"Volume XV" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burtons Version)

Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the Prince went forward to the Palace gate and purposed to enter, but they forbade him nor availed he to go in; so he returned to his tents and there spent the night till dawn. Then he again turned to the King’s Serai and attempted to make entry, but they stayed him and he was unable to succeed, nor could he attain to the presence of the Sovran. So he devised with one who was standing at the door a device to enter the presence, but again he failed in his object and whenever he craved admission they rejected him and drave him away saying, “O youth, tell us what may be thy need?” Said he, “I have a requirement of the Sultan and my purport is a business I may transact with him and speech containeth both private and public matters; nor is it possible that I mention my want to any save to the Sovran.” So a Chamberlain of the chamberlains went in to the presence and reported the affair to the King, who permitted them admit the stranger, and when he stood before the throne he kissed ground and deprecated evil for the ruler and prayed for his glory and permanency, and the Monarch, who marvelled at the terseness of his tongue and the sweetness of his speech, said to him, “O youth, what may be thy requirement?” Quoth the Prince, “Allah prolong the reign of our lord the Sultan! I came to thee seeking connexion with thee through thy daughter the lady concealed and the pearl unrevealed.” Quoth the Sultan, “By Allah, verily this youth would doom himself hopelessly to die and, Oh the pity of it for the loquence of his language;” presently adding, “O youth, say me, art thou satisfied with the conditions wherewith I would oblige thee?” and the Prince replied, “O my lord, Omnipotence is to Allah; and, if the Almighty empower me to fulfil thy pact, I shall fulfil it.” The King continued, “I have three tasks to impose upon thee,” and the Prince rejoined, “I am satisfied with all articles thou shalt appoint.” Hereupon the Sovran summoned the writers and witnesses, and they indited the youth’s covenant and gave testimony that he was content therewith; and when the Prince had signified his satisfaction and obligation, the King sent for an ardabb of sesame and an ardabb of clover-seed and an ardabb of lentils and let mingle all three kinds one with other till they became a single heap. Then said the King to the Prince, “Do thou separate each sort by itself during the course of the coming night, and if dawn shall arise and every seed is not set apart, I will cut off thy head.” Replied the other, “Hearing and obeying.” Then the King bade place all the mixed heap in a stead apart, and commanded the suitor retire into solitude; accordingly, he passed alone into that site and looked upon that case and condition, and he sat beside the heap deep in thought, so he set his hand upon his cheek and fell to weeping, and was certified of death. Anon he arose and going forwards attempted of himself to separate the various sorts of grain, but he failed; and had two hundred thousand thousands of men been gathered together for the work they had on nowise availed to it. Hereupon he set his right hand upon his cheek [FN#8] and he fell to weeping and suffered the first third of the dark hours to pass, when he said to himself, “There remaineth naught of thy life save the remnant of this night!” But the while he was conjecturing and taking thought, behold, an army of the locusts to whom he had thrown the flour upon his road came speeding over him like a cloud dispread and said to him with the tongue of the case, [FN#9] “Fear not neither grieve, for we have flocked hither to solace thee and ward from thee the woe wherein thou art: so take thou no further heed.” Then they proceeded to separate each kind of grain and set it by itself, and hardly an hour had passed before the whole sample was distributed grain by grain into its proper place while he sat gazing thereon. After this the locusts arose and went their ways, and when morning dawned the Sultan came forth and took seat in the Hall of Commandment and said to those who were present, “Arise ye and bring hither the youth that we may cut off his head.” They did his bidding but, when entering in to the Prince, they found all the different grains piled separately, sesame by itself and clover-seed alone and lentils distributed apart, whereat they marvelled and cried, “This thing is indeed a mighty great matter from this youth, nor could it befal any save himself of those who came before him or of those who shall follow after him.” Presently they brought him to the Sultan and said, “O King of the Age, all the grains are sorted;” whereat the Sovran wondered and exclaimed, “Bring the whole before me.” And when they brought it he looked upon it with amazement and rejoiced thereat, but soon recovered himself and cried, “O youth, there remain to thee two tasks for two nights; and if thou fulfil them, thou shalt win to thy wish, and if thou fail therein, I will smite thy neck.” Said the Prince, “O King of the Age, the All-might is to Allah, the One, the Omnipotent!” Now when night drew nigh the King opened to him a cistern and said, “Drink up all that is herein and leave not of it a drop, nor spill aught thereof upon the ground, and if thou drain the whole of it, thou shalt indeed attain to thine aim, but if thou fail to swallow it, I will smite thy neck.” The Prince answered, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” Then he took his seat at the cistern-mouth and fell to thinking and saying in his mind, “Wherefore, O certain person, shouldst thou venture thy life and incur the cruel consequence of this King on account of thy frowardness to thy father’s wife? and by Allah, this is naught save Jinn-struck madness on thy part!” So he placed his left hand upon his cheek, and in his right was a stick wherewith he tapped and drew lines in absent fashion upon the ground, [FN#10] and he wept and wailed until the third of the first part of the dark hours had passed, when he said in himself, “There remaineth naught of thine age, ho, Such-an-one, save the remainder of this night.” And he ceased not to be drowned in thought when suddenly a host of savage beasts and wild birds came up to him and said with the tongue of the case, “Fear not neither grieve, O youth, for none is faithless to the food save the son of adultery and thou wast the first to work our weal, so we will veil and protect thee, and let there be no sorrowing with thee on account of this matter.” Hereupon they gathered together in a body, birds and beasts, and they were like unto a lowering cloud, no term to them was shown and no end was known as they followed in close file one upon other--And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day, and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was


