The Caliph Harun al-Rashid was one day examining the tributes of his various
provinces and viceroyalties, when he observed that the contributions of all the
countries and regions had come into the treasury, except that of Bassorah which
had not arrived that year. So he held a Divan because of this and said, "Hither
to me with the Wazir Ja'afar;" and when they brought him into the presence he
thus bespoke him, "The tributes of all the provinces have come into the
treasury, save that of Bassorah, no part whereof hath arrived." Ja'afar
replied, "O Commander of the Faithful, belike there hath befallen the governor
of Bassorah something that hath diverted him from sending the tribute." Quoth
the Caliph, "The time of the coming of the tribute was twenty days ago; what
then, can be his excuse for that, in this time, he hath neither sent it nor
sent to show cause for not doing so?" And quoth the Minister, "O Commander of
the Faithful, if it please thee, we will send him a messenger. Rejoined the
Caliph, "Send him Abu Ishak al-Mausili,[FN#477] the boon companion," and
Ja'afar, "Hearkening and obedience to Allah and to thee, O Prince of True
Believers!" Then he returned to his house and summoning Abu Ishak, wrote him a
royal writ and said to him, "Go to Abdullah bin Fazil, Viceroy of Bassorah, and
see what hath diverted him from sending the tribute. If it be ready, do thou
receive it from him in full and bring it to me in haste, for the Caliph hath
examined the tributes of the provinces and findeth that they are all come in,
except that of Bassorah: but an thou see that it is not ready and he make an
excuse to thee, bring him back with thee, that he may report his excuse to the
Caliph with his own tongue." Answered Abu Ishak, "I hear and I obey;" and
taking with him five thousand horse of Ja'afar's host set out for Bassorah. Now
when Abdullah bin Fazil heard of his approach, he went out to meet him with his
troops, and led him into the city and carried him to his palace, whilst the
escort encamped without the city walls, where he appointed to them all whereof
they stood in need. So Abu Ishak entered the audience-chamber and sitting down
on the throne, seated the governor beside himself, whilst the notables sat
round him, according to their several degrees. After salutation with the salam
Abdullah bin Fazil said to him "O my lord, is there for thy coming to us any
cause?;" and said Abu Ishak, "Yes, I come to seek the tribute; for the Caliph
enquireth of it and the time of its coming is gone by." Rejoined Abdullah bin
Fazil, "O my lord, would Heaven thou hadst not wearied thyself nor taken upon
thyself the hardships of the journey! For the tribute is ready in full tale and
complete, and I purpose to despatch it to-morrow. But, since thou art come, I
will entrust it to thee, after I have entertained thee three days; and on the
fourth day I will set the tribute between thine hands. But it behoveth us now
to offer thee a present in part requital of thy kindness and the goodness of
the Commander of the Faithful." "There is no harm in that," said Abu Ishak. So
Abdullah bin Fazil dismissed the Divan and carrying him into a saloon that had
not its match, bade set a tray of food before him and his companions. They ate
and drank and made merry and enjoyed themselves; after which the tray was
removed and there came coffee and sherbets. They sat conversing till a third
part of the night was past, when they spread for Abu Ishak bedding on an ivory
couch inlaid with gold glittering sheeny. So he lay down and the viceroy lay
down beside him on another couch; but wakefulness possessed Abu Ishak and he
fell to meditating on the metres of prosody and poetical composition, for that
he was one of the primest of the Caliph's boon-companions and he had a mighty
fine fore-arm[FN#478] in producing verses and pleasant stories; nor did he
leave to lie awake improvising poetry till half the night was past. Presently,
behold, Abdullah bin Fazil arose, and girding his middle, opened a
locker,[FN#479] whence he brought out a whip; then, taking a lighted waxen
taper, he went forth by the door of the saloon.— And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Abdullah bin Fazil
went forth by the door of the saloon deeming Abu Ishak asleep, the Caliph's
cup-companion, seeing this, marvelled and said in himself, "Whither wendeth
Abdullah bin Fazil with that whip? Perhaps he is minded to punish some body.
But needs must I follow him and see what he will do this night." So he arose
and went out after him softly, very softly, that he might not be seen and
presently saw him open a closet and take thence a tray containing four dishes
of meat and bread and a gugglet of water. Then he went on, carrying the tray
and secretly followed by Abu Ishak, till he came to another saloon and entered,
whilst the cup-companion stood behind the door and, looking through the chink,
saw a spacious saloon, furnished with the richest furniture and having in its
midst a couch of ivory plated with gold glittering sheeny, to which two dogs
were made fast with chains of gold. Then Abdullah set down the tray in a comer
and tucking up his sleeves, loosed the first dog, which began to struggle in
his hands and put its muzzle to the floor, as it would kiss the ground before
him, whining the while in a weak voice. Abdullah tied its paws behind its back
and throwing it on the ground, drew forth the whip and beat it with a painful
beating and a pitiless. The dog struggled, but could not get free, and Abdullah
ceased not to beat it with the same whip till it left groaning and lay without
consciousness. Then he took it and tied it up in its place, and unbinding the
second dog, did with him as he had done with the first; after which he pulled
out a kerchief and fell to wiping away their tears and comforting them, saying,
"Bear me not malice; for by Allah, this is not of my will, nor is it easy to
me! But it may be Allah will grant you relief from this strait and issue from
your affliction." And he prayed for the twain what while Abu Ishak the
cup-companion stood hearkening with his ears and espying with his eyes, and
indeed he marvelled at his case. Then Abdullah brought the dogs the tray of
food and fell to morselling them with his own hand, till they had enough, when
he wiped their muzzles and lifting up the gugglet, gave them to drink; after
which he took up the tray, gugglet and candle and made for the door. But Abu
Ishak forewent him and making his way back to his couch, lay down; so that he
saw him not, neither knew that he had walked behind him and watched him. Then
the governor replaced the tray and the gugglet in the closet and returning to
the saloon, opened the locker and laid the whip in its place; after which he
doffed his clothes and lay down. But Abu Ishak passed the rest of that night
pondering this affair neither did sleep visit him for excess of wonderment, and
he ceased not to say in himself, "I wonder what can be the meaning of this!"
Nor did he leave wondering till day break, when they arose and prayed the
dawn-prayer. Then they set the breakfast[FN#480] before them and they ate and
drank coffee, after which they went out to the divan. Now Abu Ishak's thought
was occupied with this mystery all day long but he concealed the matter and
questioned not Abdullah thereof. Next night, he again followed the governor and
saw him do with the two dogs as on the previous night, first beating them and
then making his peace with them and giving them to eat and to drink; and so
also he did the third night. On the fourth day he brought the tribute to Abu
Ishak who took it and departed, without opening the matter to him. He fared on,
without ceasing, till he came to Baghdad, where he delivered the tribute to the
Caliph, who questioned him of the cause of its delay. Replied he, "O Commander
of the Faithful, I found that the governor of Bassorah had made ready the
tribute and was about to despatch it; and I delayed a day, it would have met me
on the road. But, O Prince of True Believers, I had a wondrous adventure with
Abdullah bin Fazil; never in my life saw I its like." "And what was it, O Abu
Ishak?" asked the Caliph. So he replied, "I saw such and such;" and, brief,
acquainted him with that which the governor had done with the two dogs, adding,
"After such fashion, I saw him do three successive nights, first beating the
dogs, then making his peace with them and comforting them and giving them to
eat and drink, I watching him, and he seeing me not." Asked the Caliph, "Didst
thou question him of the cause of this?"; and the other answered, "No, as thy
head liveth, O Commander of the Faithful." Then said Al-Rashid, "O Abu Ishak, I
command thee to return to Bassorah and bring me Abdullah bin Fazil and the two
dogs." Quoth he, "O Commander of the Faithful, excuse me from this; for indeed
Abdullah entertained me with exceedingly hospitable entertainment and I became
ware of this case with chance undesigned and acquainted thee therewith. So how
can I go back to him and bring him to thee? Verily, if I return to him, I shall
find me no face for shame of him; wherefore 'twere meet that thou send him
another than myself, with a letter under thine own hand, and he shall bring him
to thee, him and the two dogs." But quoth the Caliph, "If I send him other than
thyself, peradventure he will deny the whole affair and say, 'I've no dogs.'
But if I send thee and thou say to him, 'I saw them with mine own eyes,' he
will not be able to deny that. Wherefore nothing will serve but that thou go
and fetch him and the two dogs; otherwise I will surely slay thee."[FN#481]—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eightieth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph Harun
al-Rashid said to Abu Ishak, "Nothing will serve but that thou go and fetch him
and the two dogs; otherwise I will surely slay thee." Abu Ishak replied,
"Hearing and obeying, O Commander of the Faithful: Allah is our aidance and
good is the Agent. He spake sooth who said, 'Man's wrong is from the
tongue;'[FN#482] and 'tis I who sinned against myself in telling thee. But
write me a royal rescript[FN#483] and I will go to him and bring him back to
thee." So the Caliph gave him an autograph and he took it and repaired to
Bassorah. Seeing him come in the governor said, "Allah forfend us from the
mischief of thy return, O Abu Ishak! How cometh it I see thee return in haste?
Peradventure the tribute is deficient and the Caliph will not accept it?"
Answered Abu Ishak, "O Emir Abdullah, my return is not on account of the
deficiency of the tribute, for 'tis full measure and the Caliph accepteth it;
but I hope that thou wilt excuse me, for that I have failed in my duty as thy
guest and indeed this lapse of mine was decreed of Allah Almighty." Abdullah
enquired, "And what may be the lapse?" and he replied, "Know that when I was
with thee, I followed thee three following nights and saw thee rise at midnight
and beat the dogs and return; whereat I marvelled, but was ashamed to question
thee thereof. When I came back to Baghdad, I told the Caliph of thine affair,
casually and without design, whereupon he charged me to return to thee, and
here is a letter under his hand. Had I known that the affair would lead to
this, I had not told him, but Destiny foreordained thus." And he went on to
excuse himself to him; whereupon said Abdullah, "Since thou hast told him this,
I will bear out thy report with him, lest he deem thee a liar, for thou art my
friend. Were it other than thou, I had denied the affair and given him the lie.
But now I will go with thee and carry the two dogs with me, though this be to
me ruin-rife and the ending of my term of life." Rejoined the other, "Allah
will veil[FN#484] thee, even as thou hast veiled my face with the Caliph!" Then
Abdullah took a present beseeming the Commander of the Faithful and mounting
the dogs with him, each on a camel, bound with chains[FN#485] of gold,
journeyed with Abu Ishak to Baghdad, where he went in to the Caliph and kissed
ground before him. He deigned bid him sit; so he sat down and brought the two
dogs before Al-Rashid, who said to him "What be these dogs, O Emir Abdullah?"
Whereupon they fell to kissing the floor between his hands and wagging their
tails and weeping, as if complaining to him. The Caliph marvelled at this and
said to the governor, "Tell me the history of these two dogs and the reason of
thy beating them and after entreating them with honour." He replied, "O Vicar
of Allah, these be no dogs, but two young men, endowed with beauty and
seemliness, symmetry and shapeliness, and they are my brothers and the sons of
my father and mother." Asked the Caliph, "How is it that they were men and are
become dogs?"; and he answered, "An thou give me leave, O Prince of True
Believers, I will acquaint thee with the truth of the circumstance." Said
Al-Rashid, "Tell me and 'ware of leasing, for 'tis of the fashion of the
hypocrites, and look thou tell truth, for that is the Ark[FN#486] of safety and
the mark of virtuous men." Rejoined Abdullah, "Know then, O vice-regent of
Allah, when I tell thee the story of these dogs, they will both bear witness
against me: an I speak sooth they will certify it and if I lie they will give
me the lie." Cried the Caliph, "These are of the dogs; they cannot speak nor
answer; so how can they testify for thee or against thee?" But Abdullah said to
them, "O my brothers, if I speak a lying word, do ye lift your heads and stare
with your eyes; but, if I say sooth hang down your heads and lower your eyes."
Then said he to the Caliph, "Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that we are
three brothers by one mother and the same father. Our sire's name was Fazil and
he was so named because his mother bare two sons at one birth, one of whom died
forthright and the other twin remained alive, wherefore his sire named him
Fazil—the Remainder. His father brought him up and reared him well, till he
grew to manhood when he married him to our mother and died. Our mother
conceived a first time and bare this my first brother, whom our sire named
Mansъr; then she conceived again and bare this my second brother, whom he named
Nбsir[FN#487]; after which she conceived a third time and bare me, whom he
named Abdullah. My father reared us all three till we came to man's estate,
when he died, leaving us a house and a shop full of coloured stuffs of all
kinds, Indian and Greek and Khorбsбni and what not, besides sixty thousand
dinars. We washed him and buried him to the ruth of his Lord, after which we
built him a splendid monument and let pray for him prayers for the deliverance
of his soul from the fire and held perlections of the Koran and gave alms on
his behalf, till the forty days[FN#488] were past; when I called together the
merchants and nobles of the folk and made them a sumptuous entertainment. As
soon as they had eaten, I said to them, 'O merchants, verily this world is
ephemeral, but the next world is eternal, and extolled be the perfection of Him
who endureth always after His creatures have passed away! Know ye why I have
called you together this blessed day?' And they answered, 'Extolled be Allah
sole Scient of the hidden things.[FN#489]' Quoth I, 'My father died, leaving
much of money, and I fear lest any have a claim against him for a debt or a
pledge[FN#490] or what not else, and I desire to discharge my father's
obligations towards the folk. So whoso hath any demand on him, let him say, 'He
oweth me so and so,' and I will satisfy it to him, that I may acquit the
responsibility of my sire.[FN#491]' The merchants replied, 'O Abdullah, verily
the goods of this world stand not in stead of those of the world to come, and
we are no fraudful folk, but all of us know the lawful from the unlawful and
fear Almighty Allah and abstain from devouring the substance of the orphan. We
know that thy father (Allah have mercy on him!) still let his money lie with
the folk,[FN#492] nor did he suffer any man's claim on him to go unquitted, and
we have ever heard him declare, 'I am fearful of the people's substance.' He
used always to say in his prayers, 'O my God, Thou art my stay and my hope! Let
me not die while in debt.' And it was of his wont that, if he owed any one
aught, he would pay it to him, without being pressed, and if any owed him aught
he would not dun him, but would say to him, 'At thy leisure.' If his debtor
were poor, he would release him from his liability and acquit him of
responsibility; and if he were not poor and died in his debt, he would say,
'Allah forgive him what he owed me!' And we all testify that he owed no man
aught.' Quoth I, 'May Allah bless you!' Then I turned to these my brothers and
said, 'Our father owed no man aught and hath left us much money and stuffs,
besides the house and the shop. Now we are three and each of us is entitled to
one third part. So shall we agree to waive division and wone copartners in our
wealth and eat together and drink together, or shall we apportion the stuffs
and the money and take each his part?' Said they, 'We will divide them and take
each his share.'" (Then Abdullah turned to the two dogs and said to them, "Did
it happen thus, O my brothers?"; and they bowed their heads and lowered their
eyes, as to say, "Yes.") Abdullah continued "I called in a departitor from the
Kazi's court, O Prince of True Believers, and he distributed amongst us the
money and the stuffs and all our father had left, allotting the house and shop
to me in exchange for a part of the coin and clothes to which I was entitled.
We were content with this; so the house and shop fell to my share, whilst my
brothers took their portion in money and stuffs. I opened the shop and stocking
it with my stuffs bought others with the money apportioned to me, over and
above the house and shop, till the place was full, and I sat selling and
buying. As for my brothers, they purchased stuffs and hiring a ship, set out on
a voyage to the far abodes of folk. Quoth I, 'Allah aid them both! As for me,
my livelihood is ready to my hand and peace is priceless.' I abode thus a whole
year, during which time Allah opened the door of fortune to me and I gained
great gains, till I became possessed of the like of that which our father had
left us. One day, as I sat in my shop, with two fur pelisses on me, one of
sable and the other of meniver,[FN#493] for it was the season of winter and the
time of the excessive cold, behold, there came up to me my two brothers, each
clad in a ragged shirt and nothing more, and their lips were white with cold,
and they were shivering. When I saw them in this plight, it was grievous to me
and I mourned for them,"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-first Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah bin Fazil
continued to the Caliph, "When I saw them in this plight, it was grievous to me
and I mourned for them and my reason fled my head. So I rose and embraced them
and wept over their condition: then I put on one of them the pelisse of sable
and on the other the fur coat of meniver and, carrying them to the Hammam, sent
thither for each of them a suit of apparel such as befitted a merchant worth a
thousand.[FN#494] When they had washed and donned each his suit, I carried them
to my house where, seeing them well nigh famished, I set a tray of food before
them and ate with them, caressing them and comforting them." (Then he again
turned to the two dogs and said to them "Was this so, O my brothers?"; and they
bent their heads and lowered their eyes.) So Abdullah continued "When they had
eaten, O Vicar of Allah, quoth I to them, 'What hath befallen you and where are
your goods?'; and quoth they, 'We fared up the river,[FN#495] till we came to a
city called Cufa, where we sold for ten dinars the piece of stuff that had cost
half a ducat and that which cost us a ducat for twenty. So we profited greatly
and bought Persian stuffs at the rate of ten sequins per piece of silk worth
forty in Bassorah. Thence we removed to a city called Al-Karkh[FN#496] where we
sold and bought and made gain galore and amassed of wealth great store.' And
they went on to set forth to me the places and the profits. So I said to them,
'Since ye had such good luck and lot, how cometh it that I see you return
naked?' They sighed and answered, 'O our brother, some one must have evileyed
us, and in travel there is no trusting. When we had gotten together these
monies and goods, we freighted a ship therewith and set sail, intending for
Bassorah. We fared on three days and on the fourth day we saw the sea rise and
fall and roar and foam and swell and dash, whilst the waves clashed together
with a crash, striking out sparks like fire[FN#497] in the darks. The winds
blew contrary for us and our craft struck upon the point of a bill-projected
rock, where it brake up and plunged us into the river, and all we had with us
was lost in the waters. We abode struggling on the surface a day and a night,
till Allah sent us another ship, whose crew picked us up and we begged our way
from town to town, suffering mighty sore hardships and selling our body-clothes
piecemeal, to buy us food, till we drew near Bassorah; nor did we make the city
till we had drained the draught of a thousand miseries. But, had we come safely
off with that which was by us, we had brought back riches that might be evened
with those of the King: but this was fore ordained to us of Allah.' I said, 'O
my brothers, let not your hearts be grieved, for wealth is the ransom of bodies
and safety is property. Since Allah hath written you of the saved, this is the
end of desire, for want and wealth are but as it were illusions of dreams and
God-gifted is he who said,
'If a man from destruction can save his head * Let him hold his wealth as a
slice of nail.'
I continued, 'O my brothers we will suppose that our sire died to-day and left
us all this wealth that is with me, for I am right willing to share it with you
equally.' So I fetched a departitor from the Kazi's court and brought out to
him all my money, which he distributed into three equal parts, and we each took
one. Then said I to them, 'O my brothers, Allah blesseth a man in his daily
bread, if he be in his own country: so let each of you open him a shop and sit
therein to get his living; and he to whom aught is ordained in the Secret
Purpose,[FN#498] needs must he get it.' Accordingly, I helped each of them to
open a shop and filled it for him with goods, saying to them, 'Sell and buy and
keep your monies and spend naught thereof; for all ye need of meat and drink
and so forth I will furnish to you.' I continued to entreat them generously,
and they fell to selling and buying by day and returning at even-tide to my
house where they lay the night; nor would I suffer them to expend aught of
their own substance. But, whenever I sat talking with them, they would praise
travel and proclaim its pleasures and vaunt the gains they had made therein;
and they ceased not to urge me to accompany them in travelling over foreign
parts." (Then he said to the dogs, "Was this so, O my brothers?" and they again
bowed their heads and lowered their eyes in confirmation of his words.) He
continued, "On such wise, O Vicar of Allah, they continued to urge me and tempt
me to travel by vaunting the great gains and profit to be obtained thereby till
I said to them, 'Needs must I fare with you for your sake!' Then I entered into
a contract of partnership with them and we chartered a ship and packing up all
manner of precious stuffs and merchandise of every kind, freighted it
therewith; after which we embarked in it all we needed and, setting sail from
Bassorah, launched out into the dashing sea, swollen with clashing surge
whereinto whoso entereth is lone and lorn and whence whoso cometh forth is as a
babe new- born. We ceased not sailing on till we came to a city of the cities,
where we sold and bought and made great cheape. Thence we went on to another
place, and we ceased not to pass from land to land and port to port, selling
and buying and profiting, till we had gotten us great wealth and much
advantage. Presently, we came to a mountain,[FN#499] where the captain cast
anchor and said to us, 'O passengers; go ye ashore; ye shall be saved from this
day,[FN#500] and make search; it may be ye shall find water.' So all landed I
amongst the crowd, and dispersed about the island in search of water. As for
me, I climbed to the top of the mountain, and whilst I went along, lo and
behold! I saw a white snake fleeing and followed by a black dragon, foul of
favour and frightful of form, hotly pursuing her. Presently he overtook her and
clipping her, seized her by the head and wound his tail about her tail,
whereupon she cried out and I knew that he purposed to rape her. So I was moved
to ruth for her and taking up a lump of granite,[FN#501] five pounds or more in
weight, hurled it at the dragon. It smote him on the head and crushed it, and
ere I knew, the white snake changed and became a young girl bright with beauty
and loveliness and brilliancy and perfect grace, as she were the shining full
moon, who came up to me and kissing my hands, said to me, 'Allah veil thee with
two-fold veils, one from shame in this world and the other from the flame in
the world to come on the day of the Great Upstanding, the day when neither
wealth nor children shall avail save to him who shall come to Allah with a
sound heart!'[FN#502] And presently she continued, 'O mortal, thou hast saved
my honour and I am indebted to thee for kindness, wherefore it behoveth me to
requite thee.' So saying, she signed with her hand to the earth, which opened
and she descended thereinto: then it closed up again over her and by this I
knew that she was of the Jinn. As for the dragon, fire was kindled in him and
consumed him and he became ashes. I marvelled at this and returned to my
comrades, whom I acquainted with whatso I had seen, and we passed the night in
the island. On the morrow the Captain weighed anchor and spread the sails and
coiled the ropes and we sailed till the shore faded from our gaze. We fared on
twenty days, without seeing or land or bird, till our water came to an end and
quoth the Rais to us, 'O folk, our fresh water is spent.' Quoth we, 'Let us
make for land; haply we shall find water.' But he exclaimed, 'By Allah, I have
lost my way and I know not what course will bring me to the seaboard.'
Thereupon betided us sore chagrin and we wept and besought Almighty Allah to
guide us into the right course. We passed that night in the sorriest case: but
God-gifted is He who said,
'How many a night have I spent in woes * That would grizzle the
suckling-babe with fear:
But morrowed not morn ere to me there came * 'Aidance from Allah
and victory near.'[FN#503]
But when the day arose in its sheen and shone, we caught sight of a high
mountain and rejoiced therein. When we came to its skirts, the Captain said to
us, 'O folk, go ashore and seek for water.' So we all landed and sought water
but found none, whereat we were sore afflicted because we were suffering for
want of it. As for me, I climbed up to the mountain-top and on the other side
thereof I saw a spacious circle[FN#504] distant from us an hour's journey or
more. Presently I called my companions and as soon as they all rejoined me,
said to them 'Look at yonder basin behind this mountain; for I see therein a
city high of base and a strong-cornered place girt with sconce and rampartry,
pasturage and lea and doubtless it wanteth not water and good things. So hie we
thither and fetch drink therefrom and buy what we need of provisions, meat and
fruit, and return.' But they said, 'We fear lest the city-folk be Kafirs
ascribing to Allah partners and enemies of The Faith and lay hand on us and
take us captive or else slay us; so should we cause the loss of our own lives,
having cast ourselves into destruction and evil emprise. Indeed, the proud and
presumptuous are never praiseworthy, for that they ever fare in danger of
calamities, even as saith of such an one a certain poet,
'Long as earth is earth, long as sky is sky, * The o'erproud is blamed tho'
from risk he fly!'
So we will not expose ourselves to peril.' I replied, 'O folk, I have no
authority over you; so I will take my brothers and go to yonder city.' But my
brothers said to me, 'We also fear this thing and will not go with thee.' Quoth
I, 'As for me, I am resolved to go thither, and I put my trust in Allah and
accept whatsoever He shall decree to me. Do ye therefore await me, whilst I
wend thither and return to you twain.'"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-second Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah said, "'Do ye
twain await me whilst I wend thither and return to you.'" "So I left them and
walked on till I came to the gate of the place and saw it a city of building
wondrous and projection marvellous, with boulevards high-towering and towers
strong- builded and palaces high-soaring. Its portals were of Chinese iron,
rarely gilded and graven on such wise as confounded the wit. I entered the
gateway and saw there a stone bench, whereon sat a man bearing on his forearm a
chain of brass, whereto hung fourteen keys; so I knew him to be the porter of
the city and that it had fourteen gates. I drew near him and said to him 'Peace
be with thee!'; but he returned not my salam and I saluted him a second and a
third time; but he made me no reply. Then I laid my hand on his shoulder and
said to him, 'Ho thou, why dost thou not return my salam? Art thou asleep or
deaf or other than a Moslem, that thou refrainest from exchanging the
salutation?' But he answered me not neither stirred; so I considered him and
saw that he was stone. Quoth I, 'Verily an admirable matter! This is a stone
wroughten in the semblance of a son of Adam and wanting in naught save speech!'
Then I left him and entering the city, beheld a man standing in the road; so I
went up to him and scrutinised him and found him stone. Presently, as I walked
adown the broad-ways, and saw that this was every where the case, I met an old
woman bearing on her head a bundle of clothes ready for washing; so I went up
to her and examining her, saw that she was stone, and the bundle of clothes on
her head was stone also.[FN#505] Then I fared for the market, where I saw an
oilman with his scales set up and fronted by various kinds of wares such as
cheese and so forth, all of stone. Moreover, I saw all manner of tradesmen
seated in their shops and men and women and children, some standing and some
sitting; but they were all stone; and the stuffs were like spiders' webs. I
amused myself with looking upon them, and as often as I laid hold upon a piece
of stuff, it powdered in my hands like dust dispread. Presently I saw some
chests and opening one of them, found it full of gold in bags; so I laid hold
upon the bags, but they crumbled away in my grasp, whilst the gold abode
unchanged. I carried off of it what I could carry and said to myself, 'Were my
brothers with me, they might take of this gold their fill and possess
themselves of these hoards which have no owner.' Then I entered another shop
and found therein more than this, but could bear away no more than I had borne.
