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Sleeping Arrangements

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.
327. The name seems now unknown. “Al-Khalí’a” is somewhat stronger than
“Wag,” meaning at least a “wicked wit.” Properly it is the Span. “perdido,” a
youth cast off (Khala’) by his friends; though not so strong a term as
“Harfúsh” = a blackguard.

328.
Arab. “Farsakh” = parasang.

329.
Arab. “Nahás asfar” = yellow copper, brass as opposed to Nahás ahmar =
copper. The reader who cares to study the subject will find much about it in
my “Book of The Sword,” chapt. iv.

330.
Lane (ii. 479) translates one stanza of this mukhammas (pentastich) and
speaks of “five more,” which would make six.

331.
A servile name, Delicacy, Elegance.

332.
These verses have occurred twice: (Night ix. etc.) so I give Lane’s version (ii.
482).

333.
A Badawi tribe to which belonged the generous Ma’an bin Za’idah, often
mentioned in The Nights.

334.
Wealthy harems, I have said, are hot-beds of Sapphism and Tribadism. Every
woman past her first youth has a girl whom she calls her “Myrtle” (in
Damascus). At Agbome, capital of Dahome, I found that a troop of women
was kept for the use of the “Amazons” (Mission to Gelele, ii. 73). Amongst
the wild Arabs, who ignore Socratic and Sapphic perversions, the lover is
always more jealous of his beloved’s girl-friends than of men rivals. In
England we content ourselves with saying that women corrupt women more
than men do.

335.
The Hebrew Pentateuch; Roll of the Law.

336.
I need hardly notice the brass trays, platters and table-covers with
inscriptions which are familiar to every reader: those made in the East for
 foreign markets mostly carry imitation inscriptions lest infidel eyes fall upon
Holy Writ.

337. These six distichs are in Night xiii. I borrow Torrens (p. 125) to show his
peculiar treatment of spinning out 12 lines to 38.

338.
Arab. “Musámirah” = chatting at night. Easterns are inordinately fond of the
practice and the wild Arabs often sit up till dawn, talking over the affairs of
the tribe, indeed a Shaykh is expected to do so. “Early to bed and early to
rise” is a civilised not a savage or a barbarous saying. Samír is a companion
in night talk; Rafík of the road; Rahíb in riding horse or camel; Ká’id in
sitting; Sharíb and Rafís at drink, and Nadím at table: Ahíd is an ally, and
Sharík a partner—all on the model of “Fa’íl.”

339.
In both lover and beloved the excess of love gave them this clairvoyance.

340.
The prayer will be granted for the excess (not the purity) of her love.

341.
This wailing over the Past is one of the common-places of Badawi poetry.
The traveller cannot fail, I repeat, to notice the chronic melancholy of
peoples dwelling under the brightest skies.

342.
Moons = Budúr: in Paradise as a martyr.

343.
i.e. to intercede for me in Heaven; as if the young woman were the Prophet.

344.
The comparison is admirable as the two letters are thus written or ‫ال‬. It
occurs in Al-Hariri (Ass. of Ramlah)
So I embraced him close as Lám cleaves to Alif;

And again:—
She laid aside reluctance and I embraced her close
As if I were Lám and my love Alif.

The Lomad-Olaph in Syraic is similarly colligated.

345.
Here is a double entendre “and the infirm letters (viz. a, w and y) not subject
to accidence, left him.” The three make up the root “Awi” = pitying,
condoling.

346.
Showing that consummation had taken place. It was a sign of good breeding
to avoid all “indecent hurry” when going to bed. In some Moslem countries
the bridegroom does not consummate the marriage for seven nights; out of
respect for (1) father (2) mother (3) brother and so forth. If he hurry
matters he will be hooted as an “impatient man” and the wise will quote,
“Man is created of precipitation” (Koran chapt. xxi. 38), meaning hasty and
inconsiderate. I remark with pleasure that the whole of this tale is told with
commendable delicacy. O si sic omnia!

347. Pers. Nauroz (= nau roz, new day): here used in the Arab. plur. “Nawáriz” as
it lasted six days. There are only four universal festivals; the solstices and
the equinoxes; and every successive religion takes them from the sun and
perverts them to its own private purposes. Lane (ii. 496) derives the
venerable Nauroz whose birth is hid in the outer glooms of antiquity from
“the Jewish Passover” (!)
 THE MAN OF AL-YAMAN AND HIS SIX SLAVE-
GIRLS.

The Caliph Al-Maamun was sitting one day in his palace, surrounded
by his Lords of the realm and Officers of state, and there were
present also before him all his poets and cup-companions, amongst
the rest one named Mohammed of Bassorah. Presently the Caliph
turned and said to him, “O Mohammed, I wish thee forthwith to tell
me something that I have never before heard.” He replied, “O
Commander of the Faithful, dost thou wish me to tell thee a thing I
have heard with my ears or a thing I have seen with my eyes?”
Quoth Al-Maamun, “Tell me whichever is the rarer;” so Mohammed
Al-Basri began:—Know, then, O Commander of the Faithful, that
there lived once upon a time a wealthy man, who was a native of Al-
Yaman; but he emigrated from his native land and came to this city
of Baghdad, whose sojourn so pleased him that he transported
hither his family and possessions. Now he had six slave-girls, like
moons one and all; the first white, the second brown, the third fat,
the fourth lean, the fifth yellow and the sixth lamp-black; and all six
were comely of countenance and perfect in accomplishments and
skilled in the arts of singing and playing upon musical instruments.
Now it so chanced that, one day, he sent for the girls and called for
meat and wine; and they ate and drank and were mirthful and made
merry. Then he filled the cup and, taking it in his hand, said to the
blonde girl, “O new-moon face, let us hear somewhat of thy pleasant
songs.” So she took the lute and tuning it, made music thereon with
such sweet melody that the place danced with glee; after which she
played a lively measure and sang these couplets:—
I have a friend, whose form is fixed within mine eyes,[348] ✿ Whose name deep
buried in my very vitals lies:
Whenas remembers him my mind all heart am I, ✿ And when on him my gaze is
turned I am all eyes.
My censor saith, “Forswear, forget, the love of him,” ✿ “Whatso is not to be, how
shall’t be?” My reply is.
Quoth I, “O Censor mine, go forth from me, avaunt! ✿ And make not light of that
on humans heavy lies.”

