One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  “To slay my foes is chiefest bliss I wist, * And on the courser’s

  back be borne a list;

  Comes promising tryst a messenger from friend * Full oft, when

  comes the friend withouten tryst.”

  And these words of another,

  “War for my mother (an I live) I’ll take; * Spear for my brother;

  scymitar for sire

  With every shag haired brave who meets his death * Smiling, till

  won from Doom his dear desire!”

  And when the Wazir ended his verses, he said, “Praise be to Him who aided us dear victory to uphold and who hath given us spoil of silver and fine gold!” Then Zau al-Makan commanded the army to depart; and they fared on forcing their marches for Constantinople, till they came to a wide and spacious champaign, full of all things fair and fain, with wild cattle frisking and gazelles pacing to and fro across the plain. Now they had traversed great deserts and drink had been six days cut off from them, when they drew near this meadow and saw therein waters founting and ripe fruits daunting and that land as it were Paradise; for it had donned its adornments and decked itself.417 Gently waved the branches of its trees drunken with the new wine of the dew, and combined with the nectar of Tasnim the soft breathings of the morning breeze. Mind and gazer were confounded by its beauty, even as saith the poet,

  “Behold this lovely garden! ’tis as though * Spring o’er its

  frame her greeny cloak had spread.

  Looking with fleshly eyne, thou shalt but sight * A lake whose

  waters balance in their bed,

  But look with spirit eyes and lo! shalt see * Glory in every

  leaf o’erwaves thy head.”

  And as another saith,

  “The stream’s a cheek by sunlight rosy dyed, * Whose down418

  is creeping shade of tamarisk stems

  Round legs of tree trunks waveless roll in rings * Silvern, and

  blossoms are the diadems.”

  When Zau al-Makan saw this champaign, with its trees bowing and its flowers blooming and its birds warbling, he called to his brother Sharrkan and said, “O my brother, verily in Damascus is naught the like of this place. We will not march from it save after three days, that we may take rest ourselves and that the army of Al-Islam may regain strength and their souls be fortified to encounter the blamed Infidels.” So they halted therein and while camping behold, they heard a noise of voices from afar, and Zau al-Makan asked the cause thereof, and was answered that a caravan of merchants from the Land of Syria had halted there to rest and that the Moslem troops had come on them and had haply seized something of the goods which they had brought from the country of the Infidels. After a while up came the merchants, crying out and appealing to the King for aidance. When Zau al- Makan saw this, he bade them be brought before him and, when in presence they said to him, “O King, we have been in the country of the Infidels and they plundered us of nothing: why then do our brothers the Moslems despoil our goods, and we in their own land? Of a truth when we saw your troops, we went up to them and they robbed us of what we had with us and we have now reported to thee all that hath befallen us.” Thereupon they brought out to him the letter of the King of Constantinople, and Sharrkan read it and said, “We will presently restore to you what hath been taken from you; but yet it behoveth you not to carry merchandise to the country of the Infidels.” Replied they, “O our Lord, in very sooth Allah despatched us thither that we might win what Gházi419 never won the like of, not even thou in all thy razzias.” Asked Sharrkan, “What was it ye won?” “O King,” answered they, “we will not tell thee save in private; for if this matter be noised among the folk, haply it may come to the ears of some,420 and this will be the cause of our ruin and of the ruin of all Moslems who resort to the land of the Greeks.” Now they had hidden the chest wherein was the damned Zat al- Dawahi. So Zau al-Makan and his brother brought them to a private place, where they laid bare to both of them the story of the devotee, and wept till they made the two Kings weep. — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

