Prince of the Faithful, my father, at his death, left
consider ^property; and soon after that event I married
to one of the wealthiest men of the age, who, when I had
lived vv'^th him a year, died, and I inherited from him eighty
thousand pieces of gold, the portion that fell to me accord-
ing to (the law; with part of which I made for myself ten
suits clothing, each of the value of a thousand pieces of
gold. And as I was sitting one day, there entered my
aparti an old woman, disgustingly ugly, who saluted
me and i said, I have an orphan daughter whose marriage I
am t celebrate this night, and I would have thee obtain a
rewa and recompense in heaven by thy being present at
her r,iuptial festivity ; for she is broken-hearted, having none
to her but God, whose name be exalted. She then
wepf » and kissed my feet ; and, being moved with pity and
com passion, I assented, upon which she desired me to pre-
pare- myself, telling me that she would come at the hour of
nigi itfall and take me ; and so saying, she kissed my hand,
and- departed.
Arose immediately, and attired myself, and when I had
cor^plcted my preparations, the old woman returned, saying,
O my mistress, the ladies of the city have arrived, and I
have informed them of thy coming, and they are waiting
yoj th joy to receive thee : — so I put on my outer garments,
arid, taking my female slaves with me, proceeded until we
a-Tived at a street in which a soft wind was delightfully
laying, where we saw a gateway over-arched with a marble
.vault, admirably constructed, forming the entrance to a
palace which rose from the earth to the clouds. On our
arrival there, the old woman knocked at the door, and,
when it was opened, we entered a carpeted passage, illumi-
nated by lamps and candles, and decorated with jewels and
precious metals. Through this passage we passed i»ito a
saloon of unequalled magnificence, furnished with mattresses
covered with silk, lighted by hanging lamps and by candles,
and having, at its upper end, a couch of alabaster (decorated
with pearls and jewels, and canopied by curtains of satin,
from which there came forth a lady beautiful as the moon,
who exclaimed to me, Most welcome art thou, O rny sister :
thou delightest me by thy company, and refreshest 'my heart.
She then sat down again, and said to me, O my sister, I
have a brother who hath seen thee at a festivity: he is a
young man, more handsome than myself, and, hiji heart
being violently inflamed with love of thee, he hath bribed
this old woman to go to thee, and to employ this artifice in
order to obtain for me an interview with thee. He clesireth
to marry thee according to the ordinance of God and his
Apostle, and in that which is lawful there is no disgrace. —
When I heard these words, and saw myself thus confined in
the house so that I could not escape, I replied, I hea'", and
obey: — and the lady, rejoicing at my consent, clapped her
hands, and opened a door, upon which there came out from
it a young man so surpassingly handsome, that my heart
immediately inclined to him. No sooner had he sat clown
than the Kadi and four witnesses entered, and saluted us,
and proceeded to perform the ceremony of the marriage-
contract between me and the young man ; which having
done, they departed; and when they had retired, the young
man looked towards me, and said. May our night be bles;'ed.
He then informed me that he desired to impose a covenant
upon me, and, bringing a copy of the Kur'an, said, Sw^ar
that thou wilt not indulge a preference, nor at all incline, to
any man but me: — and when I had sworn to this effect be
rejoiced exceedingly, and embraced me; and the love oi
him took entire possession of my heart.
We lived together in the utmost happiness for the space
of a month, after which I begged that he would allow m(?
to go to the bazar, in order to purchase some stuffs for
dress, and, having obtained his permission, went thither in
company with the old woman, and seated myself at the shop
of a young merchant with whom she was acquainted, and
whose father, as she informed me, had died, and left him
great wealth. She desired him to shew me his most costly
stuffs; and while he was occupied in doing so, she began
to utter various flattering expressions in praise of him ; but
I said to her, We have no concern with the praises that thou
bestowest upon him ; we desire only to make our purchase,
and to return home. jMeanwhile he produced to us what
we wanted, and we handed him the money : he refused,
however, to take it, saying, It is an offer of hospitality to
you for your visit this day : — whereupon I said to the old
woman, If he will not take the money, return to him his
stuff. But he would not receive it again, and exclaimed,
By Allah, I will take nothing from you: all this is a present
from me for a single kiss, which I shall value more than
the entire contents of my shop. — What will a kiss profit
thee? asked the old woman. Then, turning to me, she
said, O my daughter, thou hast heard what the youth hath
said : no harm will befall thee if he give thee a kiss, and
thou shalt take what thou wantest. — Dost thou not know,
said I, that I have taken an oath? She answered, Let him
kiss thee then without thy speaking, and so it will be of no
consequence to thee, and thou shalt take back thy money.