The Four Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night,

Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the wild beasts and the feral birds met one another beside that cistern and each took his turn thereat and drank without drinking his full [FN#11] until naught of water remained in the reservoir and they fell to licking the sides with their tongues so that anyone seeing it would say that for the last ten years not a drop of liquid had been stored therein. And after this they all went their ways. Now as soon as it was morning-tide the King arose and hied forth the Harem and taking his seat in the Hall of Commandment said to sundry of his pages and Chamberlains, “Go bring us tidings of the cistern.” Accordingly they went thither and inspected it but found no trace of water therein; so they returned straightway to the ruler and reported the matter. Hereupon the Sultan was amazed and his wits were bewildered and he was certified that none had power to win his daughter for wife save that youth. So he cried, “Bring him hither,” and they fared to fetch him and presented him in the presence where he salam’d to the Sovran and deprecated [FN#12] for him and prayed for him. The Sultan greeted him in return and said, “O Youth, there now remaineth with me but a single task which if thou accomplish shall save thee and win for thee my daughter; however if thou fail therein I will smite thy neck.” “Power is to Allah!” exclaimed the Prince whereat the Sultan marvelled and said in his mind, “Glory be to God: the words and works of this youth be wonderful. Whatever I bid him do he beginneth with naming the name of the Lord whereas those who forewent him never suffered me hear aught of the sort. However, the fortunate are Fortune’s favourites and Misfortune never befalleth them.” Now when it was night-tide the Sultan said, “O youth, in very deed this mansion which standeth beside the palace is brand-new and therein are store of wood and timbers of every kind, but it lacketh portals and lattices and the finishing of the cabinets; so I desire that thou make for it doors and windows and closets. I have provided thee with everything thou dost require of carpenter’s gear and turner’s lathes; and either thou shalt work all this during the coming night, or, if thou be wanting in aught and morning shall morrow without all the needful being finished, I will cut 0ff thy head. This is the fine of thy three labours which an thou avail to accomplish thou shalt attain thine aim and if thou fail thereof I will smite thy neck. Such be then my last word.” Accordingly the Prince arose and faring from before him entered the unfinished mansion which he found to be a palace greater and grander than that wherein the King abode. He cried, “O Veiler, withdraw not Thy veiling!” and he sat therein by himself (and he drowned in thought) and said, “By Allah, if at this hour I could find somewhat to swallow I would die thereby and rest from this toil and trouble have been my lot; [FN#13] and the morning shall not morrow ere I shall find repose nor shall any one of the town folk solace himself and say, ‘The Sultan is about to cut off the head of this youth.’ Withal the bye-word hath it, ‘Joyance which cometh from Allah is nearer than is the eyebrow to the eye,’ and if Almighty (be He extolled and exalted!) have determined aught to my destiny, there is no flight therefrom. Moreover one of the Sages hath said, ‘He released me from pillar to post and the Almighty bringeth happiness nearhand.’ From this time until dawn of day many a matter may proceed from the Lord wherein haply shall be salvation for me or destruction.” Then he fell to pondering his affair and thinking over his frowardness to the wife of his father, after which he said, “The slave meditateth and the Lord determineth, nor doth the meditation of the slave accord with the determination of the Lord.” And while thus drowned in care he heard the sound of the Darabukkah-drum [FN#14] and the turmoil of work and the shiftings of voices whilst the house was full of forms dimly seen and a voice cried out to him, “O youth, be hearty of heart and sprightly of spirits; verily we will requite thee the kindness thou wroughtest to us in providing us with thy provision; and we will come to thine aidance this very night, for they who are visiting and assisting thee are of the Jбnn from the Valley of Iron.” Then they began taking up the timbers and working them and some turned the wood with lathes, and other planed the material with planes, whilst others again fell to painting and dyeing the doors and windows, these green and those red and those yellow; and presently they set them in their several steads; nor did that night go by ere the labour was perfected and there was no royal palace like unto it, either in ordinance or in emplacement. Now as morning morrowed the Sultan went forth to his divan, and when he looked abroad he saw a somewhat of magnificence in the mansion which was not to be found in his palace, so he said in his surprise, “By Allah, the works of this youth be wondrous and had the joiners and carpenters loitered over three years upon this work they never would have fulfilled such task: moreover we ken not by what manner of means this young man hath been able to accomplish the labour.” Thereupon he sent for the Prince to the presence and robed him with a sumptuous robe of honour and assigned to him a mighty matter of money, saying, “Verily thou deservest, O youth, and thou art the only one who meriteth that thou become to my daughter baron and she become to thee femme.” Presently Sultan Amir ibn al-Nu’uman bade tie the marriage tie and led to her in procession the bridegroom who found her a treasure wherefrom the talisman had been loosed; [FN#15] and the bride rejoiced with even more joyance than he did by cause of her sire, with his three tasks, having made her believe that she would never be wedded and bedded but die a maid, and she had long been in sadness for such reason. Then the married couple abode with the King their father for the space of a month, and all this time the camp of the young Prince remained pitched without the town, and every day he would send to his pages and eunuchs whatso they needed of meat and drink. But when that term ended he craved from the Sultan leave of travel to his own land and his father-in-law answered, “O youth, do whatso thou ever wishest anent returning to thy native realm;” and forthwith fell to fitting out his daughter till all her preparations were completed and she was found ready for wayfare together with her body-women and eunuchs. The Prince having farewelled his father-in-law caused his loads to be loaded and set out seeking his native country and kingdom; and he travelled by day and by night, and he pushed his way through Wadys and over mountains for a while of time until he drew near his own land, and between him and his father’s city remained only some two or three marches. Here suddenly men met him upon the road and as he asked them the tidings they replied that his sire was besieged within his capital of Sind by a neighbour King who had attacked him and determined to dethrone him and make himself Sovereign and Sultan in his stead. Now when he heard this account he pushed forward with forced marches till he reached his father’s city which he found as had been reported; and the old King with all his forces was girded around within his own walls nor could he sally out to offer battle for that the foe was more forceful than himself. Hereupon the Prince pitched his camp and prepared himself for fight and fray; and a many of his men rode with him whilst another many remained on guard at the tents.--And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was


