The Arabian Nights II (47 page)

Meanwhile, after As'ad went down, Queen Marjana waited for him for some time, and when he did not return, she proceeded to search for him but did not find him. Then she lighted the candles and ordered her handmaids to search for him. Then she herself went down, and when she saw the garden door open, she knew that he had gone there. So she went into the garden and, finding his slippers lying by the fountain, searched every part of the garden till the morning, but found no sign of him. Then she inquired about the ship and was told that it had set sail during the first third of the night. So she realized that the sailors had taken him with them, and this grieved her and made her extremely angry. She ordered that ten great ships be made ready immediately and, preparing herself for battle, embarked in one of them, with her troops carrying their fine gear and their weapons. They loosened the sails, and she said to the captains, “If you
overtake the Magian's ship, I will give you robes of honor and money, but if you don't, I will kill you all.” So the seamen were filled with hope and great fear.

They sailed for three days and nights until, on the fourth day, they sighted the ship of Bahram the Magian, and before the day ended, they had it surrounded. At that time, Bahram had taken As'ad out and was beating and torturing him, while As'ad, who was in great pain, cried out for help and relief, but there was no one to help him or relieve him. Soon, Bahram happened to look up and saw that the ships had surrounded his, as the white of the eye surrounds its black. He was certain of destruction, and he sighed and exclaimed, “Damn you, As'ad, this is all your doing.” Then he took him by the hand and ordered the sailors to throw him into the sea, saying, “By God, I will kill you before I die.” The sailors took him by his hands and feet and threw him into the middle of the sea. But the Almighty and Glorious God, desiring to save him and prolong his life, caused him to rise again, and he beat with his hands and feet until God helped him and sent him relief, and the waves bore him away from the Magian's ship and cast him on the shore. He landed, hardly believing in his escape, and, taking off his clothes, he wrung them and spread them out to dry and sat naked, weeping over his captivity and his misfortunes and repeating the following verses,

O God, my patience and resources fail me now,

Seized by depression, as I try in vain.

O Lord of lords, to whom should a wretched

Like me, but to his Mighty Lord complain?

Then he rose and, putting on his clothes, began to wander, not knowing where he was coming or going. He walked day and night, eating of the plants of the earth and the fruits of the trees and drinking the water of the streams, until he came in sight of a city. He rejoiced and hurried toward it, but before he could reach it, the night descended, and the gate was shut. As it happened, this was the very city in which he had been a prisoner and his brother Amjad was vizier to the king. When he saw that the gate was shut, he turned back and walked in the direction of the cemetery. When he reached it, he found a tomb without a door, and he entered it and went to sleep, with his face in his sleeve.

Meanwhile, when Queen Marjana overtook Bahram the magian, he destroyed her ships by his guile and sorcery and returned safely to his city. He landed from the ship and headed directly home, feeling happy, and as fate and divine decree would have it, he walked through the cemetery and saw that the tomb in which As'ad was sleeping was open. He wondered and said to himself, “I must look into this tomb.”
When he looked, he found As'ad sleeping there, with his face in his sleeve, and when he looked in his face he recognized him and exclaimed, “Are you still alive?” Then he took him to his house where he had the underground chamber prepared for the torture of Muslims. He took As'ad down to that chamber, put heavy shackles on his feet, and put him in the charge of a daughter of his named Bustana, bidding her to torture him day and night until he should die. Then he beat him severely and, locking the door on him, gave the keys to his daughter.

Bustana went down to beat him, but when she saw that he was a handsome, charming young man with a sweet face, arched eyebrows, and black eyes, she fell in love with him and asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is As'ad.” She said, “May you be happy and happy be your life. You don't deserve torture, and I see that you have been unjustly treated.” Then she undid his shackles and proceeded to cheer him with conversation. She asked him about the Islamic religion, and he told her that it was the true and right faith and that our Lord Muhammad was the author of dazzling miracles and manifest signs and that the worship of the Fire was unprofitable and harmful. Then he acquainted her with the tenets of Islam, and she was persuaded, and the love of the faith entered her heart and mixed with her love of As'ad, as God the Almighty had willed, and she professed the two articles of the faith and became one of the blessed. After that, she gave him food and drink, conversed and prayed with him, and fed him with chicken broth until he recovered and regained his strength.

One day, as she stood at the door of the house, she heard the crier proclaiming aloud, “Whoever has with him a handsome young man, of such and such description, and bring him forth, he shall have all the wealth he demands, but whoever has him and fails to bring him forth, he will be hanged at the door of his house, and his property shall be plundered.” When Bustana heard this, she knew that As'ad was the person they were looking for, for he had already told her all that had happened to him. She went back to him and told him the news, and he took her with him and went to the mansion of the vizier, and as soon as he saw him, he exclaimed, “By God, this is my brother Amjad,” and threw himself on him. Amjad likewise recognized him and threw himself on him, and they embraced each other and fell into a swoon, while Amjad's Mamluks stood around them.

When they recovered, a little later, Amjad took his brother and went up with him to the king and told him his story, and the king ordered Amjad, his vizier, to plunder Bahram's house. So Amjad sent a company of men who went to Bahram's house and plundered it and brought his daughter to Amjad, who received her with great honor.
Then As'ad described to his brother all the torture he had suffered and the acts of kindness Bahram's daughter had done him, and Amjad, therefore, treated her with increased honor. Then Amjad in turn related to his brother all that had happened to him with the girl and how he had escaped hanging and become vizier. They then complained to each other of the pain they had suffered because of their separation. Then the king sent for Bahram the Magian and ordered that his head be struck off. But Bahram said, “O most mighty king, are you determined to put me to death?” The king replied, “Yes.” Bahram said, “Be patient with me for a moment.” Then he bowed his head a little while and, raising it again, professed the articles of the faith to the king and became a Muslim. They all rejoiced at his conversion, and Amjad and As'ad related to him all that had happened to them. He said to them, “My lords, prepare yourselves for the journey, and I will take you back.” At this they rejoiced and wept bitterly, but he said to them, “Don't weep, my lords, for in a short time you will be reunited with your family, as were Ni'ma and Nu'am.” They asked him, “What happened to Ni'ma and Nu'am?” He said:

[The Tale of Ni'ma and Nu'am]

It is told, but God knows best, that there lived in the city of Kufa a man called al-Rabi' ibn-Hatim. He was one of its prominent people, a man of great wealth and prosperous circumstances, and God had blessed him with a son whom he called Ni'mat-Allah. One day, while he was in the slave dealers' mart, he saw a female slave offered for sale, with a wonderfully beautiful and charming little girl on her arm. He beckoned to the broker and asked him, “What is the price of this female slave and her daughter?” The broker replied, “Fifty dinars.” Al-Rabi' said, “Write the sale contract and take the money and give it to her owner.” Then he gave the broker the money, together with his commission, and took the woman and child and went home.

When his wife saw the female slave, she asked her husband (who was the son of her father's brother), “Cousin, what is this woman?” He replied, “I bought her for the sake of the little girl on her arm, for when she grows up, there will be none like her and none more beautiful in Arab or in foreign lands.” Then his wife asked the slave, “What is your name, slave-girl?” She replied, “My name is Taufiq,” and she asked her, “And what is the name of your girl?” She replied, “Sa'ad.” His wife said, “You are right. You are fortunate, and fortunate is he who has purchased you.” Then she asked her husband, “Cousin, what
name will you give her?” He replied, “Any name you choose.” She said, “We will call her Nu'am.” He said, “This is fine.”

Little Nu'am was brought up with Ni'ma, al-Rabi's son, in the same cradle, and each grew more beautiful than the other. The boy used to call her sister, and she used to call him brother. When they reached the age of ten, al-Rabi' said to his son Ni'ma, “Son, Nu'am is not your sister, but your slave whom I bought in your name, while you were still in the cradle. From now on, don't call her sister.” Ni'ma said to his father, “If this is the case, I will marry her.” Then he went in to his mother and told her about it, and she said, “Yes, son, she is your slave.” Ni'ma then slept with her and fell in love with her.

They lived together for four years, and in all of Kufa there was not a single girl more beautiful or charming than Nu'am. She had grown up, having read the Koran, as well as the works of science, learned all kinds of musical instruments, and excelled in playing music and singing, surpassing everyone in her time. One day, as she sat with her husband Ni'ma in the wine chamber, she took the lute and, tuning it, sang the following verses,

Since you are my dear lord, by whose bounty I live,

A sword by which I strike the neck of adverse fate,

I need neither Amru nor Zaid but you

If I find myself in a narrow strait.

Ni'ma was moved with great delight and said to her, “By my life, Nu'am, sing to us with the tambourines and other instruments.” So she sang the following verses to a lovely melody,

By him who holds me captive in his hand,

In love I will cross my envier, I swear,

My censors I will vex and only you obey,

And I will sleep and all pleasures forswear

And will bury you in my breast, so deep

That even my heart will not be aware.

Ni'ma exclaimed, “O Nu'am, this is excellent!”

While they led a most happy life, al-Hajjaj sat in his governor's mansion, saying to himself, “I must maneuver to take this girl whose name is Nu'am and send her to the Commander of the Faithful Abd-al-Melik ibn Marwan, for there is none in his palace who matches her singing and her beauty.” Then he called for an old stewardess and said to her, “Go to the house of Ni'ma ibn-al-Rabi', get together with the girl Nu'am, and try to steal her away, for there is none like her on the face of the earth.”

The old woman consented to do his bidding, and the following
morning, she put on clothes of wool, threw around her neck a rosary of thousands of beads, and, taking in her hand a walkingstaff and a water bottle of Yemen, proceeded to Al-Rabi's house, exclaiming as she went, “Glory and praise be to God; there is no god but God; God is great; there is no power and no strength save in God the Almighty, the Magnificent.” She continued with her glorification and imprecation of God, while her heart was full of guile and deceit, until she reached the house of Ni'ma ibn-al-Rabi', at the hour of the noon prayer. She knocked at the door, and the doorkeeper opened it and asked, “What do you want?” She replied, “I am a poor devout woman, and the time of the noon prayer is upon me, and I wish to pray in this blessed place.” The doorkeeper said, “Old woman, this is the house of Ni'ma ibn-al-Rabi', not a mosque or a place of worship.” She replied, “I know that there is no mosque or place of worship like the house of Ni'ma ibn-al-Rabi', but I am a stewardess from the palace of the Commander of the Faithful, and I have come to worship and to see the sights.” But the doorkeeper said, “You cannot come in.” They kept arguing until she grabbed him, saying, “Shall someone like me, who is admitted to the houses of princes and prominent men, be denied entry to the house of Ni'ma ibn-al-Rabi'?” At that moment Ni'ma happened to come out and, hearing what she said, laughed and asked her to enter.

The old woman entered and followed Ni'ma until he brought her to Nu'am, whom she saluted in the best of manners, and when she looked at her, she marveled at her great beauty and said to her, “O my lady, I commend you to the protection of God who made you and your lord alike in beauty and grace.” Then she stood up at the prayer niche and proceeded to perform her prayers, prostrating herself and supplicating God until the day departed and darkness descended. At last, Nu'am said to her, “O mother, rest your feet a while.” The old woman replied, “O my lady, he who seeks the world to come, must toil in this world, and he who toils not in this world, will not enter the dwelling of the righteous in the world to come.” Then Nu'am brought her food and said, “Eat of my food and pray to God to forgive me and have mercy on me.” The old woman replied, “My lady, I am fasting, but you are a young woman, and eating and drinking and mirth are more suitable to you. God the Almighty will forgive you, for He says that none shall be saved, except those who repent and believe and do righteous deeds.” Ni'ma sat for a while, conversing with the old woman. Then Nu'am said to Ni'ma, “My lord, entreat this old woman to stay with us a while, for piety is marked on her face.” He said to her, “Give her a room where she may do her devotions without being disturbed, so that the Almighty and Glorious God may benefit
us by the blessing of her presence and keep the two of us together.” And the old woman spent the night there, praying and reciting the Koran.