The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 2

by Penguin; Robert Irwin; Malcolm Lyons; Ursula Lyons

  The servants took me out and told me: ‘The king has a daughter who is gravely ill, and no doctors have been able to cure her. Each one who visits her and fails to cure her is put to death by the king. So see what you think.’ I said: ‘The king told me to go, so take me to her and bring me to her door.’ When I got there, they knocked, and from inside a voice called out: ‘Bring me the doctor who is master of the wonderful secret.’ Then the princess recited:

  Open the door, for the doctor has come.

  Look at me, for I have a wonderful secret.

  How many who seek to be close are far away,

  And how many who seem distant are near at hand.

  I was a stranger among you,

  But the Truth has wished that I should soon find joy.

  We are joined by ties of religion,

  And appear as lover and beloved.

  He called on me to meet him,

  But censurers and watchers kept us apart.

  Give up your censure and your blame;

  Wretched creatures, I shall not reply.

  I do not turn to the transient that disappears;

  My goal is what remains and never leaves.

  At that, a very old man opened the door quickly and told me to go in, which I did. I found myself in a room where scented herbs were spread, with a curtain hanging in a corner, and behind this I could hear a weak moan coming from an emaciated frame. I sat down opposite this curtain and I was about to say ‘peace be on you’ when I remembered the words of the Prophet, may God bless him and give him peace: ‘Do not be the first to greet Jews or Christians with the words “peace be on you” and when you meet them on the road, force them to its narrowest part.’ So I held back, but from behind the curtain the princess said: ‘Where is the greeting of unity and sincerity, Ibrahim?’ I was astonished by this and exclaimed: ‘How do you know who I am?’ She replied: ‘When hearts and thoughts are pure, the tongue speaks of what is hidden in the mind. Yesterday I asked God to send me one of his saints through whom I might be saved, and a voice answered me from one of the corners of my room saying: “Do not grieve, for I shall send you Ibrahim al-Khawwas.” ’

  I then asked her to tell me about herself and she said: ‘It was four years ago that God’s clear truth became apparent to me, and He is the truth-telling friend and the close companion. My people looked suspiciously at me and thought that I was mad. If any doctor of theirs visited me, he made me uneasy, while visitors disconcerted me.’ ‘What led you to your present position?’ I asked her, and she replied: ‘Clear proofs and obvious signs. When you see the way, both the indication and what is indicated become clear.’

  While I was talking to her, the old man who was in charge of her came up and asked: ‘What has your doctor done?’ She said: ‘He has recognized the illness and has hit on the cure…’

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that SIDI IBRAHIM IBN AL-KHAWWAS SAID:

  The old man who was in charge of her came up and asked: ‘What has your doctor done?’ She said: ‘He has recognized the illness and has hit on the cure, bringing me joy and happiness and doing me good, as well as pleasing me.’ The old man went to the king and told him about that, and on the king’s instructions he then treated me with respect. For seven days I stayed there, paying regular visits to the princess, and then she said: ‘Abu Ishaq, when can we leave for the lands of Islam?’ ‘How can you go,’ I asked, ‘and who would dare such a thing?’ ‘The One Who brought you to me, leading you here,’ she answered. ‘Well said,’ I replied, and so the next day we passed through the castle gate, concealed from all eyes by Him Who ‘when He intends something, says “Be” and it is’.*

  I never saw anyone with greater powers of endurance when it came to fasting and rising to pray than that princess. For seven years she lived beside the Ka‘ba, and when she died and was buried in the territory of Mecca, God sent down blessings on her grave, and He grants His mercy to those who recite these lines:

  They fetched me a doctor when there had appeared

  Symptoms, such as flowing tears and illnesses.

  He then unveiled my face and saw beneath it

  Nothing but breath with neither soul nor body.

  He told me: ‘This is something hard to cure;

  Imagination cannot grasp love’s secret.’

  They said: ‘When no one knows what the disease may be,

  And definition and description fail to show its nature,

  What medicine can be effective there?’

  ‘Leave me,’ I said. ‘I make no judgements based on guess.’

  A story is told that a certain prophet used to worship God on a high mountain, beneath which was a spring of running water. By day he used to sit out of sight on the mountain top, reciting the Name of Almighty God, and he would look down at those who came to the spring. One day, while he was doing this, he saw a horseman ride up, dismount and drink, after which he rested. This man had put down a bag which had been fastened round his neck and which was full of dinars, but when he rode away he left it behind. Another man then came there and when he had drunk from the spring, he took the bag with the money in it and left safely. He was followed to the spring by a woodcutter, who was carrying a heavy load of firewood on his back. He sat down to drink, and at this point the rider came back anxiously and asked him where the bag was that had been there. ‘I know nothing about a bag,’ said the woodcutter, at which the rider drew his sword and killed him with a blow. The rider then searched through his clothes but found nothing and went off, leaving the corpse there. The prophet said: ‘Lord, one man has taken a thousand dinars and another has been killed unjustly.’ God then sent him a revelation, telling him: ‘Concern yourself with your worship, for the ordering of the kingdom is no concern of yours. The father of this rider had forcibly plundered a thousand dinars from the father of the second man, and I allowed the son to recover his father’s money, while the woodcutter had killed the rider’s father, and I allowed the son to avenge his father.’ The prophet said: ‘There is no god but You, Glory be to You, Who are the knower of secrets.’