The Four Hundred and Ninety-ninth Night,

Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the Prince busked him for fight and fray seeking to assault the army of the King who had besieged his sire, and the two hosts fought together a strenuous fight and a stubborn. On this wise fared it with them; but as regards the bride, she took patience till such time as her bridegroom had ridden forth, when she donned her weapons of war and veiled herself with a face-veil and sallying forth in Mameluke’s habit presently came up with her mate the Prince whom she found straitened by the multitude of his foes. Now this Princess was mistress of all manner weapons, so she drew her sword from its sheath and she laid on load rightwards and leftwards until the wits of all beholders were wildered and her bridegroom inclined to her and said, “Verily this Mameluke he is not one of our party.” But she continued battling till the sun rose high in the firmament-vault when she determined to attack the ensigns and colours which were flying after right royal of fashion, and in the midst thereof was the hostile Sultan. So she smote the ancient who bore the banner and cast him to the ground and then she made for the King and charged down upon him and struck him with the side of the sword a blow so sore that of his affright he fell from his steed. But when his host saw him unhorsed and prostrate upon the plain they sought safety in flight and escape, deeming him to be dead; whereupon she alighted and pinioned his elbows behind his back and tied his forearms to his side, and lashed him on to his charger and bound him in bonds like a captive vile. Then she committed him to her bridegroom who still knew her not and she departed the field seeking her camp until she arrived there and entered her pavilion where she changed her attire and arrayed herself in women’s raiment. After this she sat down expecting the Prince who, when she had committed to him the captured King, carried him into the city where he found the gates thrown open. Hereupon his sire sallied forth and greeted him albeit he recognised him not but was saying, “Needs must I find the Knight who came to our assistance.” “O my papa,” quoth the Prince, “dost thou not know me?” and quoth the other, “O young man, I know thee not;” whereat the other rejoined, “I am thy son Such-an-one.” But hardly had the old King heard these words when behold, he fell upon him and threw his arms round his neck and was like to lose his sense and his senses for stress of joyance. After a time he recovered and looking upon the captive King asked him, “What was it drave thee to come hither and seek to seize from me my realm?” and the other answered him with humility and craved his pardon and promised not again to offend, so he released him and bade him gang his gait. After this the young Prince went forth and caused his Harim and his pages and whoso were with him enter the city and when they were seated in the women’s apartment the husband and wife fell to talking of their journey and what they had borne therein of toil and travail. At last the Princess said to him, “O my lord, what became of the King who besieged thy sire in his capital and who sought to bereave him of his realm?” and said he, “I myself took him captive and committed him to my father who admitted his excuses and suffered him depart.” Quoth she, “And was it thou who capturedst him?” and quoth he, “Yea verily, none made him prisoner save myself.” Hereupon said she, “Thee it besitteth not to become after thy sire Sovran and Sultan!” and said he, “Why and wherefore?” “For that a lie defameth and dishonoureth the speaker,” cried she, “and thou hast proved thee a liar.” “What made it manifest to thee that I lied?” asked the Prince, and the Princess answered, “Thou claimest to have captured the King when it was other than thyself took him prisoner and committed him to thy hands.” He enquired, “And who was he?” and she replied, “I know not, withal I had him in sight.” Hereupon the bridegroom repeated his query till at last she confessed it was she had done that deed of derring-do; and the Prince rejoiced much in her. [FN#16] Then the twain made an entry in triumph and the city was adorned and the general joy was increased. Now his taking to wife the Lady Fatimah daughter of the Sultan Amir bin Al-Nu’uman so reconciled him to his stepmother, the spouse of his father the Sovran of Sind, that both forgot their differences and they lived ever afterwards in harmony and happiness.

HISTORY OF THE LOVERS OF SYRIA [FN#17]



It is stated that of olden times and by-gone there dwelt in the land of Syria two men which were brothers and whereof one was wealthy and the other was needy. Now the rich man had a love-some daughter and a lovely, whilst the poor man had a son who gave his heart to his cousin as soon as his age had reached his tenth year. But at that time his father the pauper died and he was left an orphan without aught of the goods of this world; the damsel his cousin, however, loved him with exceeding love and ever and anon would send him somewhat of dirhams and this continued until both of them attained their fourteenth years. Then the youth was minded to marry the daughter of his uncle, so he sent a party of friends to her home by way of urging his claim that the father might wed her to him, but the man them and they returned disappointed. However, when it was the second day a body of warm men and wealthy came to ask for the maid in marriage, and they conditioned the needful conditions and stood agreed upon the nuptials. Presently the tidings reached the damsel who took patience till the noon o' night, when she arose and sought the son of her uncle, bringing with her the sum of two thousand dinars which she had taken of her father's good and she knocked softly on at the door. Hereupon the youth started from sleep and went forth and found his cousin who was leading a she-mule and an ass, so the twain bestrode either beast and travelled through the remnant of the night until the morning morrowed. Then they alighted to drink and to hide themselves in fear of being seen until the second night fell when they mounted and rode for two successive days, at the end of which they entered a town seated on the shore of the sea. Here they found a ship equipped for voyage, so they repaired to the Ra'is and hired for themselves a sitting place; after which the cousin went forth to sell the ass and the she-mule, and disappeared for a short time. Meanwhile the ship had sailed with the daughter of his uncle and had left the youth upon the strand and ceased not sailing day after day for the space of ten days, and lastly made the port she purposed and there cast anchor. [FN#18] Thus it befel them; but as regards the youth, when he had sold the beasts he returned to the ship and found her not, and when he asked tidings thereof they told him that she had put to sea; and hearing this he was mazed as to his mind and sore amated as to his affair, nor wot he whither he should wend. So he turned him inland sore dismayed. Now when the vessel anchored in that port quoth the damsel to the captain, "O Ra'is, [FN#19] hie thee ashore and bring for us a portion of flesh and fresh bread," and quoth he, "Hearkening and obedience," whereupon he betook himself to the town. But as soon as he was far from the vessel she arose and donning male's dress said to the sailors, "Do ye weigh anchor and set sail," and she shouted at them with the shouting of seamen. Accordingly they did as she bade them and the wind being fair and the weather favourable, ere an hour had sped they passed beyond sight of land. [FN#20] Presently the captain returned bringing bread and meat but he found ne'er a ship, so he asked tidings of her and they answered, "Verily she is gone." Hereupon he was perplext and he fell to striking hand upon hand and crying out, "O my good and the good of folk!" and he repented whenas repentance availed him naught. Accordingly, he returned to the town unknowing whither he should wend and walked about like one blind and deaf for the loss of his craft. But as regards the vessel, she ceased not sailing with those within till she cast anchor near a city wherein was a King; and no sooner was she made fast than the damsel fell to scattering money amongst the crew and saying to them, "Hearten your hearts and be no afraid on any wise!" In due time the news of a fresh arrival reached the Ruler, and he ordered his men to bring him tidings concerning that vessel, and when they went for her and boarded her they found that her captain was a damsel of virginal semblance exceeding in beauty and loveliness. So they returned and reported this to the King who despatched messengers bidding her lodge with him for they had heightened their praises of her and the excess of her comeliness, and he said in his mind, "By Allah, an she prove as they describe her, needs must I marry her." But the damsel sent back saying, "I am a clean maid, not may I land alone but do thou send to me forty girls, virgins like myself, when I will disembark together with them."--And Sharazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was


