custom whereby a virgin decked in finery was drowned in the Nile every year until the caliphate of ‘Umar b. al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him. He had a potsherd inscribed with the words: ‘In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful: Nile, if it is thanks to the power and strength of the Great and Glorious God that you flow, then continue to do so, but if this is thanks to your own might, then we have no need of you. Farewell.’ In fact, the power of God made it reach its peak, and up to this day the Egyptians have had no need to drown their daughters. God knows better what is hidden.

  Mauhub enjoyed the most comfortable and carefree of lives for eighty years, during which Mahliya built him a palace called al-Nazar, in which she lived alone with him, and for all those years they enjoyed their life together, although no son was born to her. He died in his bed, and she lamented him long and deeply, burying him in the royal cemetery of the Pyramids. On her orders his palace was demolished and all its contents dispersed, while she herself lived for long in a hut made of palm branches, visiting his tomb and returning to her hut, where she lived off herbs. The government of the country was entrusted to her vizier. Haifa’ and the white-footed gazelle died and were buried beside Mauhub.

  There was a dispute amongst the soothsayers and sorcerers as to who should succeed her on the throne, and this quarrel led to a war, in which they all perished. The men of learning and the chiefs forbade further fighting and said that power should rest in the hands of a single person, lest they destroy themselves. Al-Munzara al-Sabiya was appointed ruler with authority over them, and hers was the castle which you have taken, emir. She built it on the foundations of a single tower of Mahliya’s palace, and lived there. The ruined water channels were dug out and trees planted, while the place was entrusted to a companion of hers named al-Sukkar, an excellent old man, but the place, which still exists, is named after Mahliya’s vizier.

  This is the story of the castle, may God prosper the emir. All the lions throughout the districts of Egypt are descended from the lioness that suckled Mauhub, as the sorcerers used talismans to keep them from Mahliya’s palace and its surrounds.

  ‘Amr approved the story told him by Matrun the monk and rewarded him generously.

  This is the story of Mahliya, Mauhub, Haifa’, the white-footed gazelle, the lion and the lioness. Praise be to the One God, and blessings and peace rest on Muhammad, his family and his companions!

  Glossary

  Abbasid the dynasty of caliphs that succeeded the Umaiyads and which ruled from Baghdad over the heartlands of Islam from 750 to 1258.

  ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Marwan (d.702). the son of the Umaiyad caliph Marwan, who made him governor of Egypt. Brother of ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.

  ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan Umaiyad caliph 685–705.

  ‘Abd al-Wahhab (ibn Ibrahim) a nephew of the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur (754–75).

  Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali see ‘Ali son of Abu Talib.

  Abu Murra ‘The Father of Bitterness’, an epithet for Iblis, the Devil.

  Abu Qubais a hill at Mecca.

  Ahl al-kitab literally ‘people of the book’, the adherents of a revealed religion, that is to say, Christians and Jews.

  ‘Ain al-Shams Heliopolis was originally an ancient Egyptian town (Iunu) but today is effectively a suburb of the much later foundation of Cairo.

  ‘Aja’ib wondrous things, marvels.

  ‘Ali son of Abu Talib (or ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib) cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, an early convert to Islam and caliph from 656 to 661. He introduces himself in the adventures of Miqdad as Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali.

  al-Ma’mun Abbasid caliph who reigned from 809 to 813. The son of Harun al-Rashid, al-Amin was deposed after a fierce civil war and killed by his brother al-Mam‘un.

  ‘Amiri dinars the name that the people gave to dinars minted by the last Abbasid caliphs in the early thirteenth century. So called because they bore the legend ‘Amir al-Muminin (Commander of the Faithful).

  ‘Ammuriya the Arabic version of Amorium, a Byzantine stronghold on the road from Constantinople which was taken by the Arabs in 838.

  ‘Amr Son of al-‘As (or ‘Amr ibn al-‘As) a general from the Quraish tribe who played a leading role in the Muslim conquest of Syria and Egypt.

  Al-Andaran a shining stone which features in Persian traditions.

  ‘Antar’s al-Abjar ‘Antar was a romance of Arab chivalry set in pre-Islamic and Islamic times. (Th
e chronology is vague.) In the end, the faithful horse Abjar supported the corpse of ‘Antar in the saddle so that he could continue to intimidate his enemies even when dead.

  Antioch shirt according to the twelfth-century geographer al-Idrisi‘ in Antioch excellent garments are made of a single weave. Though Antioch is in modern Turkey, in medieval times it was usually reckoned to be part of the province of Syria.

  Arak tree or Salvadora persica, also known as the toothbrush tree, as Arabs used its twigs to clean their teeth.

  ‘Arsat al-Hauz the Courtyard of the Pool. From context, a public space somewhere in Baghdad.