Hereat their master rejoiced and, drinking off his cup, gave the
damsels to drink, after which he said to the berry-brown girl, “O
brasier-light[349] and joy of the sprite, let us hear thy lovely voice,
whereby all that hearken are ravished with delight.” So she took the
lute and thereon made harmony till the place was moved to glee;
then, captivating all hearts with her graceful swaying, she sang
these couplets:—
I swear by that fair face’s life, I’ll love but thee ✿ Till death us part; nor other love
but thine I’ll see;
O full moon, with thy loveliness mantilla’d o’er, ✿ The loveliest of our earth
beneath thy banner be:
Thou, who surpassest all the fair in pleasantness ✿ May Allah, Lord of worlds, be
everywhere with thee!

The master rejoiced and drank off his cup and gave the girls to
drink; after which he filled again; and, taking the goblet in his hand,
signed to the fat girl and bade her sing and play a different motive.
So she took the lute and striking a grief-dispelling measure, sang
these couplets:—
An thou but deign consent, O wish to heart affied! ✿ I care not wrath and rage to
all mankind betide.
And if thou show that fairest face which gives me life, ✿ I reck not an diminished
heads the Kings go hide.
I seek thy favours only from this ‘versal world: ✿ O thou in whom all beauty doth
firm-fixt abide!

The man rejoiced and, emptying his cup, gave the girls to drink.
Then he signed to the thin girl and said to her, “O Houri of Paradise,
feed thou our ears with sweet words and sounds.” So she took the
lute; and, tuning it, preluded and sang these two couplets:—
Say me, on Allah’s path[350] hast death not dealt to me, ✿ Turning from me while
I to thee turn patiently:
Say me, is there no judge of Love to judge us twain, ✿ And do me justice
wronged, mine enemy, by thee?

Their lord rejoiced and, emptying the cup, gave the girls to drink.
Then filling another he signed to the yellow girl and said to her, “O
sun of the day, let us hear some nice verses.” So she took the lute
and, preluding after the goodliest fashion, sang these couplets:—
I have a lover and when drawing him, ✿ He draws on me a sword-blade glancing
grim:
Allah avenge some little of his wrongs, ✿ Who holds my heart yet wreaks
o’erbearing whim:
Oft though I say, “Renounce him, heart!” yet heart ✿ Will to none other turn
excepting him.
He is my wish and will of all men, but ✿ Fate’s envious hand to me’s aye grudging
him.

The master rejoiced and drank and gave the girls to drink; then he
filled the cup and taking it in hand, signed to the black girl, saying,
“O pupil of the eye, let us have a taste of thy quality, though it be
but two words.” So she took the lute and tuning it and tightening the
strings, preluded in various modes, then returned to the first and
sang to a lively air these couplets:—
Ho ye, mine eyes, let prodigal tears go free; ✿ This ecstasy would see my being
unbe:[351]
All ecstasies I dree for sake of friend ✿ I fondle, maugre enviers’ jealousy:
Censors forbid me from his rosy cheek, ✿ Yet e’er inclines my heart to rosery:
Cups of pure wine, time was, went circuiting ✿ In joy, what time the lute sang
melody,
While kept his troth the friend who madded me, ✿ Yet made me rising star of bliss
to see:
But—with Time, turned he not by sin of mine; ✿ Than such a turn can aught more
bitter be?
Upon his cheek there grows and glows a rose, ✿ Nay two, whereof grant Allah
one to me!
An were prostration[352] by our law allowed ✿ To aught but Allah, at his feet I had
bowed.

Thereupon rose the six girls and, kissing the ground before their
lord, said to him, “Do thou justice between us, O our lord!” So he
looked at their beauty and loveliness and the contrast of their
colours and praised Almighty Allah and glorified Him. Then said he,
“There is none of you but hath learnt the Koran by heart, and
mastered the musical art and is versed in the chronicles of yore and
the doings of peoples which have gone before; so it is my desire that
each one of you rise and, pointing finger at her opposite, praise
herself and dispraise her co-concubine; that is to say, let the blonde
point to the brunette, the plump to the slender and the yellow to the
black girl; after which the rivals, each in her turn, shall do the like
with the former; and be this illustrated with citations from Holy Writ
and somewhat of anecdotes and verse, so as to show forth your fine
breeding and elegance of your pleading.” And they answered him,
“We hear and we obey!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the handmaids
answered the man of Al-Yaman, “We hear and we obey!” Accordingly
the blonde rose first and, pointing at the black girl, said to her:—Out
on thee, blackamoor! It is told by tradition that whiteness saith:—I
am the shining light, I am the rising moon of the fourteenth night.
My hue is patent and my brow is resplendent and of my beauty
quoth the poet:—
White girl with softly rounded polished cheeks ✿ As if a pearl concealed by
Beauty’s boon:
Her stature Alif-like;[353] her smile like Mím[354] ✿ And o’er her eyes two brows
that bend like Nún.[355]
‘Tis as her glance were arrow, and her brows ✿ Bows ever bent to shoot Death-
dart eftsoon:
If cheek and shape thou view, there shalt thou find ✿ Rose, myrtle, basil and
Narcissus wone.
Men wont in gardens plant and set the branch; ✿ How many garths thy stature-
branch doth own!

So my colour is like the hale and healthy day and the newly-culled
orange-spray and the star of sparkling ray;[356] and indeed quoth
Almighty Allah, in His precious Book, to his prophet Moses (on whom
be peace!):—Put thy hand into thy bosom; it shall come forth white,
without hurt.[357] And again He saith:—But they whose faces shall
become white, shall be in the mercy of Allah; therein shall they
remain for ever.[358] My colour is a sign, a miracle, and my loveliness
supreme and my beauty a term extreme. It is on the like of me that
raiment showeth fair and fine and to the like of me that hearts
incline. Moreover, in whiteness are many excellences; for instance,
the snow falleth white from heaven, and it is traditional that the
beautifullest of colours is white. The Moslems also glory in white
turbands; but I should be tedious, were I to tell all that may be told
in praise of white; little and enough is better than too much of
unfilling stuff. So now I will begin with thy dispraise, O black, O
colour of ink and blacksmith’s dust, thou whose face is like the raven
which bringeth about the parting of lovers. Verily, the poet saith in
praise of white and blame of black:—
Seest not that pearls are prized for milky hue, ✿ But with a dirham buy we coals
in load?
And while white faces enter Paradise, ✿ Black faces crowd Gehenna’s black abode.

