HISTORY OF PRINCE HABIB
AND WHAT BEFEL HIM WITH THE
LADY DURRAT AL-GHAWWAS.
Here we begin to indite the history of Sultan Habib and of what
befel him with Durrat al-Ghawwas.[FN#378]
It is related (but Allah is All-knowing of His unknown and All-
cognisant of what took place and forewent in the annals of folk!)
that there was, in days of yore and in times and tides long gone
before, a tribe of the tribes of the Arabs hight Banú Hilál[FN#379]
whose head men were the Emir Hilál and the Emir Salámah.[FN#380]
Now this Emir Salamah had well nigh told out his tale of days
without having been blessed with boon of child; withal he was a
ruler valiant, masterful, a fender of his foes and a noble knight
of portly presence. He numbered by the thousand horsemen the
notablest of cavaliers and he came to overrule three-score-and-six
tribes of the Arabs. One chance night of the nights as he lay
sleeping in the sweetness of slumber, a Voice addressed him saying,
"Rise forthright and know thy wife, whereby she shall conceive
under command of Allah Almighty." Being thus disturbed of his rest
the Emir sprang up and compressed his spouse Kamar
al-Ashráf;[FN#381] she became pregnant by that embrace and when her
days came to an end she bare a boy as the full moon of the
fulness-night who by his father's hest was named Habíb.[FN#382] And
as time went on his sire rejoiced in him with joy exceeding and
reared him with fairest rearing and bade them teach him
Koran-reading together with the glorious names of Almighty Allah
and instruct him in writing and in all the arts and sciences. After
this he bestowed robes of honour and gifts of money and raiment
upon the teachers who had made the Sultan[FN#383] Habib, when he
reached the age of seventeen, the most intelligent and penetrating
and knowing amongst the sons of his time. And indeed men used to
admire at the largeness of his understanding and were wont to say
in themselves, "There is no help but that this youth shall rise to
dignity (and what dignity!) whereof men of highmost intellect shall
make loud mention." For he could write the seven caligraphs[FN#384]
and he could recite traditions and he could improvise poetry; and,
on one occasion when his father bade him versify impromptu, that he
might see what might come thereof, he intoned,
"O my sire, I am lord of all lere man knows or knew-- * Have
enformed my vitals with lore and with legend true;
Nor cease I repeat what knowledge this memory guards * And my writ
as ruby and pearl doth appear to view."
So the Emir Salamah his sire marvelled at the elegance of his son's
diction; and the Notables of the clan, after hearing his poetry and
his prose, stood astounded at their excellence; and presently the
father clasped his child to his breast and forthright summoned his
governor, to whom there and then he did honour of the highmost.
Moreover he largessed him with four camels carrying loads of gold
and silver and he set him over one of his subject tribes of the
Arabs; then said he to him, "Indeed thou hast done well, O Shaykh;
so take this good and fare therewith to such a tribe and rule it
with justice and equity until the day of thy death." Replied the
governor, "O King of the Age, I may on no wise accept thy boons,
for that I am not of mankind but of Jinn-kind; nor have I need of
money or requirement of rule. Know thou, O my lord, that erst I sat
as Kázi amongst the Jinns and I was enthroned amid the Kings of the
Jánn, whenas one night of the nights a Voice[FN#385] addressed me
in my sleep saying, 'Rise and hie thee to the Sultan Habib son of
the Emir Salamah ruler of the tribes of the Arabs subject to the
Banu Hilal and become his tutor and teach him all things teachable;
and, if thou gainsay going, I will tear thy soul from thy body.'
Now when I saw this marvel-vision in my sleep, I straightway arose
and repairing to thy son did as I was bidden."[FN#386] But as the
Emir Salamah heard the words of this Shaykh he bowed him down and
kissing his feet cried, "Alhamdolillah--laud to the Lord, who hath
vouchsafed thee to us of His bounty; and indeed thy coming to us
was of good omen, O Judge of the Jann." "Where is thy son?" quoth
the governor, and quoth the father, "Ready, aye ready;" then he
summoned his child and when the Shaykh looked upon his pupil he
wept with sore weeping and cried, "Parting from thee, O Habib, is
heavy upon us," presently adding, "Ah! were ye to wot all that
shall soon befal this youth after my departure and when afar from
me!"[FN#387] Those present in the assembly at once asked saying,
"And what shall, O Shaykh, to us fall forthright?" * Quoth he,
"Sore marvels shall meet your sight:
No heart have I to describe it you." * Then approached Habib the
same tutor-wight;
And clasping the youth to the breast of him, * Kissed his cheek a-
shrieking the shrillest shright.[FN#388]
Whereupon all about them were perturbed and were amated and amazed
at the action of the Shaykh when, vanishing from their view, he
could nowhere be seen. Then the Emir Salamah addressed the lieges
saying, "Ho ye Arabs, who wotteth what presently shall betide my
son? would Heaven I had one to advise him!" Hereupon said his
Elders and Councillors, "We know of none." But the Sultan Habib
brooded over the disappearance of his governor and bespake his sire
weeping bitter tears the while, "O my father, where be he who
brought me up and enformed me with all manner knowledge?" and the
Emir replied, "O my son, one day of the days he farewelled us and
crying out with a loud cry evanished from our view and we have seen
him no more." Thereupon the youth improvised and said,
"Indeed I am scourged by those ills whereof I felt affray, ah! * By
parting and thoughts which oft compellèd my soul to say, 'Ah!'
Oh saddest regret in vitals of me that ne'er ceaseth, nor * Shall
minished be his love that still on my heart doth prey, ah!
Where hath hied the generous soul my mind with lere adorned? * And
alas! what hath happened, O sire, to me, and well-away, ah!"
Hereat the Emir Salamah shed tears (as on like wise did all
present) and quoth he to his son, "O Habib, we have been troubled
by his action," and quoth the youth, "How shall I endure severance
from one who fostered me and brought me to honour and renown and
who raised my degree so high?" Then began he to improvise saying,
"Indeed this pine in my heart grows high, * And in eyeballs wake
doth my sleep outvie:
You marched, O my lords, and from me hied far * And you left a
lover shall aye outcry:
I wot not where on this earth you be * And how long this patience
when none is nigh:
Ye fared and my eyeballs your absence weep, * And my frame is
meagre, my heart is dry."
Now whilst the Emir Salamah was sitting in his seat of dignity and
the Sultan Habib was improvising poetry and shedding tears in
presence of his sire, they heard a Voice which announced itself and
its sound was audible whilst its personality was invisible.
Thereupon the youth shed tears and cried, "O father mine, I need
one who shall teach me horsemanship and the accidents of edge and
point and onset and offset and spearing and spurring in the Maydán;
for my heart loveth knightly derring-do to plan, such as riding in
van and encountering the horseman and the valiant man." And the
while they were in such converse behold, there appeared before them
a personage rounded of head, long of length and dread, with turband
wide dispread, and his breadth of breast was armoured with doubled
coat of mail whose manifold rings were close-enmeshed after the
model of Dáúd[FN#389] the Prophet (upon whom be The Peace!).
Moreover he hent in hand a mace erst a block cut out of the live
hard rock, whose shock would arrest forty braves of the doughtiest;
and he was baldrick'd with an Indian blade that quivered in the
grasp, and he bestrode, with a Samhari[FN#390] lance at rest, a bay
destrier of black points whose peer was not amongst the steeds of
the Arabs. Then he took his station standing as a vassal between
the Emir Salamah's hands and he addressed a general salam and he
greeted all that stood a-foot or were seated. His salute they
repealed and presently the pages hastened forwards and aided him
alight from his charger's back; and after waiting for a full-told
hour that he might take somewhat of repose, the stranger-knight and
doughty wight advanced and said, "Ho thou the Emir, I came hither
to fulfil the want whereof thou expressedst a wish; and, if such
prove thy pleasure, I will teach thy son fray and fight and prowess
in the plain of sword-stroke and lance-lunge. But ere so doing I
would fain test thy skill in cavalarice; so do thou, O Emir, be
first to appear as champion and single combatant in the field when
I will show thee what horsemanship is." "Hearkening and obeying,"
replied the Emir, "and if thou desire the duello with us we will
not baulk thee thereof." Hereat his Shaykhs and Chieftains sprang
up and cried to him, "O Emir, Allah upon thee, do not meet in fight
this cavalier for that thou wottest not an he be of mankind or of
Jinn-kind; so be thou not deceived by his sleights and snares."
