Part 21

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the agent of Abdullah, son of Malik al-Khuza'i, on receipt of the letter at Baghdad, mounted at once and repaired to the house of Yahya bin Khбlid, whom he found sitting with his officers and boon- companions. After the usual salute he gave him the letter and Yahya read it and said to the agent, "Come back to me tomorrow for my written answer." Now when the agent had gone away, Yahya turned to his companions and said, "What doth he deserve who forgeth a letter in my name and carrieth it to my foe?" They answered all and each, saying this and that, and every one proposing some kind of punishment; but Yahya said, "Ye err in that ye say and this your counsel is of the baseness of your spirits and the meanness of your minds. Ye all know the close favour of Abdullah with the Caliph and ye weet of what is between him and us of anger and enmity; and now Almighty Allah hath made this man the means of reconciliation between us; and hath fitted him for such purpose and hath appointed him to quench the fire of ire in our hearts, which hath been growing these twenty years; and by his means our differences shall be adjusted. Wherefore it behoveth me to requite such man by verifying his assertion and amending his estate; so I will write him a letter to Abdullah son of Malik, praying that he may use him with increase of honour and continue to him his liberality." Now when his companions heard what he said, they called down blessings on him and marvelled at his generosity and the greatness of his magnanimity. Then he called for paper and ink and wrote Abdullah a letter in his own hand, to the following effect: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionating' the Compassionate! Of a truth thy letter hath reached me (Allah give thee long life!) and I am glad to hear of thy safety and am pleased to be assured of thine immunity and prosperity. It was thy thought that a certain worthy man had forged a letter in my name and that he was not the bearer of any message from the same; but the case is not so, for the letter I myself wrote, and it was no forgery; and I hope, of thy courtesy and consideration and the nobility of thy nature, that thou wilt gratify this generous and excellent man of his hope and wish, and honour him with the honour he deserveth and bring him to his desire and make him the special-object of thy favour and munificence. Whatso thou dost with him, it is to me that thou dost the kindness, and I am thankful to thee accordingly." Then he superscribed the letter and after sealing it, delivered it to the agent, who despatched it to Abdullah. Now when the Governor read it, he was charmed with its contents, and sending for the man, said to him, "Whichever of the two promised boons is the more acceptable to thee that will I give thee." The man replied, "The money gift were more acceptable to me than aught else," whereupon Abdullah ordered him two hundred thousand dirhams and ten Arab horses, five with housings of silk and other five with richly ornamented saddles, used in state processions; besides twenty chests of clothes and ten mounted white slaves and a proportionate quantity of jewels of price. Moreover, he bestowed on him a dress of honour and sent him to Baghdad in great splendour. So when he came thither, he repaired to the door of Yahya's house, before he went to his own folk, and craved permission to enter and have audience. The Chamberlain went in to Yahya and said to him, "O my lord, there is one at the door who craveth speech of thee; and he is a man of apparent wealth, courteous in manner, comely of aspect and attended by many servants." Then Yahya bade admit him; and, when he entered and kissed the ground before him, Yahya asked him, "Who art thou?" He answered, "Hear me, O my lord, I am he who was done dead by the tyranny of fortune, but thou didst raise me to life again from the grave of calamities and exalt me to the paradise of my desires. I am the man who forged a letter in thy name and carried it to Abdullah bin Malik al-Khuza'i." Yahya asked, "How hath he dealt with thee and what did he give thee?"; and the man answered, "He hath given me, thanks to thy hand and thy great liberality and benevolence and to thy comprehensive kindness and lofty magnanimity and thine all-embracing generosity, that which hath made me a wealthy man and he hath distinguished me with his gifts and favours. And now I have brought all that he gave me and here it is at thy door; for it is thine to decide and the command is in thy hand." Rejoined Yahya, "Thou hast done me better service than I did thee and I owe thee a heavy debt of gratitude and every gift the white hand[FN#251] can give, for that thou hast changed into love and amity the hate and enmity that were between me and a man whom I respect and esteem. Wherefore I will give thee the like of what Abdullah bin Malik gave thee." Then he ordered him money and horses and chests of apparel, such as Abdullah had given him; and thus that man's fortune was restored to him by the munificence of these two generous ones. And folk also relate the tale of the

CALIPH AL-MAAMUN AND THE STRANGE SCHOLAR.