The Five Hundred and Third Night,

Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the damsel demanded of the king forty clean maids and said, "We will land, I and they together," whereto he replied, "The right is with her." Hereupon he ordered all those about him, the Lords of his land and the Commons, that each and every who had in the house a virginal daughter, should bring her to him until the full tale of forty (the daughter of the Wazir being amongst them) was told and he sent them on board the ship where the damsel was about sitting down for supper. But as soon as the maidens came she met them in her finest attire, none of the number being more beauteous than herself, and she salam'd to them and invited them into the cuddy [FN#21] where she bade food be served to them and they ate and were cheered and solaced, after which they sat down to converse till it was the middle of the night. Now when sleep prevailed over the girls they retired to their several berths, and when they were drowned in slumber, the damsel arose softly and arousing the crew bade them leave their moorings and shake out their canvas; not did daylight dawn to them ere they had covered a far distance. As soon as the maidens awoke they saw themselves on board a ship amid the billows of the main, and as they asked the Captainess she answered, "Fear not for yourselves or for the voyage you are making;" [FN#22] and she gentled them and solaced them until whatso was in their hearts was allayed. However, touching the affair of the King, when morrowed the morn he sent to the ship with an order for the damsel to land with the forty virgins, but they found not the craft and they returned and reported the same to their lord, who cried, "By Allah, this be the discreetest of deed which none other save she could have done." So he arose without stay or delay and taking with him the Wazir (both being in disguise), he went down to the shore and looked around but he could not find what had become of them. And as regards the vessel carrying the virgins, she ceased not sailing until she made port beside a ruined city wherein none was inhabitant, and here the crew cast anchor and furled their sails when behold, a gang of forty pirate [FN#23] men, ever ready to cut the highway and their friends to betray, boarded them, crying in high glee, "Let us slay all in her and carry off whatso we find." When they appeared before the damsel they would have effected their intent; but she welcomed them and said, "Do ye return ashore: we be forty maids and ye forty men and to each of you shall befal one and I will belong to your Shaykh, for that I am the Captainess." Now when they heard this they rejoiced with excessive joy and they said, "Wallбhi, our night shall be a blessed one by virtue of your coming to us;" whereto she asked, "Have you with you aught of sheep?" They answered, "We have," and quoth she, "Do ye slay of them somewhat for supper and fetch the meat that we may cook it for you." So a troop of pirates went off and brought back ten lambs which they slaughtered and flayed and brittled. Then the damsel and those with her tucked up their sleeves ad hung up their chauldrons [FN#24] and cooked the meat after the delicatest fashion, and when it was thoroughly done and prepared, they spread the trays and the pirates came forward one and all, and ate and washed their hands and they were in high spirits each and every, saying, "This night I will take to me a girl." Lastly she brought to them coffee which they drank, but hardly had it settled in their maws when the Forty Thieves fell to the ground, for she had mixed up with it flying Bhang [FN#25] and those who had drunk thereof became like unto dead men. Hereupon the damsel arose without loss of time and taking in her hand a sharp-grided sword fell to cutting off their heads and casting them into the sea until she came to the Shaykh of the Pirates and in his case she was satisfied with shaving his beard and tearing out his eye-teeth and bidding the crew to cast him ashore. They did as she commanded, after which she conveyed the property of all the caitiffs and having distributed the booty amongst the sailors, bade them weigh anchor and shake out their canvas. On this wide they left that ruined city until they had made the middle of the main and they fared for a number of days athwart the billowy deep nor could they hit upon their course amongst the courses of the sea until Destiny cast them beside a city. They made fast to the anchorage-ground, and the damsel arose and donning Mameluke's dress and arraying the Forty Virgins in the same attire all walked together and paced about the shore and they were like garden blooms. When they entered the streets they found all the folk a-sorrowing, so they asked one of them and he answered, "The Sultan who over-reigneth this city is dead and the reign lacketh rule." Now in that stead and under the hand of the Wazir, was a Bird which they let loose at certain times, and whenever he skimmed round and perched upon the head of any man to him they would give the Sultanate. [FN#26] By the decree of the Decreer they cast the fowl high in air at the very hour when the damsel was landing and he hovered above her and settled upon her head (she being in slave's attire), and the city folk and the lords of the land cried out, "Strange! passing strange!" So they flushed the bird from the place where he had alighted and on the next day they freed hum again at a time when the damsel had left the ship, and once more he came and settled upon her head. They drove him away, crying, "Oh rare! oh rare!" but as often as they started him off her head he returned to it and alighted there again. "Marvellous!" cried the Wazir, "but Allah Almighty hath done this [FN#27] and none shall object to what He doeth nor shall any reject what He decreeth." Accordingly, they gave her the Sultanate together with the signet-ring of governance and the turband of commandment and they seated her upon the throne of the reign. Hereupon she fell to ordering the Forty Virgins who were still habited as Mamelukes and they served the Sultan for a while of time till one day of the days when the Wazir came to the presence and said, "O King of the Age, I have a daughter, a model of beauty and loveliness, and I am desirous of wedding her with the Sovran because one such as thou should not remain in single blessedness."--And Sharazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was


