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

by Penguin; Robert Irwin; Malcolm Lyons; Ursula Lyons

  As he was praising God, the Great and Glorious, he happened to turn towards a place where he could see seven tablets of white marble gleaming in the distance. He approached them and found that on them were inscriptions, which he ordered to be read for him. ‘Abd al-Samad came up and, after studying what was written, he read out what it contained in the way of admonitions, warnings and exhortations for those who had eyes to see. The first inscription, in Greek script, ran as follows: ‘Son of man, how little heed you pay to what lies before you, distracted as you are by your age and your years. Do you not know that the cup of death has been filled for you and that soon you must drain it? Look to yourself before you go to your grave. Where are those who ruled the lands, subdued mankind and commanded armies? By God, they were visited by the destroyer of delights and the parter of companions, death that destroys flourishing dwellings and which brought them from their spacious palaces to the narrow tomb.’

  At the foot of the tablet, these lines were inscribed:

  Where are the kings who flourished on the earth?

  They left behind what they had built and made to prosper.

  In their graves they will be held to account for what they did;

  Once they were wealthy, but now they are dried bones.

  Where are their armies, which could not help to ward off death?

  Where is the wealth they hoarded and stored up?

  The Lord of the throne’s decree visited them suddenly;

  No wealth could save them, nor was there any aid.

  Musa was stunned, and tears ran down over his cheeks as he said: ‘By God, asceticism in this world is the best way to ensure a happy outcome.’ He had an inkstand and paper fetched and copied down this inscription, after which he went up to the second tablet. On this was written: ‘Son of man, why are you deceived by what has existed from past eternity, and what has caused you to neglect the fate that must befall you? Do you not know that this world is the house of perdition, in which no one can find a resting place, however fixedly you look at it and devote yourself to it? Where are the kings who brought prosperity to Iraq and ruled the corners of the world, or those under whom Isfahan and Khurasan flourished? The herald of death summoned them and they obeyed the summons, answering the call of extinction. The buildings they had raised were of no service to them, and what they had gathered and prepared did not protect them.’

  At the foot of the tablet were inscribed these lines:

  Where are the builders of these lofty towers,

  With their chambers that have no match?

  They gathered armies, fearing to be abased

  By God’s decree, but still they were brought low.

  Where are the Chosroes with their strong fortresses?

  They left the lands and it is as though they had never been.

  Musa wept and exclaimed: ‘We have been created for some great purpose!’ Then, when he had transcribed this inscription, he moved on to the third…

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that the emir Musa went up to the third tablet and found written on it: ‘Son of man, love for this world distracts you and causes you to forget your Lord’s commands. Day after day your life passes, leaving you happy and content, but you should make provision for the Day of Resurrection and prepare to answer in the presence of the Lord of mankind.’

  At the bottom of the tablet were inscribed these lines:

  Where is he who brought prosperity to the lands

  Sind and Hind, as a proud tyrant?

  Zanj and Abyssinians obeyed him,

  And Nubians, in his overweening haughtiness.

  Expect no news of what lies in the grave;

  You will find none who can tell you of that;

  He was overtaken by the disasters of fate,

  And the palaces he built could not save him.

  Having shed bitter tears, Musa went up to the fourth tablet, on which he found written: ‘Son of man, how long a delay will you be granted by your Lord, while you are plunged in the sea of your pleasures, getting the best from each day as though you need never die? Son of man, do not be deceived by the enjoyment that is given you by your days, nights and hours, as they pass unheeded. Know that death is lying in wait for you and mounting on your shoulder. No day passes on which he is not with you morning and evening; beware of his assault and be on guard against it. I shall be with you in the grave when you have been robbed of length of life and all your temporal delights have gone to waste. Listen to my words! Put your trust in the Lord of lords! Nothing in this world endures, for this is no more than a spider’s web.’

  At the foot of the tablet were inscribed these lines:

  Where is the man who laid foundations for these lofty towers,

  And saw to it that they were built so high?

  Where is the garrison of the strong fortresses?

  They have all gone, like those who are no more.

  They lie in their graves, to be held to account

  On a day when all hearts shall be put to the test.

  Nothing remains except Almighty God,

  To Whom honour is always due.

  This inscription was noted down tearfully by Musa, who then came down from the summit of the hill with a clear picture of the vanity of this world in his mind. After he had rejoined his men, he and they spent the rest of the day thinking about ways in which to enter the city. He asked Talib, his vizier, and his leading companions: ‘How are we going to get into this city to look at its marvels, and perhaps to find something that may win us favour with the Commander of the Faithful?’ Talib replied: ‘May God continue to show His favour to the emir. We must construct a ladder and climb up to see whether we can get to the gate from the inside.’ ‘That is what had struck me,’ Musa told him, ‘and it is a good idea.’ So he summoned carpenters and smiths and told them to prepare timbers and make a ladder with iron rungs. They did this carefully, spending an entire month on the work, after which the men gathered around the completed ladder and set it upright against the wall, whose height it matched so exactly that it looked as though it had always been there. Musa was astonished by this and exclaimed: ‘God bless you! You have done this so skilfully that it looks as though you had measured it against the wall.’ He then asked who would be the first to go up to the top of the wall and then walk along it to try to find a way down into the city. When the scout had investigated the position, he was to tell the rest of them how to open the gate.