It is said of Al-Maamun that, among the Caliphs of the house of Abbas, there was none more accomplished in all branches of knowledge than he. Now on two days in each week, he was wont to preside at conferences of the learned, when the lawyers and theologians disputed in his presence, each sitting in his several-rank and room. One day as he sat thus, there came into the assembly a stranger, clad in ragged white clothes, who took seat in an obscure place behind the doctors of the law. Then the assembly began to speak and debate difficult questions, it being the custom that the various propositions should be submitted to each in turn, and that whoso bethought him of some subtle addition or rare conceit, should make mention of it. So the question went round till it came to the strange man, who spake in his turn and made a goodlier answer than any of the doctors' replies; and the Caliph approved his speech.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph Al-Maamun approved his speech and ordered him to come up from his low place to a high stead. Now when the second question came to him, he made a still more notable answer, and Al-Maamun ordered him to be preferred to a yet higher seat; and when the third question reached him, he made answer more justly and appropriately than on the two previous occasions, and Al-Maamun bade him come up and sit near himself. Presently the discussion ended when water was brought and they washed their hands after which food was set on and they ate; and the doctors arose and withdrew; but Al-Maamun forbade the stranger to depart with them and, calling him to himself, treated him with especial-favour and promised him honour and profit. Thereupon they made ready the sйance of wassail; the fair-faced cup-companions came and the pure wine[FN#252] went round amongst them, till the cup came to the stranger, who rose to his feet and spake thus, "If the Commander of the Faithful permit me, I will say one word." Answered the Caliph, "Say what thou wilt." Quoth the man "Verily the Exalted Intelligence (whose eminence Allah increase!) knoweth that his slave was this day, in the august assembly, one of the unknown folk and of the meanest of the company; and the Commander of the Faithful raised his rank and brought him near to himself, little as were the wit and wisdom he displayed, preferring him above the rest and advancing him to a station and a degree where to his thought aspired not. But now he is minded to part him from that small portion of intellect which raised him high from his lowness and made him great after his littleness. Heaven forfend and forbid that the Commander of the Faithful should envy his slave what little he hath of understanding and worth and renown! Now, if his slave should drink wine, his reason would depart far from him and ignorance draw near to him and steal-away his good breeding, so would he revert to that low and contemptible degree, whence he sprang, and become ridiculous and despicable in the eyes of the folk. I hope, therefore, that the August Intelligence, of his power and bounty and royal-generosity and magnanimity, will not despoil his slave of this jewel." When the Caliph Al-Maamun heard his speech, he praised him and thanked him and making him sit down again in his place, showed him high honour and ordered him a present of an hundred thousand silver pieces. Moreover he mounted him upon a horse and gave him rich apparel; and in every assembly he was wont to exalt him and show him favour over all the other doctors of law and religion till he became the highest of them all in rank. And Allah is All knowing.[FN#253] Men also tell a tale of

ALI SHAR[FN#254] AND ZUMURRUD.

There lived once in the days of yore and the good old times long gone before, in the land of Khorasan, a merchant called Majd al-Dнn, who had great wealth and many slaves and servants, white and black, young and old; but he had not been blessed with a child until he reached the age of threescore, when Almighty Allah vouchsafed him a son, whom he named Alн Shбr. The boy grew up like the moon on the night of fulness; and when he came to man's estate and was endowed with all kinds of perfections, his father fell sick of a death-malady and, calling his son to him, said, "O my son, the fated hour of my decease is at hand, and I desire to give thee my last injunctions." He asked, "And what are they, O my father?"; and he answered, "O my son, I charge thee, be not over-familiar with any[FN#255] and eschew what leadeth to evil and mischief. Beware lest thou sit in company with the wicked; for he is like the blacksmith; if his fire burn thee not, his smoke shall bother thee: and how excellent is the saying of the poet,[FN#256]

'In thy whole world there is not one,

Whose friendship thou may'st count upon,

Nor plighted faith that will stand true,

When times go hard, and hopes are few.

Then live apart and dwell alone,

Nor make a prop of any one,

I've given a gift in that I've said,

Will stand thy friend in every stead:'

And what another saith,

'Men are a hidden malady; * Rely not on the sham in them:

For perfidy and treachery * Thou'lt find, if thou examine them.'

And yet a third saith,

'Converse with men hath scanty weal, except * To while away the

time in chat and prate:

Then shun their intimacy, save it be * To win thee lore, or

better thine estate.'

And a fourth saith,

'If a sharp-witted wight e'er tried mankind, * I've eaten that

which only tasted he:[FN#257]

Their amity proved naught but wile and guile, * Their faith I

found was but hypocrisy.'"

