The Adventures of Amir Hamza

by Ghalib Lakhnavi

  Muqbil replied, “If someone were to ask me by whom I had been blessed, how must I answer, and make reply?” The Exalted One said to Muqbil, “Say that you have been blessed by the Triumphant Lion of God.” Hearing these words Muqbil turned toward Mecca jubilant and happy, carrying his bow and arrows.

  Upon learning of Muqbil’s adventure, both Hamza and Amar expressed great joy.

  OF HAMZA EXACTING TRIBUTE FROM THE KING OF YEMEN, AND OF THE FORTUNATE KING’S CONVERSION TO THE FOLDS OF THE TRUE FAITH

  The inkwell’s closure is opened by the reed’s key, manifesting to the connoisseurs’ eyes a treasure store of florid locutions, and the trinket box of the ocean floor is pried open, revealing pearls of eloquence that thus decorate the ears of the listeners. Hamza was into his seventh year when one day he happened by the bazaar in the company of Muqbil and Amar. There they came upon some deputies of Suhail Yemeni, the commander under the king of Yemen, exacting treasury revenues from the shopkeepers by their king’s orders. Those shopkeepers who had nothing to give them pleaded with them and made pledges, but those tyrants would not have mercy, and cuffed and buffeted them and used them ill.

  Hamza took pity on the victims and asked Amar to tell the deputies to desist, but nobody would listen to a boy. Then Hamza himself went forth, and ordered Amar to tell the shopkeepers not to pay anything, and to seize from the deputies all they had collected. At this command Muqbil and Amar at once confronted the deputies. Thinking of them as mere boys, the deputies tried to disperse them. At this, Hamza severely punished some of the deputies, breaking their arms and legs and cracking open their skulls. They soon turned tail and sought refuge in Suhail Yemeni’s pavilion, and recounted to him how a seven-year-old boy34 interfered with the collection of taxes and charged at them along with two other boys, battering them into this state and confiscating all they had collected.

  Even as they were narrating, Hamza arrived astride Siyah Qitas outside Suhail Yemeni’s pavilion, flanked by Muqbil on his right and Amar on his left side. Suhail Yemeni came out of his pavilion and addressed Hamza. “Hear, O youth, that I greatly admire your mount and armor. Waste not a moment and forthwith make a present of them to me, that I may forgive your trespasses and pardon your transgression.”

  Upon hearing this, Hamza laughed loudly and replied, “Convert first to the True Faith if you value your life. Submit to my allegiance, or else you will grievously lament your ways!” Suhail Yemeni thundered, “What is come over this boy that he utters threats so far beyond his scope! Pull him down from the horse and snatch all his arms and armor!”

  At these orders his soldiers surrounded Hamza, and resolved to lay violent hands upon him. Hamza killed some on the spot with a hail of arrows, beat a few more to pulp with his mace, and dispatched some to Hell with his sword. Some others were trampled under the horse’s hooves and found in the Erebus of Hell35 a permanent abode. Then arrows began to fly from Muqbil’s bow and claimed many lives.

  When Suhail Yemeni regarded thousands of his men lying murdered,36 he grew livid with rage, and himself came charging at Hamza. Catching hold of his cummerbund, Hamza raised him over his head, and resolved to smash him against the ground. Suhail Yemeni then begged for mercy. At this, Hamza put him gently on the ground, and Suhail Yemeni converted to the True Faith with one thousand of his champion warriors.

  Then Muqbil, Amar, and Suhail Yemeni—and the thousand champion warriors who had converted with him—declared Hamza their amir,37 in tribute to Hamza’s ferocity and grandeur.

  Upon entering the city Hamza said his prayers of gratefulness to Allah. Then presenting himself before Khvaja Abdul Muttalib, Hamza kissed his feet and narrated how he had battered, routed, and massacred infidels. Khvaja Abdul Muttalib said, “The king of Yemen commands forty thousand fierce mounted troops and hundreds of thousands of foot soldiers. Should he advance against Mecca, drawn here by this incident, the citizens of this city would hold you to blame!”

  Hamza replied, “God willing, I shall keep the king of Yemen from attacking Mecca. Indeed, yours truly will himself advance against him and visit his head with a calamity, should he refuse conversion to the True Faith!”

  After a few days Amir Hamza took leave of Khvaja Abdul Muttalib and left the city with Muqbil, Amar, and Suhail Yemeni at the head of one thousand mounted warriors.