"Suffer me this day," quoth the Emir, "to see the cavalarice of
this cavalier, and, if over me he prevail, know him to be a knight
with whom none may avail." Speaking thus the Emir arose and hied
him to his tent where he bade the slaves bring forth the best of
his habergeons; and, when all these were set before him, he took
from them a Davidian suit of manifold rings and close-meshed, which
he donned, and he baldrick'd himself with a scymitar of Hindi
steel, hadst thou smitten therewith a cliff it had cleft it in
twain or hadst thou stricken a hill it had been laid level as a
plain; and he hent in hand a Rudaynían lance[FN#391] of Khatt
Hajar, whose length was thirty ells and upon whose head sat a point
like unto a basilisk's tongue; and lastly he bade his slaves bring
him his courser which in the race was the fleetest-footed of all
horses. Then the two combatants took the plain accompanied by the
tribesmen nor did one of them all, or great or small, remain in
camp for desire to witness the fight of these champions who were
both as ravening lions. But first the stranger-knight addressed his
adversary and speaking with free and eloquent tongue quoth he, "I
will encounter thee, O Emir Salamah, with the encountering of the
valiant; so have thou a heed of me for I am he hath overthrown the
Champions some and all." At these words each engaged his foeman and
the twain forwards pressed for a long time, and the Raven of
cut-and-thrust croaked over the field of fight and they exchanged
strokes with the Hindi scymitar and they thrust and foined with the
Khatti spear and more than one blade and limber lance was shivered
and splintered, all the tribesmen looking on the while at both. And
they ceased not to attack and retire and to draw near and draw off
and to heave and fence until their forearms ailed and their
endeavour failed. Already there appeared in the Emir Salamah
somewhat of weakness and weariness; natheless when he looked upon
his adversary's skill in the tourney and encounter of braves he saw
how to meet all the foeman's sword-strokes with his targe: however
at last fatigue and loss of strength prevailed over him and he knew
that he had no longer the force to fight; so he stinted his
endeavour and withdrew from brunt of battle. Hereat the stranger-
knight alighted and falling at the Emir's feet kissed them and
cried, "O Sovran of the Age, I came not hither to war with thee but
rather with the design of teaching thy son, the Sultan Habib, the
complete art of arms and make him the prow cavalier of his day."
Replied Salamah, "In very sooth, O horseman of the age, thou hast
spoken right fairly in thy speech; nor did I design with thee to
fight nor devised I the duello or from steed to alight;[FN#392]
nay, my sole object was my son to incite that he might learn battle
and combat aright, and the charge of the heroic Himyarite[FN#393]
to meet with might." Then the twain dismounted and each kissed his
adversary; after which they returned to the tribal camp and the
Emir bade decorate it and all the habitations of the Arab clans
with choicest decoration, and they slaughtered the victims and
spread the banquets and throughout that day the tribesmen ate and
drank and fed the travellers and every wayfarer and the mean and
mesquin and all the miserables. Now as soon as the Sultan Habib was
informed concerning that cavalier how he had foiled his father in
the field of fight, he repaired to him and said, "Peace be with him
who came longing for us and designing our society! Who art thou, Ho
thou the valorous knight and foiler of foemen in fight?" Said the
other, "Learn thou, O Habib, that Allah hath sent me theewards."
"And, say me, what may be thy name?" "I am hight Al-'Abbús,[FN#394]
the Knight of the Grim Face." "I see thee only smiling of
countenance whilst thy name clean contradicteth thy nature;" quoth
the youth. Presently the Emir Salamah committed his son to the new
governor saying, "I would thou make me this youth the Brave of his
epoch;" whereto the knight replied, "To hear is to obey, first
Allah then thyself and to do suit and service of thy son Habib."
And when this was determined youth and governor went forth to the
Maydan every day and after a while of delay Habib became the best
man of his age in fight and fray. Seeing this his teacher addressed
him as follows. "Learn, O Sultan Habib, that there is no help but
thou witness perils and affrights and adventures, wherefor is weak
the description of describers and thou shalt say in thyself, 'Would
heaven I had never sighted such and I were of these same free.' And
thou shalt fall into every hardship and horror until thou be united
with the beautiful Durrat al-Ghawwás, Queen-regnant over the Isles
of the Sea. Meanwhile to affront all the perils of the path thou
shalt fare forth from thy folk and bid adieu to thy tribe and
patrial stead; and, after enduring that which amateth man's wit,
thou shalt win union with the daughter of Queen Kamar
al-Zamán."[FN#395] But when Habib heard these words concerning the
"Pearl of the Diver" his wits were wildered and his senses were
agitated and he cried to Al-Abbús, "I conjure thee by Allah say me,
is this damsel of mankind or of Jinn-kind." Quoth the other, "Of
Jinn-kind, and she hath two Wazirs, one of either race, who
overrule all her rulers, and a thousand islands of the Isles of the
Sea are subject to her command, while a host of Sayyids and
Sharífs[FN#396] and Grandees hath flocked to woo her, bringing
wealthy gifts and noble presents, yet hath not any of them won his
wish of her but all returned baffled and baulked of their will."
Now the Sultan Habib hearing this from him cried in excess of
perturbation and stress of confusion, "Up with us and hie we home
where we may take seat and talk over such troublous matter and
debate anent its past and its future." "Hearkening and obedience,"
rejoined the other; so the twain retired into privacy in order to
converse at ease concerning the Princess, and Al-Abbus began to
relate in these words--
The History of Durrat al-Ghawwas.
Whilome there was a Sovran amongst the Kings of the Sea, hight
Sábúr, who reigned over the Crystalline Isles,[FN#397] and he was
a mighty ruler and a generous, and a masterful potentate and a
glorious. He loved women and he was at trouble to seek out the
fairest damsels; yet many of his years had gone by nor yet had he
been blessed with boon of boy. So one day of the days he took
thought and said in himself, "To this length of years I have
attained and am well nigh at life's end and still am I childless:
what then will be my case?" Presently, as he sat upon his throne of
kingship, he saw enter to him an Ifrit fair of face and form, the
which was none other than King 'Atrús[FN#398] of the Jánn, who
cried, "The Peace be upon thee, Ho thou the King! and know that I
have come to thee from my liege lord who affecteth thee. In my
sleep it befel that I heard a Voice crying to me, 'During all the
King's days never hath he been vouchsafed a child, boy or girl; so
now let him accept my command and he shall win to his wish. Let him
distribute justice and largesse and further the rights of the
wronged and bid men to good and forbid them from evil and lend not
aid to tyranny or to innovation in the realm and persecute not the
unfortunate, and release from gaol all the prisoners he retaineth.'
