The Penguin Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature

by Robert Irwin

  ‘No, by Allah,’ their mother replied. ‘It is your brother’s. Judar brought it with him from the Moors’ country.’

  ‘You lie!’ they shouted. ‘It is our father’s property. We will dispose of it as we choose.’

  They divided the gold and jewels between them. But over the magic bag they fell into a hot dispute.

  ‘I take this,’ said Salem.

  ‘No, I take it,’ said Seleem.

  ‘My children,’ pleaded the old woman, ‘you have divided the first bag, but the second bag is beyond price and cannot be divided. If it is split into two parts, its charm will be annulled. Leave it with me and I will bring out for you whatever food you need, contenting myself with a mouthful. Buy some merchandise and trade with it like honest men. You are my sons, and I am your mother. Let us live in amity and peace, so that you may incur no shame when your brother comes back.’

  However, they paid no heed to her and spent the night quarrelling over the magic bag. Now it chanced that an officer of the King’s guards was being entertained in the house next door, of which one of the windows was open. Leaning out of the window, he listened to the angry words that passed between the two brothers and understood the cause of the dispute. Next morning he presented himself before Shams-al-Dowlah, King of Egypt, and informed him of all he had overheard. The King sent at once for Judar’s brothers and tortured them until they confessed all. He took the two bags, threw the brothers into prison, and appointed their mother a daily allowance sufficient for her needs. So much for them.

  Now to return to Judar. After toiling for a whole year in Suez, he set sail one day with several of his mates; a violent tempest struck their ship and, hurling it against a rocky cliff, shattered it to pieces. Judar alone escaped alive. Swimming ashore, he journeyed inland until he reached an encampment of bedouin Arabs. They asked him who he was, and he recounted to them his whole story. In the camp there was a merchant from Jedda, who at once took pity upon him.

  ‘Would you like to enter our service, Egyptian?’ he said, ‘I will furnish you with clothes and take you with me to Jedda.’

  Judar accepted the merchant’s offer and accompanied him to Jedda, where he was generously treated. Soon afterwards his master set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and took Judar with him. On their arrival Judar hastened to join the pilgrims’ procession round the Ca’aba. Whilst he was thus engaged in his devotions, he met his friend Abdul Samad the Moor, who greeted him warmly and inquired his news. Judar wept as he recounted to him the tale of his misfortunes, and the Moor took him to his own house and dressed him in a magnificent robe.

  ‘Your troubles are now ended, Judar,’ he said.

  Then he cast a handful of sand on the ground and, divining all that had befallen Salem and Seleem, declared: ‘Your brothers have been thrown into prison by the King of Egypt. But you are welcome here until you have performed the season’s rites. All shall be well with you.’

  ‘Sir,’ said Judar, ‘I must first go and take my leave of the merchant who brought me here. Then I will come to you straightway.’

  ‘Do you owe him any money?’ asked the Moor.

  ‘No,’ Judar replied.

  ‘Go, then,’ said the Moor, ‘and take leave of him. Honest men must not forget past favours.’

  Judar sought out the good merchant and told him that he had met a long-lost brother.

  ‘Go and bring him here, that he may eat with us,’ said the merchant.

  ‘There is no need for that,’ Judar answered. ‘He is a man of wealth and has a host of servants.’

  ‘Then take these,’ said the merchant, handing him twenty dinars, ‘and free me of all obligations towards you.’

  Judar took leave of him and went out. On his way he met a beggar and gave him the twenty dinars. Then he rejoined the Moor, and stayed with him until the pilgrimage rites had been completed. When it was time to part, the magician gave him the ring which he had taken from the treasure of Al-Shamardal.

  ‘This ring,’ he said, ‘will grant you all that you desire. It is served by a jinnee called Rattling Thunder. If you need anything, you have but to rub the seal and he will be at hand to do your bidding.’

  The Moor rubbed the seal in front of him, and at once the jinnee appeared, saying: ‘I am here, my master! Ask what you will and it shall be done. Would you restore a ruined city, or lay a populous town in ruin? Would you slay a king, or rout a whole army?’

