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

by Penguin; Robert Irwin; Malcolm Lyons; Ursula Lyons

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that Gharib told Ra‘d Shah’s men to go to their people and offer them conversion to Islam. If they accepted, they were to be spared, while if they refused they were to be killed. They left and, after having collected all those over whom they had authority, they told them what had happened, before offering them conversion to Islam. Only a few refused and these were killed, after which the news was given to Gharib. He, for his part, praised Almighty God, exclaiming: ‘Praise be to God, Who has allowed us to bring this about easily and without fighting!’ He then stayed in Kashmir for forty days until he had smoothed out difficulties and destroyed the fire temples and other places of worship, building mosques in their place. In the meanwhile Ra‘d Shah had packed up for him an indescribable quantity of rare gifts, which he sent off by sea, and then Gharib mounted on the back of al-Kailajan and Sa‘dan, with al-Jamraqan, on that of al-Qurajan. When they had said goodbye, they set off and travelled through the night, reaching Oman by dawn, where they were met by the Muslims, who greeted them joyfully. Gharib then went on to Kufa and when he reached the gate he ordered his brother ‘Ajib to be brought out and sentenced him to be crucified. Sahim fetched iron hooks, which were attached to the tendons of ‘Ajib’s heels, and he was hung up on the gate before being shot full of arrows on Gharib’s orders until he had become like a hedgehog.

  Gharib then entered Kufa and entered his palace, where he took his seat on his royal throne and dealt with affairs of state until nightfall, when he went to his harem, where the slave girls congratulated him on his safe return and Kaukab al-Sabah rose to embrace him. He spent the night with her and in the morning, after rising to perform the morning prayer after the ritual ablution, he again took his seat on the throne. Preparations were now begun for his marriage to Mahdiya, involving the slaughter of three thousand sheep, two thousand cattle, a thousand goats and five hundred camels, together with four thousand chickens, a large number of ducks and five hundred horses. No such an Islamic wedding had ever been seen before, and at the end of it Gharib lay with Mahdiya and took her maidenhead. He stayed for ten days in Kufa, after which he recommended to his uncle that he treat his subjects justly and left, taking with him his womenfolk and his champions. He went to meet the Indian treasure ships, all of whose contents were distributed to the army, enriching its champions, and the march continued until they arrived at the city of Babel. Here Gharib gave a robe of honour to his brother Sahim and appointed him as its ruler.

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that Gharib gave a robe of honour to his brother Sahim and appointed him as governor of Babel. After another ten-day pause, Gharib moved on with his men to the castle of Sa‘dan the ghul, where they rested for five days. He then told al-Kailajan and al-Qurajan to go to Isbanir and enter the royal palace to find news of Fakhr Taj and to fetch him one of the king’s relatives to tell him what had been happening. ‘To hear is to obey,’ they said, after which they set off for Isbanir, but as they were flying between heaven and earth they caught sight of an enormous army like a flooding sea. Al-Kailajan suggested to al-Qurajan that they go down to investigate, and when they did and walked among the soldiers they discovered that these were Persians. They asked some of them what the army was and where it was going and were told: ‘We are going to kill Gharib and everyone who is with him.’ On hearing this the marids went to the pavilion of the army commander, whose name was Rustam, where they waited until the Persians were asleep on their couches and Rustam was sleeping on his throne. They then carried him off, throne and all, leaving the Persian fortifications and arriving before midnight at Gharib’s camp.

