SCENE II.

_The street before the Mosque of the Carpenters. The same scene as at the opening of the play._

_Moonlight._

_The BEGGAR KASIM is seated on HAJJ’S stone, just as HAJJ installed him at sunrise._

_Down the alley from the left come cries of moaning “Wah! Wah! Wah!” and HAJJ appears, breathless, dishevelled and tottering. He hurries to the Mosque and knocks frantically at the door._

MAHMUD. (_Coming out and standing on the steps._) Hajj?

HAJJ. (_Sinking down._) O my father! I have run to thee clinging from wall to wall in my anguish. Where’s Marsinah?

MAHMUD. She is safe within.

HAJJ. Bring her forth I pray thee. We must flee the city. The Caliph covets her.

MAHMUD. What devil possesses thee? Take thy daughter from the Caliph? Rob her of the blessing of blessings?

HAJJ. I am banished. I must never see her again. And I love her—to the very clot in my heart I love her!

MAHMUD. Oh Hajj! O Hajj! Look within thee! How? Ruin thy child and call it love?

HAJJ. Wah!

MAHMUD. When must thou go from Baghdad?

HAJJ. By dawn.

MAHMUD. Dawn! To-morrow the caravans set out for Meccah. Hast thou washed in the well of Zemzem? Kissed the sacred stone? Encircled the holy Kaabah?

HAJJ. (_Crestfallen._) No, O my father.

MAHMUD. By what right then dost thou call thyself Hajj, the Pilgrim? Naught hast thou done for thy endless days beyond the grave. Thou art no Moslem; no son of Islam. Thou art an infidel.

HAJJ. (_With a cry of horror._) Ah! O my father! Infidel!

(_A sound of distant trumpets, kettledrums and singing is heard approaching from the left._)

HAJJ. The Caliph!—Marsinah! (_Pleading._) O Mahmud,—Marsinah!

MAHMUD. Conquer thyself. Turn from the world. Seek salvation.

HAJJ. Marsinah!

MAHMUD. I tell thee verily this is thine hour appointed, thine hour of hours. An thou so much as raise an eye to mar thy child’s fortune, thy doom shall be flame and fire.

HAJJ. (_In agony._) Awah! Awah! Awah!

(_At that moment the CALIPH’S CHAMBERLAIN, with a wand of office, hurries on from the left and crosses to the Mosque._)

CHAMBERLAIN. O Imam! The Commander of the Faithful cometh to claim the maid Marsinah.

MAHMUD. Hearkening and obedience! Wilt thou enter?

(_The CHAMBERLAIN enters the Mosque, MAHMUD following him. HAJJ stands irresolute, with hands clenched. But as the music approaches, he turns and hides in the shadow of a wall. The Wedding Procession enters from the left, headed by a group of MALE MUSICIANS: SINGERS, about eight in number, with a leader in their midst; THREE MEN with huge tambourines; others with pipes and clarionets. They are singing as they come._)

Bespread the streets with tapestries, Hang carpets from the balconies; And from the roof-tops flower-dight Rain nard, and musk, and ambergris; The Caliph Moon has risen bright To seek the Star of his delight. Then hail unto this glorious night, When earth makes dim the heaven’s light!

(_After the Musicians comes the HERALD bearing aloft the black banner of the house of Abbas, followed by THREE COURT DIGNITARIES swinging incense. Next comes the CALIPH, followed by ABU BAKR. Behind the CALIPH walk THREE WAZIRS each carrying a five-branched candle-stick in the shape of an out-spread hand. After the CALIPH SIX BOYS with baskets of flowers which they scatter. THREE more DIGNITARIES follow, swinging incense. Then appears a curtained litter of gold borne by TWO NEGROES; on either side of it THREE EUNUCHS with five-branched candle-sticks. A second group of MUSICIANS, consisting of several instrumentalists conclude the procession. As soon as the CALIPH reaches the Mosque doors, the procession halts; the music ceases and the doors are flung open._)

(_MARSINAH appears on the steps in a flood of light, beautifully attired and veiled. MAHMUD and the CHAMBERLAIN follow her._)

CALIPH. (_Taking a step forward._) The Peace upon thee!

MARSINAH. (_Looking up._) Thou——? But thou art the gardener’s son! How is this splendour possible?

