Next thing, Hamza called out to the captain, “Weigh the anchor!” No sooner were the orders given than the ships weighed anchor. It was only after they had left the shore behind that Hamza released Amar, who began running on the deck in confusion, muttering with dismay, “I was always true in my camaraderie toward this Arab, but he has become my mortal foe!”
After some time had passed they sighted an isle some thirty yards in both length and breadth, and upon spotting it Amar said in his heart, I will jump on it and from there find some way to return home! But what Amar had mistaken for an island, was in fact a great fish that had swum to the surface of water to bask in the sun. When Amar jumped on it, the fish felt the thump of his feet and dived; and a panic-stricken Amar began to flounder in the open sea.
The sailors threw ropes and tackle into the ocean, fished Amar out of the sea, and seated him next to Hamza.
Many days later they arrived on the shores of an island, and the ships dropped anchor. Amar was the first one to leap onto shore. By chance, he espied a man with a strap around his waist sitting under a tree. Upon beholding Amar the man began to smile from ear to ear, and called to Amar, “Come hither, my nephew! It is a wonder of wonders that the two of us have been brought together! I had become convinced that I would die and all my riches would go waste, but God sent their rightful owner!” At hearing the mention of riches, Amar kept quiet; otherwise, he would have objected to the old man’s calling him his nephew.
When Amar inquired about his particulars, the old man said, “You were a mere toddler when I left for Ceylon. When I had accumulated a great fortune there, I resolved to leave that place and return to my homeland. On my return passage, a contrary wind took hold of the ship. A storm began to blow and the sea began to rage, and the ship capsized at this place. I laid hold of my chest of jewels and jumped overboard, and swam to the land. But in that undertaking my foot was injured and it rendered me an invalid. A surgeon who is a past master of his trade lives on this island. People took pity on me and carried me to him. My condition is now improved to the extent that when I felt my heart becoming overcast, I brought myself here. I have been trying to muster the strength to return to my house. If you were to carry me to my house on your back, I would be doubly indebted to you, and shall also vouchsafe to you what by rights is yours! That is to say, I would hand over that chest of jewels to you.”
Amar’s mouth watered upon hearing this talk of the chest of jewels, and without further thought, Amar loaded up that tasma-pa on his back.
The moment the tasma-pa climbed on Amar’s back, he strapped his legs tightly around Amar’s waist, then goaded him forward with his knees, exclaiming, “Come, my ambler! Now trot along, and show me how you gallop!” Amar was thoroughly tied up and howsoever he tried to free himself, he was unable to do so, as his arms were also secured. The old man began to slap Amar’s cheeks and clout his head. Cuffing his face and kicking him in the ribs, the old man said, “Run! Why don’t you run? Do you wish to obtain all the riches without taking a single step, and establish yourself as an heir without the least labor?” Amar was taken with a great panic and alarm, and all his roguery and trickery left him.
In all helplessness, Amar ran toward the ship, thinking that Hamza would grant him release from this monster. But upon arriving near the ship Amar beheld that Hamza and all his companions were caught in the same calamity. Helpless, Amar drew away from Hamza but kept considering some way to secure his release.
Every so often the tasma-pa would command Amar to jog, then order him to leap and gambol. When he saw others of his race likewise furnished with mounts, he said to them, “Race your mounts, and show how your chargers stride and gallop! I will race my mount, too. After having our fun we will kill them and roast them on skewers!” Upon hearing these words, Hamza’s companions began heaving cold, despondent sighs. Their riders again spurred them on and started forward.
At one place in that wilderness, Amar saw a profuse growth of grapevines from which clusters of fruit were hanging. Adjacent to this was a growth of gourds, with hundreds of goblet-shaped fruits hanging down, their tendrils spread over a great expanse. Amar approached the gourd vine, and said to the tasma-pa, “Pick me a big gourd and fill it up with the juice that drips from the grape clusters. Give me sips from it along the way, so that after drinking it I can stride even more nimbly.”