  The first leg of their journey over, Amir Hamza was riding at some distance from his entourage, conversing with Amar, when he beheld a youth of ten or eleven, dressed like a mendicant. He sat with his head on his knees, looking all distracted and distraught. Taking pity on the boy’s condition, Hamza expressed a desire to know what had caused him to suffer such a state. When the youth did not answer, Hamza persisted all the more.

  Before Hamza’s perseverance the youth could not hold and, heaving a cold sigh, he exclaimed, “Hear, O kind friend, that I am afflicted with that pain to which the world offers no cure! A malady of which there is no remedy in this life!”

  Hamza said, “There is no malady save death but has a cure in this world!”

  In view of Hamza’s compassionate indulgence, the youth opened his heart to him and, told his story thus:

  “I am the heir to the throne of Maghreb, which is the country and domicile of my fathers, and Sultan Bakht is my name. I have been brought into this terrifying wilderness by my love for Huma-e Tajdar, the daughter of the king of Yemen. It is my passion that has shown me this day in this reduced state. As I could not meet the demands of my beloved, grief-stricken and helpless I have turned my back to the world!”

  Hamza replied, “It is neither a difficult undertaking, nor an occasion to despair! One must not take leave of one’s senses and despair, becoming derelict after such trivial considerations!

  “Anchor your hopes in the bounty of your Lord. Exercise patience and restraint. Renounce this wasteland and accompany me back into civilization. God willing I myself shall bring your wishes to fruition.”

  That day Amir Hamza camped at that place, and converted Sultan Bakht Maghrebi to the True Faith. The attendants and menials were ordered to wash and clean the prince and exchange his beggarly garb with a princely attire.

  After they had gone a long way and traversed many fathoms, Amir Hamza beheld a youth wearing a cap and robe of lion skin seated in their path with a fierce lion tethered by his side. Hamza went forward and asked him, “Who might you be, O youth? And why is that lion chained by your side?” The youth answered, “I am a robber and a highwayman, and my name is Tauq bin Heyran. Whenever someone happens by and when a wayfarer takes this path, I let my lion loose at him. After the lion has killed him, I seize his goods and chattels, while my lion here devours him and feeds on the carcass!”

  Amir Hamza said to him, “O youth! Repent from this carnage of the innocent, or you will find yourself a loser in this world and the next. The highwayman replied, “O stranger! Your beauty and graceful airs move me to have pity on you. It would bode well for you to surrender your horse and your arms and accoutrements and peaceably go your way, with my promise of safe conduct!” Amir Hamza said, “What great swagger, and what an impetuous speech! Let loose the lion and behold a little show of my divinely gifted might!”

  Immediately the man let the lion loose at him. As the lion leapt at Amir Hamza, he skewered him with his spear and flung him back at the bandit. That man was amazed at Hamza’s might, and unsheathed his sword and attacked him. With one blow from the shaft of his spear, Amir Hamza made him bite dust. Then dismounting and catching him by the scruff of his neck, he lifted him over his head and would have gladly crashed him against the ground, when Tauq bin Heyran asked for forbearance, and pleaded for mercy. At this, Amir Hamza gently put him down. Amir Hamza converted him to the True Faith and appointed him the standard-bearer of his army.

  When they neared the end of their journey, and the fortress of Yemen lay just five leagues farther, Hamza gave the order to set up camp, and they bivouacked with ease and comfort in a verdant pasture.

  Now we re
turn to Munzir Shah, the king of Yemen. Those from Suhail Yemeni’s army who had escaped with their lives during their skirmish with Amir Hamza returned to their homeland and narrated all the details of Amir Hamza’s battle with Suhail Yemeni. Thereupon Munzir Shah left his son Noman with ten thousand troops to guard the fortress, and himself advanced toward Mecca at the head of thirty thousand mounted troops. But the paths of Munzir Shah and Amir Hamza did not cross, as they had taken separate routes to and from Mecca.