  When it was the Ninety-fifth Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Nazarenes who wore merchants’ weed, when brought to a private place by Zau al-Makan and his brother Sharrkan, laid bare to both of them the story of the devotee and wept till they made the two Kings weep and repeated to them all which had been taught by the old witch Zat al-Dawahi. Thereupon Sharrkan’s heart yearned to the devotee and he was moved to ruth for him and was fired with zeal for the service of Almighty Allah. So quoth he to them, “Did ye rescue this holy man or is he still in the hermitage?” Quoth they, “We delivered him and slew the hermit, fearing for our lives; after which we made haste to fly for dread of death; but a trusty man told us that in this hermitage are quintals of gold and silver and stones of price.” Then they fetched the chest and brought out the accursed old woman, as she were a cassia pod421 for excess of blackness and leanness, and she was laden with the same fetters and shackles. When Zau al-Makan and the bystanders saw her, they took her for a man of the best of Allah’s devotees and surpassing in pious qualities, more especially because of the shining of her forehead for the ointment wherewith she had anointed her face. So Zau al-Makan and Sharrkan wept sore; then they rose up in honour and kissed her hands and feet, sobbing aloud: but she signed to them and said, “Cease this weeping and hear my words. Hereat they dried their tears in obedience to her bidding, and she said, “Know ye both that I was content to accept what my Lord did unto me, for I kenned that the affliction which befel me was a trial from Him (be He exalted and extolled!); and whoso hath not patience under calamity and tribulation, for him there is no coming to the delights of Paradise. I had indeed supplicated Him that I might return to my native land, not as a compensation for the sufferings decreed to me, but that I might die under the horse hoofs of warriors fighting for the Faith who, being slain in fray, live again without suffering death.”422 Then she repeated the following couplets,

  “Our Fort is Tor,423 and flames the fire of fight: * Moses

  art thou and this is time for aid:

  Cast down thy rod, ‘twill swallow all they wrought, * Nor dread

  for men their ropes be vipers made.424

  For Chapters read on fight day lines of foes, * And on their

  necks ‘grave versets425 wi’ thy blade!”

  When the old woman had ended her verse, her eyes overflowed with tears and her forehead under the unguent shone like gleaming light, and Sharrkan rose and kissed her hand and caused food be brought before her: but she refused it, saying, “I have not broken my fast by day for fifteen years; and how should I break it at such a time when my Lord hath been bountiful to me in delivering me from the captivity of the Infidels and removing from me that which was more grievous to me than torment of fire? I will wait till sun down.” So when it was nightfall, Sharrkan and Zau al-Makan came and served her with food and said, “Eat, O ascetic!” But she said, “This is no time for eating; it is the time for worshipping the Requiting King.” Then she stood up in the prayer niche and remained praying till the night was spent; and she ceased not to do after this fashion for three days and nights, sitting not but at the time of the Salám or salutation426 ending with several prayers. When Zau al- Makan saw her on this wise, firm belief in her get hold of his heart and he said to Sharrkan, “Cause a tent of perfumed leather to be pitched for this Religious, and appoint a body servant to wait upon him.” On the fourth day she called for food; so they brought her all kinds of meats that could seduce the sense or delight the sight; but of all this she would eat only a scone with salt. Then she again turned to her fast and, as the night came, she rose anew to pray; when Sharrkan said to Zau al-Makan, “Verily, this man carrieth renunciation of the world to the extreme of renouncing, and, were it not for this Holy War, I would join myself to him and worship Allah in his service, till I came before His presence. And now I desire to enter his tent and talk
with him for an hour.” Quoth Zau al-Makan, “And I also: tomorrow we sally forth to fight against Constantinople, and we shall find no time like the present.” Said the Wazir Dandan, “And I no less desire to see this ascetic; haply he will pray for me that I find death in this Holy War and come to the presence of my Lord, for I am aweary of the world.” So as soon as night had darkened, they repaired to the tent of that witch, Zat al-Dawahi; and, seeing her standing to pray, they drew near her and fell a weeping for pity of her; but she paid no heed to them till midnight was past, when she ended her orisons by pronouncing the salutation. Then she turned to them and after wishing them long life, asked them “Wherefore come ye?”, whereto they answered, “O thou holy man! diddest thou not hear us weep around thee?” She rejoined, “To him who standeth in the presence of Allah, remaineth no existence in time, either for hearing any or for seeing aught about him.” Quoth they, “We would have thee recount to us the cause of thy captivity and pray for us this night, for that will profit us more than the possession of Constantinople.” Now when she heard their words she said, “By Allah, were ye not the Emirs of the Moslems, I would not relate to you aught of this at any time; for I complain not but to Allah alone. However, to you I will relate the circumstances of my captivity. Know, then, that I was in the saintly City of Jerusalem with certain ecstatics and inspired men, and did not magnify myself among them, for that Allah (be He exalted and extolled!) had endowed me with humility and abnegation, till I chanced to go down to the sea one night and walked upon the water. Then entered into me pride; whence I know not, and I said to myself, ‘Who like me can walk the water?’ And my heart from that time hardened and Allah afflicted me with the love of travel. So I journeyed to Roum land and visited every part for a whole year, and left no place but therein I worshiped Allah. When I came to this spot,427 I clomb the mountain and saw there an hermitage, inhabited by a monk called Matrubina, who, when he sighted me, came out and kissed my hands and feet and said, ‘Verily, I have seen thee since thou enteredst the land of the Greeks, and thou hast filled me with longing for the land of Al-Islam.’ Then he took my hand and carried me into that hermitage, and brought me to a dark room; and, when I entered it unawares, he locked the door on me and left me there forty days, without meat or drink; for it was his intent to kill me by delay. It chanced one day, that a Knight called Dakianús428 came to the hermitage, accompanied by ten squires and his daughter Tamásil, a girl whose beauty was incom parable. When they entered that hermitage, the monk Matruhina told them of me, and the Knight said, ‘Bring him out, for surely there is not on him a bird’s meal of meat.’ So they opened the door of the dark room and found me standing in the niche, praying and reciting the Koran and glorifying Allah and humbling myself before the Almighty. When they saw me in this state Matrohina exclaimed, ‘This man is indeed a sorcerer of the sorcerers!’; and hearing his words, they all came in on me, Dakianus and his company withal, and they beat me with a grievous beating, till I desired death and reproached myself, saying, ‘This is his reward who exalteth himself and who prideth himself on that which Allah hath vouchsafed to him, beyond his own competence! And thou, O my soul, verily self esteem and arrogance have crept into thee. Dost thou not know that pride angereth the Lord and hardeneth the heart and bringeth men to the Fire?’ Then they laid me in fetters and returned me to my place which was the dungeon under ground. Every three days, they threw me down a scone of barley bread and a draught of water; and every month or two the Knight came to the hermitage. Now his daughter Tamasil had grown up, for she was nine years old when I first saw her, and fifteen years passed over me in captivity, so that she had reached her four and twentieth year. There is not in our land nor in the land of the Greeks a fairer than she, and her father feared lest the King take her from him; for she had vowed herself to the Messiah and rode with Dakianus in the habit of a cavalier, so that albeit none might compare with her in loveliness, no one who saw her knew her for a woman. And her father had laid up his monies in this hermitage, every one who had aught of price or treasured hoard being wont to deposit it therein; and I saw there all manner of gold and silver and jewels and precious vessels and rarities, none may keep count of them save Almighty Allah. Now ye are worthier of these riches than those Infidels; so lay hands on that which is in the hermitage and divide it among the Moslems and especially on fighters in the Holy War. When these merchants came to Constantinople and sold their merchandise, that image which is on the wall spoke to them, by grace of a marvel which Allah granted to me; so they made for that hermitage and slew Matruhina, after torturing him with most grievous torments, and dragging him by the beard, till he showed them the place where I was; when they took me and found no path but flight for dread of death. Now tomorrow night Tamasil will visit that hermitage as is her habit, and her father and his squires will come after her, as he feareth for her; so, if ye would witness these things, take me with you and I will deliver to you the monies and the riches of the Knight Dakianus which be in that mountain; for I saw them bring out vessels of gold and silver to drink therefrom, and I heard a damsel of their company sing to them in Arabic and well-away! that so sweet a voice should not be busied in chaunting the Koran. If, then, ye will; enter into that hermitage and hide there against the coming of Dakianus and his daughter; and take her, for she is fit only for the King of the Age, Sharrkan, or King Zau al-Makan.” Thereat they all rejoiced with the exception of the Wazir Dandan, who put scant faith in her story, for her words took no hold on his reason, and signs of doubt in her and disbelief showed in his face.429 Yet he was confounded at her discourse, but he feared to speak with her for awe of the King. Then quoth the ancient dame, Zat al-Dawahi, “Verily, I fear lest the Knight come and, seeing these troops encamped in the meadow, be afraid to enter the hermitage.” So Zau al-Makan ordered the army to march upon Constantinople and said, “I have resolved to take with me an hundred horse and many mules and make for that mountain, where we will load the beasts with the monies which be in the hermitage.” Then he sent at once for the Chief Chamberlain whom they brought into the presence; and he summoned likewise the leaders of the Turks and Daylamites and said, “As soon as it is dawn, do ye set forth for Constantinople; and thou, O Chamberlain, shalt take my place in council and contrivance, while thou, O Rustam, shalt be my brother’s deputy in battle. But let none know that we are not with you and after three days we will rejoin you.” Then he chose out an hundred of the doughtiest riders, and he and Sharrkan and the Minister Dandan set out for the hermitage, and the hundred horsemen led the mules with chests for transporting the treasure. — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

