The Arabian Nights II (33 page)

'Ala al-Din left Princess Badr al-Budur that very moment and went up into the hall with the twenty-four windows, and after pulling out from his breast the lamp, which he always carried with him, wherever he was, ever since the danger he had run into when he neglected to
take this precaution, he rubbed it, and when the demon immediately appeared before him, he said to him, “Demon, there lacks a Rukh's egg to be suspended from the middle of the dome. I command you, in the name of the lamp which I am holding, to repair this deficiency.” 'Ala al-Din had no sooner spoken these words than the demon uttered such a loud and terrible cry, that the hall shook, and 'Ala al-Din staggered and almost fell down. The demon said to him with a voice that would have made the most steadfast man tremble, “What! Wretch, is it not enough that I and my companions have done everything for you, but you ask me, out of an unparalleled ingratitude, to bring you my master and to hang him from the middle of the dome? This attempt deserves that you, your wife, and your palace be immediately reduced to ashes. But you are lucky that you are not the author of this request and that it does not come directly from you. The real author is the brother of the African magician, your enemy whom you have exterminated as he deserved. He is in your palace, disguised in the clothes of Fatima the holy woman, whom he strangled, and it is he who had suggested to your wife to make the pernicious demand you have made of me. His intention is to kill you, therefore you should take care of yourself,” and as soon as the demon finished, he disappeared.

'Ala al-Din did not miss a single word of what the demon had said. He had heard talk of Fatima the holy woman and knew how she supposedly cured the headache. He returned to the princess's apartment and, without speaking a word of what had happened to him, sat down, saying that he was suddenly seized with a headache and putting his hand on his forehead. The princess immediately ordered that the holy woman be fetched and in the meantime told 'Ala al-Din how that holy woman came to the palace and how she gave her an apartment.

The false Fatima arrived, and as soon as he entered, 'Ala al-Din said to him, “Come here, good mother. I am glad to see you here at such an opportune time. I am suffering from a violent headache, which has just seized me, and I ask for your help, being confident in your good prayers and hoping that you will not refuse me the favor you have done to so many of those who suffer from this affliction.” So saying, he got up, but held his head down, while the false Fatima advanced toward him, with his hand holding the dagger he had in the belt under his gown. 'Ala al-Din, observing him, seized his hand before he drew it, pierced him to the heart with his own dagger, and threw him down on the floor, dead.

The princess cried in surprise, “My dear husband, what have you done? You have killed the holy woman!” 'Ala al-Din replied without emotion, “No, my princess, I have not killed Fatima, but a villain who would have killed me, if I had not prevented him.” He explained,
adding, “This wicked man you see here has strangled Fatima, whom with regret you accused me of killing, and has disguised himself in her clothes, in order to murder me. In order that you may know him better, he is the brother of the African magician.” Then he told her how he came to know these particulars, and afterwards ordered the corpse to be removed.

Thus was 'Ala al-Din delivered from the persecution of the two brothers who were magicians. A few years later, the king died in very old age, and as he did not have any male children, Princess Badr al-Budur, as the legitimate heir, succeeded him and transferred the supreme power to 'Ala al-Din. They reigned together for many years and left behind an illustrious progeny.

T
HE
S
TORY OF
Q
AMAR AL
-Z
AMAN AND
H
IS
T
WO
S
ONS
, A
MJAD AND
A
S
'
AD

A long time ago, there lived a king called Shahraman, who commanded many troops and had many attendants and guards. Although he was old and decrepit, God had not yet blessed him with a son. He ruminated on this, mourned, and worried. One day, he complained to one of his viziers, saying, “I am afraid that if I die, the kingdom will be lost, for I have no son to rule it after me.” The vizier replied, “Perhaps God will yet provide for this; o King, place your trust in God, make your ablutions, perform two prayers, then sleep with your wife, and you may get what you wish.” The king slept with his wife, and she conceived at once, and when she completed her months, she gave birth to a male child who was like the full moon on a dark, cloudless night. Shahraman named him Qamar al-Zaman and was overjoyed with him, and they decorated the city for seven days and beat the drums and sent messengers out to announce the happy news. Then the nurses and attendants took him and reared him until he was fifteen years old.

He was extremely handsome and elegantly built, and his father loved him so much that he could not part from him day or night. One day he complained to one of his viziers of the excess of his love for his son and said, “O Vizier, I fear for my son Qamar al-Zaman the accidents of fate and misfortunes of life, and I would like him to marry in my lifetime.” The vizier replied, “O King, marriage is laudable, and it is not a bad idea for your son to marry in your lifetime.” King Shahraman said, “Fetch me my son Qamar al-Zaman.” Qamar al-Zaman came and bowed his head shyly before his father, who said to him, “Qamar al-Zaman, I wish you to marry and to rejoice in you during my lifetime.” Qamar al-Zaman replied, “Father, I have no wish to marry, nor am I inclined to women, for I have read tales of their guile and heard verses on their cunning. As the poet says,

If you would know of women and their ways,

I am a doctor who well knows the lot.

If a man age or if he lose his wealth,

His friendship they forsake and love him not.

“Or as another says,

Resisting women is obeying God,

For they will not thrive who lend them their ears.

They will hinder them on perfection's way,

Though they may study for a thousand years.”

When he finished reciting these verses, he said, “Father, marrying is something I will never do, even if I have to die.” When King Shahraman heard his son's reply, the light became darkness before his eyes, and he was extremely distressed at his son's disobedience to his wishes, yet out of love for him, he did not press him nor provoke him, but spoke gently to him, treated him courteously, showed him favors, and did all that which brings love to the heart.

He waited a whole year, while Qamar al-Zaman increased every day in loveliness and seductive charm and became perfect in eloquence and grace. All beholders were ravished by his beauty, and every wafting breeze told of his gentle charm. He was a temptation to lovers and a paradise to longing hearts, with a sweet speech, a face that puts the full moon to shame, a cheek like the anemone, and a slender, elegant figure like a willow branch or a bamboo wand. He was all beauty and seductive charm, like him of whom the poet said,

When he appeared, they said, “May he be blessed,

And glory be to God Who fashioned such a one.”

Above all lovely men he was the king,

And they his subjects all, excepting none.

The nectar of his mouth tasted so sweet,

And like a row of pearls his white teeth shone.

He garnered all the beauty of the world,

Leaving all mortals helpless and undone.

And on his cheek beauty for all to see,

Proclaimed, “No one is beautiful but he.”

When another year passed, King Shahraman called his son and said to him, “Son, will you listen to me?” Qamar al-Zaman knelt before his father, in modesty and reverence, and said, “Father, how could I refuse to listen to you, when God has commanded me to obey you and not contradict you?” King Shahraman said to him, “Son, I wish you to marry and to rejoice in your marriage during my lifetime and make you king before I die.” When Qamar al-Zaman heard his father's words, he bowed his head for a while, then raised it and said, “Father, this is something I will never do, even if I have to die. I know that God has commanded me to obey you, but for God's sake do not ask me to marry, and do not think that I will ever marry, as long as I live. For I have read the books, both of the ancients and the moderns, and
I know all the misfortunes and disasters and calamities that have happened to them through the guile and intrigue of women, which know no bounds. How well has the poet put it, when he said,

He whom the whores have well entrapped,

Cannot escape their snare,

And though he builds a thousand forts

And citadels to spare

And fortifies them all with lead

He'll build them all in vain,

For women betray every man,

Near and far; that is plain.

With fingers dyed with henna red,

With tresses sweet of show,

And with eyes beautified with kohl,

They make one drink of woe.

“And how well another poet put it, when he said,

Women, though chaste supposed to be,

Are carrion to vultures.

Tonight they ope their heart to you,

Tomorrow, their arms and legs to others.

You live with them, as you would live

In a travelers' inn,

And in the morning you depart,

And another comes in.”

When King Shahraman heard these words from his son and understood their meaning, he made no reply, out of his great love for him, but treated him with even greater favor and kindness.

