The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 1
Page 120
The young man smiled and said: ‘Know that my story is a strange one and that the affair is so remarkable that, were it written with needles on the inner corners of the eye, it would serve as a warning to those who take heed.’ Then he sighed deeply and recited these lines:
My tale is wonderful, beyond all wonders
I swear by the truth of love that the paths are closed to me.
If you wish to listen, then lend me your ears,
And let this company stay silent on every side.
Listen to these words of mine, which bear a message.
My words are true, and in them are no lies.
I am a victim of love and passion;
My murderess is more beautiful than any swelling-breasted girl.
Her dark eyes are like an Indian sword,
And from the bows of her eyebrows she shoots arrows.
My heart senses that among you is our imam,
The caliph of our age, descendant of the best of men.
The second of you is called Ja‘far,
Vizier and counsellor, son of a counsellor.
The third is Masrur, sword of the caliph’s vengeance.
If it turns out these words of mine are not false,
Then I have what I hoped for from this whole affair
And joy of heart arrives from every side.
When they heard this, Ja‘far swore to him, using ambiguous terms, that he and his companions were not the persons mentioned, at which the young man laughed. HE SAID:
Know, sirs, that I am not the Commander of the Faithful and that I only called myself this to get what I want from the people of Baghdad. In fact, my name is Muhammad ‘Ali, the jeweller. When my father, who was one of the leading men in the city, died he left me great wealth, comprising gold, silver, pearls, corals, sapphires, chrysolite, gems, landed property, baths, gardens and orchards, shops and brick works, slaves, male and female, together with servants. One day, I happened to be sitting in my shop surrounded by eunuchs and attendants when a girl came up riding on a mule, attended by three maids like moons. When she came close, she dismounted by my shop and, on taking her seat there, she asked: ‘Are you Muhammad, the jeweller?’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I am Muhammad, your mamluk and your slave.’ ‘Have you a jewelled necklace that would suit me?’ she asked. ‘My lady,’ I answered, ‘I’ll show you what I have and bring it out for you. If there is anything there that you like, that will be my good fortune and if not it will be my bad luck.’
I had a hundred jewelled necklaces, all of which I showed her and none of which she liked. ‘I want something finer than any of these that I have seen,’ she said. As it happened, I had a small necklace that my father had bought for a hundred thousand dinars, whose like was not owned by any of the great rulers. ‘My lady,’ I told her, ‘I still have one necklace of gemstones and jewels and no one, high or low, possesses anything to match it.’ ‘Show it to me,’ she said. Then, when she had seen it, she said: ‘This is what I am looking for and what I have wanted all my life.’ She asked me the price and I said: ‘My father bought it for a hundred thousand dinars.’ She offered me a five-thousand-dinar profit and I said: ‘My lady, the necklace and its owner are at your service, and I shall not dispute the price.’ ‘You have to make a profit,’ she said, ‘and I am deeply indebted to you.’
She then got up and, after quickly mounting her mule, she said: ‘Sir, I ask you in God’s Name to be good enough to come with me to fetch the purchase price, for this day that I have spent with you has been as delicious as milk.’ I got up, locked the shop and went off peacefully with her until we got to her house, which, as I found, displayed all the signs of prosperity. Its door was inlaid with gold, silver and lapis lazuli and on it were inscribed these lines:
House, may no sorrow enter you, and may your owner never be betrayed by Time.
How good a house you are to guests, when they find shortages elsewhere.
My companion dismounted and went in, telling me to wait on the bench by the door for the money-changer to come. I sat there for a while until a girl came out and told me to enter the hall, adding that it was not proper for me to have to sit at the door. I got up and went in, taking my seat on a bench. Then another girl approached me and said: ‘Master, my lady tells you to come in and sit by the door of the sitting room until your money is paid to you.’ I followed her instructions, and after I had been sitting there for a brief moment I suddenly saw a golden chair shrouded by a silken drape, and when this was lifted, I saw beneath it the lady who had bought the necklace from me. She had unveiled a face like a rounded moon; on her neck was the necklace and at the sight of such great beauty and grace my wits left me and astonishment filled me. When she saw me she got up from the chair and hurried towards me. ‘Light of my eyes,’ she said, ‘are all those who are as handsome as you so pitiless to those they love?’ ‘Lady,’ I replied, ‘all beauty is in you and it is part of your qualities.’ ‘Jeweller,’ she told me, ‘know that I love you but I never believed that I could get you to come to me.’