And indeed it is told in certain histories, related on the authority of

devout men, that Noah (on whom be peace!) was sleeping one day,
with his sons Cham and Shem seated at his head, when a wind
sprang up and, lifting his clothes, uncovered his nakedness; whereat
Cham looked and laughed and did not cover him: but Shem arose
and covered him. Presently, their sire awoke and learning, what had
been done by his sons, blessed Shem and cursed Cham. So Shem’s
face was whitened and from him sprang the prophets and the
orthodox Caliphs and Kings; whilst Cham’s face was blackened and
he fled forth to the land of Abyssinia, and of his lineage came the
blacks.[359] All people are of one mind in affirming the lack of
understanding of the blacks, even as saith the adage, “How shall
one find a black with a mind?” Quoth her master, “Sit thee down,
thou hast given us sufficient and even excess.” Thereupon he signed
to the negress, who rose and, pointing her finger at the blonde,
said:—Dost thou not know that in the Koran sent down to His
prophet and apostle, is transmitted the saying of God the Most High,
“By the night when it covereth all things with darkness; by the day
when it shineth forth!”[360] If the night were not the more illustrious,
verily Allah had not sworn by it nor had given it precedence of the
day. And indeed all men of wit and wisdom accept this. Knowest
thou not that black is the ornament of youth and that, when
hoariness descendeth upon the head, delights pass away and the
hour of death draweth in sight? Were not black the most illustrious
of things, Allah had not set it in the core of the heart[361] and the
pupil of the eye; and how excellent is the saying of the poet:—
I love not black girls but because they show ✿ Youth’s colour, tinct of eye and
heart-core’s hue;
Nor are in error who unlove the white, ✿ And hoary hairs and winding-sheet
eschew.

And that said of another:—

 Black[362] girls, not white, are they ✿ All worthy love I see:
Black girls wear dark-brown lips;[363] ✿ Whites, blotch of leprosy.

And of a third:—
Black girls in acts are white, and ‘tis as though ✿ Like eyes, with purest shine and
sheen they show;
If I go daft for her, be not amazed; ✿ Black bile[364] drives melancholic-mad we
know:
‘Tis as my colour were the noon of night; ✿ For all no moon it be, its splendours
glow.

Moreover, is the foregathering of lovers good but in the night? Let

this quality and profit suffice thee. What protecteth lovers from spies
and censors like the blackness of night’s darkness; and what causeth
to them to fear discovery like the whiteness of the dawn’s
brightness? So, how many claims to honour are there not in
blackness and how excellent is the saying of the poet!—
I visit them, and night-black lendeth aid to me ✿ Seconding love, but dawn-white
is mine enemy.

And that of another:—

How many a night I’ve passed with the beloved of me, ✿ While gloom with dusky
tresses veilèd our desires:
But when the morn-light showed it caused me sad affright; ✿ And I to Morning
said, “Who worship light are liars!”[365]

And saith a third:—

He came to see me, hiding neath the skirt of night, ✿ Hasting his steps as wended
he in cautious plight.
I rose and spread my cheek upon his path like rug, ✿ Abject, and trailed my skirt
to hide it from his sight;
But rose the crescent moon and strave its best to show ✿ The world our loves,
like nail-slice raying radiant light:[366]
Then what befel befel: I need not aught describe; ✿ But think thy best, and ask
me naught of wrong or right.
Meet not thy lover save at night for fear of slander ✿ The Sun’s a tittle-tattler and
the Moon’s a pander.

And a fifth:—
I love not white girls blown with fat who puff and pant; ✿ The maid for me is
young brunette embonpoint-scant.
I’d rather ride a colt that’s dark upon the day ✿ Of race, and set my friends upon
the elephant.

And a sixth:—
My lover came to me one night, ✿ And clipt we both with fond embrace;
And lay together till we saw ✿ The morning come with swiftest pace.
Now I pray Allah and my Lord ✿ To reunite us of His grace;
And make night last me long as he ✿ Lies in the arms that tightly lace.

Were I to set forth all the praises of blackness, my tale would be

tedious; but little and enough is better than too much of unfilling
stuff. As for thee, O blonde, thy colour is that of leprosy and thine
embrace is suffocation,[367] and it is of report that hoar-frost and icy
cold[368] are in Gehenna for the torment of the wicked. Again, of
things black and excellent is ink, wherewith is written Allah’s word;
and were it not for black ambergris and black musk, there would be
no perfumes to carry to Kings. How many glories I may not mention
dwell in blackness, and how well saith the poet:—
Seest not that musk, the nut-brown musk, e’er claims the highest price, ✿ Whilst
for a load of whitest lime none more than dirham bids?
And while white speck upon the eye deforms the loveliest youth, ✿ Black eyes
discharge the sharpest shafts in lashes from their lids.
Quoth her master, “Sit thee down: this much sufficeth.” So she sat
down and he signed to the fat girl, who rose——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the man of Al-
Yaman, the master of the handmaids, signed to the fat girl who rose
and, pointing her finger at the slim girl, bared her calves and wrists
and uncovered her stomach, showing its dimples and the plump
rondure of her navel. Then she donned a shift of fine stuff, that
exposed her whole body, and said:—Praised be Allah who created
me, for that He beautified my face and made me fat and fair of the
fattest and fairest; and likened me to branches laden with fruit, and
bestowed upon me abounding beauty and brightness: and praised
be He no less, for that He hath given me the precedence and
honoured me, when He mentioneth me in His holy Book! Quoth the
Most High, “And he brought a fatted calf.”[369] And He hath made me
like unto a vergier full of peaches and pomegranates. In very sooth
even as the townsfolk long for fat birds and eat of them and love not
lean birds, so do the sons of Adam desire fat meat and eat of it.
How many vauntful attributes are there not in fatness, and how well
saith the poet:—
Farewell thy love, for see, the Cafilah’s[370] on the move: ✿ O man, canst bear to
say adieu and leave thy love?
‘Tis as her going were to seek her neighbour’s tent, ✿ The gait of fat fair maid,
whom hearts shall all approve.

Sawest thou ever one stand before a flesher’s stall but sought of him
fat flesh? The wise say, “Joyance is in three things, eating meat and
riding meat and putting meat into meat.”[371] As for thee, O thin one,
thy calves are like the shanks of sparrows or the pokers of furnaces;
and thou art a cruciform plank or a piece of flesh poor and rank;
there is naught in thee to gladden the heart; even as saith the poet:
—
With Allah take I refuge from whatever driveth me ✿ To bed with one like
footrasp[372] or the roughest ropery:
In every limb she hath a horn that butteth me whene’er ✿ I fain would rest, so
morn and eve I wend me wearily.