  They went to the entrance of his pavilion and asked permission to enter. When Gharib heard, he sat up and told them to come in, at which they brought in the throne with Rustam asleep on it. ‘Who is this?’ Gharib asked, and they told him: ‘He is a Persian king who has brought a huge army with the intention of killing you and your people. We carried him here so that he might tell you whatever you want to know.’ On Gharib’s instructions they then fetched a hundred champions who were told to draw their swords and to stand by Rustam’s head. When that had been done they roused Rustam, who, on opening his eyes, found a dome of swords above his head. He closed them again, exclaiming: ‘What is this nightmare?’ but when al-Kailajan pricked him with his sword point, he sat up and asked: ‘Where am I?’ Al-Kailajan replied: ‘You are in the presence of King Gharib, the son-in-law of the king of the Persians. What is your name and where are you going?’ When Rustam heard Gharib’s name, he wondered to himself whether he was awake or sleeping, but Sahim struck him and said: ‘Why don’t you answer?’

  Rustam raised his head and said: ‘Who brought me from my tent, where I was among my own men?’ ‘These two marids brought you,’ Gharib told him, and when he looked at them he soiled his trousers as they advanced on him, baring their teeth and drawing their swords. ‘Come and kiss the ground in front of King Gharib,’ they told him, and in his terror, realizing that he was not asleep, he stood up and kissed the ground, exclaiming: ‘May the fire bless you and may your life be long!’ ‘Persian dog,’ replied Gharib, ‘fire is not to be worshipped, as it does no harm and no good except to food.’ ‘Who, then, is to be worshipped?’ Rustam asked, and Gharib replied: ‘The object of worship is the God Who created you and formed you and created the heavens and the earth.’ ‘What do I have to say in order to become one of the followers of that God and to enter into your religion?’ asked Rustam. Gharib told him: ‘Say: “There is no god but the God of Abraham, the Friend of God.” ’ Rustam then recited the confession of faith and was inscribed in the roll of the blessed.

  Rustam now told Gharib: ‘Master, your father-in-law, King Sabur, wants to have you killed and he has sent me with an army of a hundred thousand men to destroy you and your followers to the last man.’ ‘Is this the way that he repays me for having saved his daughter from captivity or death?’ Gharib exclaimed, adding: ‘God will requite him for harbouring such malice.’ He then asked Rustam his name, and when Rustam told him, saying that he was Sabur’s commander-in-chief, Gharib told him that he would put him in command of his own force. He then asked after Princess Fakhr Taj, to which Rustam replied with a prayer for Gharib’s life. Gharib, understanding this, asked how she had come to die and Rustam said: ‘When you went off to your brother, a slave girl went to your father-in-law and asked whether he had told you to sleep with her mistress, Fakhr Taj. “No, by the truth of the fire,” he replied and, drawing his sword, he went to her and said: “You wicked woman, how did you come to let this Bedouin sleep with you with no bride price or any proper wedding?” “It was you who allowed him to do that, father,” she replied. “Was he intimate with you?” Sabur asked, and when she said nothing but bowed her head towards the ground, he shouted to the midwives and the slave girls: “Tie up this whore and inspect her vagina.” They did this and they reported that she had lost her maidenhead. He then rushed at her and was about to kill her, but her mother got up and stopped him, saying: “Don’t kill her lest this bring dishonour on you but shut her up in a cell until she dies.” He did this but then, when night fell, he sent two of his close companions, telling them to take her away and throw her into the river Jaihun without telling anyone about what they had done. They followed his orders and no one heard any more of her, as her time was past.’

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that when Gharib asked about Fakhr Taj, Rustam told him that her father had had her drowned. When Gharib heard this story, everything went black for him; his mood darkened an
d he said: ‘I swear by the truth of the Friend of God that I shall march on this dog, destroy him and ravage his lands.’ He sent messages to al-Jamraqan and to the lords of Mayyafariqin and of Mosul, before turning to Rustam and asking him how many men he had. ‘A hundred thousand Persian riders,’ Rustam replied, at which Gharib told him to take ten thousand Muslims and go to occupy the attention of the Persians by attacking them, saying that he himself would follow on his heels. Rustam mounted and moved off towards the Persian army with his ten thousand, saying to himself: ‘I shall do something that will establish my reputation with King Gharib.’ After a seven-day march, he had come to within half a day’s journey of the Persians. He divided his men into four divisions and told them to circle round the Persians and then attack. ‘To hear is to obey,’ they said. They rode from evening and by midnight they were in position. Since the loss of Rustam the Persians had been staying peacefully in their camp, and when the Muslims attacked, with their cry of ‘God is greater!’ they started from their sleep as the swords played among them and they slipped and stumbled. They faced the anger of the Omniscient God, and Rustam raged among them like fire in dry wood so that by the end of the night they were all either killed, wounded or in flight, while the Muslims took their baggage, tents, pay chests, horses and camels as plunder.