  ‘Thunder,’ cried the Moor, ‘this man will henceforth be your master. Serve him well.’

  Then he dismissed the jinnee and said to Judar: ‘Go back to your country and take good care of the ring. Do not make light of it, for its magic will give you power over all your enemies.’

  ‘By your leave, sir,’ Judar replied, ‘I will now set forth for my native land.’

  ‘Rub the seal,’ said the Moor, ‘and the jinnee will take you there upon his back.’

  Judar said farewell to the Moor and rubbed the seal. At once the jinnee appeared before him.

  ‘Take me to Egypt this very day,’ he commanded.

  ‘I hear and obey,’ Thunder replied. And carrying Judar upon his back flew with him high up into the air. At midnight he set him down in the courtyard of his mother’s house and vanished.

  Judar went in to his mother. She greeted him with many tears and told him how the King had tortured his brothers, thrown them into prison, and taken from them the two bags.

  ‘Do not grieve any more over that,’ Judar replied. ‘You shall see what I can do. I will bring my brothers back this very instant.’

  He rubbed the ring, and the jinnee appeared, saying: ‘I am here, my master! Ask, and you shall be given.’

  ‘I order you,’ Judar said, ‘to free my brothers from the King’s prison and bring them back forthwith.’

  The jinnee vanished into the earth and in the twinkling of an eye emerged from the floor of the prison-house, where the two men lay lamenting their plight and praying for death. When they saw the earth open and the jinnee appear, the brothers fainted away with fright; nor did they recover their senses until they found themselves at home, with Judar and their mother seated by their side.

  ‘Thank Allah you are safe, brothers!’ said Judar when they came round. ‘I am heartily pleased to see you.’

  They hung their heads and burst out crying.

  ‘Do not weep,’ said Judar. ‘It was Satan, and greed, that prompted you to act as you did. How could you sell me? But I will think of Joseph and console myself; his brothers behaved to him worse than you did to me, for they threw him into a pit. Still, never mind. Turn to Allah and ask His pardon: He will forgive you as I forgive you. And now you are welcome; no harm shall befall you here.’

  He thus comforted them until their hearts were set at ease. Then he related to them all he had suffered until he met the Moor and told them of the magic ring.

  ‘Pardon us this time, brother,’ they said. ‘If we return to our evil practices, then punish us as you deem fit.’

  ‘Think no more of that,’ he answered. ‘Tell me what the King did to you.’

  ‘He beat us and threatened us,’ they replied. ‘And he took away the two bags.’

  ‘By Allah, he shall answer for that!’ Judar exclaimed. And so saying he rubbed the ring.

  At the sight of the jinnee the brothers were seized with terror, thinking that he would order him to kill them. They threw themselves at their mother’s feet, crying: ‘Protect us, mother! Intercede for us, we beg you!’

  ‘Do not be alarmed, my children,’ she answered.

  ‘I order you,’ said Judar to the jinnee, ‘to bring me all the gold and jewels in the King’s treasury. Also fetch me the two bags which the King took from my brothers. Leave nothing there.’

  ‘I hear and obey,’ replied the jinnee.

  He thereupon vanished and instantly returned with the King’s treasures and the two bags.

  ‘My master,’ he said, ‘I have left nothing in all the treasury.’

  Juda
r put the bag of jewels into his mother’s charge and kept the magic bag by his side. Then he said to the jinnee: ‘I order you to build me a lofty palace this very night and to adorn it with liquid gold and furnish it magnificently. The whole must be ready by tomorrow’s dawn.’

  ‘You shall have your wish,’ replied the jinnee, and disappeared into the earth.

  Judar sat feasting with his family and, when they had taken their fill, they got up and went to sleep. Meanwhile Thunder summoned his minions from among the jinn and ordered them to build the palace. Some hewed the stones, some built the walls, some engraved and painted them, some spread the rooms with rugs and tapestries; so that before day dawned the palace stood complete in all its splendour. Then the servant of the ring presented himself before Judar, saying: ‘The task is accomplished, my master. Will you come and inspect your palace?’

  Judar went forth with his mother and brothers to see the building and they were amazed at its magnificence and the peerless beauty of its structure. Judar rejoiced as he looked at the edifice towering high on the main road and marvelled that it had cost him nothing.

