The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (65 page)

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The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales to while away the night.” King Shahrayar added, “Let it be the story of Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn-Tahir al-'Attar and Nur al-Din Ali ibn-Bakkar and what happened between him and the slave-girl Shams al-Nahar.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure”:

[The Story of Nur al-Din Ali ibn-Bakkar and the Slave-Girl Shams al-Nahar]

I HEARD, O
happy King, that once there lived in the city of Baghdad a druggist named Abu al-Hasan ibn-Tahir, who was a man of wealth and high status. He was truthful, well-mannered, friendly, and well-liked everywhere. He used to enter the caliph's palace, for most of the caliph's women and concubines used to go to him to fill their needs. He was also patronized by the sons of princes and notable men, one of whom was a descendant of the kings of Persia, a young man named Nur al-Din Ali ibn-Bakkar. This young man was endowed by God with every virtue, perfect beauty and grace, eloquence and sweetness of tongue, wisdom and nobility, generosity and modesty, manliness and chivalry. He was so much attached to Abu al-Hasan ibn-Tahir that he could not bear to leave him even for a moment.

It chanced one day that as he sat with Abu al-Hasan in his shop there came up ten full-bosomed virgins, looking like moons, with a young lady riding on a gray she-mule with trappings of red silk set with gems and pearls. Her beauty, which put the full moon to shame, radiated over all her attendants, for she was like her of whom the poet said:

She was created flawless, as she wished,

In beauty's mold, all charm and perfect grace,

As if her body was a liquid pearl,

In every part of which the moon to trace.

Equaled by none she stood, the musk her scent,

The bough her figure, and the moon her face.

She captivated the mind with her graceful features and her beautiful eyes. When she reached the shop of Abu al-Hasan ibn-Tahir and dismounted, he rose and, kissing the ground before her, seated her on a silk cushion with gold stripes and stood in attendance. She adjured him to sit down, and he sat below her, while she began to demand what she wanted. When Ali ibn-Bakkar saw her, he was beside himself with confusion, and his face flushed and turned pale, and as he tried to get up and go, in deference to her, he almost swooned. She gave him a flirtatious look with her narcissus eyes and with a sweet smile said, “My lord, I come to you, and when I please you, you run away from me.” He kissed the ground before her and replied, “When I saw you, I lost my senses, for as the poet says:

She is the sun that in the heaven dwells;

Console your heart and let it patient be,

For neither can you to the sun ascend,

Nor can she descend from heaven to thee.”

She smiled, and her mouth glittered more brightly than a flash of lightning, and she said, “Abu al-Hasan, where did you find this young man and where does he come from?” Abu al-Hasan replied, “His name is Ali ibn-Bakkar, and he is a descendant of kings.” She asked, “Is he Persian?” He answered, “Yes, my lady.” She said, “When this maid of mine comes to you, take him with you and come to visit us, so that I may entertain you and him at home and so that he may not blame us and say that there are no generous people in Baghdad. For niggardliness is the worst vice in man. Do you hear what I am saying to you? If you fail to come, I will be displeased with you and will never speak with you again.” Abu al-Hasan replied, “My lady, far be it from me to disobey you, and may God preserve me from your displeasure.” Then she rose at once and, having captivated their minds and captured their hearts, rode away, leaving Ali ibn-Bakkar behind, not knowing whether he was in heaven or on earth.

As soon as the day ended, the maid came and said, “My lord Abu al-Hasan, let us go . . .”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I live!”

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The following night Shahrazad said:

When the maid came, she said, “My lord Abu al-Hasan, my mistress Shams al-Nahar, the favorite of the Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, bids you and my lord Nur al-Din Ali, in the name of God, to come to her.” Abu al-Hasan rose, saying to Nur al-Din Ali, “Very well, my lord, let us go.” They disguised themselves and followed the girl at a distance until she entered the caliph's palace and brought them to the lodging of Shams al-Nahar, where the young man found himself in a room that looked like a chamber in Paradise, furnished with couches, cushions, and pillows, the like of which he had never seen before. After he and Abu al-Hasan were seated and settled in their places, the black maid set a table before them and waited on them. The young man ate and marveled at the fine food: suckling lambs, fatted chickens, and other birds, such as grouse, quail, and pigeons, the jar full of assorted pickles, and all the candies.