Quoth her master, “Sit thee down: this much sufficeth.” So she sat
down and he signed to the slender girl, who rose, as she were a
willow-wand, or a rattan-frond or a stalk of sweet basil, and said:—
Praised be Allah who created me and beautified me and made my
embraces the end of all desire and likened me to the branch,
whereto all hearts incline. If I rise, I rise lightly; if I sit, I sit prettily;
I am nimble-witted at a jest and merrier-souled than mirth itself.
Never heard I one describe his mistress, saying, “My beloved is the
bigness of an elephant or like a mountain long and broad;” but
rather, “My lady hath a slender waist and a slim shape.”[373]
Furthermore a little food filleth me and a little water quencheth my
thirst; my sport is agile and my habit active; for I am sprightlier than
the sparrow and lighter-skipping than the starling. My favours are
the longing of the lover and the delight of the desirer; for I am
goodly of shape, sweet of smile and graceful as the bending willow-
wand or the rattan-cane[374] or the stalk of the basil-plant; nor is
there any can compare with me in loveliness, even as saith one of
me:—
Thy shape with willow branch I dare compare, ✿ And hold thy figure as my
fortunes fair:
I wake each morn distraught, and follow thee, ✿ And from the rival’s eye in fear I
fare.

It is for the like of me that amourists run mad and that those who
desire me wax distracted. If my lover would draw me to him, I am
drawn to him; and if he would have me incline to him, I incline to
him and not against him. But now, as for thee, O fat of body, thine
eating is the feeding of an elephant, and neither much nor little
filleth thee. When thou liest with a man who is lean, he hath no ease
of thee; nor can he anyways take his pleasure of thee; for the
bigness of thy belly holdeth him off from going in unto thee and the
fatness of thy thighs hindereth him from coming at thy slit. What
goodness is there in thy grossness, and what courtesy or
pleasantness in thy coarseness? Fat flesh is fit for naught but the
flesher, nor is there one point therein that pleadeth for praise. If one
joke with thee, thou art angry; if one sport with thee, thou art sulky;
if thou sleep, thou snorest; if thou walk, thou lollest out thy tongue!
if thou eat, thou art never filled. Thou art heavier than mountains
and fouler than corruption and crime. Thou hast in thee nor agility
nor benedicite nor thinkest thou of aught save meat and sleep.
When thou pissest thou swishest; if thou turd thou gruntest like a
bursten wine-skin or an elephant transmogrified. If thou go to the
water-closet, thou needest one to wash thy gap and pluck out the
hairs which overgrow it; and this is the extreme of sluggishness and
the sign, outward and visible, of stupidity.[375] In short, there is no
good thing about thee, and indeed the poet saith of thee:—
Heavy and swollen like an urine-bladder blown, ✿ With hips and thighs like
mountain propping piles of stone;
Whene’er she walks in Western hemisphere, her tread ✿ Makes the far Eastern
world with weight to moan and groan.

Quoth her master, “Sit thee down, this sufficeth;” so she sat down
and he signed to the yellow girl, who rose to her feet and praised
Allah Almighty and magnified His name, calling down peace and
blessing on Mohammed the best of His creatures; after which she
pointed her finger at the brunette and said to her,——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-seventh Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the

yellow girl stood up and praised Almighty Allah and magnified His
name; after which she pointed her finger at the brown girl and said
to her:—I am the one praised in the Koran, and the Compassionate
hath described my complexion and its excellence over all other hues
in His manifest Book, where Allah saith, “A yellow, pure yellow,
whose colour gladdeneth the beholders.”[376] Wherefore my colour is
a sign and portent and my grace is supreme and my beauty a term
extreme; for that my tint is the tint of a ducat and the colour of the
planets and moons and the hue of ripe apples. My fashion is the
fashion of the fair, and the dye of saffron outvieth all other dyes; so
my semblance is wondrous and my colour marvellous. I am soft of
body and of high price, comprising all qualities of beauty. My colour
is essentially precious as virgin gold, and how many boasts and
glories doth it not unfold! Of the like of me quoth the poet:—
Her golden yellow is the sheeny sun’s; ✿ And like gold sequins she delights the
sight:
Saffron small portion of her glance can show; ✿ Nay,[377] she outvies the moon
when brightest bright.

And I shall at once begin in thy dispraise, O berry-brown girl! Thy

tincture is that of the buffalo, and all souls shudder at thy sight. If
thy colour be in any created thing, it is blamed; if it be in food, it is
poisoned; for thy hue is the hue of the dung-fly; it is a mark of
ugliness even in dogs; and among the colours it is one which strikes
with amazement and is of the signs of mourning. Never heard I of
brown gold or brown pearls or brown gems. If thou enter the privy,
thy colour changeth, and when thou comest out, thou addest
ugliness to ugliness. Thou art a non-descript; neither black, that
thou mayst be recognised, nor white, that thou mayst be described;
and in thee there is no good quality, even as saith the poet:—
The hue of dusty motes is hers; that dull brown hue of hers ✿ Is mouldy, like the
dust and mud by Cossid’s foot upthrown:[378]
I never look upon her brow, e’en for eye-twinkling’s space, ✿ But in brown study
fall I and my thoughts take browner tone.

Quoth her master, “Sit thee down; this much sufficeth;” so she sat
down and he signed to the brunette. Now she was a model of
beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace; soft of skin,
slim of shape, of stature rare, and coal-black hair; with cheeks rosy-
pink, eyes black-rimmed by nature’s hand, face fair, and eloquent
tongue; moreover slender-waisted and heavy-hipped. So she rose
and said:—Praise be to Allah who hath created me neither leper-
white nor bile-yellow nor charcoal-black, but hath made my colour to
be beloved of men of wit and wisdom; for all the poets extol berry-
brown maids in every tongue and exalt their colour over all other
colours. To “brown of hue (they say) praise is due;” and Allah bless
him who singeth:—
And in brunettes is mystery, could’st thou but read it right, ✿ Thy sight would
never dwell on others, be they red or white:
Free-flowing conversation, amorous coquettishness ✿ Would teach Hárut himself a
mightier spell of magic might.

And saith another:—

Give me brunettes, so limber, lissom, lithe of sway, ✿ Brunettes tall, slender,
straight like Samhar’s nut-brown lance;[379]
Languid of eyelids and with silky down on either cheek, ✿ Who fixed in lover’s
heart work to his life mischance.

And yet another:—

Now, by my life, brown hue hath point of comeliness ✿ Leaves whiteness nowhere
and high o’er the Moon takes place;
But an of whiteness aught it borrowed self to deck, ✿ ‘Twould change its graces
and would pale for its disgrace:
Not with his must[380] I’m drunken, but his locks of musk ✿ Are wine inebriating
all of human race.
His charms are jealous each of each, and all desire ✿ To be the down that
creepeth up his lovely face.

