When Emperor Shahpal’s throne alighted, Amir dismounted and kissed its foot. Shahpal embraced Amir and kissed his forehead. Amir presented the emperor with Rahdar’s head, along with all the jewels and valuables.
Then seating Amir by his side, the emperor repaired to Gulistan-e Irum, where he conducted Amir into the Hall of Suleiman, offering him a bejeweled throne for his station and scattering precious jewels as a sacrifice to Amir. All the illustrious perizads stood with folded wings before Amir and said to one another, “Who would have thought that the Creator endowed feeble humans with such beauty and might, and made them so courageous and suave?” The emperor ordered that wines of Qaf be served in order to break the timidity of Amir, who sat quiet with his gaze lowered.
This scribe now returns to the realm of Earth to discourse on what passed there until the wine is brought out for Hamza.
OF NAUSHERVAN LEARNING OF AMIR’S DEPARTURE TO QAF AND HIS DISPATCHING AN ARMY TOWARD MECCA
The historians of chronicles of yore relate that Naushervan was already floundering in a sea of sorrow after hearing of the reverses suffered by Zhopin and Ayashan Malik, when Gustham’s corpse was brought before him, and the companions of this slain commander narrated how Hamza’s throne had descended from the skies like an unforeseen calamity after Gustham had arranged his army for battle. They recounted how Hamza killed Gustham and their troops were lifted to the high heavens by some unseen force that then hurled them at their compatriots on the ground, and how, in that manner, twenty thousand troops died without anyone finding out who or what had killed them.
After these tidings, Naushervan looked askance at Buzurjmehr, who from his foreknowledge narrated the entire account of the realm of Qaf to the emperor and told him that Hamza will remain held up in Qaf for eighteen years.
Naushervan rejoiced upon hearing Buzurjmehr’s account, thinking that eighteen years were an eternity, and that Hamza would certainly die at the hands of some dev or another. It occurred to Naushervan that now was a most opportune time to settle the score with the followers of the True Faith and wipe them out of existence when they least expected an attack. Thus resolved, he ordered Wailum and Qailum, who were the mightiest warriors among the Sassanids, to advance on Mecca with thirty thousand troops and bring back Princess Mehr-Nigar. Having received their orders, the two commanders took their leave and headed for Mecca.
Now hear an account of Amar Ayyar, the exterminator of all infidels. After eighteen days had come and gone, and another few days had passed beyond the period stipulated by Hamza, Amar broke into loud cries and began to wash his face with tears. When he went to see Mehr-Nigar, he found her also in a state of great agitation. She said to him, “O Amar, Amir Hamza has not returned, and separation from him weighs heavily on my heart. God alone knows what passed with him. I can think of nothing else but taking poison to die, and removing from life’s page the mark of my existence. Then you may bury me wherever you deem proper, and inter me where you will.”
Khvaja Amar responded, “O Queen of Heavens! What is this I hear? When did you ever hear of anyone taking poison due to separation from his beloved? Why do you not put your hopes in God’s aid and assistance? I am now headed to Ctesiphon to seek Buzurjmehr’s opinion on this matter.”
After counseling Mehr-Nigar, Amar put on his ayyar’s attire and set out for Ctesiphon by way of the forest. He accomplished the journey in a few days and arrived at Buzurjmehr’s door in the guise of a farmer and informed him of his concerns.
Khvaja Buzurjmehr said, “It is true that Hamza promised to return after eighteen days. You will see him at the Castle of Tanj-e Maghreb, but not until eighteen years have passed. He shall slay all the rebellious devs of Qaf and come to no harm himself. In the meanwhile, you will have to undertake and surmount many challenges. You will be assailed from all sides by kings and warriors. But rest assured that none of them shall prevail against you. Have no fear of anybody now. Repair to Mecca posthaste, and employ yourself in fortifying your defenses, because Naushervan has dispatched Wailum and Qailum at the head of thirty thousand troops to kill you and bring back Mehr-Nigar.”
Amar replied, “I will not mind it in the least even if I should lose my life in Hamza’s service. Pray write out a letter of instruction to Mehr-Nigar, so that she may find some solace from your words and act upon my counsel.”