  ‘Would you like to live in this palace?’ he asked his mother.

  ‘I would indeed,’ she answered, calling down blessings upon him.

  He rubbed the ring again, and at once the jinnee appeared saying: ‘I am here, my master.’

  ‘I order you,’ said Judar, ‘to bring me forty beautiful white slave-girls and forty black slave-girls, forty white slave-boys and forty black eunuchs.’

  ‘I hear and obey,’ the jinnee replied.

  The slave of the ring at once departed with forty of his attendants to India, Sind, and Persia, and in a trice returned with a multitude of handsome slaves to Judar’s palace. There he made them stand in full array before their master, who was greatly pleased to see them.

  ‘Now bring each a splendid robe to put on,’ said Judar, ‘and rich garments for my mother, my brothers, and myself.’

  The jinnee brought the robes and dressed the slave-girls.

  ‘This is your mistress,’ he said to them. ‘Kiss her hand and obey her orders; serve her well, you blacks and whites.’

  He also clothed the slave-boys, and one by one they went up to Judar and kissed his hand. Finally the three brothers put on their fine robes, so that Judar looked like a king and Salem and Seleem like viziers. His house being spacious, Judar assigned a whole wing to each of his brothers with a full retinue of slaves and servants, while he and his mother dwelt in the main suite of the palace. Thus each one of them lived like a sultan in his own apartment. So much for them.

  Next morning the King’s treasurer went to take some valuables from the royal coffers. He entered the treasury, but found nothing there. He gave a loud cry and fell down fainting; when he recovered himself, he rushed to King Shams-al-Dowlah, crying: ‘Prince of the Faithful, the treasury has been emptied during the night.’

  ‘Dog,’ cried the King, ‘what have you done with all my wealth?’

  ‘By Allah, I have done nothing, nor do I know how it was ransacked,’ he replied. ‘When I was there last night the treasury was full, but this morning all the coffers are clean empty; yet the walls have not been pierced and the locks are unbroken. No thief could have possibly entered there.’

  ‘And the two bags,’ the King shouted, ‘have they also gone?’

  ‘They have,’ replied the treasurer.

  Aghast at these words, the King jumped to his feet and, ordering the old man to follow him, ran to the treasury, which he found quite empty.

  ‘Who dared to rob me?’ exclaimed the infuriated King. ‘Did he not fear my punishment?’

  Blazing with rage, he rushed out of the room and assembled his court. The captains of his army hastened to the King’s presence, each thinking himself the object of his wrath.

  ‘Know,’ exclaimed the King, ‘that my treasury has been plundered in the night. I have yet to catch the thief who has dared to commit so great an outrage.’

  ‘How did it all happen?’ the officers inquired.

  ‘Ask the treasurer,’ shouted the King.

  ‘Yesterday the coffers were full,’ said the treasurer. ‘Today I found them empty. Yet the walls of the treasury have not been pierced, nor the door broken.’

  The courtiers were amazed at the treasurer’s words and did not know what to answer. As they stood in silence before the King, there entered the hall that same officer who had denounced Salem and Seleem.

  ‘Your majesty,’ said he, ‘all night long I have been watching a great multitude of masons at work. By daybreak they had erected an entire building, a palace of unparalleled splendour. Upon inquiry I was informed that it had been built by a man called Judar, who had but recently returned from abroad with vast riches and innumerable slaves and servants. I was also told that he had freed his brothers from prison and now sits like a sultan in his palace.’

  ‘Go, search the prison!’ cried the King to his attendants.

  They went and looked, but saw no trace of the two brothers. Then they came back to inform the King.

  ‘Now I know my enemy,’ the King exclaimed. ‘He that released Salem and Seleem from prison is the man who stole my treasure.’

  ‘And who may that be, your majesty?’ asked the Vizier.

  ‘Their brother Judar,’ replied the King. ‘And he has taken away the two bags. Vizier, send at once an officer with fifty men to seal up all his property and bring the three of them before me, that I may hang them! Do you hear? And quickly, too!’