And again another:—

Why not incline me to that show of silky down, ✿ On cheeks of dark brunette, like
bamboo spiring brown?
Whenas high rank in beauty poets sing, they say ✿ Brown ant-like specklet worn
by nenuphar in crown.
And see I sundry lovers tear out others’ eyne ✿ For the brown mole beneath that
jetty pupil shown,
Then why do censors blame me for one all a mole? ✿ Allah I pray demolish each
molesting clown![381]

My form is all grace and my shape is built on heavy base; Kings

desire my colour which all adore, rich and poor. I am pleasant,
active, handsome, elegant, soft of skin and prized for price: eke I am
perfect in seemlihead and breeding and eloquence; my aspect is
comely and my tongue witty; my temper is bright and my play a
pretty sight. As for thee, thou art like unto a mallow growing about
the Lúk Gate;[382] in hue sallow and streaked-yellow and made all of
sulphur. Aroynt thee, O copper-worth of jaundiced sorrel, O rust of
brass-pot, O face of owl in gloom, and fruit of the Hell-tree Zakkúm;
[383]
whose bedfellow, for heart-break, is buried in the tomb. And
there is no good thing in thee, even as saith the poet of the like of
thee:—
Yellowness, tincturing her tho’ nowise sick or sorry, ✿ Straitens my hapless heart
and makes my head sore ache;
An thou repent not, Soul! I’ll punish thee with kissing[384] ✿ Her lower face that
shall mine every grinder break!

And when she ended her lines, quoth her master, “Sit thee down,
this much sufficeth!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
yellow girl ended her recitation, quoth her master, “Sit thee down;
this much sufficeth!” Then he made peace between them and clad
them all in sumptuous robes of honour and hanselled them with
precious jewels of land and sea. And never have I seen, O
Commander of the Faithful, any when or any where, aught fairer
than these six damsels fair. Now when Al-Maamun heard this story
from Mohammed of Bassorah, he turned to him and said, “O
Mohammed, knowest thou the abiding-place of these damsels and
their master, and canst thou contrive to buy them of him for us?” He
answered, “O Commander of the Faithful, indeed I have heard that
their lord is wrapped up in them and cannot bear to be parted from
them.” Rejoined the Caliph, “Take thee ten thousand gold pieces for
each girl, that is sixty thousand for the whole purchase; and carry
the coin to his house and buy them of him.” So Mohammed of
Bassorah took the money and, betaking himself to the Man of Al-
Yaman, acquainted him with the wish of the Prince of True Believers.
He consented to part with them at that price to pleasure the Caliph;
and despatched them to Al-Maamun, who assigned them an elegant
abode and therein used to sit with them as cup-companions;
marvelling at their beauty and loveliness, at their varied colours and
at the excellence of their conversation. Thus matters stood for many
a day; but, after awhile, when their former owner could no longer
bear to be parted from them, he sent a letter to the Commander of
the Faithful complaining to him of his own ardent love-longing for
them and containing, amongst other contents, these couplets:—
Captured me six, all bright with youthful blee; ✿ Then on all six be best salams
from me!
They are my hearing, seeing, very life; ✿ My meat, my drink, my joy, my jollity:
I’ll ne’er forget the favours erst so charmed ✿ Whose loss hath turned my sleep to
insomny:
Alack, O longsome pining and O tears! ✿ Would I had farewelled all humanity:
Those eyes, with bowed and well arched eyebrows[385] dight, ✿ Like bows have
struck me with their archery.

Now when the letter came to the hands of Al-Maamun, he robed the
six damsels in rich raiment; and, giving them threescore thousand
dinars, sent them back to their lord who joyed in them with
exceeding joy,[386] (more especially for the monies they brought him)
and abode with them in all the comfort and pleasance of life, till
there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Severer of
societies. And men also recount the tale of

348.
Again the “babes” of the eyes.

349.
i.e. whose glance is as the light of the glowing braise or (embers). The Arab.
“Mikbás” = pan or pot full of small charcoal, is an article well known in Italy
and Southern Europe. The word is apparently used here because it rhymes
with “Anfás” (souls, spirits).

350.
i.e. martyrdom; a Koranic term “fi sabíli ‘llahi” = on the way of Allah.

351.
These rhymes in -y, -ee and -ie are purposely affected, to imitate the
cadence of the Arabic.

352.
Arab. Sujúd, the ceremonial prostration, touching the ground with the
forehead. So in the Old Testament “he bowed (or fell down) and
worshipped” (Gen. xxiv., 26: Mat. ii., 11), of which our translation gives a
wrong idea.

353.
Thus written ‫ ا‬hence as has been seen, a girl is called Alfiyyah = A-shaped.

354.
i.e. the medial form of m =

355.
i.e. the inverted n.

356.
It may also mean a “Sevigné of pearls.”

357. Koran xxvii. 12. This was one of the nine “signs” to wicked “Pharaoh.” The
“hand of Moses” is a symbol of power and ability (Koran vii. 105). The
whiteness was supernatural beauty, not leprosy of the Jews (Exod. iv. 6); but
brilliancy, after being born red or black: according to some commentators,
Moses was a negro.
358.
Koran iii. 103; the other faces become black. This explains, I have noticed,
the use of the phrases in blessing and cursing.

359.
Here we have the naked legend of the negro’s origin; one of those nursery
tales in which the ignorant of Christendom still believe. But the deduction
from the fable and the testimony to the negro’s lack of intelligence, though
unpleasant to our ignorant negrophils, are factual and satisfactory.

360.
Koran, xcii. 1, 2: an oath of Allah to reward and punish with Heaven and
Hell.

361.
Alluding to the “black drop” in the heart: it was taken from Mohammed’s by
the Archangel Gabriel. The fable seems to have arisen from the verse “Have
we not opened thy breast?” (Koran, chapt. xciv. 1). The popular tale is that
Halímah, the Badawi nurse of Mohammed, of the Banu Sa’ad tribe, once saw
her son, also a child, running towards her and asked him what was the
matter. He answered, “My little brother was seized by two men in white who
stretched him on the ground and opened his belly!” For a full account and
deductions see the Rev. Mr. Badger’s article, “Muhammed” (p. 959) in vol. iii.
“Dictionary of Christian Biography.”

362.
Arab, “Sumr,” lit. brown (as it is afterwards used), but politely applied to a
negro: “Yá Abu Sumrah!” O father of brownness.

