One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  “A heart bore thee off in chase of the fair, * As fled Youth and

  came Age wi’ his hoary hair:

  Laylа troubles me and love-joys are far; * And rival and risks

  brings us cark and care.

  An would’st ask me of woman, behold I am * In physic of womankind

  wise and ware:

  When grizzleth man’s head and his monies fail, * His lot in their

  love is a poor affair.”

  Nor that of another,430

  “Gainsay women; he obeyeth Allah best, who saith them nay And he

  prospers not who giveth them his bridle-rein to sway;

  For they’ll hinder him from winning to perfection in his gifts,

  Though a thousand years he study, seeking after wisdom’s

  way.”

  And a third,

  “Women Satans are, made for woe of man: * To Allah I fly from

  such Satanesses!

  Whom they lure by their love he to grief shall come * And lose

  bliss of world and the Faith that blesses.”

  Said she, “Here am I sitting in my chamber; so go thou to him forthright and knock at the door and contrive to go in to him quickly. An thou see the damsel with him ’tis a slave-girl of his who resembleth me (and Glory be to Him who hath no resemblance!431 ) But, an thou see no slave-girl with him, then am I myself she whom thou sawest with him in the shop, and thine ill thought of me will be stablished.” “True,” answered Obayd, and went out leaving her, whereupon she passed through the hidden passage and seating herself by Kamar al-Zaman, told him what had passed, saying, “Open the door quickly and show me to him.” Now, as they were talking, behold, there came a knocking at the door. Quoth Kamar al-Zaman, “Who is at the door?”; and quoth the jeweller, “I, thy friend; thou displayedst to me thy slave- girl in the bazar, and I rejoiced for thee in her, but my joy in her was not completed; so open the door and let me look at her again.” Rejoined he, “So be it,” and opened the door to him, whereupon he saw his wife sitting by him. She rose and kissed their hands; and he looked at her; then she talked with him awhile and he saw her not to be distinguished from his wife in aught and said, “Allah createth whatso He will.” Then he went away more disheartened than before and returned to his own house where he saw his wife sitting, for she had foregone him thither by the souterrain. — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

  When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young lady forewent her spouse by the souterrain as he fared through the door and sat down in her upper chamber;432 so as soon as he entered she asked him, “What hast thou seen?” and he answered, “I found her with her master; and she resembleth thee.” Then said she, “Off to thy shop and let this suffice thee of ignoble suspicion and never again deem ill of me.” Said he, “So be it: accord me pardon for what is past.” And she, “Allah grant thee grace!”433 whereupon he kissed her right and left and went back to his shop. Then she again betook herself to Kamar al-Zaman through the underground passage, with four bags of money, and said to him, “Equip thyself at once for the road and be ready to carry off the money without delay, against I devise for thee the device I have in mind.” So he went out and purchased mules and loaded them and made ready a travelling litter, he also bought Mamelukes and eunuchs and sending, without let or hindrance, the whole without the city, returned to Halimah and said to her, “I have made an end of my affairs.” Quoth she, “And I on my side am ready; for I have transported to thy house all the rest of his monies and treasures and have left him nor little nor much, whereof he may avail himself. All this is of my love for thee, O dearling of my heart, for I would sacrifice my husband to thee a thousand times. But now it behoveth, thou go to him and farewell him, saying, ‘I purpose to depart after three days and am come to bid thee adieu; so do thou reckon what I owe thee for the hire of the house that I may send it to thee and acquit my conscience.’ Note his reply and return to me and tell me; for I can no more: I have done my best, by cozening him, to anger him with me and cause him to put me away, but I find him none the less infatuated with me. So nothing will serve us but to depart to thine own country.” And quoth he, “O rare! an but swevens prove true!”434 Then he went to the jeweller’s shop and sitting down by him, said to him, “O master, I set out for home in three days’ time, and am come to farewell thee. So I would have thee reckon what I owe thee for the hire of the house, that I may pay it to thee and acquit my conscience.” Answered Obayd, “What talk is this? Verily, ’tis I who am indebted to thee. By Allah, I will take nothing from thee for the rent of the house, for thou hast brought down blessings upon us! However, thou desolatest me by thy departure, and but that it is forbidden to me, I would certainly oppose thee and hinder thee from returning to thy country and kinsfolk.” Then he took leave of him, whilst they both wept with sore weeping and the jeweller went with him, and when they entered Kamar al-Zaman’s house, there they found Halimah who stood before them and served them; but when Obayd returned home, he found her sitting there; nor did he cease to see her thus in each house in turn, for the space of three days, when she said to Kamar al-Zaman, “Now have I transported to thee all that he hath of monies and hoards and carpets and things of price, and there remaineth with him naught save the slave-girl, who used to come in to you with the night-drink: but I cannot part with her, for that she is my kinswoman and she is dear to me as a confidante. So I will beat her and be wroth with her and when my spouse cometh home, I will say to him, ‘I can no longer put up with this slave-girl nor stay in the house with her; so take her and sell her.’ Accordingly he will sell her and do thou buy her, that we may carry her with us.” Answered he, “No harm in that.” So she beat the girl and when the jeweller came in, he found her weeping and asked her why she wept. Quoth she, “My mistress hath beaten me.” He then went in to his wife and said to her, “What hath that accursed girl done, that thou hast beaten her?” She replied, “O man, I have but one word to say to thee, and ’tis that I can no longer bear the sight of this girl; so take her and sell her, or else divorce me.” Quoth he, “I will sell her that I may not cross thee in aught;” and when he went out to go to the shop he took her and passed with her by Kamar al-Zaman. No sooner had he gone out than his wife slipped through the underground passage to Kamar al-Zaman, who placed her in the litter, before the Shaykh her husband reached him. When the jeweller came up and the lover saw the slave-girl with him, he asked him, “What girl is this?”; and the other answered, “’Tis my slave-girl who used to serve us with the night-drink; she hath disobeyed her mistress who is wroth with her and hath bidden me sell her.” Quoth the youth, “An her mistress have taken an aversion to her, there is for her no abiding with her; but sell her to me, that I may smell your scent in her, and I will make her handmaid to my slave Halimah.” “Good,” answered Obayd: “take her.” Asked Kamar al-Zaman, “What is her price?”; but the jeweller said, “I will take nothing from thee, for thou hast been bountiful to us.” So he accepted her from him and said to Halimah, “Kiss thy lord’s hand.” Accordingly, she came out from the litter and kissing Obayd’s hand, remounted, whilst he looked hard at her. Then said Kamar al-Zaman, “I commend thee to Allah, O Master Obayd! Acquit my conscience of responsibility.435 “ Answered the jeweller, “Allah acquit thee! and carry thee safe to thy family!” Then he bade him farewell and went to his shop weeping, and indeed it was grievous to him to part from Kamar al- Zaman, for that he had been friend and friendship hath its debtorship; yet he rejoiced in the dispelling of the doubts which had befallen him anent his wife, since the young man was now gone and his suspicions had not been stablished. Such was his case; but as regards Kamar al-Zaman, the young lady said to him, “An thou wish for safety, travel with me by other than the wonted way.” — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