At these words of the Voice I awoke astartled by my vision and I
hastened to thee without delay and I come with design to inform
thee, O King of the Age, that I have a daughter, hight Kamar al-
Zaman, who hath none like her in her time, and no peer in this
tide, and her I design giving thee to bride. The Kings of the Jann
have ofttimes asked her in marriage of me but I would have none of
them save a ruler of men like thyself and Alhamdolillah--glory be
to God, who caused thy Highness occur to my thought, for that thy
fame in the world is goodly fair and thy works make for
righteousness. And haply by the blessing of these thou shalt beget
upon my daughter a man child, a pious heir and a virtuous." Replied
the King, "Ho thou who comest to us and desirest our weal, I accept
thine offer with love and good will." Then Sabur, the King of the
Crystalline Isles, bade summon the Kazi and witnesses, and quoth
the Ifrit, "I agree to what thou sayest, and whatso thou proposest
that will I not oppose." So they determined upon the dowry and
bound him by the bond of marriage with the daughter of Al-'Atrus,
King of the Jinns, who at once sent one of his Flying Jann to bring
the bride. She arrived forthright when they dressed and adorned her
with all manner ornaments, and she came forth surpassing all the
maidens of her era. And when King Sabur went in unto her he found
her a clean maid: so he lay that night with her and Almighty Allah
so willed that she conceived of him. When her days and months of
pregnancy were sped, she was delivered of a girl-babe as the moon,
whom they committed to wet-nurses and dry-nurses, and when she had
reached her tenth year, they set over her duennas who taught her
Koran-reading and writing and learning and belles-lettres; brief,
they brought her up after the fairest of fashions. Such was the
lot[FN#399] of Durrat al-Ghawwas, the child of Kamar al-Zaman,
daughter to King 'Atrus by her husband King Sabur. But as regards
the Sultan Habib and his governor Al-Abbus, the twain ceased not
wandering from place to place in search of the promised damsel
until one day of the days when the youth entered his father's
garden and strolled the walks adown amid the borders[FN#400] and
blossoms of basil and of rose full blown and solaced himself with
the works of the Compassionate One and enjoyed the scents and
savours of the flowers there bestrown; and, while thus employed,
behold, he suddenly espied the maiden, Durrat al-Ghawwas hight,
entering therein as she were the moon; and naught could be lovelier
than she of all earth supplies, gracious as a Huriyah of the
Virgins of Paradise, to whose praise no praiser could avail on any
wise. But when the Sultan Habib cast upon her his eyes he could no
longer master himself and his wits were bewildered from the
excitement of his thoughts; so he regarded her with a long fixed
look and said in himself, "I fear whenas she see me that she will
vanish from my sight." Accordingly, he retired and clomb the
branches of a tree in a stead where he could not be seen and whence
he could see her at his ease. But as regards the Princess, she
ceased not to roam about the Emir Salamah's garden until there
approached her two score of snow-white birds each accompanied by a
handmaid of moon-like beauty. Presently they settled upon the
ground and stood between her hands saying, "Peace be upon thee, O
our Queen and Sovran Lady." She replied, "No welcome to you and no
greeting; say me, what delayed you until this hour when ye know
that I am longing to meet the Sultan Habib, the dear one, son of
Salamah, and I long to visit him for that he is the dearling of my
heart. Wherefor I bade you accompany me and ye obeyed not, and
haply ye have made mock of me and of my commandment." "We never
gainsay thy behest," replied they, "or in word or in deed;" and
they fell to seeking her beloved. Hearing this the Sultan Habib's
heart was solaced and his mind was comforted and his thoughts were
rightly directed and his soul was reposed; and when he was
certified of her speech, he was minded to appear before her; but
suddenly fear of her prevailed over him and he said to his
thoughts, "Haply she will order one of the Jinns to do me die; so
'twere better to have patience and see what Allah shall purpose for
me of His Almighty will." But the Princess and her attendants
ceased not wandering about the garden from site to site and side to
side till they reached the place wherein the Sultan Habib lay in
lurking; when Durrat al-Ghawwas there stood still and said in
herself, "Now I came not from my capital save on his account, and
I would see and be seen by him even as the Voice informed me of
him, O ye handmaidens; and peradventure hath the same informed him
of me." Then the Princess and her suite, drawing still nearer to
his place of concealment, found a lakelet in the Arab's garden
brimful of water amiddlemost whereof stood a brazen lion, through
whose mouth the water entered to issue from his tail. Hereat the
Princess marvelled and said to her bondswomen, "This be none other
than a marvellous lake, together with the lion therein; and when,
by the goodwill of Almighty Allah, I shall have returned home, I
will let make a lakelet after this fashion, and in it set a lion of
brass." Thereupon she ordered them to doff their dress and go down
to the piece of water and swim about; but they replied, "O our
lady, to hear is to obey thy commandment, but we will not strip nor
swim save with thee." Then she also did off her dress and all
stripped themselves and entered the lakelet in a body, whereupon
the Sultan Habib looked through the leaves to solace himself with
the fair spectacle and he ejaculated, "Blessed be the Lord the best
of Creators!" And when the handmaids waxed aweary of swimming, the
Princess commanded them to come forth the water, and said, "Whenas
Heaven willeth that the desire of my heart be fulfilled in this
garden, what deem ye I should do with my lover?" and quoth they,
"'Twould only add to our pleasure and gladness." Quoth she, "Verily
my heart assureth me that he is here and hidden amongst the trees
of yon tangled brake;" and she made signs with her hand whither
Habib lay in lurking-place; and he, espying this, rejoiced with joy
galore than which naught could be more, and exclaimed, "There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great; what meaneth this lady? Indeed, I fear to stay in this stead
lest she come hither and draw me forth and put me to shame; and
'twere better that of mine own accord I come out of my concealment
and accost her and suffer her to do all she designeth and
desireth." So he descended from the topmost of the tree wherein he
had taken refuge and presented himself before the Princess Durrat
Al-Ghawwas, who drew near and cried to him, "O Habib, O welcome to
Habib! and is it thus that we have travailed with love of thee and
longing for thee, and where hast thou been all this time, O my
dearling, and O coolth of my eyes and O slice of my liver?" Replied
he, "I was in the head of yonder huge tree to which thou pointedst
with thy finger." And as they looked each at other she drew nearer
to him and fell to improvising,
"Thou hast doomed me, O branchlet of Bán, to despair * Who in
worship and honour was wont to fare,--
Who lived in rule and folk slaved for me * And hosts girded me
round every hest to bear!"
And anon quoth the Sultan Habib, "Alhamdolillah--laud be to the
Lord, who deigned show me thy face and thy form! Can it be thou
kennest not what it was that harmed me and sickened me for thy
sake, O Durrat al-Ghawwas?" Quoth she, "And what was it hurt thee
and ailed thee?" "It was the love of thee and longing for thee!"
"And who was the first to tell thee and make thee ware of me?" He
replied saying, "One day it so befel, as I was amongst my family
and my tribe, a Jinni Al-Abbus hight became my governor and taught
me the accidents of thrust and cut and cavalarice; and ere he left
he commended thy beauty and loveliness and foretold to me all that
would pass between thee and me. So I was engrossed with affection
for thee ere my eyes had sight of thee, and thenceforwards I lost
all the pleasures of sleep, nor were meat and eating sweet to me,
nor were drink and wine, draughts a delight to me: so
Alhamdolillah--praise be to Allah, who deigned conjoin me in such
union with my heart's desire!" Hereat the twain exchanged an
embrace so long that a swoon came upon them and both fell to the
ground in a fainting fit, but after a time the handmaidens raised
them up and besprinkled their faces with rose-water which at once
revived them. All this happened, withal the Emir Salamah wotted
naught of what had befallen his son the Sultan Habib nor did his
mother weet that had betided her child; and the husband presently
went in to his spouse and said, "Indeed this boy hath worn us out:
we see that o' nights he sleepeth not in his own place and this day
he fared forth with the dawn and suffered us not to see a sight of
him." Quoth the wife, "Since the day he went to Al-Abbus, thy boy
fell into cark and care;" and quoth the husband, "Verily our son
walked about the garden and Allah knoweth that therefrom is no
issue anywhither. So there shalt thou find him and ask him of
himself." And they talked over this matter in sore anger and
agitation. Meanwhile as the Sultan Habib sat in the garden with the
handmaids waiting upon him and upon the Princess Durrat al-Ghawwas,
there suddenly swooped upon them a huge bird which presently
changed form to a Shaykh seemly of aspect and semblance who
approached and kissing their feet humbled himself before the lover
and his beloved. The youth marvelled at such action of the Shaykh,
and signalled to the Princess as to ask, "Who may be this old man?"
and she answered in the same way, "This is the Wazir who caused me
forgather with thee;" presently adding to the Shaykh, "What may be
thy need?" "I came hither for the sake of thee," he replied, "and
unless thou fare forthright to thy country and kingdom the rule of
the Jánn will pass from thy hand; for that the Lords of the land
and Grandees of the realm seek thy loss and not a few of the nobles
have asked me saying, O Wazir, where is our Queen? I answered, She
is within her palace and to-day she is busied with some business.