Then she bent towards me; she kissed me and I kissed her; she drew me towards her and pressed me to her breast.
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the two hundred and ninety-first night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that the jeweller said:
The lady bent towards me, kissed me and, drawing me towards her, she pressed me to her breast. From my condition she realized that I wanted to lie with her, but she said: ‘Master, do you want to take me unlawfully? By God, may those perish who commit such sins and who take pleasure in unclean words! I am a virgin whom no man has ever approached, and I am not unknown in the city. Do you know who I am?’ ‘No, by God, lady,’ I told her and she said: ‘I am the Lady Dunya, daughter of Yahya ibn Khalid the Barmecide and my brother is Ja‘far, the caliph’s vizier.’
When I heard what she said, I flinched away from her and said: ‘Lady, it was not my fault that I was so intrusive; it was you who made me hope for union by bringing me to you.’ ‘You shall come to no harm,’ she replied, ‘and you must have what you want, but in a way that pleases God. I am my own mistress; the qadi will draw up my marriage contract and it is my intention to become your wife and to have you as my husband.’ She then summoned the qadi and the notaries and busied herself with preparations. When the officials had come she told them: ‘Muhammad ‘Ali, son of ‘Ali the jeweller, has asked for my hand in marriage and has given me this necklace as a dowry. I am pleased to consent.’ They drew up the marriage contract between us and then I went off with her.
Wine flasks were produced and the wine cups circulated in the best and most orderly sequence. When the sparkling wine had gone to our heads, the Lady Dunya told a lute girl to sing and the girl took her lute and chanted these lines to the most delightful of airs:
The beloved appeared and showed to me
In his own person a gazelle, a branch and a full moon.
Woe be to any heart he does not tempt.
God wished to quench temptation’s fire
On the cheek of this handsome youth,
But another, fresh temptation then appeared.
When they talk of him I try to deceive my censurers,
Pretending that I do not like to hear his name.
When they talk of something else I listen,
But thoughts of him have caused my heart to melt.
He is the prophet of beauty, with every part a miracle,
But the supreme sign is in his face.
The mole on the surface of his cheek serves as Bilal,
Announcing the dawn prayer thanks to his gleaming face.
In their folly, the censurers want me to forget,
But I have confessed my faith and wish no infidelity.
The notes of the girl’s lute strings and the delicacy of the poetry delighted us and, one after the other, the girls performed until ten of them had sung and recited poetry. At that poin
t the Lady Dunya herself took the lute and, striking up an air, she chanted these lines:
I swear by the softness of your swaying form
That I suffer fire from your parting.
Pity these entrails burning with your love,
You who are the full moon shining in dark night.
Grant me your union, for I have not ceased
To unveil your beauty in the wine glass’s light,
While roses of all colours surround us,
Whose beauties bloom among the myrtle leaves.
When she had finished her poem, I took the lute from her, struck up a strange air and sang these lines:
Praise be to God, Who has given you all beauty,
So that I have remained among your prisoners.
You whose glance enslaves all of mankind,
Pray that I may be saved from the arrows that you shoot.
Two opposites, water and a burning flash of fire,
Are found combined as a marvel in your cheeks.
For my heart you are hellfire and the delight of Paradise.
How bitter and how sweet you are for it!
My singing delighted the Lady Dunya. She dismissed her maids and we went to a most beautiful room with multi-coloured furnishings. There she took off her clothes and she and I were alone as lovers. I found her to be an unbored pearl and a filly that had never been mounted; I enjoyed her and never in my life had I experienced a sweeter night.
