Then he went on to tell her all that had passed between him and Abourruweish and as he was thus engaged, behold, the Sheikh himself issued from the cavern. When Hassan saw him, he dismounted and kissed his hands, and the Sheikh saluted him and gave him joy of his safety and rejoiced in him. Then he carried him into the cavern and sat down with him, whilst Hassan told him what had befallen him in the Wac Islands; whereat the Sheikh marvelled exceedingly and said, ‘O Hassan, how didst thou deliver thy wife and children?’ So he told him the story of the cap and the wand, at which he marvelled and said, ‘O Hassan, O my son, but for this wand and cap, thou hadst never delivered thy wife and children.’ And he replied, ‘Even so, O my lord.’

  As they were talking, there came a knocking at the door and Abourruweish went out and found Abdulcuddous mounted on his elephant. So he saluted him and brought him into the cavern, where he embraced Hassan and gave him joy of his safety, rejoicing greatly in his return. Then said Abourruweish to Hassan, ‘Tell the Sheikh Abdulcuddous all that hath befallen thee, O Hassan.’ So he repeated to him all that had passed, till he came to the story of the wand and cap, whereupon quoth Abdulcuddous, ‘O my son, thou hast delivered thy wife and thy children and hast no further need of the wand and the cap. Now we were the means of thy winning to the Wac Islands and I have done thee kindness for the sake of the daughters of my brother; wherefore I beg thee, of thy bounty and favour, to give me the wand and the Sheikh Abourruweish the cap.’

  When Hassan heard this, be hung down his head, being ashamed to reply, ‘I will not give them to you,’ and said in himself, ‘Indeed, these two elders have done me great kindness and but for them, I had never won to the Wac Islands and delivered my children, nor had I gotten me this wand and cap.’ So he raised his head and answered, ‘Yes, I will give them to you: but, O my lords, I fear lest the Supreme King, my wife’s father, come upon me with his hosts and beset me in my own country, and I be unable to repel them, for want of the wand and the cap.’ ‘Fear not, O my son,’ answered Abdulcuddous; ‘we will succour thee and keep watch for thee in this place and fend off from thee whosoever shall come against thee from thy wife’s father or any other; wherefore be thou of good cheer and comfort and fear nothing, for no harm shall come to thee.’ When Hassan heard this, he was abashed and gave the cap to Abourruweish, saying to Abdulcuddous, ‘Bear me company to my own land and I will give thee the wand.’ At this the two elders rejoiced exceedingly and made him ready riches and treasures past description.

  He abode with them three days, at the end of which time he set out again and the Sheikh Abdulcuddous made ready to depart with him. So he and his wife mounted their beasts and Abdulcuddous whistled, whereupon a great elephant came running up from the heart of the desert and he mounted it. Then they took leave of Abourruweish and fared on across country, whilst Abdulcuddous guided them by a short and easy way, till they drew near the princesses’ country; whereupon Hassan rejoiced and praised God for his safe return and reunion with his wife and children after so many hardships and perils and thanked Him for His favours and bounties, reciting the following verses:

  Sure God will soon for us cause union to betide And in your arms locked fast, I shall to you confide

  The wonders that have chanced to me and all I’ve felt Of anguish since the day that did our loves divide;

  And I shall heal mine eyes with looking on your sight, For long my heart for you with yearning hath been wried.

  I’ve hidden you a tale within my heart, that I Will tell you, when we meet: indeed, I shall you chide

  For what you wrought of wrong aforetime; but reproach Shall end and pass away and only love abide.

  Hardly had he made an end of these verses, when they came in sight of the green pavilion and the pool and the green palace, and the Mountain of Clouds appeared to them afar off; whereupon quoth Abdulcuddous, ‘Rejoice, O Hassan, in good news! For to-night shalt thou be the guest of my nieces.’ At this he rejoiced with an exceeding joy, he and his wife, and they alighted at the pavilion, where they ate and drank and rested; after which they took horse again and rode on till they came in sight of the palace.

  As they drew near, the princesses came forth to meet them and saluted them; and their uncle said to them, ‘O daughters of my brother, behold, I have accomplished your brother Hassan’s occasion and have helped him to regain his wife and children.’ So they embraced him and gave him joy of his return in health and safety and of his reunion with his wife and children, and it was a day of festival with them. Then came forward his sister, the youngest princess, and embraced him, weeping sore, whilst he also wept for his long estrangement: after which she complained to him of that which she had suffered for the pangs of separation and weariness of heart in his absence and recited these verses:

  Mine eyes, since thou departedst hence, ne’er on a creature fell, But straight thine image mirrored rose before it, sooth to tell;

  Nor have I ever closed my lids in slumber, but In dreams I saw thee, as it were ‘twixt eye and eyelid thou didst dwell.

  When she had made an end of her verses, she rejoiced with an exceeding joy and Hassan said to her, ‘O my sister, I have thee to thank in this matter, over all thy sisters, and may God the Most High vouchsafe thee aid and countenance!’ Then he related to her all that had befallen him in his journey, first and last, and all that he had undergone, telling her what had betided him with his wife’s sister and how he had delivered his wife and children and all that he had seen of marvels and grievous perils, even to how Queen Nour el Huda would have slain him and his wife and children and none saved them from her but God the Most High. Moreover, he related to her the adventure of the cap and the wand and how Abdulcuddous and Abourruweish had sought them of him and he had not agreed to give them to them but for her sake; wherefore she thanked him and wished him long life; and he said, ‘By Allah, I shall never forget all the kindness thou hast done me, first and last!’