  A volunteer was found, and after Musa had wished him good fortune, he climbed up to the top of the ladder. He stood on the wall, gazed down at the city and then clapped his hands and called out at the top of his voice: ‘How beautiful you are!’ after which he threw himself down into the city, so that flesh and bone were crushed. Musa exclaimed: ‘If this is how a sensible man acts, what would a madman do? Were this to happen to all of us here, there would be nobody left and our quest and that of the Commander of the Faithful would fail. Let us go, for there is nothing in the city that we need.’ Someone else disagreed and said: ‘Perhaps another man will be steadier than he was,’ and so a second volunteer, followed by a third, a fourth and then a fifth, went up, until a total of twelve had gone. Each one of them acted like the first, and at that point ‘Abd al-Samad said: ‘No one should go except me, for an experienced man is not the same as a tyro.’ ‘You mustn’t do that,’ Musa told him. ‘I am not going to allow you to climb on to that wall, as if you die, you will be the death of all of us. None of us will be able to survive, since you are our guide.’ ‘It may be that I shall be allowed to succeed in this by the will of Almighty God,’ ‘Abd al-Samad replied, and everyone there agreed that he should climb the ladder. So he got to his feet, summoned up his energy, and exclaimed: ‘In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!’ He then started up the ladder, calling as he did so on the Name of Almighty God and
reciting the Verses of Deliverance from the Quran.

  When he got to the top of the wall, he clapped his hands and stared down. ‘Don’t do it!’ everyone shouted. ‘Don’t throw yourself down,’ and they recited the formula: ‘We belong to God and to Him do we return,’ telling themselves: ‘If he falls, we are all dead.’ Then he gave a loud laugh and sat there for a long time, calling on the Name of Almighty God and reciting the Verses of Deliverance, after which he got up and called out at the top of his voice: ‘You’re in no danger, emir, for the Great and Glorious God has protected me from Satan and his deceitful wiles through the blessing brought by the words: “In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful”.’ ‘What have you seen?’ asked Musa. ‘When I got to the top of the wall,’ ‘Abd al-Samad told him, ‘I saw ten girls as lovely as moons, who were calling to me and…’

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that ‘Abd al-Samad said: ‘When I got to the top of the wall I saw ten girls, lovely as moons, who were gesturing with their hands, inviting me to come down and join them. It seemed to me that what lay beneath me was water and I wanted to dive down into it, as the others had done, but then I saw them lying there dead and I stopped myself from following them. I recited verses from the Holy Quran, and God protected me from the wiles of the girls. They left and I did not jump down, as God had saved me from their magical arts. There is no doubt that this was a spell produced by the people of the city to keep away anyone who wanted to look at it or get into it, and as a result our companions are lying there dead.’

  ‘Abd al-Samad then walked along the wall until he came to two brazen towers which he could see had two golden gates, but these had no bolts and there was nothing to show how they could be opened. For a time he stood there looking until he noticed that in the middle of the gate was a brass image of a rider with his hand outstretched as though he was pointing, and inscribed there was a line of writing. When ‘Abd al-Samad read it, he found that it said: ‘Rub the nail in the rider’s navel twelve times and the gate will open.’ When he looked more closely he found a nail carefully and firmly set in the navel, and as soon as he had rubbed it twelve times, the gate opened with a sound like thunder.

  ‘Abd al-Samad went through it, excellent man that he was, with a knowledge of every language and every script. He walked on until he came into a long hall and down some steps into a room with a number of fine benches on which corpses were lying with splendid shields, sharp swords, strung bows and notched arrows hung up above their heads. Behind the gate was an iron bar together with wooden poles and delicate latches, set in well-constructed locks. ‘It may be that these people have the keys,’ said ‘Abd al-Samad to himself, and, as he looked, he noticed one of them, who appeared to be the oldest, lying on a high bench in the middle of the dead, and he told himself that it was probably he who held the keys. He might have been the gatekeeper of the city, the others being under his command. So he approached the corpse and when he lifted up its clothes, there were the keys attached to its waist. He was almost ecstatically joyful when he saw this and, taking the keys, he went up to the gate. He opened the locks and tugged at the bolts and fastenings of the gate; when these had been undone the gate itself opened, giving out a sound like thunder, because of its formidable size and its huge fastenings. At that, ‘Abd al-Samad glorified God, his cry being echoed by his companions in their joy and happiness.

  Musa was delighted that ‘Abd al-Samad was safe and that the city gate had been opened, while the rest of the company thanked the shaikh for what he had done. They were all in a hurry to get through the gate, but Musa warned them that something might go wrong after they had entered, and so he ordered that only half of them should go in while the other half were to stay behind. He went in himself with half of his men, fully armed. They saw the dead bodies of their companions and buried them, and they also saw the gatekeepers, servants, chamberlains and officers all lying dead on silken couches. When they reached the city market, they found that it covered a huge area with high buildings, no one of which overtopped the others. The shops were open, with their scales hanging up and the copper pots arranged in orderly rows; the khans were filled with goods of all sorts, but the traders could be seen dead in their booths with their flesh desiccated and their bones crumbled away, a lesson for those who could learn. There were four separate markets to be seen, with shops filled with merchandise.