I left this market and went on to another and thence to another and another,
much enjoying the sight of all manner of creatures of various kinds, all
several stones, even to the dogs and the cats, till I came to the goldsmiths'
bazar, where I saw men sitting in their shops, with their stock-in-trade about
them, some in their hands and others in crates of wicker- work. When I saw
this, O Commander of the Faithful, I threw down the gold and loaded myself with
goldsmiths' ware, as much as I could carry. Then I went on to the jewel-market
and saw there the jewellers seated in their shops, each with a tray before him,
full of all sorts of precious stones, jacinths and diamonds and emeralds and
balass rubies and so forth: but all the shop-keepers were stones; whereupon I
threw away the goldsmiths' ware and carried off as many jewels as I could
carry, regretting that my brothers were not with me, so they might take what
they would of those costly gems. Then I left the jewel-market and went on till
I came to a great door, quaintly gilded and decorated after the fairest
fashion, within which were wooden benches and in the porch sat eunuchs, and
body-guards; horsemen, and footmen and officers of police each and every robed
in the richest of raiment; but they were all stones. I touched one of them and
his clothes crumbled away from his body like cobwebs. Then I passed through the
door and saw a palace without equal for its building and the goodliness of the
works that were therein. Here I found an audience-chamber, full of Grandees and
Wazirs and Officers and Emirs, seated upon chairs and every one of them stone.
Moreover, I saw a throne of red gold, crusted with pearls and gems, and seated
thereon a son of Adam arrayed in the most sumptuous raiment and bearing on his
head a Chosrцan[FN#506] crown, diademed with the finest stones that shed a
light like the light of day; but, when I came up to him, I found him stone.
Then I went on to the gate of the Harim and entering, found myself in the
Queen's presence-chamber, wherein I saw a throne of red gold, inlaid with
pearls and gems, and the Queen seated thereon. On her head she wore a crown
diademed with finest jewels, and round about her were women like moons, seated
upon chairs and clad in the most sumptuous clothing of all colours. There also
the eunuchry, with their hands upon their breasts,[FN#507] were standing in the
attitude of service, and indeed this hall confounded the beholder's wits with
what was therein of quaint gilding and rare painting and curious carving and
fine furniture. There hung the most brilliant lustres[FN#508] of limpid
crystal, and in every globe[FN#509] of the crystal was an unique jewel, whose
price money might not fulfil. So I threw down that which was with me, O Prince
of True Believers, and fell to taking of these jewels what I could carry,
bewildered as to what I should bear away and what I should leave; for indeed I
saw the place as it were a treasure of the treasures of the cities. Presently I
espied a wicket[FN#510] standing open and within it a staircase: so I entered
and mounting forty steps, heard a human voice reciting the Koran in a low tone.
I walked towards that sound till I came to the main door hung with a silken
curtain, laced with wires of gold whereon were strung pearls and coral and
rubies and cut emeralds which gave forth a light like the light of stars. The
voice came from behind the curtain: so I raised it and discovered a gilded
door, whose beauty amazed the mind. I passed through the door and found myself
in a saloon as it were a hoard upon earth's surface[FN#511] and therein a girl
as she were the sun shining fullest sheen in the zenith of a sky serene. She
was robed in the costliest of raiment and decked with ornaments the most
precious that could be and withal she was of passing beauty and loveliness, a
model of symmetry and seemliness, of elegance and perfect grace, with waist
slender and hips heavy and dewy lips such as heal the sick and eyelids lovely
in their languor, as it were she of whom the sayer spake when he said,
'My best salam to what that robe enrobes of symmetry, * And what
that blooming garth of cheek enguards of rosy blee:
It seems as though the Pleiades depend upon her brow; * And other
lights of Night in knots upon her breast we see:
Did she but don a garment weft of Rose's softest leaf, * The leaf
of Rose would draw her blood[FN#512] when pluckt that fruit
from tree:
And did she crache in Ocean's face, next Morn would see a change
* To sweeter than the honeycomb of what was briny sea:
And did she deign her favours grant to grey-beard staff-enpropped
* He'd wake and rend the lion's limbs for might and
valiancy.'"
Then Abdullah continued, "O Prince of True Believers, as soon as I saw that
girl I fell passionately in love with her and going straight up to her, found
her seated on a high couch, reciting by heart and in grateful memory the Book
of Allah, to whom belong honour and glory! Her voice was like the harmony of
the gates of Heaven, when Rizwan openeth them, and the words came from her lips
like a shower of gems; whilst her face was with beauty dight, bright and
blossom-white, even as saith the poet of a similar sight,
'O thou who gladdenest man by speech and rarest quality; * Grow
longing and repine for thee and grow beyond degree!
In thee two things consume and melt the votaries of Love; * The
dulcet song of David joined with Joseph's brilliancy.'
When I heard her voice of melody reciting the sublime Koran, my heart quoted
from her killing glances, 'Peace, a word from a compassionating Lord;'[FN#513]
but I stammered[FN#514] in my speech and could not say the salam-salutation
aright, for my mind and sight were confounded and I was become as saith the
bard,
'Love-longing urged me not except to trip in speech o'er free; *
Nor, save to shed my blood I passed the campment's boundary:
I ne'er will hear a word from those who love to rail, but I *
Will testify to love of him with every word of me.'
Then I hardened myself against the horrors of repine and said to her, 'Peace be
with thee, O noble Lady, and treasured jewel! Allah grant endurance to the
foundation of thy fortune fair and upraise the pillars of thy glory rare!' Said
she, 'And on thee from me be peace and salutation and high honour, O Abdullah,
O son of Fazil! Well come and welcome and fair welcome to thee, O dearling mine
and coolth of mine eyne!' Rejoined I, 'O my lady, whence wottest thou my name
and who art thou and what case befel the people of this city, that they are
become stones? I would have thee tell me the truth of the matter, for indeed I
am admiring at this city and its citizens and that I have found none alive
therein save thyself. So, Allah upon thee, tell me the cause of all this,
according to the truth!' Quoth she, 'Sit, O Abdullah, and Inshallah, I will
talk with thee and acquaint thee in full with the facts of my case and of this
place and its people; and there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!' So I sat me down by her side and she said to
me, 'Know, O Abdullah, (may Allah have mercy on thee!) that I am the daughter
of the King of this city and that it is my sire whom thou sawest seated on the
high stead in the Divan, and those who are round about him were the Lords of
his land and the Guards of his empery. He was a King of exceeding prowess and
had under his hand a thousand thousand and sixty thousand troopers. The number
of the Emirs of his Empire was four-and-twenty thousand, all of them Governors
and Dignitaries. He was obeyed by a thousand cities, besides towns, hamlets and
villages; and sconces and citadels, and the Emirs[FN#515] of the wild Arabs
under his hand were a thousand in number, each commanding twenty thousand
horse. Moreover, he had monies and treasures and precious stones and jewels and
things of price, such as eye never saw nor of which ear ever heard.'"—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eight-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Princess, daughter to
the King of the Stone-city, thus continued, "Verily, O Abdullah my father had
monies and hoards, such as eye never saw and of which ear never heard. He used
to debel Kings and do to death champions and braves in battle and in the field
of fight, so that the Conquerors feared him and the Chosroлs[FN#516] humbled
themselves to him. For all this, he was a miscreant in creed ascribing to Allah
partnership and adoring idols, instead of the Lord of worship; and all his
troops were of images fain in lieu of the All-knowing Sovereign. One day of the
days as he sat on the throne of his Kingship, compassed about with the Grandees
of his realm, suddenly there came in to him a Personage, whose face illumined
the whole Divan with its light. My father looked at him and saw him clad in a
garb of green,[FN#517] tall of stature and with hands that reached beneath his
knees. He was of reverend aspect and awesome and the light[FN#518] shone from
his face. Said he to my sire, 'O rebel, O idolater, how long wilt thou take
pride in worshipping idols and abandoning the service of the All-knowing King?
Say, 'I testify that there is no god but the God and that Mohammed is His
servant and His messenger.' And embrace Al-Islam, thou and thy tribe; and put
away from you the worship of idols, for they neither suffice man's need nor
intercede. None is worshipful save Allah alone, who raised up the heavens
without columns and spread out the earths like carpets in mercy to His
creatures.'[FN#519] Quoth my father, 'Who art thou, O man who rejectest the
worship of idols, that thou sayst thus? Fearest thou not that the idols will be
wroth with thee?' He replied, 'The idols are stones; their anger cannot
prejudice me nor their favour profit me. So do thou set in my presence thine
idol which thou adorest and bid all thy folk bring each his image: and when
they are all present, do ye pray them to be wroth with me and I will pray my
Lord to be wroth with them, and ye shall descry the difference between the
anger of the creature and that of the Creator. For your idols, ye fashioned
them yourselves and the Satans clad themselves therewith as with clothing, and
they it is who spake to you from within the bellies of the images,[FN#520] for
your idols are made and the maker is my God to whom naught is impossible. An
the True appear to you, do ye follow it, and if the False appear to you do ye
leave it.' Cried they, 'Give us a proof of thy god, that we may see it;' and
quoth he, 'Give me proof of your gods.' So the King bade every one who
worshipped his lord in image-form to bring it, and all the armies brought their
idols to the Divan. Thus fared it with them; but as for me, I was sitting
behind a curtain, whence I could look upon my father's Divan, and I had an idol
of emerald whose bigness was as the bigness of a son of Adam. My father
demanded it, so I sent it to the Divan, where they set it down beside that of
my sire, which was of jacinth, whilst the Wazir's idol was of diamond.[FN#521]
As for those of the Grandees and Notables, some were of balass-ruby and some of
carnelian, others of coral or Comorin aloes-wood and yet others of ebony or
silver or gold; and each had his own idol, after the measure of his competence;
whilst the idols of the common soldiers and of the people were some of granite,
some of wood, some of pottery and some of mud; and all were of various hues
yellow and red; green, black and white. Then said the Personage to my sire,
'Pray your idol and these idols to be wroth with me.' So they aligned the idols
in a Divan,[FN#522] setting my father's idol on a chair of gold at the upper
end, with mine by its side, and ranking the others each according to the
condition of him who owned it and worshipped it. Then my father arose and
prostrating himself to his own idol, said to it, 'O my god, thou art the
Bountiful Lord, nor is there among the idols a greater than thyself. Thou
knowest that this person cometh to me, attacking thy divinity and making mock
of thee; yea, he avoucheth that he hath a god stronger than thou and ordereth
us leave adoring thee and adore his god. So be thou wrath with him, O my god!'
And he went on to supplicate the idol; but the idol returned him no reply
neither bespoke him with aught of speech; whereupon quoth he, 'O my god, this
is not of thy wont, for thou usedst to answer me, when I addressed thee. How
cometh it that I see thee silent and speaking not? Art thou unheeding or
asleep?[FN#523] Awake; succour me and speak to me!' And he shook it with his
hand; but it spake not neither stirred from its stead. Thereupon quoth the
Personage, 'What aileth thine idol that it speaketh not?'; and quoth the King,
'Methinks he is absent-minded or asleep.' Exclaimed the other, 'O enemy of
Allah, how canst thou worship a god that speaketh not nor availeth unto aught
and not worship my God, who to prayers deigns assent and who is ever present
and never absent, neither unheeding nor sleeping, whom conjecture may not ween,
who seeth and is not seen and who over all things terrene is omnipotent? Thy
god is powerless and cannot guard itself from harm; and indeed a stoned Satan
had clothed himself therewith as with a coat that he might debauch thee and
delude thee. But now hath its devil departed; so do thou worship Allah and
testify that there is no god but He and that none is worshipful nor
worshipworth but Himself; neither is there any good but His good. As for this
thy god, it cannot ward off hurt from it; so how shall it ward off harm from
thee? See with thine own eyes its impotence.' So saying, he went up to the idol
and dealt it a cuff on the neck, that it fell to the ground; whereupon the King
waxed wroth and cried to the bystanders, 'This froward atheist hath smitten my
god. Slay him!' So they would have arisen to smite him, but none of them could
stir from his place. Then he propounded to them Al-Islam; but they refused to
become Moslems and he said, 'I will show you the wroth of my Lord.' Quoth they,
'Let us see it!' So he spread out his hands and said, 'O my God and my Lord,
Thou art my stay and my hope; answer Thou my prayer against these lewd folk,
who eat of Thy good and worship other gods. O Thou the Truth, O Thou of All-
might, O Creator of Day and Night, I beseech Thee to turn these people into
stones, for Thou art the Puissant nor is aught impossible to Thee, and Thou
over all things are omnipotent!' And Allah transformed the people of this city
into stones; but, as for me, when I saw the manifest proof of His deity, I
submitted myself to Him and was saved from that which befel the rest. Then the
Personage drew near me and said 'Felicity[FN#524] was fore- ordained of Allah
to thee and in this a purpose had He.' And he went on to instruct me and I took
unto him the oath and covenant.[FN#525] I was then seven years of age and am
now thirty years old. Then said I to him, 'O my lord, all that is in the city
and all its citizens are become stones by thine effectual prayer, and I am
saved, for that I embraced Al-Islam at thy hands. Wherefore thou art become my
Shaykh; so do thou tell me thy name and succour me with thy security and
provide me with provision whereon I may subsist.' Quoth he, 'My name is Abu al-
'Abbбs al-Khizr'; and he planted me a pomegranate-tree, which forthright grew
up and foliaged, flowered and fruited, and bare one pomegranate; whereupon
quoth he, 'Eat of that wherewith Allah the Almighty provideth thee and worship
Him with the worship which is His due.' Then he taught me the tenets of
Al-Islam and the canons of prayer and the way of worship, together with the
recital of the Koran, and I have now worshipped Allah in this place
three-and-twenty years. Each day the tree yieldeth me a pomegranate which I eat
and it sustaineth me from tide to tide; and every Friday, Al-Khizr (on whom be
peace!) cometh to me and 'tis he who acquainted me with thy name and gave me
the glad tidings of thy soon coming hither, saying to me, 'When he shall come
to thee, entreat him with honour and obey his bidding and gainsay him not; but
be thou to him wife and he shall be to thee man, and wend with him whitherso he
will.' So, when I saw thee, I knew thee and such is the story of this city and
of its people, and the Peace!'" Then she showed me the pomegranate-tree,
whereon was one granado, which she took and eating one-half thereof herself,
gave me the other to eat, and never did I taste aught sweeter or more savoury
or more satisfying than that pomegranate. After this, I said to her, 'Art thou
content, even as the Shaykh Al-Khizr charged thee, to be my wife and take me to
mate; and art thou ready to go with me to my own country and abide with me in
the city of Bassorah?' She replied, 'Yes, Inshallah: an it please Almighty
Allah. I hearken to thy word and obey thy hest without gainsaying.' Then I made
a binding covenant with her and she carried me into her father's treasury,
whence we took what we could carry and going forth that city, walked on till we
came to my brothers, whom I found searching for me. They asked, 'Where hast
thou been? Indeed thou hast tarried long from us, and our hearts were troubled
for thee.' And the captain of the ship said to me, 'O merchant Abdullah, the
wind hath been fair for us this great while, and thou hast hindered us from
setting sail.' And I answered, 'There is no harm in that: ofttimes slow[FN#526]
is sure and my absence hath wrought us naught but advantage, for indeed, there
hath betided me therein the attainment of our hopes and God-gifted is he who
said,
'I weet not, whenas to a land I fare * In quest of good, what I
shall there obtain;
Or gain I fare with sole desire to seek; * Or loss that seeketh
me when seek I gain.'
Then said I to them, 'See what hath fallen to me in this mine absence;' and
displayed to them all that was with me of treasures and told them what I had
beheld in the City of Stone, adding, 'Had ye hearkened to me and gone with me,
ye had gotten of these things great gain.'"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-fourth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah bin Fazil
said to his shipmates and to his two brothers, "Had ye gone with me, ye had
gotten of these things great gain." But they said, "By Allah, had we gone, we
had not dared to go in to the King of the city!" Then I said to my brothers,
'No harm shall befal you; for that which I have will suffice us all and this is
our lot.'[FN#527] So I divided my booty into four parts according to our number
and gave one to each of my brothers and to the Captain, taking the fourth for
myself, setting aside somewhat for the servants and sailors, who rejoiced and
blessed me: and all were content with what I gave them, save my brothers who
changed countenance and rolled their eyes. I perceived that lust of lucre had
gotten hold of them both; so I said to them, 'O my brothers, methinketh what I
have given you doth not satisfy you; but we are brothers and there is no
difference between us. My good and yours are one and the same thing, and if I
die none will inherit of me but you.' And I went on to soothe them. Then I bore
the Princess on board the galleon and lodged her in the cabin, where I sent her
somewhat to eat and we sat talking, I and my brothers. Said they, 'O our
brother, what wilt thou do with that damsel of surpassing beauty?' And I
replied, 'I mean to contract marriage with her, as soon as I reach Bassorah and
make a splendid wedding and go in to her there.' Exclaimed one of them, 'O my
brother, verily, this young lady excelleth in beauty and loveliness and the
love of her is fallen on my heart; wherefore I desire that thou give her to me
and I will espouse her.' And the other cried, 'I too desire this: give her to
me, that I may espouse her.' 'O my brothers,' answered I, 'indeed she took of
me an oath and a covenant that I would marry her myself; so, if I give her to
one of you, I shall be false to my oath and to the covenant between me and her,
and haply she will be broken- hearted, for she came not with me but on
condition that I marry her. So how can I wed her to other than myself? As for
your both loving her, I love her more than you twain, for she is my
treasure-trove, and as for my giving her to one of you, that is a thing which
may not be. But, if we reach Bassorah in safety, I will look you out two girls
of the best of the damsels of Bassorah and demand them for you in marriage and
pay the dower of my own monies and make one wedding and we will all three go
into our brides on the same night. But leave ye this damsel, for she is of my
portion.' They held their peace, and I thought they were content with that
which I had said. Then we fared onwards for Bassorah, and every day I sent her
meat and drink; but she came not forth of the cabin, whilst I slept between my
brothers on deck. We sailed thus forty days, till we sighted Bassorah city and
rejoiced that we were come near it. Now I trusted in my brothers and was at my
ease with them, for none knoweth the hidden future save Allah the Most High; so
I lay down to sleep that night; but, as I abode drowned in slumber, I suddenly
found myself caught up by these my brothers, one seizing me by the legs and the
other by the arms, for they had taken counsel together to drown me in the sea
for the sake of the damsel. When I saw myself in their hands, I said to them,
'O my brothers, why do ye this with me?' And they replied, 'Ill-bred that thou
art, wilt thou barter our affection for a girl?; we will cast thee into the
sea, because of this.' So saying, they threw me overboard." (Here Abdullah
turned to the dogs and said to them, "Is this that I have said true O my
brothers or not?"; and they bowed their heads and fell a-whining, as if
confirming his speech; whereat the Caliph wondered). Then Abdullah resumed, "O
Commander of the Faithful, when they threw me into the sea, I sank to the
bottom; but the water bore me up again to the surface, and before I could
think, behold a great bird, the bigness of a man, swooped down upon me and
snatching me up, flew up with me into upper air. I fainted and when I opened my
eyes, I found myself in a strong- pillared place, a high-builded palace,
adorned with magnificent paintings and pendants of gems of all shapes and hues.
Therein were damsels standing with their hands crossed over their breasts and,
behold in their midst was a lady seated on a throne of red gold, set with
pearls and gems, and clad in apparel whereon no mortal might open his eyes, for
the lustre of the jewels wherewith they were decked. About her waist she wore a
girdle of jewels no money could pay their worth and on her head a three- fold
tiara dazing thought and wit and dazzling heart and sight. Then the bird which
had carried me thither shook and became a young lady bright as sun raying
light. I fixed my eyes on her and behold, it was she whom I had seen, in snake
form on the mountain and had rescued from the dragon which had wound his tail
around her. Then said to her the lady who sat upon the throne, 'Why hast thou
brought hither this mortal?'; and she replied, 'O my mother, this is he who was
the means of veiling my honour[FN#528] among the maidens of the Jinn.' Then
quoth she to me, 'Knowest thou who I am?'; and quoth I, 'No.' Said she, 'I am
she who was on such a mountain, where the black dragon strave with me and would
have forced my honour, but thou slewest him.' And I said, 'I saw but a white
snake with the dragon.' She rejoined, "Tis I who was the white snake; but I am
the daughter of the Red King, Sovran of the Jann and my name is
Sa'нdah.[FN#529] She who sitteth there is my mother and her name is Mubбrakah,
wife of the Red King. The black dragon who attacked me and would have done away
my honour was Wazir to the Black King, Darfнl by name, and he was foul of
favour. It chanced that he saw me and fell in love with me; so he sought me in
marriage of my sire, who sent to him to say, 'Who art thou, O scum of Wazirs,
that thou shouldst wed with Kings' daughters?' Whereupon he was wroth and sware
an oath that he would assuredly do away my honour, to spite my father. Then he
fell to tracking my steps and following me whithersoever I went, designing to
ravish me; wherefore there befel between him and my parent mighty fierce wars
and bloody jars, but my sire could not prevail against him, for that he was
fierce as fraudful and as often as my father pressed hard upon him and seemed
like to conquer he would escape from him, till my sire was at his wits' end.
Every day I was forced to take new form and hue; for, as often as I assumed a
shape, he would assume its contrary, and to whatsoever land I fled he would
snuff my fragrance and follow me thither, so that I suffered sore affliction of
him. At last I took the form of a snake and betook myself to the mountain where
thou sawest me; whereupon he changed himself to a dragon and pursued me, till I
fell into his hands, when he strove with me and I struggled with him, till he
wearied me and mounted me, meaning to have his lustful will of me: but thou
camest and smotest him with the stone and slewest him. Then I returned to my
own shape and showed myself to thee, saying, 'I am indebted to thee for a
service such as is not lost save with the son of adultery.'[FN#530] So, when I
saw thy brothers do with thee this treachery and throw thee into the sea, I
hastened to thee and saved thee from destruction, and now honour is due to thee
from my mother and my father.' Then she said to the Queen, 'O my mother, do
thou honour him as deserveth he who saved my virtue.' So the Queen said to me,
'Welcome, O mortal! Indeed thou hast done us a kindly deed which meriteth
honour.' Presently she ordered me a treasure-suit,[FN#531] worth a mint of
money, and store of gems and precious stones, and said, 'Take him and carry him
in to the King.' Accordingly, they carried me into the King in his Divan, where
I found him seated on his throne, with his Marids and guards before him; and
when I saw him my sight was blent for that which was upon him of jewels; but
when he saw me, he rose to his feet and all his officers rose also, to do him
worship. Then he saluted me and welcomed me and entreated me with the utmost
honour, and gave me of that which was with him of good things; after which he
said to some of his followers, 'Take him and carry him back to my daughter,
that she may restore him to the place whence she brought him.' So they carried
me back to the Lady Sa'idah, who took me up and flew away with me and my
treasures. On this wise fared it with me and the Princess; but as regards the
Captain of the galleon, he was aroused by the splash of my fall, when my
brothers cast me into the sea, and said, 'What is that which hath fallen
overboard?' Whereupon my brothers fell to weeping and beating of breasts and
replied, 'Alas, for our brother's loss! He thought to do his need over the
ship's side[FN#532] and fell into the water!' Then they laid their hands on my
good, but there befel dispute between them because of the damsel, each saying,
'None shall have her but I.' And they abode jangling and wrangling each with
other and remembered not their brother nor his drowning and their mourning for
him ceased. As they were thus, behold Sa'idah alighted with me in the midst of
the galleon,"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-fifth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah bin Fazil
continued, "As they were thus, behold, Sa'idah alighted with me in the midst of
the galleon and when my brothers saw me, they embraced me and rejoiced in me,
saying, 'O our brother, how hast thou fared in that which befel thee? Indeed
our hearts have been occupied with thee.' Quoth Sa'idah, 'Had ye any heart-
yearnings for him or had ye loved him, ye had not cast him into the sea; but
choose ye now what death ye will die.' Then she seized on them and would have
slain them; but they cried out, saying, 'In thy safeguard, O our brother!'
Thereupon I interceded and said to her, 'I claim of thine honour not to kill my
brothers.' Quoth she, 'There is no help but that I slay them, for they are
traitors.' But I ceased not to speak her fair and conciliate her till she said,
'To content thee, I will not kill them, but I will enchant them.' So saying,
she brought out a cup and filling it with sea-water, pronounced over it words
that might not be understood; then saying, 'Quit this human shape for the shape
of a dog;' she sprinkled them with the water, and immediately they were
transmewed into dogs, as thou seest them, O Vicar of Allah." Whereupon he
turned to the dogs and said to them, "Have I spoken the truth, O my brothers?"