As soon as the audience was over, King Shahraman summoned his vizier and said to him in private, “Vizier, what shall I do about my son, Qamar al-Zaman? For when I consulted you about marrying him, before making him king, you advised me to do so and to propose marriage to him, but when I did, he disobeyed me. Tell me what is the best course now.” The vizier replied, “O King, I advise you to wait another year, and if after that you wish to speak to him of marriage, do not speak to him privately, but do it on a day of state, when all the princes and viziers are present and all the troops are standing before you. Then send for your son Qamar al-Zaman, and when he comes, address him on the subject of marriage, in the presence of all the princes, the viziers, the chamberlains, the deputies, the officers of state, and the captains and all the troops, for he will be embarrassed before them and will not be able to oppose you in their presence.” When King Shahraman heard these words he felt very happy, approved of the vizier's advice, and bestowed on him a magnificent robe of honor.

King Shahraman waited another year, and every day Qamar al-Zaman increased in comeliness and beauty, in perfection and splendor until he was by now twenty years old. God had clad him with the robe of beauty and crowned him with the crown of perfection. His eyes were more enchanting than Harut's, and his glances were more seductive than Maghut's. His cheeks were shining red, his eyelashes scorned the keen-edged sword, his fair forehead vied with the shining moon, and his black hair resembled the dark night. His waist was finer than gossamer, his hips fuller than two hills of sand, so that the heart was troubled with their softness, and the waist complained of their weight. In short, his beauties ravished everyone, and he was like him of whom the poet said,

By his soft cheeks and by his smiling mouth,

By his beguiling eyes so keen, so fair,

By his sharp glances and his tender sides,

By his white forehead and his jet-black hair,

By eyebrows that have robbed my eyes of sleep

And made me subject to their mighty will,

By lovely sidelocks that curl, coil, and charm

And all rejected lovers with their beauty kill,

By the soft myrtle of his rosy cheeks,

By his carnelian lips and mouth of pearls,

Which sends the fragrance of its honey breath

Sweeter than wine which in its sweetness purls.

By his charming, tender, and slender waist,

And hips that quiver while they move or rest,

By his open hand and his truthful tongue

And high birth and esteem which are his share.

By these I swear that his life-giving breath

Gives the musk being and perfumes the air,

That the sun pales before him, and the moon

Is nothing but a paring of his nail; I swear.

King Shahraman followed the advice of the vizier and waited another year until a festival day arrived, and all the princes and the viziers and the chamberlains and the officers of state and the captains together with all the troops were assembled. Then the king sent for his son Qamar al-Zaman, who, when he came in, kissed the ground before his father three times, and stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His father said, “Son, I have summoned you this time before this assembly, with all the troops present before me, in order to give you a command, in which you should not oppose me. I wish to marry
you to a daughter of one of the kings and rejoice in you before my death.” When Qamar al-Zaman heard these words, he bowed his head for a while, then raised it, looking at his father and, being moved by the ignorance and folly of youth, replied, “As for me, I will never marry, even if I have to die; as for you, you are a man of great age and little sense. You have already asked me twice before to marry, and each time I refused.” Then he unclasped his hands from behind his back and rolled up his sleeves, before his father, in his rage. The king was mortified, for this had happened before the officers of state and the troops assembled for the festival, but he quickly recovered his royal dignity and cried out at his son, making Qamar al-Zaman tremble, and, calling to the guards, commanded them to seize him. When they seized him, the king commanded them to bind his hands behind his back, and they did so and led him before the king. He stood with his head bowed down in apprehension and fear, and his brow and face covered with sweat, in his great embarrassment, while his father cursed and reviled him, saying, “Damn you, you son of a whore and nursling of sin, how dare you give me this reply before my men and troops? But till now, no one has corrected you. Don't you know that what you have done, had it proceeded from one of my meanest subjects, would have been disgraceful even in him?” Then the king commanded the guards to unbind Qamar al-Zaman and to imprison him in one of the towers of the castle.