But such pretext cannot long avail, and thou, unless thou return
with me to the region of thy reign there shall betray thee some one
of the Marids and the hosts will revolt against thee and thy rule
will go to ruin and thou wilt be degraded from command and
sultanate." "What then is thy say and what thy bidding?" enquired
she, and he replied, "Thou hast none other way save departure from
this place and return to thy realm." Now when these words reached
the ear of Durrat al-Ghawwas, her breast was straitened and she
waxed sorrowful with exceeding sorrow for severance from her lover
whom she addressed in these words, "What sayest thou anent that
thou hast heard? In very sooth I desire not parting from thee and
the ruin of my reign as little do I design; so come with me, O
dearling of my heart, and I will make thee liege lord over the
Isles of the Sea and sole master thereof." Hereat the Sultan Habib
said in his soul, "I cannot endure parting from my own people; but
as for thee thy love shall never depart from thee:" then he spake
aloud, "An thou deign hear me, do thou abandon that which thou
purposest and bid thy Wazir rule over the Isles and thy patrial
stead; so shall we twain, I and thou, live in privacy for all time
and enjoy the most joyous of lives." "That may never be," was her
only reply; after which she cried to the Wazir saying, "Carry me
off that I fare to my own land." Then after farewelling her lover,
she mounted the Emir-Wazir's back[FN#401] and bade him bear her
away, whereat he took flight and the forty handmaidens flew with
him, towering high in air. Presently, the Sultan Habib shed bitter
tears; his mother hearing him weeping sore as he sat in the garden
went to her husband and said, "Knowest thou not what calamity hath
befallen thy son that I hear him there groaning and moaning"" Now
when the parents entered the garden, they found him spent with
grief and the tears trickled adown his cheeks like never-ceasing
rain-showers;[FN#402] so they summoned the pages who brought
cucurbits of rosewater wherewith they besprinkled his face. But as
soon as he recovered his senses and opened his eyes, he fell to
weeping with excessive weeping and his father and mother likewise
shed tears for the burning of their hearts and asked him, "O Habib,
what calamity hath come down to thee and who of his mischief hath
overthrown thee? Inform us of the truth of thy case." So he related
all that had betided between him and Durrat-al-Ghawwas, and his
mother wept over him while his father cried, "O Habib, do thou
leave this say and this thy desire cast away that the joys of meat
and drink and sleep thou may enjoy alway." But he made answer, "O
my sire, I will not slumber upon this matter until I shall sleep
the sleep of death." "Arise thou, O my child," rejoined the Emir,
"and let us return homewards,"[FN#403] but the son retorted,
"Verily I will not depart from this place wherein I was parted from
the dearling of my heart." So the sire again urged him saying,
"These words do thou spare nor persist in this affair because
therefrom for thee I fear;" and he fell to cheering him and
comforting his spirits. After a while the Sultan Habib arose and
fared homewards beside his sire who kept saying to him, "Patience,
O my child, the while I assist thee in thy search for this young
lady and I send those who shall bring her to thee." "O my father,"
rejoined the son, "I can no longer endure parting from her; nay,
'tis my desire that thou load me sundry camels with gold and silver
and plunder and moneys that I may go forth to seek her: and if I
win to my wish and Allah vouchsafe me length of life I will return
unto you; but an the term of my days be at hand then the behest be
to Allah, the One, the Omnipotent. Let not your breasts be
straitened therefor and do ye hold and believe that if I abide with
you and see not the beloved of my soul I shall perish of my pain
while you be standing by to look upon my death. So suffer me to
wayfare and attain mine aim; for from the day when my mother bare
me 'twas written to my lot that I journey over wild and wold and
that I see and voyage over the seas seven-fold." Hereupon he fell
to improvising these verses,
"My heart is straitened with grief amain * And my friends and
familiars have wrought me pain;
And whene'er you're absent I pine, and fires * In my heart beweep
what it bears of bane:
O ye, who fare for the tribe's domain, * Cry aloud my greetings to
friends so fain!"
Now when the Emir Salamah heard these his son's verses, he bade
pack for him four camel loads of the rarest stuffs, and he
largessed to him a she-dromedary laden with thrones of red gold;
then he said to him, "Lo, O my son, I have given thee more than
thou askedst." "O my father," replied Habib, "where are my steed
and my sword and my spear?" Hereat the pages brought forward a
mail-coat Davidian[FN#404] and a blade Maghrabian and a lance
Khattian and Samharian, and set them between his hands; and the
Sultan Habib donning the habergeon and drawing his sabre and
sitting lance in rest backed his steed, which was of the noblest
blood known to all the Arabs. Then quoth he, "O my father, is it
thy desire to send with me a troop of twenty knights that they may
escort me to the land of Al-Yaman and may anon bring me back to
thee?" "My design," quoth the sire, "is to despatch those with thee
who shall befriend thee upon the road;" and, when Habib prayed him
do as he pleased, the Emir appointed to him ten knights, valorous
wights, who dreaded naught of death however sudden and awesome.
Presently, the youth farewelled his father and mother, his family
and his tribe, and joining his escort, mounted his destrier when
Salamah, his sire, said to his company, "Be ye to my son obedient
in all he shall command you;" and said they, "Hearing and obeying."
Then Habib and his many turned away from home and addressed them to
the road when he began to improvise the following lines,
My longing grows less and far goes my cark * After flamed my heart
with the love-fire stark;
As I ride to search for my soul's desire * And I ask of those
faring to Al-Irák."
On this wise it befel the Sultan Habib and his farewelling his
father and mother; but now lend ear to what came of the knights who
escorted him. After many days of toil and travail they waxed
discontented and disheartened; and presently taking counsel one
with other, they said, "Come, let us slay this lad and carry off
the loads of stuffs and coin he hath with him; and when we reach
our homes and be questioned concerning him, let us say that he died
of the excess of his desire to Princess Durrat al-Ghawwas." So they
followed this rede, while their lord wotted naught of the ambush
laid for him by his followers. And having ridden through the day
when the night of offence[FN#405] was dispread, the escort said,
"Dismount we in this garden[FN#406] that here we may take our rest
during the dark hours, and when morning shall morrow we will resume
our road." The Sultan Habib had no mind to oppose them, so all
alighted and in that garden took seat and whatso of victual was
with them produced; after which they ate and drank their
sufficiency and lay down to sleep all of them save their lord, who
could not close eye for excess of love-longing. "O Habib, why and
wherefore sleepest thou not?" they asked, and he answered, "O
comrades mine, how shall slumber come to one yearning for his
dearling, and verily I will lie awake nor enjoy aught repose until
such time as I espy the lifeblood of my heart, Durrat al-Ghawwas."
Thereupon they held their peace; and presently they held council
one with other saying, "Who amongst us can supply a dose of Bhang
that we may cast him asleep and his slaughter may be easy to us?"
"I have two Miskáls weight[FN#407] of that same," quoth one of
them, and the others took it from him and presently, when occasion
served, they put it into a cup of water and presented it to Habib.
He hent that cup in hand and drank off the drugged liquid at a
single draught; and presently the Bhang wrought in his vitals and
its fumes mounted to his head, mastering his senses and causing his
brain to whirl round, whereupon he sank into the depths of
unconsciousness. Then quoth his escort, "As soon as his slumber is
soundest and his sleep heaviest we will arise and slay him and bury
him on the spot where he now sleepeth: then will we return to his
father and mother, and tell them that of love-stress to his beloved
and of excessive longing and pining for her he died." And upon this
deed of treachery all agreed. So when dawned the day and showed its
sheen and shone clear and serene the knights awoke and seeing their
lord drowned[FN#408] in sleep they arose and sat in council, and
quoth one of them, "Let us cut his throat from ear to ear;"[FN#409]
and quoth another, "Nay, better we dig us a pit the stature of a
man and we will cast him amiddlemost thereof and heap upon him
earth so that he will die, nor shall any know aught about him."
Hearing this said one of the retinue, whose name was
Rabí'a,[FN#410] "But fear you naught from Almighty Allah and regard
ye not the favours wherewith his father fulfilled you, and remember
ye not the bread which ye ate in his household and from his family?