Buzurjmehr sent for his inkstand and wrote a letter. Amar set out toward Mecca by way of the forest. Passing all of the stations of the journey without taking rest night or day, Amar reached his fort and gave Buzurjmehr’s letter to Mehr-Nigar. Reading it, she shed tears without cease and cried out, “Alas, such was my destiny that I should burn in the fire of separation from Hamza for eighteen years, and waste away like a taper by the flame of disunion from him.”
Amar consoled her and said, “O Queen of Heavens, may you live long! God willing, these eighteen years will pass like eighteen days. The Almighty God is the Unifier of the Separated. He will ease your separation until the day you meet Hamza.”
After comforting Mehr-Nigar with these words, Amar went into the camp and mustered the army, and addressed all of them thus. “My friends, I have learned through Buzurjmehr that Hamza will remain in Qaf for eighteen years. Therefore, anyone among you who desires to leave may leave now, and those who wish to stay may stay in the spirit of fraternity.”
Regardless of rank, the whole camp replied with one voice, “O Khvaja! We have vowed to be true and faithful to Hamza with all our hearts! Now that you are with us in place of Hamza, we will never leave you, or ever dream of setting foot outside the bounds of obedience due you!” Rejoicing at their words, Amar embraced every one of them. He delegated the necessary force to the ramparts of the fort, deputized Muqbil Vafadar with his faultless archers to man the defenses, and sat waiting for Wailum and Qailum.
Hardly a few watches had passed when a dark dust cloud rose on the horizon, enveloping the whole expanse. As it drew closer, and the wafts of air dispersed it a little, Amar’s army saw a host carrying thirty standards. At its head rode two mighty and valiant champions clad in armor, whom Amar reasoned to be Wailum and Qailum.
In their greed to receive robes of honor and rich rewards from Naushervan, those fools made the blunder of ordering their forces to surround the fort and to take away Mehr-Nigar by force after slaying the followers of the True Faith.
When they came within range, Amar let loose a hail of Greek fire that burnt alive all those who had advanced close and stopped the rear ranks in their tracks. When Wailum and Qailum saw that the day was nearing its end and their army had suffered a reverse, they sounded the clarion for the cessation of hostilities, and set up camp beyond the fort’s firing range.
The next day Wailum and Qailum again sallied forth with their army and when their troops were opposite the fort, Amar again fired salvos of Greek fire from the fort. Wailum and Qailum revived the spirits of their troops and confronted those retreating with accusations of cowardly behavior. Wailum and Qailum covered their heads with their shields and spurred their mounts forward until they reached the edge of the trenches around the fort and their army charged in to fight beside them.
Amar immediately took out a missile filled with naphtha and, setting it afire, let it fly at Wailum’s breast. The naphtha soaked Wailum when the missile burst on impact, and set him ablaze. When Qailum saw Wailum burning and tried to help, he fared the same as Wailum, and writhed in agony from the pain of burning. Both brothers began rolling on the ground like tumbler pigeons. Catching sight of their commanders burning away and unable to put out the fire, their army covered them with mud and dirt. The fire was at last put out, and the fight called off for the day, their army retreated to its camp.
When about an hour remained until the close of day, Amar disguised himself as Naushervan’s ayyar, Aatish. Then he brazenly entered the pavilion of the enemy commanders and, calling on Wailum and Qailum, spoke to them with great warmth. They said to him, “Brother Aatish! See how ill we have fared at Amar�
��s hands!”
The fake Aatish replied, “Mark my words well: Only an ayyar can be an ayyar’s match. Now that I have arrived here, you shall see how Amar fares at my hands, and what a terrible retribution I will visit on him.”