  ‘Be indulgent,’ said the Vizier. ‘Allah himself is indulgent and never too quick to chastise His servants when they disobey Him. The man who could build a palace in a single night cannot be judged by ordinary standards. Indeed, I greatly fear for the officer whom you would send to him. Therefore have patience until I devise some way of discovering the truth. Then you can deal with these offenders as you think fit, your majesty.’

  ‘Tell me what to do, then,’ said the King.

  ‘I advise your majesty,’ replied the Vizier, ‘to send an officer to him and invite him to the palace. When he is here I shall converse with him in friendly fashion and ask him his news. After that we shall see. If he is indeed a powerful man, we will contrive some plot against him; if he is just an ordinary rascal, you can arrest him and do what you please with him.’

  ‘Then send one to invite him,’ said the King.

  The Vizier ordered an officer called Othman to go to Judar and invite him to the King’s palace.

  ‘And do not come back without him,’ the King shouted.

  Now this officer was a proud and foolish fellow. When he came to Judar’s palace, he saw a eunuch sitting on a chair outside the gateway. Othman dismounted, but the eunuch remained seated on his chair and paid no heed to the distinguished courtier, despite the fifty soldiers who stood behind him.

  ‘Slave, where is your master?’ the officer cried.

  ‘In the palace,’ replied the eunuch, without stirring from his seat.

  ‘Ill-omened slave,’ exclaimed the angry Othman, ‘are you not ashamed to lounge there like a fool while I am speaking to you?’

  ‘Be off, and hold your tongue,’ the eunuch replied.

  At this the officer flew into a violent rage. He lifted up his mace and made to strike the eunuch, for he did not know that he was a devil. As soon as he saw this movement the doorkeeper sprang upon him, threw him on the ground, and dealt him four blows with his own mace. Indignant at the treatment accorded to their master, the fifty soldiers drew their swords and rushed upon the eunuch.

  ‘Would you draw your swords against me, you dogs?’ he shouted and, falling upon them with the mace, maimed them in every limb. The soldiers took to their heels in panic-stricken flight, and did not stop running until they were far away from the palace. Then the eunuch returned to his chair and sat down at his ease, as though nothing had troubled him.

  Back at the palace the battered Othman related to the King what had befallen him at the h
ands of Judar’s slave.

  ‘Let a hundred men be sent against him!’ cried the King, bursting with rage.

  A hundred men marched down to Judar’s palace. When they came near, the eunuch leapt upon them with the mace and cudgelled them soundly, so that they turned their backs and fled. Returning to the King, they told him what had happened.

  ‘Let two hundred go down!’ the King exclaimed.

  When these came back, broken and put to rout, the King cried to his vizier: ‘Go down yourself with five hundred and bring me this eunuch at once, together with his master Judar and his brothers!’

  ‘Great King,’ replied the Vizier, ‘I need no troops. I would rather go alone, unarmed.’

  ‘Do what you think fit,’ said the King.

  The Vizier cast aside his weapons and, dressing himself in a white robe, took a rosary in his hand and walked unescorted to Judar’s palace. There he saw the eunuch sitting at the gate; he went up to him and sat down courteously by his side, saying: ‘Peace be with you.’

  ‘And to you peace, human,’ the eunuch replied. ‘What is your wish?’

  On hearing himself addressed as a human, the Vizier realized that the eunuch was a jinnee and trembled with fear.

  ‘Sir, is your master here?’ he asked.

  ‘He is in the palace,’ replied the jinnee.

  ‘Sir,’ said the Vizier, ‘I beg you to go in and say to him: “King Shams-al-Dowlah invites you to a banquet at his palace. He sends you his greeting and requests you to honour him with your presence.’”

  ‘Wait here while I tell him,’ the jinnee answered.

  The Vizier waited humbly, while the eunuch went into the palace.

  ‘Know, my master,’ he said to Judar, ‘that this morning the King sent to you an officer with fifty guards. I cudgelled him and put his men to flight. Next he sent a hundred, whom I beat, and then two hundred, whom I routed. Now he has sent you his Vizier, unarmed and unattended, to invite you as his guest. What answer shall I give him?’