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that after this revelation the prophet said: ‘There is no god but You, Glory be to You, Who are the knower of secrets.’

  A poet has recited the following lines on this point:

  The prophet saw what there was to be seen,

  And he began to question the affair.

  He witnessed what he could not understand;

  ‘What is this, Lord?’ he said. ‘The dead man did no wrong.

  This other got the wealth, for which he had not worked,

  Dressed, as he was, in clothes of poverty.

  The one who died had done no wrong,

  O Lord of all mankind, during his life.’

  God said: ‘The money had belonged

  To the father of the man who took it easily.

  The woodcutter had killed the other’s father,

  And so his son successfully avenged himself.

  Do not concern yourself with this, My servant;

  Among men I have secrets hidden from the keenest sight.

  Yield, then, to My commands, submitting to My glory,

  For My decrees bring both profit and harm.’

  It is reported that A PIOUS MAN SAID:

  I was a boatman on the Nile at Cairo and I used to ferry people from the east bank to the west. One day, as I was sitting in my boat, an old man with a radiant face stood over me and greeted me. When I had returned his greeting, he asked me whether I would take him across for the sake of Almighty God. When I said yes, he asked whether I would also give him food, and again I agreed. He then boarded my boat and I took him across to the east bank.
He was wearing a patched cloak and was carrying a water bottle and a stick, and when he was about to land he said: ‘I want to entrust you with something.’ When I asked what this was, he explained: ‘Tomorrow God will prompt you to come to me at noon, and when you arrive, you will find me lying dead under that tree. Wash my body and wrap it in the shroud that you will find beneath my head; then pray over me and bury me in the sand there. Keep my patched cloak, my water bottle and my stick, and when someone comes to ask you for them, hand them over to him.’

  I spent the night wondering at what he had said and the next morning I waited for the time that he had fixed, but when noon came I had forgotten, as he had implied that I would. Then, when it was almost time for the afternoon prayer, God prompted me and I hurried off. I found the old man lying dead under the tree, and there at his head was a new shroud, which was giving off an odour of musk. I washed his body, dressed it in the shroud and prayed over it, after which I dug a grave and buried him. Then I crossed the Nile and came to the west bank at night, carrying with me the patched cloak, the water bottle and the stick. When dawn broke and the city gate was open I saw a young man, whom I had known in his early days as a rogue, wearing fine clothes with marks of henna on his hands. He came up to me and said: ‘Are you So-and-So?’ and when I had said yes, he said: ‘Hand over what was deposited with you.’ ‘What is that?’ I asked, and he said: ‘The cloak, the water bottle and the stick.’ ‘Who told you about them?’ I asked, and he replied: ‘I don’t know, but I spent last night at a wedding and I stayed awake singing until morning. Then I went off to rest and I fell asleep. In a dream I saw a man standing over me and saying: “Almighty God has taken the soul of one of His saints, and has set you in his place. Go to the ferryman and take from him the saint’s cloak, his water bottle and his stick, for he left these for you with this man.” ’ I then produced those things for him and handed them over, after which he took off his own clothes and put on the cloak. He then went away and left me in tears at what I had lost.

  When night fell, I slept and in a dream I saw the blessed Lord of glory. He said: ‘My servant, do you find it hard to bear that I have allowed another of My servants to return to Me? This is My favour that I grant to any I wish, and I have power over all things.’ So I recited these lines:

  There is nothing that the lover can hope for from the beloved;

  Did you but know it, choice is forbidden you.

  Whether the Beloved wishes to grant union as a favour,

  Or turns away from you, He is not to be blamed.

  If you find no pleasure in His rejection,

  Leave, for here there is no place for you.

  If you cannot distinguish His nearness from His distance,

  You are falling behind, while love goes on ahead.

  If passion has given You mastery of my last breath,

  Or if I am led to death because of You,

  Leave me, turn from me or grant me union, it is all the same;

  Those who stand where fate places them cannot be blamed.

  In my love for You, I only want You to approve,

  And if I see that You are distant, this is just.

  *

  A story is told that among the best of the Israelites was a rich man who had a virtuous son, blessed by God. When the man was at the point of death, his son sat by his head and asked for his instructions. ‘My dear son,’ said his father, ‘do not swear by God, whether truthfully or falsely.’ He then died and his son took his place. This became known to the evil-doers among the Israelites, and one of them would come up to him and say: ‘I had such-and-such a sum deposited with your father, as you know, so give me back what was covered by their agreement, or else swear that I am wrong.’ The son would keep to his father’s injunction and so give the man all that he asked.