At that moment the agony of their pain again overwhelmed Wailum and Qailum, and they resumed crying and wailing. Again the false Aatish spoke: “You should both imbibe a few goblets of the finest wine to recuperate your energy and allay the pain.” Amar handed out two rounds of pure wine to the brothers and the rest of the assembly, but then drugged the wine when serving the third round. Every one assembled became bereft of his faculties and fell unconscious to the floor. Amar went to the entrance of the pavilion and served the same wine to all the servants and menials as well. Then he stripped everyone naked and put all the furnishings of that pavilion, carpet and all, into his zambil. Then shaving one side of each man’s face of its mustache and beard, and tying small bells to the mustache on the other side, he marked each bare cheek with lime, catechu, and kohl,8 and blackened the other cheek entirely. After that Amar tied a note around Wailum’s neck that read:
It was I, Amar in person, who visited you today. I spared your lives this once and saved you the fate of the dead. You had better wind up your circus tomorrow and depart for Ctesiphon, or else I will slaughter all of you and exile you from the realm of the living.
Then hanging them upside down and naked from the posts of the pavilion, he headed out.
In the morning, when Wailum and Qailum’s discovered that it was Amar Ayyar who had visited them in disguise as Aatish, they veiled their faces out of mortification, and immediately broke camp and headed for Ctesiphon, returning to Naushervan’s court in their sorry state.
OF NAUSHERVAN SENDING HIS ELDER SON, HURMUZ, TO CHASTISE AMAR AYYAR
The narrator writes that after Wailum and Qailum departed toward Ctesiphon with their tails between their legs, Amar packed the fort with enough provisions to last his army for six months, and bided his time in peace.
Now, to return to the account of Wailum and Qailum: When they arrived battered and beaten in Ctesiphon and complained to Naushervan of Amar’s ravages, he sent for Hurmuz and said to him, “I would like you to go and bring back Mehr-Nigar after killing Amar. Proceed with great pomp and array, as many a battle is won from the propitious presence and good fortune of kings and princes.” In addition to forty thousand armor-clad warriors, he dispatched Hurmuz with several mighty, swashbuckling champions, and provided them for all eventualities. Naushervan also sent Bakhtak’s son Bakhtiarak to accompany them, and obtained a promise from him to exert his utmost for the success of the mission.
But while they head toward Mecca, let me narrate what passed with Amar. One day Amar realized that he had not enjoyed a good sprint for some time. Deciding not to put it off any longer, he exchanged his regal clothes for the attire of an ayyar, and headed in the direction of Ctesiphon. He had gone some twenty-odd farsangs in that direction when he beheld a great dust cloud on the horizon. Thinking that he should investigate the cause and learn what new calamity lay hidden therein, Amar disguised himself as a water carrier, and went toward it with a water skin slung over his shoulder.
When Amar drew near the cloud he beheld crown prince Hurmuz marching forward with a grand and intrepid army. The soldiers, however, were unable to open their mouths from the violence of their thirst. Upon catching sight of a water carrier, they rejoiced. Amar witnessed the prince’s tongue hanging out of his mouth and his eyes all clouded. A few of his men stood around him, holding a sheet over him for shade, wondering if he would survive.
Amar dripped a few drops of water into his mouth whereupon Hurmuz opened his eyes. When Hurmuz regained his senses he cried out, “O water carrier! Pray put aside a little water for me, and serve the rest to my army, and resurrect them, too.”
Amar had with him the gift given him by Prophet Khizr, which worked the miracle that even if ten million people were to drink from it, the source never dried and it remained as full as before. Amar satiated the thirst of the whole army including its beasts. Hurmuz gave him several hundred gold coins in reward and said, “O water carrier! I am headed at the emperor’s orders toward Mecca. If I am successful in killing Amar, I will make you the ruler of that city. Now show me a way to Mecca that has some water sources so that my army can advance without suffering.”
Amar led Hurmuz and his army deep into the heart of a forest where for miles around there was not a drop of water to be found, and exclaimed, “O Hurmuz! Little did you know that I am Amar in person! Even though I am by myself in the midst of your whole army, there is nothing you can do to harm me!”
Amar then dove away and made off after taking away Hurmuz’s crown. The troops gave him chase, yet none could catch even the cloud of dust he raised in his wake. Then some battered and ravaged troops from Wailum and Qailum’s army whom they had met on the way led Hurmuz’s army out of that pass after many a false start, and put them on the right path to Mecca.
On the fourth day, around evening, they arrived within sight of Mecca, and pitched their tents. Come night, when the commanders of the army presented themselves before Hurmuz, he said, “I want a plan that will put an end to the menace of the followers of True Faith without imperiling us in the least. It would bring me no end of ridicule and shame to have battled with a lowly ayyar.”
