by Muhsin Mahdi
It is related, O King, that the second dervish said to the girl that he told the demon:
Demon, I heard that the envious threw the envied into the ancient well. That well happened to be haunted by a group of demons who caught him and, letting him down little by little, seated him on a rock. Then they asked each other, “Do you know who this man is?” and the answer was “No.” But one of them said, “This man is the envied who, flying from the envious, came to live in our city, built this hermitage, and has ever since delighted us with his litanies and his recitals of the Quran. But the envious journeyed until he rejoined him, tricked him, and threw him into this well where you now are. It so happens that this very night the fame of this man has come to the attention of the king of this city, and he is planning to visit him tomorrow morning, on account of his daughter.” Someone asked him, “What is the matter with her?” He replied, “She is possessed, for the demon Maimun ibn-Damdam is madly in love with her, but if this man knew the remedy, her cure would be as easy as can be.” One of them asked, “What is the remedy?” He replied, “This man has in the hermitage a black cat with a white spot the size of a dirham at the end of his tail. If he plucks seven white hairs from the white spot, burns them, and fumigates her with the smoke, the demon will depart from her head, never to return, and she will be cured that very instant.” O demon, all of this conversation took place while the envied listened. When the day dawned, the mendicants came out in the morning and found the holy man climbing out of the well, and he grew even greater in their esteem. Then the envied endeavored to look for the black cat and, when he found it, he plucked seven hairs from the white spot on its tail and kept them with him.
In the meantime hardly had the sun risen when the king arrived with his troops. He dismounted with the lords of the realm, bidding the rest of his troops stand outside. When he entered the hermitage, the envied welcomed him and, seating him by his side, asked, “Shall I tell you the cause of your visit?” The king replied, “Yes.” The envied continued: “You have come to visit me with the intention of consulting me about your daughter.” The king said, “O man of God, you’re right.” The envied said, “Send someone to fetch her, and God the Almighty willing, she will recover presently.” The king gladly sent for his daughter, and they brought her in, bound and fettered. The envied made her sit behind a curtain and, taking out the hairs, burned them and fumigated her with the smoke. At that moment he who was in her head cried out and departed from her, and she instantly recovered her sanity and, veiling her face, asked, “What has happened to me and who brought me here?” The king felt unequaled joy, and he kissed his daughter’s eyes and kissed the holy man’s hand. Then turning to the great lords of the realm, he asked, “What do you say to this, and what does he who has cured my daughter deserve?” They answered, “He deserves to have her for a wife.” The king said, “You are right.” Then he married her to him, and the envied became son-in-law to the king. A short time later the vizier died, and the king asked, “Whom shall I make vizier?” They answered, “Your son-in-law,” and the envied became vizier. And a short time later, the king also died, and his men asked each other, “Whom shall we make king?” The answer was, “The vizier,” and the envied became a monarch, a sovereign king.
One day, as he was riding with his equipage …
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “What a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live!”
THE FORTY-EIGHTH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us what happened to the envious and the envied.” Shahrazad replied, “Very well”:
I heard, O King, that the second dervish said to the girl that he told the demon:
One day, as the envied rode with his royal equipage at the head of his princes, viziers, and lords of the realm, his eyes fell on the envious. He turned to one of his viziers and commanded, “Bring me that man, but do not alarm him or frighten him.” The vizier left and came back with the envious neighbor. The king said, “Give him one thousand weights of gold from my treasury, provide him with twenty loads of goods he trades in, and send him with an escort to his own town.” Then the envied bade him farewell and went away without reproaching him for what he had done to him.
I said to the demon, “O demon, consider the mercy of the envied on the envious, who had envied him from the beginning, borne him great malice, pursued him, followed him, and thrown him into the well to kill him. Yet the envied did not respond in kind, but instead of punishing the envious, he forgave him and treated him magnanimously.” Then, O my lady, I wept until I could weep no more and recited the following verses:
Pardon my crime, for every mighty judge
Is used to mercy some offenders show.
I stand before you guilty of all sins,
But you the ways of grace and mercy know.
For he who seeks forgiveness from above,
Should pardon the offenders here below.
The demon replied, “I will not kill you, but in no way will I pardon you and let you go unharmed. I have spared you from death, but I will put you under a spell.” Then he snatched me up and flew with me upward until the earth appeared like a white cloud. Soon he set me down on a mountain and, taking a little dust, mumbled some incantation and sprinkled me with the dust, saying, “Leave your present form and take the form of an ape.” At that very instant, I became an ape, and he flew away and left me behind.
