There was one, long ago and in ages and times long gone before, a merchant of the merchants of Damascus, by name Abu al-Hasan, who had money and means, slave blacks and slave girls, lands and gardens, houses and Hammams in that city; but he was not blessed with boon of child and indeed his age grew great. So he addressed himself to supplicate Allah Almighty in private and in public and in his bows and his prostrations and at the season of prayer call, beseeching Him to vouchsafe him, before his decease, a son who should inherit his wealth and possessions. The Lord answered his prayer; his wife conceived and the days of her pregnancy were accomplished and her months and her nights; and the travail pangs came upon her and she gave birth to a boy, as he were a slice of Luna. He had not his match for beauty and he put to shame the sun and the resplendent moon; for he had a beaming face and black eyes of Bábilí witchery and aquiline nose and carnelian lips; in fine, he was perfect of attributes, the loveliest of folk of his time, sans dubitation or gainsaying. His father joyed in him with exceeding joy and his heart was solaced and he was at last happy: he made banquets to the folk and he clad the poor and the widows. Presently, he named the boy Sídí Nur al-Din Ali and reared him in fondness and delight among the hand maids and thralls.
When he had passed his seventh year, his father put him to school, where he learned the sublime Koran and the arts of writing and reckoning; and when he reached his tenth year, he was taught horsemanship and archery and to occupy himself with arts and sciences of all kinds, part and parts. He grew up pleasant and polite, winsome and lovesome; a ravishment to all who saw him, and he inclined to companying with brethren and comrades and mixing with merchants and travelled men. From these he heard tell of that which they had witnessed of the wonders of the cities in their journey and heard them say, "whoever journeys not enjoys nothing; especially of the city of Baghdad." So he was concerned with exceeding concern for his lack of travel and disclosed this to his sire, who said to him, "O my son, why do I see you chagrined?" he said, "I would glad travel;" and Abu al-Hasan said, "O my son, none travells save those whose need is urgent and those who are compelled thereto by want. As for you, O my son, you enjoyest ample means; so do you content yourself with that which Allah has given you and be bounteous to others, even as He has been bountiful to you; and afflict not yourself with the toil and tribulation of travel, for indeed it is said that travel is a piece of Hell torment." But the youth said, "Needs must I journey to Baghdad, the House of Peace." When his father saw the strength of his resolve to travel he fell in with his wishes and fitted him out with five thousand dinars in cash and the like in merchandise and sent with him two serving men. So the youth fared forth, on the blessing
Nur Al-Din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel 109 of Allah Almighty; and his parent went out with him, to take leave of him, and returned to Damascus. As for Nur al-Din Ali, he did not stop travelling days and nights till he entered Baghdad city, and laying up his loads in the Wakálah, made for the Hammam bath, where he did away that which was upon him of the soil of the road and doffing his travelling clothes, donned a costly suit of Yamani stuff, worth an hundred dinars. Then he loaded his sleeve with a thousand miskals of gold and sallied forth a walking and swaying gracefully as he paced along. His gait confounded all those who gazed upon him, as he shamed the branches with his shape and belittled the rose with the redness of his cheeks and his black eyes of Babilí witchcraft: you would deem that whoever looked on him would surely be preserved from bane and bale; for he was even as says of him one of his describers in these couplets: —
"Your haters and enviers say for jeer A true say that profits what ears will hear; 'No boast is his whom the gear adorns; The boast be his who adorns the gear!' "
So Sidi Nur al-Din went walking in the highways of the city and viewing its edifices and its bazars and thoroughfares and gazing on its folk. Presently, Abú Nowás met him. (Now he was of those of whom it is said, "They love fair lads," and indeed there is said what is said concerning him.) When he saw Nur al-Din Ali, he stared at him in amazement and exclaimed, "Say, I take refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak!" Then he accosted the youth and saluting him, asked him, "Why do I see my lord lone and lorn? It seems to me you are a stranger and know not this country; so, with leave of my lord, I will put myself at his service and acquaint him with the streets, for that I know this city." Nur al-Din answered, "This will be of your favour, O nuncle." Abu Nowas rejoiced at this and fared on with him, showing him the streets and bazars, till they came to the house of a slave dealer, where he stopped and said to the youth, "From what city are you?" "From Damascus," replied Nur al-Din; and Abu Nowas said, "By God, you are from a blessed city, even as says of it the poet in these couplets,
'Now is Damascus a garth adorned For her seekers, the Houris and Paradise boys."'
Sidi Nur al-Din thanked him and the twain entered the mansion of the slave merchant. When the people of the house saw Abu Nowas, they rose to do him reverence, for that which they knew of his rank with the Commander of the Faithful; and the slave dealer himself came up to them with two chairs on which they seated themselves. Then the slave merchant went inside and returning with a slave girl, as she were a branch of Ban or a rattan cane, clad in a vest of damask silk and tired with a black and white headdress whose ends fell down over her face, seated her on a chair of ebony; after which he cried to those who were present, "I will discover to you a favour as it were a full moon breaking forth from under a cloud bank." They replied, "Do so;" whereupon he unveiled the damsel's face and behold, she was like the shining sun, with shapely shape and dawn bright cheeks and thready waist and heavy hips; brief, she was endowed with an elegance, whose description is unfound, and was even as says of her the poet,
"A fair one, to idolaters if she herself should show, They'd leave their idols and her face for only Lord would know; And if into the briny sea one day she chanced to spit, Assuredly the salt sea's floods straight fresh and sweet would grow."
The dealer stood at the hand maid's head and one of the merchants said, "I bid a thousand dinars for her." another said, "I bid one thousand one hundred dinars;" and a third, "I bid twelve hundred." Then said a fourth merchant, "Be she mine for fourteen hundred ducats." And the biddings standing still at that sum, her owner said, "I will not sell her save with her consent: an if she desire to be sold, I will sell her to whom she wills." The slave dealer asked him, "What is her name?" Answered the other,
Nur Al-Din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel 111
"Her name is Sitt al-Miláh;" whereupon the dealer said to her, "With your leave, I will sell you to that merchant for this price of fourteen hundred dinars." she said, "Come here to me." So the man vendor came up to her and when he drew near, she gave him a kick with her foot and cast him to the ground, saying, "I will not have that oldster." The slave dealer arose, shaking the dust from his dress and head, and cried, "Who bids more of us? Who is desirous?" Said one of the merchants, "I," and the dealer said to her, "O Sitt al-Milah, shall I sell you to this merchant?" She replied, "Come here to me;" but he rejoined, "Nay; speak and I will hear you from my place, for I will not trust myself to you nor hold myself safe when near you." So she cried, "Indeed I will not have him." Then the slave dealer looked at her and seeing her fix eyes on the young Damascene, for that in very deed he had fascinated her with his beauty and loveliness, went up to him and said to him, "O my lord, are you a looker on or a buyer? Tell me."
