The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 1

by Penguin; Robert Irwin; Malcolm Lyons; Ursula Lyons

You left me sick with love, and drove off sleep

  From my eyelids, while you yourselves have slept.

  When al-Amjad read these lines, he wept, remembering his brother.

  So much for him, but as for Bahram the Magian, he boarded the ship and shouted to the crew to be quick to set sail. They did this and put out to sea, sailing on, night and day, and every two days they would take out al-As‘ad and give him a little food and water. They were nearing the Fire Mountain when they were met by a contrary wind and a rising sea, which caused them to stray from their course, bringing them to unknown waters. Here they arrived at a coastal city, with a castle whose windows overlooked the sea, and which was ruled by a queen named Marjana. The captain told Bahram: ‘Master, we have gone astray and we shall have to go into this city in order to rest, after which God will do what He wants.’ ‘You have done well,’ said Bahram. ‘This is good advice, so act on it.’ The captain then asked: ‘When the queen sends to question us, what shall we tell her?’ ‘We have this Muslim here,’ said Bahram, ‘but we can dress him up as a mamluk and take him out with us. When the queen sees him she will think that that is what he is, and I’ll tell her that I’m a slave dealer who buys and sells them, adding that of the many I had, this was the only one whom I didn’t sell.’

  The captain approved of this, and when they reached the city they lowered their sails and let go the anchors, bringing the ship to a halt. Queen Marjana came down with her men to meet them, and, halting by the ship, she called for the captain. When he had come to her and kissed the ground in front of her, she asked: ‘What cargo is in this ship of yours and who is with you?’ ‘Queen of the age,’ he answered, ‘I have with me a merchant who sells mamluks.’ ‘Bring him to me,’ she said, and at this Bahram came forward, with al-As‘ad walking behind him dressed as a mamluk. When Bahram reached the queen, he kissed the ground and stood before her. She asked what his business was and he told her that he was a slave dealer. Then, looking at al-As‘ad and thinking that he was a mamluk, she asked him his name. Choking with tears, he told her that it was al-As‘ad. She felt pity for him and asked: ‘Do you know how to write?’ ‘Yes,’ he said, and so she gave him an inkstand, pen and paper, and told him to write something for her to see. He wrote these lines:

  Watcher, what is a man to do when fate

  Turns always against him?

  It throws him, with his hands tied, in the sea,

  Saying: ‘Take care, take care not to get wet.’

  When the queen read this, she pitied al-As‘ad and told Bahram to sell him to her. ‘My lady,’ he replied, ‘I cannot do that as I have sold all my other mamluks and this is the only one I have left.’ ‘I must get him from you either by sale or as a gift,’ insisted the queen. ‘I shall neither sell him nor give him,’ Bahram told her, but she caught hold of al-As‘ad’s hand and took him up to the castle, after which she sent a message to the captain, telling him that if he did not set sail that night and leave her country, she would seize all his goods and break up his ship. When he heard this, he was very distressed and complained that it had not been a good voyage for him. He made his preparations, collecting all that he wanted, after which he waited for the coming of night before sailing. He told his crew to get ready, to fill their water skins, and to be prepared to put to sea at the end of the night. The men started to carry out their tasks, waiting for night to fall.

  So much for them, but as for Queen Marjana, she brought al-As‘ad into the castle, where she opened the windows overlooking the sea. On her orders, her slave girls brought food for the two of them, which they ate, after which she told them to fetch wine.

  Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the two hundred and thirty-fifth night, SHE CONTINUED:

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that the queen ordered her slave girls to fetch wine. When this was brought, she drank with al-As‘ad, and God, the Glorious, the Exalted, implanted love for him in her heart. She began filling his wine cup and giving it to him to drink, until he became fuddled and got up to relieve himself. On coming down from the castle, he went through an open door that he saw and walked on until he came to a large garden, where there were all kinds of fruits and flowers. He squatted down beneath a tree, relieved himself, and then got up and went to the garden’s fountain. He lay on his back, with his clothes undone, and then went to sleep, fanned by the breeze as night fell.