  The Muslims then rested in the Persian tents until Gharib arrived. When he saw how Rustam had planned the destruction of the Persians and the defeat of their army, he presented him with a robe of honour and said: ‘As it was you who broke the Persians, all the spoils are yours.’ Rustam kissed his hand and thanked him, after which the army rested that day before setting off to march against King Sabur.

  The defeated survivors came into Sabur’s presence complaining of the huge catastrophe that they had suffered. Sabur asked how this had happened and who was responsible for it. They told him that they had been attacked by night, and when he asked who had attacked them they told him that this had been his own commander-in-chief, who had converted to Islam, and that Gharib himself had not got there. When Sabur heard his, he hurled his crown to the ground, exclaiming: ‘We are now worthless!’ Then he turned to his son, Ward Shah, and said: ‘My son, there is no one who can deal with this affair except you.’ ‘Father,’ replied the prince, ‘I swear by your life that I shall bring you Gharib and the leaders of his people in chains and I shall destroy all his followers.’

  The prince then mustered his army and found that he had two hundred and twenty thousand men. They spent the night with the intention of setting off the next day, but when dawn broke and they were about to leave, they were confronted by a dust cloud that spread throughout the sky, blocking sight. King Sabur had ridden out to say goodbye to his son, but when he saw the size of the cloud he ordered a scout to find out what it meant. The scout left and on his return he said: ‘Master, Gharib and his champions have come.’ At that, the baggage was unloaded and the battle ranks drawn up.

  When Gharib arrived at Isbanir and saw that the Persians were intent on fighting, he urged his men to charge, calling down God’s blessing on them. Standards were waved, Persians and Arabs clashed in a general mêlée and blood flowed in streams. As men looked death in the face, the brave advanced while cowards turned in flight, and the fighting continued throughout the day, until drums sounded the recall and both sides disengaged. Sabur ordered his camp to be pitched by the city gate, while Gharib set up his own camp opposite that of the Persians. Every man then retired to his tent.

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that when the armies of Sabur and Gharib disengaged, every man retired to his tent. The next morning they mounted their splendid horses, and after having armed themselves and taken up their lances they raised their battle cries and the lordly champions advanced like bold lions.

  The first to start the battle was Rustam, who rode to the middle of the field calling out: ‘I am Rustam, leader of the champions of the Arabs and the Persians. Who will come out to fight? Let no idle weakling challenge me today.’ Tuman came out from the Persian side, and the two charged each other attacking ferociously, but Rustam, dashing at his opponent, struck him a blow with his mace, which weighed seventy ratls, driving his head down into his chest and leaving him dead on the ground, weltering in his blood. This distressed Sabur, who ordered his troops to charge the Muslims, which they did, calling on the bright sun for help, while the Muslims called on the Omnipotent King. The Persians outnumbered them and were inflicting losses on them when Gharib shouted and advanced resolutely, drawing Japheth’s sword, al-Mahiq, and charging with al-Kailajan and al-Qurajan at his stirrups. He fought his way on with his sword until he reached Sabur’s standard-bearer, whom he struck on the head with the flat of his sword, knocking him to the ground unconscious, and the marids then carried him off to the Muslim camp. When the Persians saw the fall of the standard, they turned in flight to the city gates, pursued all the way by the Muslims with their swords. In the crush at the gates many died, and the gates themselves could not be closed. The Persians who tried to pass through were attacked by Rustam together with al-Jamraqan, Sa‘dan, Sahim, al-Damigh, al-Kailajan, al-Qurajan and all the Muslim champions and their riders. They called out: ‘Quarter! quarter!’ and when the Muslims stopped fighting, they threw down their arms and equipment and were led like sheep to Gharib’s camp.