The Five Hundred and Fifth Night,

Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that quoth the Wazir to the Sultan, "I have a daughter, a model of beauty and loveliness and I am desirous of wedding her with the Sultan, because one such as thou should not remain in single blessedness." "Do whatso thou wishest," quoth the King, "and Allah prosper thy doing." Hereupon the Wazir fell to preparing the marriage-portion [FN#28] of his daughter, and of forwarding her affair with the Sultan, until her wedding appointments [FN#29] and other matters were completed. After this he caused the marriage-tie be tied, and he brought her to the supposed Sultan where she lay for the first night, but the damsel having performed the Wuzъ-ablution did naught but pray through the hours of darkness. When dawned the day, the Wazir's wife which was the mother of the maiden cam to look upon her daughter and asked her of her case, and the bride answered, "All the livelong night hath he passed in orisons, nor came he near me even once." Quoth the mother, "O my daughter, this be the first night, and assuredly he was ashamed, for he is young in years, and he knoweth not what to do; haply also his heart hangeth not upon thee; and he is but a raw lad. [FN#30] However, on the coming night ye shall both enjoy your desire." But as soon as it was the evening of the next day the Sultan went in to his Harim and made the minor ablution, and abode in prayer through the night until the morrow morrowed, when again the mother came to see how matters stood, and she asked her daughter, who answered, "All the dark hours he hath passed in devotion, and he never approached me." Now on the third night it happened after like fashion, so the mother said, "O my daughter, whenever thou shalt see thy husband sitting by thy side, do thou throw thyself upon his bosom." The bride did as she was bidden, and casting herself upon his breast cried, "O King of the Age, haply I please thee not at all;" whereat said the other, "O light of mine eyes, thou art a joy to me for ever; but I am about to confide to thee somewhat and say me canst thou keep a secret?" Quoth she, "Who is there like me for hiding things in my heart?" and quoth the other, "I am a clean maid, and my like is thy like, but the reason for my being in man's habit is that the son of my uncle, who is my betrothed, hath been lost from me and I have been lost from him, but when Allah shall decree the reunion of our lots he shall marry thee first and he shall not pay the bridegroom's visit save unto thee, and after that to myself." The Wazir's daughter accepted the excuse, and then arising went forth and brought a pigeon whose weazand she split and whose blood she daubed upon the snow-white sheet. [FN#31] And when it was morning and her mother again visited her, the bride showed her this proof of her pucelage, and she rejoiced thereat and her father rejoiced also. After this the Sultan ruled for a while of time, but she was ever deep in though concerning what device could be devised in order to obtain tidings of her father and her cousin and what had wrought with them the changes of times and tides. So she bade edify a magnificent Hammбm and by its side a coffee-house, [FN#32] both nearhand to the palace, and forthwith she summoned architects and masons and plasterers and painters, and when all came between her hands she said to them, "Do ye take a long look at my semblance and mark well my features for I desire that you make me a carven image [FN#33] which shall resemble me in all points, and that you fashion it according to my form and figure, and you adorn it aright and render it to represent my very self in all proportions, and then bring it to me." They obeyed her order and brought her a statue which was herself to a nail, so she looked upon it and was pleased therewith. Then she ordered them set the image over the Hammam-door, so they placed it there, and after she issued a firman and caused it to be cried through the city that whoso should enter that Bath to bathe and drink coffee, should do so free and gratis and for naught. When this was done, the tongues of the folks were loosened with benison, and they fell to praying for the Sultan and the endurance of his glory, and the permanence of his governance till such time as the bruit was spread abroad by the caravans and travellers, and the folk of all regions has heard of the Hammam and the coffee-house. Meanwhile the Sultan had summoned two eunuchs and ordered them and repeatedly enjoined them that whoso might approach the statue and consider it straitly him they should seize and bring before the presence. Accordingly, the slaves fared forth and took their seats before the Baths. After a while of time the father of the damsel who had become Sultan wandered forth to seek her, [FN#34] and arrived at that city, where he heard that whoso entered the Hammam to bathe and afterwards drank coffee did this without cost; so he said in his min, "Let me go thither to enter, when behold, he looked at the statue over the gateway, and he stood still and considered it with the tears flowing adown his cheeks, and he cried, "Indeed this figure be like her!" But when the eunuchs saw him they seized him and carried him away until they had led him to the Sultan his daughter, who, seeing him, recognized him forthright, and bade set apart for him an apartment and appointed to him rations for the time being. The next that appeared was the son of her uncle, who also had wandered as far as that city seeking his cousin, and he also having heard the folk speaking anent a free entrance to the Baths, said in himself, "Do thou get thee like others to that Hammam and solace thyself." But when he arrived there he also cast a look at that image and stood before it and wept for an hour or so as he devoured it with his eyes when the eunuchry beholding him seized and carried him off to the Sultan, who knew him at first sight. So she bade prepare a place for him and appointed to him rations for the time being. Then also came the Ra'is of the ship, who had reached that city seeking his lost vessel, and when the fame of the free Hammam came to his ears, he said in his mind, "Go thou to the Baths and solace thyself." And when he arrived there and looked upon the statue and fixed his glance upon it he cried out, "Wallбhi! 'tis her very self." Hereupon the eunuchry seized him and carried him to the Sultan who seeing him recognised him and placed him in a place apart for a while of time. Anon the King and the Wazir, who were responsible for the Forty Virgins came to that city--And Sharazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was