That dolt did as Amar had bade him and, plucking off a gourd, filled it up with grape juice. Then he dripped some into Amar’s mouth and gave him also some grapes to eat. Amar broke into an air and carried his rider sprinting at ever greater speed. That rascal was mightily pleased, and said, “Oh, my charger! I will never release you from between my legs, as you lighten my heart with your pranks and by running so swiftly!” Amar said to him, “Mind that you drink none of this liquid, but leave it all for me!”
The tasma-pa now thought in his heart, It seems that this juice is some sovereign elixir! That is why he forbids me to drink it. Thus thinking he took two sips from the gourd and, immensely enjoying the taste, he put the gourd to his lips and guzzled down its entire contents. Now when the forest breeze billowed against the tasma-pa’s face from the giddiness in his head he fell down unconscious from Amar’s back. Then Amar took out his dagger and slit open the tasma-pa’s belly.
From there Amar returned to Hamza and said, “You imperiled the lives of the followers of the True Faith for the sake of an infidel’s daughter, and put me to great distress!” Hamza said, “Indeed I am guilty of the charge, as well as inexperienced. But you now have the chance to earn great recompense by delivering us from this scourge!” Amar replied, “What is in it for me if I kill this multitude of tasma-pas and have the blood of these invalids on my neck?” Hamza said, “Their blood will be on my neck, and I shall give you two hundred gold pieces for every one of them that you kill!”
Amar killed every single tasma-pa by picking them clean off their mounts with well-aimed slingshots, and made piles of the dead. After everyone had been released from the clutches of those beings, Hamza ordered the ships to weigh anchor without further delay and set sail.
After many days a speck of cloud appeared on the horizon, and in no time a tempest began to rage and a storm to brew. Everything drowned in pitch darkness.
After three days the tempest gradually blew away. The pall of this calamity was not yet cast from their hearts when it was discovered that the ships of Emperor of China Bahram Gurd could not be accounted for. All four of his ships had disappeared without sign or trace, and no sign of them could be found. Upon hearing these tidings Hamza immediately drowned in the abyss of sorrow, and cried out, “A great leviathan of the sea of courage and valor has drowned!” His companions said, “They have perhaps found a port and the Sailor of Fate has taken them to shores of safety. By virtue of His great beneficence He will bring us together again!”
OF ANOTHER STORM, AND HAMZA’S SHIPS BEING DRIVEN INTO THE WHIRLPOOL OF SIKANDER, AND OF THE DELIVERANCE OF THESE POOR SOULS FROM THE TEMPEST; AND OF THEIR ARRIVING IN THE LANDS OF CEYLON AND EXACTING TRIBUTE FROM THE KHUSRAU OF INDIA, LANDHOOR BIN SAADAN SHAH
The divers of the ocean of historiography and the excavators of the sea of ancient tales bring up the pearls of legends, and thus display them by stringing them into prose, that after the storm had blown away, the fleet found favorable winds for a few days and the travelers remained safe from any catastrophes, and the captains gave full sails and sped on their vessels. Then one day the lookout of the ship shouted, “Hear, O friends! A great storm is about to engulf us, and a greater calamity still is the Whirlpool of Sikander that lies a short distance from here. Should the ships be led into it (perish the thought!), they will founder in no time. Then every man will find himself at the mercy of the open sea!”
Upon hearing this news Amar was terribly frightened and was thrown into a great panic.
Soon the storm came upon them, and the sea began to rage, and before long the ships were driven into the Whirlpool of Sikander. As Hamza pe
ered into the storm, he beheld a stone obelisk of great length and breadth that rose from the center of the whirlpool. Affixed to it was a tablet of white stone. When he looked closely, Hamza saw words in Arabic letters chased on it in black stone, which read:
There will come a time when the fleet of the Sahibqiran shall arrive at this place and be caught in the Whirlpool of Sikander. Then the Sahibqiran must climb up the obelisk and sound the Timbal of Sikander that is kept here, or else order his deputy to climb up, and do what is needful. Then the ships will find escape from this whirlpool, and the Sahibqiran shall be delivered from this difficulty.
Hamza said to Amar, “Adieu, my brother! I shall head for the obelisk and sound the timbal!” Amar said, “The same command applies also to your deputy. And thus, as I am your deputy, I shall climb this obelisk and sound the Timbal of Sikander!” But in his heart Amar thought, Once I have climbed to the safety of the column, I will be saved from the raging sea, and when some ship happens by, I will board it, and go anywhere it will take me!