Thus she continued to palliate the matter until I put my
head (as it were) into the bag, and consented: so I covered
my eyes, and held the edge of my veil in such a manner
as to prevent the passengers from seeing me, whereupon he
put his mouth to my cheek beneath the veil, but instead of
merely kissing me, he lacerated my cheek by a violent bite.
I fell into a swoon from the pain, and the old woman laid
me on her lap till I recovered, when I found the shop closed,
and the old woman uttering expressions of grief, and saying,
What God hath averted would have been a greater calamity :
let us return home, and do thou feign to be ill, and I will
come to thee and apply a remedy that shall cure the wound,
and thou wilt quickly be restored.
After remaining there some time longer, I rose, and, in
a state of great uneasiness and fear, returned to the house,
and professed myself ill ; upon which my husband came in
to me, and said, What hath befallen thee, O my mistress,
during this excursion? I answered, I am not well. — And
what is this wound, said he, that is upon thy check, and in
the soft part? I answered, When I asked thy permission,
and went out to-day to purchase some stuff for dress, a
camel loaded with firewood drove against me in the crowd,
and tore my veil, and wounded my cheek as thou seest, for
the streets of this city are narrow. — To-morrow, then, he
exclaimed, I will go to the governor, and make a complaint
to him, and he shall hang every seller of firewood in the
city. — By Allah, said I, burden not thyself by an injury to
any one; for the truth is, that I was riding upon an ass,
which took fright with me, and I fell upon the ground, and
a stick lacerated my cheek. — If it be so, then, he replied,
I will go to-morrow to Ja'far El-Barmeki, and relate the
matter to him, and he shall kill every ass-driver in this
city. — Wilt thou, said I, kill all those men on my account
when this which befell me was decreed by God? — Un-
doubtedly, he answered; and, so saying, he seized me
violently, and then sprang up, and uttered a loud cry, upon
which the door opened, and there came forth from it seven
black slaves, who dragged me from my bed, and threw me
down in the middle of the apartment ; whereupon he ordered
one of them to hold me by my shoulders, and to sit upon
my head; and another to sit upon my knees and to hold
my feet. A third then came, with a sword in his hand,
and said, O my lord, shall I strike her with the sword,
and cleave her in twain, that each of these may take a half
and throw it into the Tigris for the fish to devour? For
such is the punishment of her who is unfaithful to her oath
and to the laws of love. — My husband answered, Strike her
O Sa'ad : — And the slave, with the drawn sword in his hand,
said, Repeat the profession of the faith, and reflect what
thou wouldst have to be done, that thou mayest give thy
testamentary directions, for this is the end of thy life. — Good
slave, I replied, release me for a while that I may do so: —
and I raised my head, and weeping as I spoke, addressed
my husband with these verses: —
You render me lovelorn, and remain at ease. You make my
wounded eyelids to be restless, and you sleep.
Your abode is between my heart and my eyes ; and my heart will
not relinquish you, nor my tears conceal my passion.
You made a covenant with me that you would remain faithful ; but
when you had gained possession of my heart you deceived me.
Will you not pity my love for you and my moaning? Have you
yourself been secure from misfortunes?
I conjure you, by Allah, if 1 die, that you write upon my tomb-
stone, This was a slave of love.
That, perchance, some mourner who hath felt the same flame may
pass by the lover's grave, and pity her.
But on hearing these verses, and witnessing my weeping,
he became more incensed, and repHed in the words of this
couplet : —
I reject not the beloved of my heart from weariness : her own guilty
conduct is the cause of her punishment.
She desired that another should share with me her love ; but the
faith of my heart inclineth not to partnership.
