The day erases what was said at night.
Harun then told his boon companions to recite a poem to him including these words. ‘To hear is to obey,’ they said. The first to come forward was al-Raqashi, who recited:
By God, if you experienced my passion,
Rest would turn its back on you.
You are abandoned in your hopeless love
By a girl who neither visits nor is visited.
She makes a promise, but then turns and says:
‘The day erases what was said at night.’
Al-Raqashi was followed by Abu Mus‘ab, who recited:
When will this agitation of yours cease?
You have not slept and cannot rest.
Is it not enough your eyes are full of tears,
While memory kindles fire within your heart?
The beloved smiled and then said in her pride:
‘The day erases what was said at night.’
Abu Nuwas then advanced and recited:
Love was long, but the beloved could not be visited;
I openly revealed my love, but openness did no good.
She was drunk when she visited the palace in the night,
But dignity adorned her drunkenness.
The dress slipped from her shoulders
As I caressed her; her waist-wrapper was undone.
The breeze played over heavy buttocks,
And a branch bearing two little pomegranates.
I said: ‘Make your lover a true promise’;
She said: ‘Tomorrow is a good time for a visit.’
I came next day and said: ‘You promised.’ She replied:
‘The day erases what was said at night.’
The caliph ordered the first two poets to be given a purse of money each, but as for Abu Nuwas, he ordered that his head be cut off, accusing him of having been there with them in the palace on the previous night. ‘By God,’ said Abu Nuwas, ‘I spent the night at home, and it was what you said that led me to deduce what was to be in the poem. Almighty God has said – and He is the most truthful of speakers – “the poets are followed by those who go astray. Have you not seen that they wander in every valley and that they say what they do not do?” ’* So the caliph forgave him and ordered him to be given two purses of money, after which they all left.
It is reported of Mus‘ab ibn al-Zubair that in Medina he met ‘Azza, one of the most intelligent of women, and told her that he had in mind to marry ‘A’isha, the daughter of Talha, and he asked ‘Azza to pay her a visit to see what she was like. When ‘Azza had done this she came back to Mus‘ab and said: ‘I saw a face lovelier than health itself, with two large eyes, below which was an aquiline nose, two smooth cheeks, a mouth like a split pomegranate and a neck like a silver jug. Beneath was a bosom with two breasts like pomegranates, and then a slender belly with a navel like an ivory casket. Her buttocks were like sand dunes, and she had plump thighs and legs like two marble pillars, although her feet were on the large side. When you want her, you will find yourself out of this world.’ On hearing this report, Mus‘ab married ‘A’isha and lay with her.
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the three hundred and eighty-seventh night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that on hearing this report, Mus‘ab married ‘A’isha and lay with her. Later ‘Azza invited ‘A’isha and the ladies of Quraish to her house. Mus‘ab was standing there as ‘Azza sang:
How fragrant are girls’ mouths,
Sweet to kiss and sweetly smiling.
Only in imagination have I tasted this,
But by these assumptions cases are decided.
On their wedding night Mus‘ab stayed with ‘A’isha until they had made love seven times, and in the morning a freed-woman of his met him and said: ‘May I be your ransom; you are perfect in everything, even in this.’
A woman said: ‘I was with ‘A’isha, the daughter of Talha, when her husband came in. She leaned over towards him and, as he fell on her, she snorted and grunted with all kinds of strange movements and exotic tricks. All this was within my hearing and when Mus‘ab had left, I said to her: “How can you, a woman of your distinction and noble birth, act like this while I am in your house?” She said: “A wife should provide her husband with all the stimulation and unusual movements that she can. What do you dislike about that?” “I prefer it to be done at night,” I replied. “This is how I act by day,” she told me, “but at night I do more, for when Mus‘ab sees me he is stirred by desire and passion. He reaches out for me and I submit to him, with the result that you have seen.” ’
I have heard that Abu’l-Aswad bought a slave girl who had been born among the Arabs. She had a squint, but when his family criticized her to him, he expressed surprise, turned his hands palm upwards and recited these lines:
They criticize her to me, but she has no defects,
Except there may be some specks in her eyes.
Although this might be thought of as a fault,
She is slender above the waist and plump below it.
A story is told that the Commander of the Faithful Harun al-Rashid spent a night with two slave girls, one from Medina and one from Kufa. The Kufan started to massage his arms and the Medinan his legs. He had an erection, at which the Kufan said to the other: ‘I see that you are trying to monopolize our capital and keep it to yourself. Give me my share.’ The Medinese girl replied: ‘It is reported by Malik, on the authority of Hisham ibn ‘Urwa, on the authority of his father, that the Prophet said: “If someone brings uncultivated ground to life, it belongs to him and to his descendants.” ’ The Kufan, however, taking her by surprise, pushed her aside and seized Harun’s member in both her hands, saying: ‘Al-A‘mash reported on the authority of Khaithama, on the authority of ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud, that the Prophet said: “Game belongs to the hunter and not to the beater.” ’
A story is told that Harun al-Rashid lay with three slave girls, one from Mecca, one from Medina and one from Iraq. The Medinan stretched out her hand and stimulated his member, giving him an erection, but the Meccan jumped across and pulled it towards her. ‘That is unjust,’ said the Medinan. ‘Malik said on the authority of al-Zuhri, on the authority of ‘Abd Allah ibn Salim, on the authority of Sa‘id ibn Zaid, that the Apostle of God, may God bless him and give him peace, said: “If someone brings uncultivated ground to life, it belongs to him.” The Meccan girl replied: ‘Sufyan said on the authority of Abu’l-Zinad, on the authority of al-A‘raj, on the authority of Abu Huraira, that the Apostle of God, may God bless him and give him peace, said: “Game belongs to the hunter and not to the beater.” ’ The Iraqi girl then pushed them both aside and said: ‘Until you settle your dispute, this belongs to me.’