Indeed ‘twas but a little while since his sire chose you out to
escort him that his son might take solace with you instead of
himself, and he entrusted unto you his heart's core, and now ye are
pleased to do him die and thereby destroy the life of his parents.
Furthermore, say me doth your judgment decide that such ill-work
can possibly abide hidden from his father? Now I swear by the
loyalty[FN#411] of the Arabs there will not remain for us a wight
or any who bloweth the fire alight, however mean and slight, who
will receive us after such deed. So do ye at least befriend and
protect your households and your clans and your wives and your
children whom ye left in the tribal domain. But now you design
utterly to destroy us, one and all, and after death affix to our
memories the ill-name of traitors, and cause our women be enslaved
and our children enthralled, nor leave one of us aught to be longed
for." Quoth they jeeringly, "Bring what thou hast of righteous
rede:" so quoth he, "Have you fixed your intent upon slaying him
and robbing his good?" and they answered, "We have." However, he
objected again and cried, "Come ye and hear from me what it is I
advise you, albeit I will take no part[FN#412] in this matter;"
presently adding, "Established is your resolve in this affair, and
ye wot better than I what you are about to do. But my mind is
certified of this much; do ye not transgress in the matter of his
blood and suffer only his crime be upon you;[FN#413] moreover, if
ye desire to lay hands upon his camels and his moneys and his
provisions, then do ye carry them off and leave him where he lieth;
then if he live, 'twere well, and if he die 'twill be even better
and far better." "Thy rede is right and righteous," they replied.
Accordingly they seized his steed and his habergeon and his sword
and his gear of battle and combat, and they carried off all he had
of money and means, and placing him naked upon the bare ground they
drove away his camels. Presently asked one of other, "Whenas we
shall reach the tribe what shall we say to his father and his
mother?" "Whatso Rabi'a shall counsel us," quoth they, and quoth
Rabi'a, "Tell them, 'We left not travelling with your son; and, as
we fared along, we lost sight of him and we saw him nowhere until
we came upon him a-swoon and lying on the road senseless: then we
called to him by name but he returned no reply, and when we shook
him with our hands behold, he had become a dried-up wand. Then
seeing him dead we buried him and brought back to you his good and
his belongings.'" "And if they ask you," objected one, "'In what
place did ye bury him and in what land, and is the spot far or
near,' what shall ye make answer; also if they say to you, 'Why did
ye not bear his corpse with you,' what then shall be your reply?"
Rabi'a to this rejoined "Do you say to them, 'Our strength was
weakened and we waxed feeble from burn of heart and want of water,
nor could we bring his remains with us.' And if they ask you,
'Could ye not bear him a-back; nay, might ye not have carried him
upon one of the camels?' do ye declare that ye could not for two
reasons, the first being that the body was swollen and stinking
from the fiery air, and the second our fear for his father, lest
seeing him rotten he could not endure the sight and his sorrow be
increased for that he was an only child and his sire hath none
other." All the men joined in accepting this counsel of Rabi'a, and
each and every exclaimed, "This indeed is the rede that is most
right." Then they ceased not wayfaring until they reached the
neighbourhood of the tribe, when they sprang from their steeds and
openly donned black, and they entered the camp showing the sorest
sorrow. Presently they repaired to the father's tent, grieving and
weeping and shrieking as they went; and when the Emir Salamah saw
them in this case, crowding together with keening and crying for
the departed, he asked them, "Where is he, my son?" and they
answered, "Indeed he is dead." Right hard upon Salamah was this
lie, and his grief grew the greater, so he scattered dust upon his
head and plucked out his beard and rent his raiment and shrieked
aloud saying, "Woe for my son, ah! Woe for Habib, ah! Woe for the
slice of my liver, ah! Woe for my grief, ah! Woe for the
core[FN#414] of my heart, ah!" Thereupon his mother came forth, and
seeing her husband in this case, with dust on his head and his
beard plucked out and his robe-collar[FN#415] rent, and sighting
her son's steed she shrieked, "Woe is me and well-away for my
child, ah!" and fainted swooning for a full-told hour. Anon when
recovered she said to the knights who had formed the escort, "Woe
to you, O men of evil, where have ye buried my boy?" They replied,
"In a far-off land whose name we wot not, and 'tis wholly waste and
tenanted by wild beasts," whereat she was afflicted exceedingly.
Then the Emir Salamah and his wife and household and all the
tribesmen donned garbs black-hued and ashes whereupon to sit they
strewed, and ungrateful to them was the taste of food and drink,
meat and wine; nor ceased they to beweep their loss, nor could they
comprehend what had befallen their son and what of ill-lot had
descended upon him from Heaven. Such then was the case of them; but
as regards the Sultan Habib, he continued sleeping until the Bhang
ceased to work in his brain, when Allah sent a fresh, cool wind
which entered his nostrils and caused him sneeze, whereby he cast
out the drug and sensed the sun-heat and came to himself. Hereupon
he opened his eyes and sighted a wild and waste land, and he looked
in vain for his companions the knights, and his steed and his sword
and his spear and his coat of mail, and he found himself mother-
naked, athirst, anhungered. Then he cried out in that Desert of
desolation which lay far and wide before his eyes, and the case
waxed heavy upon him, and he wept and groaned and complained of his
case to Allah Almighty, saying, "O my God and my Lord and my
Master, trace my lot an thou hast traced it upon the Guarded
Tablet, for who shall right me save Thyself, O Lord of Might that
is All-might and of Grandeur All-puissant and All-excellent!" Then
he began improvising these verses,
"Faileth me, O my God, the patience with the pride o' me; * Life-
tie is broke and drawing nigh I see Death-tide o' me:
To whom shall injured man complain of injury and wrong * Save to
the Lord (of Lords the Best!) who stands by side o'me."
Now whilst the Sultan Habib was ranging with his eye-corners to the
right and to the left, behold, he beheld a blackness rising high in
air, and quoth he to himself, "Doubtless this dark object must be
a mighty city or a vast encampment, and I will hie me thither
before I be overheated by the sun-glow and I lose the power of
walking and I die of distress and none shall know my fate." Then he
heartened his heart for the improvising of such poetry as came to
his mind, and he repeated these verses,
"Travel, for on the way all goodly things shalt find; * And wake
from sleep and dreams if still to sleep inclined!
Or victory win and rise and raise thee highmost high * And gain, O
giddy pate, the food for which thy soul hath pined;
Or into sorrow thou shalt fall with breast full strait * And ne'er
enjoy the Fame that wooes the gen'rous mind,
Nor is there any shall avail to hinder Fate * Except the Lord of
Worlds who the Two Beings[FN#416] designed."
And when he had finished his verse, the Sultan Habib walked in the
direction of that blackness nor left walking until he drew near the
ridge; but after he could fare no farther and that walking
distressed him (he never having been broken to travel afoot and
barefoot withal), and his forces waxed feeble and his joints
relaxed and his strong will grew weak and his resolution passed
away. But whilst he was perplexed concerning what he should do,
suddenly there alighted between his hands a snow-white fowl huge as
the dome of a Hammám, with shanks like the trunk of a palm-tree.
The Sultan Habib marvelled at the sight of this Rukh, and saying to
himself, "Blessed be Allah the Creator!" he advanced slowly towards
it and all unknown to the fowl seized its legs. Presently the bird
put forth its wings (he still hanging on) and flew upwards to the
confines of the sky, when behold, a Voice was heard saying, "O
Habib! O Habib! hold to the bird with straitest hold, else 'twill
cast thee down to earth and thou shalt be dashed to pieces limb
from limb!" Hearing these words he tightened his grasp and the fowl
ceased not flying until it came to that blackness which was the
outline of Káf the mighty mountain, and having set the youth down
on the summit it left him and still flew onwards. Presently a Voice
sounded in the sensorium of the Sultan Habib saying, "Take seat, O
Habib; past is that which conveyed thee hither on thy way to Durrat
al-Ghawwas;" and he, when the words met his ear, aroused himself
and arose and, descending the mountain slope to the skirting plain,
saw therein a cave. Hereat quoth he to himself, "If I enter this
antre, haply shall I lose myself, and perish of hunger and thirst!"