I continued to weep, and to endeavour to excite his
compassion, saying within myself, I will humble me before
him, and address him with soft words, that he may at least
refrain from killing me, though he take all that I possess ; —
but he cried out to the slave. Cleave her in twain ; for she
is no longer of any value to us. — So the slave approached
me, and I now felt assured of my death, and committed
myself to God; but suddenly the old woman came and
threw herself at my husband's feet, and, kissing them,
exclaimed, O my son, by the care with which I nursed thee,
I conjure thee to pardon this damsel, for she hath com-
mitted no ofifence that deserveth such a punishment: thou
art young, and I fear the effect of the imprecations that she
may utter against thee : — and after she had thus addressed
him, she wept, and continued to importune him, until, at
length, he said, I pardon her, but must cause her to bear
upon her person such marks of her offence as shall last for
the remainder of her life. So saying he commanded the
slaves to strip off my vest, and, taking a stick cut from a
quince-tree, he beat me upon my back and my sides until
I became insensible from the violence of the blows, and
despaired of my life. He then ordered the slaves to take
me away as soon as it was night, accompanied by the old
woman, and throw me into my house in which I formerly
resided. They accordingly executed their lord's commands,
and when they had deposited me in my house, I appHed
myself to the heaUng of my wounds; but, after I had cured
myself, my sides still bore the appearance of having been
beaten with mikra'ahs. I continued to apply remedies for
four months before I \\'as restored, and then repaired to
view the house in which this event had happened; but I
found it reduced to ruin, and the whole street pulled down;
the site of the house I found occupied by mounds of rubbish,
and I knew not the cause.
Under these circumstances, I went to reside with this
my sister, who is of the same father as myself, and I found
with her these two bitches. Having saluted her, I informed
her of all that had befallen me; to which she replied, Who
is secure from the afflictions of fortune? Praise be to God
who terminated the affair with safety to thy life ! — She then
related to me her own story, and that of her two sisters, and
I remained with her, and neither of us ever mentioned the
subject of marriage. Afterwards we were joined by thib our
other sister, the cateress, who every day goes out to purchase
for us whatever we happen to want.
The Khalifeh was astonished at this story, and ordered
it to be recorded in a book, as an authentic history, and
deposited the book in his library. And he said to the first
lady, Knowest thou where the Jinniyeh who enchanted thy
sister is to be found? She answered, O Prince of the
Faithful, she gave me a lock of her hair, and said. When thou
desirest my presence, burn a few of these hairs, and I will
be with thee quickly, though I should be beyond Mount
Kaf. — Bring then the hair, said the Khalifeh. The lady,
therefore, produced it; and the Khalifeh, taking it, burned
a portion of it, and when the odour had diffused itself, the
palace shook, and they heard a sound of thunder, and lo,
the Jinniyeh appeared before them. She was a Jiluslimeh,
and therefore greeted the Khalifeh by saying. Peace be on
thee, O Khalifeh of God! — to which he replied, On you be
peace, and the mercy of God, and his blessings !" She then
said. Know that this lady hath conferred on me a benefit
for which I am unable to requite her; for she rescued me
from death, by killing my enemy; and I, having seen
what her sisters had done to her, determined to take
vengeance upon them; therefore I transformed them by
enchantment into two bitches ; and, indeed, I had wished
rather to kill them, fearing lest they should trouble her ;
but now, if thou desire their restoration, O Prince of the
Faithful, I will restore them, as a favour to thee and to her;
for I am one of the true believers. — Do so, said the
Khalifeh; and then we will enter upon the consideration
of the affair of the lady who hath been beaten, and examine
her case, and if her veracity be established, I will take
vengeance for her upon him who hath oppressed her. The
Jinniyeh replied, O Prince of the Faithful, I will guide thee
to the discovery of him who acted thus to this lady, and
oppressed her, and took her property: he is thy nearest
relation. She then took a cup of water, and, having pro-
nounced a spell over it, sprinkled the faces of the two
bitches, saying, Be restored to your original human forms !
¦ — whereupon they became again two young ladies. — Extolled
be the perfection of their Creator ! Having done this, the
Jinniyeh said, O Prince of the Faithful, he who beat the
lady is thy son El-Emin, who had heard of her beauty and
loveliness : — and she proceeded to relate what had happened.
The Khalifeh was astonished, and exclaimed. Praise be to
God for the restoration of these two bitches which hath been
effected through my means ! — and immediately he summoned
before him his son El-Emin, and inquired of him the history
of the lady ; and he related to him the truth. He then
sent for Kadis and witnesses, and the first lady and her two
sisters who had been transformed into bitches he married
to the three mendicants who had related that they were the
sons of Kings ; and these he made chamberlains of his
court, appointing them all that they required, and allotting
them apartments in the palace of Baghdad. The lady who
had been beaten he restored to his son El-Emin, giving her
a large property, and ordering that the house should be
rebuilt in a more handsome style. Lastly, the lady cateress
he took as his own wife; he admitted her at once to his
own apartment, and, on the following day, he appointed
her a separate lodging for herself, with female slaves to wait
upon her: he also allotted to her a regular income; and
afterwards built for her a palace.
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