Quoth Ali, "O my father, I have heard thee and I will obey thee what more shall I do?" Quoth he, "Do good whereas thou art able; be ever kind and courteous to men and regard as riches every occasion of doing a good turn; for a design is not always easily carried out; and how well saith the poet,

"Tis not at every time and tide unstable, * We can do kindly acts

and charitable:

When thou art able hasten thee to act, * Lest thine endeavour

prove anon unable!'"

Said Ali, "I have heard thee and I will obey thee."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the youth replied, "I have heard thee and I will obey thee; what more?" And his sire continued, "Be thou, O my son, mindful of Allah, so shall He be mindful of thee. Ward thy wealth and waste it not; for an thou do, thou wilt come to want the least of mankind. Know that the measure of a man's worth is according to that which his right hand hendeth: and how well saith the poet,[FN#258]

'When fails my wealth no friend will deign befriend, * And when

it waxeth all men friendship show:

How many a foe for wealth became my friend, * Wealth lost, how

many a friend became a foe!'"

Asked Ali, "What more?" And Majd al-Din answered, "O my son, take counsel of those who are older than thou and hasten not to do thy heart's desire. Have compassion on those who are below thee, so shall those who are above thee have compassion on thee; and oppress none, lest Allah empower one who shall oppress thee. How well saith the poet,

'Add other wit to thy wit, counsel craving, * For man's true

course hides not from minds of two

Man is a mirror which but shows his face, * And by two mirrors he

his back shall view.'

And as saith another,[FN#259]

'Act on sure grounds, nor hurry fast,

To gain the purpose that thou hast

And be thou kindly to all men

So kindly thou'lt be called again;

For not a deed the hand can try,

Save 'neath the hand of God on high,

Nor tyrant harsh work tyranny,

Uncrushed by tyrant harsh as he.'

And as saith yet another,[FN#260]

'Tyrannize not, if thou hast the power to do so; for the

tyrannical-is in danger of revenges.

Thine eye will sleep while the oppressed, wakeful, will call down

curses on thee, and God's eye sleepeth not.'

Beware of wine-bibbing, for drink is the root of all evil: it doeth away the reason and bringeth to contempt whoso useth it; and how well saith the poet,

'By Allah, wine shall not disturb me, while my soul * Join body,

nor while speech the words of me explain:

No day will I be thralled to wine-skin cooled by breeze[FN#261] *

Nor choose a friend save those who are of cups unfair.'

This, then, is my charge to thee; bear it before thine eyes, and Allah stand to thee in my stead." Then he swooned away and kept silent awhile; and, when he came to himself, he besought pardon of Allah and pronounced the profession of the Faith, and was admitted to the mercy of the Almighty. So his son wept and lamented for him and presently made proper preparation for his burial; great and small walked in his funeral-procession and Koran readers recited Holy Writ about his bier; nor did Ali Shar omit aught of what was due to the dead. Then they prayed over him and committed him to the dust and wrote these two couplets upon his tomb,

'Thou west create of dust and cam'st to life, * And learned'st in

eloquence to place thy trust;

Anon, to dust returning, thou becamest * A corpse, as though

ne'er taken from the dust."

Now his son Ali Shar grieved for him with sore grief and mourned him with the ceremonies usual among men of note; nor did he cease to weep the loss of his father till his mother died also, not long afterwards, when he did with her as he had done with his sire. Then he sat in the shop, selling and buying and consorting with none of Almighty Allah's creatures, in accordance with his father's injunction. This wise he continued to do for a year, at the end of which time there came in to him by craft certain whoreson fellows and consorted with him, till he turned after their example to lewdness and swerved from the way of righteousness, drinking wine in flowing bowls and frequenting fair women night and day; for he said to himself, "Of a truth my father amassed this wealth for me, and if I spend it not, to whom shall I leave it? By Allah, I will not do save as saith the poet,

'An through the whole of life * Thou gett'st and gain'st for

self;

Say, when shalt thou enjoy * Thy gains and gotten pelf?'"

And Ali Shar ceased not to waste his wealth all whiles of the day and all watches of the night, till he had made away with the whole of his riches and abode in pauper case and troubled at heart. So he sold his shop and lands and so forth, and after this he sold the clothes off his body, leaving himself but one suit; and, as drunkenness quitted him and thoughtfulness came to him, he fell into grief and sore care. One day, when he had sat from day-break to mid-afternoon without breaking his fast, he said in his mind, "I will go round to those on whom I spent my monies: perchance one of them will feed me this day." So he went the round of them all; but, as often as he knocked at any one's door of them, the man denied himself and hid from him, till his stomach ached with hunger. Then he betook himself to the bazar of the merchants,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Tenth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ali Shar feeling his stomach ache with hunger, betook himself to the merchants' bazar where he found a crowd of people assembled in ring, and said to himself, "I wonder what causeth these folk to crowd together thus? By Allah, I will not budge hence till I see what is within yonder ring!" So he made his way into the ring and found therein a damsel exposed for sale who was five feet tall,[FN#262] beautifully proportioned, rosy of cheek and high of breast; and who surpassed all the people of her time in beauty and loveliness and elegance and grace; even as saith one, describing her,

