The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights

by vol 02 (tr Malcolm C

  Nor will that which He orders fail to come.

  She also quoted:

  Let the days unfold and do not enter the house of care.

  There is many an affair whose quest was hard,

  But where a happy ending has granted you success.

  She also quoted:

  Be mild when anger affects you;

  Show patience in misfortune.

  Time has left the nights pregnant,

  And they give birth to marvels of all kinds.

  From another poet she quoted:

  Endure, for if you realized what good endurance brings,

  You would rejoice and pain would not distress you.

  Know that if you do not bear it willingly,

  You will be forced to endure Fate’s decrees.

  For a whole month after she had recited these lines, Zumurrud spent her days in settling disputes between her people, issuing orders and prohibitions, and her nights in tears and sobs for her lost master, ‘Ali Shar. Then, at the start of the new month, she ordered the banquet to be set out in the arena as usual, where she took her seat overlooking the people, who were waiting for permission to start eating. The seat by the dish of rice was empty. From her place at the head of the tables Zumurrud watched the arena gate to see who was going to come through it, saying to herself: ‘God, Who restored Joseph to Jacob and freed Job from his misfortunes, favour me by restoring my master, ‘Ali Shar, through Your power and might, You Who are the all-powerful, the Lord of all creation, the Guide of those who stray, Who listens to our cries and answers our prayers. Grant my request, Lord of creation.’

  Before she had finished her prayer, through the door came a young man whose figure was like the branch of a ban tree. In spite of his thinness and pallor, he was extremely handsome and obviously a man of great intelligence and culture. When he came in, the only empty place he could find was by the dish of rice. Zumurrud’s heart fluttered as she looked at him, and when she studied him closely, she recognized that this was her master, ‘Ali Shar. She wanted to cry out for joy, but managed to control herself, fearing to be disgraced publicly, and so, in spite of her churning stomach and throbbing heart, she kept her feelings concealed.

  The reason why ‘Ali Shar had come was this. After he had fallen asleep on the bench and Zumurrud had come down and been seized by Jawan the Kurd, he woke up to find himself bare-headed and realized that some robber must have stolen his turban while he was sleeping. He recited the formula that never brings shame on those who quote it: ‘We belong to God and to Him do we return.’ Then he went back to the old woman who had told him where Zumurrud was. He knocked on her door, and when she came out he burst into tears in front of her before collapsing in a faint. On coming to his senses, he told her everything that had happened to him. She blamed him harshly and told him that his disastrous misfortune was his own fault, and she went on until blood ran from his nose and he fell unconscious.

  When he recovered…

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that when he recovered he found the old woman shedding floods of tears for him, and in his distress he recited:

  How bitter is parting for lovers!

  What pleasure is theirs in union!

  May God unite all lovers,

  And guard me, who am in agony.

  The old woman grieved for him and told him: ‘Sit here until I find out the news for you; I shall come back as fast as possible.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ he replied, and she then left him and went off. It was midday before she came back, and when she did she told him: ‘I think that you are going to die of grief as you are not going to see your beloved again until you meet on the bridge to Paradise. In the morning the people in the house found that the window overlooking the garden had been pulled away. Zumurrud was missing; with her had gone a pair of saddlebags containing the Christian’s gold, and when I got there I found the wali and a number of his men standing at the door. There is no might and no power except with God, the Exalted, the Omnipotent.’

  When ‘Ali Shar heard this, the light turned to darkness in his eyes; he despaired of life and was sure of death, weeping so bitterly that he fell down in a faint. Although he recovered his senses, love and parting had inflicted such damage on him that he fell gravely ill and had to stay at home. The old woman continued to fetch him doctors, provide him with drinks and make broth for him for a whole year. At last he recovered his spirit and, recalling what had passed, he recited these lines:

  Cares have gathered round me;

  I am parted from my love;

  Tears course down; my heart is burned;

  Passion is increased for one who finds no rest;

  Love, longing and distress wear him away.

  My Lord, if there is a relief for suffering,

  Grant it to me while there is still a spark of life.

  At the start of the second year, the old woman said to him: ‘My son, this distress and sorrow of yours is not going to bring your beloved back. Get up, pull yourself together and search through the lands for her, as you may hear some news of her.’ She continued to hearten and strengthen him until she restored his energy, after which she took him to the baths and gave him wine to drink and chicken to eat. She did this every day for a month, and when he had regained his strength he set off on his travels and went on until he reached Zumurrud’s city. Here he came to the arena, sat down at the banquet and reached out to take some food. The people felt sorry for him and said: ‘Don’t take anything from this dish, young man, as everyone who eats from it comes to grief.’ ‘Let me eat from it,’ ‘Ali replied. ‘They can do what they want with me and it may be that I will find rest from this troublesome life.’

