The Adventures of Amir Hamza

by Ghalib Lakhnavi

  Buzurjmehr said, “I am Buzurjmehr, Khvaja Bakht Jamal’s son, and the grandson of Hakim Jamasp. Afflicted by fortune, as some tyrant has murdered my father, I long for revenge.”

  Alqash asked, “Did you find your father’s killer, then?” Buzurjmehr said, “One of these days some mark will be discovered, and the blood of the innocent victim shall call out.” Alqash asked, “Could you divine what was in my heart that night?” Buzurjmehr replied, “You had it in your heart to divulge to your wife the treasure that you had discovered but something decided you against telling her, and you resolved to maintain your quiet.”

  Alqash’s wits took flight at these words. He began trembling like a willow. This boy has the gift of clairvoyance, he thought, and anyone who would eat the vital organs of such a one would become all-seeing, too. He decided to kill Buzurjmehr and devour his heart and liver. That would nip in the bud any evil that might be afoot, he thought.

  Thus decided, Alqash called for his Nubian slave, Bakhtiar, and secretly told him that if he were to slaughter Buzurjmehr, and bring him kebabs of his heart and liver, he would grant him his heart’s desire. The slave took Buzurjmehr to a dark cellar, and there he bore down upon Buzurjmehr and was about to slit open his throat with a knife, when Buzurjmehr involuntarily broke into laughter, and said to the slave, “The hope for which you sully yourself with my murder shall never be fulfilled by Alqash’s false promise. However, if you refrain from killing me, you shall find success with me, God willing!” The slave said, “If you were to reveal to me my motive, I would set you free this instant!”

  Buzurjmehr replied, “You are in love with Alqash’s daughter, but he will never give you her hand. I, however, shall arrange for you to marry her. Set me free now! Ten days from now, the emperor will have a dream that he shall forget. He will assemble all his viziers to quiz them and ask them of the dream and its interpretation. Then your master will come asking for me. But beware, not until he has slapped you thrice should you divulge the truth about me.” The slave said, “He had sent me to bring him kebabs of your vitals. If I took him some made from an animal, he would discover it at once and punish me.” Buzurjmehr said, “At the gates of the city a woman is selling a kid raised on human milk. Take money from me and slaughter it and take Alqash its vitals.”

  At length the slave relented. He did not kill Buzurjmehr but did as he had told him. Alqash ate the kid’s kebabs, and believing that he too had now become oracular and sapient, rejoiced exceedingly.

  Delivered from death, Buzurjmehr returned home and narrated all to his mother. That poor, star-crossed woman offered many thanks to God for her son’s safe return home and said, “My son, confine yourself to the safety of our house, and do not step out. The enemy lies in wait! God forfend that he should set in motion any evil, and God forbid that your enemies should come to any harm.”10 Buzurjmehr replied, “You must not torment yourself with thoughts of disaster. Wait and see how God manifests His will!”

  It so befell that on the tenth day, the emperor had a dream that he in no way remembered. In the morning, he said to his wise counselors and viziers: “Last night I had a dream that I do not now recall. You must narrate it to me and tell me its interpretation to ingratiate yourselves with me!”

  All of them replied that they would oblige him with an interpretation if they only knew the dream. The emperor replied: “The wise men in Sikander’s times would often narrate to him dreams that he could not recollect and tell him their interpretations. I have employed you for similar offices. If you fail to narrate the dream and tell me what it signifies, I shall have every single one of you put to the sword, and order your wife and children to be pulverized in the oil press and your households plundered. For mercy’s sake, I give you a reprieve of forty days.

  After forty days had passed, the emperor again assembled the company and asked them if they had succeeded in finding out the content of his dream. Everyone remained silent, but Alqash spoke: “This slave has divined from geomancy that Your Majesty dreamt of a bird that swooped down from the heavens and dropped Your Eminence into a river of fire. Your Excellency started in your sleep in fright, and woke up without remembrance of the dream.”

  The emperor replied angrily, “O vile and brazen-faced liar, a fine story you have concocted. Never did I have such a dream that you relate to be mine. I shall allow you two days more of respite. If you have not related the dream by the end of that time, I swear by Namrud’s pyre that you shall be the first to be buried alive.”