When I saw that I was an ape, I wept for myself and blamed life, which is fair to none. Then I descended the mountain and found a vast desert, over which I journeyed for a month until I reached the seashore. As I stood on the shore, looking at the sea, I saw in the offing a ship sailing under a fair wind and cleaving the waves. I went to a tree and, breaking off a branch, began to signal the ship with it, running back and forth and waving the branch to and fro, but being unable to speak or cry out for help, I began to despair. Suddenly the ship turned and began to sail toward the shore, and when it drew near, I found that it was a large ship, full of merchants and laden with spices and other goods. When the merchants saw me, they said to the captain, “You have risked our lives and property for an ape, who brings bad luck with him wherever he goes.” One of them said, “Let me kill him.” Another said, “Let me shoot him with an arrow.” And a third said, “Let us drown him.” When I heard what they said, I sprang up and held the hem of the captain’s gown like a suppliant, as my tears began to flow over my face. The captain and all the merchants were amazed, and some of them began to feel pity for me. Then the captain said, “Merchants, this ape has appealed to me for protection, and I have taken him under my care. Let none of you hurt him in any way, lest he become my enemy.” Then he treated me kindly, and I understood whatever he said and did his bidding, although I could not respond to him with my tongue.
For fifty days the ship sailed on before a fair wind until we came to a great city, vast and teeming with countless people. No sooner had we entered the port and cast anchor than we were visited by messengers from the king of that city. They boarded the ship and said, “Merchants, our king congratulates you on your safe arrival, sends you this roll of paper, and bids each of you write one line on it. For the kings vizier, a man learned in state affairs and a skilled calligrapher, has died, and the king has sworn a solemn oath that he will appoint none in his place, save one who can write as well as he could.” Then they handed the merchants a roll of paper, ten cubits long and one cubit wide, and each of the merchants who knew how to write wrote a line. When they came to the end, I snatched the scroll out of their hands, and they screamed and scolded me, fearing that I would throw it into the sea or tear it to pieces, but I signed to them that I wanted to write on it, and they were exceedingly amazed, saying, “We have never yet seen an ape write.” The captain said to them, “Let him write what he likes, and if he merely scribb
les, I will beat him and chase him away, but if he writes well, I will adopt him as my son, for I have never seen a more inteligent or a better-behaved ape. I wish that my son had this ape’s understanding and good manners,” Then I held the pen, dipped it in the inkpot, and in Ruqa’ script5 wrote the following lines:
Time’s record of the favors of the great
Has been effaced by your greater favor.
Of you your children God will not deprive,
You, being to grace both mother and father.
Then under these, in Muhaqqiq script I wrote the following lines:
His pen has showered bounty everywhere
And without favor favored every land.
Yet even the Nile, which destroys the earth,
Cannot its ink use with such mighty hand.
And in Raihani script I wrote the following lines:
I swore, whoever uses me to write,
By the One, Peerless, Everlasting God,
That he would never any man deny
With one of the pen’s strokes his livelihood.
Then in Naskhi script I wrote the following lines:
There is no writer who from death will flee,
But what his hand has written time will keep.
Commit to paper nothing then, except
What you would like on Judgment Day to see.
Then in Thuluth script I wrote the following lines:
When the events of life our love condemned
And painful separation was our end,
We turned to the inkwell’s mouth to complain,
And voiced with the pen’s tongue our parting’s pain
Then in Tumar script I wrote the following lines:
When you open the inkwell of your boon
And fame, let the ink be munificence and grace.
Write good and generous deeds while write you can;
Both pen and sword such noble deeds will praise.
Then I handed them the scroll, and they took it back in amazement.
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what an amazing and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I stay alive!”
THE FORTY-NINTH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said, “Sister, tell us the rest of the story.” Shahrazad replied, “Very well”:
It is related, O happy King, that the second dervish said to the girl:
The messengers took the scroll and returned with it to the king, and when he looked at it, my writing pleased him and he said, “Take this robe of honor and this she-mule to the master of these seven scripts.” The men smiled, and seeing that their smiling had made the king angry, they said, “O King of the age and sovereign of the world, the writer of these lines is an ape.” The king asked, “Is it true what you say?” They replied, “Yes, by your bounty, the writer is an ape.” The king was greatly amazed and said, “I wish to see this ape.” Then he dispatched his messengers with the she-mule and the robe, “Dress him with this robe, place him on the she-mule, and bring him to me, together with his master.”
As we sat on board, we saw the king’s messengers suddenly appear again. They took me from the captain, dressed me with the robe, and, placing me on the she-mule, walked behind me in a procession, which caused a great commotion in the city. Everyone came out, crowding to gaze at me and enjoy the spectacle. By the time I reached the king, the whole city was astir, and the people were saying to each other, “The king has taken an ape for vizier.”
When I entered into the presence of the king, I prostrated myself and then stood up and bowed three times. Then I kissed the ground once, before the chamberlains and statesmen and knelt on my knees. Those who were present marveled at my fine manners, most of all the king himself, who said, “This is a wonder.” Then he gave permission to his retinue to leave, and everyone left, save for the king, one servant, one little Mamluk,6 and myself. Then, he ordered a table of food set before him, and motioned to me to eat with him. I rose, kissed the ground before him, and, after I washed my hands seven times, I sat back on my knees and, as good manners require, took only a little to eat. Then I took a pen and an inkwell and over a board wrote the following lines:
Wail for the crane well-stewed in tangy sauce;
Mourn for the meat, either well baked or fried;
Cry for the hens and daughters of the grouse
And the fried birds, even as I have cried.