  Musa’s men went from these to the silk market, where, in addition to silk, there was brocade woven with threads of red gold and white silver in colours of all kinds, with the owners lying dead on leather mats but looking as though they were just about to speak. They moved on to the jewellers’ market with its pearls and sapphires, and from there to that of the money-changers, who were lying dead on carpets of silks of various kinds, with their booths filled with gold and silver. Next they came to the market of the druggists with its perfumes, pungent musk, ambergris, aloes, nadd, camphor and so on. Here too all the people were dead and nothing in the way of food was to be found there. When they left, they discovered nearby a splendidly built and embellished palace, where, on entering, they found unfurled banners, unsheathed swords, strung bows, shields suspended with chains of gold and silver and helmets gilded with red gold. In the palace halls were ivory benches overlaid with glistening gold and silks on which lay men whose flesh had dried on their bones. They might have seemed to the ignorant to be sleeping, but they were dead, having met their fate through famine.

  Musa halted, praising and glorifying God, while studying the beauty of that admirably built and excellently constructed palace, with its splendour and fine design, plentifully embellished, as it was, with green lapis lazuli. Engraved around it were these lines:

  Man, look here at what you see;

  Be on your guard before you have to leave.

  Send on to help you provisions of good deeds,

  For all who live in a house will have to leave.

  Look at those who once adorned their homes,

  But then went to their graves to account for what they did.

  They built, to no avail; they stored up wealth,

  But this wealth did not save them when their time had come.

  How many hopes they placed on what could not be theirs;

  But hopes were not to help them in the grave.

  From highest rank they were brought down

  To the lowliness of a narrow grave – a wretched fall!

  When they were buried, a voice was heard to cry:

  ‘Where are your thrones, your crowns and all your robes?

  Where are the faces that were veiled away,

  Protected by the curtains and the drapes?’

  The grave has a clear answer for the questioners:

  ‘The roses are no longer on their cheeks.

  For many days they ate and drank their wine,

  But after their fine foods, they too were eaten.’

  Musa wept until he fainted and he then ordered the lines to be written down. After that, he entered the palace…

  Nights 575 to 594

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that the emir Musa entered the palace, where he saw a large chamber with four large rooms, lofty and wide, each facing the other, multi-coloured and adorned with gold and silver. In the centre was a large marble fountain covered with a canopy of brocade, while the rooms had alcoves, in each of which was an ornamental fountain with a marble basin and a stream of water coming from below them, the four streams flowing together into a large pool of variegated marble. Musa told ‘Abd al-Samad to go in there with him, and when they entered the first room they found it filled with gold, white silver, pearls and other gems, sapphires and precious stones. They also dis
covered chests filled with brocades, red, yellow and white, while when they went to the second room they found a store of weapons and military equipment such as gilded helmets, mail shirts made by Da’ud, Indian swords, Khatti spears and locked coffers over which hung curtains embroidered in various patterns, and when they opened one of the latter they found it full of weapons embellished with gold, silver and gems. There were more of these coffers in the fourth room, and when they opened one of them they found it filled with plates and drinking vessels of gold and silver, together with glass bowls, drinking cups studded with brilliant pearls, carnelian goblets and so on.

  Musa’s men began to take what suited them, each one carrying off as much as he could, but as they were about to leave, in the middle of the palace they caught sight of a teak door inlaid with ivory and ebony and plated with gleaming gold. An embroidered silk curtain hung over it, and it had locks of white silver which had to be opened by a trick, as there was no key. ‘Abd al-Samad came forward and, thanks to his knowledge and proficiency, together with his courage, he managed to open them. The others then entered a marble hall whose sides were covered with hangings on which were pictured birds and beasts that astonished everyone who looked at them, as they were worked in gold and white silver, with eyes of pearls and sapphires. Next they came to a court, the artistry of whose construction won the admiration of Musa and ‘Abd al-Samad, and when they passed through it, they found another made of polished marble set with gems. Its floor looked like flowing water, and as it gave the impression that whoever tried to pass through it would slip, Musa told ‘Abd al-Samad to scatter something on it that would allow them to walk over it.

  When he had contrived to do this, the others went through and discovered a great dome built of stones coated with red gold, more beautiful than anything any of them had ever seen. In the middle of this was a large marble shrine around whose sides were ornamented windows with a grating of emeralds, more precious than any king could afford. Within was a canopy of brocade set over pillars of red gold, and inside this were birds whose feet were green emeralds and under each of them was a net of brilliant pearls spread above a fountain. Placed at the side of this fountain was a couch adorned with pearls, gems and sapphires, and on this lay a girl like a radiant sun, lovelier than anyone they had ever seen. She was wearing a dress decked with fine pearls; on her head was a crown of red gold and a jewelled band, while a jewelled necklace, with gems sparkling from its centre, encircled her throat, and on her forehead were two jewels that shone like the sun. She seemed to be watching the newcomers, and looking from right to left.