And they bowed their heads, as they would say, "Thou hast spoken sooth." At
this he continued, "Then she said to those who were in the galleon, 'Know ye
that Abdullah bin Fazil here present is become my brother and I shall visit him
once or twice every day: so, whoso of you crosseth him or gainsayeth his
bidding or doth him hurt with hand or tongue, I will do with him even as I have
done with these two traitors and bespell him to a dog, and he shall end his
days in that form, nor shall he find deliverance.' And they all said to her, 'O
our lady, we are his slaves and his servants every one of us and will not
disobey him in aught.' Moreover, she said to me, 'When thou comest to Bassorah,
examine all thy property and if there lack aught thereof, tell me and I will
bring it to thee, in whose hands and in what place soever it may be, and will
change him who took it into a dog. When thou hast magazined thy goods, clap a
collar[FN#533] of wood on the neck of each of these two traitors and tie them
to the leg of a couch and shut them up by themselves. Moreover, every night, at
midnight, do thou go down to them and beat each of them a bout till he swoon
away; and if thou suffer a single night to pass without beating them, I will
come to thee and drub thee a sound drubbing, after which I will drub them.' And
I answered, 'To hear is to obey.' Then said she, 'Tie them up with ropes till
thou come to Bassorah.' So I tied a rope about each dog's neck and lashed them
to the mast, and she went her way. On the morrow we entered Bassorah and the
merchants came out to meet me and saluted me, and no one of them enquired of my
brothers. But they looked at the dogs and said to me, 'Ho, such and
such,[FN#534] what wilt thou do with these two dogs thou hast brought with
thee?' Quoth I, 'I reared them on this voyage and have brought them home with
me.' And they laughed at them, knowing not that they were my brothers. When I
reached my house, I put the twain in a closet and busied myself all that night
with the unpacking and disposition of the bales of stuffs and jewels. Moreover,
the merchants were with me being minded to offer me the salam; wherefore I was
occupied with them and forgot to beat the dogs or chain them up. Then without
doing them aught of hurt, I lay down to sleep, but suddenly and unexpectedly
there came to me the Red King's daughter Sa'idah and said to me, 'Did I not bid
thee clap chains on their necks and give each of them a bout of beating?' So
saying, she seized me and pulling out a whip, flogged me till I fainted away,
after which she went to the place where my brothers were and with the same
scourge beat them both till they came nigh upon death. Then said she to me,
'Beat each of them a like bout every night, and if thou let a night pass
without doing this, I will beat thee;' and I replied, 'O my lady, to-morrow I
will put chains on their necks, and next night I will beat them nor will I
leave them one night unbeaten.' And she charged me strictly to beat them and
disappeared. When the morning morrowed it being no light matter for me to put
fetters of iron on their necks, I went to a goldsmith and bade him make them
collars and chains of gold. He did this and I put the collars on their necks
and chained them up, as she bade me; and next night I beat them both in mine
own despite. This befel in the Caliphate of Al- Mahdi,[FN#535] third of the
sons of Al-Abbas, and I commended myself to him by sending him presents, so he
invested me with the government and made me viceroy of Bassorah. On this wise I
abode some time and after a while I said to myself, 'Haply her wrath is grown
cool;' and left them a night unbeaten, whereupon she came to me and beat me a
bout whose burning I shall never forget long as I live. So, from that time to
this, I have never left them a single night unbeaten during the reign of
Al-Mahdi; and when he deceased and thou camest to the succession, thou sentest
to me, confirming me in the government of Bassorah. These twelve years past
have I beaten them every night, in mine own despite, and after I have beaten
them, I excuse myself to them and comfort them and give them to eat and drink;
and they have remained shut up, nor did any of the creatures of Allah know of
them, till thou sentest to me Abu Ishak the boon-companion, on account of the
tribute, and he discovered my secret and returning to thee, acquainted thee
therewith. Then thou sentest him back to fetch me and them; so I answered with
'Hearkening and obedience,' and brought them before thee, whereupon thou
questionedst me and I told thee the truth of the case; and this is my history."
The Caliph marvelled at the case of the two dogs and said to Abdullah, "Hast
thou at this present forgiven thy two brothers the wrong they did thee, yea or
nay?" He replied, "O my lord, may Allah forgive them and acquit them of
responsibility in this world and the next! Indeed, 'tis I who stand in need of
their forgiveness, for that these twelve years past I have beaten them a
grievous bout every night!" Rejoined the Caliph, "O Abdullah, Inshallah, I will
endeavour for their release and that they may become men again, as they were
before, and I will make peace between thee and them; so shall you live the rest
of your lives as brothers loving one another; and like as thou hast forgiven
them, so shall they forgive thee. But now take them and go down with them to
thy lodging and this night beat them not, and to- morrow there shall be naught
save weal." Quoth Abdullah, "O my lord, as thy head liveth, if I leave them one
night unbeaten, Sa'idah will come to me and beat me, and I have no body to
brook beating." Quoth the Caliph, "Fear not, for I will give thee a writing
under my hand.[FN#536] An she come to thee, do thou give her the paper and if,
when she has read it, she spare thee, the favour will be hers; but, if she obey
not my bidding, commit thy business to Allah and let her beat thee a bout and
suppose that thou hast forgotten to beat them for one night and that she
beateth thee because of that: and if it fall out thus and she thwart me, as
sure as I am Commander of the Faithful, I will be even with her." Then he wrote
her a letter on a piece of paper, two fingers broad, and sealing it with his
signet-ring, gave it to Abdullah, saying, "O Abdullah, if Sa'idah come, say to
her, 'The Caliph, King of mankind, hath commanded me to leave beating them and
hath written me this letter for thee; and he saluteth thee with the salam.'
Then give her the warrant and fear no harm." After which he exacted of him an
oath and a solemn pledge that he would not beat them. So Abdullah took the dogs
and carried them to his lodging, saying to himself, "I wonder what the Caliph
will do with the daughter of the Sovran of the Jinn, if she cross him and
trounce me to-night! But I will bear with a bout of beating for once and leave
my brothers at rest this night, though for their sake I suffer torture." Then
he bethought himself awhile, and his reason said to him, "Did not the Caliph
rely on some great support, he had never forbidden me from beating them." So he
entered his lodging and doffed the collars from the dogs' necks, saying, "I put
my trust in Allah," and fell to comforting them and saying, "No harm shall
befal you; for the Caliph, fifth[FN#537] of the sons of Al-Abbas, hath pledged
himself for your deliverance and I have forgiven you. An it please Allah the
Most High, the time is come and ye shall be delivered this blessed night; so
rejoice ye in the prospect of peace and gladness." When they heard these words,
they fell to whining with the whining of dogs,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah bin Fazil
said to his brothers, "Rejoice ye in the prospect of comfort and gladness." And
when they heard his words they fell to whining with the whining of dogs, and
rubbed their jowls against his feet, as if blessing him and humbling themselves
before him. He mourned over them and took to stroking their backs till supper
time; and when they set on the trays he bade the dogs sit. So they sat down and
ate with him from the tray, whilst his officers stood gaping and marvelling at
his eating with dogs and all said, "Is he mad or are his wits gone wrong? How
can the Viceroy of Bassorah city, he who is greater than a Wazir, eat with
dogs? Knoweth he not that the dog is unclean?[FN#538]" And they stared at the
dogs, as they ate with him as servants eat with their lords,[FN#539] knowing
not that they were his brothers; nor did they cease staring at them, till they
had made an end of eating, when Abdullah washed his hands and the dogs also put
out their paws and washed; whereupon all who were present began to laugh at
them and to marvel, saying, one to other, "Never in our lives saw we dogs eat
and wash their paws after eating!" Then the dogs sat down on the divans beside
Abdullah, nor dared any ask him of this; and thus the case lasted till
midnight, when he dismissed the attendants and lay down to sleep and the dogs
with him, each on a couch; whereupon the servants said one to other, "Verily,
he hath lain down to sleep and the two dogs are lying with him." Quoth another,
"Since he hath eaten with the dogs from the same tray, there is no harm in
their sleeping with him; and this is naught save the fashion of madmen."
Moreover, they ate not anything of the food which remained in the tray, saying,
"'Tis unclean." Such was their case; but as for Abdullah, ere he could think,
the earth clave asunder and out rose Sa'idah, who said to him, "O Abdullah, why
hast thou not beaten them this night and why hast thou undone the collars from
their necks? Hast thou acted on this wise perversely and in mockery of my
commandment? But I will at once beat thee and spell thee into a dog like them."
He replied, "O my lady, I conjure thee by the graving upon the seal-ring of
Solomon David-son (on the twain be peace!) have patience with me till I tell
thee my cause and after do with me what thou wilt." Quoth she, "Say on," and
quoth he, "The reason of my not punishing them is only this. The King of
mankind, the Commander of the Faithful, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, ordered me
not to beat them this night and took of me oaths and covenants to that effect;
and he saluteth thee with the salam and hath committed to me a mandate under
his own hand, which he bade me give thee. So I obeyed his order for to obey the
Commander of the Faithful is obligatory; and here is the mandate. Take it and
read it and after work thy will." She replied "Hither with it!" So he gave her
the letter and she opened it and read as follows, "In the name of Allah, the
Compassionating, the Compassionate! From the King of mankind, Harun al-Rashid,
to the daughter of the Red King, Sa'idah! But, after. Verily, this man hath
forgiven his brothers and hath waived his claim against them, and we have
enjoined them to reconciliation. Now, when reconciliation ruleth, retribution
is remitted, and if you of the Jinn contradict us in our commandments, we will
contrary you in yours and traverse your ordinances; but, an ye obey our bidding
and further our orders, we will indeed do the like with yours. Wherefore I bid
thee hurt them no hurt, and if thou believe in Allah and in His Apostle, it
behoveth thee to obey and us to command.[FN#540] So an thou spare them, I will
requite thee with that whereto my Lord shall enable me; and the token of
obedience is that thou remove thine enchantment from these two men, so they may
come before me to- morrow, free. But an thou release them not, I will release
them in thy despite, by the aid of Almighty Allah." When she had read the
letter, she said, "O Abdullah, I will do nought till I go to my sire and show
him the mandate of the monarch of mankind and return to thee with the answer in
haste." So saying, she signed with her hand to the earth, which clave open and
she disappeared therein, whilst Abdullah's heart was like to fly for joy and he
said, "Allah advance the Commander of the Faithful!" As for Sa'idah, she went
in to her father; and, acquainting him with that which had passed, gave him the
Caliph's letter, which he kissed and laid on his head. Then he read it and
understanding its contents said, "O my daughter, verily, the ordinance of the
monarch of mankind obligeth us and his commandments are effectual over us, nor
can we disobey him: so go thou and release the two men forthwith and say to
them, 'Ye are freed by the intercession of the monarch of mankind.' For, should
he be wroth with us, he would destroy us to the last of us; so do not thou
impose on us that which we are unable." Quoth she "O my father, if the monarch
of mankind were wroth with us, what could he do with us?"; and quoth her sire,
"He hath power over us for several reasons. In the first place, he is a man and
hath thus pre-eminence over us[FN#541]; secondly he is the Vicar of Allah; and
thirdly, he is constant in praying the dawn-prayer of two bows[FN#542];
therefore were all the tribes of the Jinn assembled together against him from
the Seven Worlds they could do him no hurt. But he, should he be wroth with us
would pray the dawn-prayer of two bows and cry out upon us one cry, when we
should all present ourselves before him obediently and be before him as sheep
before the butcher. If he would, he could command us to quit our abiding-places
for a desert country wherein we might not endure to sojourn; and if he desired
to destroy us, he would bid us destroy ourselves, whereupon we should destroy
one another. Wherefore we may not disobey his bidding for, if we did this, he
would consume us with fire nor could we flee from before him to any asylum.
Thus is it with every True Believer who is persistent in praying the
dawn-prayer of two bows; his commandment is effectual over us: so be not thou
the means of our destruction, because of two mortals, but go forthright and
release them, ere the anger of the Commander of the Faithful fall upon us." So
she returned to Abdullah and acquainted him with her father's words, saying,
"Kiss for us the hands of the Prince of True Believers and seek his approval
for us." Then she brought out the tasse and filling it with water, conjured
over it and uttered words which might not be understood; after which she
sprinkled the dogs with the water saying, "Quit the form of dogs and return to
the shape of men!" Whereupon they became men as before and the spell of the
enchantment was loosed from them. Quoth they, "I testify that there is no god
but the God and I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of God!" Then they fell
on their brother's feet and hands, kissing them and beseeching his forgiveness:
but he said, "Do ye forgive me;" and they both repented with sincere
repentance, saying, "Verily, the damned Devil lured us and covetise deluded us:
but our Lord hath requited us after our deserts, and forgiveness is of the
signs of the noble." And they went on to supplicate their brother and weep and
profess repentance for that which had befallen him from them[FN#543]. Then
quoth he to them, "What did ye with my wife whom I brought from the City of
Stone?" Quoth they, "When Satan tempted us and we cast thee into the sea, there
arose strife between us, each saying, I will have her to wife. Now when she
heard these words and beheld our contention, she knew that we had thrown thee
into the sea; so she came up from the cabin and said to us, 'Contend not
because of me, for I will not belong to either of you. My husband is gone into
the sea and I will follow him.' So saying, she cast herself overboard and
died." Exclaimed Abdullah, "In very sooth she died a martyr[FN#544]! But there
is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!"
Then he wept for her with sore weeping and said to his brothers, "It was not
well of you to do this deed and bereave me of my wife." They answered, "Indeed,
we have sinned, but our Lord hath requited us our misdeed and this was a thing
which Allah decreed unto us, ere He created us." And he accepted their excuse;
but Sa'idah said to him, "Have they done all these things to thee and wilt thou
forgive them?" He replied, "O my sister, whoso hath power[FN#545] and spareth,
for Allah's reward he prepareth." Then said she, "Be on thy guard against them,
for they are traitors;" and farewelled him and fared forth.—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah, when Sa'idah
warned him and blessed him and went her ways, passed the rest of the night with
his brothers and on the morrow, he sent them to the Hammam and clad each of
them, on his coming forth, in a suit worth a hoard of money. Then he called for
the tray of food and they set it before him and he ate, he and his brothers.
When his attendants saw the twain and knew them for his brothers they saluted
them and said to him, "O our lord, Allah give thee joy of thy reunion with thy
dear brothers! Where have they been this while?" He replied, "It was they whom
ye saw in the guise of dogs; praise be to Allah who hath delivered them from
prison and grievous torment!" Then he carried them to the Divan of the Caliph
and kissing ground before Al-Rashid wished him continuance of honour and
fortune and surcease of evil and enmity. Quoth the Caliph, "Welcome, O Emir
Abdullah! Tell me what hath befallen thee." And quoth he, "O Commander of the
Faithful (whose power Allah increase!) when I carried my brothers home to my
lodging, my heart was at rest concerning them, because thou hadst pledged
thyself to their release and I said in myself, 'Kings fail not to attain aught
for which they strain, inasmuch as the divine favour aideth them.' So I took
off the collars from their necks, putting my trust in Allah, and ate with them
from the same tray, which when my suite saw, they made light of my wit and said
each to other, 'He is surely mad! How can the governor of Bassorah who is
greater than the Wazir, eat with dogs?' Then they threw away what was in the
tray, saying, 'We will not eat the dogs' orts.' And they went on to befool my
reason, whilst I heard their words, but returned them no reply because of their
unknowing that the dogs were my brothers. When the hour of sleep came, I sent
them away and addressed myself to sleep; but, ere I was ware, the earth clave
in sunder and out came Sa'idah, the Red King's daughter, enraged against me,
with eyes like fire." And he went on to relate to the Caliph all what had
passed between him and her and her father and how she had transmewed his
brothers from canine to human form, adding, "And here they are before thee, O
Commander of the Faithful!" The Caliph looked at them and seeing two young men
like moons, said, "Allah requite thee for me with good, O Abdullah, for that
thou hast acquainted me with an advantage[FN#546] I knew not! Henceforth,
Inshallah, I will never leave to pray these two-bow orisons before the breaking
of the dawn, what while I live." Then he reproved Abdullah's brothers for their
past transgressions against him and they excused themselves before the Caliph,
who said, "Join hands[FN#547] and forgive one another and Allah pardon what is
past!" Upon which he turned to Abdullah and said to him, "O Abdullah, make thy
brothers thine assistants and be careful of them." Then he charged them to be
obedient to their brother and bade them return to Bassorah after he had
bestowed on them abundant largesse. So they went down from the Caliph's Divan
whilst he rejoiced in this advantage he had obtained by the action aforesaid,
to wit, persistence in praying two inclinations before dawn, and exclaimed, "He
spake truth who said, 'The misfortune of one tribe fortuneth another
tribe.'"[FN#548] On this wise befel it to them from the Caliph; but as regards
Abdullah, he left Baghdad carrying with him his brothers in all honour and
dignity and increase of quality, and fared on till they drew near Bassorah,
when the notables and chief men of the place came out to meet them and after
decorating the city brought them thereinto with a procession which had not its
match and all the folk shouted out blessings on Abdullah as he scattered
amongst them silver and gold. None, however, took heed to his brothers;
wherefore jealousy and envy entered their hearts, for all he entreated them
tenderly as one tenders an ophthalmic eye; but the more he cherished them, the
more they redoubled in hatred and envy of him: and indeed it is said on the
subject,
"I'd win good will of every one, but whoso envies me * Will not
be won on any wise and makes mine office hard:
How gain the gree of envious wight who coveteth my good, * When
naught will satisfy him save to see my good go marr'd?"
Then he gave each a concubine that had not her like, and eunuchs and servants
and slaves white and black, of each kind forty. He also gave each of them fifty
steeds all thoroughbreds and they got them guards and followers; and he
assigned to them revenues and appointed them solde and stipends and made them
his assistants, saying to them, "O my brothers, I and you are equal and there
is no distinction between me and you twain,"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah assigned
stipends to his brothers and made them his assistants, saying, "O my brothers,
I and you are equal and there is no distinction between me and you twain, and
after Allah and the Caliph, the commandment is mine and yours. So rule you at
Bassorah in my absence and in my presence, and your commandments shall be
effectual; but look that ye fear Allah in your ordinances and beware of
oppression, which if it endure depopulateth; and apply yourselves to justice,
for justice, if it be prolonged, peopleth a land. Oppress not the True
Believers, or they will curse you and ill report of you will reach the Caliph,
wherefore dishonour will betide both me and you. Go not therefore about to
violence any, but whatso ye greed for of the goods of the folk, take it from my
goods, over and above that whereof ye have need; for 'tis not unknown to you
what is handed down in the Koran of prohibition versets on the subject of
oppression and Allah-gifted is he who said these couplets,
'Oppression ambusheth in sprite of man * Whom naught withholdeth
save the lack of might:
The sage shall ne'er apply his wits to aught * Until befitting
time direct his sight:
The tongue of wisdom woneth in the heart; * And in his mouth the
tongue of foolish wight.
Who at occasion's call lacks power to rise * Is slain by feeblest
who would glut his spite.
A man may hide his blood and breed, but aye * His deeds on
darkest hiddens cast a light.
Wights of ill strain with ancestry as vile * Have lips which
never spake one word aright:
And who committeth case to hands of fool * In folly proveth self
as fond and light;
And who his secret tells to folk at large * Shall rouse his foes
to work him worst despight.
Suffice the generous what regards his lot * Nor meddles he with
aught regards him not'"
And he went on to admonish his brothers and bid them to equity and forbid them
from tyranny, doubting not but they would love him the better for his boon of
good counsel[FN#549] and he relied upon them and honoured them with the utmost
honour; but notwithstanding all his generosity to them, they only waxed in envy
and hatred of him, till, one day, the two being together alone, quoth Nasir to
Mansur, "O my brother, how long shall we be mere subjects of our brother
Abdullah, and he in this estate of lordship and worship? After being a
merchant, he is become an Emir, and from being little, he is grown great: but
we, we grow not great nor is there aught of respect or degree left us; for,
behold, he laugheth at us and maketh us his assistants! What is the meaning of
this? Is it not that we are his servants and under his subjection? But, long as
he abideth in good case, our rank will never be raised nor shall we be aught of
repute; wherefore we shall not fulfil our wish, except we slay him and win to
his wealth, nor will it be possible to get his gear save after his death. So,
when we have slain him, we shall become lords and will take all that is in his
treasuries of gems and things of price and divide them between us. Then will we
send the Caliph a present and demand of him the government of Cufah, and thou
shalt be governor of Cufah and I of Bassorah. Thus each of us shall have formal
estate and condition, but we shall never effect this, except we put him out of
the world!" Answered Mansur, "Thou sayest sooth, but how shall we do to kill
him?" Quoth Nasir, "We will make an entertainment in the house of one of us and
invite him thereto and serve him with the uttermost service. Then will we sit
through the night with him in talk and tell him tales and jests and rare
stories till his heart melteth with sitting up when we will spread him a bed,
that he may lie down to sleep. When he is asleep, we will kneel upon him and
throttle him and throw him into the river; and on the morrow, we will say, 'His
sister the Jinniyah came to him, as he sat chatting with us, and said to him,
'O thou scum of mankind, who art thou that thou shouldst complain of me to the
Commander of the Faithful? Deemest thou that we dread him? As he is a King, so
we too are Kings, and if he mend not his manners in our regard we will do him
die by the foulest of deaths. But meantime I will slay thee, that we may see
what the hand of the Prince of True Believers availeth to do.' So saying, she
caught him up and clave the earth and disappeared with him which when we saw,
we swooned away. Then we revived and we reck not what is become of him.' And
saying this we will send to the Caliph and tell him the case and he will invest
us with the government in his room. After awhile, we will send him a sumptuous
present and seek of him the government of Cufah, and one of us shall abide in
Bassorah and the other in Cufah. So shall the land be pleasant to us and we
will be down upon the True Believers and win our wishes." And quoth Mansur,
"Thou counsellest well, O my brother," and they agreed upon the murther. So
Nasir made an entertainment and said to Abdullah, "O my brother, verily I am
thy brother, and I would have thee hearten my heart thou and my brother Mansur
and eat of my banquet in my house, so I may boast of thee and that it may be
said, The Emir Abdullah hath eaten of his brother Nasir's guest meal; when my
heart will be solaced by this best of boons." Abdullah replied, "So be it, O my
brother; there is no distinction between me and thee and thy house is my house;
but since thou invitest me, none refuseth hospitality save the churl." Then he
turned to Mansur and said to him, "Wilt thou go with me to thy brother Nasir's
house and we will eat of his feast and heal his heart?" Replied Mansur, "As thy
head liveth, O my brother, I will not go with thee, unless thou swear to me
that, after thou comest forth of brother Nasir's house, thou wilt enter my
house and eat of my banquet! Is Nasir thy brother and am not I thy brother? So,
even as thou heartenest his heart, do thou hearten mine." Answered Abdullah,
"There is no harm in that: with love and gladly gree! When I come out from
Nasir's house, I will enter thine, for thou art my brother even as he." So he
kissed his hand and going forth of the Divan, made ready his feast. On the
morrow, Abdullah took horse and repaired, with his brother Mansur and a company
of his officers, to Nasir's house, where they sat down, he and Mansur and his
many. Then Nasir set the trays before them and welcomed them; so they ate and
drank and sat in mirth and merriment; after which the trays and the platters
were removed and they washed their hands. They passed the day in feasting and
wine-drinking and diversion and delight till night-fall, when they supped and
prayed the sundown prayers, and the night orisons; after which they sat
conversing and carousing, and Nasir and Mansur fell to telling stories whilst
Abdullah hearkened. Now they three were alone in the pavilion, the rest of the
company being in another place, and they ceased not to tell quips and tales and
rare adventures and anecdotes, till Abdullah's heart was dissolved within him
for watching and sleep overcame him.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Abdullah was
a-wearied with watching and wanted to sleep, they also lay beside him on
another couch and waited till he wasdrowned in slumber and when they were
certified thereof they arose and knelt upon him: whereupon he awoke and seeing
them kneeling on his breast, said to them, "What is this, O my brothers?" Cried
they, "We are no brothers of thine, nor do we know thee unmannerly that thou
art! Thy death is become better than thy life." Then they gripped him by the
throat and throttled him, till he lost his senses and abode without motion; so
that they deemed him dead. Now the pavilion wherein they were overlooked the
river; so they cast him into the water; but, when he fell, Allah sent to his
aid a dolphin[FN#550] who was accustomed to come under that pavilion because
the kitchen had a window that gave upon the stream; and, as often as they
slaughtered any beast there, it was their wont to throw the refuse into the
river and the dolphin came and picked it up from the surface of the water;
wherefore he ever resorted to the place. That day they had cast out much offal
by reason of the banquet; so the dolphin ate more than of wont and gained
strength. Hearing the splash of Abdullah's fall, he hastened to the spot, where
he saw a son of Adam and Allah guided him so that he took the man on his back
and crossing the current made with him for the other bank, where he cast his
burthen ashore. Now the place where the dolphin cast up Abdullah was a
well-beaten highway, and presently up came a caravan and finding him lying on
the river bank, said, "Here is a drowned man, whom the river hath cast up;" and
the travellers gathered around to gaze at the corpse. The Shaykh of the caravan
was a man of worth, skilled in all sciences and versed in the mystery of
medicine and, withal, sound of judgment: so he said to them, "O folk, what is
the news?" They answered, "Here is a drowned man;" whereupon he went up to
Abdullah and examining him, said to them, "O folk, there is life yet in this
young man, who is a person of condition and of the sons of the great, bred in
honour and fortune, and Inshallah there is still hope of him." Then he took him
and clothing him in dry clothes warmed him before the fire; after which he
nursed him and tended him three days' march till he revived; but he was passing
feeble by reason of the shock, and the chief of the caravan proceeded to
medicine him with such simples as he knew, what while they ceased not faring on
till they had travelled thirty days' journey from Bassorah and came to a city
in the land of the Persians, by name 'Aъj.[FN#551] Here they alighted at a Khan
and spread Abdullah a bed, where he lay groaning all night and troubling the
folk with his groans. And when morning morrowed the concierge of the Khan came
to the chief of the caravan and said to him, "What is this sick man thou hast
with thee? Verily, he disturbeth us." Quoth the chief, "I found him by the way,
on the river-bank and well nigh drowned; and I have tended him, but to no
effect, for he recovereth not." Said the porter, "Show him to the
Shaykhah[FN#552] Rбjihah." "Who is this Religious?" asked the chief of the
caravan, and the door-keeper answered, "There is with us a holy woman, a clean
maid and a comely, called Rajihah, to whom they present whoso hath any ailment;
and he passeth a single night in her house and awaketh on the morrow, whole and
ailing nothing." Quoth the chief, "Direct me to her;" quoth the porter, "Take
up thy sick man." So he took up Abdullah and the doorkeeper forewent him, till
he came to a hermitage, where he saw folk entering with many an ex voto
offering and other folk coming forth, rejoicing. The porter went in, till he
came to the curtain,[FN#553] and said, "Permission, O Shaykhah Rajihah! Take
this sick man." Said she, "Bring him within the curtain;" and the porter said
to Abdullah, "Enter." So he entered and looking upon the holy woman, saw her to
be his wife whom he had brought from the City of Stone. And when he knew her
she also knew him and saluted him and he returned her salam. Then said he, "Who
brought thee hither?"; and she answered, "When I saw that thy brothers had cast
thee away and were contending concerning me, I threw myself into the sea; but
my Shaykh Al-Khizr Abu al-'Abbбs took me up and brought me to this hermitage,
where he gave me leave to heal the sick and bade cry in the city, 'Whoso hath
any ailment, let him repair to the Shaykhah Rajihah;' and he also said to me,
'Tarry in this hermitage till the time betide, and thy husband shall come to
thee here.' So all the sick used to flock to me and I rubbed them and shampoo'd
them and they awoke on the morrow whole and sound; whereby the report of me
became noised abroad among the folk, and they brought me votive gifts, so that
I have with me abundant wealth. And now I live here in high honour and worship,
and all the people of these parts seek my prayers." Then she rubbed him and by
the ordinance of Allah the Most High, he became whole. Now Al-Khizr used to
come to her every Friday night, and it chanced that the day of Abdullah's
coming was a Thursday.[FN#554] Accordingly, when the night darkened he and she
sat, after a supper of the richest meats, awaiting the coming of Al-Khizr, who
made his appearance anon and carrying them forth of the hermitage, set them
down in Abdullah's palace at Bassorah, where he left them and went his way. As
soon as it was day, Abdullah examined the palace and knew it for his own; then,
hearing the folk clamouring without, he looked forth of the lattice and saw his
brothers crucified, each on his own cross. Now the reason of this was as
ensueth. When they had thrown him into the Tigris, the twain arose on the
morrow, weeping and saying, "Our brother! the Jinniyah hath carried off our
brother!" Then they made ready a present and sent it to the Caliph, acquainting
him with these tidings and suing from him the government of Bassorah. He sent
for them and questioned them and they told him the false tale we have
recounted, whereupon he was exceeding wroth.[FN#555] So that night he prayed a
two-bow prayer before daybreak, as of his wont, and called upon the tribes of
the Jinn, who came before him subject-wise, and he questioned them of Abdullah:
when they sware to him that none of them had done him aught of hurt and said,
"We know not what is become of him." Then came Sa'idah, daughter of the Red
King, and acquainted the Caliph with the truth of Abdullah's case, and he
dismissed the Jinn. On the morrow, he subjected Nasir and Mansur to the
bastinado till they confessed, one against other: whereupon the Caliph was
enraged with them and cried, "Carry them to Bassorah and crucify them there
before Abdullah's palace." Such was their case; but as regards Abdullah, when
he saw his brothers crucified, he commanded to bury them, then took horse and
repairing to Baghdad, acquainted the Caliph with that which his brothers had
done with him, from first to last and told him how he had recovered his wife;
whereat Al-Rashid marvelled and summoning the Kazi and the witnesses, bade draw
up the marriage- contract between Abdullah and the damsel whom he had brought
from the City of Stone. So he went in to her and woned with her at Bassorah
till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Severer of societies;
and extolled be the perfection of the Living, who dieth not! Moreover, O
auspicious King, I have heard a tale anent
End of Volume 9.
