When he heard my question, Commander of the Faithful, his eyes brimmed over with tears and he explained: ‘I fell passionately and madly in love with a cousin of mine, and as my love increased I could not bear to be parted from her. I asked my uncle for her hand but he refused me and married her to another of our clansmen who, after consummating the marriage, took her to where she has been for this last year. When she had been removed from my sight, the pangs of love and the strength of my passionate longing led me to abandon kith and kin, together with my friends and my possessions, in order to live here by myself in this desert, where I have grown used to being on my own.’ ‘Where is the camp of your beloved’s people?’ I asked him. ‘Nearby,’ he told me, ‘on the top of this hill, and every night when people are asleep and all is still she steals away secretly from her camp, without being noticed, and she and I talk. I stay like this, enjoying her company for an hour each night, so that God may bring to pass what is decreed by fate. It may be that I shall succeed in spite of the envious, or God may settle the matter for me, and He is the best of judges.’
When the young man told me his story, Commander of the Faithful, I felt sorry for him, but in spite of being anxious to help him, at first I was perplexed, as I did not want him to be dishonoured. Then I said: ‘Cousin, shall I tell you of a scheme through which, God willing, you may find a successful way to resolve your problem and by means of it God may allay your fear?’ ‘Speak on, cousin,’ he told me, and so I said: ‘At night, when the girl comes, mount her on my camel, which is a fast one, while you ride your horse. I shall take one of these other camels and ride with you throughout the night so that, by morning, we shall have covered a large tract of desert and you will have reached your goal and won your heart’s darling. God’s lands are broad and I swear to help you as long as I live, with my life, my wealth and my sword.’
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the six hundred and ninety-first night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that Jamil suggested to his cousin that he should take the girl and they should both ride off at night. He promised to help him as long as he lived. JAMIL WENT ON:
After hearing this, the young man told me that he would wait until he had consulted his cousin as she was an intelligent and sensible girl with an insight into affairs. When night had fallen he was waiting for her to come at her usual time, but she was late. I saw him go out of the entrance of the tent, open his mouth and breathe in the air that was coming from the direction where she was, as though to catch her scent. He was reciting these lines:
Breeze that blows to me from where my beloved is,
You bring a token from her, but do you know when she will come?
He went back into the tent and waited there for a time in tears and then he told me: ‘Something must have happened to her tonight. There may have been an accident or something else may have prevented her.’ He told me to stay where I was until he brought back news, and he went off into the night with his sword and shield. Some time later he came back holding something in his hand. He called to me and I hurried up to him. ‘Do you know what has happened?’ he asked, and when I said no he told me: ‘By God, I have lost my cousin tonight. She set out to come here but met a lion on the way; it killed her and this is all that remains.’ He then threw down what he had been carrying and this turned out to be a mixture of cartilage and such bones as had been left.
He now tossed aside his bow, took a bag and told me: ‘Don’t go until I come back to you, if God Almighty wills it.’ After some time he came back holding the head of a lion, which he tossed on to the ground. He asked for water, which I fetched for him, and then he washed out the lion’s mouth and started to kiss it, shedding tears as his sorrow for his lost love grew more acute. He began to recite:
Lion, you brought yourself into danger;
You are dead, but through her loss you have brought me grief.
I was one of a pair, but you have left me solitary,
While she lies buried deep within the earth.
I say to Time, who has wronged me by this separation:
‘God forbid that you show me another friend in her stead.’
He then said to me: ‘Cousin, I ask you in God’s Name, and through the obligations of the relationship that we share, to remember my instructions. You will soon find me lying dead in front of you and when that happens, wash me and place these bones, which are all that is left of my cousin, in my shroud. Bury us together in the same grave and inscribe these lines over it:
We once lived a life of ease on earth,
United in our dwelling and our land.
Changes of time then parted us,
But the shroud united us again within our grave.
He re-entered the tent, weeping bitterly, and came out again after a time, sighing and crying out, until he gave a groan and died. I was so distressed at seeing this that my grief almost led me to join him. I went up to him and laid him out, before carrying out his instructions and placing both the lovers in a single shroud and burying them in the same grave. I stayed by their grave for three days before leaving, and for two years I came back a number of times to visit them. This is their story, Commander of the Faithful.
Al-Rashid approved of what he had heard and he presented Jamil with a robe of honour and a substantial reward.
