Chapter 17

So they took leave of one another and departed, each for his own country, King Dirbas's Vizier carrying with him Uns el Wujoud, who was still insensible. They bore him with them on muleback, unknowing if he were carried or not, for three days, at the end of which time he came to himself and said, 'Where am I?' 'Thou art in company with King Dirbas's Vizier,' answered they and went and told the latter, who sent him rose-water and sherbet of sugar, of which they gave him to drink and restored him. Then they fared on till they drew near King Dirbas's capital and the King, being advised of his Vizier's coming, wrote to him, saying, 'An Uns el Wujoud be not with thee, come not to me ever.'

When the Vizier read the royal mandate, it was grievous to him, for he knew not that Rose-in-bud was with the King nor why he had sent him in quest of Uns el Wujoud, neither knew he that the fakir he had with him was Uns el Wujoud himself; and the latter in like manner knew not whither they were bound nor that the Vizier had been despatched in quest of himself. So, when he saw him thus chagrined, he said to him, 'What ails thee?' And he answered, 'I was sent by the King on an errand, which I have not been able to accomplish. So, when he heard of my return, he wrote to me? saying, "Enter not my city, except thou have fulfilled my need."' 'And what is the King's need?' asked Uns el Wujoud. So the Vizier told him the case, and he said, 'Fear nothing, but go boldly to the King and take me with thee; and I will be surety to thee for the coming of Uns el Wujoud.' At this the Vizier rejoiced and said, 'Is this true that thou sayest?' 'Yes,' answered he; whereupon the Vizier mounted and carried him to King Dirbas, who said to him, 'Where is Uns el Wujoud?' 'O King,' answered the young man, 'I know where he is.' So the King called him to him and said, 'Where?' 'Near at hand, replied Uns d Wujoud. 'Tell me what thou wouldst with him, and I will fetch him to thee.' 'With all my heart,' answered the King; 'but the case calls for privacy.'

So he bade the folk withdraw and, carrying Uns el Wujoud into his closet, told him the whole story; whereupon quoth the youth, 'Clothe me in rice apparel, and I will eftsoons bring Uns el Wujoud to thee.' So they brought him a sumptuous dress, and he donned it and said, 'I am the Delight of the World[FN#84] and the Mortification of the Envious.' So saying, he transfixed ail hearts with his glances and recited the following verses:

My loved one's memory cheers me still in this my solitude And doth wanhope from me away, as I in absence brood. I have no helper but my tears; yet, when from out mine eyes They flow, they lighten my despair and ease my drearihood. Sore is my longing; yea, it hath no like and my affair In love and passion's marvellous, beyond all likelihood. I lie the night long, wakeiul-eyed,--no sleep is there for me,--And pass, for love, from heaven to hell, according to my mood. Yea, patience fair some time I had, but have it now no more; And longing and chagrin increase upon me, like a flood. Indeed, my body's worn to nought, for severance from her; Yearnings my aspect and my form to change have all subdued. Mine eyelids ulcerated are with weeping, nor can I Avail to stay the constant tears, wherewith they're still bedewed. Indeed, I can no more; my strength, my very vitals fail. How many sorrows have I borne, on sorrows still renewed! My heart and head are grizzled grown, for loss of a princess In beauty, sure, the fairest maid that ever lover wooed. In her despite, our parting was, for no desire hath she Save to be joined with me and feed once more on lovers' food. I wonder, will my fate to me union vouchsafe with her I cherish, after absence long and stress of lonelihood, And shut the book of severance up, that now is open wide, And blot out troubles from my thought with love's supremest good? Shall my beloved, in my land, my cup-companion be And sorrow and affliction be by pure delight ensued?

'By Allah,' exclaimed the King, 'ye are, indeed, a pair of true lovers and in the heaven of beauty two shining stars! Your story is marvellous and your case extraordinary.' Then he told him all that had befallen Rose-in-bud; and Uns el Wujoud said, 'Where is she, O King of the age?' 'She is with me now,' answered Dirbas and sending for the Cadi and the witnesses, drew up the contract of marriage between her and him. Then he loaded Uns el Wujoud with favours and bounties and sent to King Shamikh, advising him of what had befallen, whereat the latter rejoiced with an exceeding joy and wrote back to him, saying, 'Since the marriage contract hath been drawn up at thy court! it behoves that the wedding and consummation be at mine.' And he made ready camels and horses and men and sent them in quest of the lovers.

