Stanley Lane-Poole

“ Thou or he?—O my mistress, answered Bedr-ed-Deen, we did not this for any other purpose than to make a jest of him, and that we might laugh at him; for when the tire-women and the singing-women and thy family beheld thine admirable beauty, they feared for us the effect of the eye, and thy father hired him for ten pieces of gold, in order that he might divert from us the eye; and now he hath departed. When Sitt-el-Ḥosn heard these words of Bedr-ed-Deen, she smiled, and uttered a gentle laugh, and said, By Allah, thou hast extinguished my fire! ”

“ Continuing his wanderings in the desert, he found, upon a pebbly plain, an old man with a long white beard, who accosted him, asking of what he was in search. "I am seeking," he answered, "a spiritual guide; and my heart tells me that thou art the guide I seek." "My son," said the old man, "thou seest yonder a saint's tomb: it is a place where prayer is answered: go thither, enter it, and seat thyself: neither eat nor drink nor sleep; but occupy thyself solely, day and night, in repeating silently, 'Lá iláha illa-lláh' (There is no deity but God) ”

“ The Wezeer answered, He is the lord of justice and security, the fame of whose magnanimity the caravans have spread abroad, the Sulṭán Suleymán Sháh, the lord of El-Arḍ el-Khaḍrà and El-'Amoodeyn and the mountains of Iṣpahán, who loveth justice and equity, and hateth tyranny and oppression; and he saith to thee, that his son is in thy dominions and in thy city, and he is the vital spirit of his heart, and its delight; and if he find him in safety, it is what he desireth, and thou wilt be thanked and praised ”

“ Though repeatedly rebuked, still gross ignorance inciteth thee. How oft shall my hand write verses to forbid thee? Thou increasest in eagerness after each prohibition; but I will only permit thee to conceal thy secret. Conceal then thy love, and never more utter it; for if thou utter it, I will not regard thee. If thou repeat what thou hast said, the raven of separation will announce thy fate: 527 In a little time will death overtake thee, and thy resting-place be beneath the earth: Thou shalt leave thy family, O deceived, in sorrow, when the swords of love have prevented thine escape. ”

“ His steward, therefore, came in to him, and said to him, O my master Noor-ed-Deen, hast thou not heard the saying, He who expendeth and doth not calculate is reduced to poverty? This profuse expenditure, and these magnificent presents, will annihilate the property.—But when 'Alee Noor-ed-Deen heard these words of his steward, he looked at him, and replied, Of all that thou hast said to me, I will not attend to one word. How excellent is the saying of the poet:—
If I be possessed of wealth and be not liberal, may my hand never be extended, nor my foot raised! ”

“ O pretender to love and affliction and sleeplessness, and feelings of rapturous passion, and anxiety! Dost thou seek for a meeting, O deceived, from a moon? Doth any attain from a moon his wish? I advise thine abstaining from thy desire: forbear then; for thou art exposed to peril. If thou again make use of these words, I will visit thee with a punishment of the utmost severity. By Him who created mankind of clotted blood,60 and who gave light to the sun and the moon! If thou repeat the proposal thou hast made, I will assuredly crucify thee on the trunk of a tree. ”

“ I have nothing with which to charge thee but the fear of God, and forethought with regard to the results of thine actions, and that thou conduct thyself kindly to the damsel Enees-el-Jelees.—O my father, said the youth, who is like unto thee? Thou hast been celebrated for virtuous actions, and the praying of the preachers for thee on the pulpits.—O my son, rejoined the Wezeer, I hope for the approbation of God, whose name be exalted! ”

“ And when Noor-ed-Deen heard his words, he thanked him, and arose, together with his slave, and, the sheykh Ibráheem preceding them, they entered the garden.
The gate was arched, and over it were vines with grapes of different colours; the red, like rubies; and the black, like ebony. They entered a bower, and found within it fruits growing in clusters and singly, and the birds were warbling their various notes upon the branches: the nightingale was pouring forth its melodious sounds; and the turtle-dove filled the place with its cooing; and the blackbird, in its singing, resembled a human being ”