A story is also told, O fortunate king, that Mu‘awiya, the Commander of the Faithful, sat one day in his audience chamber in Damascus, with the windows open on all four sides so that the breeze could enter. It was a very hot and windless day, and as he was sitting there at noon in the midday heat, he noticed a man stumbling along barefooted, scorched by the heat of the ground. Looking at him, the caliph said to his companions: ‘Has Almighty God, praise be to Him, created anyone more wretched than one who has to go out at this time of day like this man?’ ‘He may be coming to see the caliph,’ said one of them, and Mu‘awiya replied: ‘By God, if he does come to me, I shall give him a gift, and if he has been wronged, I shall help him.’ He then told a servant to stand at the door and if the Bedouin asked to see the caliph, not to stop him. The servant went out, and when the Bedouin came up to him, he asked what he wanted. ‘I want to see the Commander of the Faithful,’ the man said. ‘Go in,’ the servant told him, and when he had entered, he greeted Mu‘awiya…
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the six hundred and ninety-second night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that when the servant gave permission to the Bedouin to enter, he greeted the caliph, who asked him to what clan he belonged. ‘To the Banu Tamim,’ the man replied, and when Mu‘awiya asked him what had brought him at such a time, he said: ‘I have come to make a complaint to you and to ask for your help.’ ‘Against whom?’ Mu‘awiya asked. ‘Against Marwan ibn al-Hakam, your agent,’ the man replied, and he recited these lines:
Mu‘awiya, generous, forbearing, excellent,
Liberal, learned, rightly guided, the giver of favours,
I have come to you because my means are straitened:
I look for help; do not disappoint my hopes of justice.
Grant me justice against an oppressor,
Whose ill-treatment was harder for me to bear than death.
In his hostility he robbed me of Su‘ad,
Wrongfully and with no justice taking away my wife.
He thought of killing me, but my death
Was not yet due, nor was God’s provision for me yet complete.
As he recited this, the Bedouin breathed fire and Mu‘awiya, having listened to the lines, spoke words of welcome and asked him to tell his story. THE MAN THEN SAID:
Commander of the Faithful, I had a wife with whom I was deeply in love and I lived contentedly and happily, maintaining myself thanks to a herd of camels that I owned. Then, in a drought, all my beasts died, camels and horses alike, and I was left with nothing. I
had few resources; my wealth was gone and, as I was in a sorry state, those who had been eager to visit me despised me and found me burdensome. When my father-in-law learned how badly off I was, he took my wife back from me, disowned me and drove me away roughly.
I approached your governor, Marwan ibn al-Hakam, hoping that he would help me. He had my father-in-law brought before him and asked him about the case, to which he replied that he did not know me. I said: ‘May God grant the emir prosperity; it would be wise to summon the woman and ask her about what her father has said, so that the truth may become clear.’ Marwan sent to fetch her, and when she came and stood in front of him he was struck with admiration for her and became hostile to me. He angrily dismissed my case and sent me to prison, so that it was as though I had fallen from the sky and been blown away by the wind into a distant land. He then asked her father to marry her to him for a bride price of a thousand dinars and ten thousand dirhams, guaranteeing to free her from ‘that Bedouin’. Her father was attracted by the offer and agreed, after which Marwan sent for me, and, glaring at me like an angry lion, he said: ‘Bedouin, divorce Su‘ad.’ ‘I shall not,’ I told him, at which he handed me over to a group of his servants, who began to inflict a variety of tortures on me. Eventually I found nothing for it but to divorce her, after which he sent me back to prison, until the compulsory period of waiting before remarriage was over and he married her. I was then released and I have come to take refuge with you and to ask for your help.
He then recited these lines:
My heart burns and fire blazes up.
I am sick, and the doctor is at a loss.
In my heart is a coal that shoots out sparks.
My eyes shed tears that fall in showers.
No one can help except my Lord and the emir.
His body then shook and his teeth chattered until he collapsed in a faint, writhing like a newly killed snake. When Mu‘awiya heard his story and his lines, he exclaimed: ‘Marwan has overstepped the bounds of religion in his wrongful and wicked dealings with a Muslim wife,’…
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the six hundred and ninety-third night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that when Mu‘awiya heard the Bedouin’s story, he exclaimed: ‘Marwan has overstepped the bounds of religion in his wrongful and wicked dealings with a Muslim wife,’ and he told the Bedouin: ‘I have never before heard a story like this.’
He called for an inkwell and paper and wrote to Marwan: ‘I have heard that you have overstepped the bounds of religion in your dealings with your subjects. Those who are in positions of authority must not be seduced by lust and must restrain themselves from its pleasures.’
I have cut short the lengthy passage that he added here, but it contained these lines:
Damn you, you have failed in the duties of your office;
Ask God’s pardon for playing the fornicator’s part.
A poor wretch has come to me in tears,
Complaining to me of the sorrows of being parted from his wife.
I swear an oath to God that I shall not break;
Yes, and I shall be true to my religion and my oath.
If you should disobey the order I send you,
I will leave you as vulture food.
Divorce Su‘ad, equip her and send her quickly,
With al-Kumait and Nasr ibn Dhiban.
He folded the letter, sealed it and sent for al-Kumait and Nasr ibn Dhiban, whom he used to employ on matters of importance because of their reliability.
These two took the letter and, after making the journey to Medina, where they came into the presence of Marwan, they greeted him and handed it to him, telling him how the matter stood. Marwan shed tears as he read it, and he then went to Su‘ad and told her that he could not disobey the Commander of the Faithful. He divorced her in the presence of al-Kumait and Nasr ibn Dhiban, and equipped them for their return journey with Su‘ad. He then wrote these lines to Mu‘awiya:
Commander of the Faithful, do not be hasty;
I am fulfilling your vow with friendship and goodwill.