Arabian Nights, Volume 9
Footnotes
[FN#1] Arab. "Wa lб rajma ghaybin:" lit. = without stone-throwing (conjecture)
of one latent.
[FN#2] i.e. saying Bismillah, etc. See vol. v. 206.
[FN#3] Where he was to await her.
[FN#4] As a rule, amongst Moslems the rider salutes the man on foot and the
latter those who sit. The saying in the text suggests the Christian byword
anent Mohammed and the Mountain, which is, I need hardly say, utterly unknown
to Mahommedans.
[FN#5] The story-teller does not remember that "the city-folk trust to the
locking of the gates" (dccclxxxix.); and forgets to tell us that the Princess
took the keys from the Wazir whom she had hocussed. In a carefully corrected
Arabic Edition of The Nights, a book much wanted, the texts which are now in a
mutilated state would be supplied with these details.
[FN#6] Which probably would not be the last administered to him by the
Amazonian young person, who after her mate feared to approach the dead
blackamoor must have known him to be cowardly as Cairenes generally are.
Moreover, he had no shame in his poltroonery like the recreant Fellah-soldiers,
in the wretched Sawбkin campaign against the noble Sъdбni negroids, who excused
their running away by saying, "We are Egyptians" i.e. too good men and Moslems
to lose our lives as becomes you Franks and dog-Christians. Yet under Mohammed
Ali the Great, Fellah-soldiers conquered the "colligated" Arabs (Pilgrimage
iii. 48) of Al-Asir (Ophir) at Bissel and in Wahhabi-land and put the Turks to
flight at the battle of Nazib, and the late General Jochmus assured me that he
saved his command, the Ottoman cavalry in Syria, by always manњuvring to refuse
a pitched battle. But Mohammed Ali knew his men. He never failed to shoot a
runaway, and all his officers, even the lieutenants, were Turks or Albanians.
Sa'id Pasha was the first to appoint Fellah-officers and under their command
the Egyptian soldier, one of the best in the East, at once became the worst. We
have at last found the right way to make them fight, by officering them with
Englishmen, but we must not neglect the shooting process whenever they dare to
turn tail.
[FN#7] "Al-walhбn" (as it should be printed in previous places, instead of
Al-walahбn) is certainly not a P.N. in this place.
[FN#8] Arab. "Kundur," Pers. and Arab. manna, mastich, frankincense, the latter
being here meant.
[FN#9] So Emma takes the lead and hides her lover under her cloak during their
flight to the place where they intended to lie concealed. In both cases the
women are the men.
[FN#10] Or "Bartъt," in which we recognise the German Berthold.
[FN#11] i.e. Head of Killaut which makes, from the Muhнt , "the name of a son
of the sons of the Jinn and the Satans."
[FN#12] i.e. attacked her after a new fashion: see vol. i. 136.
[FN#13] i.e. Weevil's dung; hence Suez = Suways the little weevil, or "little
Sus" from the Maroccan town: see The Mines of Midian p. 74 for a note on the
name. Near Gibraltar is a fiumara called Guadalajara i.e. Wady al-Khara, of
dung. "Bartъs" is evidently formed "on the weight" of "Bartъt;" and his metonym
is a caricature, a chaff fit for Fellahs.
[FN#14] Arab. "Al-Din al-a'raj," the perverted or falsified Faith, Christianity
having been made obsolete and abolished by the Mission of Mohammed, even as
Christianity claims to have superseded the Mosaic and Noachian dispensations.
Moslems are perfectly logical in their deductions, but logic and truth do not
always go together.
[FN#15] The "Breaker of Wind" (faswah = a fizzle, a silent crepitus) "son of
Children's dung."
[FN#16] Arab. "Ammб laka au 'alayk" lit. = either to thee (be the gain) or upon
thee (be the loss). This truly Arabic idiom is varied in many ways.
[FN#17] In addition to what was noted in vol. iii. 100 and viii. 51, I may
observe that in the "Masnavi" the "Baghdad of Nulliquity" is opposed to the
Ubiquity of the World. The popular derivation is Bagh (the idol-god, the slav
"Bog") and dбd a gift, he gave (Persian). It is also called Al-Zaurб = a bow,
from the bend of the Tigris where it was built.
[FN#18] Arab. "Jawбsнs" plur. of Jбsъs lit. the spies.
[FN#19] The Caliph could not "see" her "sweetness of speech"; so we must
understand that he addressed her and found out that she was fluent of tongue.
But this idiomatic use of the word "see" is also found in the languages of
Southern Europe: so Camoens (Lus. 1. ii.), "Ouvi * * * vereis" lit. = "hark,
you shall see" which sounds Hibernian.
[FN#20] Here "Farz" (Koranic obligation which it is mortal sin to gainsay)
follows whereas it should precede "Sunnat" (sayings and doings of the Apostle)
simply because "Farz" jingles with "Arz" (earth).
[FN#21] Moslems, like modern Agnostics, hold that Jesus of Nazareth would be
greatly scandalized by the claims to Godship advanced for him by his followers.
[FN#22] Koran ix. 33: See also v. 85. In the passage above quoted
Mr. Rodwell makes the second "He" refer to the deity.
[FN#23] Koran xxvi. 88, 89. For a very indifferent version (and abridgment) of
this speech, see Saturday Review, July 9, 1881.
[FN#24] Koran iv. 140.
[FN#25] Arab. "Furбt" from the Arab. "Faruta" = being sweet, as applied to
water. Al-Furбtбni = the two sweet (rivers), are the Tigris and Euphrates. The
Greeks, who in etymology were satisfied with Greek, derived the latter from
{euphrainein} (to gladden, lжtificare, for which see Pliny and Strabo, although
both are correct in explaining "Tigris") and Selden remarks hereon, "Talibus
nugis nugantur Grжculi." But not only the "Grжculi"; e.g. Parkhurst's good old
derivations from the Heb. "Farah" of fero, fructus, Freya (the Goddess), frayer
(to spawn), friand, fry (of fish), etc., etc.
[FN#26] The great Caliph was a poet; and he spoke verses as did all his
contemporaries: his lament over his slave-girl Haylanah (Helen) is quoted by
Al-Suyuti, p. 305.
[FN#27] "The Brave of the Faith."
[FN#28] i.e., Saladin. See vol. iv. p. {271}.
[FN#29] usually called the Horns of Hattin (classically Hittin) North of
Tiberias where Saladin by good strategy and the folly of the Franks annihilated
the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. For details see the guide-books. In this action
(June 23, 1187), after three bishops were slain in its defence, the last
fragment of the True Cross (or rather the cross verified by Helena) fell into
Moslem hands. The Christians begged hard for it, but Saladin, a conscientious
believer, refused to return to them even for ransom "the object of their
iniquitous superstition." His son, however, being of another turn, would have
sold it to the Franks who then lacked money to purchase. It presently
disappeared and I should not be surprised if it were still lying, an unknown
and inutile lignum in some Cairene mosque.
[FN#30] Akkб (Acre) was taken by Saladin on July 29, 1187. The Egyptian states
that he was at Acre in 1184 or three years before the affair of Hattin (Night
dcccxcv.).
[FN#31] Famous Sufis and ascetics of the second and third centuries A.H. For
Bishr Barefoot, see vol. ii. p. {203}. Al-Sakati means "the old-clothes man;"
and the names of the others are all recorded in D'Herbelot.
[FN#32] i.e., captured, forced open their gates.
[FN#33] Arab. "Al-Sбhil" i.e. the seaboard of Syria; properly
Phњnicia or the coast-lands of Southern Palestine. So the
maritime lowlands of continental Zanzibar are called in the plur.
Sawбhil = "the shores" and the people Sawбhнlн = Shore-men.
[FN#34] Arab. "Al-Khizбnah" both in Mac. Edit. and Breslau x. 426. Mr. Payne
has translated "tents" and says, "Saladin seems to have been encamped without
Damascus and the slave-merchant had apparently come out and pitched his tent
near the camp for the purposes of his trade." But I can find no notice of tents
till a few lines below.
[FN#35] Bahб al-Dнn ibn Shaddбd, then Kбzi al-Askar (of the Army) or
Judge-Advocate-General under Saladin.
[FN#36] i.e. "abide with" thy second husband, the Egyptian.
[FN#37] A descendant of Hбshim, the Apostle's great-grandfather from whom the
Abbasides were directly descended. The Ommiades were less directly akin to
Mohammed, being the descendants of Hashim's brother, Abd al-Shams. The Hashimis
were famed for liberality; and the quality seems to have been inherited. The
first Hбshim got his name from crumbling bread into the Sarнd or brewis of the
Meccan pilgrims during "The Ignorance." He was buried at Ghazzah (Gaza) but his
tomb was soon forgotten.
[FN#38] i.e. thy lover.
[FN#39] i.e. of those destined to hell; the especial home of
Moslem suicides.
[FN#40] Arab. "Ummбl" (plur. of 'Бmil) viceroys or governors of provinces.
[FN#41] A town of Irбk Arabi (Mesopotamia) between Baghdad and
Bassorah built upon the Tigris and founded by Al-Hajjaj: it is so
called because the "Middle" or half-way town between Basrah and
Kufah. To this place were applied the famous lines:—
In good sooth a right noble race are they;
Whose men "yea" can't say nor their women "nay."
[FN#42] i.e. robed as thou art.
[FN#43] i.e. his kinsfolk of the Hashimis.
[FN#44] See vol. ii. 24. {Vol2, FN#49}
[FN#45] Arab. "Sur'itu" = I was possessed of a Jinn, the common Eastern
explanation of an epileptic fit long before the days of the Evangel. See vol.
iv. 89.
[FN#46] Arab. "Zн'ah," village, feof or farm.
[FN#47] Arab. "Tarнkah."
[FN#48] "Most of the great Arab musicians had their own peculiar fashion of
tuning the lute, for the purpose of extending its register or facilitating the
accompaniment of songs composed in uncommon keys and rhythms or possibly of
increasing its sonority, and it appears to have been a common test of the skill
of a great musician, such as Ishac el-Mausili or his father Ibrahim, to require
him to accompany a difficult song on a lute purposely untuned. As a (partial)
modern instance of the practice referred to in the text, may be cited
Paganini's custom of lowering or raising the G string of the violin in playing
certain of his own compositions. According to the Kitab el-Aghani, Ishac
el-Mausili is said to have familiarized himself, by incessant practice, with
the exact sounds produced by each division of the strings of the four course
lute of his day, under every imaginable circumstance of tuning." It is
regrettable that Mr. Payne does not give us more of such notes.
[FN#49] See vol. vii. 363 for the use of these fumigations.
[FN#50] In the Mac. Edit. "Aylah" for Ubullah: the latter is one of the
innumerable canals, leading from Bassorah to Ubullah-town a distance of twelve
miles. Its banks are the favourite pleasure- resort of the townsfolk, being
built over with villas and pavilions (now no more) and the orchards seem to
form one great garden, all confined by one wall. See Jaubert's translation of
Al-Idrisi, vol. i. pp. 368-69. The Aylah, a tributary of the Tigris, waters (I
have noted) the Gardens of Bassorah.
[FN#51] Music having been forbidden by Mohammed who believed with the vulgar
that the Devil has something to do with it. Even Paganini could not escape
suspicion in the nineteenth century.
[FN#52] The "Mahr," or Arab dowry consists of two parts, one paid down on
consummation and the other agreed to be paid to the wife, contingently upon her
being divorced by her husband. If she divorce him this portion, which is
generally less than the half, cannot be claimed by her; and I have related the
Persian abomination which compels the woman to sacrifice her rights. See vol.
iii. p. 304, [FN#343].
[FN#53] i.e. the cost of her maintenance during the four months of single
blessedness which must or ought to elapse before she can legally marry again.
[FN#54] Lane translates most incompletely, "To Him, then, be praise, first and
last!"
[FN#55] Lane omits because it is "extremely puerile" this most characteristic
tale, one of the two oldest in The Nights which Al Mas'udi mentions as
belonging to the Hazбr Afsбneh (See Terminal Essay). Von Hammer (Preface in
Trйbutien's translation p. xxv ) refers the fables to an Indian (Egyptian ?)
origin and remarks, "sous le rapport de leur antiquitй et de la morale qu'ils
renferment, elles mйritent la plus grande attention, mais d'un autre cфtй elles
ne sont rien moins qu'amusantes."
[FN#56] Lane (iii. 579) writes the word "Shemmas": the Bresl.
Edit. (viii. 4) "Shнmбs."
[FN#57] i.e. When the tale begins.
[FN#58] Arab. "Khafz al-jinбh" drooping the wing as a brooding bird. In the
Koran ([vii. 88) lowering the wing" = demeaning oneself gently.
[FN#59] The Bresl. Edit. (viii. 3) writes "Kil'бd": Trйbutien (iii. 1) "le roi
Djilia."
[FN#60] As the sequel shows the better title would be, "The Cat and the Mouse"
as in the headings of the Mac. Edit. and "What befel the Cat with the Mouse,"
as a punishment for tyranny. But all three Edits. read as in the text and I
have not cared to change it. In our European adaptations the mouse becomes a
rat.
[FN#61] So that I may not come to grief by thus daring to foretell evil things.
[FN#62] Arab. "Af'б'" pl. Afб'н = {уphis}, both being derived from O. Egypt.
Hfi, a worm, snake. Af'б is applied to many species of the larger ophidia, all
supposed to be venomous, and synonymous with "Sall" (a malignant viper) in
Al-Mutalammis. See Preston's Al-Hariri, p. 101.
[FN#63] This apparently needless cruelty of all the feline race is a strong
weapon in the hand of the Eastern "Dahrн" who holds that the world is God and
is governed by its own laws, in opposition to the religionists believing in a
Personal Deity whom, moreover, they style the Merciful, the Compassionate, etc.
Some Christians have opined that cruelty came into the world with "original
Sin," but how do they account for the hideous waste of life and the fearful
destructiveness of the fishes which certainly never learned anything from man?
The mystery of the cruelty of things can be explained only by a Law without a
Law-giver.
[FN#64] The three things not to be praised before death in Southern Europe are
a horse, a priest and a woman; and it has become a popular saying that only
fools prophesy before the event.
[FN#65] 'Arab. "Sawn" =butter melted and skimmed. See vol. i. 144.
[FN#66] This is a mere rechauffй of the Barber's tale of his Fifth Brother
(vol. i. 335). In addition to the authorities there cited I may mention the
school reading-lesson in Addison's Spectator derived from Galland's version of
"Alnaschar and his basket of Glass," the Persian version of the Hitopadesa or
"Anwбr-i-Suhayli (Lights of Canopes) by Husayn Vб'iz; the Foolish Sachali of
"Indian Fairy Tales" (Miss Stokes); the allusion in Rabelais to the fate of the
"Shoemaker and his pitcher of milk" and the "Dialogues of creatures moralised"
(1516), whence probably La Fontaine drew his fable, "La Laitiиre et le Pot au
lait."
[FN#67] Arab. ' 'Nбsik," a religious, a man of Allah from Nask, devotion:
somewhat like Sбlik (Dabistan iii. 251)
[FN#68] The well-known Egyptian term for a peasant, a husbandman, extending
from the Nile to beyond Mount Atlas.
[FN#69] This is again, I note, the slang sense of "'Azнm," which in classical
Arabic means simply great.
[FN#70] Arab "Adab" ; see vol. i. 132. It also implies mental discipline, the
culture which leads to excellence, good manners and good morals; and it is
sometimes synonymous with literary skill and scholarship. "Ilm al-Adab," says
Haji Khalfah (Lane's Lex.), "is the science whereby man guards against error in
the language of the Arabs spoken or written."
[FN#71] i.e. I esteem thee as thou deservest.
[FN#72] The style is intended to be worthy of the statesman. In my "Mission to
Dahome" the reader will find many a similar scene.
[FN#73] The Bresl. Edit. (vol. viii. 22) reads "Turks" or "The
Turk" in lieu of "many peoples."
[FN#74] i.e. the parents.
[FN#75] The humour of this euphuistic Wazirial speech, purposely made somewhat
pompous, is the contrast between the unhappy Minister's praises and the result
of his prognostication. I cannot refrain from complimenting Mr. Payne upon the
admirable way in which he has attacked and mastered all the difficulties of its
abstruser passages.
[FN#76] Arab. "Halummъ" plur. of "Halumma" = draw near! The latter form is used
by some tribes for all three numbers; others affect a dual and a plural (as in
the text). Preston ( Al-Hariri, p. 210) derives it from Heb., but the
geographers of Kufah and Basrah (who were not etymologists) are divided about
its origin. He translates (p. 221) "Halumma Jarran" = being the rest of the
tale in continuation with this, i.e. in accordance with it, like our "and so
forth." And in p. 271, he makes Halumma = Hayya i.e. hither! (to prayer, etc).
[FN#77] This is precisely the semi-fatalistic and wholly superstitious address
which would find favour with Moslems of the present day: they still prefer
"calling upon Hercules" to putting their shoulders to the wheel. Mr. Redhouse
had done good work in his day but of late he has devoted himself, especially in
the "Mesnevi," to a rapprochement between Al-Islam and Christianity which both
would reject (see supra, vol. vii. p. 135). The Calvinistic predestination as
shown in the term "vessel of wrath," is but a feeble reflection of Moslem
fatalism. On this subject I shall have more to say in a future volume.
[FN#78] The inhabitants of temperate climates have no idea what ants can do in
the tropics. The Kafirs of South Africa used to stake down their prisoners
(among them a poor friend of mine) upon an ant-hill and they were eaten atom
after atom in a few hours. The death must be the slowest form of torture; but
probably the nervous system soon becomes insensible. The same has happened to
more than one hapless invalid, helplessly bedridden, in Western Africa. I have
described an invasion of ants in my "Zanzibar," vol. ii. 169; and have suffered
from such attacks in many places between that and Dahomey.
[FN#79] Arab. "Sa'lab." See vol. iii. 132 {FN#150}, where it is a fox. I render
it jackal because that cousin of the fox figures as a carrion-eater in Hindu
folk-lore, the Hitopadesa, Panchopakhyan, etc. This tale, I need hardly say, is
a mere translation; as is shown by the Kathб s.s. "Both jackal and fox are
nicknamed Joseph the Scribe (Tбlib Yъsuf) in the same principle that lawyers
are called landsharks by sailors." (P. 65, Moorish Lotus Leaves, etc., by
George D. Cowan and R. L. N. Johnston, London, Tinsleys, 1883.)
[FN#80] Arab. "Sahm mush'ab" not "barbed" (at the wings) but with double front,
much used for birding and at one time familiar in the West as in the East. And
yet "barbed" would make the fable read much better.
[FN#81] Arab. "la'lla," usually = haply, belike; but used here and elsewhere =
forsure, certainly.
[FN#82] Arab. "Maghrib" (or in full Maghrib al-Aksб) lit. = the Land of the
setting sun for whose relation to "Mauritania" see vol. {vi.} 220. It is almost
synonymous with "Al-Gharb" = the West whence Portugal borrowed the two
Algarves, one being in Southern Europe and the other over the straits about
Tangier- Ceuta; fronting Spanish Trafalgar, i.e. Taraf al-Gharb, the edge of
the West. I have noted (Pilgrimage i. 9) the late Captain Peel's
mis-translation "Cape of Laurels" (Al-Ghбr).
[FN#83] Even the poorest of Moslem wanderers tries to bear with him a new suit
of clothes for keeping the two festivals and Friday service in the Mosque. See
Pilgrimage i. 235; iii. 257, etc.
[FN#84] Arab. "Sбyih" lit. a wanderer, subaudi for religious and ascetic
objects; and not to be confounded with the "pilgrim" proper.
[FN#85] i.e. a Religious, a wandering beggar.
[FN#86] This was the custom of the whole Moslem world and still is where
uncorrupted by Christian uncharity and contempt for all "men of God" save its
own. But the change in such places as Egypt is complete and irrevocable. Even
in 1852 my Dervish's frock brought me nothing but contempt in Alexandria and
Cairo.
[FN#87] Arab. "Ya jбhil," lit. =O ignorant. The popular word is
Ahmak which, however, in the West means a maniac, a madman, a
Santon; "Bohlн" being= a fool.
[FN#88] The prison according to the practice of the East being in the palace:
so the Moorish 'Kasbah," which lodges the Governor and his guard, always
contains the jail.
[FN#89] Arab. "Tuwuffiya," lit.=was received (into the grace of
God), an euphemistic and more polite term than "mбta"=he died.
The latter term is avoided by the Founder of Chnstianity; and our
Spiritualists now say "passed away to a higher life," a phrase
embodying a theory which, to say the least, is "not proven "
[FN#90] Arab. "Yб Abб al-Khayr"= our my good lord, sir, fellow, etc.
[FN#91] Arab. "Hбwi" from "Hayyah," a serpent. See vol. iii. 145. Most of the
Egyptian snake charmers are Gypsies, but they do not like to be told of their
origin. At Baroda in Guzerat I took lessons in snake-catching, but found the
sport too dangerous; when the animal flees, the tail is caught by the left hand
and the right is slipped up to the neck, a delicate process, as a few inches
too far or not far enough would be followed by certain death in catching a
Cobra. At last certain of my messmates killed one of the captives and the
snake-charmer would have no more to do with me.
[FN#92] Arab. "Sallah," also Pers., a basket of wickerwork. This article is
everywhere used for lodging snakes from Egypt to Morocco.
[FN#93] Arab. "Mubбrak." It is a favourite name for a slave in
Morocco; the slave-girl being called Mubбrakah; and the proverb
being, "Blessed is the household which hath neither M'bбrk nor
M'bбrkah" (as they contract the words).
[FN#94] The Bresl. Edit. (viii. 48) instead of the Gate (Bбb) gives a Bбdhanj=a
Ventilator; for which latter rendering see vol. i. 257. The spider's web is
Koranic (lxxxi. 40) "Verily frailest of all houses is the house of the spider."
[FN#95] Prob. from the Persian Wird=a pupil, a disciple.
[FN#96] And yet, as the next page shows the youth's education was complete in
his twelfth year. But as all three texts agree, I do not venture upon changing
the number to six or seven, the age at which royal education outside the Harem
usually begins.
[FN#97] i.e. One for each day in the Moslem year. For these object-lessons,
somewhat in Kinder-garten style, see the Book of Sindibad or The Malice of
Women (vol. vi. 126).
[FN#98] Arab. "Jahбbizah" plur. of "Jahbiz"=acute, intelligent (from the Pers.
Kahbad or Kihbad?)
[FN#99] Arab. "Nimr" in the Bresl. Edit. viii. 58. The Mac. Edit. suggests that
the leopard is the lion's Wazir.
[FN#100] Arab "Kaun" lit. =Being, existence. Trйbutien (iii. 20) has it
"Qu'est-ce que l' кtre (God), l'existence (Creation), l'кtre dans l'existence
(the world), et la durйe de l'кtre dans l'existence (the other world).
[FN#101] i.e for the purpose of requital. All the above is orthodox Moslem
doctrine, which utterly ignores the dictum "ex nihilo nihil fit;" and which
would look upon Creation by Law (Darwinism) as opposed to Creation by miracle
(e.g. the Mosaic cosmogony) as rank blasphemy. On the other hand the Eternity
of Matter and its transcendental essence are tenets held by a host of Gnostics,
philosophers and Eastern Agnostics.
[FN#102] This is a Moslem lieu commun; usually man is likened to one suspended
in a bottomless well by a thin rope at which a rodent is continually gnawing
and who amuses himself in licking a few drops of honey left by bees on the
revetement.
[FN#103] A curious pendant to the Scriptural parable of the
Unjust Steward.
[FN#104] Arab. "Rъh" Heb. Ruach: lit. breath (spiritus) which in the animal
kingdom is the surest sign of life. See vol. v. 29. Nothing can be more rigidly
materialistic than the called Mosaic law.
[FN#105] Arab. "Al-Amr" which may also mean the business, the matter, the
affair.
[FN#106] Arab. "Ukбb al-kбsir." lit. =the breaker eagle.
[FN#107] Arab "Lijбm shadнd:" the ring-bit of the Arabs is perhaps the severest
form known: it is required by the Eastern practice of pulling up the horse when
going at full speed and it is too well known to require description. As a rule
the Arab rides with a "lady's hand" and the barbarous habit of "hanging on by
the curb" is unknown to him. I never pass by Rotten Row or see a regiment of
English Cavalry without wishing to leave riders nothing but their snaffles.
[FN#108] We find this orderly distribution of time (which no one adopts) in
many tongues and many forms. In the Life of Sir W. Jones (vol. i. p. 193,
Poetical Works etc.) the following occurs, "written in India on a small piece
of paper";—
Sir Edward Coke
"Six hours to sleep, in law's grave study six!
Four spend in prayer,—the rest on Heaven fix!"
Rather:
"Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven;
Ten to the world allot, and all to Heaven!"
But this is not practical. I must prefer the Chartist distribution:
Six hours sleep and six hours play:
Six hours work and six shillings a day.
Mr Froude (Oceana) speaks of New Zealanders having attained that ideal of
operative felicity:—
Eight to work, eight to play;
Eight to sleep and eight shillings a day.
[FN#109] Arab. "Bahнmah," mostly=black cattle: see vol. iv. 54.
[FN#110] As a rule when the felidж wag their tails, it is a sign of coming
anger, the reverse with the canidж.
[FN#111] In India it is popularly said that the Rajah can do anything with the
Ryots provided he respects their women and their religion—not their property.
[FN#112] Arab. "Sunan" for which see vol. v. 36, 167. Here it is=Rasm or usage,
equivalent to our precedents, and held valid, especially when dating from olden
time, in all matters which are not expressly provided for by Koranic command.
For instance a Hindн Moslem (who doubtless borrowed the customs from Hindъs)
will refuse to eat with the Kafir, and when the latter objects that there is no
such prohibition in the Koran will reply, "No: but it is our Rasm." As a rule
the Anglo-Indian is very ignorant on this essential point.
[FN#113] Lit. "lowering the wings," see supra p. 33.
[FN#114] .i.e. friends and acquaintances.
[FN#115] Arab. "Hamнdah"=praiseworthy or satisfactory.
[FN#116] Not only alluding to the sperm of man and beast, but also to the
"Neptunist" doctrine held by the ancient Greeks and Hindus and developed in
Europe during the last century.
[FN#117] Arab. "Taksнm" dividing into parts, analysis.
[FN#118] this is the usual illogical contention of all religions. It is not the
question whether an Almighty Being can do a given thing: the question is
whether He has or has not done it.
[FN#119] Upon the old simile of the potter I shall have something to say in a
coming volume.
[FN#120] A fine specimen of a peculiarity in the undeveloped mind of man, the
universal confusion between things objective as a dead body and states of
things as death. We begin by giving a name, for facility of intercourse, to
phases, phenomena and conditions of matter; and, having created the word we
proceed to supply it with a fanciful entity, e.g. "The Mind (a useful term to
express the aggregate action of the brain, nervous system etc.) of man is
immortal." The next step is personification as Time with his forelock, Death
with his skull and Night (the absence of light) with her starry mantle. For
poetry this abuse of language is a sine qua non, but it is deadly foe to all
true philosophy.
[FN#121] Christians would naturally understand this "One Word" to be the
{lуgos} of the Platonists, adopted by St. John (comparatively a late writer)
and by the Alexandrian school, Jewish (as Philo Judжus) and Christian. But here
the tale-teller alludes to the Divine Word "Kun" (be!) whereby the worlds came
into existence.
[FN#122] Arab. "Ya bunayyн" a dim. form lit. "O my little son !" an
affectionate address frequent in Russian, whose "little father" (under "Bog")
is his Czar.
[FN#123] Thus in two texts. Mr. Payne has, "Verily God the Most High created
man after His own image, and likened him to Himself, all of Him truth, without
falsehood; then He gave him dominion over himself and ordered him and forbade
him, and it was man who transgressed His commandment and erred in his obedience
and brought falsehood upon himself of his own will." Here he borrows from the
Bresl. Edit. viii. 84 (five first lines). But the doctrine is rather Jewish and
Christian than Moslem: Al-Mas'ъdi (ii. 389) introduces a Copt in the presence
of Ibn Tutъn saying, "Prince, these people (designing a Jew) pretend that Allah
Almighty created Adam (i.e. mankind) after His own image" ('Alб Sъrati-h).
[FN#124] Arab. "Istitб'ah"=ableness e.g. "Al hajj 'inda
'l-Istitб'ah"=Pilgrimage when a man is able thereto (by easy circumstances).
[FN#125] Arab. "Al-Kasab," which phrenologists would translate
"acquisitiveness," The author is here attempting to reconcile man's moral
responsibility, that is Freewill, with Fate by which all human actions are
directed and controlled. I cannot see that he fails to "apprehend the knotty
point of doctrine involved"; but I find his inability to make two contraries
agree as pronounced as that of all others, Moslems and Christians, that
preceded him in the same path.
[FN#126] The order should be, "men, angels and Jinn," for which see vol. i. p.
10. But "angels" here takes precedence because Iblis was one of them.
[FN#127] Arab. "Wartah"=precipice, quagmire, quicksand and hence sundry
secondary and metaphorical significations, under which, as in the "Semitic"
(Arabic) tongues generally, the prosaical and material sense of the word is
clearly evident. I noted this in Pilgrimage iii. 66 and was soundly abused for
so saying by a host of Sciolists.
[FN#128] i.e. Allowing the Devil to go about the world and seduce mankind until
Doomsday when "auld Sootie's" occupation will be gone. Surely "Providence"
might have managed better.
[FN#129] i.e. to those who deserve His love.
[FN#130] Here "Istitб'ah" would mean capability of action, i.e. freewill, which
is a mere word like "free-trade."
[FN#131] Arab. "Bi al-taubah" which may also mean "for (on account of his)
penitence." The reader will note how the learned Shimas "dodges" the real
question. He is asked why the "Omnipotent, Omniscient did not prevent (i.e.
why He created) sin?" He answers that He kindly permitted (i.e. created and
sanctioned) it that man might repent. Proh pudor! If any one thus reasoned of
mundane matters he would be looked upon as the merest fool.
[FN#132] Arab. "Mahall al-Zauk," lit.=seat of taste.
[FN#133] Mr. Payne translates "it" i.e. the Truth; but the formula following
the word shows that Allah is meant.
[FN#134] Moslems, who do their best to countermine the ascetic idea inherent in
Christianity, are not ashamed of the sensual appetite; but rather the reverse.
I have heard in Persia of a Religious, highly esteemed for learning and saintly
life who, when lodged by a disciple at Shiraz, came out of his sleeping room
and aroused his host with the words "Shahwat dбram!" equivalent to our "I want
a woman." He was at once married to one of the slave-girls and able to gratify
the demands of the flesh.
[FN#135] Koran iv. 81, "Whatever good betideth thee is from God, and whatever
betideth thee of evil is from thyself": rank Manichжism is pronounced as any in
Christendom.
[FN#136] Arab. "Zukhruf" which Mr. Payne picturesquely renders "painted gawds."
[FN#137] It is the innate craving in the "Aryan" (Iranian, not the Turanian)
mind, this longing to know what follows Death, or if nothing follow it, which
accounts for the marvellous diffusion of the so-called Spiritualism which is
only Swedenborgianism systematised and carried out into action, amongst nervous
and impressionable races like the Anglo-American. In England it is the reverse;
the obtuse sensitiveness of a people bred on beef and beer has made the
"Religion of the Nineteenth Century" a manner of harmless magic, whose miracles
are table-turning and ghost seeing whilst the prodigious rascality of its
prophets (the so-called Mediums) has brought it into universal disrepute. It
has been said that Catholicism must be true to co-exist with the priest and it
is the same with Spiritualism proper, by which I understand the belief in a
life beyond the grave, a mere continuation of this life; it flourishes (despite
the Medium) chiefly because it has laid before man the only possible and
intelligible idea of a future state.
[FN#138] See vol. vi. p. 7. The only lie which degrades a man in his own
estimation and in that of others, is that told for fear of telling the truth.
Au reste, human society and civilised intercourse are built upon a system of
conventional lying, and many droll stories illustrate the consequences of
disregarding the dictum, la veritй n'est pas toujours bonne а dire.
[FN#139] Arab. "Walн'ahd" which may mean heir-presumptive (whose heirship is
contingent) or heir-apparent.
[FN#140] Arab. "Yб abati"= O my papa (which here would sound absurd).
[FN#141] All the texts give a decalogue; but Mr. Payne has reduced it to a
heptalogue.
[FN#142] The Arabs who had a variety of anжsthetics never seem to have studied
the subject of "euthanasia." They preferred seeing a man expire in horrible
agonies to relieving him by means of soporifics and other drugs: so I have
heard Christians exult in saying that the sufferer "kept his senses to the
last." Of course superstition is at the bottom of this barbarity; the same
which a generation ago made the silly accoucheur refuse to give ether because
of the divine (?) saying "In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children." (Gen iii.
16.) In the Bosnia-Herzegovina campaign many of the Austrian officers carried
with them doses of poison to be used in case of being taken prisoners by the
ferocious savages against whom they were fighting. As many anecdotes about
"Easing off the poor dear" testify, the Euthanasia-system is by no means
unknown to the lower classes in England. I shall have more to say on this
subject.
[FN#143] See vol. iii. p. 253 for the consequences of royal seclusion of which
Europe in the present day can contribute examples. The lesson which it teaches
simply is that the world can get on very well without royalties.
[FN#144] The grim Arab humour in the text is the sudden change for the worse of
the good young man. Easterns do not believe in the Western saw, "Nemo repente
fuit turpissimus." The spirited conduct of the subjects finds many parallels in
European history, especially in Portugal: see my Life of Camoens p. 234.
[FN#145] Arab. "Muhбrabah" lit.=doing battle; but is sometimes used in the
sense of gain-saying or disobeying.
[FN#146] Arab. "Duwбmah" (from "duwбm"=vertigo, giddiness) also applied to a
boy's whip-top.
[FN#147] Arab. "Khayr o (wa) Бfiyah," a popular phrase much used in
salutations, &c.
[FN#148] Another instance, and true to life, of the democracy of despotism in
which the express and combined will of the people is the only absolute law.
Hence Russian autocracy is forced into repeated wars for the possession of
Constantinople which, in the present condition of the Empire, would be an
unmitigated evil to her and would be only too glad to see a Principality of
Byzantium placed under the united protection of the European Powers. I have
treated of this in my paper on the "Partition of Turkey," which first appeared,
headed the "Future of Turkey," in the Daily Telegraph, of March 7, 1880, and
subsequently by its own name in the Manchester Examiner, January 3, 1881. The
main reason why the project is not carried out appears to be that the
"politicals" would thereby find their occupation gone and they naturally object
to losing so fine a field of action. So Turkey still plays the rфle of the
pretty young lady being courted by a rabble of valets.
[FN#149] Good Moslems are bound to abate such scandals; and in a case of the
kind even neighbours are expected to complain before the Chief of Police. This
practice forms "Vigilance Committees" all over the Mahommedan East: and we may
take a leaf out of their books if dynamite-outrages continue.
[FN#150] But a Hadis, attributed to Mohammed, says, "The Prince of a people is
their servant." See Matth. xx. 26-27.
[FN#151] Easterns are well aware of the value of this drug which has become the
base of so many of our modern medicines.
[FN#152] The strangest poison is mentioned by Sonnini who, as a rule, is a
trustworthy writer. Noticing the malignity of Egyptian women he declares (p.
628, English trans.) that they prepare a draught containing a quant. suff. of
menstruous discharge at certain phases of the moon, which produces symptoms of
scurvy; the gums decay, the teeth, beard and hair fall off, the body dries, the
limbs lose strength and death follows within a year. He also asserts that no
counterpoison is known and if this be true he confers a boon upon the Locustж
and Brinvilliers of modern Europe. In Morocco "Ta'am" is the vulgar name for a
mixture of dead men's bones, eyes, hair and similar ingredients made by old
wives and supposed to cause a wasting disease for which the pharmacopњia has no
cure. Dogs are killed by needles cunningly inserted into meat-balls; and this
process is known throughout the Moslem world.
[FN#153] Which contained the Palace.
[FN#154] Arab. "Lб baas." See Night vol. iv. 164.
[FN#155] For Ta'lab (Sa'lab) see supra, p. 48. In Morocco it is undoubtedly the
red or common fox which, however, is not gregarious as in the text.
[FN#156] See vol. iii. 146.
[FN#157] Arab. "Muunah" which in Morocco applies to the provisions furnished
gratis by the unfortunate village-people to travellers who have a passport from
the Sultan: its root is Maun =supplying necessaries. "The name is supposed to
have its origin in that of Manna, the miraculous provision bestowed by the
bounty of Heaven on the Israelites while wandering in the deserts of Arabia."
Such is the marvellous information we find in p. 40, "Morocco and the Moors" by
John Drummond Hay (Murray, 1861).
[FN#158] i.e. He resolved to do them justice and win a reward from Heaven.
[FN#159] Arab. ''Luss" = thief, robber, rogue, rascal, the Persian "Luti" of
popular usage. This is one of the many ''Simpleton stories" in which Eastern
folk-lore abounds. I hear that Mr. Clouston is preparing a collection, and look
forward to it with interest.
[FN#160] Arab. "Tibn" for which see vol. i 16.
[FN#161] A fanciful origin of "Dнvбn" (here an audience-chamber) which may mean
demons (plural of Dнv) is attributed to a King of Persia. He gave a series of
difficult documents and accounts to his scribes and surprised at the quickness
and cleverness with which they were ordered exclaimed, "These men be Divs!"
Hence a host of secondary meanings as a book of Odes with distichs rhymed in
alphabetical order and so forth.
[FN#162] In both cases the word "Jabбbirah" is used, the plur. of
Jabbбr, the potent, especially applied to the Kings of the
Canaanites and giants like the mythical Og of Bashan. So the Heb.
Jabbъrah is a title of the Queens of Judah.
[FN#163] Arab. "Kitбb al-Kazб"= the Book of Judgments, such as the Kazi would
use when deciding cases in dispute, by legal precedents and the Rasm or custom
of the country.
[FN#164] i.e. sit before the King as referee, etc.
[FN#165] This massacre of refractory chiefs is one of the grand moyens of
Eastern state-craft, and it is almost always successful because circumstances
require it; popular opinion approves of it and it is planned and carried out
with discretion and secrecy. The two familiar instances in our century are the
massacre of the Mamelukes by Mohammed Ali Pasha the Great and of the turbulent
chiefs of the Omani Arabs by our ancient ally Sayyid Sa'нd, miscalled the "Imбm
of Maskat."
[FN#166] The metaphor (Sabaka) is from horse-racing, the Arabs being, I have
said, a horsey people.
[FN#167] Arab. "Kurdъs" = A body of horse.
[FN#168] Arab. "Ibn 'Irs." See vol. iii. 147.
[FN#169] Arab. "Al Hind-al-Aksб." The Sanskrit Sindhu (lands on the Indus
River) became in Zend "Hendu" and hence in Arabic Sind and Hind, which latter I
wish we had preserved instead of the classical "India" or the poetical "Ind."
[FN#170] i.e. by geomancy: see vol. iii. 269 for a note on
Al-Raml. The passage is not in the Mac. Edit.
[FN#171] This address gave the boy Wazirial rank. In many parts of Europe,
England included, if the Sovereign address a subject with a title not belonging
to him, it is a disputed point if the latter can or cannot claim it.
[FN#172] Koran, chapter of Joseph xii. 28, spoken by Potiphar after Joseph's
innocence had been proved by a witness in Potiphar's house or according to the
Talmud (Sepher Hбdjascher) by an infant in the cradle. The texts should have
printed this as a quotation (with vowel points).
[FN#173] Arab. "Al-'Azнz," alluding to Joseph the Patriarch entitled in Egypt
"Azнz al-Misr"= Magnifico of Misraim (Koran xii. 54). It is generally believed
that Ismail Pasha, whose unwise deposition has caused the English Government
such a host of troubles and load of obloquy, aspired to be named "'Azнz" by the
Porte; but was compelled to be satisfied with Khadнv (vulg. written Khedive,
and pronounced even "Kйdivй"), a Persian title, which simply means prince or
Rajah, as Khadнv-i-Hind.
[FN#174] i.e. The Throne room.
[FN#175] For the "Dawбt" or wooden inkcase containing reeds see
vol. v. 239 and viii. 178. I may remark that its origin is the
Egyptian "Pes," of which there is a specimen in the British
Museum inscribed, "Amбsis the good god and Lord of the two
Lands."
[FN#176] i.e. I am governed by the fear of Allah in my dealings to thee and thy
subjects.
[FN#177] Arabic has no single word for million although the Maroccans have
adopted "Milyъn" from the Spaniards (see p. 100 of the Rudimentos del Бrabe
vulgar que se habla en el imperio de Marruccos por El P. Fr. Josи de Lerchundi,
Madrid 1872): This lack of the higher numerals, the reverse of the Hindu
languages, makes Arabic "arithmology" very primitive and almost as cumbrous as
the Chinese.
[FN#178] i.e. I am thy slave to slay or to pardon.
[FN#179] Arab. "Matta'aka 'llah"=Allah permit thee to enjoy, from the root
mata', whence cometh the Maroccan Matб'i=my, mine, which answers to Bitб'i in
Egypt.
[FN#180] Arab. "Khitбb" = the exordium of a letter preceding its
business-matter and in which the writer displays all his art. It ends with
"Ammб ba'd," lit.=but after, equivalent to our "To proceed." This "Khitбb" is
mostly skipped over by modern statesmen who will say, "Now after the nonsense
let us come to the sense"; but their secretaries carefully weigh every word of
it, and strongly resent all shortcomings.
[FN#181] Strongly suggesting that the King had forgotten how to read and write.
So not a few of the Amirs of Sind were analphabetic and seemed rather proud of
it: "a Baloch cannot write, but he always carries a signet-ring." I heard of an
old English lady of the past generation in Northern Africa who openly declared
"A Warrington shall never learn to read or write."
[FN#182] Arab. "Бmin," of which the Heb. form is Amen from the root
Amn=stability, constancy. In both tongues it is a particle of affirmation or
consent=it is true! So be it! The Hebrew has also "Amanah"=verily, truly.
[FN#183] To us this seems a case of "hard lines" for the unhappy women; but
Easterns then believed and still believe in the divinity which doth hedge in a
King, in his reigning by the "grace of God," and in his being the Viceregent of
Allah upon earth; briefly in the old faith of loyalty which great and
successful republics are fast making obsolete in the West and nowhere faster
than in England.
[FN#184] Abъ Sнr is a manifest corruption of the old Egyptian Pousiri, the
Busiris of our classics, and it gives a name to sundry villages in modern Egypt
where it is usually pronounced "Bъsнr". Abъ Kнr lit. = the Father of Pitch, is
also corrupted to Abou Kir (Bay); and the townlet now marks the site of jolly
old Canopus, the Chosen Land of Egyptian debauchery.
[FN#185] It is interesting to note the superior gusto with which the Eastern,
as well as the Western tale-teller describes his scoundrels and villains whilst
his good men and women are mostly colourless and unpicturesque. So Satan is
the true hero of Paradise-Lost and by his side God and man are very ordinary;
and Mephistopheles is much better society than Faust and Margaret.
[FN#186] Arab. "Dukhбn," lit. = smoke, here tobacco for the Chibouk, "Timbбk"
or "Tumbбk" being the stronger (Persian and other) variety which must be washed
before smoking in the Shнshah or water-pipe. Tobacco is mentioned here only
and is evidently inserted by some scribe: the "weed" was not introduced into
the East before the end of the sixteenth century (about a hundred years after
coffee), when it radically changed the manners of society.
[FN#187] Which meant that the serjeant, after the manner of such officials,
would make him pay dearly before giving up the key. Hence a very severe
punishment in the East is to "call in a policeman" who carefully fleeces all
those who do not bribe him to leave them in freedom.
[FN#188] Arab. "Mб Dбhiyatak?" lit. "What is thy misfortune?"
The phrase is slighting if not insulting.
[FN#189] Amongst Moslems the plea of robbing to keep life and body together
would be accepted by a good man like Abu Sir, who still consorted with a
self-confessed thief.
[FN#190] To make their agreement religiously binding. See vol. iv. 36.
[FN#191] Arab. "Ghaliyъn"; many of our names for craft seem connected with
Arabic: I have already noted "Carrack" = harrбk: to which add Uskuf in Marocco
pronounced 'Skuff = skiff; Katнrah = a cutter; Bбrijah = a barge; etc. etc.
[FN#192] The patient is usually lathered in a big basin of tinned brass,
"Mambrino's helmet" with a break in the rim to fit the throat; but the poorer
classes carry only a small cup with water instead of soap and water ignoring
the Italian proverb, "Barba ben saponata mezza fatta" = well lathered is half
shaved. A napkin fringed at either end is usually thrown over the Figaro's
shoulder and used to wipe the razor.
[FN#193] Arab. "Nusf." See vol. ii. 37.
[FN#194] Arab. "Batбrikh" the roe (sperm or spawn) of the salted
Fasнkh (fish) and the Bъrн (mugil cephalus) a salt-water fish
caught in the Nile and considered fair eating. Some write
Butбrghб from the old Egyptian town Burбt, now a ruin between
Tinnis and Damietta (Sonnini).
[FN#195] Arab. "Kaptбn," see vol. iv. 85.
[FN#196] Arab. "Anyбb," plur. of Nбb applied to the grinder teeth but mostly
to the canines or eye teeth, tusks of animals, etc. (See vol. vii. p. 339) opp.
to Saniyah, one of the four central incisors, a camel in the sixth year and
horse, cow, sheep and goat in fourth year.
[FN#197] The coffee (see also vol. viii. 274) like the tobacco is probably due
to the scribe; but the tale appears to be comparatively modern. In The Nights
men eat, drink and wash their hands but do not smoke and sip coffee like the
moderns. See my Terminal Essay В§2.
[FN#198] Arab. "Mi'lakah" (Bresl. Edit. x, 456). The fork is modern even in
the East and the Moors borrow their term for it from fourchette. But the
spoon, which may have begun with a cockle-shell, dates from the remotest
antiquity.
[FN#199] Arab. "Sufrah" properly the cloth or leather upon which food is
placed. See vol. i. 178.
[FN#200] i.e. gaining much one day and little another.
[FN#201] Lit. "Rest thyself" i.e. by changing posture.
[FN#202] Arab. "Unnбbi" = between dark yellow and red.
[FN#203] Arab. "Nнlah" lit. = indigo, but here applied to all the materials
for dyeing. The word is Sanskrit, and the growth probably came from India,
although during the Crusaders' occupation of Jerusalem it was cultivated in the
valley of the lower Jordan. I need hardly say that it has nothing to do with
the word "Nile" whose origin is still sub judice. And yet I lately met a
sciolist who pompously announced to me this philological absurdity as a
discovery of his own.
[FN#204] Still a popular form of "bilking" in the Wakбlahs or Caravanserais of
Cairo: but as a rule the Bawwбb (porter or doorkeeper) keeps a sharp eye on
those he suspects. The evil is increased when women are admitted into these
places; so periodical orders for their exclusion are given to the police.
[FN#205] Natives of Egypt always hold this diaphoresis a sign that the disease
has abated and they regard it rightly in the case of bilious remittents to
which they are subject, especially after the hardships and sufferings of a
sea-voyage with its alternations of fasting and over-eating.
[FN#206] Not simply, "such and such events happened to him"
(Lane); but, "a curious chance befel him."
[FN#207] Arab. "Harбmi," lit. = one who lives on unlawful gains; popularly a
thief.
[FN#208] i.e. he turned on the water, hot and cold.
[FN#209] Men are often seen doing this in the Hammam. The idea is that the
skin when free from sebaceous exudation sounds louder under the clapping.
Easterns judge much by the state of the perspiration, especially in
horse-training, which consists of hand-gallops for many successive miles. The
sweat must not taste over salt and when held between thumb and forefinger and
the two are drawn apart must not adhere in filaments.
[FN#210] Lit. "Aloes for making Nadd;" see vol. i. 310. "Eagle-wood" (the Malay
Aigla and Agallochum the Sansk. Agura) gave rise to many corruptions as lignum
aloes, the Portuguese Pбo d' Aguila etc. "Calamba" or "Calambak" was the
finest kind. See Colonel Yule in the "Voyage of Linschoten" (vol. i. 120 and
150). Edited for the Hakluyt Soc. (1885) by my learned and most amiable friend,
the late Arthur Cooke Burnell.
[FN#211] The Hammam is one of those unpleasant things which are left "Alа
jъdi-k" = to thy generosity; and the higher the bather's rank the more he or
she is expected to pay. See Pilgrimage i. 103. In 1853 I paid at Cairo 3
piastres and twenty paras, something more than sixpence, but now five shillings
would be asked.
[FN#212] This is something like the mythical duchess in England who could not
believe that the poor were starving when sponge-cakes were so cheap.
[FN#213] This magnificent "Bakhshish" must bring water into the mouths of all
the bath-men in the coffee-house assembly.
[FN#214] i.e. the treasurer did not, as is the custom of such gentry, demand
and receive a large "Bakhshish" on the occasion.
[FN#215] A fair specimen of clever Fellah chaff.
[FN#216] In the first room of the Hammam, called the Maslakh or
stripping-place, the keeper sits by a large chest in which he deposits the
purses and valuables of his customers and also makes it the caisse for the pay.
Something of the kind is now done in the absurdly called "Turkish Baths" of
London.
[FN#217] This is the rule in Egypt and Syria and a clout hung over the door
shows that women are bathing. I have heard, but only heard, that in times and
places when eunuchs went in with the women youths managed by long practice to
retract the testicles so as to pass for castratos. It is hard to say what
perseverance may not effect in this line; witness Orsini and his abnormal
development of hearing, by exercising muscles which are usually left idle.
[FN#218] This reference to Allah shows that Abu Sir did not believe his
dyer-friend.
[FN#219] Arab. "Dawб" (lit. remedy, medicine) the vulgar term: see vol. iv.
256: also called Rasmah, Nъrah and many other names.
[FN#220] Arab. "Mб Kahara-nн" = or none hath overcome me.
[FN#221] Bresl. Edit. "The King of Isbбniya." For the "Ishbбn" (Spaniards) an
ancient people descended from Japhet son of Noah and who now are no more, see
Al-Mas'udi (Fr. Transl. I. 361). The "Herodotus of the Arabs" recognises only
the "Jalбlikah" or Gallicians, thus bearing witness to the antiquity and
importance of the Gallego race.
[FN#222] Arab. "Sha'r," properly, hair of body, pile, especially the pecten.
See Burckhardt (Prov. No. 202), "grieving for lack of a cow she made a whip of
her bush," said of those who console themselves by building Castles in Spain.
The "parts below the waist" is the decent Turkish term for the privities.
[FN#223] The drowning is a martyr's death, the burning is a foretaste of
Hell-fire.
[FN#224] Meaning that if the trick had been discovered the Captain would have
taken the barber's place. We have seen (vol. i. 63) the Prime Minister
superintending the royal kitchen and here the Admiral fishes for the King's
table. It is even more naпve than the Court of Alcinцus.
[FN#225] Bresl. Edit. xi. 32: i.e. save me from disgrace.
[FN#226] Arab. "Khinsir" or "Khinsar," the little finger or the middle finger.
In Arabic each has its own name or names which is also that of the
corresponding toe, e.g. Ibhбm (thumb); Sabbбbah, Musabbah or Da'бah
(fore-finger); Wastб (medius); Binsir (annularis ring-finger) and Khinsar
(minimus). There are also names for the several spaces between the fingers. See
the English Arabic Dictionary (London, Kegan Paul and Co., 1881) by the Revd.
Dr. Badger, a work of immense labour and research but which I fear has been to
the learned author a labour of love not of profit.
[FN#227] Meaning of course that the King signed towards the sack in which he
supposed the victim to be, but the ring fell off before it could take effect.
The Eastern story-teller often balances his multiplicity of words and needless
details by a conciseness and an elliptical style which make his meaning a
matter of divination.
[FN#228] See vol. v. 111.
[FN#229] This couplet was quoted to me by my friend the Rev. Dr. Badger when he
heard that I was translating "The Nights": needless to say that it is utterly
inappropriate.
[FN#230] For a similar figure see vol i. 25.
[FN#231] Arab. "Hanzal": see vol. v. 19.
[FN#232] The tale begins upon the model of "Jъdar and his Brethren," vi. 213.
Its hero's full name is Abdu'llбhi=Slave of Allah, which vulgar Egyptians
pronounce Abdallah and purer speakers, Badawin and others, Abdullah: either
form is therefore admissible. It is more common among Moslems but not unknown
to Christians especially Syrians who borrow it from the Syriac Alloh. Mohammed
is said to have said, "The names most approved by Allah are Abdu'llah, Abd
al-Rahmбn (Slave of the Compassionate) and such like" (Pilgrimage i. 20).
[FN#233] Arab. "Sнrah" here probably used of the Nile-sprat (Clupea Sprattus
Linn.) or Sardine of which Forsk says, "Sardinn in Al-Yaman is applied to a Red
Sea fish of the same name." Hasselquist the Swede notes that Egyptians stuff
the Sardine with marjoram and eat it fried even when half putrid.
[FN#234] i.e. by declaring in the Koran (lxvii. 14; lxxiv. 39; lxxviii. 69;
lxxxviii. 17), that each creature hath its appointed term and lot; especially
"Thinketh man that he shall be left uncared for?" (xl. 36).
[FN#235] Arab. "Nusf," see vol. ii. 37.
[FN#236] Arab. "Allah Karim" (which Turks pronounce Kyerнm) a consecrated
formula used especially when a man would show himself resigned to "small
mercies." The fisherman's wife was evidently pious as she was poor; and the
description of the pauper household is simple and effective.
[FN#237] This is repeated in the Mac. Edit. pp. 496-97; an instance amongst
many of most careless editing.
[FN#238] Arab. "Alа mahlak" (vulg.), a popular phrase, often corresponding
with our "Take it coolly."
[FN#239] For "He did not keep him waiting, as he did the rest of the folk."
Lane prefers "nor neglected him as men generally would have done." But we are
told supra that the baker "paid no heed to the folk by reason of the dense
crowd."
[FN#240] Arab. "Ruh!" the most abrupt form, whose sound is coarse and
offensive as the Turkish yell, "Gyel!"=come here.
[FN#241] Bresl. Edit. xi. 50-51.
[FN#242] Arab. "Бdami"=an Adamite, one descended from the mythical and typical
Adam for whom see Philo Judжus. We are told in one place a few lines further
on that the merman is of humankind; and in another that he is a kind of fish
(Night dccccxlv). This belief in mermen, possible originating with the
caricatures of the human face in the intelligent seal and stupid manatee, is
universal. Al-Kazwini declares that a waterman with a tail was dried and
exhibited, and that in Syria one of them was married to a woman and had by her
a son "who understood the languages of both his parents." The fable was
refined to perfect beauty by the Greeks: the mer-folk of the Arabs, Hindus and
Northerners (Scandinavians, etc) are mere grotesques with green hair, etc. Art
in its highest expression never left the shores of the Mediterranean, and there
is no sign that it ever will.
[FN#243] Here Lane translates "Wajh" lit. "the desire of seeing the face of
God," and explains in a note that a "Muslim holds this to be the greatest
happiness that can be enjoyed in Paradise." But I have noted that the tenet of
seeing the countenance of the Creator, except by the eyes of spirit, is a much
disputed point amongst Moslems.
[FN#244] Artful enough is this contrast between the squalid condition of the
starving fisherman and the gorgeous belongings of the Merman.
[FN#245] Lit. "Verily he laughed at me so that I set him free."
This is a fair specimen of obscure conciseness.
[FN#246] Arab. "Mishannah," which Lane and Payne translate basket: I have
always heard it used of an old gunny-bag or bag of plaited palm-leaves.
[FN#247] Arab. "Kaff Shurayk" applied to a single bun. The Shurayk is a bunn,
an oblong cake about the size of a man's hand (hence the term "Kaff"=palm) with
two long cuts and sundry oblique crosscuts, made of leavened dough, glazed with
egg and Samn (clarified butter) and flavoured with spices (cinnamon, curcuma,
artemisia and prunes mahalab) and with aromatic seeds, (Rihat al-'ajin) of
which Lane (iii. 641) specifies aniseed, nigella, absinthium, (Artemisia
arborescens) and Kбfъrah (A. camphorata Monspeliensis) etc. The Shurayk is
given to the poor when visiting the tombs and on certain fкtes.
[FN#248] "Mother of Prosperities."
[FN#249] Tribes of pre-historic Arabs who were sent to Hell for bad behaviour
to Prophets Sбlih and Hъd. See vol. iii. 294.
[FN#250] "Too much for him to come by lawfully."
[FN#251] To protect it. The Arab. is "Jбh"=high station, dignity.
[FN#252] The European reader, especially feminine, will think this a hard fate
for the pious first wife but the idea would not occur to the Moslem mind.
After bearing ten children a woman becomes "Umm al-banбti w'al-banнn"=a mother
of daughters and sons, and should hold herself unfit for love-disport. The
seven ages of womankind are thus described by the Arabs and I translate the
lines after a well-known (Irish) model:—
From ten years to twenty—
Of beauty there's plenty.
From twenty to thirty—
Fat, fair and alert t'ye.
From thirty to forty—
Lads and lasses she bore t'ye.
From forty to fifty—
An old'un and shifty.
From fifty to sixty—
A sorrow that sticks t'ye.
From sixty to seventy—
A curse of God sent t'ye.
For these and other sentiments upon the subject of women and marriage see
Pilgrimage ii. 285-87.
[FN#253] Abdullah, as has been said, means "servant or rather slave of Allah."
[FN#254] Again the "Come to my arms, my slight acquaintance," of the
Anti-Jacobin.
[FN#255] Arab. "Nukl," e.g. the quatre mendiants as opposed to "Fбkihah"=fresh
fruit. The Persians, a people who delight in gross practical jokes, get the
confectioner to coat with sugar the droppings of sheep and goats and hand them
to the bulk of the party. This pleasant confection is called "Nukl-i-peshkil"—
dung-dragйes.
[FN#256] The older name of Madнnat al-Nabi, the city of the Prophet; vulg.
called Al-Medinah per excellentiam. See vol. iv. 114. In the Mac. and Bul.
texts we have "Tayyibah"=the goodly, one of the many titles of that Holy City:
see Pilgrimage ii. 119.
[FN#257] Not "visiting the tomb of," etc. but visiting the Prophet himself,
who is said to have declared that "Ziyбrah" (visitation) of his tomb was in
religion the equivalent of a personal call upon himself.
[FN#258] Arab. "Nafakah"; for its conditions see Pigrimage iii. 224. I have
again and again insisted upon the Anglo-Indian Government enforcing the
regulations of the Faith upon pauper Hindi pilgrims who go to the Moslem Holy
Land as beggars and die of hunger in the streets. To an "Empire of Opinion"
this is an unmitigated evil (Pilgrimage iii. 256); and now, after some
thirty-four years, there are signs that the suggestions of common sense are to
be adopted. England has heard of the extraordinary recklessness and
inconsequence of the British-Indian "fellow- subject."
[FN#259] The Ka'abah of Meccah.
[FN#260] When Moslems apply "Nabн!" to Mohammed it is in the peculiar sense of
"prophet" ({prophйtes})=one who speaks before the people, not one who predicts,
as such foresight was adjured by the Apostle. Dr. A. Neubauer (The Athenжum No.
3031) finds the root of "Nabн!" in the Assyrian Nabu and Heb. Noob (occurring
in Exod. vii. 1. "Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet." i.e. orator, speaker
before the people), and holds it to be a Canaanite term which supplanted "Roeh"
(the Seer) e.g. 1 Samuel ix. 9. The learned Hebraist traces the cult of Nebo,
a secondary deity in Assyria to Palestine and Phњnicia, Palmyra, Edessa (in the
Nebok of Abgar) and Hierapolis in Syria or Mabug (Nabog?).
[FN#261] I cannot find "Dandбn" even in Lib. Quintus de Aquaticis Animalibus
of the learned Sam. Bochart's "Hierozoпcon" (London, 1663) and must conjecture
that as "Dandбn" in Persian means a tooth (vol. ii. 83) the writer applied it
to a sun-fish or some such well-fanged monster of the deep.
[FN#262] A favourite proverb with the Fellah, when he alludes to the Pasha and
to himself.
[FN#263] An euphemistic answer, unberufen as the Germans say.
[FN#264] It is a temptation to derive this word from bВњuf а l'eau, but I fear
that the theory will not hold water. The "buffaloes" of Alexandria laughted it
to scorn.
[FN#265] Here the writer's zoological knowledge is at fault. Animals, which
never or very rarely see man, have no fear of him whatever. This is well-known
to those who visit the Gull-fairs at Ascension Island, Santos and many other
isolated rocks; the hen birds will peck at the intruder's ankles but they do
not rise from off their eggs. For details concerning the "Gull-fair" of the
Summer Islands consult p. 4 "The History of the Bermudas," edited by Sir J. H.
Lefroy for the Hakluyt Society, 1882. I have seen birds on Fernando Po peak
quietly await a second shot; and herds of antelopes, the most timed of animals,
in the plains of Somali-land only stared but were not startled by the report of
the gun. But Arabs are not the only moralists who write zoological nonsense:
witness the notable verse,
"Birds in their little nests agree,"
when the feathered tribes are the most pugnacious of breathing beings.
[FN#266] Lane finds these details "silly and tiresome or otherwise
objectionable," and omits them.
[FN#267] Meaning, "Thou hast as yet seen little or nothing." In most Eastern
tongues a question often expresses an emphatic assertion. See vol. i. 37.
[FN#268] Easterns wear as a rule little clothing but it suffices for the
essential purposes of decency and travellers will live amongst them for years
without once seeing an accidental "exposure of the person." In some cases, as
with the Nubian thong-apron, this demand of modesty requires not a little
practice of the muscles; and we all know the difference in a Scotch kilt worn
by a Highlander and a cockney sportsman.
[FN#269] Arab. "Shнraj"=oil extracted from rape seed but especially from
sesame. The Persians pronounce it "Sнraj" (apparently unaware that it is their
own word "Shнrah"=juice in Arabic garb) and have coined a participle "Musayrij"
e.g., Bъ-i- musayrij, taint of sesame-oil applied especially to the Jews who
very wisely prefer, in Persia and elsewhere, oil which is wholesome to butter
which is not. The Moslems, however, declare that its immoderate use in cooking
taints the exudations of the skin.
[FN#270] Arab. "Nakkбrъn" probably congeners of the redoubtable
"Dandбn."
[FN#271] Bresl. Edit. xi. 78. The Mac. says "They are all fish"
(Kullu-hum) and the Bul. "Their food (aklu-hum) is fish."
[FN#272] Arab. "Az'ar," usually=having thin hair. The general term for
tailless is "abtar." See Koran cviii. 3, when it means childless.
[FN#273] A common formula of politeness.
[FN#274] Bresl. Edit. xi. 82; meaning, "You will probably keep it for
yourself." Abdullah of the Sea is perfectly logical; but grief is not. We weep
over the deaths of friends mostly for our own sake: theoretically we should
rejoice that they are at rest; but practically we are afflicted by the thought
that we shall never again see their pleasant faces.
[FN#275] i.e. about rejoicing over the newborns and mourning over the dead.
[FN#276] i.e. Ishak of Mosul, for whom see vol. iv. 119. The
Bresl. Edit. has Fazнl for Fazl.
[FN#277] Abu Dalaf al-Ijili, a well-known soldier equally famed for liberality
and culture.
[FN#278] Arab. "Takhmнsh," alluding to the familiar practice of tearing face
and hair in grief for a loss, a death, etc.
[FN#279] i.e. When he is in the very prime of life and able to administer fiers
coups de canif.
"For ladies e'en of most uneasy virtue
Prefer a spouse whose age is short of thirty."
Don Juan 1. 62.
[FN#280] Arab. "Lбzuward": see vol. iii. 33.
[FN#281] Arab. "Sidillah." The Bresl. Edit. (v. 99), has, "a couch of ivory and
ebony, whereon was that which befitted it of mattresses and cushions * * * *
and on it five damsels."
[FN#282] i.e. As she untunes the lute by "pinching" the strings over-excitedly
with her right, her other hand retunes it by turning the pegs.
[FN#283] i.e. The slim cupbearer (Zephyr) and fair-faced girl
(Moon) handed round the bubbling bowl (star).
[FN#284] Arab. "Al-Sath" whence the Span. Azotea. The lines that follow are
from the Bresl. Edit. v. 110.
[FN#285] This "'Ar'ar" is probably the Callitris quadrivalvis whose resin
("Sandarac") is imported as varnish from African Mogador to England. Also
called the Thuja, it is of cypress shape, slow growing and finely veined in the
lower part of the base. Most travellers are agreed that it is the Citrus-tree
of Roman Mauritania, concerning which Pliny (xiii. 29) gives curious details, a
single table costing from a million sesterces (ВЈ900) to 1,400,000. For other
details see p. 95, "Morocco and the Moors," by my late friend Dr. Leared
(London: Sampson Low, 1876).
[FN#286] i.e. Kings might sigh for her in vain.
[FN#287] These lines are in vol. viii. 279. I quote Mr. Payne.
[FN#288] A most unsavoury comparison to a Persian who always connects camphor
with the idea of a corpse.
[FN#289] Arab. "Ilа mб shбa' llбh" i.e. as long as you like.
[FN#290] i.e. of gramarye.
[FN#291] Arab. "Ta'wнz"=the Arab Tilasm, our Talisman, a charm, an amulet; and
in India mostly a magic square. The subject is complicated and occupies in
Herklots some sixty pages, 222-284.
[FN#292] The Bul. and Mac. Edits. give the Princess's malady, in error, as Dбa
al-Sudб' (megrims), instead of Dбa al-Sar' (epilepsy) as in the Bresl. Edit.
The latter would mean that she is possessed by a demon, again the old
Scriptural fancy (see vol. v. 28). The subject is highly fitted for romance but
not for a "serious" book which ought to know better.
[FN#293] Arab. "Al-'Бriz"=the demon who possessed her.
[FN#294] i.e. He hath renounced his infamous traffic.
[FN#295] Alluding to the favourite Eastern saying, "The poor man hath no life."
[FN#296] In this and the following lines some change is necessary for the
Bresl. and Mac. texts are very defective. The Arabic word here translated
"recess" is "Aywбn," prop. a hall, an open saloon.
[FN#297] i.e. by selling it for thirty thousand gold pieces, when he might have
got a million for it.
[FN#298] The tale is not in the Bresl. Edit.
[FN#299] Al-Khasнb (= the fruitful) was the son of 'Abd al-Hamнd and intendant
of the tribute of Egypt under Harun al-Rashid, but neither Lord nor Sultan.
Lane (iii. 669) quotes three couplets in his honour by Abu Nowбs from p. 119 of
"Elmacini (Al-Makнn) Historia Saracenica."
If our camel visit not the land of Al-Khasib, what man after Al-Khasib shall
they visit? For generosity is not his neighbour; nor hath it sojourned near
him; but generosity goeth wherever he goeth: He is a man who purchaseth praise
with his wealth, and who knoweth that the periods of Fortune revolve.
[FN#300] The old story "Alа jъdi-k"= upon thy generosity, which means at least
ten times the price.
[FN#301]i.e. The distance is enormous.
[FN#302] A gazelle; but here the slave-girl's name.
[FN#303] See vol. ii. 104. Herklots (Pl. vii. fig. 2) illustrates the cloth
used in playing the Indian game, Pachнsн. The "board" is rather European than
Oriental, but it has of late years spread far and wide, especially the
backgammon board.
[FN#304] i.e. "Father of the Lion."
[FN#305] Or as we should say, "Thy blood will be on thine own head."
[FN#306] Called after the famous town in Persian Mesopotamia which however is
spelt with the lesser aspirate. See p. 144. The Geographical works of
Sбdik-i-Ispahбni, London; Oriental Transl. Fund, 1882. Hamdan (with the greater
aspirate) and Hamdun mean only the member masculine, which may be a delicate
piece of chaff for the gallery
[FN#307] Arab. "Hulwбn al-miftбh," for which see vol. vii. 212. Mr. Payne
compares it with the French denier а Dieu, given to the concierge on like
occasions.
[FN#308] Arab. 'Udm, a relish, the Scotch "kitchen," Lat.
Opsonium, Ital. Companatico and our "by-meat." See vol. iv. 128.
[FN#309] Arab. "Kabasa" = he shampoo'd. See vol. ii. {23}.
[FN#310] Arab. "Nukl." See supra p. 177.
[FN#311] Arab. "Jannat al-Khuld" and "Firdaus," two of the
Heavens repeatedly noticed.
[FN#312] The naпvetй is purely Horatian, that is South European versus North
European.
[FN#313] i.e. "Have some regard for thy life."
[FN#314] Arab. "Awбk" plur. of Ъkiyyah a word known throughout the Moslem East.
As an ounce it weighs differently in every country and in Barbary (Mauritania)
which we call Morocco, it is a nominal coin containing twelve Flъs (fulъs) now
about = a penny. It is a direct descendant from the "Uk" or "Wuk" (ounce) of
the hieroglyphs (See Sharpe's Egypt or any other Manual) and first appeared in
Europe as the Greek {unkнa}.
[FN#315] Arab. "Kбrah" usually a large bag.
[FN#316] Arab. "Lъlъah," which may mean the Union-pearl; but here used in the
sense of "wild cow," the bubalus antelope, alluding to the farouche nature of
Miss Jamilah. We are also told infrа that the park was full of "Wuhъsh" = wild
cattle.
[FN#317] Arab. "Sбkiyah," the venerable old Persian wheel, for whose music see
Pilgrimage ii. 198. But "Sakiyah" is also applied, as here, to the
water-channel which turns the wheel.
[FN#318] Arab. "Kawбdнs," plur. of "Kбdъs," the pots round the rim of the
Persian wheel: usually they are of coarse pottery.
[FN#319] In the text "Sбkiyah" a manifest error for "Kubbah."
[FN#320] Easterns greatly respect a belle fourchette, especially when the eater
is a lover.
[FN#321] Arab. "'Arнshah," a word of many meanings, tent, nest, vine-trellis,
etc.
[FN#322] To spit or blow the nose in good society is "vulgar." Sneezing
(Al-'Atsah) is a complicated affair. For Talmudic traditions of death by
sneezing see Lane (M. E. chapt. viii). Amongst Hindus sneezing and yawning are
caused by evil spirits whom they drive away by snapping thumb and forefinger as
loudly as possible. The pagan Arabs held sneezing a bad omen, which often
stopped their journeys. Moslems believe that when Allah placed the Soul (life
?) in Adam, the dry clay became flesh and bone and the First Man, waking to
life, sneezed and ejaculated "Alhamdolillah;" whereto Gabriel replied, "Allah
have mercy upon thee, O Adam!" Mohammed, who liked sneezing because accompanied
by lightness of body and openness of pores, said of it, "If a man sneeze or
eructate and say 'Alhamdolillah' he averts seventy diseases of which the least
is leprosy" (Juzбm); also, "If one of you sneeze, let him exclaim,
'Alhamdolillah,' and let those around salute him in return with, 'Allah have
mercy upon thee!' and lastly let him say, 'Allah direct you and strengthen your
condition."' Moderns prefer, "Allah avert what may joy thy foe!" = (our God
bless you!) to which the answer is "Alhamdolillah!" Mohammed disliked yawning
(Suabб or Thuabб), because not beneficial as a sneeze and said, "If one of you
gape and cover not his mouth, a devil leaps into it. " This is still a popular
superstition from Baghdad to Morocco.
[FN#323] A duenna, nursery governess, etc. See vol. i. 231.
[FN#324] For this belief see the tale called "The Night of
Power," vol. vi. 180.
[FN#325] The Anglo-lndian "Kincob" (Kimkh'бb); brocade, silk flowered with gold
or silver.
[FN#326] Lane finds a needless difficulty in this sentence, which is
far-fetched only because Kuus (cups) requires Ruus (head-tops) by way of
jingle. It means only "'Twas merry in hall when beards wag all."
[FN#327] The Mac. Edit. gives two couplets which have already occurred from the
Bull Edit i. 540.
[FN#328] The lines are half of four couplets in vol. iv. 192; so
I quote Lane.
[FN#329].i.e. none hath pleased me. I have quoted the popular saying, "The son
of the quarter filleth not the eye." i.e. women prefer stranger faces.
[FN#330] Here after the favourite Oriental fashion, she tells the truth but so
enigmatically that it is more deceptive than an untruth; a good Eastern quibble
infinitely more dangerous than an honest downright lie. The consciousness that
the falsehood is part fact applies a salve to conscience and supplies a force
lacking in the mere fib. When an Egyptian lies to you look straight in his eyes
and he will most often betray himself either by boggling or by a look of
injured innocence.
[FN#331] Another true lie.
[FN#332] Arab. `'Yastaghнbъnн," lit. = they deem my absence too long.
[FN#333] An euphemistic form of questioning after absence: "Is all right with
thee?"
[FN#334] Arab. "Kallim al-Sultan!" the formula of summoning which has often
occurred in The Nights.
[FN#335] Lane translates "Almost died," Payne "Well-nigh died;" but the text
says "died." I would suggest to translators
"Be bould, be bould and every where be bould!"
[FN#336] He is the usual poltroon contrasted with the manly and masterful girl,
a conjunction of the lioness and the lamb sometimes seen in real life.
[FN#337] That he might see Jamilah as Ibrahim had promised.
[FN#338] A popular saying, i.e., les absents ont toujours tort.
[FN#339] Who had a prior right to marry her, but not against her consent after
she was of age.
[FN#340] Arab "Sirwбl." In Al-Hariri it is a singular form (see No. ii. of the
twelve riddles in Ass. xxiv.), but Mohammed said to his followers "Tuakhkhizъ"
(adopt ye) "Sarбwнlбt." The latter is regularly declinable but the broken form
Sarбwнl is imperfectly declinable on account of its "heaviness," as are all
plurals whose third letter is an Alif followed by i or н in the next syllable.
[FN#341] Arab. "Matarik" from mitrak or mitrakah a small wooden shield coated
with hide. This even in the present day is the policeman's equipment in the
outer parts of the East.
[FN#342] Arab. "Sabнyah" for which I prefer Mr. Payne's "young lady" to Lane's
"damsel"; the latter should be confined to Jбriyah as both bear the double
sense of girl and slave (or servant) girl. "Bint" again is daughter, maid or
simply girl.
[FN#343] The sense of them is found in vol. ii. 41.
[FN#344] Here the text is defective, but I hardly like to supply the omission.
Mr. Payne introduces from below, "for that his charms were wasted and his
favour changed by reason of the much terror and affliction he had suffered."
The next lines also are very abrupt and unconnected.
[FN#345] Arab. "Yб Maulбya!" the term is still used throughout Moslem lands;
but in Barbary where it is pronounced "Moolбee" Europeans have converted it to
"Muley" as if it had some connection with the mule. Even in Robinson Crusoe we
find "muly" or "Moly Ismael" (chapt. ii.); and we hear the high-sounding name
Maulб-i-Idrнs, the patron saint of the Sunset Land, debased to "Muley Drнs."
[FN#346] Lane omits this tale because "it is very similar, but inferior in
interest, to the Story told by the Sultan's Steward." See vol. i. 278.
[FN#347] Sixteenth Abbaside A.H. 279–289 (=A.D. 891–902). "He was comely,
intrepid, of grave exterior, majestic in presence, of considerable intellectual
power and the fiercest of the Caliphs of the House of Abbas. He once had the
courage to attack a lion" (Al-Siyuti). I may add that he was a good soldier and
an excellent administrator, who was called Saffбh the Second because he
refounded the House of Abbas. He was exceedingly fanatic and died of
sensuality, having first kicked his doctor to death, and he spent his last
moments in versifying.
[FN#348] Hamdъn bin Ismб'нl, called the Kбtib or Scribe, was the first of his
family who followed the profession of a Nadнm or Cup-companion. His son Ahmad
(who is in the text) was an oral transmitter of poetry and history. Al-Siyъti
(p. 390) and De Slane I. Khall (ii. 304) notice him.
[FN#349] Probably the Caliph had attendants, but the text afterwards speaks of
them as two. Mac. Edit. iv. p. 558, line 2; and a few lines below, "the Caliph
and the man with him."
[FN#350] Arab. "Naysбbъr," the famous town in Khorasan where Omar-i-Khayyбm
(whom our people will call Omar Khayyбm) was buried and where his tomb is still
a place of pious visitation. A sketch of it has lately appeared in the
illustrated papers. For an affecting tale concerning the astronomer-poet's
tomb, borrowed from the Nigбristбn see the Preface by the late Mr. Fitzgerald
whose admirable excerpts from the Rubaiyat (101 out of 820 quatrains) have made
the poem popular among all the English-speaking races.
[FN#351] Arab. "A-Sharнf anta?" (with the Hamzah-sign of interrogation)=Art
thou a Sharнf (or descendant of the Apostle)?
[FN#352] Tenth Abbaside (A.H. 234–247=848–861), grandson of Al-Rashid and born
of a slave-concubine. He was famous for his hatred of the Alides (he destroyed
the tomb of Al-Husayn) and claimed the pardon of Allah for having revised
orthodox traditionary doctrines. He compelled the Christians to wear collars of
wood or leather and was assassinated by five Turks.
[FN#353] His father was Al-Mu'tasim bi 'llah (A.H. 218–227=833–842) the son of
Al-Rashid by Mбridah a slave-concubine of foreign origin. He was brave and of
high spirit, but destitute of education; and his personal strength was such
that he could break a man's elbow between his fingers. He imitated the
apparatus of Persian kings; and he was called the "Octonary" because he was the
8th Abbaside; the 8th in descent from Abbas; the 8th son of Al-Rashid; he began
his reign in A.H. 218; lived 48 years; was born under Scorpio (8th Zodiacal
sign); was victorious in 8 expeditions; slew 8 important foes and left 8 male
and 8 female children. For his introducing Turks see vol. iii, 81.
[FN#354] i.e. as if it were given away in charity.
[FN#355] Arab. "Shukkah," a word much used in the Zanzibar trade where it means
a piece of long-cloth one fathom long. See my "Lake Regions of Central Africa,"
vol. i. 147, etc.
[FN#356] He is afterwards called in two places "Khбdim"=eunuch.
[FN#357] A courteous way of saying, "Never mind my name: I wish to keep it
hidden." The formula is still popular.
[FN#358] Arab. "Bakhkharanн" i.e. fumigated me with burning aloes-wood, Calumba
or similar material.
[FN#359] In sign of honour. The threshold is important amongst
Moslems: in one of the Mameluke Soldans' sepulchres near Cairo I
found a granite slab bearing the "cartouche" (shield) of Khufu
(Cheops) with the four hieroglyphs hardly effaced.
[FN#360] i.e. One of the concubines by whose door he had passed.
[FN#361] Epistasis without the prostasis, "An she ordered thee so to do:" the
situation justifies the rhetorical figure.
[FN#362] Arab. "Sardбb" see vol. i, 340.
[FN#363] Thirteenth Abbaside A.H. 252–255 (=866–869). His mother was a Greek
slave called Kabнhah (Al-Mas'udi and Al-Siyuti); for which "Banjah" is probably
a clerical error. He was exceedingly beautiful and was the first to ride out
with ornaments of gold. But he was impotent in the hands of the Turks who
caused the mob to depose him and kill himВ—his death being related in various
ways.
[FN#364] i.e. The reward from Allah for thy good deed.
[FN#365] Arab. "Nusk" abstinence from women, a part of the
Zahid's asceticism.
[FN#366] Arab. "Munбzirah" the verbal noun of which, "Munбzarah," may also mean
"dispute." The student will distinguish between "Munazarah" and Munafarah=a
contention for precedence in presence of an umpire.
[FN#367] The Mac. Edit. gives by mistake "Abъ Dбъd": the Bul. correctly "Abъ
Duwбd," He was Kбzi al-Kuzбt (High Chancellor) under Al-Mu'tasim, Al-Wasik
bi'llah (Vathek) and Al-Mutawakkil.
[FN#368] Arab. "Zaffъ"=they led the bride to the bridegroom's house; but here
used in the sense of displaying her as both were in the palace.
[FN#369] i.e. renounce the craft which though not sinful (harбm) is makrъh or
religiously unpraiseworthy; Mohammed having objected to music and indeed to the
arts in general.
[FN#370] Arab. "Lб tankati'н;" do not be too often absent from us. I have
noticed the whimsical resemblance of "Kat'" and our "cut"; and here the
metaphorical sense is almost identical.
[FN#371] See Ibn Khallikan ii. 455.
[FN#372] The Turkish body-guard. See vol. iii. 81.
[FN#373] Twelfth Abbaside (A.H. 248-252=862-866) the son of a slave-concubine
Mukhбrik. He was virtuous and accomplished, comely, fair-skinned, pock-marked
and famed for defective pronunciation; and he first set the fashion of
shortening men's capes and widening the sleeves. After may troubles with the
Turks, who were now the Prжtorian guard of Baghdad, he was murdered at the
instigation of Al-Mu' tazz, who succeeded him, by his Chamberlain Sa'id bin
Salнh.
[FN#374] Arab. "Usъl," his forbears, his ancestors.
[FN#375] Lane rejects this tale because it is "extremely objectionable; far
more so than the title might lead me to expect." But he quotes the following
marginal note by his Shaykh: —"Many persons (women) reckon marrying a second
time amongst the most disgraceful of actions. This opinion is commonest in the
country-towns and villages; and my mother's relations are thus distinguished;
so that a woman of them, when her husband dieth or divorceth her while she is
young, passeth in widowhood her life, however long it may be, and disdaineth to
marry a second time." I fear that this state of things belongs to the good old
days now utterly gone by; and the loose rule of the stranger, especially the
English, in Egypt will renew the scenes which characterised Sind when Sir
Charles Napier hanged every husband who cut down an adulterous wife. I have
elsewhere noticed the ignorant idea that Moslems deny to women souls and seats
in Paradise, whilst Mohammed canonised two women in his own family. The theory
arose with the "Fathers" of the Christian Church who simply exaggerated the
misogyny of St. Paul. St. Ambrose commenting on Corinthians i. ii., boldly
says:—"Feminas ad imaginem Dei factas non esse." St. Thomas Aquinas and his
school adopted the Aristotelian view, "Mulier est erratum naturж, et mas
occasionatus, et per accidens generatur; atque ideo est monstrum." For other
instances see Bayle s. v. Gediacus (Revd. Simon of Brandebourg) who in 1695
published a "Defensio Sexus muliebris," a refutation of an anti-Socinian satire
or squib, "Disputatio perjucunda, Mulieres homines non esse," Parisiis, 1693.
But when Islam arose in the seventh century, the Christian learned cleverly
affixed the stigma of their own misogyny upon the Moslems ad captandas fњminas
and in Southern Europe the calumny still bears fruit. Mohammed (Koran, chapt.
xxiv.) commands for the first time, in the sixth year of his mission, the
veiling and, by inference, the seclusion of women, which was apparently unknown
to the Badawin and, if practised in the cities was probably of the laxest. Nor
can one but confess that such modified separation of the sexes, which it would
be impossible to introduce into European manners, has great and notable
advantages. It promotes the freest intercourse between man and man, and thus
civilises what we call the "lower orders": in no Moslem land, from Morocco to
China, do we find the brutals without manners or morals which are bred by
European and especially by English civilisation. For the same reason it enables
women to enjoy fullest intimacy and friendship with one another, and we know
that the best of both sexes are those who prefer the society of their own as
opposed to "quite the lady's man" and "quite the gentleman's woman." It also
adds an important item to social decorum by abolishing e.g. such indecencies as
the "ball-room flirtation"—a word which must be borrowed from us, not
translated by foreigners. And especially it gives to religious meetings, a tone
which the presence of women modifies and not for the better. Perhaps, the best
form is that semi-seclusion of the sex, which prevailed in the heroic ages of
Greece, Rome, and India (before the Moslem invasion), and which is perpetuated
in Christian Armenia and in modern Hellas. It is a something between the
conventual strictness of Al-Islam and the liberty, or rather licence, of the
"Anglo-Saxon" and the "Anglo-American." And when England shall have cast off
that peculiar insularity which makes her differ from all civilised peoples, she
will probably abolish three gross abuses, time-honoured scandals, which bear
very heavily on women and children. The first is the Briton's right to will
property away from his wife and offspring. The second is the action for "breach
of promise," salving the broken heart with pounds, shillings, and pence: it
should be treated simply as an exaggerated breach of contract. The third is the
procedure popularly called "Crim. Con.," and this is the most scandalous of
all: the offence is against the rights of property, like robbery or burglary,
and it ought to be treated criminally with fine, imprisonment and in cases with
corporal punishment after the sensible procedure of Moslem law.
[FN#376] "Moon of the age," a name which has before occurred.
[FN#377] The Malocchio or gettatura, so often noticed.
[FN#378] The crescent of the month Zu 'l-Ka'dah when the Ramazan-fast is
broken. This allusion is common. Comp. vol. i. 84.
[FN#379] This line contains one of the Yes, Yes and No, No trifles alluded to
in vol. ii, 60. Captain Lockett (M. A. 103) renders it "I saw a fawn upon a
hillock whose beauty eclipsed the full moon. I said, What is thy name? she
answered Deer. What my Dear said I, but she replied, no, no!" To preserve the
sound I have sacrificed sense: Lulu is a pearl, Li? li? (= for me, for me?) and
La! La! = no! no! See vol. i, 217. I should have explained a line which has
puzzled some readers,
"A sun (face) on wand (neck) in knoll of sand (hips) she showed" etc,
[FN#380] Arab. "Al-huwayna," a rare term.
[FN#381] Bright in the eyes of the famishing who is allowed to break his fast.
[FN#382] Mr. Payne reads "Maghrabi" = a Mauritanian, Maroccan, the Moors (not
the Moorish Jews or Arabs) being a race of Sodomites from highest to lowest.
But the Mac. and Bul. Edit. have "Ajami."
[FN#383] For "Ishk uzri" = platonic love see vol. i. 232; ii. 104.
[FN#384] Zaynab (Zenobia) and Zayd are generic names for women and men.
[FN#385] i.e. He wrote "Kasidahs" (= odes, elegies) after the fashion of the
"Suspended Poems" which mostly open with the lover gazing upon the traces of
the camp where his beloved had dwelt. The exaggerated conventionalism of such
exordium shows that these early poems had been preceded by a host of earlier
pieces which had been adopted as canons of poetry.
[FN#386] The verses are very mal-а-propos, like many occurring in The Nights,
for the maligned Shaykh is proof against all the seductions of the pretty boy
and falls in love with a woman after the fashion of Don Quixote. Mr. Payne
complains of the obscurity of the original owing to abuse of the figure
enallage; but I find them explicit enough, referring to some debauched elder
after the type of Abu Nowбs.
[FN#387] Arab. "'Irk" = a root which must here mean a sprig, a twig. The basil
grows to a comparatively large size in the East.
[FN#388] Arab. "Lait "= one connected with the tribe of Lot, see vol. v. 161.
[FN#389] For the play upon "Saki" (oblique case of sak, leg-calf) and Saki a
cupbearer see vol. ii. 327.
[FN#390] "On a certain day the leg shall be bared and men shall be called upon
to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able" (Koran, lxviii. 42). "Baring
the leg" implies a grievous calamity, probably borrowed from the notion of
tucking up the skirts and stripping for flight. On the dangerous San Francisco
River one of the rapids is called "Tira-calcoens" = take off your trousers
(Highlands of the Brazil, ii. 35). But here the allusion is simply ludicrous
and to a Moslem blasphemous.
[FN#391] Arab. "Istahi," a word of every day use in reproof. So the Hindost.
"Kuchh sharm nahin?" hast thou no shame? Shame is a passion with Orientals and
very little known to the West.
[FN#392] i.e. Angels and men saying, "The Peace (of God) be on us and on all
righteous servants of Allah!" This ends every prayer.
[FN#393] Arab. "Al-Niyah," the ceremonial purpose or intent to pray, without
which prayer is null and void. See vol. v. 163. The words would be "I purpose
to pray a two-bow prayer in this hour of deadly danger to my soul." Concerning
such prayer see vol. i. 142.
[FN#394] Arab. "Sбkin" = quiescent, Let a sleeping hound lie.
[FN#395] Arab. "Бsбr" lit. traces i.e. the works, the mighty signs and marvels.
[FN#396] The mention of coffee now frequently occurs in this tale and in that
which follows: the familiar use of it showing a comparatively late date, and
not suggesting the copyist's hand.
[FN#397] Arab. "Al-Kahwah," the place being called from its produce. See
Pilgrimage i. 317-18.
[FN#398] Arab. "Al-Ghurbah Kurbah:" the translation in the text is taken from
my late friend Edward Eastwick, translator of the Gulistan and author of a host
of works which show him to have been a ripe Oriental scholar.
[FN#399] The fiction may have been suggested by the fact that in all Moslem
cities from India to Barbary the inner and outer gates are carefully shut
during the noontide devotions, not "because Friday is the day on which creation
was finished and Mohammed entered Al-Medinah;" but because there is a popular
idea that in times now approaching the Christians will rise up against the
Moslems during prayers and will repeat the "Sicilian Vespers."
[FN#400] i.e. the syndic of the Guild of Jewellers.
[FN#401] This is an Arab Lady Godiva of the wrong sort.
[FN#402] This is explained in my Pilgrimage i. 99 et seq.
[FN#403] About three pennyweights. It varies, however, everywhere and in
Morocco the "Mezkal" as they call it is an imaginary value, no such coin
existing.
[FN#404] i.e. over and above the value of the gold, etc.
[FN#405] This was the custom of contemporary Europe and more than one master
cutler has put to death an apprentice playing Peeping Tom to detect the secret
of sword-making.
[FN#406] Among Moslems husbands are divided into three species; (1) of "Bahr"
who is married for love; (2) of "Dahr," for defence against the world, and (3)
of "Mahr" for marriage-settlements (money). Master Obayd was an unhappy
compound of the two latter; but he did not cease to be a man of honour.
[FN#407]The Mac. Edit. here is a mass of blunders and misprints.
[FN#408] The Mac. Edit. everywhere calls her "Sabiyah" = the young lady and
does not mention her name Halimah = the Mild, the Gentle till the cmlxxivth
Night. I follow Mr. Payne's example by introducing it earlier into the story,
as it avoids vagueness and repetition of the indefinite.
[FN#409] Arab "Adнm al-Zauk,"=without savour. applied to an insipid mannerless
man as "bбrid" (cold) is to a fool. "Ahl Zauk" is a man of pleasure, a
voluptuary, a hedonist.
[FN#410] Arab. "Finjбn" the egg-shell cups from which the
Easterns still drink coffee.
[FN#411] Arab. "Awбshik" a rare word, which Dozy translates "osselet" (or
osselle) and Mr. Payne, "hucklebones," concerning which he has obliged me with
this note. Chambaud renders osselet by "petit os avec lequel les enfants
jouent." Hucklebone is the hip-bone but in the plural it applies to our cockals
or cockles: Latham gives "hucklebone," (or cockal), one of the small vertebrж
of the coccygis, and Littleton translates "Talus," a hucklebone, a bone to play
with like a dye, a play called cockal. (So also in Rider.) Hucklebones and
knucklebones are syn.: but the latter is modern and liable to give a false
idea, besides being tautological. It has nothing to do with the knuckles and
derives from the German "Knцchel" (dialectically Knцchelein) a bonelet.
[FN#412] For ablution after sleep and before prayer. The address of the
slave-girl is perfectly natural: in a Moslem house we should hear it this day,
nor does it show the least sign of "frowardness. "
[FN#413] The perfect stupidity of the old wittol is told with the driest Arab
humour.
[FN#414] This is a rechauffй of the Language of Signs in "Azнz and Azнzah"
vol. ii. 302.
[FN#415] In the Mac. Edit. "Yб Fulбnah"=O certain person.
[FN#416] Arab. "Laylat al-Kбbilah," lit.=the coming night, our to-night; for
which see vol. iii. {249}.
[FN#417] Arab. "Ya Ahmak!" which in Marocco means a madman, a maniac, a
Santon.
[FN#418] The whole passage has a grammatical double entendre whose application
is palpable. Harf al-Jarr=a particle governing the noun in the genitive or a
mode of thrusting and tumbling.
[FN#419] Arab. "Al-Silah" =conjunctive (sentence), also coition; Al-Mausъl=
the conjoined, a grammatical term for relative pronoun or particle.
[FN#420] Arab. "Tanwнn al-Izбfah ma'zъl" = the nunnation in construction cast
out. "Tanwнn" (nunnation) is pronouncing the vowels of the case-endings of a
noun with n -un for u (nominative) -in for i (genitive) and -an for a
(accusative). This nunnation expresses indefiniteness, e.g. "Malikun"=a king,
any king. When the noun is made definite by the Ma'rifah or article (al), the
Tanwin must be dropped, e.g. Al-Maliku = the King; Al- Malikun being a
grammatical absurdity. In construction or regimen (izбfah) the nunnation must
also disappear, as Maliku 'l-Hindi = the King of Hind (a King of Hind would be
Malikun min Mulъki 'l-Hindi = a King from amongst the Kings of Hind). Thus
whilst the wife and the lover were conjoined as much as might be, the hocussed
and sleeping husband was dismissed (ma'zъl=degraded) like a nunnation dropped
in construction. I may add that the terminal syllables are invariably dropped
in popular parlance and none but Mr. G. Palgrave (who afterwards ignored his
own assertion) ever found an Arab tribe actually using them in conversation
although they are always pronounced when reading the Koran and poetry.
[FN#421] This was a saying of Mohammed about overfrequency of visits, "Zur
ghibban, tazid hubban"=call rarely that friendship last fairly. So the verse of
Al-Mutanabbi,
"How oft familiarity breeds dislike."
Preston quotes Jesus ben Sirach, {mи йmpipte hнna mи epoorthкs, kaм mи makrаn
aphнstoo hнna mи epilesthкs}. Also Al-Hariri (Ass. xv. of "The Legal"; De Sacy
p. 478 1. 2.) "Visit not your friend more than one day in a month, nor stop
longer than that with him!" Also Ass. xvi. 487, 8. "Multiply not visits to thy
friend." "None so disliked as one visiting too often." (Preston p. 352). In the
Cent nouvelles (52) Nouvelles (No. lii.) the dying father says to his
son:—"Jamais ne vous hantez tant en l'ostel de votre voisin que l'on vous y
serve de pain bis." In these matters Moslems follow the preaching and practice
of the Apostle, who was about as hearty and genial as the "Great Washington."
But the Arab had a fund of dry humour which the Anglo-American lacked
altogether.
[FN#422] Arab. "'Amal"—action, operation. In Hindostani it is used (often with
an Alif for an Ayn) as intoxication e.g. Amal pбnн strong waters and applied to
Sharбb (wine), Bozah (Beer), Tбdн (toddy or the fermented juice of the Tбd,
Borassus flabelliformis), Naryбli (juice of the cocoa-nut tree) Saynddi (of the
wild date, Elate Sylvestris), Afyъn (opium and its preparations as post=poppy
seeds) and various forms of Cannabis Sativa, as Ganja, Charas, Madad, Sabzi
etc. for which see Herklots' Glossary.
[FN#423] Arab "Sardбb," mostly an underground room (vol. i. 340) but here a
tunnel.
[FN#424] Arab. "Al-Lбwandiyah": this and the frequent mention of coffee and
presently of a watch (sб'ah) show that the tale in its present state, cannot be
older than the end of the sixteenth century.
[FN#425] Arab. "Su'bбn," vol. i. 172.
[FN#426] The lines have occurred in vol. i. 238, where I have noted the
punning "Sabr"= patience or aloes. I quote Torrens: the Templar, however,
utterly abolishes the pun in the last couplet:- -
"The case is not at my command, but in fair Patience hand
I'm set by Him who order'th all and doth such case command."
"Amr" here=case (circumstance) or command (order) with a suspicion of reference
to Murr=myrrh, bitterness. The reader will note the resignation to Fate's
decrees which here and in host of places elevates the tone of the book.
[FN#427] i.e. as one loathes that which is prohibited, and with a loathing
which makes it unlawful for me to cohabit with thee.
[FN#428] This is quite natural to the sensitive Eastern.
[FN#429] Hence, according to Moslem and Eastern theory generally her lewd and
treasonable conduct. But in Egypt not a few freeborn women and those too of the
noblest, would beat her hollow at her own little game. See for instance the
booklet attributed to Jalбl al-Siyъtн and entitled Kitбb al-Нzбh (Book of
Explanation) fн 'Ilm al-Nikбh (in the Science of Carnal Copulation). There is a
copy of it in the British Museum; and a friend kindly supplied me with a
lithograph from Cairo; warning me that there are doubts about the authorship.
[FN#430] These lines have occurred in vol. iii. 214: I quote Mr.
Payne.
[FN#431] This ejaculation, as the waw shows, is parenthetic; spoken either by
Halimah, by Shahrazad or by the writer.
[FN#432] Arab. "Kasr" here meaning an upper room.
[FN#433] To avoid saying, I pardon thee.
[FN#434] A proverbial saying which here means I could only dream of such good
luck.
[FN#435] A good old custom amongst Moslems who have had business transactions
with each other: such acquittance of all possible claims will be quoted on
"Judgment-Day," when debts will be severely enquired into.
[FN#436] Arab. "Kutr (tract or quarter) Misr," vulgarly pronounced "Masr." I
may remind the reader that the Assyrians called the Nile-valley "Musur" whence
probably the Heb. Misraim a dual form denoting Upper and Lower Egypt which are
still distinguished by the Arabs into Sa'id and Misr. The hieroglyphic term is
Ta-mera=Land of the Flood; and the Greek Aigyptos is probably derived from
Kahi-Ptah (region of the great God Ptah) or Ma Ka Ptah (House of the soul of
Ptah). The word "Copt" or "Kopt," in Egyptian "Kubti" and pronounced "Gubti,"
contains the same consonants
[FN#437] Now an unimportant frontier fort and village dividing Syria-Palestine
from Egypt and famed for the French battle with the Mamelukes (Feb. 19, 1799)
and the convention for evacuating Egypt. In the old times it was an important
site built upon the "River of Egypt" now a dried up Wady; and it was the chief
port of the then populous Najab or South Country. According to Abulfeda it
derived its name (the "boothy," the nest) from a hut built there by the
brothers of Joseph when stopped at the frontier by the guards of Pharaoh. But
this is usual Jewish infection of history.
[FN#438] Arab. "Bбb." which may also="Chapter" or category. See vol. i., 136
and elsewhere (index). In Egypt "Bбb" sometimes means a sepulchral cave hewn in
a rock (plur. Bнbбn) from the Coptic "Bнb."
[FN#439] i.e. "The Holy," a town some three marches (60 miles) N. East of
Cairo; thus showing the honour done to our unheroic hero. There is also a
Sбlihiyah quarter or suburb of Damascus famous for its cemetery of holy men,
but the facetious Cits change the name to Zбlliniyah=causing to stray; in
allusion to its Kurdish population. Baron von Hammer reads "le faubourg
Adelieh" built by Al-Malik Al-Adil and founded a chronological argument on a
clerical error.
[FN#440] Kamar al-Zaman; the normal pun on the name; a practice as popular in
the East as in the West, and worthy only of a pickpocket in either place.
[FN#441] Arab. "Azrбr" plur. of "Zirr" and lit. = "buttons," i.e. of his robe
collar from which his white neck and face appear shining as the sun.
[FN#442] Arab. "Dбirah": the usual inclosure of Kanбts or tent-flaps pitched
for privacy during the halt.
[FN#443] i.e. it was so richly ornamented that it resembled an enchanted hoard
whose spells, hiding it from sight, had been broken by some happy treasure
seeker.
[FN#444] The merchant who is a "stern parent" and exceedingly ticklish on the
Pundonor saw at first sight her servile origin which had escaped the mother.
Usually it is the other way.
[FN#445] Not the head of the Church, or Chief Pontiff, but the Chief of the
Olema and Fukahб (Fбkihs or D.D.'s.) men learned in the Law (divinity). The
order is peculiarly Moslem, in fact the succedaneum for the Christian
"hierarchy," an institution never contemplated by the Founder of Christianity.
This title shows the modern date of the tale.
[FN#446] Arab. "Maulid," prop. applied to the Birth-feast of Mohammed which
begins on the 3rd day of Rabн al-Awwal (third Moslem month) and lasts a week or
ten days (according to local custom), usually ending on the 12th and celebrated
with salutes of cannon, circumcision feasts, marriage banquets, Zikr-litanies,
perlections of the Koran and all manner of solemn festivities including the
"powder-play" (Lбb al-Bбrъt) in the wilder corners of Al-Islam. It is also
applied to the birth-festivals of great Santons (as Ahmad al-Badawi) for which
see Lane M. E. chapt. xxiv. In the text it is used like the Span. "Funcion" or
the Hind "Tamбshб," any great occasion of merry-making.
[FN#447] Arab. "Sanбjik" Plur. of Sanjak (Turk.) = a banner, also applied to
the bearer (ensign or cornet) and to a military rank mostly corresponding with
Bey or Colonel.
[FN#448] I have followed Mr. Payne's ordering of the text which, both in the
Mac. and Bull. Edits., is wholly inconsequent and has not the excuse of rhyme.
[FN#449] Arab. "Jilbбb," a long coarse veil or gown which in Barbary becomes a
"Jallбbiyah," a striped and hooded cloak of woollen stuff.
[FN#450] i.e. a broken down pilgrim left to die on the road.
[FN#451] These lines have occurred in vol. i. 272. I quote Mr.
Payne.
[FN#452] Note the difference between "Zirt," the loud crepitus
and "Faswah" the susurrus which Captain Grose in his quaint
"Lexicum Balatronicum," calls a "fice" or a "foyse" (from the
Arabic Fas, faswah ?).
[FN#453] These lines have occurred in Night dcxix, vol. vi. 246; where the pun
on Khaliyah is explained. I quote Lane.
[FN#454] The usual pretext of "God bizness," as the Comoro men call it. For
the title of the Ka'abah see my Pilgrimage vol. iii. 149.
[FN#455] This was in order to travel as a respectable man; he could also send
the girl as a spy into the different Harims to learn news of the lady who had
eloped.
[FN#456] A polite form of alluding to their cursing him.
[FN#457] i.e. on account of the King taking offence at his unceremonious
departure.
[FN#458] i.e. It will be the worse for him.
[FN#459] I would here remind the reader that "'Arabiyyun" pl. 'Urb is a man of
pure Arab race, whether of the Ahl al-Madar (=people of mortar, i.e. citizens)
or Ahl al-Wabar (=tents of goat or camel's hair); whereas "A'rбbiyyun" pl.
A'rбb is one who dwells in the Desert whether Arab or not. Hence the verse:—
"They name us Al-A'rбb but Al-'Urb is our name."
[FN#460] I would remind the reader that the Dinбr is the golden denarius (or
solidus) of Eastern Rome while the Dirham is the silver denarius, whence
denier, danaro, dнnheiro, etc., etc. The oldest dinars date from A.H. 91-92
(=714-15) and we find the following description of one struck in A.H. 96 by
Al-Walid the VI. Ommiade:—
Obverse:
Area. "There is no ilбh but Allah: He is one: He hath no
partner."
Circle. "Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah who hath sent
him with the true Guidance and Religion that he
manifest it above all other Creeds."
Reverse:
Area. "Allah is one: Allah is Eternal: He begetteth not,
nor is He begot."
Circle. "Bismillah: This Dinar was struck anno 96."
See "'Ilвm-en-Nas" (warnings for Folk) a pleasant little volume by Mr. Godfrey
Clarke (London, King and Co., 1873), mostly consisting of the minor tales from
The Nights, especially this group between Nights ccxlvii. and cdlxi.; but
rendered valuable by the annotations of my old friend, the late Frederick
Ayrton.
[FN#461] The reader will note the persistency with which the duty of universal
benevolence is preached.
[FN#462] Arab. from Pers. "Shah-bandar": see vol. iv. 29.
[FN#463] i.e. of thy coming, a popular compliment.
[FN#464] This is the doctrine of the universal East; and it is true concerning
wives and widows, not girls when innocent or rather ignorant. According to
Western ideas Kamar al-Zaman was a young scoundrel of the darkest dye whose
only excuses were his age, his inexperience and his passions.
[FN#465] Arab. "Dayyъs" prop. = a man who pimps for his own wife and in this
sense constantly occurring in conversation.
[FN#466] This is taking the law into one's own hands with a witness; yet
amongst races who preserve the Pundonor in full and pristine force, e.g. the
Afghans and the Persian Iliyat, the killing so far from being considered murder
or even justifiable homicide would be highly commended by public opinion.
[FN#467] Arab. "Nбkisбtu'aklin wa dнn": the words are attributed to the
Prophet whom we find saying, "Verily in your wives and children ye have an
enemy, wherefore beware of them" (Koran lxiv. 14): compare 1 Cor. vii. 28, 32.
But Maоtre Jehan de Meung went farther,
"Toutes кtez, serez ou fыtes
De faict ou de volontй, putes."
[FN#468] Arab. "Habнbн wa tabнbн," the common jingle.
[FN#469] Iblis and his connection with Diabolos has been noticed in vol. i.
13. The word is foreign as well as a P.N. and therefore is imperfectly
declined, although some authorities deduce it from "ablasa"=he despaired (of
Allah's mercy). Others call him Al-Hбris (the Lion) hence Eve's first-born was
named in his honour Abd al-Haris. His angelic name was Azбzнl before he sinned
by refusing to prostrate himself to Adam, as Allah had commanded the heavenly
host for a trial of faith, not to worship the first man, but to make him a
Keblah or direction of prayer addressed to the Almighty. Hence he was ejected
from Heaven and became the arch-enemy of mankind (Koran xviii. 48). He was an
angel but related to the Jinn: Al-Bayzбwi, however (on Koran ii. 82), opines
that angelic by nature he became a Jinn by act. Ibn Abbas held that he belonged
to an order of angels who are called Jinn and begot issue as do the nasnбs, the
Ghъl and the Kutrub which, however are male and female, like the pre-Adamite
manwoman of Genesis, the "bi-une" of our modern days. For this subject see
Terminal Essay.
[FN#470] As usual in the East and in the West the husband was the last to hear
of his wife's ill conduct. But even Othello did not kill Emilia.
[FN#471] i.e. Star of the Morning: the first word occurs in Bar
Cokba Barchocheba=Son of the Star, i.e., which was to come out of
Jacob (Numbers xxiv. 17). The root, which does not occur in Heb.,
is Kaukab to shine. This Rabbi Akilah was also called Bar Cozla=
Son of the Lie.
[FN#472] Here some excision has been judged advisable as the names of the
bridegrooms and the brides recur with damnable iteration.
[FN#473] See the note by Lane's Shaykh at the beginning of the tale. The
contrast between the vicious wife of servile origin and the virtuous wife of
noble birth is fondly dwelt upon but not exaggerated.
[FN#474] i.e. those of his water skins for the journey, which as usual
required patching and supplying with fresh handles after long lying dry.
[FN#475] A popular saying also applied to men. It is usually accompanied with
showing the open hand and a reference to the size of the fingers. I find this
story most interesting from an anthropological point of view; suggesting how
differently various races regard the subject of adultery. In Northern Europe
the burden is thrown most unjustly upon the man, the woman who tempts him being
a secondary consideration; and in England he is absurdly termed "a seducer." In
former times he was "paraded" or "called out," now he is called up for damages,
a truly ignoble and shopkeeper-like mode of treating a high offence against
private property and public morality. In Anglo-America, where English feeling
is exaggerated, the lover is revolver'd and the woman is left unpunished. On
the other hand, amongst Eastern and especially Moslem peoples, the woman is cut
down and scant reckoning is taken from the man. This more sensible procedure
has struck firm root amongst the nations of Southern Europe where the husband
kills the lover only when he still loves his wife and lover like is furious at
her affection being alienated.
Practically throughout the civilised world there are only two ways of treating
women, Moslems keep them close, defend them from all kinds of temptations and
if they go wrong kill them. Christians place them upon a pedestal, the observed
of all observers, expose them to every danger and if they fall, accuse and
abuse them instead of themselves. And England is so grandly logical that her
law, under certain circumstances, holds that Mrs. A. has committed adultery
with Mr. B. but Mr. B. has not committed adultery with Mrs. A. Can any
absurdity be more absurd? Only "summum jus, summa injuria." See my Terminal
Essay. I shall have more to say upon this curious subject, the treatment of
women who can be thoroughly guarded only by two things, firstly their hearts
and secondly by the "Spanish Padlock."
[FN#476] Lane owns that this is "one of the most entertaining tales in the
work," but he omits it "because its chief and best portion is essentially the
same as the story of the First of the Three Ladies of Baghdad." The truth is he
was straitened for space by his publisher and thus compelled to cut out some of
the best stories in The Nights.
[FN#477] i.e. Ibrahim of Mosul, the musician poet often mentioned in The
Nights. I must again warn the reader that the name is pronounced Is-hбk (like
Isaac with a central aspirate) not Ishбk. This is not unnecessary when we hear
Tait-shill for Tait's hill and "Frederick-shall" for {Friedrichs-hall.}
[FN#478] i.e. He was a proficient, an adept.
[FN#479] Arab. from Pers. Dъlбb=a waterwheel, a buttery, a cupboard.
[FN#480] Arab. "Futъr," the chhotн hбzirн of Anglo-India or breakfast proper,
eaten by Moslems immediately after the dawn- prayer except in Ramбzбn. Amongst
sensible people it is a substantial meal of bread and boiled beans, eggs,
cheese, curded milk and the pastry called fatнrah, followed by coffee and a
pipe. See Lane M. E. chapt. v. and my Pilgrimage ii. 48.
[FN#481] This "off-with-his-head" style must not be understood literally. As I
have noted, it is intended by the writer to show the Kingship and the majesty
of the "Vicar of Allah."
[FN#482] Lit. "the calamity of man (insбn) is from the tongue" (lisбn).
[FN#483] For Khatt Sharнf, lit.=a noble letter, see vol. ii. 39.
[FN#484] Arab. "Allah yastura-k"=protect thee by hiding what had better be
hidden.
[FN#485] Arab. "Janбzнr"=chains, an Arabised plural of the Pers. Zanjнr with
the metathesis or transposition of letters peculiar to the vulgar; "Janбzнr"
for "Zanбjнr."
[FN#486] Arab. "Safнnah"=(Noah's) Ark, a myth derived from the Baris of Egypt
with subsequent embellishments from the Babylonian deluge-legends: the latter
may have been survivals of the days when the waters of the Persian Gulf
extended to the mountains of Eastern Syria. Hence I would explain the existence
of extinct volcanoes within sight of Damascus (see Unexplored Syria i. p. 159)
visited, I believe, for the first time by my late friend Charles F.
Tyrwhitt-Drake and myself in May, 1871.
[FN#487] Mansur and Nбsir are passive and active participles from the same
root, Nasr=victory; the former means triumphant and the latter triumphing.
[FN#488] The normal term of Moslem mourning, which Mohammed greatly reduced
disliking the abuse of it by the Jews who even in the present day are the
strictest in its observance.
[FN#489] An euphuistic and euphemistic style of saying, "No, we don't know."
[FN#490] Arab. "Rahan," an article placed with him in pawn.
[FN#491] A Moslem is bound, not only by honour but by religion, to discharge
the debts of his dead father and mother and so save them from punishment on
Judgment-day. Mohammed who enjoined mercy to debtors while in the flesh (chapt.
ii. 280, etc.) said "Allah covereth all faults except debt; that is to say,
there will be punishment therefor." Also "A martyr shall be pardoned every
fault but debt." On one occasion he refused to pray for a Moslem who died
insolvent. Such harshness is a curious contrast with the leniency which advised
the creditor to remit debts by way of alms. And practically this mild view of
indebtedness renders it highly unadvisable to oblige a Moslem friend with a
loan.
[FN#492] i.e. he did not press them for payment; and, it must be remembered, he
received no interest upon his monies, this being forbidden in the Koran.
[FN#493] Al-Mas'ъdi (chap. xvii.) alludes to furs of Sable (Samъr), hermelline
(Al-Farwah) and Bortбs (Turkish) furs of black and red foxes. For Samъr see
vol. iv. 57. Sinjбb is Persian for the skin of the grey squirrel (Mus lemmus,
the lemming), the meniver, erroneously miniver, (menu vair) as opposed to the
ermine = (Mus Armenius, or mustela erminia.) I never visit England without
being surprised at the vile furs worn by the rich, and the folly of the poor in
not adopting the sheepskin with the wool inside and the leather well tanned
which keeps the peasant warm and comfortable between Croatia and Afghanistan.
[FN#494] Arab. "Tбjir Alfн" which may mean a thousand dinars
(ВЈ500) or a thousand purses (=ВЈ5,000). "Alfн" is not an uncommon
P.N., meaning that the bearer (Pasha or pauper) had been bought
for a thousand left indefinite.
[FN#495] Tigris-Euphrates.
[FN#496] Possibly the quarter of Baghdad so called and mentioned in The Nights
more than once.
[FN#497] For this fiery sea see Sind Revisited i. 19.
[FN#498] Arab. "Al-Ghayb" which may also mean "in the future" (unknown to man).
[FN#499] Arab. "Jabal"; here a mountainous island: see vol. i. 140.
[FN#500] i.e. ye shall be spared this day's miseries. See my
Pilgrimage vol. i. 314, and the delight with which we glided into
Marsб Damghah.
[FN#501] Arab. "Sъwбn"="Syenite" (-granite) also used for flint and other hard
stones. See vol. i. 238.
[FN#502] Koran xxiv. Male children are to the Arab as much prized an object of
possession as riches, since without them wealth is of no value to him.
Mohammed, therefore, couples wealth with children as the two things wherewith
one wards off the ills of this world, though they are powerless against those
of the world to come.
[FN#503] An exclamation derived from the Surat Nasr (cx. 1) one of the most
affecting in the Koran. It gave Mohammed warning of his death and caused
Al-Abbбs to shed tears; the Prophet sings a song of victory in the ixth year of
the Hijrah (he died on the xth) and implores the pardon of his Lord.
[FN#504] Arab. "Dбirah," a basin surrounded by hills. The words which follow
may mean, "An hour's journey or more in breadth."
[FN#505] These petrified folk have occurred in the "Eldest Lady's
Tale" (vol. i. 165), where they are of "black stone."
[FN#506] Arab. "Tбj Kisrawi," such as was worn by the Chosroes
Kings. See vol. i. 75.
[FN#507] The familiar and far-famed Napoleonic pose, with the arms crossed over
the breast, is throughout the East the attitude assumed by slave and servant in
presence of his master. Those who send statues to Anglo-India should remember
this.
[FN#508] Arab. "Tб бlнk"=hanging lamps, often in lantern shape with coloured
glass and profuse ornamentation; the Maroccan are now familiar to England.
[FN#509] Arab. "Kidrah," lit.=a pot, kettle; it can hardly mean "an interval."
[FN#510] The wicket or small doorway, especially by the side of a gate or
portal, is called "the eye of the needle" and explains Matt. xix. 24, and Koran
vii. 38. In the Rabbinic form of the proverb the camel becomes an elephant.
Some have preferred to change the Koranic Jamal (camel) for Habl (cable) and
much ingenuity has been wasted by Christian commentators on Mark x. 25, and
Luke xviii. 25.
[FN#511] i.e. A "Kanz" (enchanted treasury) usually hidden underground but
opened by a counter-spell and transferred to earth's face. The reader will note
the gorgeousness of the picture.
[FN#512] Oriental writers, Indian and Persian, as well as Arab, lay great
stress upon the extreme delicacy of the skin of the fair ones celebrated in
their works, constantly attributing to their heroines bodies so sensitive as to
brook with difficulty the contact of the finest shift. Several instances of
this will be found in the present collection and we may fairly assume that the
skin of an Eastern beauty, under the influence of constant seclusion and the
unremitting use of cosmetics and the bath, would in time attain a pitch of
delicacy and sensitiveness such as would in some measure justify the seemingly
extravagant statements of their poetical admirers, of which the following
anecdote (quoted by Ibn Khellikan from the historian Et Teberi) is a fair
specimen. Ardeshir ibn Babek (Artaxerxes I.), the first Sassanian King of
Persia (A.D. 226-242), having long unsuccessfully besieged El Hedr, a strong
city of Mesopotamia belonging to the petty King Es Satiroun, at last obtained
possession of it by the treachery of the owner's daughter Nezireh and married
the latter, this having been the price stipulated by her for the betrayal to
him of the place. "It happened afterwards that, one night, as she was unable to
sleep and turned from side to side in the bed, Ardeshir asked her what
prevented her from sleeping. She replied, 'I never yet slept on a rougher bed
than this; I feel something irk me.' He ordered the bed to be changed, but she
was still unable to sleep. Next morning, she complained of her side, and on
examination, a myrtle-leaf was found adhering to a fold of the skin, from which
it had drawn blood. Astonished at this circumstance, Ardeshir asked her if it
was this that had kept her awake and she replied in the affirmative. 'How
then,' asked he, 'did your father bring you up?' She answered, 'He spread me a
bed of satin and clad me in silk and fed me with marrow and cream and the honey
of virgin bees and gave me pure wine to drink.' Quoth Ardeshir, 'The same
return which you made your father for his kindness would be made much more
readily to me'; and bade bind her by the hair to the tail of a horse, which
galloped off with her and killed her." It will be remembered that the true
princess, in the well-known German popular tale, is discovered by a similar
incident to that of the myrtle-leaf. I quote this excellent note from Mr. Payne
(ix. 148), only regretting that annotation did not enter into his plan of
producing The Nights. Amongst Hindu story-tellers a phenomenal softness of the
skin is a lieu commun: see Vikram and the Vampire (p.285, "Of the marvellous
delicacy of their Queens"); and the Tale of the Sybarite might be referred to
in the lines given above.
[FN#513] "(55) Indeed joyous on that day are the people of Paradise in their
employ; (56) In shades, on bridal couches reclining they and their wives: (57)
Fruits have they therein and whatso they desire. (58) 'Peace!' shall be a word
from a compassionating Lord." Koran xxxvi. 55-58, the famous Chapt. "Yб Sнn;"
which most educated Moslems learn by heart. See vol. iii. 19. In addition to
the proofs there offered that the Moslem Paradise is not wholly sensual I may
quote, "No soul wotteth what coolth of the eyes is reserved (for the good) in
recompense of their works" (Koran lxx. 17). The Paradise of eating, drinking,
and copulating which Mr. Palgrave (Arabia, i. 368) calls "an everlasting
brothel between forty celestial concubines" was preached solely to the baser
sort of humanity which can understand and appreciate only the pleasures of the
flesh. To talk of spiritual joys before the Badawin would have been a non-sens,
even as it would be to the roughs of our great cities.
[FN#514] Arab. "Lajlaj" lit.=rolling anything round the mouth when eating;
hence speaking inarticulately, being tongue-tied, stuttering, etc.
[FN#515] The classical "Phylarchs," who had charge of the
Badawin.
[FN#516] "The Jabбbirah" (giant-rulers of Syria) and the
"Akбsirah" (Chosroлs-Kings of Persia).
[FN#517] This shows (and we are presently told) that the intruder was Al-Khizr,
the "Green Prophet," for whom see vol. iv. 175.
[FN#518] i.e. of salvation supposed to radiate from all Prophets, esp. from
Mohammed.
[FN#519] This formula which has occurred from the beginning (vol.i.1) is
essentially Koranic: See Chapt. li. 18-19 and passim.
[FN#520] This trick of the priest hidden within the image may
date from the days of the vocal Memnon, and was a favourite in
India, especially at the shrine of Somnauth (Soma-nбth), the
Moon-god, Atergatis Aphrodite, etc.
[FN#521] Arab. "Almбs"=Gr. Adamas. In opposition to the learned ex-Professor
Maskelyne I hold that the cutting of the diamond is of very ancient date. Mr.
W. M. Flinders Patrie (The Pyramids and Temples of Gizah, London: Field and
Tuer, 1884) whose studies have thoroughly demolished the freaks and unfacts,
the fads and fancies of the "Pyramidists," and who may be said to have raised
measurement to the rank of a fine art, believes that the Euritic statues of old
Egypt such as that of Khufu (Cheops) in the Bulak Museum were drilled by means
of diamonds. Athenжus tells us (lib. v.) that the Indians brought pearls and
diamonds to the procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus; and this suggests cutting,
as nothing can be less ornamental than the uncut stone.
[FN#522] i.e. as if they were holding a "Durbar"; the King's idol in the Sadr
or place of honour and the others ranged about it in their several ranks.
[FN#523] These words are probably borrowed from the taunts of Elijah to the
priests of Baal (1 Kings xviii. 27). Both Jews and Moslems wilfully ignored the
proper use of the image or idol which was to serve as a Keblah or direction of
prayer and an object upon which to concentrate thought and looked only to the
abuse of the ignobile vulgus who believe in its intrinsic powers. Christendom
has perpetuated the dispute: Romanism affects statues and pictures: Greek
orthodoxy pictures and not statues and the so-called Protestantism ousts both.
[FN#524] Arab. "Sa'бdah"=worldly prosperity and future happiness.
[FN#525] Arab. "Al-Ahd wa al-Mнsбk" the troth pledged between the Murнd or
apprentice-Darwaysh and the Shaykh or Master-Darwaysh binding the former to
implicit obedience etc.
[FN#526] Arab. "Taakhнr" lit. postponement and meaning acting with deliberation
as opposed to "Ajal" (haste), precipitate action condemned in the Koran lxv.
38.
[FN#527] i.e. I have been lucky enough to get this and we will share it amongst
us.
[FN#528] i.e. of saving me from being ravished.
[FN#529] Sa'нdah=the auspicious (fem.): Mubбrakah,=the blessed; both names
showing that the bearers were Moslemahs.
[FN#530] i.e. the base-born from whom base deeds may be expected.
[FN#531] Arab. "Badlat Kunъzнyah"=such a dress as would be found in enchanted
hoards (Kunъz): e.g. Prince Esterhazy's diamond jacket.
[FN#532] The lieu d'aisance in Eastern crafts is usually a wooden cage or
framework fastened outside the gunwale, very cleanly but in foul weather very
uncomfortable and even dangerous.
[FN#533] Arab. "Ghull," a collar of iron or other metal, sometimes made to
resemble the Chinese Kza or Cangue, a kind of ambulant pillory, serving like
the old stocks which still show in England the veteris vestigia ruris. See
Davis, "The Chinese," i. 241. According to Al-Siyъti (p. 362) the Caliph
Al-Mutawakkil ordered the Christians to wear these Ghulls round the neck,
yellow head-gear and girdles, to use wooden stirrups and to place figures of
devils before their houses. The writer of The Nights presently changes Ghull to
"chains" and "fetters of iron."
[FN#534] Arab. "Yб fulбn," O certain person! See vol. iii. 191.
[FN#535] Father of Harun al-Rashid A.H. 158-169 (=775-785) third Abbaside who
both in the Mac. and the Bul. Edits. is called "the fifth of the sons of
Al-Abbas." He was a good poet and a man of letters, also a fierce persecutor of
the "Zindiks" (Al-Siyuti 278), a term especially applied to those who read the
Zend books and adhered to Zoroastrianism, although afterwards applied to any
heretic or atheist. He made many changes at Meccah and was the first who had a
train of camels laden with snow for his refreshment along a measured road of
700 miles (Gibbon, chapt. lii.). He died of an accident when hunting: others
say he was poisoned after leaving his throne to his sons Musa al-Hadi and Harun
al-Rashid. The name means "Heaven-directed" and must not be confounded with the
title of the twelfth Shi'ah Imбm Mohammed Abu al-Kбsim born at Sarramanrai A.H.
255 whom Sale (sect. iv.) calls "Mahdi or Director" and whose expected return
has caused and will cause so much trouble in Al-Islam.
[FN#536] This speciosum miraculum must not be held a proof that the tale was
written many years after the days of Al-Rashid. Miracles grow apace in the East
and a few years suffice to mature them. The invasion of Abraha the Abyssinia{n}
took place during the year of Mohammed's birth; and yet in an early chapter of
the Koran (No. cv.) written perhaps forty-five years afterwards, the small-pox
is turned into a puerile and extravagant miracle. I myself became the subject
of a miracle in Sind which is duly chronicled in the family-annals of a certain
Pir or religious teacher. See History of Sindh (p. 230) and Sind Revisited (i.
156).
[FN#537] In the texts, "Sixth."
[FN#538] Arab. "Najis"=ceremonially impure especially the dog's mouth like the
cow's mouth amongst the Hindus; and requiring after contact the Wuzu-ablution
before the Moslem can pray.
[FN#539] Arab. "Akl al-hashamah" (hashamah=retinue; hishmah=reverence,
bashfulness) which may also mean "decorously and respectfully," according to
the vowel-points.
[FN#540] i.e. as the Vice-regent of Allah and Vicar of the
Prophet.
[FN#541] For the superiority of mankind to the Jinn see vol. viii. 5;44.
[FN#542] According to Al-Siyuti, Harun al-Rashid prayed every day a hundred
bows.
[FN#543] As the sad end of his betrothed was still to be accounted for.
[FN#544] For the martyrdom of the drowned see vol. i, 171, to quote no other
places.
[FN#545] i.e. if he have the power to revenge himself. The sentiment is
Christian rather than Moslem.
[FN#546] i.e. the power acquired (as we afterwards learn) by the regular
praying of the dawn-prayer. It is not often that The Nights condescend to point
a moral or inculcate a lesson as here; and we are truly thankful for the
immunity.
[FN#547] Arab. "Musбfahah" which, I have said, serves for our shaking hands:
and extends over wide regions. They apply the palms of the right hands flat to
each other without squeezing the fingers and then raise the latter to the
forehead. Pilgrimage ii. 332, has also been quoted.
[FN#548] Equivalent to our saying about an ill wind, etc.
[FN#549] A proof of his extreme simplicity and bonhomie.
[FN#550] Arab. "Dбrfнl"=the Gr. {delphнs} later {delphнn}, suggesting that the
writer had read of Arion in Herodotus i. 23.
[FN#551] 'Aъj; I can only suggest, with due diffidence, that this is intended
for Kъch the well-known Baloch city in Persian Carmania (Kirmбn) and meant by
Richardson's "Koch Гј buloch." But as the writer borrows so much from
Al-Mas'udi it may possibly be Aъk in Sнstбn where stood the heretical city
"Shбdrak," chapt. cxxii.
[FN#552] i.e. The excellent (or surpassing) Religious. Shaykhah, the fem. of
Shaykh, is a she-chief, even the head of the dancing- girls will be entitled
"Shaykhah."
[FN#553] The curtain would screen her from the sight of men- invalids and
probably hung across the single room of the "Zбwiyah" or hermit's cell. The
curtain is noticed in the tales of two other reverend women; vols. {v.} 155 and
v. 257.
[FN#554] Abdullah met his wife on Thursday, the night of which would amongst
Moslems be Friday night.
[FN#555] i.e. with Sa'idah.