  When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,


  She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Halimah said to Kamar al-Zaman, “An thou wish for safety, travel with me by other than the wonted way,” he replied, “Hearing and obeying;” and, taking a road other than that used by folk, fared on without ceasing from region to region till he reached the confines of Egypt-land436 and sent his sire a letter by a runner. Now his father the merchant Abd al-Rahman was sitting in the market among the merchants, with a heart on fire for separation from his son, because no news of the youth had reached him since the day of his departure; and while he was in such case the runner came up and cried, “O my lords, which of you is called the merchant Abd al-Rahman?” They said, “What wouldst thou of him?”; and he said, “I have a letter for him from his son Kamar al-Zaman, whom I left at Al-Arнsh.”437 At this Abd al-Rahman rejoiced and his breast was broadened and the merchants rejoiced for him and gave him joy of his son’s safety. Then he opened the letter and read as follows, “From Kamar al-Zaman to the merchant Abd al-Rahman. And after Peace be upon thee and upon all the merchants! An ye ask concerning us, to Allah be the praise and the thanks. Indeed we have sold and bought and gained and are come back in health, wealth and weal.” Whereupon Abd al-Rahman opened the door438 of rejoicing and made banquets and gave feasts and entertainments galore, sending for instruments of music and addressing himself to festivities after rarest fashion. When Kamar al-Zaman came to Al-Sбlihiyah,439 his father and all the merchants went forth to meet him, and Abd al-Rahman embraced him and strained him to his bosom and sobbed till he swooned away. When he came to himself he said, “Oh, ’tis a boon day O my son, whereon the Omnipotent Protector hath reunited us with thee!” And he repeated the words of the bard,

  “The return of the friend is the best of all boons, * And the joy-

  cup circles o’ morns and noons:

  So well come, welcome, fair welcome to thee, * The light of the

  time and the moon o’ full moons.”

  Then, for excess of joy, he poured forth a flood of tears from his eyes and he recited also these two couplets,

  “The Moon o’ the Time,440 shows unveilиd light; * And, his

  journey done, at our door doth alight:

  His locks as the nights of his absence are black * And the sun

  upstands from his collar’s441 white.”