A story is told that there was a miller who had a donkey to do his grinding and a wicked wife whom he loved but who disliked him. She was in love with a neighbour who hated her and kept away from her. The miller had a dream in which he was told that if he dug in such-and-such a place on the donkey’s track in the mill, he would find a treasure. When he woke up, he told his wife about this, saying that she must keep it a secret, but she told the neighbour…
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the three hundred and eighty-eighth night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that the miller’s wife told her neighbour, whom she loved, in order to ingratiate herself with him. He made an agreement with her to visit her at night, and when he had done this, he dug on the donkey’s track. The two of them found the treasure and removed it, after which the neighbour asked: ‘What are we going to do with it?’ The woman said: ‘We shall divide it into two equal parts. You must then leave your wife and I shall work out some way of leaving my husband, after which you can marry me. Then, when we are married, we can put the money together again and it will all be ours.’ The man replied: ‘I’m afraid that Sata
n will seduce you into taking another husband, for gold in the house is like the sun in the world. The proper thing is for me to keep all of it in my house in order to encourage you to free yourself from your husband and to come to me.’ ‘I have the same fear as you,’ she told him, ‘and I’m not going to hand over my share to you, for it was I who led you to it.’
When the neighbour heard what she said, his greed led him to kill her; he threw her corpse into the hole where the treasure had been, and then as day was breaking and he had no time to cover it up, he took the money and left. The miller woke up and, not finding his wife, he went into the mill and harnessed the donkey to the millwheel. He shouted at it and it started to walk round but then it stopped, and although he beat it furiously, it drew back every time he struck it, shying away from the woman’s corpse, which stopped it from going on. The miller, who didn’t know why it was doing that, took a knife, but although he pricked it many times, it refused to move and so in a rage he struck it in the flank and it fell down dead. When it became light the miller saw the donkey dead and his wife’s corpse lying in the hole where the treasure had been. He was angry and distressed at the loss of the treasure, at his wife’s death and at that of the donkey, but all this was caused by the fact that, instead of keeping his secret, he had given it away to his wife.
A story is told that a gullible man was once leading a donkey with a halter when he was seen by two clever rogues. One of this pair told the other that he proposed to take the donkey, and when his companion asked him how, he said: ‘Follow me and I’ll show you.’ The first rogue went up to the donkey, released it from the halter and handed it over to the second, who had followed him. He then put the halter over his own head and walked behind the simpleton until the donkey had been taken out of sight. He then stopped and would not move when the simpleton tugged on the halter. The simpleton turned and, seeing the halter on a man’s head, he exclaimed: ‘What are you?’ ‘I am your donkey,’ the man told him, ‘and mine is a strange story. I have an elderly mother, a pious woman. I went to her one day when I was drunk and she said to me: “My son, repent to God Almighty and abandon these evil acts.” I took a stick and beat her, after which she cursed me, and the Almighty transformed me into a donkey, giving me over to you. I have been with you all this time, but today my mother thought of me and, out of pity for me, she called down a blessing on me, after which God gave me back my former, human shape.’ ‘There is no might and no power except with God, the Exalted, the Omnipotent!’ exclaimed the donkey’s owner, adding: ‘In His Name I implore you, brother, not to hold me responsible for what I have done to you in the way of riding you and so on.’
He then removed the halter and the man went off, while the simpleton returned home drunk with care and sorrow. ‘What is the matter,’ his wife asked him, ‘and where is the donkey?’ ‘You don’t know about the donkey,’ he replied, ‘but I shall tell you.’ After he had told her the story, she was afraid that God might punish them and she exclaimed: ‘How could we have spent all this time using a human being as a beast of burden?’ She distributed alms and asked for God’s pardon, while her husband sat for a time at home doing no work until she asked him how long he proposed to go on like that, telling him to go to the market and buy them another donkey that he could use for work. He went there and when he stood by the donkeys, he saw his own being offered for sale. When he recognized it, he went up to it and put his mouth to its ear. ‘Damn you, you ill-omened fellow,’ he said. ‘You must have got drunk again and beaten your mother. I’m never going to buy you again.’ Then he left the donkey and went on his way.