  Amir Hamza sent an embassy to Noman with a missive stating that he represented a friend who sought the hand of Huma-e Tajdar, the daughter of the king of Yemen, in marriage. He conveyed to Noman his desire to find out Huma-e Tajdar’s terms for marriage, so that he might fulfill them. When Noman communicated Amir Hamza’s message to his sister, she said, “Very well! Let the ground be made ready. After routing Hamza at the game of horse-shinty,38 I shall behead him and spike his head over the fort parapet!” Noman wrote back to Hamza, “We express our deference to your wish. Tomorrow we shall play at horse-shinty, and the mettle of each combatant will be thereby tested. If you should bear the ball away from the field, you shall also bear away the princess. Otherwise, your head shall be spiked at the fort parapet.”

  Amir Hamza was delighted to hear of a match of horse-shinty. The whole night battle drums pounded, and kettledrums were played in the two camps.

  When the kingly sun ascended its heavenly throne, Noman marched to the battlefield at the head of his army, and took position in the field. The august king, Lord of the Auspicious Planetary Conjunction of the Age, the distinguished Amir—to wit, Hamza the Illustrious, also armed himself and mounted Siyah Qitas.

  When it was time to seek combat after the battle lines were drawn on both sides, Amir stood opposite Noman bin Munzir Shah. Suddenly, a rider hidden by a green veil and covered from head to heel in a sea of jewels like his steed, leapt onto the battlefield astride his horse, and sauntered into the arena with a stately and graceful air, carrying in his hand the horse-shinty stick. Addressing Amir Hamza, he declared, “Here is the ball and here the field. Show what you have got to offer of your skill!” The moment Amir heard the challenge, he spurred on the charger of the prophet Ishaq. Advancing the ambling stallion into the arena, he declared, “O youth, take heed!”

  The opponent’s attendants threw the ball into the field, and that veiled youth urged the horse with strong legs, and struck the ball with the stick and bore it away. Amir Hamza took the stick from Amar’s hands, and spurred his horse forward. He swung the pole and struck the ball with great precision, displaying his divinely gifted might. When that youth saw the game slipping from his hands, he directly threw back the veil from his face and displayed a luminous aspect, making the whole field resplendent with a damsel’s world-ornamenting charm. For it was no other than Huma-e Tajdar.

  As Amir sat thunderstruck by her beauty and confounded by this display of the Creator’s handiwork, Huma-e Tajdar again nudged the horse and struck the ball. She was on the verge of carrying it away, when Amir steeled his heart and proclaimed, “There is no power or might save in Allah!” Then he urged his horse forward and declared, “I see your fraud and deceit. This explains how you bear the ball away from the field, and how you win the wager to spike men’s heads on the fort parapet. I will show you the essence of courage and valor and how the ball is borne away from the field! Behold! Beware! Be warned! Here I take the ball and, with the attendant grace of God, win this game!” He bore away the ball and handed Huma-e Tajdar a resounding defeat.

  Then Amir Hamza addressed her thus: “O Huma-e Tajdar! Speak if you have anything to say! Are you satisfied, or do you wish to put yourself to further test?” She replied, “Let us match ourselves once more!” In honor of her request Amir threw the ball once more into the field and, again flourishing the stick, he won the game with his superior speed and skill. Recognizing that she had lost the competition, Huma-e Tajdar sought retreat and spurred her horse to reach her brother Noman and the safety of her camp. Amir Hamza also spurred his horse forward and, catching her by her cummerbund, lifted her up from her saddle and threw her like a ball toward Amar, who fastened her arms with his lasso, and headed toward his camp.

  Upon noticing this turn of events, Noman shouted to his soldiers, “Make haste and cut him off.”

  Upon his call, ten thousand armed troops besieged Amir Hamza and attacked him from all sides. Amir fell upon them and, every which way he lunged, he cleared the field of men and their bodies of their heads.

  At his approach that malevolent host scattered away like moss on water’s surface. The slain carpeted the battlefield, and villains who had before made bold claims now all meekly laid down their arms. At this point, Noman bin Munzir Shah Yemeni came with his sword raised over Amir’s head, and brought down his villainous arm to unleash his vigor. Amir took the blow on his shield, and then plucked Noman clear off his saddle by his cummerbund. Like an intrepid hawk clutching a timid sparrow, he thus gave him into Amar’s custody. As the rest took to their heels in terror, the crocodile of the saber continued his attack, also dispatching to Hell those in flight.

  Amir Hamza returned glorious and victorious to his pavilion. At night when the revelries began, Amir sent for Noman, and said to him, “Speak your mind and let your tongue unburden your heart!” Noman relented, “It was not given to one among mankind to come before my numerous host of swashbucklers and dagger fighters and escape with his life! I have nothing further to say but that I convert hereby to the True Faith!”