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the two hundred and ninety-second night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that THE JEWELLER SAID:
When I lay with the Lady Dunya, I found her to be an unbored pearl and a filly that had never been mounted. So I recited these lines:
My arms encircled the beloved like a ringdove’s collar,
And my hands made free with her veil.
This was my greatest triumph; our embrace went on;
We never wanted it to end.
I spent a whole month with her, abandoning my shop, my family and my own house. Then one day she said to me: ‘My lord Muhammad, light of my eyes, today I intend to go to the baths. You must stay here on this couch and don’t move from your place until I come back to you.’ She made me swear to that and I said: ‘To hear is to obey.’ When I had taken my oath, she left with her maids for the baths. By God, my brothers, she had not got to the head of the lane before the door opened and in came an old woman who said: ‘Sir, the Lady Zubaida summons you, because she has heard of your culture and wit and the beauty of your singing.’ ‘By God,’ I told her, ‘I cannot leave here until the Lady Dunya returns.’ ‘Don’t allow the Lady Zubaida to become angry with you,’ said the old woman, ‘lest she become your enemy. Get up and talk to her, and then come back to your place.’ So I got up immediately and set off, with the old woman leading the way, until she had brought me to the Lady Zubaida. When I came to her she said: ‘Light of my eyes, are you the Lady Dunya’s beloved?’ ‘I am your mamluk and your slave,’ I answered. ‘He who described you as handsome, graceful, cultured and perfect was right. You surpass all description. Sing something so that I may listen to you.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ I said, and so she brought me a lute to which I sang these lines:
The lover’s heart is distressed by the beloved;
His body is plunder seized by the hand of sickness.
When the camels have been loaded, in the caravan
Is a lover whose beloved is there with the travellers.
Among your tents I entrust to God a moon
That my heart loves although veiled from my eyes.
She consents; she is angry; how sweet is her coquetry!
Everything the beloved does I love.
When I had finished singing, the Lady Zubaida exclaimed: ‘May God grant you health and enjoyment in your life! You combine perfection in beauty, culture and singing. So now get up and go home before the Lady Dunya comes back and becomes angry with you when she cannot find you there.’ I kissed the ground before her and left, preceded by the old woman, until I reached the door from which I had left. I went in and came to the couch, to find that Dunya had returned from the baths and was asleep on it. I sat down by her feet and stroked them, but when she opened her eyes and saw me, she put her feet together and kicked me, knocking me off the couch. ‘Traitor,’ she said, ‘you have betrayed your oath and perjured yourself. You promised me not to move from here and you broke your word by going off to the Lady Zubaida. By God, if I did not fear public disgrace, I would bring down her palace over her head.’ Then she told her black slave, Sawab: ‘Get up and cut off this false liar’s head, for I have no need of him.’ The slave came forward and blindfolded me with a strip that he had torn from the bottom of his robe. He was about to strike off my head…
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the two hundred and ninety-third night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that THE JEWELLER SAID:
The slave came up and blindfolded me with a strip that he had torn from the bottom of his robe. He was about to strike off my head when the Lady Dunya’s maids, old and young, went to her and said: ‘Lady, he is not the first man to do something wrong. He doesn’t know your nature and he has done nothing that deserves death.’ ‘By God,’ she said, ‘I must very certainly leave my mark on him.’ She then gave orders that I was to be beaten. They beat me on my ribs and these were the marks of this beating that you saw.
On her orders I was then removed. They took me out of the palace and threw me down. I pulled myself together and walked a few steps at a time until I got back home. Then I sent for a surgeon and, when I had shown him my stripes, he gave me gentle treatment and did his best to cure me. I recovered and after visiting the baths, when my pains had left me, I went to my shop, where I collected all its contents and sold them. With the money that I had collected I bought four hundred mamluks such as no king had ever gathered together, two hundred of whom used to ride out with me each day. Then I had this boat built, on which I spent five thousand gold dinars. I called myself the caliph and I arranged that each one of my servants should duplicate the roles played by the caliph’s own followers, seeing to it that they looked like them. I had it proclaimed that if anyone cruised on the Tigris, I would immediately have him executed. I have been doing this for a whole year now, but I have heard no news of the Lady Dunya, nor have I found any trace of her.