363.
Arab. “Lumá” = dark hue of the inner lips admired by the Arabs and to us
suggesting most unpleasant ideas. Mr. Chenery renders it “dark red” and
“ruddy,” altogether missing the idea.

364.
Arab. “Saudá,” feminine of aswad (black), and meaning black bile
(melancholia) as opposed to leucocholia.

365.
i.e. the Magians, Sabians, Zoroastrians.

366.
The “Unguinum fulgor” of the Latins who did not forget to celebrate the
shining of the nails although they did not Henna them like Easterns. Some,
 however, have suggested that Ῥοδοδάκτυλος alludes to colouring matter.

367. Women with white skins are supposed to be heating and unwholesome:
hence the Hindu Rajahs slept with dark girls in the hot season.

368.
Moslems sensibly have a cold as well as a hot Hell, the former called
Zamharir (lit. “intense cold”) or Al-Barahút, after a well in Hazramaut; as
Gehenna (Arab. Jahannam) from the furnace-like ravine East of Jerusalem
(Night cccxxv). The icy Hell is necessary in terrorem for peoples who inhabit
cold regions and who in a hot Hell only look forward to an eternity of “coals
and candles” gratis. The sensible missionaries preached it in Iceland till
foolishly forbidden by Papal Bull.

369.
Koran ii. 26; speaking of Abraham when he entertained the angels unawares.

370.
Arab “Rakb,” usually applied to a fast-going caravan of dromedary riders
(Pilgrimage ii. 329). The “Cafilah” is Arab.: “Caravan” is a corruption of the
Pers. Karwán.

371.
A popular saying. It is interesting to contrast this dispute between fat and
thin with the Shakespearean humour of Falstaff and Prince Henry.

372.
Arab. “Dalak” vulg Hajar al-Hammam (Hammam-stone). The comparison is
very apt: the rasps are of baked clay artificially roughened (see illustrations
in Lane M. E. chapt. xvi.) The rope is called “Masad,” a bristling line of palm-
fibre like the coir now familiarly known in England.

373.
Although the Arab’s ideal of beauty, as has been seen and said, corresponds
with ours, the Egyptians (Modern) the Maroccans and other negrofied races
like “walking tun-butts” as Clapperton called his amorous widow.

374.
Arab. “Khayzar” or “Khayzarán” the rattan-palm. Those who have seen this
most graceful “palmijuncus” in its native forest will recognise the neatness of
the simile.
375.
This is the popular idea of a bushy “veil of nature” in women: it is always
removed by depilatories and vellication. When Bilkis Queen of Sheba
discovered her legs by lifting her robe (Koran xxvii.), Solomon was minded to
marry her, but would not do so till the devils had by a depilatory removed
the hair. The popular preparation (called Núrah) consists of quicklime 7
parts, and Zirník or orpiment, 3 parts: it is applied in the Hammam to a
perspiring skin, and it must be washed off immediately the hair is loosened
or it burns and discolours. The rest of the body-pile (Sha’arat opp. to Sha’ar
= hair) is eradicated by applying a mixture of boiled honey with turpentine
or other gum, and rolling it with the hand till the hair comes off. Men I have
said remove the pubes by shaving, and pluck the hair of the armpits, one of
the vestages of pre-Adamite man. A good depilatory is still a desideratum,
the best perfumers of London and Paris have none which they can
recommend. The reason is plain: the hair-bulb can be eradicated only by
destroying the skin.

376.
Koran, ii. 64: referring to the heifer which the Jews were ordered to sacrifice.

377. Arab. “kallá,” a Koranic term possibly from Kull (all) and lá (not) = prorsus
non—altogether not!

378.
“Habáb” or “Habá,” the fine particles of dust, which we call motes. The
Cossid (Arab. Kásid) is the Anglo-Indian term for a running courier (mostly
under Government), the Persian “Shátir” and the Guebre Rávand.

379.
Arab. “Samhari” a very long thin lance so called after Samhar, the maker, or
the place of making. See vol. ii. p. 1. It is supposed to cast, when planted in
the ground, a longer shadow in proportion to its height, than any other thing
of the kind.

380.
Arab. “Suláfah;” properly ptisane which flows from the grapes before
pressure. The plur. “Sawálif” also means tresses of hair and past events:
thus there is a “triple entendre.” And again “he” is used for “she.”

381.
There is a pun in the last line, “Khálun (a mole) khallauni” (rid me), etc.
382.
Of old Fustát, afterwards part of Southern Cairo, a proverbially miserable
quarter, hence the saying, “They quoted Misr to Káhirah (Cairo), whereon
Bab al-Luk rose with its grass,” in derision of nobodies who push themselves
forward. Burckhardt, Prov. 276.

383.
Its fruits are the heads of devils; a true Dantesque fancy. Koran, chapt. xvii.
62, “the tree cursed in the Koran” and in chapt. xxxvii, 60, “is this better
entertainment, or the tree of Al-Zakkúm?” Commentators say that it is a
thorn bearing a bitter almond which grows in the Tehamah and was
therefore promoted to Hell.

384.
Arab. “Lasm” (lathm) as opposed to Bausah or boseh (a buss) and Kublah (a
kiss, generic).

385.
Arab. “Jufún” (plur. of Jafn) which may mean eyebrows or eyelashes and
only the context can determine which.

386.
Very characteristic of Egyptian manners is the man who loves six girls
equally well, who lends them, as it were, to the Caliph; and who takes back
the goods as if in no wise damaged by the loan.
 HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE DAMSEL AND
ABU NOWAS.

The Caliph, Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, being one

night exceedingly restless and thoughtful with sad thought, rose
from his couch and walked about the by-ways of his palace, till he
came to a chamber, over whose doorway hung a curtain. He raised
that curtain and saw, at the upper end of the room, a bedstead
whereon lay something black, as it were a man asleep, with a wax
taper on his right hand and another on his left; and as the Caliph
stood wondering at the sight, behold, he remarked a flagon full of
old wine whose mouth was covered by the cup. The Caliph
wondered even more at this, saying, “How came this black by such
wine-service?” Then, drawing near the bedstead, he found that it
was a girl lying asleep there, curtained by her hair; so he uncovered
her face and saw that it was like the moon, on the night of his
fulness.[387] So the Caliph filled himself a cup of wine and drank it to
the roses of her cheeks; and, feeling inclined to enjoy her, kissed a
mole on her face, whereupon she started up from sleep, and cried
out, “O Trusted of Allah,[388] what may this be?” Replied he, “A guest
who knocketh at thy door, hoping that thou wilt give him hospitality
till the dawn;” and she answered; “Even so! I will serve him with my
hearing and my sight.” So she brought forward the wine and they
drank together, after which she took the lute and tuning the strings,
preluded in one-and-twenty modes, then returning to the first,
played a lively measure and sang these couplets:—
The tongue of love from heart bespeaks my sprite, ✿ Telling I love thee with love
infinite:
I have an eye bears witness to my pain, ✿ And fluttering heart sore hurt by
parting-plight.
I cannot hide the love that harms my life; ✿ Tears ever roll and growth of pine I
sight:
I knew not what love was ere loving thee; ✿ But Allah’s destiny to all is dight.