I committed no sin by falling in love,
So how can I be called traitor and fornicator?
You will be visited by a sun which has no match
Among all God’s creation, men or jinn.
He sealed the letter and passed it to the two envoys.
Al-Kumait and Nasr set off, and when they came to Mu‘awiya they gave him the letter, which he read. ‘Marwan has done well to obey me,’ he said. ‘But he has gone on at length in talking about the girl.’ He then ordered her to be brought before him. When he looked at her, he was convinced that he had never seen anyone more lovely or perfectly formed and, when he talked to her, he discovered that she combined eloquence with clarity of exposition. He then ordered the Bedouin to be brought in, and he for his part was still unsettled by the way that fortune had turned against him. Mu‘awiya asked him if he would be consoled for the loss of Su‘ad if he were to be given in exchange three swelling-breasted virgins, lovely as moons, with a thousand dinars for each and a yearly allowance from the treasury to suffice his needs and enrich him. On hearing this, the Bedouin groaned and Mu‘awiya thought that he had died, and when he then recovered, he asked him what was wrong. The man replied: ‘In distress and suffering I called for your help against the injustice of Marwan, but from whom can I get help if you too treat me unjustly?’
He then recited:
May God preserve your rule! Do not leave me
Like one seeking help from heat by entering the fire.
Return Su‘ad to a distraught wretch,
Whose mornings and evenings are spent with cares and memories.
Set me free and do not grudge her to me.
If you are generous, I shall not be ungrateful.
He added: ‘Commander of the Faithful, if you gave me the caliphate that has been conferred on you, I would not take it without Su‘ad,’ and he recited:
My heart will accept no love but that for Su‘ad;
My love for her is both my food and drink.
Mu‘awiya told him: ‘You admit that you divorced her, and Marwan makes the same admission. I shall leave the choice to her. If she chooses someone else, I shall marry her to him, and if she chooses you, I shall hand her over to you.’ The Bedouin agreed, and Mu‘awiya asked: ‘What do you say, Su‘ad? Who is dearer to you, the noble and glorious Commander of the Faithful with his palaces, his power, his wealth and the luxury in which you see he lives, the unjust and tyrannical Marwan ibn al-Hakam, or this hungry and impoverished Bedouin?’ In reply she recited these lines:
This man, hungry and wretched as he is,
Is dearer to me than neighbours and family,
Than the caliph with his crown and Marwan, his governor,
And all the rich with their silver and their gold.
She added: ‘Commander of the Faithful, I shall not forsake this man because of the turns of fortune or the treachery of Time. Ours is a relationship of long standing that cannot be forgotten and a love that does not wither away. As I enjoyed the good days with him, so it is right that I should endure misfortune at his side.’
Mu‘awiya was struck with wonder at her intelligence, her love and her fidelity. He ordered her to be given ten thousand dirhams and handed her over to the Bedouin, who took her and left.
A story is also told, O fortunate king, that Harun al-Rashid was sleepless one night and sent for al-Asma‘i and Husain al-Khali‘. When they came he ordered them to tell him stories, starting with Husain. HUSAIN AGREED TO THIS AND BEGAN:
One year, Commander of the Faithful, I went down to Basra in order to present an ode in praise of Muhammad ibn Sulaiman al-Rabi‘i. He accepted it and told me to stay with him. One day, I went out by way of al-Mahaliyya to al-Mirbad and, as it was very hot indeed, I came up to a large door to ask for a drink. There I was met by a girl like a supple branch, with slumberous ey
es, arching eyebrows and smooth cheeks. She was wearing a mantle of San‘a’ work and her dress was the colour of pomegranate blossom, but its colour was dimmed by the whiteness of her body. Beneath her dress shimmered two breasts like pomegranates and a belly like folded Egyptian linen, with wrinkles like white paper folded and filled with musk. Around her neck was suspended an amulet of red gold that dangled between her breasts, and over her forehead hung a lock of hair black as jet. Her eyebrows joined above her large eyes and, in addition to her smooth cheeks, she had a curved nose beneath which was a jewel-like mouth with teeth like pearls. She was drenched in perfume, but she appeared distracted and confused as she paced to and fro in the hallway, as though trampling on the hearts of her lovers with legs that filled her anklets so that they made no sound. She was as the poet describes:
Every separate portion of her beauties
Gives an example of the lovely whole.
I was filled with awe at the sight of her, Commander of the Faithful, and when I went up to greet her, I found that the house, the hallway and the whole street were filled with the scent of musk. She replied to my greeting in a low voice, as though her heart was sorrowful and burning with the fire of passion. I said: ‘My lady, I am an old man and a stranger, suffering from thirst. Were you to order a glass of water to be brought to me, God would reward you.’ ‘Go away, old man,’ she replied, ‘for I am too distracted to think of water or food.’
The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 2 Page 100