Acting on Muqbil’s advice, Amir changed and returned to Qasr-e Chahal Sutoon. But his senses were in confusion. And likewise Princess Mehr-Nigar was in no better state. Her nannies, domestics, and female attendants surrounded her. The princess stopped partaking of all food and drink, and her eyes were robbed of sleep. When she recovered and realized that her secret might leak out and her passion compromise her, she said to her attendants, “Do not give yourself to disquiet, as it was a momentary giddiness that overtook me. Stop all this rumpus and speaking, and allay your anxiety!”
Amir Hamza, meanwhile, bided his time by vacantly staring about and waiting for the day to come to a close, so that he might find some remedy for his disconsolate heart, and the pangs of his yearning might be softened by the prospect of the evening drawing nigh. He passed his day somehow, and restrained himself until the evening hour, but then his restive heart prevailed upon him to say to the emperor, “If I may be granted leave, I would take some rest and remove myself to a garden nook for a little repose!” The emperor replied, “By all means!”
Then Amir stepped out with Muqbil and arrived under Mehr-Nigar’s lattice window, but he found no foothold there save a great tall tree that stood by the palace wall, its canopy spread over the palace roof and touching the coping. Amir left Muqbil standing under the tree and climbed up himself.
OF AMIR HAMZA’S FIRST TRYST WITH THE APOGEE OF ELEGANCE, PRINCESS MEHR-NIGAR
The melancholic pen fathoms the affliction of lovers and discerns the humors of those languishing in parting; and with the tip of its tongue the love-stricken reed records the history of yearning and desire, and narrates this tale of separation and meeting thus: Hamza saw from the palace roof that Mehr-Nigar sat with a cluster of her moonfaced and fairy-limbed companions, with a flagon of crimson wine placed before her, and a full crystal goblet held in her hand.
But pearls of tears rolled down ceaselessly from the tips of her eyelashes onto the skirts of her dress. The fire of love blazed in the chafing dish of her bosom; cold sighs abundantly issued from her lips.
That morning Amir had beheld her from afar. When he regarded her now in proximity, he witnessed that the resplendent sun confessed its inferiority before her beauty; and the luminous moon borrowed its radiance from a single ray emanated by her dazzling aspect.
Amir’s senses fled when he beheld Mehr-Nigar’s ravishing beauty, and in his heart the flames of love raged ever more furiously. Princess Mehr-Nigar, too, was counseled by her companions and confidantes, who did all they could to bring solace to her heart. They would say, “Who is to know what further ruin these lamentations would invoke? Become not derelict. Show some restraint, and control your passion! The one after whom you long so violently has also regarded you, and separation from you indeed will never give him peace! He will contrive some way to see you, and find a ruse to obtain a tryst with you.”
At long last all those many counselors prevailed, and Princess Mehr-Nigar ceased her crying. Then Fitna Bano, the daughter of Princess Mehr-Nigar’s nanny, handed her a goblet of wine to drink.
The princess said, “I shall drink in a little while, after all of you have sipped first and made toasts to the ones who have captured your hearts!” Before anyone else, Fitna Bano raised a cup filled to the brim, and drank it in one swig, toasting the name of Amar Ayyar.
Hamza was confounded upon hearing Amar’s name, and wondered how Amar had found his way there. While he was occupied in these speculations, yet another beauty, Tarar Khooban, raised her goblet and drank the roseate wine, announcing the name of Muqbil Vafadar. And in like manner, one after another, the companions and mates of the princess made toasts in their turn.
Then the princess raised the goblet of crimson wine and brought it to her lips, exclaiming, “I drink this to the memory of the slayer of Hashsham bin Alqamah Khaibari, who secured the release of all of you present here!” At these words Hamza was thrown into transports of joy.
After six hours had passed, the assembly adjourned and the princess retired to her bed, but though she tossed and turned, her eyes found no sleep in memory of the Sahibqiran,51 and she cried on without cease until she was exhausted. Hamza saw that at last the princess had fallen asleep, and all her attendants had retreated, too, and were taken with slumber. He came down the palace roof from the stairwell, and stole quietly toward the princess’s bedstead. He beheld that her eyes were closed in sleep, but the eyes of her longing had remained open.