Then he turned to Hamza’s commanders and said, “O noble chiefs! I am now become your sacrificial lamb! Prithee show the generosity of your pockets, in order that I may reap the reward of my perilous labor should I survive!” Everyone present there wrote out promissory notes and handed them to Amar, who took them, held his breath and leapt. But he landed short of the obelisk, and fell into the sea with a splash.
As he began to sink, he saw a mighty leviathan awaiting with open jaws to make him his fodder. Amar rallied his senses, and using the jaws of the beast as leverage he jumped up and landed on the summit of the obelisk.
Amar saw that a timbal was indeed placed there and the name of Sikander Zulqarnain was inscribed on its head. Proclaiming, “In the name of Allah!” Amar hit it with a mallet, whereupon a most deafening rumble was created, and for sixty-four leagues the sea was thrown into a turmoil. All the marine life appeared on the surface, and all the seabirds within a circumference of ten miles suddenly cried and drummed. The wind from the constant fluttering of their wings filled the sails of the ships, and they sailed on. Amar stayed on the obelisk as he had planned.
In a few days the ships dropped anchor in the isles of Ceylon, and the Sahibqiran landed on the island with his armies. Amar, however, was in great distress from solitude. Finding the violence of the sun unbearable, he supplicated before the True Lord and wept for his deliverance when suddenly he heard someone say, “Blessings of Allah be upon you!” Upon hearing this, Amar looked to his left and right with great surprise. Then the holy Khizr appeared to him, and said, “I am Khizr and have brought you deliverance.” Amar kissed Khizr’s feet, and made a prostration of gratitude.
But the scurrilous trickster who was famished with hunger had no qualms telling Khizr impertinently, “O venerated sir! I now put my store of hope in your hospitality as I am consumed with hunger!” The holy Khizr offered him a bread-cake, and said, “Eat this! Then I will also give you water to drink.” Amar grew wrathful and said, “How can I eat my fill with this bread-cake?”
Khizr answered, “Start eating in good faith and then you shall judge for yourself whether you are able to finish it, or if you spoke prematurely from your impetuosity!”
Then Amar began eating the bread-cake, and even after he had eaten his fill, the bread-cake remained whole as before. Next Khizr produced a water flask and gave it to Amar to drink from, asking, “How is it that you did not finish the bread-cake, since you were so hungry to begin with?” Amar saw that the flask also remained full as before, although his thirst was fully quenched. He thought up a ruse to keep them both, and expressing his gratitude to Khizr, said to him, “Thirst and hunger follow a man everywhere. When I am again consumed by the pangs of hunger, there will be nobody I can petition for relief! I would be most indebted if you would confer this bread-cake and water flask upon me!”
The holy Khizr granted Amar’s request, and said, “Give this Timbal of Sikander to Hamza along with all its regalia, but mind that you keep none of it yourself!” Amar said to the prophet, “How will I carry this great load, and travel under its burden?” The holy Khizr gave him a sheet of cloth, and said, “Wrap it all in this, and you shall feel no weight whatsoever.” Amar said to himself, This sheet is also a good thing to have. It will come in handy, and keep me warm in the winter besides!
Wrapping all the goods and the Timbal of Sikander in the sheet, Amar carried the bundle on his head, and climbing onto the instep of Khizr’s feet he closed his eyes and began to recite the Most Great Name—as Khizr had instructed him—and he was carried away from one place to another in just an instant. When Amar opened his eyes he found himself standing on land.
Now hear of Hamza, how when he landed in the port of Ceylon and reached the safety of its shore with his troops, he said to his men, “We shall sojourn here and occupy ourselves in grieving and mourning Amar’s death. Indeed I held Amar as dear as my own life, and in the end he laid down his life for me!” Then all the commanders and their troops dressed themselves in black, and occupied themselves with grieving and lamentations.
We return to Amar’s account.