  So much for him, but as for Bahram, at nightfall he called to his crew, ordering them to set sail and put to sea. ‘To hear is to obey,’ they said, ‘but wait for us to fill our water skins before we sail.’ To do this, they took their water skins with them and circled around the castle, where all that they found was the garden wall. They climbed over this, and after going down into the garden they followed footprints that led to the fountain. Here they found al-As‘ad lying on his back and, recognizing who he was, they carried him off joyfully, after having filled their water skins. They jumped down from the wall with him and hurried him off to Bahram. ‘Good news!’ they shouted. ‘You have what you wanted; your heart’s sorrow is cured; the pipes and drums of joy have sounded for you. We have found your prisoner, whom the queen took from you by force, and we have brought him with us.’ They threw al-As‘ad down before Bahram, who was overjoyed to see him, and filled with happiness and delight. He gave the men robes of honour and told them to set sail quickly. They did this and, setting a course for the Fire Mountain, they sailed on until morning.

  So much for them, but as for Queen Marjana, after al-As‘ad left her, she waited for some time, expecting him to come back. When he did not, she got up and looked, but could find no trace of him. So she had the candles lit and told her slave girls to search. Next, she went down herself and found the garden gate open, which made her realize that he had entered it, and when she went in herself she found his sandals beside the fountain. She searched the whole garden for him, but with no success, and after she had spent the rest of the night doing this, she asked about the ship. When she was told it had sailed in the first night watch, she realized angrily that al-As‘ad must have been taken on board.

  Finding this hard to bear, she ordered ten large ships to be made ready instantly, and, taking her own arms and armour, she boarded one of them, accompanied by her mamluks, slave girls and soldiers, splendidly equipped and prepared for war. The fleet set sail and she promised the captain that if they overhauled the Magian ship, she would give them robes of honour and wealth, whereas if they failed, she would kill every last one of them, so filling the sailors with a mixture of fear and great hope.

  They sailed throughout that day and night and then for a second and a third day. On the fourth, Bahram’s ship came into sight, and before the day had ended they had surrounded it. Just then, Bahram had brought out al-As‘ad, beaten him and started to torture him. He had been crying for help and protection, but had found no one to answer his pleas, and was suffering from the violence of his beating. During the course of this, Bahram looked around to find that his ship was surrounded by others as the white of the eye surrounds the black. He was certain that he was bound to be killed, and in his distress, he said: ‘Damn you, al-As‘ad, you’re responsible for all this.’ He took him by the arm and ordered his men to throw him into the sea, saying: ‘By God, I shall kill you before I die.’

  They lifted him by the arms and legs and threw him in, but God, the Glorious, the Exalted, was willing that he should be saved and that his life should be preserved. Through His permission, after sinking, al-As‘ad rose to the surface and struck out with his arms and legs until God facilitated his escape from danger. He was buffeted by waves which swept him far away from the Magian ship and brought him to land. He went ashore, scarcely believing that he had escaped, and when he was on dry land he took off his clothes, squeezed out the water and then spread them out. He sat there naked, weeping over his state and the misfortunes that he had suffered, the threats of death, his captivity and his exile. He then recited t
hese verses:

  My Lord, I have scant endurance or resource;

  I can no longer show patience and my ropes are cut.

  To whom is the poor man to complain

  Except to his Lord, O Lord of lords?

  When he had finished, he got up and put on his clothes, but he had no idea where to go and so he started to eat plants and fruits and to drink from streams. After travelling night and day, he came in sight of a city. He now pressed on gladly and arrived there as evening was falling…

  Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the two hundred and thirty-sixth night, SHE CONTINUED:

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that al-As‘ad arrived at the city as evening was falling and the city gate had been shut. As fate had decreed, the city turned out to be the one in which he had been held prisoner and where al-Amjad, his brother, was the king’s vizier. When he saw that the gate was locked, he went back towards the tombs in the cemetery and, finding one that had no door, he went in and fell asleep, with his sleeve over his face.

  As for Bahram the Magian, when Queen Marjana’s ships caught up with him, he got the better of her by his magic wiles and returned safely to his city. He immediately disembarked, set off happily and, as fate would have it, while walking among the graves he saw the tomb where al-As‘ad was sleeping. He was surprised to see it open and he told himself that he must look inside. When he did, he saw al-As‘ad sleeping at the side of it, with his face covered by his sleeve and, looking at his face, he recognized him and exclaimed: ‘Are you still alive?’ He then took him off to his house, where he had an underground torture chamber for Muslims, and in this he put al-As‘ad, with heavy fetters on his legs.