The Five Hundred and Seventh Night,

Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the King accompanied by the Wazir came to that city seeking the lost Forty Virgins and when the twain had settled there and were stablisht at ease their souls longed for the Baths and they said each to other, "Hie we to the Hammam that we may wash away the dirt which be the result of travel." So they repaired to the place and as they entered the gateway they looked up and fixed their eyes upon the statue; and, as they continued to gaze thereupon, the eunuchs who sighted them seized them and carried them off to the Sultan. [FN#35] When they stood between their hands and they beheld the Forty Mamelukes who were also before her, the Wazir's glance happened to fall upon his daughter who was on similar wise in slave's habit, and he looked at her with the tears flowing adown his cheeks and he said in his mind, "Wallбhi! Verily this Mameluke is like my child as like can be." Hereupon the Sultan considered the twain [FN#36] and asked them of their case [FN#37] and they answered, "We be Such-and-such and we are wandering about to seek our daughter and her nine-and-thirty maidens." Hereupon she assigned them also lodgings and rations for the present. Lastly appeared the Pirate which had been Shaykh and the comrade of the Forty Thieves also seeking that city, and albeit he was aweary and perplext yet he ceased not to wander that he might come upon the damsel who had slain his associates and who had shaved his beard and had torn out his eye-teeth. He also when he heard of the Hammam without charge and the free coffee-house said in himself, "Hie thee to that place!" and as he was entering the gateway he beheld the image and stood still and fell to speaking fulsome speech and crying aloud and saying, "By Allah, this statue is likest to her in stature and size and, by the Almighty, if I can only lay my hand upon her and seize her I will slaughter her even as one cutteth a mutton's throat. Ah! Ah! an I could but catch hold of her." As he spake these words the eunuchry heard him; so they seized him and dragged him along and carried him before the Sultan who no sooner saw him than she ordered him to jail. And they imprisoned him for he had not come to that city save for the shortening of his days and the lavishing of his life-blood and he knew not what was predestined to him and in very sooth he deserved all that befel him. Hereupon the damsel bade bring before her, her father and her cousin and the Ra'is and the King and the Wazir and the Pirate (while she still bore herself as one who administered the Sultanate), and when it became night time all began to converse one with other and presently quoth she to them, "O folk, let each and every who hath a tale solace us with telling it." Hereat quoth one and all of them, "We wist not a recital nor can we recount one;" and she rejoined, "I will relate unto you an adventure." They cried, "O King of the Age, pardon us! for how shalt thou rehearse us an history and we sit listening thereto?" [FN#38] and she replied, "Forasmuch as you have no say to say, I will speak in your stead that we may shorten this our night." Then she continued, "There was a merchant man and a wealthy with a brother which was needy, and the richard had a daughter while the pauper had a son. But when the poor man died he left only a boy who sought to marry the girl his cousin: his paternal uncle, however, refused him maugre that she loved him and she was beloved of him. Presently there came a party of substantial merchants who demanded her in wedlock and obtained her and agreed upon the conditions; when her sire was minded to marry her to their man. This was hard upon the damsel and sore grievous to her so she said, 'By Allah, I will mate with none save my uncle's son.' Then she came to him at midnight leading a she-mule and an ass and bringing somewhat of her father's moneys and she knocked at the youth's door and he came out to her and both went forth, he and she, in the outer darkness of that murky night and the Veiler veiled her way." Now when the father and the cousin heard this adventure they threw themselves on her neck, [FN#39] and rejoiced in her until the turn came for her recounting the tale of the merchant-captain and he also approved her and was solaced by her words. Then, as she related the history concerning the King and the Wazir, they said, "By Allah, this indeed is a sweet story and full of light and leading and our lord the Sultan deserveth for this recital whatso he may require." But when she came to the Pirate he cried, "Wallбhi, O our lord the Sultan, this adventure is a grievous, and Allah upon thee, tell us some other tale;" whereat all the hearers rejoined, "By Allah, in very sooth the recital is a pleasing." She continued to acquaint them with the adventure of the Bird which invested her with the monarchy and she ended with relating the matter of the Hammam, at all whereof the audience wondered and said, "By Allah, this is a delectable matter and a dainty;" but the Pirate cried aloud, "Such story pleaseth me not in any way for 'tis heavy upon my heart!"--And Sharazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was


The Five Hundred and Ninth Night,

Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the Pirate cried out, "This tale is heavy upon my heart!" Presently the damsel resumed her speech and said, "Wallбhi! if my mother and my father say sooth this be my sire and that be my cousin and here standeth the King and there the Wazir and yonder are the Ra'is and the Pirate, the comrade of the Forty Thieves whose only will and wish was to dishonour us maidens all." Then she resumed, addressing the King and his Minister, "These forty Mamelukes whom you see standing between your hands are the virgin girls belonging to you." After which she presented the twain with sumptuous gifts and they took their maidens and with them went their ways. Next she restored to the Ra'is his ship and freighted it with her good and he set forth in it on his return voyage. But as regards the Pirate she commanded her attendants to kindle for him a furious fire and they lit it till it roared and the sparks flew high in air, after which they pinioned him and cast him into the flames, where his flesh was melted before his bones. [FN#40] But as concerned her cousin she caused the marriage tie to be tied between him and the Wazir's daughter and he paid her his first visit on that same night and then she ordered her father to knit the wedding knot with the youth on the next night and when this was done forthwith he went in unto her. After this she committed to him the Sultanate and he became a Sovran and Sultan in her stead, and she bade fetch her mother to that city where her cousin governed and where her father-in-law the Wazir was chief Councillor of the realm. On this wise it endured for the length of their lives, and fair to them were the term and the tide and the age of the time, and they led of lives the joyfullest and a livelihood of the perfectest until they were consumed by the world and died out generation of the generation. [FN#41]

HISTORY OF AL-HAJJAJ BIN YUSUF AND THE YOUNG SAYYID. [FN#42]



