The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (66 page)

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I heard, O happy King, that the young ladies stood by the door, while another group just like them walked in, and among them walked Shams al-Nahar. The young ladies clung to her, while she moved, scarved with her abundant hair, dressed in a delicate, gold-embroidered blue robe that revealed the clothes and precious stones she wore underneath. She advanced, as the sun emerges from the clouds, with a proud and coquettish gait until she reached the couch and seated herself there, while the young man gazed on her and bit the tips of his fingers until he nearly cut them off. He turned to the druggist and said, “A man needs no explanation after seeing, nor harbors doubt after knowing.” Then he recited these verses:

She, she alone is the source of my pain,

My unrequited love and love's long moan.

Since first my eyes saw her enchanting face,

Restless my soul has been and no peace known.

O poor soul, for God's sake, depart in peace

And let my wasting body lie alone.

Then he said to the druggist, “You would have dealt more kindly with me and done me a great favor to have forewarned me of the situation, so that I might have prepared and taught myself to be patient,” and he wept bitterly and stood helpless before him. Abu al-Hasan related, “I replied, ‘I meant you nothing but good, but I did not tell you the truth about her for fear that your love and longing for her would be so overpowering as to hinder you from meeting her and being with her. But take courage and be of good cheer; be sensible; cherish her, think well of her, and do not reproach her, for she is well-disposed toward you.' Nur al-Din Ali asked, ‘Who is she?' I replied, ‘She is Shams al-Nahar, a slave-girl of Harun al-Rashid, and this place where you are now is his new palace, known as the Palace of Paradise. I plotted and found a way to bring the two of you together. Now the outcome is in the hands of the Almighty God. Let us pray to Him for a happy ending.' Ali ibn-Bakkar stood speechless for a while and then said, ‘Excessive caution drives us to love ourselves and crave to preserve it. But I am already in peril, and it is all the same to me whether I am destroyed by almighty love or by a mighty king.' Then he was silent again.

“Suddenly, as he stood at the window, Shams al-Nahar looked at him. Their faces flushed with rapture and their movements expressed their hidden, overwhelming passion, and even though they were speechless, they spoke with the language of love and disclosed their secret to each other. For a long time she gazed on him and he gazed on her; then she bade the first group of damsels return to their couches and sit down, and they did so. Then she signaled to the maids, and each of them brought a couch and placed it before one of the windows of the room in which we were. Then she bade the girls who were standing in attendance sit down on these coaches, and when they did, she turned to one of them and said, ‘Sing a song,' and the girl tuned. her lute and sang these verses:

As lover yearned for lover,

Their hearts beating as one,

They drank from love's sweet river,

And when the two were done,

On love's shore they stood and said,

With bitter tears, ‘Above,

Of this the fates are guilty,

Not those below who love.'

“The girl sang a melody that excites even the meek and heals the sick, a melody that moved Nur al-Din Ali ibn-Bakkar, who turned to her and said, ‘Sing these lines:

My unrequited love

Has drowned my eyes with tears.

O my joy, my idol,

O wish of all my years,

Have pity on a man

Who, hopeless, mourns alone,

Who keeps love in his heart

And moans with love's sad moan.'”

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 I stay alive!”

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The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that Abu al-Hasan said, “The damsel sang the verses that the young man asked her to sing, in a sweet melody, and when she finished, Shams al-Nahar turned to another damsel and said, ‘Sing on my behalf these lines:

I sigh for one who, had he shared my love

And felt the pain I feel, would have gone mad.

I raise my voice to God, not to a man

Who knows no mercy, whose hard heart is bad.

If men or demons felt the love I feel,

Both men and demons would such love anneal.'

She sang a tender melody and sang it so well that the young man turned to another damsel and said, ‘Sing on my behalf these lines:

By your eyes smitten, for your love he yearns

And without patience he does sigh and moan.

You are his only wish in all the world,

For which he suffers and pines, you alone,

You who possess a soft body that bends

Tenderly boughlike and a heart of stone.'

The damsel sang with tenderness and delicacy, and when she finished, Shams al-Nahar sighed deeply and said to the damsel nearest to her, ‘Sing another song,' and the damsel sang these lines:

If you remain deaf to my moans,

Nor can you to me mercy show,

I will not with patience endure,

For how much patience to allow?

My cheerless and slow-burning heart

But for you would have burst aglow.

The damsel sang, while the two lovers, flushed with passion, heaved with ecstasy and trembled with delight. Then, Ali ibn-Bakkar turned to a damsel near him and said, ‘Sing on my behalf these lines:

The time of union is too brief

For such coquettish air,

For you are fair and such delay

Does not befit the fair.'