Nur al-Din said, "I am both looker on and buyer. Will you sell me that slave girl for sixteen hundred ducats?" And he pulled out the purse of gold. Hereupon the dealer returned, dancing and clapping his hands and saying, "So be it, so be it, or not at all!" Then he came to the damsel and said to her, "O Sitt al-Milah, shall I sell you to that young Damascene for sixteen hundred dinars?" But she answered, "No," of bashfulness before her master and the bystanders; whereupon the people of the bazar and the slave merchant departed, and Abu Nowas and Ali Nur al-Din arose and went each his own way, whilst the damsel returned to her owner's house, full of love for the young Damascene. When the night darkened on her, she called him to mind and her heart hung to him and sleep visited her not; and in this way she abode days and nights, till she sickened and abstained from food. So her lord went in to her and he asked, "O Sitt al-Milah, how find you yourself?" Answered she, "O my lord, dead without chance of deliverance and I beseech you to bring me my shroud, so I may look upon it before I die."
Therewith he went out from her, sore concerned for her, and betaking himself to the bazar, found a friend of his, a draper, who had been present on the day when the damsel was cried for sale. his friend to him said, "Why do I see you troubled?" and he said, "Sitt al-Milah is at the point of death and for three days she has neither eaten nor drunken. I questioned her today of her case and she said, 'O my lord, buy me a shroud so I may look upon it before I die.' " The draper replied, "I think nothing ails her but that she is in love with the young Damascene, and I counsel you to mention his name to her and declare to her that he has foregathered with you on her account and is desirous of coming to your quarters, so he may hear something of her singing. If she say, 'I reck not of him, for there is that to do with me which distracts me from the Damascene and from other than he,' know that she says truth concerning her sickness; but, If she say you other than this, acquaint me therewith." So the man returned to his lodging and going in to his slave girl said to her, "O Sitt al-Milah, I went out for your need and there met me the young man of Damascus, and he saluted me with the salam and saluts you; he seeks to win your favour and prayed me to admit him as a guest in our dwelling, so you may let him hear something of your singing."
When she heard speak of the young Damascene, she gave a sob, that her soul was like to leave her body, and answered, "He knows my plight and how these three days past I have not eaten nor drunken, and I beseech you, O my lord, By God of All Might, to do your duty by the stranger and bring him to my lodging and make excuse to him for me." When her master heard this, his reason fled for joy, and he went to his familiar the draper and said to him, "You were right in the matter of the damsel, for that she is in love with the young Damascene; so how shall I manage?" Said the other, "Go to the bazar and when you see him, salute him, and say to him, 'Your departure the other day, without winning your wish, was grievous to me; so, If you be still minded to buy the maid, I will abate you of that which you bade for her an hundred sequins by way of gaining your favour; seeing you be a stranger in our land.' If he say to you, 'I have no desire for her,' and hold off from you, be assured that he will not buy; in which case, let me know, so I may devise you another device; and if he say to you other than this, conceal not from me anything." So the girl's owner betook himself to the bazar, where he found the youth seated at the upper end of the place where the merchants mostly do meet, selling and buying and taking and giving, as he were the moon on the night of its full,
Nur Al-Din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel 113 and saluted him. The young man returned his salam and he said to him, "O my lord, be not offended at the damsel's speech the other day, for her price shall be lowered to the intent that I may secure your favour. If you desire her for nothing, I will send her to you or If you would have me abate to you her price, I will well, for I desire nothing save what shall content you; seeing you are a stranger in our land and it behoves us to treat you hospitably and have consideration for you." The youth replied, "By God, I will not take her from you but at an advance on that which I bade you for her afore; so will you now sell her to me for one thousand and seven hundred dinars?" And the other rejoined, "O my lord, I sell her to you, may Allah bless you in her!" Thereupon the young man went to his quarters and fetching a purse, sent for the girl's owner and weighed out to him the price aforesaid, whilst the draper was between the twain. Then he said, "Bring her forth;" but the other replied, "She cannot come forth at this present; but be you my guest the rest of this day and night, and on the morrow you will take your slave girl and go in the ward of Allah."
The youth agreed with him on this and he carried him to his house, where, after a little, he bade meat and wine be brought, and they ate and drank. Then said Nur al-Din to the girl's owner, "I would have you bring me the damsel, because I bought her not but for the like of this time." So he arose and going in to the girl, said to her, "O Sitt al-Milah, the young man has paid down your price and we have bidden him here; so he has come to our quarters and we have entertained him, and he would glad have you be present with him." Therewith the damsel rose deftly and doffing her dress, bathed and donned sumptuous apparel and perfumed herself and went out to him, as she were a branch of Ban or a cane of rattan, followed by a black slave girl, bearing the lute. When she came to the young man, she saluted him and sat down by his side. Then she took the lute from the slave girl and screwing up its pegs, smote thereon in four and twenty modes, after which she returned to the first and sang these couplets,
"My joy in this world is to see and sit near you. Your love's my religion; your Union my pleasure. Attest it these tears when in memory I speer you, And unchecked down my cheeks pours the flood without measure.
By God, no rival in love have to fear you; I'm your slave as I swear, and this troth is my treasure. Be not this our last meeting: By God I swear you Your severance to me were most bitter displeasure!"
The young man was moved to delight and cried, "By God, you say well, O Sitt al-Milah! Let me hear more." Then he largessed her with fifty gold pieces and they drank and the cups made circuit among them; and her seller said to her, "O Sitt al-Milah, this is the season of farewelling; so let us hear somewhat thereon." Accordingly she struck the lute and touching upon that which was in her heart, improvised these couplets,
"I thole longing, remembrance and sad repine, Nor my heart can brook woes in so lengthened line. O my lords think not I forget your love; My case is sure case and cure shows no sign. If creature could swim in the flood of his tears, I were first to swim in these floods of brine: O Cup boy withhold cup and bowl from a wretch Who never ceases to drink of her tears for wine! Had I known that parting would do me die, I had shirked to part, but—'twas Fate's design."
Now whilst they were thus enjoying whatever is most delicious of ease and delight, and indeed the wine was to them sweet and the talk a treat, behold, there came a knocking at the door. So the housemaster went out, that he might see what might be the matter, and found ten head of the Caliph's eunuchs at the entrance. When he saw this, he was startled and said, "What is to do?" "The Commander of the Faithful saluts you and requires of you the slave girl whom you have exposed for sale and whose name is Sitt al-Milah." "By God, I have sold her." "Swear by the head of the Commander of the Faithful that she is not in your quarters." The slaver made oath that he had sold her and that she was no longer at his disposal: yet they paid no heed to his word and forcing their way into the house, found the damsel and the young Damascene in the sitting chamber. So they laid hands upon her, and the youth said, "This is my slave girl, whom I have bought with my money;" but they hearkened not to his speech and taking her, carried her off to the Prince of True Believers. Therewith Nur al-Din's pleasure was troubled: he arose and donned his dress, and his host said, "where away this night, O my lord?" He said, "I purpose going
Nur Al-Din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel 115 to my quarters, and tomorrow I will betake myself to the palace of the Commander of the Faithful and demand my slave girl." The other replied, "Sleep till the morning, and fare not forth at the like of this hour." But he rejoined, "Needs must I go;" and the host said to him, "Go in Allah his safeguard." So the youth went forth and, drunkenness having got the mastery of his wits, he threw himself down on a bench before one of the shops. Now the watchmen were at that hour making their rounds and they smelt the sweet scent of essences and wine that reeked from him; so they made for it and suddenly beheld the youth lying on the bench, without sign of recovering. They poured water upon him, and he awoke, whereupon they carried him off to the office of the Chief of Police and he questioned him of his case. He replied, "O my lord, I am an alien in this town and have been with one of my friends: I came forth from his house and drunkenness overcame me." The Wali bade carry him to his lodging; but one of those in attendance upon him, Al-Murádi called, said to him, "What will you do? This man is robed in rich raiment and on his finger is a golden ring, whose bezel is a ruby of great price; so we will carry him away and slay him and take that which is upon him of clothes and bring to you all we get; for that you will not often see profit the like of it, especially as this fellow is a foreigner and there is none to ask after him." the Chief said, "This people is a thief and that which he says is leasing."
Nur al-Din said, "Allah forfend that I should be a thief!" But the Wali answered, "You lie." So they stripped him of his clothes and taking the seal ring from his finger, beat him with a grievous beating, what while he cried out for succour, but none succoured him, and besought protection, but none protected him. Then he said to them, "O folk, you are quit of that which you have taken from me; but now restore me to my lodging." They replied, "Leave this knavery, O rascal! Yours intent is to sue us for your clothes on the morrow." The youth cried, "By the truth of the One, the Eternal One, I will not sue any for them!" But they said, "We find no way to this." And the Prefect bade them bear him to the Tigris and there slay him and cast him into the stream.
So they dragged him away, while he wept and said the words which shall nowise shame the sayer: "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" When they came to the Tigris, one of them drew the sword upon him and Al-Muradi said to the sworder, "Smite off his head;" but one of them, called Ahmad cried, "O folk, deal softly with this poor wretch and slay him not unjustly and wickedly, for I stand in fear of Allah Almighty, lest He burn me with his fire." Al-Muradi said, "A truce to this talk!" And the Ahmad aforesaid said, "An you do with him anything, I will acquaint the Commander of the Faithful." They asked, "How, then, shall we do with him?" and he answered, "Let us deposit him in prison, and I will be answerable to you for his provision; so shall we be quit of his blood, for indeed he is a wronged man." Accordingly they agreed to this and taking him up cast him into the Prison of Blood, and then went their ways. So far as regards them; but returning to the damsel, they carried her to the Commander of the Faithful and she pleased him; so he assigned her a chamber of the chambers of choice. She tarried in the palace, neither eating nor drinking, and weeping sans surcease night and day, till, one night, the Caliph sent for her to his sitting hall and said to her, "O Sitt al-Milah, be of good cheer and keep yours eyes cool of tear, for I will make your rank higher than any of the concubines and you will see that which shall rejoice you." She kissed ground and wept; whereupon the Prince of True Believers called for her lute and bade her sing: so in accordance with that which was in her heart, she sang these improvised couplets,
"By the sheen of your soul and the sheen of your smile, Say, moan'st you for doubt or is't ring dove's moan? How many have died who by love were slain! Fails my patience but blaming my blamers wone."
Now when she had made an end of her song, she threw the lute from her hand and wept till she fainted away, whereupon the Caliph bade carry her to her chamber. But he was fascinated by her and loved her with exceeding love; so, after a while, he again commanded to bring her in to the presence, and when she came, he ordered her to sing. Accordingly, she took the lute
Nur Al-Din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel 117 and chanted to it that which was in her heart and improvised these couplets,
"Have I patience and strength to support this despair? Ah, how could you purpose afar to fare? You are swayed by the spy to my cark and care: No marvel an branchlet sway here and there! With unbearable load you would load me, still You loadest with love which I theewards bear."
Then she cast the lute from her hand and fainted away; so she was carried to her sleeping chamber and indeed passion grew upon her. After a long while, the Prince of True Believers sent for her a third time and commanded her to sing. So she took the lute and chanted these couplets,
"O of piebald wild you dunes sandy and drear, Shall the teenful lover 'scape teen and tear? Shall you see me joined with a lover, who Still flies or shall meet we in joyful cheer? O hail to the fawn with the Houri eye, Like sun or moon on horizon clear! He says to lovers, 'What look you on?' And to stony hearts, 'Say, what love you dear?' I pray to Him who departed us With severance doom, 'Be our union near!' "
When she had made an end of her verse, the Commander of the Faithful said to her, "O damsel, you are in love." She replied, "Yes;" and he asked, "With whom?" Answered she, "With my lord and sovran of my tenderness, for whom my love is as the love of the earth for rain, or as the desire of the female for the male; and indeed the love of him is mingled with my flesh and my blood and has entered into the channels of my bones. O Prince of True Believers, whenever I call him to mind my vitals are consumed, for that I have not yet won my wish of him, and but that I fear to die, without seeing him, I had assuredly slain myself." Thereupon he said, "Are you in my presence and durst bespeak me with the like of these words? Forsure I will gar you forget your lord." Then he bade take her away; so she was carried to her pavilion and he sent her a concubine, with a casket in which were three thousand ducats and a collar of gold set with seed pearls and great unions, and jewels, worth other three thousand, saying to her,
"The slave girl and that which is with her are a gift from me to you." When she heard this, she cried, "Allah forfend that I be consoled for the love of my lord and my master, though with an earth full of gold!" And she improvised and recited these couplets,
"By his life I swear, by his life I pray; For him fire I'd enter unful dismay! 'Console you (cry they) with another fere You love!' and I, 'By 's life, nay, NAY!' He's moon whom beauty and grace array; From whose cheeks and brow shins light of day."
Then the Commander of the Faithful summoned her to his presence a fourth time and said, "O Sitt al-Milah, sing." So she recited and sang these couplets,
"The lover's heart by his beloved is oft disheartened And by the hand of sickness eke his sprite dispirited, One asked, 'What is the taste of love?' and I to him replied, 'Love is a sweet at first but oft in fine unsweetened.' I am the thrall of Love who keeps the troth of love to them But oft they proved themselves 'Urkúb in pact with me they made. What in their camp remains? They bound their loads and fared away; To other feres the veiled Fairs in curtained litters sped; At every station the beloved showed all of Joseph's charms: The lover wone with Jacob's woe in every shift of stead."
When she had made an end of her song, she threw the lute from her hand and wept herself a swoon. So they sprinkled on her musk mingled rose water and willow flower water; and when she came to her senses, Al-Rashid said to her, "O Sitt al-Milah, this is not just dealing in you. We love you and you love another." She replied, "O Commander of the Faithful, there is no help for it." Thereupon he was wroth with her and cried, "By the virtue of Hamzah and 'Akíl and Mohammed, Prince of the Apostles, If you name in my presence one other than I, I will assuredly order strike off your head!" Then he bade return her to her chamber, whilst she wept and recited these couplets,
Nur Al-Din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel 119
" 'Oh brave!' I'd cry If I my death could view; My death were better than these griefs to rue, Did sabre hew me limb by limb; this were nothing to affright a lover leal true."
Then the Caliph went in to the Lady Zubaydah, complexion altered with anger, and she noted this in him and said to him, "How comes it that I see the Commander of the Faithful changed of colour?" He replied, "O daughter of my uncle, I have a beautiful slave girl, who recits verses by rote and tells various tales, and she has taken my whole heart; but she loves other than myself and declares that she affects her former lord; so I have sworn a great oath that, if she come again to my sitting hall and sing for other than for me, I will assuredly shorten her highest part by a span." Zubaydah said, "Let the Commander of the Faithful favour me by presenting her, so I may look on her and hear her singing." Accordingly he bade fetch her and she came, upon which the Lady Zubaydah withdrew behind the curtain, where the damsel saw her not, and Al-Rashid said to her, "Sing to us." So she took the lute and tuning it, recited these couplets,
"O my lord! since the day when I lost your sight, My life was ungladdened, my heart full of teen; The memory of you kills me every night; And by all the worlds is my trace unseen; All for love of a Fawn who has snared my sprite By his love and his brow as the morning sheen. Like a left hand parted from brother right I became by parting thro' Fortune's spleen. On the brow of him Beauty deigned indite 'Blest be Allah, whom best of Creators I ween!' And Him I pray, who could disunite To re unite us. Then cry 'Ameen!' "
When Al-Rashid heard the end of this, he grew exceeding wroth and said, "May Allah not reunite you twain in gladness!" Then he summoned the headsman, and when he presented himself, he said to him, "Strike off the head of this accursed slave girl." So Masrur took her by the hand and led her away; but, when she came to the door, she turned and said to the Caliph,
"O Commander of the Faithful, I conjure you, by your fathers and forefathers, behead me not until you give ear to that I shall say!" Then she improvised and recited these couplets,
"Emir of Justice, be to subjects kind For Justice ever guides your generous mind; And, oh, who blame love to him inclining! Are lovers blamed for láches undesigned? By Him who gave you rule, deign spare my life For rule on earth He has to you assigned."
Then Masrur carried her to the other end of the sitting hall and bound her eyes and making her sit, stood awaiting a second order: whereupon the Lady Zubaydah said, "O Prince of True Believers, with your permission, will you not vouchsafe this damsel a portion of your clemency? If you slay her, 'twere injustice. "he said, "What is to be done with her?" and she said, "Forbear to slay her and send for her lord. If he be as she describs him in beauty and loveliness, she is excused, and if he be not in this way then kill her, and this shall be your plea against her." Al-Rashid replied, "No harm in this counsel;" and caused return the damsel to her chamber, saying to her, "The Lady Zubaydah says thus and thus." She rejoined, "God requite her for me with good! Indeed, you dealest equitably, O Commander of the Faithful, in this judgment." And he retorted, "Go now to your place, and tomorrow we will bid them bring your lord." So she kissed ground and recited these couplets,
"I indeed will well for whom love I will: Let chider chide and let blamer blame: All lives must die at fixt tide and term But I must die before my life term came: Then Oh whose love has afflicted me Well I will but your presence in haste I claim."
Then she arose and returned to her chamber. Now on the morrow, the Commander of the Faithful sat in his hall of audience and his Wazir Ja'afar bin Yahya the Barmecide came in to him; whereupon he called to him, saying, "I would have you bring me a youth who is lately come to Baghdad, called Sidi Nur al-Din Ali the Damascene." Ja'afar said, "Hearing and obeying," and going forth in quest of the youth, sent to the bazars and Wakalahs and Khans for three successive days, but discovered
Nur Al-Din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel 121 no trace of him, neither happened upon the place of him. So on the fourth day he presented himself before the Caliph and said to him, "O our lord, I have sought him these three days, but have not found him." Al-Rashid said, "Make ready letters to Damascus. perhaps he has returned to his own land." Accordingly Ja'afar wrote a letter and despatched it by a dromedary courier to the Damascus city; and they sought him there and found him not. Meanwhile, news was brought that Khorasan had been conquered; whereupon Al-Rashid rejoiced and bade decorate Baghdad and release all in the gaol, giving each of them a ducat and a dress. So Ja'afar applied himself to the adornment of the city and bade his brother Al-Fazl ride to the prison and robe and set free the prisoners. Al-Fazl did as his brother commanded and released all save the young Damascene, who abode still in the Prison of Blood, saying, "There is no Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Truly, we are God's and to Him are we returning." Then Said Al-Fazl to the gaoler, "Is there any left in the prison?" he said, "No," and Al-Fazl was about to depart, when Nur al-Din called out to him from within the prison, saying, "O our lord, tarry awhile, for there remains none in the prison other than I and indeed I am wronged. This is a day of pardon and there is no disputing concerning it."
Al-Fazl bade release him; so they set him free and he gave him a dress and a ducat. Thereupon the young man went out, bewildered and unknowing where he should go, for that he had sojourned in the gaol a year or so and indeed his condition was changed and his favour fouled, and he abode walking and turning round, lest Al-Muradi come upon him and cast him into another calamity. When Al-Muradi learnt his release, he betook himself to the Wali and said, "O our lord, we are not assured of our lives from that youth, because he has been freed from prison and we fear lest he complain of us." the Chief said, "How shall we do?" and Al-Muradi said, "I will cast him into a calamity for you." Then he did not stop to follow the Damascene from place to place till he came up with him in a narrow stead and cul de sac; whereupon he accosted him and casting a cord about his neck, cried out, "A thief!" The folk flocked to him from all sides and fell to beating and abusing
Nur al-Din, whilst he cried out for aidance but none aided him, and Al-Muradi kept saying to him, "But yesterday the Commander of the Faithful released you and today you robbest!" So the hearts of the mob were hardened against him and again Al-Muradi carried him to the Chief of Police, who bade hew off his hand. Accordingly, the hangman took him and bringing out the knife, proceeded to cut off his hand, while Al-Muradi said to him, "Cut and sever the bone and fry not in oil the stump for him, so he may lose all his blood and we be at rest from him." But Ahmad, he who had before been the cause of his deliverance, sprang up to him and cried, "O folk, fear Allah in your action with this youth, for that I know his affair, first and last, and he is clear of offence and guiltless: he is of the lords of houses, and unless you desist from him, I will go up to the Commander of the Faithful and acquaint him with the case from beginning to end and that the youth is innocent of sin or crime." Al-Muradi said, "Indeed, we are not assured from his mischief;" and Ahmad said, "Set him free and commit him to me and I will warrant you against his doings, for you shall never see him again after this."
So they delivered Nur al-Din to him and he took him from their hands and said to him, "O youth, have ruth on yourself, for indeed you have fallen into the hands of these folk twice and if they prevail over you a third time, they will make an end of you; and I in doing thus with you, aim at reward for you and recompense in Heaven and answer of prayer." So Nur al-Din fell to kissing his hand and blessing him said, "Know that I am a stranger in this your city and the completion of kindness is better than its commencement; Why I pray you of your favour that you make perfect to me your good offices and generosity and bring me to the city gate. So will your beneficence be accomplished unto me and may God Almighty requite you for me with good!" Ahmad replied, "No harm shall happen you: go;
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I will bear you company till you come to your place of safety." And he left him not till he brought him to the city gate and said to him, "O youth, go in Allah's guard and return not to the city, for, If they fall in with you again, they will make an end of you." Nur al-Din kissed his hand and going forth the city, gave not over walking till he came to a mosque that stood in one of the suburbs of Baghdad and entered within it with the night. Now he had with him nothing wherewith he might cover himself; so he wrapped himself up in one of the mats of the mosque and thus abode till dawn, when the Muezzins came and finding him seated in such case, said to him, "O youth, what is this plight?" He said, "I cast myself on your protection, imploring this defence from a company of folk who seek to slay me unjustly and wrongously, without cause." And one of the Muezzins said, "I will protect you; so be of good cheer and keep yours eyes cool of tear." Then he brought him old clothes and covered him therewith; he also set before him something of victual and seeing upon him signs of fine breeding, said to him, "O my son, I grow old and desiring help from you, I will do away your necessity." Nur al-Din replied, "I hear and I obey;" and abode with the old man, who rested and took his ease, while the youth did his service in the mosque, celebrating the praises of Allah and calling the Faithful to prayer and lighting the lamps and filling the spoutpots and sweeping and cleaning out the place of worship. On thiswise it befell the young Damascene; but as regards Sitt al-Milah, the Lady Zubaydah, the wife of the Commander of the Faithful, made a banquet in her palace and assembled her slave girls. And the damsel came, weeping eyed and heavy hearted, and those present blamed her for this, whereupon she recited these couplets,
"You blame the mourner who weeps his woe; Needs must the mourner sing, weeping sore; If I see not some happy day I'll weep Brine tears till followed by gouts of gore."
When she had made an end of her verses, the Lady Zubaydah bade each damsel sing a song, till the turn came round to Sitt al-Milah, whereupon she took the lute and tuning it, carolled thereto four and twenty carols in four and twenty modes; then she returned to the first and sang these couplets,
"The World has shot me with all her shafts Departing friends parting grief t' aby: So in heart the burn of all hearts I bear And in eyes the tear drops of every eye."
When she had made an end of her song, she wept till she garred the bystanders weep and the Lady Zubaydah condoled with her and said to her, "in God's name, O Sitt al-Milah, sing us somewhat, so we may hearken to you." The damsel replied, "Hearing and obeying," and sang these couplets,
"People of passion, assemble you! This day be the day of our agony: The Raven o' severance croaks at our doors; Our raven which near to us aye see we. The friends we love have appointed us The grievousest parting dule to dree. Rise, by your lives, and let all at once Fare to seek our friends where their sight we see."
Then she threw the lute from her hand and shed tears till she drew tears from the Lady Zubaydah who said to her, "O Sitt al-Milah, he whom you love I think is not in this world, for the Commander of the Faithful has sought him in every place, but has not found him." Whereupon the damsel arose and kissing the Princess's hands, said to her, "O my lady, If you would have him found, I have this night a request to make by which you may win my need with the Caliph." the Lady said, "And what is it?" and Sitt al-Milah said, " 'Tis that you get me leave to fare forth by myself and go round about in quest of him three days, for the adage says, whoever keens for herself is not like whoever is hired to keen! An if I find him, I will bring him before the Commander of the Faithful, so he may do with us what he will, and if I find him not, I shall be cut off from hope of him and the heat of that which is with me will be cooled." the Lady Zubaydah said, "I will not get you leave from him but for a whole month; so be of good cheer and eyes cool and clear." at which Sitt al-Milah rejoiced and rising, kissed ground before her once more and went away to her own place, and right
Nur Al-Din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel 125 glad was she. As for Zubaydah, she went in to the Caliph and talked with him awhile; then she fell to kissing him between the eyes and on his hands and asked him for that which she had promised to Sitt al-Milah, saying, "O Commander of the Faithful, I doubt me her lord is not found in this world; but, If she go about seeking him and find him not, her hopes will be cut off and her mind will be set at rest and she will sport and laugh; and indeed while she nourishes hope, she will never take the right direction." And she did not stop cajoling him till he gave Sitt al-Milah leave to fare forth and make search for her lord a month's space and ordered a riding mule and an eunuch to attend her and bade the privy purse give her all she needed, were it a thousand dirhams a day or even more. So the Lady Zubaydah arose and returning to her palace bade summon Sitt al-Milah and, as soon as she came, acquainted her with that which had passed; whereupon she kissed her hand and thanked her and called down blessings on her.
Then she took leave of the Princess and veiling her face with a mask, disguised herself; after which she mounted the she mule and sallying forth, went round about seeking her lord in the highways of Baghdad three days' space, but happed on no tidings of him; and on the fourth day, she rode forth without the city. Now it was the noon hour and fierce was the heat, and she was weary and thirst came upon her. Presently, she reached the mosque of the Shaykh who had lodged the young Damascene, and dismounting at the door, said to the old Muezzin, "O Shaykh, have you a draught of cold water? truly, I am overcome with heat and thirst." He said, " 'Tis with me in my house." So he carried her up into his lodging and spreading her a carpet, seated her; after which he brought her cold water and she drank and said to her eunuch, "Go your ways with the mule and tomorrow come back to me here." Accordingly he went away and she slept and rested herself. When she awoke, she asked the old man, "O Shaykh, have you anything of food?" and he answered, "O my lady, I have bread and olives." she said, "That be food which befits only the like of you.
As for me, I will have nothing save roast lamb and soups and reddened fowls right fat and ducks farcis with all manner stuffing of pistachio nuts and sugar." the Muezzin said, "O my lady, I have never heard of this chapter in the Koran, nor was it revealed to our lord Mohammed, whom Allah save and assain!" She laughed and said, "O Shaykh, the matter is even as you say; but bring me pen case and paper." So he brought her what she sought and she wrote a note and gave it to him, together with a seal ring from her finger, saying, "Go into the city and enquire for Such an one the Shroff and give him this my note." Accordingly the oldster betook himself to the city, as she bade him, and asked for the money changer, to whom they directed him. So he gave him ring and writ, seeing which, he kissed the letter and breaking it open, read it and apprehended its contents. Then he repaired to the bazar and buying all that she bade him, laid it in a porter's crate and made him go with the Shaykh. The old man took the Hammál and went with him to the mosque, where he relieved him of his burden and carried the rich viands in to Sitt al-Milah. She seated him by her side and they ate, he and she, of those dainty cakes, till they were satisfied, when the Shaykh rose and removed the food from before her. She passed that night in his lodging and when she got up in the morning, she said to him, "O elder, may I not lack your kind offices for the breakfast! Go to the Shroff and fetch me from him the like of yesterday's food."
So he arose and betaking himself to the money changer, acquainted him with that which she had bidden him. The Shroff brought him all she required and set it on the heads of Hammals; and the Shaykh took them and returned with them to the damsel, when she sat down with him and they ate their sufficiency, after which he removed the rest of the meats. Then she took the fruits and the flowers and setting them over against herself, wrought them into rings and knots and writs, whilst the Shaykh looked on at a thing whose like he had never in his life seen and rejoiced in the sight. Presently, she said to him, "O elder, I would glad drink." So he arose and brought her a gugglet of water; but she cried to him,
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"Who said to you, Fetch that?" he said, "said you not to me, I would glad drink?" and she said, "'I want not this; nay, I want wine, the solace of the soul, so Perhaps, O Shaykh, I may refresh myself therewith." Exclaimed the old man, "Allah forfend that strong drink be drunk in my house, and I a stranger in the land and a Muezzin and an Imam, who leads the True Believers in prayer, and a servant of the House of the Lord of the three Worlds!" "Why will you forbid me to drink of it in your house?" "Because 'tis unlawful." "O elder, Allah has forbidden only the eating of blood and carrion and hog's flesh: tell me, are grapes and honey lawful or unlawful?" "They are lawful." "This is the juice of grapes and the water of honey." "Leave this your talk, for you will never drink wine in my house." "O Shaykh, people eat and drink and enjoy themselves and we are of the number of the folk and Allah is indulgent and merciful." "This is a thing that may not be." "Have you not heard what the poet says?" And she recited these couplets,
"Cease you to hear, O Sim'án son, anything save the say of me; How bitter 'twas to quit the monks and fly the monast'ry! When, on the Fete of Palms there stood, amid the hallowed fane, A pretty Fawn whose lovely pride garred me sore wrong to dree. May Allah bless the night we spent when he to us was third, While Moslem, Jew, and Nazarene all sported glad and free. He said, from out whose locks appeared the gleaming of the morn, 'Sweet is the wine and sweet the flowers that joy us comrades three. The garden of the garths of Khuld where roll and rail amain, Rivulets 'neath the myrtle shade and Bin's fair branchery; And birds make carol on the boughs and sing in blithest lay, Yea, this indeed is life, but, ah! how soon it fades away.' "
She then asked him, "O Shaykh, an Moslems and Jews and Nazarenes drink wine, who are we that we should reject it?" Answered he,
"By God, O my lady, spare your pains, for this be a thing whereto I will not hearken." When she knew that he would not consent to her desire, she said to him, "O Shaykh, I am of the slave girls of the Commander of the Faithful and the food waxes heavy on me and if I drink not, I shall die of indigestion, nor will you be assured against the issue of my case. As for me, I acquit myself of blame towards you, for that I have bidden you beware of the wrath of the Commander of the Faithful, after making myself known to you." When the Shaykh heard her words and that wherewith she threatened him, he sprang up and went out, perplexed and unknowing what he should do, and there met him a Jewish man, which was his neighbour, and said to him, "How comes it that I see you, O Shaykh, strait of breast? Eke, I hear in your house a noise of talk, such as I am unwont to hear with you." the Muezzin said, " 'Tis of a damsel who declares that she is of the slave girls of the Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid; and she has eaten meat and now would drink wine in my house, but I forbade her. However she asserts that unless she drink of it, she will die, and indeed I am bewildered concerning my case."
Answered the Jew, "Know, O my neighbour, that the slave girls of the Commander of the Faithful are used to drink wine, and when they eat and drink not, they die; and I fear lest happen some mishap to her, when you would not be safe from the Caliph's fury." The Shaykh asked, "What is to be done?" and the Jew answered, "I have old wine that will suit her." the Shaykh said, "By the right of neighbourship, deliver me from this descent of calamity and let me have that which is with you!" The Jew said, "Bismillah, in the name of Allah," and passing to his quarters, brought out a glass flask of wine, wherewith the Shaykh returned to Sitt al-Milah. This pleased her and she cried to him, "from where had you this?" He replied, "I got it from the Jew, my neighbour: I set forth to him my case with you and he gave me this." Thereupon Sitt al-Milah filled a cup and emptied it; after which she drank a second and a third. Then she crowned the cup a fourth time and handed it to the Shaykh, but he would not
Nur Al-Din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel 129 accept it from her. However, she conjured him, by her own head and that of the Prince of True Believers, that he take the cup from her, till he received it from her hand and kissed it and would have set it down; but she sware him by her life to smell it. Accordingly he smelt it and she said to him, "How think you?" He said, "I find its smell is sweet;" and she conjured him by the Caliph's life to taste of it. So he put it to his mouth and she rose to him and made him drink; whereupon he said, "O Princess of the Fair, this is none other than good." she said, "So deem I: has not our Lord promised us wine in Paradise?" He answered, "Yes! The Most High says, 'And rivers of wine, delicious to the drinkers.' And we will drink it in this world and in the next world." She laughed and emptying the cup, gave him to drink, and he said, "O Princess of the Fair, indeed you are excusable in your love for this." Then he seized in hand from her another and another, till he became drunken and his talk grew great and his prattle. The folk of the quarter heard him and assembled under the window; and when the Shaykh was ware of them, he opened the window and said to them, "Are you not ashamed, O pimps? Every one in his own house does whatever he wills and none hinders him; but we drink one single day and you assemble and come, panders that you are! Today, wine, and tomorrow business; and from hour to hour comes relief."
So they laughed together and dispersed. Then the girl drank till she was drunken, when she called to mind her lord and wept, and the Shaykh said to her, "What makes you weep, O my lady?" She said, "O elder, I am a lover and a separated." He cried, "O my lady, what is this love?" she cried, "And you, have you never been in love?" He replied, "By God, O my lady, never in all my life heard I of this thing, nor have I ever known it! Is it of the sons of Adam or of the Jinn?" She laughed and said, "truly, you are even as those of whom the poet speaks, in these couplets,
"How oft shall they admonish and you shun this nourishment; When even the shepherd's bidding is obeyed by his flocks? I see you like in shape and form to creatures whom we term Mankind, but in your acts and deeds you are a sort of ox "
The Shaykh laughed at her speech and her verses pleased him. Then she cried to him, "I desire of you a lute." So he arose and brought her a bit of fuel. she said, "What is that?" and he said,"Did you not say: Bring me fuel?" She said, "I do not want this," and he said, "What then is it that is called fuel, other than this?" She laughed and replied, "The lute is an instrument of music, whereunto I sing." he asked, "Where is this thing found and of whom shall I get it for you?" and answered she, "Of him who gave you the wine." So he arose and betaking himself to his neighbour the Jew, said to him, "You favouredst us before with the wine; so now complete your favours and look me out a thing called lute, which be an instrument for singing; for she seeks this of me and I know it not." Replied the Jew, "I hear and I obey," and going into his house, brought him a lute. The old man carried it to Sitt al-Milah, whilst the Jew took his drink and sat by a window adjoining the Shaykh's house, so he might hear the singing. The damsel rejoiced, when the old man returned to her with the lute, and taking it from him, tuned its strings and sang these couplets,
"Remains not, after you are gone, or trace of you or sign, But hope to see this parting end and break its lengthy line: You went and by your going made the whole world desolate; And none may stand this day in stead to fill the yearning eyne. Indeed, you've burdened weakling me, by strength and force of you With load no hill has power t'upheave nor yet the plain low li'en: And I, whenever glad I scent the breeze your land o'erbreathes, Lose all my wits as though they were bemused with heady wine. O folk no light affair is Love for lover woe to dree Nor easy 'tis to satisfy its sorrow and repine. I've wandered East and West to hap upon your trace, and when Spring camps I find the dwellers cry, 'They've marched, those friends o' yours!' Never accustomed me to part these intimates I love; Nay, when I left them all were wont new meetings to design."
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Now when she had ended her song, she wept with sore weeping, till presently sleep overcame her and she slept. On the morrow, she said to the Shaykh, "Get you to the Shroff and fetch me the ordinary;" so he repaired to the money changer and delivered him the message, whereupon he made ready meat and drink, according to his custom, with which the old man returned to the damsel and they ate their sufficiency. When she had eaten, she sought of him wine and he went to the Jew and fetched it. Then the twain sat down and drank; and when she grew drunken, she took the lute and smiting it, fell a singing and chanted these couplets,
"How long ask I the heart, the heart drowned, and eke Refrain my complaint while I my tear floods speak? They forbid even the phantom to visit me, (O marvel!) her phantom my couch to seek."
And when she had made an end of her song, she wept with sore weeping. All this time, the young Damascene was listening, and now he likened her voice to the voice of his slave girl and then he put away from him this thought, and the damsel had no knowledge whatever of his presence. Then she broke out again into song and chanted these couplets,
"They said, 'Forget him! What is he?' To them I cried, 'Allah forget me when forget I my adored!' Now in this world shall I forget the love o' you? Heaven grant the thrall may never forget to love his lord! I pray that Allah pardon all except your love Which, when I meet Him may my bestest plea afford."
After ending this song she drank three cups and filling the old man other three, improvised these couplets,
"His love he hid which tell tale tears betrayed; For burn of coal that 'neath his ribs was laid: Giv'n that he seek his joy in spring and flowers Some day, his spring's the face of dear loved maid. O you who blame me for who baulks my love! What sweeter thing than boon to man denayed? A sun, yet scorches he my very heart! A moon, but rises he from breasts a shade!"
When she had made an end of her song, she threw the lute from her hand and wept, whilst the Shaykh wept for her weeping. Then she fell down in a fainting fit and presently recovering, crowned the cup and drinking it off, gave the elder to drink, after which she took the lute and breaking out into song, chanted these couplets,
"Your parting is bestest of woes to my heart, And changed my case till all sleep it eschewed: The world to my being is desolate; Then Oh grief! and O lingering solitude! Maybe The Ruthful incline you to me And join us despite what our foes have sued!"
Then she wept till her voice rose high and her wailing was discovered to those without; after which she again began to drink and plying the Shaykh with wine, sang these couplets,
"If they hid your person from eyen sight, They hid not your name fro' my mindful sprite: Or meet me; your ransom for meeting I'll be Or fly me; and ransom I'll be for your flight! My outer speaks for my inner case, And my inner speaks for my outer plight."
When she had made an end of her verses, she threw the lute from her hand and wept and wailed. Then she slept awhile and presently awaking said, "O Shaykh, say me, have you what we may eat?" He replied, "O my lady, I have the rest of the food;" but she cried, "I will not eat of the orts I have left. Go down to the bazar and fetch us what we may eat." He rejoined, "Excuse me, O my lady, I cannot rise to my feet, because I am bemused with wine; but with me is the servant of the mosque, who is a sharp youth and an intelligent. I will call him, so he may buy you whatever you want." she asked, "from where have you this servant?" and he answered, "He is of the people of Damascus." When she heard him say "of the people of Damascus," she sobbed such a sob that she swooned away; and when she came to herself, she said, "Woe is me for the people of Damascus and for those who are within it! Call him, O Shaykh, that he may do our need." Accordingly, the old man put his head forth of the window and called the youth, who came to him from the mosque and sought leave to enter. The Muezzin bade him come in,
Nur Al'din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel. 133 and when he appeared before the damsel, he knew her and she knew him; whereupon he turned back in bewilderment and would have fled at haphazard; but she sprang up to him and held him fast, and they embraced and wept together, till they fell to the floor in a fainting fit. When the Shaykh saw them in this condition, he feared for himself and fared forth in fright, seeing not the way for drunkenness. His neighbour the Jew met him and asked him, "How is it that I behold you astounded?" Answered the old man, "How should I not be astounded, seeing that the damsel who is with me is fallen in love with the mosque servant and they have embraced and slipped down in a swoon? Indeed, I fear lest the Caliph come to know of this and be wroth with me; so tell me you what is your device for that wherewith I am afflicted in the matter of this damsel." the Jew said, "For the present, take this casting bottle of rose water and go directly and sprinkle them therewith: If they be aswoon for this their union and embrace, they will recover, and if otherwise, then take to flight."
The Shaykh snatched the casting bottle from the Jew and going up to the twain, sprinkled their faces, whereupon they came to themselves and fell to relating each to other that which they had suffered, since both had been parted, for the pangs of severance. Nur al-Din also acquainted Sitt al-Milah with that which he had endured from the folk who would have killed him and utterly annihilated him; and she said to him, "O my lord, let us for the nonce leave this talk and praise Allah for reunion of loves, and all this shall cease from us." Then she gave him the cup and he said, "By God, I will on no wise drink it, whilst I am in this case!" So she drank it off before him and taking the lute, swept the strings and sang these couplets,
"O absent fro' me and yet present in place, You are far from my eyes and yet ever near! Your farness bequeathed me all sorrow and care And my troublous life can no joy espy: Lone, forlorn, weeping eyelidded, miserablest, I abide for your sake as though banisht I: Then (ah grief o' me!) far you have fared from sight Yet cant no more depart me than apple of eye!"
When she had made an end of her verse, she wept and the young man of Damascus, Nur al-Din, wept also. Then she took the lute and improvised these couplets,
"Well Allah wots I never named you But tears o'erbrimming eyes in floods outburst; And passion raged and pine would do me die, Yet my heart rested wi' the thought it nurst; O eye light mine, O wish and O my hope! Your face can never quench my eyes' hot thirst."
When Nur al-Din heard these his slave girl's verses, he fell a weeping, while she strained him to her bosom and wiped away his tears with her sleeve and questioned him and comforted his mind. Then she took the lute and sweeping its strings, played thereon with such performing as would move the staidest to delight and sang these couplets,
"Indeed, what day brings not your sight to me, That day I rem'mber not as dressed to me! And, when I vainly long on you to look, My life is lost, Oh life and light o' me!"
in this way they fared till the morning, tasting not the nourishment of sleep; and when the day lightened, behold the eunuch came with the she mule and said to Sitt al-Milah, "The Commander of the Faithful calls for you." So she arose and taking by the hand her lord, committed him to the Shaykh, saying, "This is the deposit of Allah, then your deposit, till this eunuch comes to you; and indeed, O elder, my due to you is the white hand of favour such as fills the interval betwixt heaven and earth." Then she mounted the mule and repairing to the palace of the Commander of the Faithful, went in to him and kissed ground before him. he to her, said, as who should make mock of her, "I doubt not but you have found your lord;" and she said, "By your felicity and the length of your continuance on life, I have indeed found him!" Now Al-Rashid was leaning back; but, when he heard this, he sat upright and said to her, "By my life, true?" She replied,
Nur Al'din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel. 135
"Ay, by your life!" He said, "Bring him into my presence, so I may see him;" but she said, "O my lord, there have happened to him many hardships and his charms are changed and his favour faded; and indeed the Prince of True Believers vouchsafed me a month; Why I will tend him the rest of the month and then bring him to do his service to the Commander of the Faithful." Al-Rashid said, "truth you say: the condition certainly was for a month; but tell me what has happened him." she said, "O my lord (Allah prolong your continuance and make Paradise your place of returning and yours asylum and the fire the abiding place of your foes!), when he presents himself to serve you, he will assuredly expound to you his case and will name to you his wrong doers; and indeed this is an arrear that is due to the Prince of True Believers, by whom may Allah fortify the Faith and vouchsafe him the victory over rebel and froward wretch!" Thereupon he ordered her a fine house and bade furnish it with carpets and vessels of choice and commanded them to give all she needed. This was done during the rest of the day, and when the night came, she sent the eunuch with a suit of clothes and the mule, to fetch Nur al-Din from the Muezzin's lodging.
So the young man donned the dress and mounting, rode to the house, where he abode in comfort and luxury a full told month, while she solaced him with four things, the eating of fowls and the drinking of wine and the sleeping upon brocade and the entering the bath after horizontal refreshment. Furthermore, she brought him six suits of linen stuffs and took to changing his clothes day by day; nor was the appointed time of delay accomplished before his beauty and loveliness returned to him; nay, his favour grew tenfold fairer and he became a seduction to all who looked upon him. One day of the days Al-Rashid bade bring him to the presence; so his slave girl changed his clothes and robing him in sumptuous raiment, mounted him on the she mule. Then he rode to the palace and presenting himself before the Caliph, saluted him with the goodliest of salutations and bespake him with Truchman's speech eloquent and deep thoughted. When Al-Rashid saw him, he marvelled at the seemliness of his semblance and his loquence and eloquence and asking of him, was told that he was Sitt al-Milah's lord;
whereupon he said, "Indeed, she is excusable in her love for him, and if we had put her to death wrongfully, as we were minded to do, her blood would have been upon our heads." Then he accosted the young man and entering into discourse with him, found him well bred, intelligent, clever, quick witted, generous, pleasant, elegant, excellent. So he loved him with exceeding love and questioned him of his native city and of his sire and of the cause of his journey to Baghdad. Nur al-Din acquainted him with that which he would know in the goodliest words and concisest phrases; and the Caliph asked him, "And where have you been absent all this while? truly, we sent after you to Damascus and Mosul and all other cities, but happened on no tidings of you." Answered the young man, "O my lord, there happened your slave in your capital that which never yet happened any." Then he acquainted him with his case, first and last, and told him that which had befallen him of evil from Al-Muradi and the Chief of Police. Now when Al-Rashid heard this, he was chagrined with sore chagrin and grew wroth with exceeding wrath and cried, "Shall this thing happen in a city in which I am?"
And the Háshimí vein started out between his eyes. Then he bade fetch Ja'afar, and when he came between his hands, he acquainted him with the adventure and said to him, "Shall this thing come to pass in my city and I have no news of it?" Thereupon he bade Ja'afar fetch all whom the young Damascene had named, and when they came, he bade smite their necks: he also summoned him whom they called Ahmad and who had been the means of the young man's deliverance a first time and a second, and thanked him and showed him favour and bestowed on him a costly robe of honour and made him Chief of Police in his city. Then he sent for the Shaykh, the Muezzin, and when the messenger came to him and told him that the Commander of the Faithful summoned him, he feared the denunciation of the damsel and walked with him to the palace, farting for fear as he went, whilst all who passed him by laughed at him. When he came into the presence of the Commander of the Faithful, he fell a trembling and his tongue was tied, so that he could not speak. The Caliph smiled at him
Nur Al'din Ali of Damascus and the Damsel. 137 and said, "O Shaykh, you have done no offence; so why fear you?" Answered the old man (and indeed he was in the sorest of that which may be of fear), "O my lord, by the virtue of your pure forefathers, indeed I have done nothing, and do you enquire of my manners and morals." The Caliph laughed at him and ordering him a thousand dinars, bestowed on him a costly robe of honour and made him headman of the Muezzins in his mosque. Then he called Sitt al-Milah and said to her, "The house in which you lodgest with all it contains is a largesse to your lord: so do you take him and depart with him in the safeguard of Allah Almighty; but absent not yourselves from our presence." Accordingly she went forth with the young Damascene and when she came to the house, she found that the Prince of True Believers had sent them gifts galore and good things in store. As for Nur al-Din, he sent for his father and mother and appointed for himself agents in the city of Damascus, to receive the rent of the houses and gardens and Wakalahs and Hammams; and they occupied themselves with collecting that which accrued to him and sending it to him every year. Meanwhile, his father and mother came to him, with that which they had of monies and merchandise of price and, foregathering with their son, found that he was become of the chief officers and familiars of the Commander of the Faithful and of the number of his sitting companions and nightly entertainers, Why they rejoiced in reunion with him and he also rejoiced in them.
The Caliph assigned them solde and allowances; and as for Nur al-Din, his father brought him those riches and his wealth grew and his estate was stablished, till he became the richest of the folk of his time in Baghdad and did not leave the presence of the Commander of the Faithful or by night or by day. He was vouchsafed issue by Sitt al-Milah, and he did not stop to live the goodliest of lives, he and she and his father and his mother, a while of time, till Abu al-Hasan sickened of a sore sickness and departed to the mercy of Allah Almighty. Presently, his mother also died and he carried them forth and shrouded them and buried and made them expiations and funeral ceremonies. In due course his children grew up and became like moons, and he reared them in splendour and affection, while his wealth grew and his case never waned. He did not stop to pay frequent visits to the Commander of the Faithful, he and his children and his slave girl Sitt al-Milah, and they abode in all solace of life and prosperity till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Sunderer of societies; and laud to the Abiding, the Eternal! This is all that has come down to us of their story.