He then took thought and reflected, "Now death must come sooner or
later, wherefore will I adventure myself in this cave." And as he
passed thereinto he heard one crying with a high voice and a sound
so mighty that its volume resounded in his ears. But right soon the
crier appeared in the shape of Al-Abbus, the Governor who had
taught him battle and combat; and, after greeting him with great
joy, the lover recounted his love-adventure to his whilome tutor.
The Jinni bore in his left a scymitar, the work of the Jann and in
his right a cup of water which he handed to his pupil. The draught
caused him to swoon for an hour or so, and when he came-to Al-Abbus
made him sit up and bathed him and robed him in the rarest of
raiment and brought him a somewhat of victual and the twain ate and
drank together. Then quoth Habib to Al-Abbus, "Knowest thou not
that which befel me with Durrat al-Ghawwas of wondrous matters?"
and quoth the other, "And what may that have been?" whereupon the
youth rejoined, "O my brother, Allah be satisfied with thee for
that He willed thou appear to me and direct me and guide me aright
to the dearling of my heart and the cooling of mine eyes." "Leave
thou such foolish talk," replied Al-Abbus, "for where art thou and
where is Durrat al-Ghawwas? Indeed between thee and her are horrors
and perils and long tracts of land and seas wondrous, and
adventures marvellous, which would amaze and amate the rending
lions, and spectacles which would turn grey the sucking child or
any one of man's scions." Hearing these words Habib clasped his
governor to his breast and kissed him between the eyes, and the
Jinni said, "O my beloved, had I the might to unite thee with her
I would do on such wise, but first 'tis my desire to make thee
forgather with thy family in a moment shorter than an eye-
twinkling." "Had I longed for my own people," rejoined Habib, "I
should never have left them, nor should I have endangered my days
nor wouldst thou have seen me in this stead; but as it is I will
never return from my wayfaring till such time as my hope shall have
been fulfilled, even although my appointed life-term should be
brought to end, for I have no further need of existence." To these
words the Jinni made answer, "Learn thou, O Habib, that the cavern
wherein thou art containeth the hoards of our Lord Solomon, David's
son (upon the twain be The Peace!), and he placed them under my
charge and he forbade me abandon them until such time as he shall
permit me, and furthermore that I let and hinder both mankind and
Jinn-kind from entering the Hoard; and know thou, O Habib, that in
this cavern is a treasure-house and in the Treasury forty closets
offsetting to the right and to the left. Now wouldst thou gaze upon
this wealth of pearls and rubies and precious stones, do thou ere
passing through the first door dig under its threshold, where thou
shalt find buried the keys of all the magazines. Then take the
first of them in hand and unlock its door, after which thou shalt
be able to open all the others and look upon the store of jewels
therein. And when thou shalt design to depart the Treasury thou
shalt find a curtain hung up in front of thee and fastened around
it eighty hooks of red gold;[FN#417] and do thou beware how thou
raise the hanging without quilting them all with cotton." So saying
he gave him a bundle of tree-wool he had by him, and pursued, "O
Habib, when thou shalt have raised the curtain thou wilt discover
a door with two leaves also of red gold, whereupon couplets are
inscribed, and as regards the first distich an thou master the
meaning of the names and the talismans, thou shalt be saved from
all terrors and horrors, and if thou fail to comprehend them thou
shalt perish in that Hoard. But after opening the door close it not
with noise nor glance behind thee, and take all heed, as I fear for
thee those charged with the care of the place[FN#418] and its
tapestry. And when thou shalt stand behind the hanging thou shalt
behold a sea clashing with billows dashing, and 'tis one of the
Seven Mains which shall show thee, O Habib, marvels whereat thou
shalt wonder, and whereof relaters shall relate the strangest
relations. Then do thou take thy stand upon the sea-shore whence
thou shalt descry a ship under way and do thou cry aloud to the
crew who shall come to thee and bear thee aboard. After this I wot
not what shall befal thee in this ocean, and such is the end of my
say and the last of my speech, O Habib, and--The Peace!" Hereat the
youth joyed with joy galore than which naught could be more and
taking the hand Of Al-Abbus he kissed it and said, "O my brother,
thou hast given kindly token in what thou hast spoken, and Allah
requite thee for me with all weal, and mayest thou be fended from
every injurious ill!" Quoth Al-Abbus, "O Habib, take this scymitar
and baldrick thyself therewith, indeed ‘twill enforce thee and
hearten thy heart, and don this dress which shall defend thee from
thy foes." The youth did as he was bidden; then he farewelled the
Jinni and set forth on his way, and he ceased not pacing forward
until he reached the end of the cavern and here he came upon the
door whereof his governor had informed him. So he went to its
threshold and dug thereunder and drew forth a black bag creased and
stained by the lapse of years. This he unclosed and it yielded him
a key which he applied to the lock and it forthwith opened and
admitted him into the Treasury where, for exceeding murk and
darkness, he could not see what he hent in hand. Then quoth he to
himself, "What is to do? Haply Al-Abbus hath compassed my
destruction!" And the while he sat on this wise sunken in thought,
behold, he beheld a light gleaming from afar, and as he advanced
its sheen guided him to the curtain whereof he had been told by the
Jinni. But as he looked he saw above it a tablet of emerald dubbed
with pearls and precious stones, while under it lay the hoard which
lighted up the place like the rising sun. So he hastened him
thither and found inscribed upon the tablet the following two
couplets,
"At him I wonder who from woe is free, * And who no joy
displays[FN#419] when safe is he:
And I admire how Time deludes man when * He views the past; but ah,
Time's tyranny."
So the Sultan Habib read over these verses more than once, and wept
till he swooned away; then recovering himself he said in his mind,
"To me death were pleasanter than life without my love!" and
turning to the closets which lay right and left he opened them all
and gazed upon the hillocks of gold and silver and upon the heaps
and bales of rubies and unions and precious stones and strings of
pearls, wondering at all he espied, and quoth he to himself "Were
but a single magazine of these treasures revealed, wealthy were all
the peoples who on earth do dwell." Then he walked up to the
curtain whereupon Jinns and Ifrits appeared from every site and
side, and voices and shrieks so loudened in his ears that his wits
well-nigh flew from his head. So he took patience for a full-told
hour when behold, a smoke which spired in air thickened and brooded
low, and the sound ceased and the Jinns departed. Hereat, calling
to mind the charge of Al-Abbus, he took out the cotton he had by
him and after quilting the golden hooks he withdrew the curtain and
sighted the portal which the Jinni had described to him. So he
fitted in the key and opened it, after which, oblivious of the
warning, he slammed-to the door noisily in his fear and
forgetfulness, but he did not venture to look behind him. At this
the Jinns flocked to him from every side and site crying, "O thou
foulest of mankind, wherefore dost thou provoke us and disturb us
from our stead? and, but for thy wearing the gear of the Jann, we
had slain thee forthright." But Habib answered not and, arming
himself with patience and piety, he tarried awhile until the hubbub
was stilled, nor did the Jann cry at him any more: and, when the
storm was followed by calm, he paced forward to the shore and
looked upon the ocean crashing with billows dashing. He marvelled
at the waves and said to himself, "Verily none may know the secrets
of the sea and the mysteries of the main save only Allah!"