Two different kinds of fish are my desire,
Served on two loaves of bread, zestful though plain,
While in the pan that sizzles o’er the fire
The eggs like rolling eyes fry in their pain.
The meat when grilled, O what a lovely dish,
Served with some pickled greens; that is my wish.
’Tis in my porridge I indulge at night,
When hunger gnaws, under the bracelets’ light.
O soul, be patient, for our fickle fate
Oppresses one day, only to elate.
The king read the verses and pondered. Then they removed the food, and the butler set before us a choice wine in a glass flagon. The king drank first and offered me some. I kissed the ground before him, took a sip, and wrote the following lines over the flagon:
For my confession they burned me with fire
And found that I was for endurance made.
Hence I was borne high on the hands of men
And given to kiss the lips of pretty maid.
When the king read the verses, he marveled and said, “If a man had such cultivation, he would excel all the men of his time.” Then he set before me a chessboard and with a sign asked, “Do you play?” I kissed the ground before him and nodded “Yes.” Then the two of us arranged the pieces on the board and played a game, and it was a draw. We played a second game, and I won. Then we played for the third time, and I attacked and won again, and the king marveled at my skill. Once more I took the inkwell and the pen and over the chessboard wrote the following lines:
Two armies all day long with arms contend,
Bringing the battle always to a head.
But when night’s cover on them does descend
The two go sleeping in a single bed.
As the king read these lines, he was overwhelmed with admiration and delight, and said to the servant, “O Muqbil, go to your lady, Sitt al-Husn, and tell her that her father the king summons her to come and look at this strange ape and enjoy this wonderful spectacle.”
The eunuch disappeared and came back a while later with the king’s daughter. When she entered and saw me, she veiled her face and said, “O father, have you lost your sense of honor to such a degree that you expose me to men?” Astonished, the king asked, “Daughter, there is no one here, save this little Mamluk, this your mentor who brought you up, and I your father. From whom do you veil your face?” She replied, “From this young man who has been cast under a spell by a demon who is the son of Satan’s daughter. He turned him into an ape after he killed his own wife, the daughter of Aftimarus, king of the Ebony Island. This whom you think an ape is a wise, learned, and well-mannered man, a man of culture and refinement.” The king was amazed and, looking at me, asked, “Is it true what my daughter said?” I replied with a nod, “Yes.” Then he turned to his daughter and asked, “For God’s sake, daughter, how did you know that he is enchanted?” She replied, “O father, there was with me from childhood a wily and treacherous old woman who was a witch. She taught me witchcraft, and I copied and memorized seventy domains of magic, by the least of which I could within the hour transport the stones of your city beyond Mount Qaf and beyond the ocean that surrounds the world.” The king was amazed and said to his daughter, “O daughter, may God protect you. You have had such a complete power all this time, yet I never knew it. By my life, deliver him from the spell, so that I may make him vizier and marry you to him.” She replied, “With the greatest pleasure.” Then she took a kn
ife …
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night, if the king spares me and lets me live!”
THE FIFTIETH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales.” Shahrazad replied, “Very well”:
I heard, O King, that the second dervish said to the girl:
The king’s daughter took a knife engraved with names in Hebrew characters and, drawing a perfect circle in the middle of the palace hall, inscribed on it names in Kufic letters,7 as well as other talismanic words. Then she muttered charms and uttered spells, and in a short time the world turned dark until we could no longer see anything and thought that the sky was falling on our heads. Suddenly we were startled to see the demon descending in the semblance of a lion as big as a bull, and we were terrified. The girl cried, “Get away, you dog!” The demon replied, “You traitor, you have betrayed me and broken the oath. Have we two not taken an oath that neither would cross the other?” She said, “Cursed one, how could I keep a pledge with one like you?” The demon cried, “Then take what you have brought on yourself,” and with an open mouth he rushed toward the girl, who quickly plucked a hair from her head and as she waved the hair in the air and muttered over it the hair turned into a keen sword blade with which she struck the lion, cutting him in half. But while the two halves went flying, the head remained and turned into a scorpion. The girl quickly turned into a huge serpent, and the two fought a bitter battle for a long time. Then the scorpion turned into a vulture and flew outside the palace, and the girl changed into an eagle and flew after the vulture. The two were gone for a long time, but suddenly the ground split asunder, and there emerged a piebald tomcat, which meowed, snorted, and snored. He was followed by a black wolf, and the two battled in the palace for a long time, and when the cat saw that he was losing to the wolf, he screamed, turned into a worm, and crept into a pomegranate that was lying beside the fountain. The pomegranate swelled until it was as big as a striped watermelon, and the wolf turned immediately into a snow white rooster. The pomegranate flew in the air and fell on the marble floor of the raised hall, breaking to pieces, and as the seeds scattered everywhere, the rooster fell to picking them. He picked them all, save for one that lay hidden at the edge of the fountain. Then the rooster began to cry and crow, flap his wings, and motion with his beak, as if to ask us, “Are there any seeds left?” But we did not understand, and he let out such a loud shriek that we thought that the palace was falling on our heads. Then the rooster chanced to turn and saw the seed at the edge of the fountain. He rushed to pick it …