  Then the merchants came up to him and saluting him, saw with him many loads and servants and a travelling litter enclosed in a spacious circle.442 So they took him and carried him home; and when Halimah came forth from the litter, his father held her a seduction to all who beheld her. So they opened her an upper chamber, as it were a treasure from which the talismans had been loosed;443 and when his mother saw her, she was ravished with her and deemed her a Queen of the wives of the Kings. So she rejoiced in her and questioned her; and she answered, “I am wife to thy son;” and the mother rejoined, “Since he is wedded to thee we must make thee a splendid marriage-feast, that we may rejoice in thee and in my son.” On this wise it befel her; but as regards the merchant Abd al-Rahman, when the folk had dispersed and each had wended his way, he foregathered with his son and said to him, “O my son, what is this slave-girl thou hast brought with thee and for how much didst thou buy her?”444 Kamar al-Zaman said, “O my father, she is no slave-girl; but ’tis she who was the cause of my going abroad.” Asked his sire, “How so?”; and he answered, “’Tis she whom the Dervish described to us the night he lay with us; for indeed my hopes clave to her from that moment and I sought not to travel save on account of her. The Arabs came out upon me by the way and stripped me and took my money and goods, so that I entered Bassorah alone and there befel me there such and such things;” and he went on to relate to his parent all that had befallen him from commencement to conclusion. Now when he had made an end of his story, his father said to him, “O my son, and after all this didst thou marry her?” “No; but I have promised her marriage.” “Is it thine intent to marry her?” “An thou bid me marry her, I will do so; otherwise I will not marry her.” Thereupon quoth his father, “An thou marry her, I am quit of thee in this world and in the next, and I shall be incensed against thee with sore indignation. How canst thou wed her, seeing that she hath dealt thus with her husband? For, even as she did with her spouse for thy sake, so will she do the like with thee for another’s sake, because she is a traitress and in a traitor there is no trusting. Wherefore an thou disobey me, I shall be wroth with thee; but, an thou give ear to my word, I will seek thee out a girl handsomer than she, who shall be pure and pious, and marry thee to her, though I spend all my substance upon her; and I will make thee a wedding without equal and will glory in thee and in her; for ’tis better that folk should say, Such an one hath married such an one’s daughter, than that they say, He hath wedded a slave-girl sans birth or worth.” And he went on to persuade his son to give up marrying her, by citing in support of his say, proofs, stories, examples, verses and moral instances, till Kamar al-Zaman exclaimed, “O my father, since the case is thus, ’tis not right and proper that I marry her.” And when his father heard him speak on such wise, he kissed him between the eyes, saying, “Thou art my very son, and as I live, O my son, I will assuredly marry thee to a girl who hath not her equal!” Then the merchant set Obayd’s wife and her handmaid in a chamber high up in the house and, before locking the door upon the twain, he appointed a black slave-girl to carry them their meat and drink and he said to Halimah, “Ye shall abide imprisoned in this chamber, thou and thy maid, till I find one who will buy you, when I will sell you to him. An ye resist, I will slay ye both, for thou art a traitress, and there is no good in thee.” Answered she, “Do thy will: I deserve all thou canst do with me.” Then he locked the door upon them and gave his Harim a charge respecting them, saying, “Let none go up to them nor speak with them, save the black slave-girl who shall give them their meat and drink through the casement of the upper chamber.” So she abode with her maid, weeping and repenting her of that which she had done with her spouse. Meanwhile Abd al-Rahman sent out the marriage-brokers to look out a maid of birth and worth for his son, and the women ceased not to make search, and as often as they saw one girl, they heard of a fairer than she, till they came to the house of the Shaykh al-Islam445 and saw his daughter. In her they found a virgin whose equal was not in Cairo for beauty and loveliness, symmetry and perfect grace, and she was a thousand-fold handsomer than the wife of Obayd. So they told Abd al-Rahman of her and he and the notables repaired to her father and sought her in wedlock of him. Then they wrote out the marriage contract and made her a splendid wedding; after which Abd al-Rahman gave bride feasts and held open house forty days. On the first day, he invited the doctors of the law and they held a splendid nativity446 : and on the morrow, he invited all the merchants, and so on during the rest of the forty days, making a banquet every day to one or other class of folk, till he had bidden all the Olema and Emirs and Antients447 and Magistrates, whilst the kettle-drums were drummed and the pipes were piped and the merchant sat to greet the guests, with his son by his side, that he might solace himself by gazing on the folk, as they ate from the trays. Each night Abd al-Rahman illuminated the street and the quarter with lamps and there came every one of the mimes and jugglers and mountebanks and played all manner play; and indeed it was a peerless wedding. On the last day he invited the Fakirs, the poor and the needy, far and near, and they flocked in troops and ate, whilst the merchant sat, with his son by his side.448 And among the paupers, behold, entered Shaykh Obayd the jeweller and he was naked and weary and bare on his face the marks of wayfare. When Kamar al-Zaman saw him, he knew him and said to his sire, “Look, O my father, at yonder poor man who is but now come in by the door.” So he looked and saw him clad in worn clothes and on him a patched gown449 worth two dirhams: his face was yellow and he was covered with dust and was as he were an offcast of the pilgrims.450 He was groaning as groaneth a sick man in need, walking with a tottering gait and swaying now to the right and then to the left, and in him
was realized his saying who said,451