What followed next I shall relate in Abu al-Hasan's own words:
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“When we had had our fill of such delicious food and fine drink, they brought us two gilded basins, and we washed our hands. Then they brought incense, with which we perfumed ourselves. Then they brought rosewater scented with musk in bowls of gilded crystal, encircled with carved figures of camphor and ambergris and set with all kinds of jewels, and after we scented ourselves, we returned to our couches. Then the maid asked us to rise and we rose and she led us to another chamber. When she opened the door, we found ourselves in a room covered with a silk carpet, under a dome that rested on a hundred pillars, at the base of each of which stood a bird or a beast dipped in gold. We sat and began to admire the carpet, which, with its gold ground and patterns of white and red roses, repeated the colors and patterns of the dome. In the room, resting on tables, there were more than a hundred trays of crystal and gold, set with all kinds of jewels. At the upper end of the room, numerous lovely couches, covered with fabrics of various colors, stood, each before an arched window that opened on a garden. The garden looked as if it had the same carpet for a floor cover. There the water flowed from a large pond to a smaller one surrounded by sweet basil, lilies, and narcissus in pots of inlaid gold. The thickly intertwined branches were heavy with ripe fruits, so that whenever the windy host passed through them, the fruits dropped on the water, while birds of all kinds swooped down after them, clapping their wings and singing. To the right and left of the pond stood couches of sandalwood covered with silver, and on each couch reclined a damsel more dazzling than the sun, wearing a gorgeous dress and holding a lute or some other musical instrument to her bosom. The damsels' music blended with the cooing of the birds, and the wafting wind joined the rippling water, as the breeze blew, lifting a rose here and downing a fruit there. With dazzled eyes and minds, we contemplated such great means and reflected on such abundant blessings and, turning from the garden with the pond to the room with the dome, we enjoyed the loveliness of the garden, the gracefulness of the art, and the magnificence of the endeavor and marveled at the grandeur of the sight and the beauty of the scene.”

Then Ali ibn-Bakkar turned to Abu al-Hasan and said, “My lord, a rational, perceptive, wise, and cultivated man, who is good of heart and sharp of wit, can't help but like, desire, enjoy, prefer, marvel, and find this scene fascinating, especially if he were in my place and felt as I feel. Since it was only through beauty that fate brought me to my predicament and visited me with this affliction, and since this is, as you often say, the plight of the commissioned, and since nothing I have seen here prevents me from speaking, I would like to know what is the intention of the commissioner
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and who it is who dares speak openly, especially to one of such a great power and such a great estate?”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow if the king spares me and lets me live! It will be more amazing and more entertaining.”

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The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that when Nur al-Din Ali said this, his companion replied, “I have no knowledge of her intention; nor do I know her well enough to make inferences and discover the true state of things. But we are almost there, and you will soon find out the situation and discover the mystery; besides, so far we have seen nothing but what is wonderful and heard nothing but what is delightful.”

Abu al-Hasan related, “As we were talking to each other, the black girl came and ordered the reclining damsels to sing, and one of them tuned her lute and sang these verses:

Smitten with love and ignorant of love,

My poor forsaken heart burned with desire.

No sin did I commit, save that my tears

In spite of me revealed my secret fire.

The young man cried out, ‘Bravo! This is wonderful!' Then she sang:

With little hope I long and pine for thee,

And what avails even the great when they desire?

My ardent sighs of passion rise to thee,

As if the coldest breath is blazing fire.

Nur al-Din Ali breathed a deep sign and said, ‘Excellent! Bravo! You have sung with perfection!' Then he repeated the lines and with tears in his eyes said, ‘Sing some more,' and the damsel sang these verses:

O you, whose love grows deeply in my breast,

Reign in my heart and rule as you desire,

A lonely heart that pines and wastes away,

Where cold disdain is but tormenting fire.

Reap what you sow then, either good or ill;

The lover's lot is but the martyr's pyre.

Nur al-Din Ali wept and kept repeating the lines for a while, when suddenly the damsels leapt from their places and, tuning their instruments, burst with one voice into song, with these lines:

Glory to God who caused this moon to rise,

Bringing together lover with lover.

For who has seen the sun and moon at once

In Eden or on earth; who has ever?

We looked in their direction and saw the first maid, who had come to my shop and brought us here, standing at the far end of the garden, while ten maidservants came in, carrying a large silver couch, placed it among the trees, and stood waiting in front of it. They were followed by twenty damsels like moons, wearing all kinds of jewelry and carrying various musical instruments. They moved in a procession, singing the same melody in unison, until they reached the couch, and arranging themselves on each side, continued to play so well that we began to feel that the whole place was swaying with their beautiful music. Then in came a group of ten damsels who were beautiful beyond description and who wore vestments and jewels that matched their beauty and charm, and they stood by the door, while another group just like them walked in and among them walked Shams al-Nahar.”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her sister, “What a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live! It will be stranger, more amazing, and more entertaining.”