Presently, he beheld a ship passing along shore, so he took seat on
the strand until Night let down her pall of sables upon him; and he
was an-hungered with exceeding hunger and athirst with excessive
thirst. But when morrowed the morn and day showed her sheen and
shone serene, he awoke in his sore distress and behold, he saw two
Mermaidens of the daughters of the deep (and both were as moons)
issue forth hard by him. And ere long quoth one of the twain, "Say
me, wottest thou the mortal who sitteth yonder?" "I know him not,"
quoth the other, whereat her companion resumed, "This be the Sultan
Habib who cometh in search of Durrat al-Ghawwas, our Queen and
liege lady." Hearing these words the youth considered them straitly
and marvelling at their beauty and loveliness he presently rejoiced
and increased in pleasure and delight. Then said one to other,
"Indeed the Sultan Habib is in this matter somewhat scant and short
of wits; how can he love Durrat al-Ghawwas when between him and her
is a distance only to be covered by the sea-voyage of a full year
over most dangerous depths? And, after all this woe hath befallen
him, why doth he not hie him home and why not save himself from
these horrors which promise to endure through all his days and to
cast his life at last into the pit of destruction?" Asked the
other, "Would heaven I knew whether he will ever attain to her or
not!" and her companion answered, "Yes, he will attain to her, but
after a time and a long time and much sadness of soul." But when
Habib heard this promise of success given by the Maidens of the
Main his sorrow was solaced and he lost all that troubled him of
hunger and thirst. Now while he pondered these matters there
suddenly issued from out the ocean a third Mermaid, which asked her
fellows, "Of what are you prattling?" and they answered, "Indeed
the Sultan Habib sitteth here upon the sea-shore during this the
fourth successive night." Quoth she, "I have a cousin the daughter
of my paternal uncle and when she came to visit me last night I
enquired of her if any ship had passed by her and she replied, 'Yea
verily, one did sail driven towards us by a violent gale, and its
sole object was to seek you.'" And the others rejoined, "Allah send
thee tidings of welfare!" The youth hearing these words was
gladdened and joyed with exceeding joy; and presently the three
Mermaidens called to one another and dove into the depths leaving
the listener standing upon the strand. After a short time he heard
the cries of the crew from the craft announced and he shouted to
them and they, noting his summons, ran alongside the shore and took
him up and bore him aboard: and, when he complained of hunger and
thirst, they gave him meat and drink and questioned him saying,
"Thou! who art thou? Say us, art of the trader-folk?" "I am the
merchant Such-and-such," quoth he, "and my ship foundered albe
'twas a mighty great vessel; but one chance day of the days as we
were sailing along there burst upon us a furious gale which
shivered our timbers and my companions all perished while I floated
upon a plank of the ship's planks and was carried ashore by the
send of the sea. Indeed I have been floating for three days and
this be my fourth night." Hearing this adventure from him the
traders cried, "Grieve no more in heart but be thou of good cheer
and of eyes cool and clear: the sea voyage is ever exposed to such
chances and so is the gain thereby we obtain; and if Allah deign
preserve us and keep for us the livelihood He vouchsafed to us we
will bestow upon thee a portion thereof." After this they ceased
not sailing until a tempest assailed them and blew their vessel to
starboard and larboard and she lost her course and went astray at
sea. Hereat the pilot cried aloud, saying, "Ho ye company aboard,
take your leave one of other for we be driven into unknown depths
of ocean, nor may we keep our course, because the wind bloweth full
in our faces." Hereupon the voyagers fell to beweeping the loss of
their lives and their goods, and the Sultan Habib shed tears which
trickled adown his cheeks and exclaimed, "Would Heaven I had died
before seeing such torment: indeed this is naught save a matter of
marvel." But when the merchants saw the youth thus saddened and
troubled of soul, and weeping withal, they said to him, "O Monarch
of the Merchants, let not thy breast be straitened or thy heart be
disheartened: hapty Allah shall vouchsafe joy to us and to thee:
moreover, can vain regret and sorrow of soul and shedding of tears
avail aught? Do thou rather ask of the Almighty that He deign
relieve us and further our voyage." But as the vessel ran through
the middle of the main, she suddenly ceased her course and came to
a stop without tacking to the right or the left, and the pilot
cried out, "O folk, is there any of you who conneth this ocean?"
But they made answer, "We know thereof naught, neither in all our
voyage did we see aught resembling it." The pilot continued, "O
folk, this main is hight 'The Azure';[FN#420] nor did any trader at
any time therein enter but he found destruction; for that it is the
home of Jinns and the house of Ifrits, and he who now withholdeth
our vessel from its course is known as Al-Ghashamsham,[FN#421] and
our lord Solomon son of David (upon the twain be The Peace!)
deputed him to snatch up and carry off from every craft passing,
through these forbidden depths whatever human beings, and
especially merchants, he might find a-voyaging, and to eat them
alive." "Woe to thee!" cried Habib. "Wherefore bid us take counsel
together when thou tellest us that here dwelleth a Demon over whom
we have no power to prevail, and thou terrifiest us with the
thoughts of being devoured by him? However, feel ye no affright; I
will fend off from you the mischief of this Ifrit." They replied,
"We fear for thy life, O Monarch of the Merchants," and he
rejoined, "To you there is no danger." Thereupon he donned a
closely woven mail-coat and armed himself with the magical scymitar
and spear; then, taking the skins of animals freshly slain,[FN#422]
he made a hood and vizor thereof and wrapped strips of the same
around his arms and legs that no harm from the sea might enter his
frame. After this he bade his shipmates bind him with cords under
his armpits and let him down amiddlemost the main. And as soon as
he touched bottom he was confronted by the Ifrit, who rushed
forward to make a mouthful of him, when the Sultan Habib raised his
forearm and with the scymitar smote him a stroke which fell upon
his neck and hewed him into two halves. So he died in the depths;
and the youth, seeing the foeman slain, jerked the cord and his
mates drew him up and took him in, after which the ship sprang
forward like a shaft outshot from the belly[FN#423] of the bow.
Seeing this all the traders wondered with excessive wonderment and
hastened up to the youth, kissing his feet and crying, "O Monarch
of the Merchants, how didst thou prevail against him and do him
die?" "When I dropped into the depths," replied he, "in order to
slay him, I asked against him the aidance of Allah, who vouchsafed
His assistance, and on such wise I slaughtered him." Hearing these
good tidings and being certified of their enemy's death the traders
offered to him their good and gains whereof he refused to accept
aught, even a single mustard seed. Now, amongst the number was a
Shaykh well shotten in years and sagacious in all affairs needing
direction; and this oldster drew near the youth, and making lowly
obeisance said to him, "By the right of Who sent thee uswards and
sent us theewards, what art thou and what may be thy name and the
cause of thy falling upon this ocean?" The Sultan Habib began by
refusing to disclose aught of his errand, but when the Shaykh
persisted in questioning he ended by disclosing all that had
betided him first and last, and as they sailed on suddenly the
Pilot cried out to them, "Rejoice ye with great joy and make ye
merry and be ye gladdened with good news, O ye folk, for that ye
are saved from the dangers of these terrible depths and ye are
drawing near the city of Sábúr, the King who overruleth the Isles
Crystalline; and his capital (which be populous and prosperous)
ranketh first among the cities of Al-Hind, and his reign is
foremost of the Isles of the Sea." Then the ship inclined thither,
and drawing nearer little by little entered the harbour[FN#424] and
cast anchor therein, when the canoes[FN#425] appeared and the
porters came on board and bore away the luggage of the voyagers and
the crew, who were freed from all sorrow and anxiety. Such was
their case; but as regards Durrat al-Ghawwas, when she parted from
her lover, the Sultan Habib, severance weighed sore and stark upon
her, and she found no pleasure in meat and drink and slumber and
sleep. And presently whilst in this condition and sitting upon her
throne of estate, an Ifrit appeared to her and coming forwards
between her hands said, "The Peace of Allah upon thee, O Queen of
the Age and Empress of the Time and the Tide!" whereto she made
reply, "And upon thee be The Peace and the ruth of Allah and His
blessings. What seekest thou O Ifrit?" Quoth he, "There lately hath
come to us a shipful of merchants and I have heard talk of the
Sultan Habib being amongst them." As these words reached her ear
she largessed the Ifrit and said to him, "An thou speak sooth I
will bestow upon thee whatso thou wishest." Then, having certified
herself of the news, she bade decorate the city with the finest of
decorations and let beat the kettledrums of glad tidings and