  He took his first mouthful and it struck Zumurrud, who wanted to have him brought to her, that he might be hungry. She said to herself: ‘The proper thing for me to do is to let him eat his fill.’ As he started to eat, the people looked at him in astonishment, waiting to see what was going to happen to him. Then, when he had had enough, Zumurrud said to a number of her eunuchs: ‘Go to that young man who is eating the rice and bring him to me gently, telling him that the king wants a friendly word with him.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ they said, and going up to ‘Ali they stood before him and said: ‘Master, please come to the king, but do not be worried.’ ‘Ali agreed to this and as he went with them…

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that ‘Ali agreed to this and as he went with them the people said to one another: ‘There is no power and no might except with God, the Exalted, the Almighty. What do you suppose the king is going to do with him?’ ‘He is going to treat him well,’ said one of them. ‘If he had wanted to harm him, he would not have left him to eat his fill.’

  When ‘Ali stood before Zumurrud, he greeted her and kissed the ground in front of her. She returned his greeting and, after speaking to him courteously, she asked his name, his profession and the reason that had brought him to the city. He replied: ‘My name, O king, is ‘Ali Shar. I belong to a merchant family and my country is Khurasan. I am here to look for a slave girl whom I have lost. She was dearer to me than my hearing and my sight and, although I have lost her, she still holds my soul. This is my story.’ He then wept until he fainted. Zumurrud ordered rosewater to be sprinkled on his face and this was done until he had recovered his senses. After his recovery she ordered the divination table to be brought, together with a brass pen, and when these had been fetched she took the pen, shook the sand and studied it for some time. ‘You have told the truth,’ she told him, ‘and God will soon unite you with her, so do not be uneasy.’

  She now ordered her chamberlain to take him to the baths, to provide him with a fine set of royal robes and to mount hi
m on one of the specially picked royal chargers. In the evening he was to be brought to the palace. ‘To hear is to obey,’ said the chamberlain, and he took ‘Ali from her presence and went off with him. The people asked each other: ‘What is the king doing, treating this young man with such kindness?’ ‘Didn’t I tell you,’ said one of them, ‘that the king would not harm him as he is a good-looking fellow? I realized that when the king let him go on eating.’ Each one of them had something to say and they then dispersed and went on their ways.

  Zumurrud could scarcely believe that night would ever come so that she could be alone with her lover, and when it did she went into her bedchamber, pretending to be overcome by drowsiness. She was not in the habit of letting anyone sleep in her room, apart from two little eunuchs who were there to serve her, but when she had taken her place there she sent for her dear ‘Ali Shar. She was sitting on a couch with candles above and below her, and golden chandeliers threw light over the room. People were surprised to hear that she had sent for ‘Ali. Everyone had suspicions to voice, and one of them said: ‘The king has fallen in love with this boy and tomorrow he will be made an army commander.’

  When ‘Ali was brought in, he kissed the ground in front of Zumurrud and called down blessings on her, while she said to herself: ‘I must play a joke on him for a while and not tell him who I am.’ So she asked him whether he had been to the baths and when he said that he had, she said: ‘Eat some of this chicken and meat and drink some of this sweet wine, as you must be tired, and when you have done that come up here.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ he said and he did what she had told him. When he had finished eating and drinking, she said: ‘Come up on the couch and massage me.’ He started to massage her feet and her legs, which he found softer than silk. ‘Go higher,’ she told him. ‘Forgive me, master,’ he replied, ‘up to the knee but no further.’ ‘If you disobey me this will be an unlucky night for you.’

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that Zumurrud said: ‘If you disobey me this will be an unlucky night for you. You must do what I tell you and I shall then make you my beloved and appoint you as one of my emirs.’ ‘Ali replied: ‘King of the age, what am I supposed to do to obey you?’ ‘Undo your trousers and lie on your face,’ she said. ‘This is something that I have never done in my life, and if you force me to it, I shall take my case against you to God on the Day of Resurrection. Take back everything that you have given me and let me leave your city.’ He wept and sobbed, but she repeated: ‘Undo your trousers and lie on your face or else I shall cut off your head.’

  When he did this, she got up on his back and he felt something smoother than silk and softer than butter, so that he said to himself: ‘This king is better than any woman.’ She waited for a time, lying on his back, and then she turned over on the couch and ‘Ali said to himself: ‘Praise God, it seems as though he has not got an erection.’ ‘ ‘Ali,’ she told him, ‘it is a habit of mine that I cannot get an erection until my penis is stroked by hand. Come and do this until it rises, or else I’ll kill you.’ She lay on her back, took his hand and set it on her vagina, which he found to be smoother than silk, white, large and plump and hot as the baths or as the heart of a lover consumed by passion. ‘This is an extraordinary thing,’ ‘Ali said to himself. ‘The king has a vagina.’ His own lust stirred, with his penis stretching to its fullest, and when Zumurrud saw that she burst out laughing and said: ‘Master, after all this, don’t you recognize me?’ ‘Who are you, king?’ he asked, to which she replied: ‘I am your slave girl, Zumurrud.’