  Bahram had a daughter, named Bustan, whom he entrusted with the task of torturing al-As‘ad night and day until he died. He himself first beat him painfully and then locked the room, handing the keys to Bustan. When she opened it and went down to beat him, she discovered that here was a graceful young man, with a pleasant face, arching eyebrows and dark eyes. Love for him entered her heart and she asked him his name. ‘Al-As‘ad,’ he replied, and she said: ‘May you be happy and may your days be fortunate. You don’t deserve to be tortured and beaten and I know that you have been treated unjustly.’

  She started to talk to him in a friendly manner, releasing him from his fetters and asking him about the religion of Islam. ‘Islam,’ he told her, ‘is the right and true religion; our lord Muhammad produced wonderful miracles and clear signs, whereas fire does harm and not good.’ He started to tell her about the principles of Islam, and as she listened submissively to him, love for the true faith entered her heart, in which Almighty God had also instilled love for al-As‘ad. She then recited the twin confessions of faith and became one of those destined for eternal happiness. After this, she started to give him food and drink; she talked with him and the two then prayed together. The chicken broth that she gave him strengthened him and, when the sickness from which he was suffering had left him, he regained his former health.

  So much for his treatment at the hands of Bahram’s daughter, but as for the girl herself, one day when she had left him, she was standing by her door when she heard a crier announcing: ‘If anyone has with him a handsome young man of such-and-such a description and produces him, he can have all the money for which he asks. Anyone who has the man but refuses to acknowledge it will be hanged over his house door; his property will be pillaged and his blood will go unavenged.’ Al-As‘ad had told Bustan everything that had happened to him and when she heard this, she realized that he was the man being sought. She went to him and when she had told him her news, he came out and set off for the house of the vizier, at the sight of whom he exclaimed: ‘This vizier is my brother, al-Amjad!’

  Followed by the girl, he went to the palace, where, on seeing al-Amjad, he threw himself on him. Al-Amjad, recognizing him, did the same and the two brothers embraced. As the mamluks surrounding them dismounted, the brothers fainted for a time, but when they had recovered, al-Amjad took al-As‘ad and brought him to the king. Having heard his story, the king gave orders that Bahram’s house should be plundered…

  Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the two hundred and thirty-seventh night, SHE CONTINUED:

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that the king gave orders that Bahram’s house should be plundered, and that he himself should be hanged. Al-Amjad sent out a body of men to do that and they went to the house and looted it. They brought Bahram’s daughter to al-Amjad, who received her with honour. Al-As‘ad told him of how he had been tortured and of the kindness with which Bustan had treated him, leading al-Amjad to show her even greater honour. Al-Amjad then told al-As‘ad of his own experiences with the other girl, how he had escaped from being hanged and how he had become vizier. Each complained to the other of the grief they had felt at being separated from the other.

  The king then had Bahram the Magian brought to him and ordered him to be beheaded. ‘O great king,’ said Bahram, ‘are you determined to kill me?’ When the king said yes, Bahram asked for a brief delay and after first looking down at the ground and then raising his head, he recited the Confession of Faith and was converted to Islam at the hands of the king, to the joy of the court. The brothers then told Bahram all that had happened to them. He was astonished and said: ‘My masters, prepare for a journey, for I will set off with you.’ This delighted them, as did his conversion, but they burst into tears.

  ‘Don’t weep, my masters,’ said Bahram, ‘for you will be united with your loved ones as Ni‘ma and Nu‘m were united.’ They asked about these two, and BAHRAM ANSWERED:

  It is said – but God knows better – that one of the leading men in the city of Kufa was a certain Rabi‘ ibn Hatim, a wealthy man, living in comfort, who had a son, whom he named Ni‘ma Allah. One day, when he was standing by the slave trader’s booth, he saw a slave girl exposed for sale who was holding a little girl of remarkable beauty. He gestured to the trader and asked: ‘How much for the woman and her daughter?’ ‘Fifty dinars,’ replied the man. ‘Write out the contract and then take the money and give it to her owner,’ said Rabi‘. He paid the purchase price together with the broker’s commission and, taking charge of the slave girl and her daughter, he brought them to his house.