For a long while Hamza stood there admiring her luminous face. As the Sahibqiran rested his hands on the pillows to lean over and kiss her sweet lips and also plant a token of his love on her rosy cheeks, his hands accidentally slipped down to the princess’s bosom. The princess started and, having no suspicion of Amir’s presence, screamed lustily with cries of “Thief! Thief!” Her attendants rose immediately and rushed to her aid from all corners of the palace. Then Amir said, “O sweetheart! The slayer of Hashsham bin Alqamah Khaibari stands before you—in love with, and all but slain by, the coquetry of the fairy, Princess Mehr-Nigar!”
Upon recognizing Hamza, the princess was embarrassed by her screaming and offered him many excuses and apologies. Without delay she hid Amir under the bed. Then she said to her attendants, “I screamed as I started in a nightmare. You may go back to sleep now!” After they were gone, Amir came out from under the bed and sat beside Princess Mehr-Nigar. Upon regarding him in proximity, she fell into a greater swoon and took leave of her senses. But after a while she revived when Amir joined his mouth to hers and she inhaled his scent. The roseate twilight having appeared, Amir said to her after filling his narcissus eyes with dewlike tears of longing, “Farewell, O sweet one. The slayer of Hashsham bin Alqamah Khaibari can stay no longer! I fear lest the secret come out, as I had taken my leave of the emperor on the pretext of getting some sleep. Should I live, I will return tonight, after warding off and averting all hazard!”
The princess sighed deeply and with tears in her eyes spoke thus: “How I shall while away this dismal day and bring solace to my heart remains to be seen!”
Thereafter Amir took his leave, climbed down from the palace roof the same way he had climbed up, and returned to the royal assemblage in Muqbil’s company.
At that time the emperor exited his bedchamber to give audience and make his appearance in the assembly. When the morning breeze freshened up the flower of the sun, the emperor arrived in Char-Chaman holding Amir’s hand. But Amir was all restless like quicksilver in fire, and he no longer had any control on his heart.
Every so often Amir would venture outside the assembly to behold again the sight of Princess Mehr-Nigar’s palace.
When Buzurjmehr noticed Hamza’s restiveness, he surmised that Hamza must have become enamored of someone’s charm. He signaled to Amar, who said, “I had come to this conclusion long before you did, and the caprices of his heart are responsible for his state!”
Amir Hamza’s restlessness had not escaped Bakhtak’s notice either, and he concluded, too, that Hamza was in love. Bakhtak submitted to the emperor, “Your Honor! People disturb the assembly with their constant coming and going. Pray declare that whoever shall now step out of the assembly without cause will be made to pay a fine of a hundred tomans for the disruption!”
The emperor found the counsel to his liking, and said to Amir, “If anyone now wanders out, he will invite a fine of a hundred tomans for doing so!” Amir acquiesced, yet his impatience made him rise twice from the assembly, and he was obliged to pay two hundred tomans in fines.
Buzurjmehr now said to Amar, “We must arrange it so that somehow Bakhtak is made to leave the assembly, or is ejected on some pretense!” Amar replied, “Nothing could be simpler!” Having said this, Amar approached the emperor and conveyed the following to the royal ears: “The festive assembly is now at a new height of elation. Should Your Highness so decree by your order, this slave would present a few cups of wine to Your Majesty!” The emperor answered, “Nothing would be better!” After passing three
or four cups to the emperor in quick succession, Amar filled a cup for Prince Hurmuz and another for Hamza, and after serving them, presented one to Buzurjmehr. And going around in this manner he then put a wine cup to the lips of the Lord Swine of Faith, Bakhtak.
Then suspicion arose in Bakhtak’s heart that something foul and villainous was behind this and Amar’s request to be made the cupbearer hid some nefarious intent. He said to Amar: “The past day I gave up drinking, and therefore I shall abstain!” At this, Amar announced loudly for everyone to hear: “It is a prodigious thing that all the cupfellows of the emperor, and even His Highness himself, would deign to drink out of my hand, but Bakhtak deems it unworthy of his station.”
The emperor included, all those present laughed heartily at Amar’s quip, and the courtiers said to Bakhtak, “Indeed it is a signal honor to have Amar for one’s cupbearer. It is most remarkable that you spurn this honor in your insistence not to drink!” Helpless, Bakhtak was left with no choice but to take the cup from Amar’s hand and reluctantly drank it like one imbibing hemlock.