  Greatly distressed at the emperor’s words, Alqash returned home, and immediately sent for Bakhtiar and asked him, “Tell me verily where the boy is hidden!” Bakhtiar answered, “I killed him just as I was ordered.” Alqash replied, “As he was most wise and sapient, I am convinced that he escaped from your hands. Bring him to me that my life, and the life and honor of countless other innocent people shall be spared.”

  When Bakhtiar reiterated his statement, his master in annoyance slapped him three times so hard that Bakhtiar’s eardrum was ruptured and spurted blood, and Bakhtiar fell on the floor in pain. When he came to in a few moments, he replied, “Do not punish your slave. I shall go and bring Buzurjmehr as you command!” Alqash said, “I wonder at your foolishness! How many times did I ask you for him, and so kindly, but got nothing except denial.” Bakhtiar said, “He had strictly forbidden me to disclose his whereabouts to you until you had struck me thrice.” Thereupon Alqash embraced Bakhtiar, and said, “Hurry and bring him at once!”

  Buzurjmehr came out directly when Bakhtiar knocked at the door, and accompanied him to Alqash’s house. The vizier showed Buzurjmehr much respect and deference, and excused his past conduct. Then, to inform him of his present predicament, Alqash spoke thus: “The emperor had a dream that he forgot and we are made to bear the brunt of it. If you would be kind enough to relate the dream to me, it would be as if you granted us all a reprieve from death.”

  Buzurjmehr replied, “Come morning, tell the emperor that you had only been testing the wise and learned counselors and viziers to see if they had any claim to omniscience. And that you would like to bring forward your pupil, that if His Highness were to send for him, he would presently relate the dream and all its particulars. Then, when the emperor shall send for me, I will relate the dream and its interpretation.”

  OF BUZURJMEHR’S RELATING THE EMPEROR’S DREAM AT THE APPOINTED HOUR, AND OF ALQASH’S LIFE BEING CLAIMED IN RETRIBUTION

  The world is the abode of retribution. Oftentimes every deed is accounted for here, and occasionally something remains in abeyance, to be settled on Judgment Day. What this adage verifies and where the discourse drifts is the story of unworthy Alqash, tyrant and malefactor, who at long last reaped the harvest of his sins.

  The next day Alqash presented himself before his sovereign, narrating verbatim Buzurjmehr’s words. Orders were given that Buzurjmehr be produced and presented before the emperor.

  A mace bearer called at Buzurjmehr’s house and said, “Come at once! The Imperial Highness wishes to see you!” Buzurjmehr said, “What conveyance have you brought me from his Highness?” The mace bearer replied, “I did not bring a conveyance. But I shall return and request a conveyance for you from the nobles.”

  The mace bearer was ordered to take a steed, and bring him forthwith. When the mace bearer arrived with the horse, Buzurjmehr said, “In its essence the horse is made of wind, and I am fashioned of clay. Wind and clay are manifest opposites, and I shall not, therefore, ride the horse. But if you bring me a conveyance that is suited to me, I will presently go with you.”

  The mace bearer returned with Buzurjmehr’s reply, whereupon the emperor ordered all kinds of conveyances to be sent to Buzurjmehr’s house. Buzurjmehr looked at them and said, “I cannot possibly ride the elephant, as it is reserved for the emperor. And only the sick ride litters. The camel is seraphic in nature, and I am but an insignificant mortal. The mule is misbegotten, and I am of noble birth. Therefore it does not behoove me to ride it. As to
the ox, corn-chandlers and launderers ride it, and I belong to neither trade but am of gentle birth, learned and discerning. And the ass is reserved for the guilty and the culprits, and I am innocent of any crime. Return them all, and convey my words to the sagacious ears of the emperor.”

  The messengers again returned without Buzurjmehr. The emperor said, “Whatever he wishes for shall be provided.” The royal pages took the emperor’s message to Buzurjmehr, who said, “If His Highness wishes me to narrate his dream, he should send me Alqash saddled. Because as the saying goes, everyone tends toward his own, and I will ride him and present myself before His Majesty and describe his dream in its entirety. Again, as I profess to be wise, and Alqash is the Mount of Wisdom,11 it is only meet and proper that I ride only him.”