  Amir embraced him, and had a seat spread out for him by his side. Then drinks were passed in rounds; Noman became one of the legion of the faithful; and Amar began to croon a festive song.

  In the morning, Noman summoned his army and extended to them the invitation to convert to the True Faith. All of them lowered their heads as one in acquiescence. All the commanders of Noman’s forces found the ennoblement of the True Faith and were presented before Amir Hamza, who conferred upon every one of them a robe of honor.

  When the tidings reached Munzir Shah Yemeni, a blaze of rage flared up in Munzir Shah’s breast. Aborting his advance on Mecca, he returned posthaste and, upon his arrival in the fort, sounded the war drums. Amir also ordered kettledrums to be sounded in his camp.

  At the crack of dawn the two armies marched into the arena. Munzir Shah sauntered into the arena astride his horse, and bellowed out thus from the ranks of his heathenish horde: “Declare thyself who is Amir Hamza, the commander of the army. Where hides he? Let him show himself and his wits, and display the might and stature he claims as a man. Let him test his mettle with me.”

  In response, Amir Hamza rode up to him and said, “Why bark so boastfully, and brag thus? In just one stroke, God willing, you shall bite dust. I shall give you the first blow so that all your heart’s desires may be realized and they do not die unrequited with you!”

  As Munzir Shah aimed his spear, Amir urged his horse alongside Munzir Shah’s, wrested the spear from his hands, and threw it over his shoulder after breaking its shaft. Munzir Shah attacked with his sword, but Amir Hamza parried that, too, and grasping him from behind, lifted him off his saddle and snatched his sword from him. He would have dashed Munzir to the ground, but the latter asked for mercy. Amir released him lightly to the ground. Munzir Shah kissed Amir’s feet, and converted to the True Faith with all his heart by reciting the Act of Faith.

  For a whole month Munzir Shah hosted Amir Hamza. From the first day Munzir Shah began preparations commensurate with his status for the wedding, and in accordance with Hamza’s wishes arranged for Huma-e Tajdar to be wedded to Sultan Bakht Maghrebi. Then Bakht Maghrebi pleaded before Hamza, “Huma-e Tajdar is now affianced to me. I will marry her and set up house, God willing, on the day when Your Honor shall celebrate his own nuptials.”

  Thereupon Amir said their engagement sermon and had the ceremony grandly solemnized. When the festivities ended, Amir Hamza said to Munzir Shah, “Now I shall take my leave and head bac
k home, where my father shall be anxiously awaiting my return.” Munzir Shah replied, “I shall be your riding companion.” Thus speaking, he appointed his deputy to run the affairs of the state and, along with Noman and thirty thousand fierce grapplers in his train, rode toward Mecca with Amir.

  OF THE RISE OF HASHSHAM BIN ALQAMAH KHAIBARI AND HIS MARCH ON CTESIPHON FROM KHAIBAR

  Thus unfolds the account of authentic historiographers and this tale of great import and moment, that Hashsham had turned twelve when he set foot out of doors with lofty aspirations, and heard a great tumult in the marketplace. People told him that collectors sent by Naushervan were exacting taxes, and punishing anyone who offered the least excuse for not promptly submitting the levy. Galled by anger, Hashsham had a few collectors arrested, and banished them from the city after cutting off their ears and noses. Then he proclaimed a ban declaring that no one should pay even a farthing in tribute, and should submit an equivalent amount into Hashsham’s coffers instead. He set about enlisting an army, and before long he assembled an intrepid force and marched on Ctesiphon.

  The emperor assembled the ministers of state and sought Buzurjmehr’s counsel. Buzurjmehr said, “In my judgment it would be improper that your Excellent Highness skirmish with the offender yourself. There is no glory to be gained in vanquishing such a one as he. And should the results be otherwise, your enemies shall have the occasion to say that the Emperor of the Seven Climes was humbled by an abject fellow. Your Highness should depart on a hunting expedition before his ingress, leaving some commander in charge of affairs in Ctesiphon. That way, when that wretch (deserving to be beheaded!) should arrive, he will be accorded such a chastisement that the wind will be taken out of the sails of all, high and low, and they never again will raise their heads from your obedience and vassalage.”