When the embassy reached King Dirbas, he gave the pair great store of treasure and despatched them to King Shamikh's court with an escort of his own troops. The day of their arrival was a notable day, never was seen a greater; for the King assembled all the singers and players on instruments of music and made banquets and held high festival seven days; and on each day he gave largesse to the folk and bestowed on them sumptuous dresses of honour. Then Uns el Wujoud went in to Rose-in-bud, and they embraced and sat weeping for excess of joy and gladness, whilst she recited the following verses:

Gladness is come, dispelling grief and putting care aside; We are united now and have our enviers mortified. The fragrant breeze of union blows fresh and sweet for us, Whereby our bodies, vitals, hearts are all revivified. The splendour of fulfilled delight in all its glory shines, And for glad tidings beat the drums about us far and wide. Think not we weep for stress Of grief or for affliction; nay, It is for joy our tears flow down and will not be denied. How many terrors have we seen, that now are past away! Yet we each agonizing strait did patiently abide. In one hour of delight have we forgotten all the woes, Whose stresses made us twain, whilom, grey-haired and hollow-eyed.

Then they clipped each other and ceased not from their embrace, till they fell down in a swoon, for the ecstasy of reunion; and when they came to themselves, Uns d Wujoud recited these verses:

Ah, how peerlessly sweet are the nights of delight, When the loved one to me keeps the troth she did plight, When enjoyment enjoyment ensues and the bonds Of estrangement between us are sundered outright, And fortune is come to us, favouring and fair, After turning away with aversion and spite! Fair fortune hath set up her standards for us And we drink from her hand a cup pure of affright. United, our woes each to each we recount And the nights when in torments we watched for the light. But now, O my lady, forgotten have we Our griefs, and God pardon the past its upright! How pleasant, how lovesome, how joyous is life! Enjoyment my passion doth only excite.

Then they gave themselves up anew to the pleasures of the nuptial bed and passed seven whole days thus, carousing and conversing and reciting verses and telling pleasant tales and anecdotes, in the intervals of amorous dalliance; for so drowned were they in the sea of passion, that they knew not night from day and it was to them, for very stress of joy and gladness and pleasure and delight, as if the seven days were but one day, and that without a morrow. Nor did they know the seventh day, but by the coming of the singers and players on instruments of music;[FN#85] whereat Rose-in-bud was beyond measure wondered and improvised the following verses:

Despite the enviers' rage and malice of the spy, I've won of him I love my wish to satisfy; Yea, we have crowned our loves with many a close embrace, On cushions of brocade and silken stuffs piled high Upon a couch full soft, of perfumed leather made And stuffed with down of birds of rarest kind that fly. Thanks to the honeyed dews of my beloved's lips, Illustrious past compare, no need of wine have I. Yea, for the sweet excess of our fulfilled delight, The present from the past we know, nor far from nigh. A miracle indeed! Seven nights o'er us have passed, Without our taking note of how they flitted by; Till, on the seventh day, they wished us joy and said, "Your union God prolong to all eternity!"

When she had finished, Uns el Wujoud kissed her, more than a hundred times, and recited the following verses:

O day of pure delight and mutual happiness! The loved one came and set me free from loneliness. She blest me with the sweets of all her glorious charms, What while her converse filled my spirit with liesse. She plied me with the wine of amorous delight, Till all my senses failed, for very drunkenness. Yea, merry each with each we made, together lay, Then fell to wine and did, in song, our cheer express; Nor knew we, of the days that fleeted over us, The present from the past, for very joy's excess. Fair fall all those that love of ease and twinned delight, And joy to them fulfil its promise none the less! Ne'er may they know the taste of parting's bitter cup! God succour them as me He succoured in my stress!

Then they went forth and distributed to the folk alms and largesse of money and raiment and so forth; after which Rose-in-bud bade empty the bath for her and turning to Uns el Wujoud, said to him' 'O solace of my eyes, I have a mind to see thee in the bath; and we will be alone together therein.' He gladly consented to this, and she bade perfume the bath for them with all manner of scented woods and essences and light the candles. Then, of the excess of her contentment, she recited the following Verses:

O thou aforetime of my heart that mad'st prize (And the present for us on the past still relies), Thou, the only companion I crave, for to me None other the want of thy presence supplies, To the bath,--that in midst of hell-fire we may see Even Paradise shining,--come, light of mine eyes! We will scent it with ambergris, aloes and musk, Till the fragrance in clouds from all quarters arise. Yea, Fortune we'll pardon her sins and give thanks, For His grace, to the Merciful One, the All-Wise; And I'll say, when I see thee therein, "O my love, All delights be thy lot in the earth and the skies!"

So they went to the bath and took their pleasure there in; after which they returned to their palace and there abode in the fulness of delight, till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies; and glory be to Him who changeth not neither ceaseth and in whom all things have their term!

ABOU NUWAS WITH THE THREE BOYS AND THE KHALIF HAROUN ER RESHID.

Abou Nuwas one day shut himself up and making ready a richly- furnished saloon, set out therein a banquet of meats of all kinds and colours that lips and tongue can desire. Then he went forth, to seek a minion who should befit the entertainment, saying, 'O my God and my Master and my Lord, I beseech Thee to send me one worthy of this banquet and apt to carouse with me this day!' Hardly had he made an end of speaking, when he espied three handsome beardless youths, as they were of the children of Paradise, differing in complexion but equal in perfection of beauty; and all hearts yearned with desire to the graceful bending of their shapes, even to what saith the poet:

Two beardless youths I happened on one day And said "I love you." "Hast thou pelf?" asked they. "Yes," answered I, "and liberality." "Then is the matter easy," did they say.

Now Abou Nuwas was on this wise given and loved to sport and make merry with the fair and cull the rose from every fresh- flowered cheek, even as saith the poet:

Full many a graybeard is amorous and loves Fair faces and music and dalliance and glee: From Mosul, the country of pureness,[FN#86] he comes, Yet nought but Aleppo[FN#87] remembereth he.

So he accosted them with the salutation, and they returned his greeting with all honour and civility and would have gone their way; but he stayed them, repeating these verses:

To none but me your footsteps steer; For I have store of all good cheer; Wine that the heart of convent monk Would glad, so bright it is and clear; And flesh of sheep, to boot, have I And birds of land and sea and mere. Eat ye of these and drink old wine, That doth away chagrin and fear.

The boys were beguiled by his verses and consented to his wishes, saying, 'We hear and obey.' So he carried them to his lodging, where they found all ready that he had set forth in his verses. They sat down and ate and drank and made merry awhile, after which they appealed to Abou Nuwas to decide which was the handsomest and most shapely of them. So he pointed to one of them, after having kissed him twice, and recited the following verses:

With my life I will ransom the mole, on the cheek of the loveling that is; For how should I ransom it else with treasure or aught but my soul? And blessed for ever be He who fashioned his cheek without hair And made, of His power and His might, all beauty to dwell in yon mole!

Then he pointed to another and kissing his lips, repeated these verses:

There's a loveling hath a mole upon his cheek, As 'twere musk on virgin camphor, so to speak. My eyes marvel when they see it. Quoth the mole, "Heaven's blessing on the Prophet look ye seek!"[FN#88]

Then he pointed to the third and repeated the following verses, after kissing him half a score times:

All in a silver cup he melted gold full fine, A youth whose hands were dyed in ruby-coloured wine, And with the skinkers went and handed round one cup Of wine, whilst other two were proffered by his eyne. Fairer than all the Turks, an antelope, whose waist Together would attract the mountains of Hunain.[FN#89] An if I were content with crooked[FN#90] womankind, Betwixt attractions twain would be this heart of mine. One love towards Diyarbeker[FN#91] drawing it, and one That draws it, otherguise, to the land of Jamiain.[FN#92]

Now each of the youths had drunk two cups, and when it came to Abou Nuwas's turn, he took the goblet and repeated these verses:

Drink not of wine except it be at the hands of a loveling slim, Who in brightness of soul resembles it and it resembles him. The drinker of wine, in very truth, hath no delight thereof, Except the cheek of the fair be pure, who doth the goblet brim.

Then he drank off his cup, and when it came round to Him again, joyance got the mastery of him and he repeated The following verses:

Make thou thy boon-fellow of cups, brimmed up as full as this, And eke to follow cup with cup, I rede thee, do not miss, Poured by a damask-lipped one's hand, a wonder-lovely fair, Whose mouth's sweet water, after sleep, as musk on apple is. Drink not of wine, except it be from the hand of a gazelle, Whose cheek is goodlier than itself and sweeter still his kiss.

Presently, the wine crept to his head, drunkenness mastered him and he knew not hand from head, so that he swayed about for mirth, inclining anon to this one, to kiss him, and anon to another. Then he fell to glorying in himself and his case and the goodliness of his entertainment and his companions, and recited these verses:

None knoweth perfection of pleasure but he Who drinketh, with fair ones to hearten him still. This sings to him, t'other, when cheer him would be, Revives him forthright with the cups he doth fill; And whenever from one he hath need of a kiss, Long draughts from his lips, at his case, he doth swill. God bless them! Right sweet has my day with them been, And wonder delightsome and void of all ill! We drank of the wine cup, both mingled and pure, And agreed whoso slept, we should touzle at will.

At this moment, there came a knocking at the door; so they bade him who knocked enter, and behold, it was the Khalif Haroun er Reshid. When they saw him, they all rose to him and kissed the ground before him; and the fumes of the wine forsook Abou Nuwas's head for awe of the Khalif, who said to him, 'Hallo, Abou Nuwas!' 'At thy service, O Commander of the Faithful,' answered he, 'may God preserve thee!' 'What state is this I find thee in?' asked the Khalif; and the poet replied, 'O Commander of the Faithful, methinks my state dispenses with question.' Quoth the Khalif, 'O Abou Nuwas, I have sought direction of God the Most High and appoint thee Cadi of whoremasters.' 'Dost thou indeed invest me with that office, O Commander of the Faithful?' asked Abou Nuwas. 'I do,' replied the Khalif. 'Then, O Commander of the Faithful,' rejoined Abou Nuwas, 'hast thou any suit to prefer to me?' At this the Khalif was wroth and turned away and left them, full of rage, and passed the night, sore angered against Abou Nuwas, whilst the latter spent the merriest and most easeful of nights, till the day dawned and the morning-star appeared and shone, when he broke up the sitting and dismissing the boys, donned his court- dress and set out for the Khalif's palace.

Now it was the latter's custom, when the Divan broke up, to withdraw to his sitting-chamber and summon thither his poets and minions and musicians, each having his own place, which he might not overpass. So, that day, he retired to his saloon, and the minions came and seated themselves, each in his place. Presently, in came Abou Nuwas and was about to take his usual seat, when the Khalif cried out to Mesrour the headsman and bade him strip the poet of his clothes and clap an ass's pannel on his back. Moreover, he charged him bind a halter about his head and a crupper under his rear and carry him round to all the lodgings of the slave-girls and the chambers of the harem, that the women might make mock of him; then cut off his head and bring it to him. 'I hear and obey,' replied Mesrour and accoutring Abou Nuwas, as the Khalif had bidden him, carried him round to all the lodgings of the harem, in number as the days of the year; but he made all the girls laugh with his buffooneries and each gave him something, so that he returned with a pocketful of money.

