Hajjaj ibn Yusuf

“ O mighty bane that beatest on my bones * And oh heart-core, that melts with fire long-fed! My soul's own dearling speedeth on his march * Who can be patient when his true love sped? Deal kindly with my heart, have ruth, return * Soon to my Castle nor be long misled."
And when Al-Hayfa had ended her verse, Yusuf wept with sore weeping and cried, "By Allah, I had intended to return to thee after I had fared to them and had settled the matter in hand. But suffer me dismiss those who have come for me and seek reunion with thee, Inshallah—an it be the will of Allah Almighty." ”

“ So he distributed the whole amongst his nobles, and largessed them with excessive largesses; and his partisans of his subjects and his guards flocked to him with presents and offerings; and all the city-folk gave him joy and rejoiced in him. Then he commissioned Ibn Ibrahim to Al-Hayfa, daughter of King Al-Mihrjan, saying, "Do thou bring her hither to me, her and her handmaids and all that be in her palace." Accordingly he went forth to Al-Hayfa's Castle, and ceased not wending till he came to its entrance where he discovered that King Yusuf had appointed a craft for the river transport. ”

“ Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that Ibn Ibrahim said to Al-Hayfa, "Verily Yusuf purposeth to visit thee after a little while." But when the Princess heard his words she would not believe him albeit her heart palpitated with pleasure ”

“ Then he went forth from her with a grief-bound heart and she wept and cried, “Help! Help!” [227] and all her women shrieked and shed tears over parting with him. But as soon as Yusuf passed out of the palace-door he took off the gown which was upon him and turband’d it around his head together with his bow and quiver, and he stinted not to stem the stream until he had reached the further bank where he found and greeted the lord Yahya and his Mamelukes. They all kissed his hand, and his cousin enquired of him, “What is the cause of thy disappearing from these thy men for a space of ten days?” ”

“ As soon as Yusuf had finished his improvisation and what of poetry he had produced, Al-Hayfa took seat by his side and fell to conversing with him in sweetest words with softest smiles, the while saying, "Fair welcome to thee, O wonder of beauty and lovesome in eloquence and O charming in riant semblance and lord of high degree and clear nobility: thou hast indeed illumined our place with the light of thy flower-like forehead and to our hearts joyance hast thou given and our cares afar hast thou driven and eke our breasts hast made broad ”

“ The Prince waited until the first third of the night had gone by when he mounted the courser and placed Hilal his Mameluke upon the crupper, and they cut once more the wilds and the wastes until they sighted hard-by the river Al-Kawa'ib and the Castle of Al-Hayfa rising from its waters. Hereupon Yusuf fell to the ground in a swoon, and he when he recovered said to Hilal, "Do thou ungirth the horse's saddle and hide it within the cave amid the rocks;" ”

“ O thou unique one of the Age and the Time, and O thou who hast no peer in our day and our tide.” Now when Yusuf heard the words of Al-Hayfa he said to her, “Walláhi, O thou who the moons adornest and who the sun and the daylight shamest, O lady of brow flower-bright and of stature elegant-slight, O thou who passest in beauty and comeliness all mortal beings, O thou with smile like water sweet and mouth-dews like purest spring and of speech the softest, I wot thou art the lady of goodness and excellence and generosity and liberality.” ”

“ Soft and tranquil life for her term she seeks ✿ While with hardness and harshness our souls are wrung.” Then Yusuf folded the paper and handed it to Ibn Ibrahim and ordered him a robe of honour and an hundred dinars. So he took them and rode forth until he drew near the Palace of Al-Hayfa, when he tethered his dromedary and hid her in a cave whose mouth he walled with stones. ”

“ They led the way to where the Arab was resting among the bales, with his bridle in his hand.
"I have claimed the sanctuary of the great Sheik," said Yusuf; "it has been refused me. A token has been demanded of me; lo, there it is."
He took the packet from his vest, and uncovering the velvet pouch, gave it to the Arab; the man, seeing the cypher of the Sheik, immediately kissed it, put it to his forehead, and returned it to Yusuf.
"It is enough," he said; "he is our brother; give him the best mule in the Cafila, and whatever he desires. Behold! he is under the shadow of the tent of Sidi Hamed." ”

“ The thoroughly excited multitude swayed and surged like the waves of the sea. Hundreds hurried off to do the behest of their leader, and, returning, hastened to perform Tawaf about the Caaba before setting out on their perilous journey.
Yusuf, as a Christian, dared not enter the temple; but he heard the news from without. His heart was moved with compassion for the poor, defenceless traders, caught like mice in a trap, and he decided to fall into the ranks of the rescue party, intending, if his life were spared, to pay a visit to Amzi, at Medina. ”

“ So she marvelled how two men had come upon one horse,235 and quoth she to him, "O Yusuf, thou hast indeed tortured me with thine absence;" and quoth he to her, "By Allah (and beside Him God there is none!) my hand never touched or woman or aught of feminine kind or of she-Jinn or Jinn kind, but in me desire for thee ever surged up, and wake and in vitals a fiery ache." Then the Princess bade her handmaids wend with Hilal in a body to the garden, and when they obeyed her bidding she arose and walked forth with Yusuf. ”

“ The unjust execution of the greatest statesman who had ever served a Bahmani king excited distrust and unrest even among many of the Deccanis and Africans. The foreigners who had been in the service of the murdered minister fled for protection to Yusuf Adil Khan, and the foreign troops and officers in the other provincial armies followed their example. Yusuf thus became the most powerful amir in the kingdom. ”

“ Yusuf was a skillful swordsman, and had had more practice with the desert weapon, with which both were armed, than had St. Just. The Arab began to press him sorely, and the young Frenchman found that he had met more than his match. Still desperately he fought on, the personality of his opponent lending fury to his attack. Indeed, both were animated by the same passion, jealousy, for Yusuf had recognized in the other the man who had snatched Halima from his arms and usurped his position in the tribe. ”

“ Being defeated in the mountains of Murcia, he was conducted in chains to Cordova. On coming into the presence of Abderahman, his once fierce and haughty spirit, broken by distress, gave way; he threw himself on the earth, kissed the dust beneath the feet of the king, and implored his clemency. The benignant heart of Abderahman was filled with melancholy, rather than exultation, at beholding this wreck of the once haughty family of Yusuf a suppliant at his feet, and suing for mere existence. He thought upon the mutability of fortune, and felt how insecure are all her favors. ”

“ That accomplished, there would be nothing to prevent his taking the leadership of the tribe, and making Halima his wife, should he desire it.
Should St. Just's messenger be unable to get speech of Yusuf, he was to forward her instructions to him by some one he could trust. The old woman was satisfied that, if Yusuf lived, he could be found, for many knew him; he had held an important position in the tribe and had many influential friends in Cairo. ”

“ Now my heart was filled with terrors, for I feared lest in this way or in that Heliodore had fallen into the hands of the accursed Musa. I prayed Yusuf to tell me the truth of the matter, whereon he swore by the Prophet that she was safe, but would say no more. Nor did this comfort me much, since for aught I knew he might mean she was safe in death. I was aware, further, that the Moslems held it no crime to deceive an infidel. Week was added to week, and still I languished in this rich prison. The best of garments and food were brought to me ”

“ And there was native grace in every movement when he came courteously forward and saluted Yusuf with the "Peace be with you" of the Arabs. He then extended his hand to help the traveler to dismount, and led him into the tent.
"Friend," he said, "a long journey and a close acquaintance with death are, methinks, a good preparation for the enjoyment of Bedouin hospitality, which, we sincerely hope, shall not be lacking in the tents of Musa. Yet, in truth, it seems to us that thou art a fool-hardy man to tempt the dangers of El Hejaz single-handed." ”

“ He scarcely dared to realize the possibility of a companionship with him, or the fact that the mediation of the planet-spirits was but a myth. Yet he did feel, in a vague way, that the light was breaking, and a tumultuous, undefined, hopeful ecstasy took possession of his being. Yusuf's heart was ready for the reception of the truth. He was unprejudiced. He had cast aside all dependence upon the tenets of his former belief. He had become as a little child anxious for rest upon its father's bosom. He sought only God, and to him the light came quickly. ”