  When ‘Ali learned this, he kissed and embraced her and then, realizing that she really was his slave girl, he pounced on her, like a lion on a sheep, and plunged his rod into her scabbard. He kept on playing the roles of gatekeeper at her door and imam at her prayer niche, while she joined him in bendings and prostrations, rising and falling, following her hymns of praise with lascivious wriggling and movements, so much so that the eunuchs heard her. They came and looked from behind the curtains, to find the king lying with ‘Ali Shar on top of her, the one grinding and moving around and the other snorting and writhing. ‘That is not how a man moves,’ they said. ‘It may be that this king is a woman.’ But they kept the matter concealed and told no one.

  The next morning, Zumurrud sent for the whole of her army and her state officials. When they had come, she told them: ‘I am about to go to this man’s land, so choose for yourselves someone to act in my place as your ruler until I come back to you.’ They obeyed her instruction, while she began to equip herself for the journey, collecting provisions, money, supplies and treasures, together with camels and mules. Then she left the city and travelled on until she reached ‘Ali Shar’s land, where he returned to his own house and then distributed gifts, alms and donations. God granted him children by Zumurrud and the two of them lived in the enjoyment of perfect happiness until they were visited by the destroyer of delights and the parter of companions. Praise be to the One Who remains unchanging. Glory be to God in all things.

  A story is also told that the Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, was wakeful one night and, being unable to sleep, he kept turning from side to side, owing to his insomnia. When he became tired of it he summoned Masrur and told him to fetch someone who might relieve his condition. ‘Master,’ said Masrur, ‘would you like to go into the palace garden and take pleasure from looking at the flowers and watching the sky inlaid with stars and the moon between them gleaming on the water?’ ‘That doesn’t tempt me,’ replied the caliph, and so Masrur went on: ‘In your palace, master, there are three hundred concubines, each with her own apartment. Give instructions that each of them should be alone in her apartment, so that you can go and watch them without their knowledge.’ ‘Masrur,’ replied the caliph, ‘the palace is mine and the girls are my property, but none of this tempts me.’ ‘Then summon the men of learning,’ proposed Masrur, ‘the philosophers and the poets, so that they may conduct investigations, recite poetry and produce stories and histories.’ The caliph made the same objection, and Masrur went on to suggest: ‘Order your pages, your boon companions and men of wit to come and entertain you with remarkable and witty tales.’ When the caliph had rejected this suggestion too, Masrur said: ‘Then cut off my head…’

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that Masrur said: ‘Then cut off my head as this may cure your sleeplessness and settle your restlessness.’ The caliph laughed and told him to go and see which of his drinking companions was sitting at the door. Masrur went out and when he came back he told the caliph that ‘Ali ibn Mansur, the witty Damascene, was there. ‘Bring him in to me,’ said the caliph.

  Masrur went to fetch ‘Ali, who, on his arrival, greeted the caliph; he returned his greeting and said: ‘Tell me one of your stories, Ibn Mansur.’ ‘Shall I tell you of something that I have seen myself or something that I have heard, Commander of the Faithful?’ asked ‘Ali. ‘If you have seen something remarkable, then tell me about it, for what has been said is not like what has been seen,’ the caliph replied. ‘Listen to me, then, and pay attention,’ said ‘Ali. ‘I am listening to you with my ears, looking at you with my eyes and paying attention to you with my heart,’ the caliph assured him. ‘ALI SAID:

  Know then, Commander of the Faithful, that I used to get an annual payment from Muhammad ibn Sulaiman al-Hashimi, the sultan of Basra. Once when I went to him as usual, I found, when I got there, that he was getting ready to ride out to hunt. We exchanged greetings and he told me to come with him. ‘I’m not capable of riding,’ I told him, ‘so settle me in your guest house and tell your chamberlains and underlings to look after me.’ This is what he did, and when he had set off to hunt, they treated me with mar
ked respect and showed me the greatest hospitality. ‘By God,’ I then said to myself, ‘it’s strange that I have been coming for years from Baghdad to Basra and yet the only part of the place I know is what lies between the palace and the garden, and the garden and the palace. When am I ever going to get another opportunity like this to look round? I shall go off immediately on a solitary sightseeing tour to digest my meal.’

  I put on my most splendid clothes and walked through part of the city. As you know, Commander of the Faithful, there are seventy streets in Basra, each of which is seventy Iraqi parasangs long. I got lost among the alleyways there and began to feel thirsty. Then, while I was walking, I suddenly saw a large door with two brass rings, over which hung curtains of red brocade. It was flanked by two stone benches and from above it was overshadowed by a vine trellis. I stopped to look at the place, and while I was standing there I heard a moan that came from a sorrowful heart and a voice modulating a chant to which were set the following lines:

  My body has become a place of sickness and of suffering,

  Because of a gazelle who lives in a distant land.

  The breezes of Zarud have stirred my sorrow.

  By the Lord your Master, breezes, turn aside

  To the one who should be my comfort.

  Reproach him and it may be that this will move him.

  Speak well, if he listens to you,

  And between the two of you rehearse stories of lovers.

  In your kindness do me a favour,

  And when you talk to him, ask him:

  ‘How is it you destroy a slave by your abandonment,

  Although he is guilty of no fault and no transgression,

  And his heart has not inclined to court another?

  No firm covenant is broken, nor has any wrong been done.’