Now, Amar had admixed Bakhtak’s drink with a drug that was a most potent purgative. Hardly a moment had passed when Bakhtak felt a great turmoil in his bowels. Bakhtak submitted to the emperor, “Your born slave seeks leave to attend to the call of nature, and will return presently!” But hardly had he returned after relieving himself than he again felt a grinding in his bowels, and he was again obliged to rise. Amar said to him, “Whither go you now, as you ventured out only a moment ago!” Bakhtak said, “I am going to the toilet!” Amar replied, “You just returned from the toilet!” Bakhtak then paid a hundred tomans in fine and attended to his need. No sooner had he returned when he again felt the urge to go. But the fear of incurring the fine kept him rooted to his station, until the urge became unbearable and, unable to control it any longer, Bakhtak relieved himself in his chair. The scat filled up his pants and flooded out from its cuffs.
Amar, who had been waiting for that moment, put down the goblet in his hands, and declared to the emperor, “Your Highness is now pleasantly intoxicated. Your pleasure would double if Your Highness were to take a stroll in the garden.” The emperor replied, “O Amar! At this moment I would like it very much indeed!” The emperor took Hamza’s hand and directed his steps to the garden, and those present also rose and followed in the emperor’s train.
As Bakhtak, too, was obliged to rise, people soon noticed that his whole chair was smeared with excrement, which also flowed from the bottoms of his pants. Amar bore the news to the emperor, who was already tipsy from drink. Naushervan sent for Aadi, and said to him, “This uncouth, ill-mannered man is not fit for our company! Throw him out of the garden and drive him from our presence this instant!” Aadi, who was already furious with Bakhtak, immediately took him away, dragging him along by his beard.
Then Buzurjmehr said in his heart, Bakhtak was gotten rid of by this stratagem, but Hamza’s restiveness grows by the moment. If the emperor should discover it, some new misgiving might find way into the emperor’s heart! Therefore, he declared with folded arms before the emperor, “Hamza is greatly indebted to the honor Your Majesty has accorded him. The Guide of the World may now ascend the throne of the empire, as God’s creatures await him for the dispensation of justice, and the royal subjects are waiting to receive his audience!” The emperor greatly appreciated Buzurjmehr’s counsel and, after investing Amir Hamza with a sumptuous robe of honor, gave him leave to retire, while he himself repaired to the court.
OF PRINCESS MEHR-NIGAR’S ANXIETY AFTER PARTING WITH AMIR HAMZA AND OF HER GOING FORTH TO SEEK HIM IN HIS CAMP
Scribes of love chronicles and cherishers of tales of love, passion, and desire write that the Lord of the Auspicious Planetary Conjunction returned to Tal Shad-Kam to count the moments and hours left until night, and in this manner bided the day of separation with prospects of the night meeting. When the sun’s simurgh52 returned to its nest in the West, and the moon’s partridge dove53 sauntered out to display its gait across the expanse of the heavens, Amir sent for his nocturnal livery. Then covering his luminous aspect in a veil of black silk, he stepped out from his pavilion with Muqbil, and in this array headed for the palace of Princess Mehr-Nigar.
Amar lay in hiding along the way, and as they passed by he leapt out and shouted, “Beware, O thieves! Whither go you, and why do you hide your faces from me? How would you enjoy the prospect of my summoning the guards on duty and putting you under incarceration until morning?” Amir responded, “O rogue and ruffian! Why must you needs thrust your nose in this affair?”
Amar answered, “It is now become amply manifest to me that I am not among your confidants, and so you kept this affair a secret from me and deem me unworthy of your trust!”
Amir replied to him, “There is no one worthier of my confidence than yourself! I did not confide this matter in you for the reason that you would counsel me against this undertaking, and I have no control over my passion and no power over my heart. Come follow me, as I am headed for the alley of my sweetheart to bring solace to my heart with a tryst with my beloved!” Amar said, “O my lord and potentate! Who might she be, and what is she like—is she of the human kind, or is she a houri or a fairy creature—that she has thus melted a man of tenacious perseverance like yourself?” Amir replied, “It is better to behold than be told. Come and witness with your own eyes!” After thus conversing with Amar, Hamza bent his legs toward Bagh-e Bedad.