  Ascalon a port on the coast of Palestine.

  Al-Asfar ‘the Yellow’, an epithet conventionally applied to the Byzantines.

  ‘Ashura a voluntary fast day on the tenth day of the month of Muharram. The anniversary of the martyrdom of Husain, the son of ‘Ali son of Abu Talib, at Kerbela in 680.

  Ayyam al-‘Arab Battle Days (literally Days of the Arabs). The term designates the battles and skirmishes of the Arab tribes in pre-Islamic times and the stories told about those encounters.

  Baal the most important god in Canaanite mythology. The word means ‘lord’ or ‘master’. Baal features in Sura 37 of the Qur’an: ‘Elias too was one of the envoys; when he said to his people, “Will you not be God-fearing? Do you call on Baal, and abandon the Best of creators?” ’ In Arabic the verb ba‘il means ‘to be lost in astonishment’.

  Baalbek a small town in southern Lebanon, famous for its ancient ruins. The name of the place perhaps derives from the ancient god Baal.

  Bahr al-Mulk Qamar The Sea of the Kingdom of the Moon.

  Balkash rubies from a region in Kazakhstan.

  Ban tree Oriental willow.

  Banj frequently used as a generic term referring to a narcotic or knock-out drug, but sometimes the word specifically refers to henbane.

  Barmecide a member of a powerful clan of Iranians who served the early Abbasid caliphs as viziers and secretaries.

  Bulaq Cairo’s port on the river Nile.

  Burani mixture a dish composed of aubergine, lemon flavouring, tomatoes and pimento.

  Burda outer garment.

  Chinese iron or haematite, a valuable iron ore, often blood-red, with a red streak.

  Chosroe pre-Islamic Persian emperor Kisra Anushirwan (531–79).

  Dabiqi linen, Dabiqi brocade dabiqi is the adjective from Dabqu, a small town on the Nile Delta near Tinnis, specializing in textiles, which were sometimes embroidered with gold. Saladin collected a lot of money by taxing Dabiqi brocade.

  Dailam a region of northern Iran, south of the Caspian Sea.

  Dair Durta a large monastery a little to the west of Baghdad. Monasteries were conventionally celebrated in early Islamic poetry as places to get drunk in.

  Damietta port on the Nile delta well known for its textile industry.

  Daran a dangerous rat-like creature, unique to the story it appears in and presumably the invention of the author.

  Dhimmi a Christian or a Jew under Muslim rule.

  Dhu’l-Qarnain ‘the Possessor of Two Horns’. The story of how he built a great wall to protect the rest of the world from the peoples of Gog and Magog, is told in the Sura of the Cave in the Qur’an. Dhu’l-Qarnain is traditionally identified with Alexander the Great, though it is not clear how he got that epithet.

  Dinar a gold coin.

  Dirham a silver coin of variable value, but approximately worth one twentieth of a dinar.

  Diwan hall.

  Fadl ibn Rabi‘ Harun al-Rashid’s chamberlain and gaoler.

  Faraj ba‘d al-Shidda the genre of story devoted to the theme of ‘joy after sorrow’. Such stories often have pious overtones.

  Fatiha ‘The Opening’, the name of the first Sura of the Qur’an.

  Fustat the old part of Cairo, founded by the Muslim conquerors of Egypt.

  Gabriel the archangel and messenger of God, through whom the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad.

  Al-Ghadanfar al-Farisi the name Ghadanfar features in the chivalrous folk epic of ‘Antar, in which Ghadanfar was the son of ‘Antar by a sister of the King of Rome. Ghadanfar and his step-brother Jufran (who also had a Christian mother) fought as Crusaders. But Ghadanfar al-Farisi, Ghadanfar the Persian, makes no sense at all.

  Habba a kind of food?

  Al-Hajaj ibn Yusuf (c.661–714) stern governor of Iraq for the Umaiyads.

  Harun al-Rashid the Abbasid caliph who ruled from 786 to 809. He features in many of the stories of The Thousand and One Nights.

  Hashim Hashim ibn ‘Abd al-Manaf, the great-grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad. His descendants, the Banu Hashim, or the Hashimis, were one of the great Meccan families, and the Abbasids were among the Banu Hashim.

  Hawazin a central Arabian tribe.

  Hilla a town in Iraq founded by a Shi‘ite Arab sheikh in 1102.

  Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik the tenth Umaiyad caliph. He reigned from 724 to 743.

  Hubal a pre-Islamic pagan god.

  Hud a pre-Islamic prophet who features in the Qur’an. He was sent to the tribe of ‘Ad to warn them to mend their ways, but they did not heed him and consequently were destroyed.

  Iblis the Arabic name of the Devil. It is a matter of debate whether he should be considered as a jinni or an angel. In ‘Sul and Shumul’ he features in a bizarrely benign light.