  Things went on like that until he had lost all his money and was in a state of desperate poverty. He had a pious wife, blessed by God, as well as two young children, and he told her: ‘People have been making many demands on me and as long as I had anything with which to settle their claims, I handed over what they asked for, but now I am left with nothing at all, and if anyone else makes a claim you and I will be in great difficulties. The best thing for us is to escape and go to some place where no one knows us, and make our living among the people there.’ So he sailed off with his wife and children without knowing where he was going, but ‘no one can alter a decree made by God’.* The silent tongue recites:

  You who left your home for fear of foes,

  And met good fortune when you fled,

  Do not be unhappy, distant as you are;

  The stranger may win glory far from home.

  Were the pearl to stay within the oyster shell,

  It would not rest within the crown of kings.

  It happened that the man’s ship was wrecked. Each of his children floated off on separate planks, while he and his wife were on another two. They were separated by the waves, the wife coming ashore in one land and one of the children in another. The crew of a ship picked up the second child, while the man himself was washed up on a desert island. When he came to shore, he performed the ritual ablution using seawater, recited the call to prayer and prayed…

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that when the man reached the island, he performed the ritual ablution using seawater, recited the call to prayer and prayed, being joined in his prayers by a number of creatures of all descriptions, who came out of the sea. When he had finished, he went to a tree on the island and relieved his hunger by eating its fruit, after which he drank from a spring that he found, and gave praise to the Great and Glorious God.

  For three days he kept on praying, with the creatures coming out to join in his prayers, and when the three days had passed he heard a voice calling to him and saying: ‘You pious man who has kept your word to your father and exalted the power of your Lord, do not grieve, for God, Great and Glorious, will replace for you what you have lost. On this island are treasures, hoards of wealth and things of profit, which God wishes you to inherit. They are in such-and-such a place on the island, and when you have dug them up we shall send you ships. Be generous to those on board and invite them to join you, as God will incline their hearts towards you.’

  The man went to the place he had been told, and God uncovered the treasures for him, after which ships started to make frequent visits there. He treated their crews with great liberality, asking them to direct others to come to him and promising them gifts and allowances. As a result, people came from all parts, and within ten years he became the ruler of a flourishing kingdom. He was generous in his treatment of everyone who arrived and his reputation spread far and wide.

  His elder son had fallen in with a man who gave him a good education, and his second son was also well brought up by a man who taught him the ways of commerce. As for his wife, she had ended up with a merchant who put her in charge of his wealth, promising not to act disloyally towards her and to help her obey the commands of the Great and Glorious God. He used to take her with him on his ship to visit whichever country he wanted.

  The elder son had heard of the reputation of the island king and had set out to visit him, not knowing who he was. On his arrival, the king entrusted him with his secrets and appointed him as his secretary. The second son had also heard of the justice and virtue of the king and, although he too did not know who this was, he visited him and was appointed to oversee his affairs. The two brothers remained for some time in the king’s service without either of them knowing who the other was. The merchant, who had with him the king’s wife, then heard of him and of his bounty and liberality. He took a selection of splendid clothes and elegant gifts from various lands and sailed off, accompanied by the woman, until he reached the shore of the island. He then went to the king and presented him with his gifts, delighting him and prompt
ing him to produce a splendid reward.

  Among the gifts were some drugs whose names and useful qualities the king wanted to know, and so he told the merchant to stay the night with him.

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that the king invited the merchant to spend the night with him. The merchant replied that on his ship and in his charge was a pious woman to whom he had guaranteed his personal protection, adding that he had benefited by her prayers and been blessed by her counsels. The king promised to send trustworthy servants to spend the night protecting her and guarding her property. The merchant agreed to this and remained with the king, who sent his secretary and his overseer to the woman, with orders to go and stand guard that night over the ship. The two of them went off, the one taking his post on the stern and the other in the bow. They spent part of the night reciting the Name of God, Great and Glorious, and then one said to the other: ‘We have been ordered to stand guard, and we must take care not to fall asleep. So come here and let us talk about past happenings and what we have experienced of good as well as evil.’

  ‘My friend,’ said the other, ‘my misfortune was to be separated from my father and mother, as well as from a brother whose name was the same as yours. The reason was that my father sailed from such-and-such a place, but shifting winds got up, the ship was wrecked and God parted us.’ ‘What was your mother’s name?’ asked the other. ‘So-and So,’ was the reply. ‘And the name of your father?’ ‘So-and-So.’ The one then threw himself on the other and exclaimed: ‘By God, you are really my brother!’ Each of them started to tell the other what had happened to them in their childhood. Their mother was listening to what they said, but she waited rather than revealing herself, and then, when morning came, one of her sons said to the other: ‘Come and talk in my house.’ His brother agreed and off they went.