  Gharib himself had returned to his pavilion, where he removed his weapons and put on his state robes after having washed off the blood of the infidels. When he had taken his seat on his throne, he called for Sabur, who was brought before him. ‘Persian dog,’ he cried, ‘what led you to do what you did with your daughter? Why did you think that I would not make her a suitable husband?’ ‘O king,’ said Sabur, ‘don’t blame me for what I did, as I have repented and I only came out to fight you because I was afraid of you.’ When Gharib heard that, he ordered Sabur to be laid on his back and beaten, and the beating continued until he could groan no more, after which he was put with the prisoners. The Persians were then summoned and offered conversion to Islam, at which a hundred and twenty thousand were converted and the rest put to the sword. All the inhabitants of the city accepted Islam and Gharib entered in a great procession to take his seat on Sabur’s throne, after which he conferred robes of honour, gave gifts and distributed the spoils and the gold, winning the affection of the Persians by including them in the distribution, so that they prayed for his victory, glory and long life.

  The mother of Fakhr Taj then began to mourn her daughter’s memory and the palace was filled with shrieks and cries. On hearing this, Gharib went to see what the matter was and Fakhr Taj’s mother came up to him and said: ‘Sir, when you came, I thought of my daughter and said to myself that, had she been alive, your coming would have made her happy.’ This moved Gharib to tears and after taking his seat he called for Sabur, who was brought shuffling in chains. ‘Persian dog,’ said Gharib, ‘what did you do to your daughter?’ ‘I gave her to two of my men,’ Sabur replied, ‘and told them to drown her in the Jaihun.’ The two were called before Gharib and asked whether this was true. ‘Yes,’ they said, adding, ‘but we didn’t drown her, your majesty, as we had pity on her and so we set her free on the bank of the Jaihun, telling her: “Save yourself but don’t come back to the city or else your father will kill you and kill us as well.” This is what we did.’

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that the two men told Gharib about Fakhr Taj, telling him that they had left her on the bank of the Jaihun. When Gharib heard this, he summoned the astrologers and, when they had come, he told them to use the divination table to discover whether Fakhr Taj was alive or dead. After investigating, they reported: ‘King of the age, we have seen that the princess is stil
l alive and has given birth to a son. Both of them are with a band of jinn, but her absence from you will last for twenty years.’ They then asked for how long he had been on his travels and, when he counted this up, he found that he had been away for eight years. ‘There is no might and no power except with God, the Exalted, the Omnipotent!’ he exclaimed.

  Messengers were now sent to all the castles and fortresses in Sabur’s realm and the governors obediently answered the summons. Then, when Gharib was sitting in his castle, he saw a dust cloud rising to darken the skies and after summoning al-Kailajan and al-Qurajan, he told them to find out what it meant. They went off and, after penetrating the cloud, they snatched up a rider and brought him before Gharib, saying: ‘Ask this man, as he is from the army that is coming.’ Gharib asked whose army it was and the man told him: ‘Your majesty, this is Khirad Shah, king of Shiraz, who has come to fight you.’ The reason for this was that after the outcome of the battle between Sabur and Gharib, Sabur’s son had fled to the city of Shiraz with the remnant of his father’s army, where he entered into the presence of its king, Khirad Shah, kissing the ground before him with tears running down his cheeks. ‘Raise your head, young man, and tell me what makes you weep,’ the king said. The prince replied: ‘Your majesty, an Arab king called Gharib has appeared and has seized my father’s realm, killing and bringing destruction on the Persians.’