Now hear how miserably Princess Mehr-Nigar fared, and how she passed her day in separation from Amir. Grief and lamentation filled up that morning, and she clung to her bedstead the whole day. Neither getting up nor getting out of her bed, she did not do her toilette, she neither ate a morsel nor drank a drop, nor raised her head from the pillows; she did not change clothes, nor brush nor plait her hair. The whole day she washed her face with tears, and cried from the pain of separation. For food she gnawed on morsels of her heart; for water she shed rivers of tears, and restrained them only when she felt someone’s presence near. Her only combing and plaiting was to ruffle her hair with her dainty paw. She hid her face in the coverlet, and when she noticed someone approach, she stared wild-eyed, heaved cold sighs.
When her female attendants noticed Mehr-Nigar in this state, they said to Fitna Bano, “It appears that the princess has lost her heart to love, as she neither eats nor sleeps, and neither in day nor in night finds any peace! Go take these tidings to your mother the nanny, so that she may busy herself in effecting a remedy.”
Fitna Bano said, “It would carry more weight if you carried this message to her and heard what she recommended and counseled!” In the end, some female attendants went in a body to narrate the whole situation to the nanny, who rushed before the princess in a state of great anxiety and beheld that indeed the princess was entirely out of sorts, caring neither for food nor drink, nor attending to her toilette or adorning herself. The nanny lifted the coverlet from her face, and said, “O my lady, what is the matter? Hide nothing from me, but confide in me your heart’s grief without fear or inhibition! I shall lay down my life for you, and scatter it away to bring you cheer.”
The princess said to her nurse, “Though considerations of modesty forbid me, yet there is no recourse left to me but to confide in you, as the fire in my heart sears also yours! Hear then, O Nanny, that the love dart of the slayer of Hashsham bin Alqamah Khaibari has shot my heart. There is scarce hope this wound will heal except by the medicine of a tryst!” The nanny replied, “Consider this proposition well, O Princess! He is a follower of the True Faith, someone who shares neither your faith nor your language. In my view it is improper for you to attach and tie yourself to him!”
The princess replied, “O dear Nanny! When did love ever have scruples about coreligionists or those who are not coreligionists! Bear it well in mind that I shall not have long to live if I am not united with the Sahibqiran!” She then took off her ambarcha worth three thousand rupees, and conferred it upon the nanny, promisin
g that hag many additional rewards from the Sahibqiran, as well as many rich gifts that she herself would bestow.
The greed of the nanny was no less voracious than Khvaja Amar’s own. Her mouth watered when she set eyes on the ambarcha, and she agreed to do the princess’s bidding. She said to the princess, “Once the night has spread its dark shades, I will dress you in nocturnal livery and take you to visit the Sahibqiran.”
Her anxiety a little allayed, the princess became pacified, and at once went to bathe and put on lavish vestments. When the court timekeeper gonged with his mallet and rang the third hour of the night, the nanny dressed the princess in night attire. Donning a manly garb herself, she and the princess climbed down a rope tied from the tower on the palace roof, and headed for Tal Shad-Kam.
Amir Hamza’s encampment was still some distance farther from them when they saw three persons clad in black coming toward them from their destination. Upon espying them the princess and the nanny took cover behind a tree and set about making themselves inconspicuous.
Amir Hamza, as it was none other than he and his companions, saw these two dark-clad figures seek cover. He remarked in a loud voice, “Behold, O Muqbil, these ladies clad in black who have ventured out of their house without the escort of men.”
When Muqbil neared the tree, he saw it was the selfsame dainty, silver-bosomed, rosy-cheeked, and moonfaced Princess Mehr-Nigar, and he shouted joyously to Amir, “Bring yourself here, sire, and behold and recognize these personages!”
When Hamza saw the princess he was beside himself with joy, and grinned from ear to ear. Holding Princess Mehr-Nigar’s hand, he returned to his pavilion.
Soon Amar presented himself before them and, after making salutations, declared with great deference, “O Princess! Indeed it was a signal honor you bestowed on us by being attracted to this place by your love for my dear friend.”
The Adventures of Amir Hamza Page 14