Bakhtiarak praised Hurmuz’s judgment and said, “If you were to command me, I would be willing to counsel Amar and persuade him to surrender before Your Honor.” Hurmuz replied, “Nothing would be more to the purpose.”
Come morning, Bakhtiarak mounted his mule and trotted up to the trenches around the fort. Bakhtiarak made a low bow and greeted Amar, calling out, “O Khvaja! Since I consider you as my cousin and have the greatest regard for your person, I have come to counsel you as a well-wisher. Hamza has left for Qaf, and to imagine that he will escape the clutches of the devs is against all reason. You would do well to hand Princess Mehr-Nigar over to Prince Hurmuz, and receive from him in exchange the authority to rule Mecca.”
Amar replied, “O coward! Do not make sport of my beard. Know that if Naushervan, the Emperor of the Seven Climes, should himself advance here with all his army, he would not be able to lay hands on Mehr-Nigar. So save your loquacious tongue its gymnastics for someone else’s ears. The devs of Qaf will soon find out to their peril where they stand with Hamza. Now leave before I put you to the sword in retribution for your words!”
Upon hearing this, Bakhtiarak said despite his better judgment, “O cameleer’s son! You’ll see now how your unbridled manner lands you in untold calamities and afflictions. I shall have lived to no purpose if I do not soon put a halter through your nose!”
At this, Amar swung his sling and let fly a stone at Bakhtiarak with such fury that it inflicted a two-digit-deep wound on his brow. He arrived before Hurmuz covered in blood. After he had recovered command of his faculties, Bakhtiarak narrated the words exchanged between Amar and himself, whereupon Hurmuz flew into a towering rage and rebuked Amar in harsh and severe terms.
THE PEN’S CHARGER, COERCED BY THE REINS OF DISCOURSE, RENDERS AN ACCOUNT OF THE LORD OF THE AUSPICIOUS PLANETARY CONJUNCTION, THE CONQUEROR OF THE WORLD, THE MOST MUNIFICENT AND BOUNTEOUS, AMIR HAMZA THE MAGNIFICENT
The nurturers of narrative relate that when the perizads brought out the grape wine, Shahpal served Amir a goblet with his own hands, and the flower bud of Amir’s fancy opened up in delight from the amiable effect of that pleasant and temperate wine.
Let it be known that Emperor Shahpal’s daughter, Aasman Peri, who was one of the comeliest fairies and unsurpassed in charm and beauty, was screened off sitting on a throne behind Shahpal’s station. She was able to catch sight of the Sahibqiran from behind the screen. Upon beholding his peerless, youthful beauty she became enamored of him, smitten by love to the very core of heart and soul. Becoming disconsolate, she began to pine away that very instant.
After one night and one day had p
assed in feasting, Shahpal said to Hamza, “O Sahibqiran! I cannot even begin to tell you how I have suffered at the hands of these devs. I will live under a debt of obligation to you all my life and will offer my whole empire in your service if you would do me the kindness of eliminating them!”
The Sahibqiran replied: “It is no great favor that you ask. By the grace of Your Excellency, and God willing, I shall behead every single one of these rebels and restore your lands to your control.”
Shahpal rejoiced at Amir Hamza’s words and said to Abdur Rahman, “Bring out the four swords of King Suleiman so that from among them he may choose the one to his liking!” Abdur Rahman produced the swords without delay. Shahpal put them before the Sahibqiran and said, “These are Samsam, Qumqam, Aqrab-e Suleimani, and Zul-Hajam.9 You may pick the one that you prefer!” Amir chose the Aqrab-e Suleimani and girded himself with it, whereupon all the perizads broke into joyous cheers.
When Amir asked Abdur Rahman what it signified, Abdur Rahman replied, “O Sahibqiran, these four swords once decorated the belt of King Suleiman who is reputed to have said that after his days were done, the heads of the contumacious devs would be severed by the Aqrab-e Suleimani. You must have chosen it by divine prescience since you were unfamiliar with its legend!”
The Adventures of Amir Hamza Page 29