It is related (but Allah is All-knowing) that there was in times of yore a man named 'Abdullah al-Karkhн and he was wont to tell the following tale:--One day I was present in the assembly of Al-Hajjбj the son of Yъsuf the Thakafн [FN#43] what time he was Governor of Kъfah, and the folk around him were seated and for awe of him prostrated and these were the Emirs and Wazirs and the Nabobs and the Chamberlains and the Lords of the Land and the Headmen in command and amongst whom he showed like a rending lion. And behold, there came to him a man young in years and ragged of raiment and of case debased and there was none of blossom upon his cheeks and the World had changed his cuticle and Need had altered his complexion. Presently he salam'd and deprecated and was eloquent in his salutation to the Governor who returned his greeting and looking at him asked, "Who are thou, O young man, and what hast thou to say and what is thine excuse for pushing into the assembly of the Kings even as if, O youth, thou hadst been an invited guest? [FN#44] So say me, who art thou and whose son art thou?" "I am the son of my mother and my father," answered he, and Al-Hajjaj continued, "In what fashion hast thou come hither?"--"In my clothes." "Whence hast thou come?"--"From behind me." Whither art thou intending?"--"Before me." "On what hast thou come?"--"On the ground." "Whence art thou O young man?"--"I am from the city Misr." "Art thou from Cairo?" [FN#45]--"Why asketh thou me, oh Hajjaj?" Whereupon the Lieutenant of Kufah replied, "Verily her ground is gold and her Nile is rare to behold and her women are a toy for the conqueror to enjoy, and her men are nor burghers nor Badawis." Quoth the youth, "I am not of them," and quoth Al-Hajjaj, "Then whence art thou, O young man?"--"I am from the city of Syria." "Then art thou from the stubbornest of places and the feeblest of races." [FN#46] "Wherefore, O Hajjaj?"--For that it is a mixed breed I ween, nor Jew nor Nazarene." "I am not of them." "Then whence art thou, O young man?"--"I am of Khorбsбn of 'Ajamн-land." "Thou art therefore from a place the fulsomest and of faith the infirmest. Wherefore, O Hajjaj?" "Because flocks and herds are their chums and they are Ajams of the Ajams from whom liberal deed never comes, and their morals and manners none to praise presumes and their speech is gross and weighty, and stingy are their rich and wealthy." "I am not of them." "Then whence art thou, O young man?" "I am from Mosul." "Then art thou from the foulest and filthiest of a Catamite race, whose youth is a scapegrace and whose old age hath the wits of an ass." "I am not of them." "Then whence art thou, O young man?" "I am from the land of Al-Yaman." "Then art thou from a clime other than delectable." "And why so, O Hajjaj?" "For that their noblest make womanly use of Murd [FN#47] or beardless boys and the meanest of them tan hides and the lowest amongst them train baboons to dance, and others are weavers of Burd or woollen plaids." [FN#48] "I am not of them." "Then whence art thou, O young man?" "I am from Meccah." "Then art thou from a mine of captious carping and ignorance and lack of wits and of sleep over-abundant, whereto Allah commissioned a noble Prophet, and him they belied and they rejected: so he went forth unto a folk which loved him and honoured him and made him a conqueror despite the nose of the Meccan churls." "I am not of them." "Then whence art thou, O young man? for verily thou hast been abundant of prate and my heart longeth to cut off thy pate." [FN#49] Hereupon quoth the youth, "An I knew thou couldst slay me I had not worshipped any god save thyself," and quoth Al-Hajjaj, "Woe to thee and who shall stay me from slaying thee?" "To thyself be the woe with measure enow," cried the youth; "He shall hinder thee from killing me who administereth between a man and his heart, [FN#50] and who falseth not his promise." "'Tis He," rejoined Al-Hajjaj, "who directeth me to thy death;" but the Youth retorted, "Allah forfend that He appoint thee to my slaughter; nay rather art thou commissioned by thy Devil, and I take refuge with the Lord form Satan the stoned." "Whence then art thou, O young man?" "I am from Yathrib." [FN#51] "And what be Yathrib?" "It is Tayyibah." "And what be Tayyibah?" "Al-Madinah, the Luminate, the mine of inspiration and explanation and prohibition and licitation, [FN#52] and I am the seed of the Banъ Ghбlib [FN#53] and the purest scion of the Imam 'Ali bin Abн Talнb (Allah honour his countenance and accept of him!), and all degree and descent [FN#54] must fail save my descent and degree which shall never be cut off until the Day of Doom." Hereupon Al-Hajjaj raged with exceeding rage and ordered the Youth to execution; whereat rose up against him the Lords of the realm and the headman of the reign and sued him by was of intercession and stretched out to him their necks, saying, "Here are our heads before his head and our lives before his life. By Allah, ho thou the Emir, there is naught but that thou accept our impenetration in the matter of this Youth, for he is on no wise deserving of death." Quoth the Governor, "Weary not yourselves for needs must I slay him; and even were an Angel from Heaven cry out 'Kill him not,' I would never hearken to his cry." Quoth the youth, "Thou shalt be baffled [FN#55] O Hajjaj! Who art thou that an Angel from Heaven should cry out to thee 'Kill him not,' for thou art the vilest and meanest of mankind nor hast thou power to find a path to my death." Cried Al-Hajjaj, "By Allah, I will not slay thee except upon a plea I will plead against thee, and convict thee by thy very words." "What is that, O Hajjaj?" asked the Youth, and answered Hajjaj, "I will now question thee, and out of thine own mouth will I convict thee and strike off thy head. [FN#56] Now say me, O young man: - Whereby doth the slave draw near to Allah Almighty?" "By five things, prayer (1), and fasting (2), and alms (3), and pilgrimage (4), and Holy War upon the path of Almighty Allah (5)." "But I draw near to the Lord with the blood of the men who declare that Hasan and Husayn were the sons and successors of the Apostle of Allah. [FN#57] Furthermore, O young man, how can they be born of the Apostle of Almighty Allah when he sayeth, 'Never was Mohammed the father of any man amongst you, but he was the Apostle of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets.'" [FN#58] "Hear thou, O Hajjaj, my answer with another Koranic verse, [FN#59] 'What the Apostle hath given you, take: and what he hath refused you, refuse.' Now Allah Almighty hath forbidden the taking of life, whose destruction is therefore unlawful." "Thou has spoken sooth, O young man, but inform me of what is incumbent on thee every day and every night?" "The five canonical prayers." "And for every year?" "The fast of the month of Ramazan." "And for the whole of thy life?" "One pilgrimage to the Holy House of Allah." "Sooth thou hast said, O young man; now do inform me"--And Sharazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was