  When his wife saw the slave, she asked him about her and he said: ‘I bought her for the sake of this little girl in her arms. You can be sure that when she grows up there will be no one to match her in the lands of the Arabs and non-Arabs and no one more beautiful.’ His wife agreed that he was right. She then asked the slave girl: ‘What is your name?’ ‘Tawfiq, lady,’ she replied, and when she asked her for her daughter’s name, she said: ‘Sa‘d.’* ‘There is truth in this,’ said Rabi‘’s wife. ‘You are fortunate and so is the man who bought you.’ She asked her husband what he was going to call the child. ‘You choose,’ he replied, and she said: ‘We shall call her Nu‘m.’ ‘What a good idea,’ he told her.

  The baby Nu‘m was then brought up with al-Rabi‘’s son, Ni‘ma, in the same cradle; and they stayed together until they were both ten years old, and each of them seemed lovelier than the other. Ni‘ma would address the girl as ‘my sister’, and she would call him ‘brother’. Then, when Ni‘ma was ten, his father came to him and said: ‘My son, Nu‘m is not your sister but your slave girl. I bought her on your behalf when you were still in the cradle, so from now on, don’t call her “sister”.’ ‘If that is so,’ replied Ni‘ma, ‘I shall marry her.’ He went to his mother and told her about that and she confirmed that the girl was his slave. So he lay with her and loved her and in this state they passed some years.

  In all Kufa, there was no lovelier, sweeter or more graceful girl than Nu‘m. When she grew up, she could recite the Quran; she had a knowledge of the sciences; she could play on a number of musical instruments, and in her brilliance as a singer and a musician she surpassed all her con
temporaries. One day, as she was sitting drinking with her husband Ni‘ma, she took her lute, tightened its strings and then in a mood of pleasant relaxation she recited these lines:

  If you are my master, through whose grace I live,

  My sword with which I can destroy misfortune,

  I have no need to intercede with Zaid or ‘Amr

  Or anyone but you, when hardships come on me.

  Ni‘ma was filled with delight and said: ‘By my life, sing to me using your tambourine and other instruments.’ So she struck up an air and sang these lines:

  By the life of him who is my guide,

  In love for him I disobey the envious.

  I anger censurers in my obedience to you,

  Parting from pleasure and from sleep.

  I shall dig a grave for love within my inmost parts,

  And my heart will not feel it.

  ‘How eloquent you are, Nu‘m!’ exclaimed the young man, but while they were enjoying the most delightful of lives, in the governor’s palace al-Hajjaj was saying: ‘I must get hold of this girl, Nu‘m, by some trick or other, and send her to ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, the Commander of the Faithful, as there is no one like her in his palace or anyone who can sing more sweetly.’ He summoned an elderly duenna and told her: ‘Go to the house of al-Rabi‘, meet the girl Nu‘m and find some way for me to take her away, for there is no one like her on the face of the earth.’ The old woman agreed to this, and in the morning she put on woollen robes and placed around her neck a rosary with thousands of beads. Then, taking a staff in her hand and a water bottle of Yemeni leather…

  Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the two hundred and thirty-eighth night, SHE CONTINUED:

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that the old woman agreed to what al-Hajjaj proposed; she put on woollen robes and placed around her neck a rosary with thousands of beads. Then, taking a staff in her hand and a water bottle of Yemeni leather, she set off, calling out: ‘Glory be to God; there is no god but God; God is greater; there is no might and no power except with God, the Exalted, the Omnipotent!’ She continued exalting God and addressing her supplications to Him, while her heart was filled with guile and cunning. She reached Ni‘ma’s house at the time of the noon prayer and knocked on the door. This was opened by the doorkeeper, who asked her what she wanted. ‘I am a poor ascetic,’ she answered. ‘The time of the noon prayer has caught me out and I should like to perform it in this blessed place.’ ‘Old woman,’ said the doorkeeper, ‘this is the house of Ni‘ma ibn al-Rabi‘ and not a mosque or a chapel.’ ‘I know that there is no mosque or chapel to match the house of Ni‘ma ibn al-Rabi‘,’ the old woman replied. ‘I am an attendant from the palace of the Commander of the Faithful, and I have come out on a pious pilgrimage.’ ‘I shan’t let you enter,’ the doorkeeper insisted and there was a long argument between them. Then the old woman took hold of the man, saying: ‘Is someone like me to be stopped from entering the house of Ni‘ma ibn al-Rabi‘, I who go into the houses of emirs and great men?’