“ And when he had attained the age of eighteen years, the grey down appeared upon a mole on his red cheek, while another mole, like a globule of ambergris, added to these charms, and he captivated the minds and eyes of his beholders. His comeliness increased as he became a man, and he had companions and friends, and every one who enjoyed access to him wished that Táj-el-Mulook might be Sulṭán after the death of his father, and that he might himself be one of his emeers. ”

“ When the hands of time play with us, misfortune is imparted to us by its protracted kiss. In the heaven are stars that cannot be numbered; but none is eclipsed save the sun and the moon. How many green and dry trees are on the earth; but none is assailed with stones save that which beareth fruit! Thou thoughtest well of the days when they went well with thee, and fearedst not the evil that destiny was bringing.
—When he had finished reciting these verses, the Jinnee said to him, Spare thy words, for thy death is unavoidable. ”

“ Suddenly, however, two men laid hold upon him, and exclaimed, Praise be to God who hath enabled us to take thee, O thou enemy of God! For these three nights thou hast suffered us to enjoy neither quiet nor sleep, and we have found no repose: nay, thou hast given us a foretaste of death!—O men, said my brother, what hath happened unto you? They answered, Thou keepest a watch upon us, and desirest to disgrace us, and to disgrace the master of the house! Is it not enough for thee that thou hast reduced him to poverty, thou and thy companions? ”

“ So I went out to them, and said, What is the news?—whereupon, without granting me a moment's delay, they bound my arms behind me, and put a chain around my neck, saying to me, The necklace which was in thy possession hath proved to be the property of the governor of Damascus, its Wezeer and its Ruler: it hath been lost from the governor's house for a period of three years, and with it was his daughter.—When I heard these words from them, my limbs trembled, and I said within myself, They will kill me! My death is inevitable! ”

“ Oppress not if thou hast the power to do so; for oppression will eventually bring thee repentance: Thine eye will sleep while the oppressed, wakeful, will call for vengeance upon thee; and the eye of God sleepeth not.
Despise thy wealth, but not thyself: yet bestow not wealth save upon him who deserveth it. If thou keep it, it will keep thee; but if thou squander it, it will ruin thee; and then wilt thou need the assistance of the least of mankind. It hath been said by the poet,—
When my wealth faileth, no friend assisteth me ”

“ But he replied, O Enees-el-Jelees, it is not easy for me to endure thy separation for one hour.—Nor is the like easy to me, said she: but necessity is imperious. And upon this, he took Enees-el-Jelees, his tears flowing down his cheeks, and went and delivered her to the broker, saying to him, Know the value of that which thou art to cry for sale.—O my master Noor-ed-Deen, replied the broker, noble qualities are held in remembrance. Is she not Enees-el-Jelees, whom thy father purchased of me for ten thousand pieces of gold?—He answered, Yes. And the broker thereupon went to the merchants ”

“ The sheykh Ibráheem then said to him, O my son, know that the Prophet (God bless and save him!) hath enjoined generosity to the stranger. Wilt thou not arise, O my son, and enter the garden, and divert thyself in it, that thy heart may be dilated?—O my master, said Noor-ed-Deen, to whom doth this garden belong? The sheykh answered, O my son, this garden I inherited from my family. And his design in saying this was only that they might feel themselves at ease, and enter the garden. ”

“ Beg, therefore, of God, that I may live for thy sake, to liberate thee in future. By Allah, thou hast almost destroyed me by thine evil design, desiring to go alone: but we will not be angry with thee for thine ignorance, for thou art endowed with little sense, and of a hasty disposition.—Art thou not satisfied, replied I, with that which thou hast done, but wilt thou run after me through the market-streets?—And I desired for death to liberate me from him ”

“ The young man, however, said, O Wezeer, this is an old man, imbecile through age; he knoweth not what he saith: it was I who killed her; avenge her therefore upon me.—O my son, said the sheykh, thou art young, and wilt find pleasure in the world; and I am old, and satiated with the world: I will be a ransom for thee and for the Wezeer and his kinsmen; and no one killed the damsel but myself: by Allah, therefore, hasten to retaliate upon me. ”