  ‘Id festival. There are two important festivals in the Muslim year, the ‘Id al-Adha on the tenth of Dhu’l-Hijja, on which pilgrims to Mecca sacrifice animals, and the ‘Id al-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan (the month of fasting).

  ‘Ifrit a kind of jinni.

  Ishaq the companion Ishaq al-Mausili (757–850), a cup companion of the caliph Harun al-Rashid, the greatest musician and composer of his age.

  Israfil an archangel. Colossal in scale, he has four wings and his body is covered with hair, mouths and tongues. He holds a trumpet with which he will blow the Last Trump that will rouse men from their graves.

  Ittifaqat coincidences.

  Ja‘far Harun’s vizier. A member of the Barmecide clan, he features in several of the stories of The Thousand and One Nights.

  Jahili of or pertaining to pre-Islamic times (literally ‘ignorant’).

  Jaihun the Oxus or Amu Darya which flows into the Aral Sea.

  Jedda a Red Sea port in the Hejaz province.

  Jizya a poll tax on non-Muslims under Muslim rule.

  Jubbah a long outer garment, open in the front, with wide sleeves.

  Ka‘ba the shrine housing the sacred black stone that is at the centre of the hajj or rituals of the pilgrimage in Mecca.

  Al-Karkh a district of Baghdad where the main markets were. It became notorious for its turbulence.

  Khalanj wood tree heath (Erica arborea), a hard kind of wood.

  Al-Khansa’ d. after 644. Khansa’, or ‘Snub-nose’ was the nickname of Tumadir bint ‘Amr, a celebrated elegiac poet, particularly famous for her laments for her brothers Sakhr and Mu‘awiya, both of whom died as a result of tribal skirmishes. Very little is known about the real life of al-Khansa’ and Sakhr.

  Kharshana a town in the region of Malatya.

  Khatti spear a spear sold in the Khatt coastal region of Bahrain and Oman. Such spears were famed for their excellence and were perhaps made in India.

  Khurasan a region which in medieval times extended from eastern Persia through large parts of Afghanistan and Central Asia, as far as India.

  Kinda a north Arabian tribe.

  Kufa an Iraqi city founded by the Arab conquerors.

  Al-Lat and al-‘Uzza pre-Islamic pagan goddesses.

  Mada’in or Ctesiphon, a town on the Tigris in what today is Iraq. It was the Persian capital prior to the Islamic conquest.

  Magian the Iranian priestly caste in the service of Zoroaster. But often the term has the looser sense of pagan or Persian. Magians are usually villains.

  Maidan an open space used as a parade ground or sports g
round.

  Malahim eschatological prophecies (literally ‘slaughterings’ or ‘battlefields’).

  Malatiya or Melitene, a town in eastern Anatolia.

  Mamluk usually a white slave soldier, often of Turkish origin. Exceptionally in ‘Mahliya and Mauhub’ Mahliya has Nubian mamluks in her service.

  Maqam or Maqam Ibrahim, a small building near the Ka‘ba in Mecca.

  Marid a kind of jinni.

  Marwaz cotton cotton from the region of Merv, an ancient city that was located in what is today Turkmenistan.

  Masrur a black eunuch who was Harun al-Rashid’s executioner and frequent companion in the caliph’s adventures.

  Mibqar a dangerous bear-like creature that swims in the sea, unique to the story it appears in and presumably the invention of the author.

  Mikdad a historical figure, Mikdad ibn ‘Amr was one of the first to convert to Islam. He was a Companion of the Prophet and he took part in the Battle of Badr and the conquest of Syria. But, of course, the story attached to his name in this collection is pure fiction.

  Mithqal a weight approximately equal to four and a half grams.

  Mu‘awiya ibn Abi Sufyan the first of the Umaiyad dynasty of caliphs. He reigned from 661 to 682.

  Mubashshir the name means ‘messenger of good tidings’.

  Muhammad ibn Sulaiman al-Hashimi an Abbasid prince who was a historical figure (d.789). A cousin of Harun al-Rashid, he was fabulously wealthy and based in Basra. But he is not known to have had a son called al-Ashraf (as in ‘Ashraf and Anjab’).

  Mukhadram those people, especially poets, whose lifespans extended from the pre-Islamic era into the Islamic era.

  Myrobalan the astringent fruit of an Indian mountain species.

  Nadd incense of aloes wood, with ambergris, musk and frankincense.

  Naker one of a pair of small medieval kettledrums.

  Nasut and Jalut Nasut is a scribal misrendering of Talut. Jalut is the Arabic for ‘Goliath’ and he is referred to in Sura 2 of the Qur’an, whereas Talut was Saul’s name in Islamic lore, according to which Saul led the army against Goliath, though David killed the giant.