  When it was the Ninety-sixth Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan and his brother, Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan set off with an hundred horse for the hermitage described to them by that accursed Zat al-Dawahi, and they took with them mules and chests for transporting the treasure. Now as soon as dawned the morn, the Chamberlain signalled to the host an order for departure, and they set out thinking that the two Kings and the Wazir were with them; knowing not that the three had made for the monastery. Such was the case with the host, but as regards the two Kings and the Minister, they tarried in their place till the end of that day. Now the Infidels who were with Zat al-Dawahi took their departure privily, after they had gone in to her and kissed her hands and feet and obtained her leave to march. So she not only gave them permission but also taught them all she minded of wile and guile. And when it was dark night, she arose and went in to Zau al-Makan and his companions and said to them, “Come, let us set out for the mountain, and take with you a few men at arms.” They obeyed her and left five horsemen at the foot of the mountain, whilst the rest rode on before Zat al-Dawahi, who gained new strength for excess of joy, so that Zau al-Makan said, “Glory be to Him who sustaineth this holy man, whose like we never saw!” Now the witch had written a letter to the King of Constantinople and despatched it on the wings o
f a bird,430 acquainting him with what had passed and ending, “I wish thee to send me ten thousand horsemen of the bravest of the Greeks and let them steal along the foot of the mountains with caution, lest the host of Al-Islam get sight of them; and, when they reach the hermitage, let them ambush themselves there, till I come to them with the Moslem King and his brother, for I shall inveigle them and will bring them thither, together with the Wazir and an hundred horse and no more, that I may presently deliver to them the crosses which be in the hermitage. I am resolved to slay the Monk Matruhina, since my scheme cannot be carried out but by taking his life. If my plot work well, not one of the Moslems shall return to his own country; no, not a living wight nor one who blows the fire alight; and Matruhina shall be a sacrifice for the followers of the Nazarene faith and the servants of the Cross, and praise be to the Messiah, first and last.” When this letter reached Constantinople, the keeper of the carrier pigeons carried it to King Afridun, who read it and forthwith inspected his host and equipped ten thousand cavaliers with horses and dromedaries and mules and provaunt and bade them repair to that hermitage and, after reaching the tower, to hide therein. Thus far concerning them; but as regards King Zau al-Makan and his brother Sharrkan and the Wazir Dandan and the escort, when they reached the hermitage they entered and met the Monk Matruhina, who came out to see who and what they were; whereupon quoth that pious man Zat al-Dawahi, “Slay this damned fellow.”431 So they smote him with their swords and made him drink the cup of death. Then the accursed old woman carried them to the place of offerings and ex votos, and brought out to them treasures and precious things more than she had described to them; and after gathering the whole together, they set the booty in chests and loaded the mules therewith. As for Tamasil, she came not, she or her father, for fear of the Moslems; so Zau al-Makan tarried there, awaiting her all that day and the next and a third, till Sharrkan said to him, “By Allah, I am troubled anent the army of Al-Islam, for I know not what is become of them.” His brother replied, “And I also am concerned for them: we have come by this great treasure and I do not believe that Tamasil or any one else will approach the hermitage, after that befel which hath befallen the host of the Christians. It behoveth us, then, to content ourselves with what Allah hath given us and depart; so haply He will help us conquer Constantinople.” Accordingly they came down from the mountain, while Zat al-Dawahi was impotent to oppose their march for fear of betraying her deceit; and they fared forwards till they reached the head of a defile, where the old woman had laid an ambush for them with the ten thousand horse. As soon as these saw the Moslems they encircled them from all sides, couching lance and baring the white sabre blade; and the Infidels shouted the watch word of their faithless Faith and set the shafts of their mischief astring. When Zau al-Makan and his brother Sharrkan and the Minister Dandan looked upon this host, they saw that it was a numerous army and said, “Who can have given these troops information of