bespread the way leading to the Palace with a carpeting of
sendal,[FN#426] and they obeyed her behest. Anon she summoned her
pages and commanded them to bring her lover before her; so they
repaired to him and ordered him to accompany them. Accordingly, he
followed them and they ceased not faring until they had escorted
him to the Palace, when the Queen bade all her pages gang their
gait and none remained therein save the two lovers; to wit, the
Sultan Habib and Durrat al-Ghawwas. And after the goodly reunion
she sent for the Kazi and his assessors and bade them write out her
marriage-writ[FN#427] with Habib. He did as he was bidden and the
witnesses bore testimony thereto and to the dowry being duly paid;
and the tie was formally tied and the wedding banquets were
dispread. Then the bride donned her choicest of dresses and the
marriage procession was formed and the union was consummated and
both joyed with joy exceeding. Now this state of things endured for
a long while until the Sultan Habib fell to longing after his
parents and his family and his native country; and at length, on a
day of the days, when a banquet was served up to him by his bride,
he refused to taste thereof, and she, noting and understanding his
condition, said to him, "Be of good cheer, this very night thou
shalt find thee amongst thine own folk." Accordingly she summoned
her Wazir of the Jann, and when he came she made proclamation
amongst the nobles and commons of the capital saying, "This my
Wazir shall be my Viceregent over you and whoso shall gainsay him
that man I will slay." They replied with "Hearkening to and obeying
Allah and thyself and the Minister." Then turning to her
newly-established deputy she said, "I desire that thou guide me to
the garden wherein was the Sultan Habib;" and he replied, "Upon my
head be it and on my eyes!" So an Ifrit was summoned, and Habib
mounting him pick-a-back together with the Princess Durrat
al-Ghawwas bade him repair to the garden appointed, and the Jinni
took flight, and in less than the twinkling of an eye bore the
couple to their destination. Such was the reunion of the Sultan
Habib with Durrat al-Ghawwas and his joyous conjunction;[FN#428]
but as regards the Emir Salamah and his wife, as they were sitting
and recalling to memory their only child and wondering in converse
at what fate might have betided him, lo and behold! the Sultan
Habib stood before them and by his side was Durrat al-Ghawwas his
bride, and as they looked upon him and her, weeping prevailed over
them for excess of their joyance and delight and both his parents
threw themselves upon him and fell fainting to the ground. As soon
as they recovered the youth told them all that had betided him,
first and last, whereupon one congratulated other and the
kettledrums of glad tidings were sounded, and a world of folk from
all the Badawi tribes and the burghers gathered about them and
offered hearty compliments on the reunion of each with other. Then
the encampment was decorated in whole and in part, and festivities
were appointed for a term of seven days full-told, in token of joy
and gladness; and banquets were arrayed and trays were dispread,
and all sat down to them in the pleasantest of life eating and
drinking; and the hungry were filled, and the mean and the
miserable and the mendicants were feasted until the end of the
seventh day. After this they applied them to the punishment of the
ten Knights whom the Emir Salamah had despatched to escort his son;
and the Sultan Habib gave order that retribution be required from
them, and restitution of all the coin and the good and the horses
and the camels entrusted to them by his sire. When these had been
recovered he commanded that there be set up for them as many stakes
in the garden wherein he sat with his bride, and there in their
presence he let impale[FN#429] each upon his own pale. And
thenceforward the united household ceased not living the most
joyous of lives and the most delectable until the old Emir Salamah
paid the debt of nature, and they mourned him with excessive
mourning for seven days. When these were ended his son, the Sultan
Habib, became ruler in his stead and received the homage of all the
tribes and clans who came before him and prayed for his victory and
his length of life; and the necks of his subjects, even the most
stubborn, were bowed in abasement before him. On this wise he
reigned over the Crystalline Isles of Sabur, his sire-in-law, with
justice and equity, and his Queen, Durrat al-Ghawwas, bare to him
children in numbers who in due time followed in their father's
steps. And here is terminated the tale of Sultan Habib and Durrat
al-Ghawwas with all perfection and completion and good omen.
Note On The History of Habib
The older translators of this "New Arabian Night" have made wild work with
this Novel at least as the original is given by my text and the edition of
Gauttier (vii, 60-90): in their desire to gallicise it they have invested it
with a toilette purely European and in the worst possible style. Amongst the
insipid details are the division of the Crystalline Islands into the White,
Yellow, Green and Blue; with the Genies Abarikaff, the monstrous Racachik,
Ilbaccaras and Mokilras; and the terrible journey of Habib to Mount Kaf with
his absurd reflections: even the "Roc" cannot come to his aid without "a
damask cushion suspended between its feet by silken cords" for the greater
comfort of the "Arabian Knight." The Treasury of Solomon, "who fixed the
principles of knowledge by 366 hieroglyphics (sic) each of which required a
day's application from even the ablest understanding, before its mysterious
sense could be understood," is spun out as if the episode were copy intended
for the daily press. In my text the "Maidens of the Main" are introduced to
say a few words and speed the action. In the French version Ilzaide the elder
becomes a "leading lady," whose rôle is that of the naïve ingénue, famous for
"smartness" and "vivacty": "one cannot refrain from smiling at the lively
sallies of her good nature and simplicity of heart." I find this young person
the model of a pert, pretty, prattling little French soubrette who, moreover,
makes open love to "the master." Habib calls the "good old lady," his
governess "Esek! Esek!" which in Turk. means donkey, ass. I need hardly
enlarge upon these ineptitudes; those who wish to pursue the subject have only
to compare the two versions.
At the end of the Frenchified tale we find a note entitled:--Observations by
the French Editor, on the "History of Habib and Dorathil-goase, or the Arabian
Knight," and these are founded not upon the Oriental text but upon the
Occidental perversion. It is described "from a moral plane rather as a poem
than a simple tale," and it must be regarded as "a Romance of Chivalry which
unites the two chief characteristics of works of that sort,--amusement and
instruction." Habib's education is compared with that of Telemachus, and his
being inured to fatigue is according to the advice of Rousseau in his
"Emilius" and the practice of Robinson Crusoe. Lastly "Grandison is a here
already formed: Habib is one who needs to be instructed." I cannot but
suspect when reading all this Western travesty of an Eastern work that M.
Cazotte, a typical littérateur, had prepared for caricaturing the unfortunate
Habib by carefully writing up Fénélon, Rousseau, and Richardson; and had
grafted his own ideas of morale upon the wild stem of the Arabian novel.
Appendix.
NOTES ON THE STORIES CONTAINED IN VOLUME XVI.
By W. F. Kirby.
The Say of Haykar the Sage (Pp.1-30).
Haykar's precepts may be compared advantageously with those of other nations
of the East and West (at a corresponding stage of civilisation) which, as a
rule, follow very similar lines. Many of them find their parallels not only in
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, as we might reasonably expect, but even in the
Havamál of the Elder Edda, respecting which Thorpe remarks in his translation
(i. p. 36 note): "Odin is the 'High One.' The poem is a collection of rules
and maxims, and stories of himself, some of them not very consistent with our
ideas of a supreme deity." The style of the Icelandic poem, and the manners of
the period when it was composed, are of course as wide apart from those of
Haykar as is Iceland from Syria, but human nature remains the same.
Pp. 22-24.--Two classes of subterfuges similar to those employed by Haykar are
common in folk-tales. In one, the hero vanquishes, and generally destroys, his
adversary (usually a giant) by imposing on his credulity, like Jack when he
hid himself in a corner of the room, and left a faggot in his bed for the
giant to belabour, and afterwards killed the giant by pretending to rip
himself up, and defying the other to do the same. In other cases, the hero
foils his opponents by subterfuges which are admitted to be just, but which
are not intended actually to deceive, as in the devices by which the blind
Shaykh instructs the merchant to baffle the sharpers, in one of the Sindibad
stories (vol. vi., pp. 202-212, No. 135x., of our Table). In the present story
Pharaoh was baffled by the superior cunning of Haykar but it is not made quite
clear whether he actually believed in his power to build a castle in the air
or not. However the story probably belongs to the second class.
P. 25.--Twisting ropes out of sand was a device by which Michael Scot baffled
a devil for whom he had to find constant employment. (Cf. Scott's "Lay of the
Last Minstrel," and notes.)