  When the messengers brought back Buzurjmehr’s reply, the emperor broke into laughter, and ordered that Alqash be saddled and sent to bring back Buzurjmehr. No sooner was the order given than Alqash was bridled and saddled, and he trotted over to Buzurjmehr’s house to carry out Buzurjmehr’s wish. Buzurjmehr mounted Alqash and spurred him on, proclaiming every step of the way, “I have redeemed myself this day, because I caught the one who had murdered my father!”

  Whoever saw them along the way—young and old alike—found the sight a curiosity and followed them in the train.

  When Buzurjmehr was presented before the emperor in such state, he said, “You must explain what Alqash has done to you that caused him to be treated so scandalously at your hands.” Buzurjmehr replied, “In the first place he is an embezzler, who had for his master Your Highness—and yet he stole from Your Highness!

  “In the second place, he studied geomancy with my father. And my father in his great generosity imparted to him every word of the knowledge at his command. He never concealed any useful knowledge from this miscreant nor kept any secrets. When my father came upon the seven treasures of Shaddad,12 he never took anything, and due to the camaraderie that he felt for this man, divulged to him the find. And this man here murdered my innocent father and consigned him to the cellar where the treasure is buried. Thus, at the same place lies my father’s cadaver still, half buried in gravel, without coffin or grave. I now beseech Your Majesty, my equitable sovereign, for justice in the hope that I shall be dealt with fairly.”

  When he heard these words, the emperor cast a fiery glance at Alqash, and said, “What injury did his father do to you that you ruthlessly killed him in disregard of all obligations due him? If you did not fear me, did you also not fear God?

  “But regard now, O villain, what just punishment you shall receive for this unjust deed! If I do not have you riddled with the arrows of Justice, I shall have the blood of equity on my head.”

  Alqash replied, “Your Majesty, he calumniates me and plots my undoing for no reason!” Buzurjmehr spoke: “Put me to the proof! Whoever cares to come with me, I shall prove what I profess.” The emperor accompanied Buzurjmehr with his royal cortege to the place where Khvaja Bakht Jamal lay murdered. He had ordered that Alqash be brought on foot in chains, and led behind a horse like a prisoner.

  All these developments caused much stir in the city, and the populace turned out to see what the villain had been brought to. By and by, surrounded by officers of law and the public, Alqash was brought to the gates of Bagh-e Bedad.

  Buzurjmehr guided the emperor to the cellar and showed him the site. The emperor saw the seven treasures consigned there and also saw lying in a corner Khvaja Bakht Jamal’s withered corpse. The dead man’s steed, too, lay murdered beside him.

  The emperor was delighted to see the treasure, and ordered that it be removed without delay to the royal treasury. His orders were carried out, and thus came true the proverbial saying that “In the world gold attracts gold, and treasure, more treasures!”

  The emperor then ordered Khvaja’s last rites performed with ceremony according to the custom of his people, and a shrine built to his memory. Then he granted Buzurjmehr forty days’ leave to pass in bereavement and conferred on him thousands of rupees from the imperial treasury. Buzurjmehr brought home elephant-loads of money and placed them before his worthy mother, and told her all that had transpired.

  After forty days, Buzurjmehr appeared before the emperor and began attending the court every day. One day he found occasion to say to the emperor: “If it is Your Majesty’s pleasure, I shall now narrate your dream to you.” The emperor said, “Nothing would be more opportune! If you describe the dream properly, you shall be richly rewarded.”

  Buzurjmehr thus spoke: “Your Majesty dreamt that forty-one dishes of all varieties were laid out on a spread. Your Eminence took a morsel of halva from a dish and raised it to your mouth, when a black cur darted forward, snatched the piece from Your Majesty’s hand, and devoured it.” The emperor declared, “I swear by Namrud’s pyre, it is indeed the very dream I had. Now interpret it, too, and gladden my heart!”

  Buzurjmehr replied, “Allow your slave to be conducted to your palace, and order all your harem to be assembled. Then I shall tell you the interpretation of this dream.” The emperor took Buzurjmehr to the palace and ordered his harem assembled. After everyone had congregated as ordered, there arrived, walking with dignity and state in the cortege of her consorts and mates, a damsel of comely features and great pride, wearing a most exquisite robe adorned with lustrous gems and jewels.

  Among her consorts there was also a black woman. Buzurjmehr caught her hand, and said to the emperor, “This is the black dog, Your Honor, who took the morsel away from Your Majesty’s hands. And that morsel was this princess, who is guilty of the most grievous ingratitude to the emperor.”