And while the damsel sang, Nur al-Din Ali followed up her song with tears and moans.

“When Shams al-Nahar heard Ali ibn-Bakkar's words and saw his actions, she rose at last and headed for the room. He too rose and with hands outstretched met her at the door, and they embraced. Never in my life have I beheld two lovelier lovers, for never before have I seen a sun embrace a moon. Suddenly they felt weak and began to swoon, while the damsels rushed to them and carried them to the far end of the room. Then they brought rosewater scented with powdered musk and sprinkled them with it until they revived and regained consciousness.” Then Shams al-Nahar looked to the right and left and, not finding the druggist, who had hidden himself behind a couch, asked, “Where is Abu al-Hasan?” The druggist came out from hiding, and when she saw him, she greeted him and welcomed him, saying . . .

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 I live!”

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The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that Shams al-Nahar thanked the druggist, Abu al-Hasan ibn-Tahir, saying, “My gratitude prompts me to reward you for your exceeding kindness, for the bow of your generosity has hit every mark and left no favor untouched.” Abu al-Hasan bowed his head shyly and invoked blessings upon her. Then turning to young ibn-Bakkar, she said, “May you overcome all obstacles to love and attain all your heart's desires. Place your trust in God alone, submit to His will and decree, and bear your burden patiently.” He replied, “My lady, being with you and looking at you neither consoles me nor extinguishes the fire of my heart, and I declare that I will never stop loving you until the day I die; for your love, which has mastered my soul, will never die, as long as my heart continues to beat.” Then he wept and made her weep with him, and their tears, like unstrung pearls, ran down their cheeks, which flushed like twin roses wet in the rain. Abu al-Hasan al-'Attar exclaimed, “Your case is marvelous, and your condition is strange and interesting. If this is what you do while you are together, what will you do when you part? Enjoy yourselves and forget trouble and pain, for the moments of love are furtive and short-lived.”

The two stopped weeping, and Shams al-Nahar made a signal to the first girl, who departed hurriedly and returned with two maids bearing a silver tray. They set the tray before the guests, and Shams al-Nahar turned to them and said, “There is nothing more fitting after conversation and fun than enjoying a meal together. Please, help yourselves.” They began to eat, and Shams al-Nahar and Nur al-Din Ali fed each other until they were satisfied. Then the maid removed the tray and set a basin of silver and a ewer of gold before them, and after they washed their hands, they returned to their places.

Then Shams al-Nahar made a signal to the girl, who disappeared briefly and returned with three maids bearing three gold trays, each bearing a different kind of wine in a flagon of cut crystal, which they set before Shams al-Nahar and the guests. Then Shams al-Nahar ordered ten maids to stand in attendance and ten singing girls to join them and dismissed the rest. She took a cup and, filling it, turned to one of the girls and said, “Sing a song,” and the girl sang these verses:

My life for him who greeted back with smiles,

Turning despair into a happy hope.

When he appeared, I could no longer hide

My secret love from my critic nor cope.

My tears of passion pressed between us twain,

As if for him they too felt lovers' pain.

Shams al-Nahar drank off the cup and, taking another, kissed it and gave it to her beloved Ali ibn-Bakkar, who took it and kissed it too. Then she said to another girl, “Sing a song,” and the girl sang these verses:

My flowing tears resembled the red wine,

And my eyes brimmed e'en as the brimming cup.

By God, I know not whether 'tis wine they shed,

Or whether it is on my tears I sup.

The young man drank off the cup; then Shams al-Nahar took another and, filling it, kissed it and gave it to Abu al-Hasan ibn-Tahir, who took it from her hand and kissed it. Then she reached out and snatched a lute from one of the girls, saying, “Abu al-Hasan, none but myself shall sing over this cup, for you deserve much more than this tribute.” Then she sang these verses:

Oddly, his flowing tears course down his cheeks,

And painful passion burns within his heart,

Fearing to lose her; thus he always weeps

Whether they are together or apart.

The two men were stricken with wonder and transported with delight, and as he listened to her excellent voice, which blended with the sound of the strings, and to her perfect art, the young man felt as if a bird had stolen his wings and had left him helplessly swaying with the music from side to side.

While they were enjoying themselves, up came a girl, flying like a bee and shaking like a palm tree, and said, “O my lady, ‘Afif and Masrur and Wasif and others of the Commander of the Faithful's eunuchs are at the door.” Fearing that they had been discovered, the two guests nearly collapsed with anxiety and alarm and almost died of fright and terror. The moon of their delight had set, and the stars of their happiness had vanished. But Shams al-Nahar laughed . . .

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!”