And when her verses were ended she said, “O Commander of the
Faithful, I have been wronged!”——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the damsel
cried, “O Commander of the Faithful, I have been wronged!” Quoth
he, “How so, and who hath wronged thee?” Quoth she “Thy son
bought me awhile ago, for ten thousand dirhams, meaning to give
me to thee; but thy wife, the daughter of thine uncle, sent him the
said price and bade him shut me up from thee in this chamber.”
Whereupon said the Caliph. “Ask a boon of me,” and she, “I ask thee
to lie with me to-morrow night.” Replied the Caliph, “Inshallah!” and
leaving her, went away. Now as soon as it was morning, he repaired
to his sitting-room and called for Abu Nowás, but found him not and
sent his chamberlain to ask after him. The chamberlain found him in
a tavern, pawned and pledged for a score of a thousand dirhams,
which he had spent on a certain beardless youth, and questioned
him of his case. So he told him what had betided him with the
comely boy and how he had spent upon him a thousand silver
pieces; whereupon quoth the chamberlain, “Show him to me; and if
he be worth this, thou art excused.” He answered, “Patience, and
thou shalt see him presently.” As they were talking together, up
came the lad, clad in a white tunic, under which was another of red
and under this yet another black. Now when Abu Nowas saw him, he
sighed a loud sigh and improvised these couplets:—
 He showed himself in shirt of white, ✿ With eyes and eyelids languor-dight.
Quoth I, “Dost pass and greet me not? ✿ Though were thy greeting a delight?
Blest He who clothed in rose thy cheeks, ✿ Creates what wills He by His might!”
Quoth he, “Leave prate, forsure my Lord ✿ Of works is wondrous infinite:
My garment’s like my face and luck; ✿ All three are white on white on white.”

When the beardless one heard these words, he doffed the white
tunic and appeared in the red; and when Abu Nowas saw him he
redoubled in expressions of admiration and repeated these couplets:
—
He showed in garb anemone-red, ✿ A foeman “friend” entitulèd:
Quoth I in marvel, “Thou’rt full moon ✿ Whose weed shames rose however red:
Hath thy cheek stained it red, or hast ✿ Dyed it in blood by lovers bled?”
Quoth he, “Sol gave me this for shirt ✿ When hasting down the West to bed:
So garb and wine and hue of cheek ✿ All three are red on red on red.”

And when the verses came to an end, the beardless one doffed the
red tunic and stood in the black; and, when Abu Nowas saw him, he
redoubled in attention to him and versified in these couplets:—
He came in sable-huèd sacque ✿ And shone in dark men’s heart to rack:
Quoth I, “Dost pass and greet me not? ✿ Joying the hateful envious pack?
Thy garment’s like thy locks and like ✿ My lot, three blacks on black on black.”

Seeing this state of things and understanding the case of Abu Nowas
and his love-longing, the Chamberlain returned to the Caliph and
acquainted him therewith; so he bade him pouch a thousand
dirhams and go and take him out of pawn. Thereupon the
Chamberlain returned to Abu Nowas and, paying his score, carried
him to the Caliph, who said, “Make me some verses containing the
words, O Trusted of Allah, what may this be?” Answered he, “I hear
and I obey, O Commander of the Faithful.”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Fortieth Night,

She said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abu Nowas
answered, “I hear and I obey, O Commander of the Faithful!” and
forthwith he improvised these couplets:—
Long was my night for sleepless misery; ✿ Weary of body and of thought ne’er
free:
I rose and in my palace walked awhile, ✿ Then wandered thro’ the halls of
Haremry:
Till chanced I on a blackness, which I found ✿ A white girl hid in hair for napery:
Here to her for a moon of brightest sheen! ✿ Like willow-wand and veiled in
pudency:
I quaffed a cup to her; then drew I near, ✿ And kissed the beauty-spot on cheek
had she:
She woke astart, and in her sleep’s amaze, ✿ Swayed as the swaying branch in
rain we see;
Then rose and said to me, “O Trusted One ✿ Of Allah, O Amin, what may this be?”
Quoth I, “A guest that cometh to thy tents ✿ And craves till morn thy hospitality.”
She answered, “Gladly I, my lord, will grace ✿ And honour such a guest with ear
and eye.”

Cried the Caliph, “Allah strike thee dead! it is as if thou hadst been
present with us.”[389] Then he took him by the hand and carried him
to the damsel and, when Abu Nowas saw her clad in a dress and veil
of blue, he expressed abundant admiration and improvised these
couplets:—
Say to the pretty one in veil of blue, ✿ “By Allah, O my life, have ruth on dole!
For, when the fair entreats her lover foul, ✿ Sighs rend his bosom and bespeak his
soul:
By charms of thee and whitest cheek I swear thee, ✿ Pity a heart for love lost all
control:
Bend to him, be his stay ‘gainst stress of love, ✿ Nor aught accept what saith the
ribald fool.”

Now when he ended his verse, the damsel set wine before the
Caliph; and, taking the lute, played a lively measure and sang these
couplets:—
Wilt thou be just to others in thy love, and do ✿ Unright, and put me off, and take
new friend in lieu?
Had lovers Kazi unto whom I might complain ✿ Of thee, he’d peradventure grant
the due I sue:
If thou forbid me pass your door, yet I afar ✿ Will stand, and viewing you waft my
salams to you!

The Caliph bade her ply Abu Nowas with wine, till he lost his right
senses; thereupon he gave him a full cup, and he drank a draught of
it and held the cup in his hand till he slept. Then the Commander of
the Faithful bade the girl take the cup from his grasp and hide it; so
she took it and set it between her thighs; moreover he drew his
scymitar and, standing at the head of Abu Nowas, pricked him with
the point; whereupon he awoke and saw the drawn sword and the
Caliph standing over him. At this sight the fumes of the wine fled
from his head and the Caliph said to him, “Make me some verses
and tell me therein what is become of thy cup; or I will cut off thy
head.” So he improvised these couplets:—
My tale, indeed, is tale unlief; ✿ ‘Twas yonder fawn who play’d the thief!
She stole my cup of wine, before ✿ The sips and sups had dealt relief;
And hid it in a certain place, ✿ My heart’s desire and longing grief.
I name it not, for dread of him ✿ Who hath of it command-in-chief.