  The emperor was transfixed with wonder upon hearing this and when he asked what it all meant, it came out that in reality it was a man who lived in great luxury with the princess, disguised as a woman, and imbibed, unrestrained, the wine of her charms at all hours of night and day. The emperor raged most wonderfully when he discovered this. The black man was thrown before the hounds, and that ill-starred princess’s face was blackened, and she was paraded around the city mounted on an ass and then bricked-up alive in a tower on a thoroughfare. A robe of honor was conferred upon Buzurjmehr, and that same day Alqash was taken outside the city walls and, before a crowd of onlookers, buried up to his waist and riddled with arrows by expert archers. All the goods and chattels belonging to Alqash, with the inclusion of his wife and daughter, were awarded to Buzurjmehr.

  After making his offering to the emperor, Buzurjmehr took the slave Bakhtiar to Alqash’s palace and said to Alqash’s wife, “I do not desire this estate and its riches. However, I did promise Bakhtiar that after avenging my father, I would arrange for him to be married to your daughter. I would that you give him your daughter’s hand in marriage for my sake. I promise you that if a boy is born to your daughter from Bakhtiar, I shall educate him myself and, when he comes of age, shall prevail upon the emperor to have him instituted as a vizier in Alqash’s stead.”

  Alqash’s wife acted on Buzurjmehr’s request gladly, and married her daughter to Bakhtiar the Nubian.

  When these tidings reached the emperor, he was overwhelmed by Buzurjmehr’s act of generosity. After many days, when all the emperor’s viziers, privy counselors, learned men, commanders, and sovereigns were assembled in the royal court, he spoke to them thus: “I have found Buzurjmehr to be pious and devout, of noble blood, courageous, and unrivaled. And he is oracular, moreover. Therefore, I desire to make Buzurjmehr my vizier, and confer upon him the robe of ministerial rank.”

  The courtiers unanimously sounded their praise and approval of the emperor’s propitious opinion. The emperor conferred the robe of ministerial honor on Buzurjmehr and granted him a seat to the right of his throne. Thereupon, the court was adjourned.

  Buzurjmehr returned home with great pomp and ceremony, lavishing gifts and offerings, and dispensing alms. Witnessing this, his mother offered thanks to the Omnipotent King. Before long Buzurjmehr occupied himself with ministerial affair
s.

  OF DIL-AARAM’S EXPULSION FROM THE EMPEROR’S FAVOR AND OF HER RETURNING TO HIS GOOD GRACES

  How man is reduced to a mere trick in the hands of the celestial juggler! What enchanting antics does this trickster world play on man! Here a beggar is made king! There a whole empire is wiped from earth’s face! Those who once longed for dry bread now distribute alms and food! Those who never saw a farthing today command untold wealth! Such is the story of the poor man here told.

  Reliable chroniclers report that, once exposed to the culpable princess’s deceit, the emperor became wary of all women—with the exception of Dil-Aaram—who, apart from her natural beauty and grace, and chastity and virtue, was most accomplished in musical arts and a lute player par excellence.

  One day the emperor rode out to the chase with a troop of gamekeepers in the train. Not too far from the seat of his empire there stood a sky-high mountain. At the foot of the mountain was a game reserve, most worthy and fair beyond description. The place abounded with birds and beasts of game, and, covered with lush growth, the ground stretched like an emerald carpet for miles. Several miles across in width, a grand river flowed on one side. Its banks were bounded by green fields, and the lagoons swarmed with blue water lilies.

  There the emperor dismounted to admire the landscape. By chance, his eyes espied an old man carrying a load of bundled sticks on his head. He was most feeble and decrepit and staggered at every step. Pitying his plight, the emperor asked members of his party to inquire after the woodcutter’s name. It emerged that the miserable old man was also named Qubad. Upon hearing this the emperor marveled greatly, and asked Buzurjmehr, “How do you account for this variance in fortunes? Despite our having the same name, I am the Emperor of the Seven Climes,13 and he is all but a beggar!” Buzurjmehr answered according to the established codes of his knowledge, “Your Highness and this man were born under the same star, but at the moment of your auspicious birth, the sun and the moon were together in the constellation Aries, while upon his birth they were in Pisces.”