"As she willиd she was made, and in such a way that when * She

was cast in Nature's mould neither short nor long was she:

Beauty woke to fall in love with the beauties of her form, *

Where combine with all her coyness her pride and pudency:

The full moon is her face[FN#263]and the branchlet is her shape,

* And the musk-pod is her scent—what like her can there be?

'Tis as though she were moulded from water of the pearl, * And in

every lovely limblet another moon we see!"

And her name was Zumurrud—the Smaragdine. So when Ali Shar saw her, he marvelled at her beauty and grace and said, "By Allah, I will not stir hence till I see how much this girl fetcheth, and know who buyeth her!" So he took standing-place amongst the merchants, and they thought he had a mind to buy her, knowing the wealth he had inherited from his parents. Then the broker stood at the damsel's head and said, "Ho, merchants! Ho, ye men of money! Who will open the gate of biddings for this damsel, the mistress of moons, the union pearl, Zumurrud the curtain-maker, the sought of the seeker and the delight of the desirous? Open the biddings' door and on the opener be nor blame nor reproach for evermore." Thereupon quoth one merchant, "Mine for five hundred dinars;" "And ten," quoth another. "Six hundred," cried an old man named Rashнd al-Din, blue of eye[FN#264] and foul of face. "And ten," cried another. "I bid a thousand," rejoined Rashid al-Din; whereupon the rival merchants were tongue-tied, and held their peace and the broker took counsel with the girl's owner, who said, "I have sworn not to sell her save to whom she shall choose: so consult her." Thereupon the broker went up to Zumurrud and said to her, "O mistress of moons this merchant hath a mind to buy thee." She looked at Rashid al-Din and finding him as we have said, replied, "I will not be sold to a gray-beard, whom decrepitude hath brought to such evil plight. Allah inspired his saying who saith,

'I craved of her a kiss one day; but soon as she beheld * My

hoary hairs, though I my luxuries and wealth display'd;

She proudly turned away from me, showed shoulders, cried aloud:—

* 'No! no! by Him, whose hest mankind from nothingness hath

made

For hoary head and grizzled chin I've no especial-love: * What!

stuff my mouth with cotton[FN#265] ere in sepulchre I'm

laid?'"

Now when the broker heard her words he said, "By Allah, thou art excusable, and thy price is ten thousand gold pieces!" So he told her owner that she would not accept of old man Rashid al-Din, and he said, "Consult her concerning another." Thereupon a second man came forward and said, "Be she mine for what price was offered by the oldster she would have none of;" but she looked at him and seeing that his beard was dyed, said "What be this fashion lewd and base and the blackening of the hoary face?" And she made a great show of wonderment and repeated these couplets,

"Showed me Sir Such-an-one a sight and what a frightful sight! *

A neck by Allah, only made for slipper-sole to smite[FN#266]

A beard the meetest racing ground where gnats and lice contend, *

A brow fit only for the ropes thy temples chafe and

bite.[FN#267]

O thou enravish" by my cheek and beauties of my form, * Why so

translate thyself to youth and think I deem it right?

Dyeing disgracefully that white of reverend aged hairs, * And

hiding for foul purposes their venerable white!

Thou goest with one beard and comest back with quite another, *

Like Punch-and-Judy man who works the Chinese shades by

night.[FN#268]

And how well saith another'

Quoth she, 'I see thee dye thy hoariness:'[FN#269] * 'To hide, O

ears and eyes! from thee,' quoth I:

She roared with laugh and said, 'Right funny this; * Thou art so

lying e'en

Now when the broker heard her verse he exclaimed, "By Allah thou hast spoken sooth!" The merchant asked what she said: so the broker repeated the verses to him; and he knew that she was in the right while he was wrong and desisted from buying her. Then another came forward and said, "Ask her if she will be mine at the same price;" but, when he did so, she looked at him and seeing that he had but one eye, said, "This man is one-eyed; and it is of such as he that the poet saith,[FN#270]

'Consort not with the Cyclops e'en a day; * Beware his falsehood

and his mischief fly:

Had this monocular a jot of good, * Allah had ne'er brought

blindness to his eye!'"