A story is told that the Commander of the Faithful Harun al-Rashid took to his bed one day at siesta time, but when he got on to it he saw fresh semen on the mattress. He was horrified and, in deep disturbance and distress, he sent for Lady Zubaida. When she came he asked her what was on the mattress and, after looking at it, she said: ‘This is semen, Commander of the Faithful.’ ‘Tell me the truth about how this came here,’ he said, ‘or else I shall strike you down this very moment.’ ‘I know nothing about it, Commander of the Faithful,’ she replied, ‘and I am innocent of the crime that you suspect me of having committed.’
The caliph sent for the qadi Abu Yusuf and told him the story, showing him the semen. Abu Yusuf looked up at the ceiling and, seeing a crack in it, he said: ‘Commander of the Faithful, the semen of bats is like that of men and this is the semen of a bat.’ He then asked for a spear, which he took and thrust through the crack, at which a bat fell out. The caliph’s suspicions were allayed…
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the three hundred and eighty-ninth night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that the qadi took the spear and thrust it through the crack, at which a bat fell out. The caliph’s suspicions were allayed and Zubaida’s innocence proved. She gave voice to her joy at this and promised Abu Yusuf a liberal reward. She had with her precious fruits that were out of season, but she knew that in the orchard there were others, equally unseasonal. So she asked Abu Yusuf which he would prefer, the ones that were there or the ones that were not. He said: ‘Our school of law does not allow us to pass judgement on the absent; this can only be done when the party in question is present.’ So Zubaida had both types of fruit brought for him and, after he had tasted them both, she asked him what the difference was between them. He said: ‘Every time I want to choose one, the other presents me with its evidence.’ The caliph laughed when he heard this and gave Abu Yusuf a reward. Zubaida then gave him what she herself had promised and he left their presence in a happy state. Note the merit of this imam and how it was thanks to him that Zubaida’s innocence was established and the cause of the stain made clear.
A story is told that, when al-Hakim bi-amri-’llah was out riding one day with his retinue, he passed by an orchard where he caught sight of a man surrounded by black slaves and eunuchs. He asked the man for a drink and the man said: ‘Perhaps the Commander of the Faithful would do me the honour of dismounting to sit with me in this orchard.’ Al-Hakim and his men dismounted and their host produced a hundred carpets, a hundred cloths, a hundred cushions, a hundred plates of fruit, a hundred bowls filled with sweetmeats and a hundred drinking vessels containing sugared drinks. Al-Hakim was astounded by this and told his host: ‘This is amazing. Did you know that we were coming, and so prepared this for us?’ ‘No, by God, Commander of the Faithful,’ the man replied, ‘I didn’t know anything of that. I am only a merchant, one of your subjects, but I have a hundred concubines and when you honoured me by dismounting here I sent to every one of them asking her to send a meal for me to the orchard. Each of them then sent some of her furnishings and what was left over of her food and drink, for they are each in the habit of providing me every day with a plate of food, another of stewed meat and another of fruit, together with sweetmeats and a bowl of wine. This is my daily lunch and I haven’t produced any more for you.’ Al-Hakim prostrated himself in gratitude to Almighty God, exclaiming: ‘Praise be to God, Who has placed among my subjects a man wealthy enough to feed the caliph and his men without the need for preparation and using only his surplus food.’ He then ordered that his host be given all the treasury dirhams that had been minted that year. These totalled three million, seven hundred thousand, and the caliph did not mount until they had been fetched and given to the man. ‘Use these to help you maintain your way of life,’ he said, ‘for your courtesy deserves more than this.’ He then got on his horse and rode off.
*
One day Chosroe Anushirwan, the just king, rode out hunting and became separated from his attendants as he pursued a gazelle. During his chase he saw a small village near at hand, and as he was very thirsty he made his way there and, going up to the door of a house that lay on his way, asked for a drink. A girl came out and looked at him, after which she went back inside and squeezed a single stalk of sugar-cane for him. She mixed the juice with water, put it i
n a cup and topped it with something scented that was like dust. She then passed it to Anushirwan, who looked at it and, noticing the apparent dust, drank it a little at a time until he had finished it. Then he told the girl: ‘What a delicious drink that was, apart from the dirty specks floating in it.’ ‘Guest,’ replied the girl, ‘I put those in deliberately to cloud it over.’ Anushirwan asked her why, and she said: ‘I could see that you were very thirsty and I was afraid that you might do yourself an injury by drinking it down in a single gulp. Had it not been for the specks you would have tossed it down quickly and that would have been bad for you.’ Anushirwan was filled with admiration for her words and her intelligence, realizing that what she said was prompted by a natural sharpness of wit and mental alertness. He then asked her how many stalks she had used to squeeze out that amount of juice, and he was astonished when she said that she had only used one. He asked for the tax register of the village and, on discovering that it only paid a small amount, he made up his mind to raise its tax when he returned to his capital, saying: ‘How can a village where a single stalk of sugar-cane produces so much liquid pay so little tax?’
He then left the village to return to the hunt, but at the end of the day he came back and, passing by the same door on his own, he again asked for a drink. The same girl came out and when she saw and recognized him she went back in to fetch it for him. This time Anushirwan was astonished by how long she took and he asked her why this was.
The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 2 Page 25