The Five Hundred and Twelfth Night,

Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that Al-Hajjaj said, "Now do thou inform me who is the most excellent of the Arabs and the noblest and of blood the purest?"--"The Khoraysh." "And wherefore so?" "For that the Prophets from them proceeded." "And what tribe is the knightliest of the Arabs and the bravest and the firmest in fight?"--"The Banu Hбshim." [FN#60] "And wherefore so?" "For that my grandsire the Imбm Alн ibn Abн Tбlib is of them." "And who is the most generous of the Arabs and most steadfast in the guest-rite?"--"The Banu Tayy." "And wherefore so?" "For that the Hбtim of Tayy [FN#61] was one thereof." "And who is the vilest of the Arabs and the meanest and the most miserly, in whom weal is smallest and ill is greatest?" "The Banu Thakнf." [FN#62] "And wherefore so?" "Because thou, O Hajjaj, art of them." Thereupon the Lieutenant of Kufah raged with exceeding rage and ordered the slaughter of the youth; but the Grandees of the State rose up and prayed him for mercy, when he accepted their intercession and pardoned the offender. After which he said to him, "O young man, concerning the kid [FN#63] that is in the firmament, tell me be it male or female?" for he was minded on this wise to cut short his words. The young Sayyid replied, "O Hajjaj, draw me aside its tail so I may inform thee thereanent." [FN#64] "O young man, say me on what pasture best grow the horns of the camel?" "From leaves of stone." "O lack-wit! do stones bear leaves?" "O swollen of lips and little of wits and wisdom, say me do camels have horns?" "Haply thou art a lover fond, O youth?" "Yes! in love drowned." "And whom lovest thou?"--"I love my lord, of whom I hope that he will turn my annoy into joy, and who can save me this day from thee, O Hajjaj." "And dost thou know the Lord?" "Yes, I do." "And whereby hast thou known Him?" "By the book of Him which descended upon His Prophet-Apostle." "And knowest thou the Koran by heart?" "Doth the Koran fly from me that I should learn it by rote?" "Hast thou confirmed knowledge thereof?" "Verily Allah sent down a book confirmed." [FN#65] "Hast thou perused and mastered that which is therein?" "I have." "Then, O young man, if thou have read and learned what it containeth, tell me which verset is the sublimest (1) and which verset is the most imperious (2) and which verset is hopefullest (3) and which verset is fearfullest (4) and which verset is believed by the Jew and the Nazarene (5) and in which verset Allah speaketh purely by himself (6) and which verset alludeth to the Prophets (8) and in which verset be mentioned the People of Paradise (9) and which verset speaketh of the Folk and the Fire (10) and which verset containeth tenfold signs (11) and which verset (12) speaketh of Iblнs (whom Allah curse!)." Then quoth the youth, "Listen to my answering, O Hajjaj, with the aid of the Beneficient King. Now the sublimest verset in the Book of Allah Almighty is the Throne verse; [FN#66] and the most imperious is the word of Almighty Allah, 'Verily Allah ordereth justice and well-doing and bestowal of gifts upon kith and kin'; [FN#67] and the justest is the word of the Almighty, 'Whoso shall have wrought a mithkбl (nay an atom) of good works shall see it again, and whoso shall have wrought a mithkбl (nay an atom) of ill shall again see it'; [FN#68] and the fullest of fear is that spoken by the Almighty, 'Doth not every man of them desire that he enter into the Paradise hight Al-Na'im?' [FN#69] and the fullest of hope is the word of the Almighty, 'Say Me, O My worshippers who have sinned against your own souls, do not despair of Allah's ruth'; [FN#70] and the verset which containeth ten signs is the word of the Lord which saith [FN#71] 'Verily in the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth and in the shifts of Night and Day and in the ships which pass through the sea with what is useful to mankind; and in the rain which Allah sendeth down from Heaven, thereby giving to the earth life after death, and by scattering thereover all the moving creatures, and in the change of the winds, and in the clouds which are made to do service between the Heavens and the Earth are signs for those who understand'; and the verset wherein believe both Jews and Nazarenes is the word of Alimighty Allah, [FN#72] 'The Jews say the Nazarenes are on naught, and the Christians say the Jews are on naught, and both speak the sooth for they are on naught.' And the verset wherein Allah Almighty speaketh purely of Himself is that word of Almighty Allah, [FN#73] 'And I created not Jinn-kind and mankind save to the end that they adore Me'; and the verset which was spoken of the Angels is the word of Almighty Allah which saith, [FN#74] 'Laud to Thee! we have no knowledge save what Thou hast given us to know, and verily Thou art the Knowing, the Wise.' And the verset which speaketh of the Prophets is the word of Almighty Allah that saith [FN#75] 'And We have already sent Apostles before thee: of some We have told thee, and of others We have told thee naught: yet no Apostle had the power to come with a sign unless by the leave of Allah. But when Allah's behest cometh, everything shall be decided with truth; and then perish they who entreated it as a vain thing'; and the verset which speaketh of the Folk and the Fire is the word of Almighty Allah which saith [FN#76] 'O out Lord! Bring us forth from her (the Fire), and, if we return (to our sins), we shall indeed be of the evildoers'; and the verset that speaketh of the People of Paradise is the word of Almighty Allah, [FN#77] 'And they shall say: Laud to the Lord who abated to us grief, and verily our Lord is Gracious, Grateful'; and the verset which speaketh of Iblis (whom Allah Almighty accurse!), if the word of Almighty Allah, [FN#78] 'He said: (I swear) therefore by thy glory, that all of them will I surely lead astray.'" Hereupon Al-Hajjaj exclaimed, "Laud to the Lord and thanksgiving Who giveth wisdom unto whoso He please! Never indeed saw I a youth like this youth upon whom the Almighty hath bestowed wits and wisdom and knowledge for all the tenderness of his age. But say me, who art thou, O young man?" Quoth the youth, "I am of the folk of these things, [FN#79] O Hajjaj." Resumed the Lieutenant, "Inform me concerning the son of Adam what injureth him and what profiteth him?" And the youth replied, "I will, O Hajjaj; do thou and these present who are longing for permanency (and none is permanent save Allah Almighty!) be early the fast to break nor be over late supper to make; and wear light body-clothes in summer and gar heavy the headgear in winter, and guard the brain with what it conserveth and the belly with what it preserveth and begin every meal with salt for it driveth away seventy and two kinds of malady: and whoso breaketh his fast each day with seven raisins red of hue"--And Sharazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was