CALIPH. O my Marsinah! All I have told thee is truth save one thing. I am not what I let thee believe.

MARSINAH. Not the gardener’s son?

CALIPH. Not the gardener’s son.

MARSINAH. Greater? A merchant?

CALIPH. Alas—even greater.

MARSINAH. A Kazi?

CALIPH. Yet more.

MARSINAH. A Prince!

CALIPH. Higher still.

MARSINAH. (_Close to him._) Still—? Who art thou then? Thou art not—not the Highest?

CALIPH. The Pardoner pardon me—I am.

MARSINAH. (_In awe._) The Caliph. (_Sinks to her knees._) Oh, what a boldness hath been mine! How can I sink deep enough before thee?

CALIPH. Kneel? Thou? Wouldst thou double my shame by begging forgiveness? Have I lost all thy love?

MARSINAH. O my lord, how dare I love thee after this?

CALIPH. Even as I love thee. By the Grace of the Uniter of heart and heart, who hath brought thee to me, and me to thee joining us one and inseparable, from this day to the day when shall come the Destroyer of delights, the Shatterer of palaces, the Ender of all things earthly—till Death!

MARSINAH. (_Rises._) Is this a dream?

CALIPH.

All things are dreams till Allah sayeth “Be”! When soul finds soul, as I—Beloved, thee!

MARSINAH.

My life is thine unto the latest hour, Nor shall Death rob my love’s eternity.

(_The CALIPH touches his forehead and his heart, then motions MARSINAH to the litter._)

(_MARSINAH bows before him, kissing her finger-tips and raising them to her brow; then crosses him. She is assisted into the litter by ABU BAKR._)

(_The Procession moves off to the right, the combined groups of MUSICIANS playing and singing._)

ALL.

Seat high the maid and bridal throne, To rule this night of nights alone; Whilst kneels to her divinity, The mightiest of monarchs prone. Then draw the curtain sweet with spice, On Lord of Lords and Pearl of Price— He crowned by her virginity, She by his manhood’s Paradise. And Allah the Uniter bless Their love with joyance limitless!

(_MAHMUD locks the door of the Mosque._)

(_HAJJ has risen as MARSINAH goes to the litter, drawn by an irresistible desire to approach her. But MAHMUD’S eye is upon him and he hesitates. As the curtains of the litter shut over his child, he stands transfixed, a figure of grief against the gorgeousness behind him._)

(_The procession is gone but he does not move._)

(_MAHMUD watches him closely from the door-step of the Mosque. The song dies away in the distance._)

MAHMUD. O Hajj! Thou hast learnt to renounce. Allah hath opened to thee the path of Pardon! Set forth at sunrise without fear.

HAJJ. (_In an exalted strain raising his right hand._) Yea! To Meccah! To Meccah!

MAHMUD. And the peace upon thee now and for ever.

HAJJ. And on thee, O Mahmud, peace and blessing. (_MAHMUD goes slowly up the street to the left and disappears._)

HAJJ. (_Stands a moment alone in the moonlight, then almost like a child he says._) I am tired.

(_He turns to his old stone, upon which, to his great surprise, he finds KASIM sitting._)

HAJJ. By my head! What dog art thou? Out of my seat!

KASIM. Thou didst give it me at dawn.

HAJJ. And I take it again at dark! That is Fate! Up, thou one-eyed curse! Learn to renounce! To the Caliph I may be dirt; but to dirt I am the Caliph! (_KASIM rises and, dropping the beggar’s cloak HAJJ gave him at sunrise, goes off by the alley, left. HAJJ takes it and wraps himself in it once more, then sits down on his seat with a loud sigh of relief._) Renunciation! There’s a sweet smack to it. A taste of having lived! And I have lived to-day. Mine enemies dead,—Marsinah wed,—Meccah to-morrow,—(_He yawns prodigiously._) My say is said. So glory be to the One, the Eternal! He who begetteth not, nor is begot; the Ruler of Tide and Time, who sleepeth not. (_Dropping off._) And to Mohammed, his Prophet—chosen—amongst——Mankind——Peace and————

(_A gentle snore; another snore, louder; another_——)

[SLOW CURTAIN]

_End of the Play_

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED.