Khalif

“ Then the vizier went in to the Khalif and Sendel ordered the attendants not to leave the fisherman; whereupon, ‘How goodly is thy bounty, O Rosy-cheeks!’ cried Khelifeh. ‘The seeker is become the sought. I come to seek my due, and they imprison me for arrears!’ When Jaafer came in to the presence of the Khalif, he found him sitting with his head bowed down, sick at heart and absorbed in melancholy thought, chanting the verses of the poet:
My censors bid me be consoled for her: what power, I pray, Over my heart have I, if it my hest will not obey? ”

“ As they sat looking on the garden, the Khalif appeared, preceded by near a hundred eunuchs with drawn swords and compassed about with a score of damsels, as they were moons, holding each a lighted flambeau. They were clad in the richest of raiment and on each one's head was a crown set with diamonds and rubies. The Khalif walked in their midst with a majestic gait, whilst Mesrour and Afif and Wesif went before him and Shemsennehar and all her damsels rose to receive him and meeting him at the garden door, kissed the earth before him ”

“ The Khalif looked at me and said to the headsman, 'What ails thee thou thou struck off but nine heads?' 'God forbid,' replied he, 'that I should behead only nine, when thou didst order me to behead ten!' Quoth the Khalif, 'Meseems, thou hast beheaded but nine and he who is before thee is the tenth.' 'By thy munificence,' replied the headsman, 'I have beheaded ten!' So they counted the dead men, and behold, they were ten. ”

“ The Caliph laughed at his words and drew up the net, little by little, till he brought it ashore and found it full of fish; which when Khalif saw, his reason fled for joy and presently he cried, "By Allah, O trumpeter, thy luck is good in fishing! Never in my life will I part with thee! But now I mean to send thee to the fish-bazar, where do thou enquire for the shop of Humayd the fisherman and say to him, 'My master Khalif saluteth thee and biddeth thee send him a pair of frails and a knife, so he may bring thee more fish than yesterday.' Run and return to me forthright!" ”

“ The khalif, after this ceremony, leaves the mosque, and returns alone, along the banks of the Tigris, to his palace, the noble Mohammedans accompanying him in boats, until he enters this building. He never returns by the way he came; and the path on the bank of the river is carefully guarded all the year round, so as to prevent any one treading in his footsteps. The khalif never leaves his palace again for a whole year. He is a pious and benevolent man, and has erected buildings on the other side of the river, on the banks of an arm of the Euphrates, which runs on one side of the city. ”

“ Then said he to the fisherman, 'Go about thy business.' So he kissed the Khalif's feet and thanked him and recited the following verses:
Thou hast heaped benefits on me, past all that I could crave! My
tongue suffices not to praise thy goodness to thy slave.
So I will thank thee whilst I live; and when I come to die, My
very bones shall never cease to thank thee in the grave. ”

“ Then he betook himself to his lodging, clad in the gown and the yellow turban and with the nine dinars in his mouth, rejoicing in what he had never in his life seen. He entered and lay down, but could not sleep for the trouble of his spirits and abode playing with the money half the night. Then said he in himself, ‘Belike, the Khalif may hear that I have gold and say to Jaafer, “Go to Khelif the fisherman and borrow us some money of him.” If I give it him, it will be no light matter to me, and if I give it not, he will torment me; but torture is easier to me than the giving up of the cash. ”

“ Khalif replied, “Thou shalt have silver, if not gold. Stay here, till I bring thee the same.” So he entered his lodging and taking a mallet he had there, studded with forty nails (wherewith an he smote a camel, he had made an end of it) , rushed upon the porter and raised his forearm to strike him therewith; but Zurayk cried out at him, saying, “Hold thy hand! I have no claim on thee,” and fled. Now having got rid of the Hammal, Khalif carried the chest into the Khan, whereupon the neighbours came down and flocked about him, saying, “O Khalif, whence hadst thou this robe and this chest?” ”

“ Asked the Jew, “Then what wouldst thou have me say?”; and the fisherman answered, “Say, I sell thee my ape for thy ape and my luck for thy luck.” The Jew laughed, deeming him little of wit, and said by way of jest, “I sell thee my ape for thy ape and my luck for thy luck. Bear witness against him, O merchants! By Allah, O unhappy, thou art debarred from further claim on me!” So Khalif turned back, blaming himself and saying, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! ”

“ So saying, he tugged at the mule’s bridle, so that she reared up on her [hind] legs and the Khalif said in himself, ‘What predicament is this I have fallen into with this madman?’ Then he pulled off a gown he had on, worth a hundred dinars, and said to Khelif, ‘Take this gown in lieu of thine own.’ He took it and donning it, judged it too long; so he cut it short at the knees and winding the cut-off piece about his head, turban-wise, said to the Khalif, ‘What art thou and what is thy craft? ”

“ But why ask? Thou art none other than a trumpeter." Al-Rashid asked, "What showed thee that I was a trumpeter by trade?"; and Khalif answered, "Thy big nostrils and little mouth." Cried the Caliph, "Well guessed! Yes, I am of that craft." Then said Khalif, "An thou wilt hearken to me, I will teach thee the art of fishing: 'twill be better for thee than trumpeting and thou wilt eat lawfully [FN#282] ." Replied the Caliph, "Teach it me so that I may see whether I am capable of learning it." And Khalif said, "Come with me, O trumpeter." ”

“ Then she feigned to be recovered and calling for wine, drank it and begged the Khalif to resume his diversion. So he sat down again on his couch in the pavilion and made her sit as before. When she saw me, she asked me how you fared; so I told her what I had done with you and repeated to her the verses that Ali ben Bekkar had recited at parting, whereat she wept secretly, but presently stinted. After awhile, the Khalif ordered a damsel to sing, and she chanted the following verses:
Life, as I live, has not been sweet since I did part from thee ”

“ The Khalif was pleased with it and sending for the young man and myself, commanded me to repeat the air and drank thereto. Then he wrote to the governor of the Hejaz, bidding him send the girl’s father and his household to his court in honourable fashion and spare no expense for their outfit. So, in a little while, they came and the Khalif, sending for the man, commanded him to marry his daughter to her lover; after which he gave him a hundred thousand dinars, and the man returned to his people. As for the young man, he abode one of Jaafer’s boon-companions, till there happened what happened ”

“ The Khalif was pleased and said, ‘O Kerim, put off thy clothes.’ So he put off a gown of coarse woollen stuff, patched in a hundred places and full of disgusting vermin, and a turban that had not been unwound for three years, but to which he had sewn every rag he came across. ”

“ How many a weakling orphan unsuccoured doth remain,
For whom is thy departure even as a father’s loss! To fly or creep, like nestlings, alone, they strive in vain.
Now that the clouds have broken their promise to our hope, We trust the Khalif’s bounty will stand to us for rain. [24]
When the Khalif heard this, he said, “By Allah, O Jerir, Omar possesseth but a hundred dirhems.” [25] [And he cried out to his servant, saying,] “Ho, boy! give them to him.” Moreover, he gave him the ornaments of his sword; and Jerir went forth to the [other] poets, who said to him, “What is behind thee?” ”