us?” Replied Sharrkan, “O my brother, this be no time for talk; this is the time for smiting with swords and shooting with shafts) so gird up your courage and hearten your hearts, for this strait is like a street with two gates; though, by the virtue of the Lord of Arabs and Ajams, were not the place so narrow I would bring them to naught, even though they were an hundred thousand men!” Said Zau al-Makan, “Had we wotted this we would have brought with us five thousand horse;” and the Wazir Dandan continued, “If we had ten thousand horse they had availed us naught in these narrows; but Allah will succour us against them. I know this defile and its straitness, and I know there be many places of refuge in it; for I have been here on razzia with King Omar bin al-Nu’uman, what while we besieged Constantinople. We abode in this place, and here is water colder than snow. So come, let us push out of this defile ere the Infidel host increase on us and get the start of us to the mountain top, whence they will hurl down rocks upon us, and we powerless to come at them.” So they began hurrying on to get out of those narrows; but the pious man, Zat al-Dawahi, looked at them and said, “What is it ye fear, ye who have vowed yourselves to the Lord, and to working His will? By Allah, I abode imprisoned underground for fifteen years, yet never gainsaid the Almighty in aught he did with me! Fight ye in Allah’s way; so whoever of you is slain Paradise shall be his abode, and whoso slayeth, his striving shall be to his honour.” When they heard from the ascetic these words, their care and anxiety ceased from them and they stood firm till the Infidels charged down from all sides, whilst the swords played upon their necks and the cup of death went round amongst them. The Moslems fought for the service of Allah a right good fight, and wrought upon His foes with sway of sword and lunge of lance; whilst Zau al-Makan smote upon the men and garred the knights bite the dust and their heads from their bodies take flight, five by five and ten by ten, till he had done to death a number of them past numbering and an accompt beyond counting. Now while so doing, he looked at the accursed old woman who was waving her sword and heartening them, and all who feared fled to her for shelter; but she was also signing the Infidels to slay Sharrkan. So troop after troop rushed on him with design to do him die; but each troop that charged, he charged and drove back; and when another troop attacked him he repelled the assault with the sword in their backs; for he thought it was the devotee’s blessing that gave him the vic tory, and he said in himself, “Verily on this holy men Allah looketh with eyes of His favour and strengtheneth my prowess against the Infidels with the purity of his pious intent: for I see that they fear me and cannot prevail against me, but every one who assaileth me turneth tail and taketh flight.” So they battled the rest of the day and, when night fell, the Moslems took refuge in a cave of that defile being weary with stress of war and cast of stone: and that day were slain of them five and forty. And when they were gathered together, they sought the devotee, but could find no trace of him; and this was grievous to them and they said, “Belike, he hath died a martyr.” Quoth Sharrkan, “I saw him heartening the horsemen with divine instances and using as talisman verses of Holy Writ.” Now while they were talking, behold, the accursed old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, stood before them, hending in hand the head of the Chief Captain of the ten thousand horse, a noble knight, a champion fierce in fight and a Satan for blight. One of the Turks had slain him with an arrow, and Allah hurried his soul to the fire; and when the Infidels saw what that Moslem had done with their leader, they all fell on him and wrought his bane and hewed him in pieces with their swords, and Allah hurried his soul to Heaven. Then the accursed old woman cut off that Knight’s head and brought it and threw it at the feet of Sharrkan and Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan. Now when Sharrkan sew her, he sprang up hastily before her and exclaimed, “Praised be Allah for thy safety and for our sighting thee, O holy man and devout champion of the Religion!” Replied she, O my son, I have sought martyrdom this day, and have thrown my life away amid the Infidel array, but they feared me with dismay. When ye dispersed, I waxed jealous for your honour; so I rushed on the Chief Knight their leader, albeit he was a match for a thousand horse, and I smote him till I severed head from trunk. Not one of the Infidels could near me; so I brought his head to you,” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.