“ The spirit of the veteran Samael gave way before these fearful reverses. “In vain, oh Yusuf!” said he, “do we contend with the prosperous star of this youthful conqueror: the will of Allah be done! Let us submit to our fate, and sue for favorable terms, while we have yet the means of capitulation.”
It was a hard trial for the proud spirit of Yusuf, that had once aspired to uncontrolled sway; but he was compelled to capitulate. Abderahman was as generous as brave. ”

“ Man hath no merit save in kindly mind ✿ And loquent tongue with light of wits unite.” [253] And when Yusuf had ended his poetry he presented an hundred dinars to Ibn Ibrahim, who took the letter and fell to cutting through the wilds and the wolds, after which he went in to the presence of Al-Hayfa and gave her the missive. ”

“ Beyond the hum of a multitude there was very little noise, and as Yusuf and his host sat by their fire, in front of their tent, Yusuf reminded him of his promise to recount his adventures in Teradant.
"Oh, Sheik!" he said, "your adventures are like the Thousand and One Nights, when a man has heard one, lo, he asks for another." ”

“ The Guebres also hold here that the Black Stone is an emblem of Saturn, left in the Caaba by the Persian Mahabad and his successors long ago. But, friend, Persian influence has long since ceased in El Hejaz. Methinks you will find but few traces of your country-people's glory there."
"It matters not," returned the priest. "The glory of the fire-worshipers has, so far as Yusuf is concerned, passed away. Know you not that before his eyes the sacred fire, [3] kept alive for well-nigh one thousand years, went out in the supreme temple ere he left it? ”

“ The Muslim conceived that in Sir Oliver he saw one upon whom the grace of Allah had descended, one who was ripe to receive the Prophet's message. Yusuf was devout, and he applied himself to the conversion of his fellow-slave. Sir Oliver listened to him, however, with indifference. Having discarded one creed he would need a deal of satisfying on the score of another before he adopted it, and it seemed to him that all the glorious things urged by Yusuf in praise of Islam he had heard before in praise of Christianity. ”

“ O Viceregent of Allah upon Earth, know thou an adventure befel me with a youth named the Veiled Yusuf of Beauty, son to King Sahl, the friendly ruler of Al-Sind, and with Al-Hayfa the daughter of King Al-Mihrjan, and ’tis a tale whose like hath never been heard ”

“ All this and Al-Hayfa rejoiced in Yusuf, but ever and anon she took thought anent her sire King Al-Mihrjan and his works and she kept saying in her mind, “Would Heaven I wot will he wed me to this youth so charming of inner grace; and, if my father be not satisfied therewith, I will marry my lover in despite of him.” And the while Yusuf quoth to himself, “Would Heaven I wot how my sire will act in the business of the concubine whose pucelage I did away, and would Heaven I knew if he have ridden forth in search of me, or he have lost sight of me and never asked of me.” ”

“ Thou hast hurt my heart; O of deed misdone, ✿ So thou com’st to contend with this rank and file.” [271] King Al-Mihrjan re-echoed his war-cry, but hardly had he ended when Yusuf drawing near him answered it with a shout which enquaked his heart and ravished his reason with sore terror, and repeated in reply these couplets:—
“I am not to be titled of forbears vile ✿ O whose ape-like face doth the tribe defile!
Nay, I’m rending lion amid mankind, ✿ A hero in wilds where the murks beguile.
Al-Hayfá befitteth me, only me; ✿ Ho thou whom men for an ape [272] revile.” ”

“ The sheyk would sell him, and he would either be made to work in some mountain-farm, or put on board a galley; and Yusuf had sufficient experience of the horrors of the latter to assure him emphatically that the gude leddy of Burnside would break her heart to think of her bonny laddie there.
‘It would more surely break her heart to think of her son giving up his faith,’ returned Arthur.
As to the child, the opinion of the tribe seemed to be that he was just fit to be sent to the Sultan to be bred as a Janissary. ‘He will come that gate to be as great a man as in his ain countree,’ said Yusuf ”