Quoth the Caliph, “Allah strike thee dead![390] How knewest thou
that? But we accept what thou sayst.” Then he ordered him a dress
of honour and a thousand dinars, and he went away rejoicing. And
among tales they tell is one of

387. The moon is masculine possibly by connection with the Assyrian Lune-god
“Sin”; but I can find no cause for the Sun (Shams) being feminine.

388.
Arab. “Al-Amin,” a title of the Prophet. It is usually held that this proud name,
“The honest man,” was applied by his fellow-citizens to Mohammed in early
life; and that in his twenty-fifth year, when the Eighth Ka’abah was being
built, it induced the tribes to make him their umpire concerning the
distinction of placing in position the “Black Stone” which Gabriel had brought
 from Heaven to be set up as the starting-post for the seven circuitings. He
distributed the honour amongst the clans and thus gave universal
satisfaction. His Christian biographers mostly omit to record an anecdote
which speaks so highly in Mohammed’s favour (Pilgrimage iii. 192.)

389.
The idea is that Abu Nowas was a thought-reader—such being the
prerogative of inspired poets in the East. His drunkenness and debauchery
only added to his power. I have already noticed that “Allah strike thee dead”
(Kátala-k Allah) is like our phrase, “Confound the fellow, how clever he is.”

390.
Again said facetiously, “Devil take you!”
 THE MAN WHO STOLE THE DISH OF GOLD
WHEREIN THE DOG ATE.

Some time erst there was a man, who had accumulated debts, and
his case was straitened upon him, so that he left his people and
family and went forth in distraction; and he ceased not wandering
on at random till he came after a time to a city tall of walls and firm
of foundations. He entered it in a state of despondency and despair,
harried by hunger and worn with the weariness of his way. As he
passed through one of the main streets, he saw a company of the
great going along; so he followed them till they reached a house like
to a royal palace. He entered with them, and they stayed not faring
forwards till they came in presence of a person seated at the upper
end of a saloon, a man of the most dignified and majestic aspect,
surrounded by pages and eunuchs, as he were of the sons of the
Wazirs. When he saw the visitors, he rose to greet them and
received them with honour; but the poor man aforesaid was
confounded at his own boldness, when beholding——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Forty-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the poor man
aforesaid was confounded at his own boldness, when beholding the
goodliness of the place and the crowd of servants and attendants;
so drawing back, in perplexity and fear for his life sat down apart in
a place afar off, where none should see him. Now it chanced that
whilst he was sitting, behold, in came a man with four sporting-
dogs, whereon were various kinds of raw silk and brocade[391] and
wearing round their necks collars of gold with chains of silver, and
tied up each dog in a place set privy for him; after which he went
out and presently returned with four dishes of gold, full of rich
meats, which he set severally before the dogs, one for each. Then
he went away and left them, whilst the poor man began to eye the
food, for stress of hunger, and longed to go up to one of the dogs
and eat with him; but fear of them withheld him. Presently, one of
the dogs looked at him and Allah Almighty inspired the dog with a
knowledge of his case; so he drew back from the platter and signed
to the man, who came and ate till he was filled. Then he would have
withdrawn, but the dog again signed to him to take for himself the
dish and what food was left in it, and pushed it towards him with his
fore-paw. So the man took the dish and leaving the house, went his
way, and none followed him. Then he journeyed to another city
where he sold the dish and buying with the price a stock-in-trade,
returned to his own town. There he sold his goods and paid his
debts; and he throve and became affluent and rose to perfect
prosperity. He abode in his own land; but after some years had
passed he said to himself, “Needs must I repair to the city of the
owner of the dish, and' carry him a fit and handsome present and
pay him the money-value of that which his dog bestowed upon me.”
So he took the price of the dish and a suitable gift; and, setting out,
journeyed day and night, till he came to that city; he entered it and
sought the place where the man lived; but he found there naught
save ruins mouldering in row and croak of crow, and house and
home desolate and all conditions in changed state. At this, his heart
and soul were troubled, and he repeated the saying of him who
saith:—
Void are the private rooms of treasury: ✿ As void were hearts of fear and piety:
Changed is the Wady nor are its gazelles ✿ Those fawns, nor sand-hills those I
wont to see.

And that of another:—

In sleep came Su’adá’s[392] shade and wakened me ✿ Near dawn, when comrades
all a-sleeping lay:
But waking found I that the shade was fled, ✿ And saw air empty and shrine far
away.

Now when the man saw these mouldering ruins and witnessed what
the hand of time had manifestly done with the place, leaving but
traces of the substantial things that erewhiles had been, a little
reflection made it needless for him to enquire of the case; so he
turned away. Presently, seeing a wretched man, in a plight which
made him shudder and feel goose-skin, and which would have
moved the very rock to ruth, he said to him, “Ho thou! What have
time and fortune done with the lord of this place? Where are his
lovely faces, his shining full moons and splendid stars; and what is
the cause of the ruin that is come upon his abode, so that nothing
save the walls thereof remain?” Quoth the other, “He is the
miserable thou seest mourning that which hath left him naked.” But
knowest thou not the words of the Apostle (whom Allah bless and
keep!), wherein is a lesson to him who will learn by it and a warning
to whoso will be warned thereby and guided in the right way, “Verily
it is the way of Allah Almighty to raise up nothing of this world,
except He cast it down again?”[393] “If thou question of the cause of
this accident, indeed it is no wonder, considering the chances and
changes of Fortune. I was the lord of this place and I builded it and
founded it and owned it; and I was the proud possessor of its full
moons lucent and its circumstance resplendent and its damsels
radiant and its garniture magnificent, but Time turned and did away
from me wealth and servants and took from me what it had lent (not
given); and brought upon me calamities which it held in store
hidden. But there must needs be some reason for this thy question:
so tell it me and leave wondering.” Thereupon, the man who had
waxed wealthy being sore concerned, told him the whole story, and
added, “I have brought thee a present, such as souls desire, and the
price of thy dish of gold which I took; for it was the cause of my
affluence after poverty, and of the replenishment of my dwelling-
place, after desolation, and of the dispersion of my trouble and