In a few days Amar approached the Sahibqiran’s camp. He noticed that everyone there was clad in black, and appeared grief-stricken. Pretending to be a stranger, he asked a passerby, “Whose army is this, and why are all of them dressed in mourning?” The man answered, “This is the army of the Sahibqiran, who set up camp here some time ago. Amir had a brother, Amar Ayyar by name, who died in the Indian Ocean, and the Sahibqiran dressed himself in black to mourn his death. His entire entourage are also clad in black since they, too, are in mourning. Today being Amar’s chehlum, food and victuals over which fateha57 has been said are being distributed among the beggars and the indigent.”
That night put Amar on the mantle given him by Ilyas and entered Madi-Karib’s pavilion. He found him lying fast asleep. Amar clambered over his chest, whereupon Madi-Karib woke up, and said, “Who are you, and what is your issue with me?” Amar replied, “I am the Angel of Death! Today when Amar’s soul was bidden to enter Paradise, he refused, and told the keeper of Heaven that Madi-Karib was his bosom friend, that he would not enter Heaven without him, and in the end I was ordered to extract Madi-Karib’s soul.”
Madi-Karib replied, “I am most certainly not Amar’s friend! Indeed I was his mortal foe!” Amar now said, “If you were to offer me a little something, I would spare your life, and take your words to God Almighty!” Madi-Karib said, “A chest of gold pieces is kept over yonder. Pray take it and refrain from taking my life!”
After securing the chest Amar left. In a similar manner Amar visited all the commanders that night, and received gold pieces from all of them after leading them into deception.
Come morning, when Aadi first narrated what had passed with him the previous night, Amir Hamza laughed heartily, reckoning that Aadi had probably had a nightmare. But then other nobles as well related identical details. Then Amir said, “This place is under the influence of the devil: How else could all the men have an identical dream? Our troops should be moved elsewhere, lest they fall into the power of the devils!”
The next day Amar played the trick on Hamza, pulling the same prank. Hamza said aloud, “It is a marvel that I hear the voice, but do not see the man who speaks!” When he groped with his hands, Hamza felt a body. Thinking it was a jinn, Hamza caught hold of it by one hand, and made to clout it with the other hand when suddenly Amar called out, “Beware, O Arab! Don’t hit me!” Amar then threw off the mantle. Hamza had recognized his voice and now embraced him with great delight. Amar narrated all that had passed with him, and handed the Timbal of Sikander and other effects to Hamza.
The next morning Hamza moved his camp to the foot of Mount Ceylon, and at last arrived at his destination.
Amir had arrived at Mount Ceylon at the time of the festival commemorating the day Prophet Aadam’s expiation was accepted by God. On the mountain was a stone that bore an imprint of Aadam’s foot, and
the Hindus and the True Believers made their pilgrimage to that site.
Amar made his way to the place. By chance, he spied a hut and went toward it, and he found an ancient praying inside. When the old man visited blessings on Amar, and addressed him by his name, Amar frowned and reached for his dagger, thinking this was a tasma-pa. The ancient smiled, and said, “O Amar! I am not of the race of the tasma-pas but of the line of Nuh, and my name is Saalim! I recognized you by virtue of receiving annunciation about you last night in a dream, otherwise I would know nothing of you or your name!” He handed Amar an iron club, and said, “Go to that nook, and dig in the ground to this club’s length, and there you will find what is apportioned your share. Mind not to give in to greed!”
Amar dug up the ground to the measure, and found a bright grain of ruby. He kept digging, but found nothing else. He felt embarrassed, and returned to Saalim. The old man said, “Now go to the mountain and make pilgrimage to the imprint of Aadam’s foot!”
Amar took the trail the old man advised to the mountain, and came upon a most sumptuous enclosure. When Amar drew close, he saw there a white stone with the imprint of Aadam’s foot. Amar’s mouth watered when he saw tall heaps of jewels piled up around the stone. Then his heart was possessed by a powerful greed.
Amar spread the mantle on the ground and gathered up all the jewels inside it, but when he neared the door of the enclosure carrying his burden, the door disappeared from before his eyes. He retraced his steps and put the jewels back, and now when he looked toward the door, he found it there as before. Amar said in his heart, Now it is becoming plain to me that grandfather Aadam was not one to leave anything to chance! His riches shall forever remain before his eyes and nobody may swallow or plunder them!
The Adventures of Amir Hamza Page 17