He then burst into floods of tears and recited these lines:
By God, never throughout all time can I forget her,
Nor approach anyone who cannot bring her near.
She is formed like the full moon;
Glory be to her Creator; glory be to Him, Who formed her.
She has left me sad, sleepless and sick;
My heart is at a loss to grasp her inner self.
Harun al-Rashid, on hearing this, realized the passionate intensity of Muhammad’s love and was himself distracted by this. His astonishment left him bewildered and he exclaimed: ‘Praise be to God, Who has assigned everything a cause!’ He and his companions asked Muhammad for leave to go, and when this was granted they went off to the palace, with Harun having made up his mind to see justice done to Muhammad and to ensure that he was given the greatest gift for which he could hope.
When they had exchanged the clothes they were wearing for their court robes, he and Ja‘far took their seats, with Masrur, the executioner, standing before them. He then told Ja‘far: ‘Fetch me the young man…’
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the two hundred and ninety-fourth night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that the caliph told the vizier to ‘fetch the young man whom we were with this last night’. ‘To hear is to obey,’ said Ja‘far, who then went to the young Muhammad and ordered him to obey the summons of the caliph Harun al-
Rashid. Muhammad went with him to the palace in a state of fear because he was being taken under escort, and when he entered the caliph’s presence he kissed the ground before him and prayed for the perpetuation of his glory, for his good fortune, the attainment of his hopes, the continuation of his blessings and the removal of distress and misfortune. He expressed himself with the greatest eloquence, closing with the words: ‘Peace be on you, Commander of the Faithful and defender of the sanctity of religion,’ after which he recited these lines:
May your door always be a Ka‘ba, the goal of your people’s hopes,
And may the earth of this Ka‘ba be seen on their foreheads,
So it may be proclaimed throughout all lands:
‘Here is the place of Abraham; the caliph is Abraham himself.’
The caliph smiled at him and returned his greeting, looking at him with favour and telling him to come nearer, after which he seated him before him. ‘Muhammad,’ he said to him, ‘I would like you to tell me what happened to you last night, for it was a strange and marvellous affair.’ Muhammad replied: ‘Forgive me, Commander of the Faithful, and give me a token of security, to allay my fears and put my heart at rest.’ When the caliph had promised him this, Muhammad told the whole story of what had happened from beginning to end. The caliph, realizing that here was a lover who had been parted from his beloved, asked him if he wanted his wife restored to him. ‘That would be a gracious action on the part of the Commander of the Faithful,’ Muhammad replied, and he recited the lines:
Kiss his fingers, for they are not fingers but keys to fortune.
Thank him for his good works, which are not good works but necklaces.
Turning to Ja‘far, the caliph told him to fetch his sister, the Lady Dunya, the daughter of Yahya ibn Khalid, the vizier. ‘To hear is to obey,’ said Ja‘far, and he fetched her immediately. When she appeared before the caliph, he asked her: ‘Do you recognize who this is?’ ‘How can women recognize men?’ she said. The caliph smiled and said: ‘Dunya, this is your lover, Muhammad, son of the jeweller. I know the position: I have heard the story from beginning to end and have understood what lies on the surface and what is beneath it. Whatever was hidden is no longer a secret.’ The Lady Dunya said: ‘That was written in the book of fate. I ask pardon from Almighty God for what I did, and I ask you of your grace to forgive me.’ The caliph laughed and after summoning the qadi and the notaries, he had her wedding contract to her husband Muhammad renewed. She and he enjoyed the highest good fortune; the envious were confounded and Muhammad became one of the caliph’s companions. They continued in the enjoyment of delectation, pleasure and delight until they were visited by the destroyer of delights and the parter of companions.