“ The two ambassadors passed first by the palace of the chief chamberlain, and, astonished at the splendid ornaments and pages and arms which they there beheld, imagined that this was the palace of the Khaleefeh; but what they had seen here was eclipsed by what they beheld in the latter, where they were amazed by the sight of thirty-eight thousand pieces of tapestry of gold-embroidered silk brocade, and twenty-two thousand magnificent carpets. Here also were two menageries of beasts by nature wild, but tamed by art, and eating from the hands of men: among them were a hundred lions ”

“ She was accompanied by ten female slaves, and she appeared among them like the full moon among the planets: she was attired in a garment of green satin embroidered with red gold; and when she saw me, she laughed, and said, How is it that thou hast remained awake, and that sleep hath not overcome thee? Now that thou hast passed the night sleepless I am convinced that thou art a lover; for among the characteristics of lovers is the watching by night in the resolute endurance of desire.—She then turned towards her female slaves, and made a sign to them; whereupon they departed from her ”

“ When the Wezeer heard these words, he rejoiced exceedingly, and exclaimed, Oh, how I long to behold my brother's son! Will fortune, indeed, unite us with him? But I look not for our union from any but God, whose name be exalted!—And he instantly arose, and called out to his male attendants, saying, Let twenty men of you go to the shop of the cook, and demolish it, and bind his hands behind him with his turban, and drag him hither by force, but without any injury to his person. ”

“ O our master and our lord! We have been for a month expecting thee. Praise be to God who hath blessed us with one who is worthy of us, and one of whom we are worthy!—After having thus greeted me, they seated me upon a mattress, and said, Thou art from this day our master and prince, and we are thy handmaids, and entirely under thy authority. ”

“ Thus I continued to do for a considerable period, until I had discharged all the debts and increased my capital; and as I was sitting one day, I beheld a young lady, than whom my eye had never beheld any more beautiful, decked with magnificent ornaments and apparel, riding on a mule, with a slave before her and a slave behind her; and she stopped the mule at the entrance of the market-street, and entered, followed by a eunuch, who said to her, O my mistress, enter, but inform no one who thou art, lest thou open the fire of indignation upon us. ”

“ She wore a headkerchief inclined on one side, and the odours of sweet perfumes were diffused from her, and she captivated my reason by her beauty and loveliness as she raised her izár and I beheld her black eyes. She saluted Bedr-ed-Deen, and he returned her salutation, and stood conversing with her; and when I heard her speech, love for her took entire possession of my heart. ”

“ Be thankful for his benefits; for they are not mere benefits; but they are strings of jewels on the necks of his people; And kiss his fingers; for they are not mere fingers; but they are the keys of the supplies of Providence.
The Sulṭán treated them both with honour, and, having thanked Noor-ed-Deen for his address, said to his Wezeer, Who is this young man? ”

“ But the King's son said, Thou must positively shew me what thou hast, and acquaint me with thy circumstances; for I see thee with weeping eye and mourning heart; and if thou be oppressed, we will put an end to the oppression that thou sufferest; and if thou be in debt, we will discharge thy debt; for my heart hath been tormented on thine account since I first beheld thee. ”

“ And upon this, the Khaleefeh summoned Jaạfar El-Barmekee, and said to him, For thirty days I have heard no news of 'Alee the son of El-Faḍl the son of Kháḳán, and I imagine nothing less than that the Sulṭán hath killed him: but, by my head! by the tombs of my ancestors! if any evil event hath happened to him, I will destroy him who hath been the cause of it, though he be the dearest of men in my estimation! ”

“ But when the old man heard his words, he said to him, Which will be more agreeable to thee—that thou abstain from disgracing me, or that I disgrace thee, before the people?—For what wilt thou disgrace me? said my brother. The old man answered, For thy selling human flesh for mutton.—Thou liest, thou accursed! exclaimed my brother.—None is accursed, rejoined the old man, but he who hath a man suspended in his shop. My brother said, If it be as thou hast asserted, my property and blood shall be lawful to thee:—and immediately the old man exclaimed, O ye people here assembled! ”