Just then, Jaafer the Barmecide, who had been absent on an important business for the Khalif, entered and seeing the poet in this plight, said to him, 'Hallo, Abou Nuwas!' 'At thy service, O our lord,' answered he. 'What offence hast thou committed,' asked Jaafer, 'to bring this punishment on thee?' 'None whatever,' answered the other, 'except that I made our lord the Khalif a present of the best of my verses, and he presented me, in return, with the best of his clothes.' When the Khalif heard this, he laughed, from a heart full of wrath, and [not only] pardoned Abou Nuwas, but gave him a myriad of money.

ABDALLAH BEN MAAMER WITH THE MAN OF BASSORA AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL.

A certain man of Bassora once bought a slave-girl and reared and educated her excellent well. Moreover, he loved her very dearly and spent all his substance in pleasuring and making merry with her, till he had nothing left and want was very sore upon him. So she said to him, 'O my master, sell me; for thou needest my price and it makes my heart ache to see the sorry plight to which want hath brought thee. It thou sell me and make use of my price, it will be better for thee than keeping me, and haply God the Most High will prosper thee and mend thy fortune.' He agreed to this, of the straitness of his case, and carried her to the bazaar, where the broker offered her for sale to the Governor of Bassora, by name Abballah ben Maamer et Teimi, and she pleased him. So he bought her, for five hundred dinars, of her master, who took the money and was about to go away, when the girl burst into tears and repeated the following verses:

May Allah prosper unto thee the money thou hast got! For me, nought's left me but lament and memory and woe. I say to my afflicted soul, "Mourn little or mourn much; It skills not, for the loved one's gone and will return no mo."

When he heard this, he sighed heavily and replied thus:

Though there be no recourse for thee in this thy case and thou Find nought but death to solace thee, excuse me yet and know, Evening and morn the thought of thee will company with me, Wherewith a heart I will console, that's all fulfilled of woe. Peace be on thee! Henceforth for us no meeting shall there be Nor any union more, except Ben Maamer will it so.

When Abdallah heard these verses and saw their affliction, he exclaimed, 'By Allah, I will have no hand in separating you; for it is manifest to me that ye indeed love one another. So take the money and the damsel, O man, and may God bless thee in them! For parting is grievous to true lovers.' So they kissed his hand and going away, ceased not to dwell together, till death parted them; and glory be to Him whom death overtaketh not!

THE LOVERS OF THE BENOU UDHREH.

There was once, among the Benou Udhreh, a handsome and accomplished man, who was never a day out of love, and it chanced that he became enamoured of a beautiful woman of his own tribe and sent her many messages; but she ceased not to use him with cruelty and disdain, till, for stress of passion and longing and distraction, he fell exceeding sick and took to his bed and forswore sleep. His sickness grew on him and his anguish redoubled upon him, till he was all but dead; and his case became known and his passion noised abroad among the folk. His family and hers were instant with her to visit him, but she refused, till he was at the point of death, when, being told of this, she relented towards him and vouchsafed him a visit. When he saw her, his eyes ran over with tears and he repeated the following verses, from a broken heart:

If, by thy life, there pass thee by my funeral train, to wit, A bier borne on the necks of four, wilt grudge to follow it? Wilt thou not follow in its track, that so thou mayst salute The sepulchre of one who's dead, committed to the pit?

When she heard this, she wept sore and said to him, 'By Allah, I thought not that passion had come to such a pass with thee, as to cast thee into the arms of death! Had I known this, I had been favourable to thee, and thou shouldst have enjoyed thy desire.' At this, his tears streamed down, like the cloud- showers, and he repeated the following verse:

She draweth near to me, when death hath come betwixt us two And proffereth union, when it no profit can me do.

Then he gave one sigh and died, and she fell on him, kissing him and weeping, till she swooned away. When she came to herself she charged her people bury her in his grave and recited the following verses, with streaming eyes:

We lived upon the earth a life of comfort and delight: Country and tribe and dwelling-place alike of us were proud; But Fortune and the shifts of time did rend our loves apart, And now the grave uniteth us within a single shroud.

Then she fell again to weeping and ceased not from tears and lament, till she swooned away. She lay three days, senseless; then died and was buried in his grave. This is one of the strange chances of love.

THE VIZIER OF YEMEN AND HIS YOUNG BROTHER