  Then she turned to his wife Menar es Sena and embraced her and pressed her children to her bosom, saying to her, ‘O daughter of the Supreme King, was there no pity in thy heart, that thou partedst him and his children and set his heart on fire for them? Didst thou desire by this that he should die?’ The princess laughed and answered, ‘Thus was it ordained of God (blessed and exalted be He!) and whoso beguileth folk, may God beguile him!’ Then they set on meat and drink, and they all ate and drank and made merry. They abode thus ten days feasting and merry-making, at the end of which time Hassan prepared to continue his journey. So his sister rose and made him ready riches and rarities, such as beggar description. Then she strained him to her bosom, because of leave-taking, and embraced him, whilst he recited the following verses on her account:

  Solace from those who love far distant is, heigho! And severance of friends is nought but grievous woe.

  Estrangement and disdain a sore affliction are And he who’s slain of love a martyr is, I trow.

  How long is night on him who’s parted from his love, A lover left forlorn, how weariful and slow!

  His tears upon his cheeks course down, what while he saith, ‘Ah woe is me for tears! Can more be yet to flow?’

  With this he gave the wand to the Sheikh Abdulcuddous, who rejoiced therein with an exceeding joy and thanking him. mounted and returned to his own place. Then Hassan took horse with his wife and children and departed from the palace of the princesses, who went forth with him, to bid him farewell. Then they turned back and Hassan fared on, over hill and dale, two months and ten days, till he came to the city of Baghdad, the Abode of Peace, and repairing to his house by the private way that gave upon the open country, knocked at the door.

  Now his mother, for long absence, had forsworn repose and given herself to mourning and weeping and lamentation, till she fell sick and ate not, neither took delight in sleep, but shed tears night and day. Her son’s name was never from her mouth, albeit she despaired of his return; and as he stood at the door, he heard her weeping and reciting the following verses:

  By Allah, med’cine, O my lord, one sick for love of you, Whose heart is broken and her frame all wasted and unsound!

  Yet, of your bounty, if ye would but union her vouchsafe, Sure in her loved ones’ favours, then, her sorrows would be drowned.

  She doth not of your sight despair, for God almightly is And in the midmost stress of woe, the prosperous times come round.

  When she had made an end of these verses, she heard her son’s voice at the door, calling out and saying, ‘O mother mine, fortune hath been kind and vouchsafeth [us] reunion!’ She knew his voice and went to the door, between belief and doubt; but, when she opened it and saw him standing there and with him his wife and children, she cried out, for excess of joy, and fell to the earth in a swoon. Hassan tended her, till she revived and embraced him, weeping; after which she called his slaves and servants and bade them carry his baggage into the house. So they brought in all the loads, and his wife and children entered also, whereupon Hassan’s mother went up to the princess and kissed her head and feet, saying, ‘O daughter of the Supreme King, if I have failed of thy due, behold, I crave pardon of God the Great.’

  Then she turned to Hassan and said to him, ‘O my son, what was the cause of this long absence?’ So he related to her all his adventures from beginning to end; and when she heard tell of all that had befallen him, she gave a great cry and fell down in a swoon. He tended her, till she came to herself and said to him, ‘By Allah, O my son, thou hast erred in parting with the wand and the cap, for, hadst thou kept them, thou wert master of the whole earth, in its breadth and length; but praised be God for thy safety and that of thy wife and children!’ They passed the night in all pleasance and happiness, and on the morrow Hassan changed his clothes and donning a suit of the richest apparel, went down into the bazaar and bought slaves and slave-girls and stuffs and ornaments and raiment and carpets and costly vessels and all manner other precious things, whose like is not found with kings. Moreover, he bought houses and gardens and lands and so forth and abode with his wife and children and mother, eating and drinking and taking their pleasure: nor did they cease from all delight and solace of life till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and Sunderer of Companies. And Glory be to Him who hath dominion over the Seen and the Unseen, the Living, the Eternal, who dieth not!

  John Payne’s translation: detailed table of contents

  KHELIFEH THE FISHERMAN OF BAGHDAD.

  There was once, of old days and in bygone ages and times, in the city of Baghdad, a fisherman called Khelifeh, a very poor man, who had never been married. It chanced, one day, that he took his net and went forth, according to his wont, to fish before the others came. When he reached the river, he girt himself and tucked up his skirts; then, stepping into the water, he spread his net and cast it once and again, but brought up nothing. He ceased not to throw it, till he had made ten casts, and still nothing came up in it; wherefore his breast was straitened and his mind perplexed concerning his case and he said, ‘I crave pardon of God the Great, there is no god but He, the Living, the Eternal, and I repent unto Him. There is no power and no virtue save in God, the Most High, the Supreme! What He wills, is, and what He wills not, is not! Upon God (to whom belong might and majesty) dependeth provision! When He giveth to a creature, none denieth him, and when He denierth a creature, none giveth to him.’ And of the excess of his chagrin, he recited the following couplet:

  If Fate with a calamity afflict thee, thou wert best Meet it with patience and oppose thereto an open breast;

  For God, the Lord of all that be, shall, of His power and grace, Cause ease to follow after stress, and after travail, rest.

  Then he sat awhile, with his head bowed down, pondering his case, and recited these verses also:

  I rede thee, the sweet and the bitter of fortune with fortitude bear, And know, whatsoever betideth, that God of His purpose fails ne’er.

  A night often acts upon troubles, as whiles on an abscess it acts, Whereon, till it ripen, it worketh and doth it for bursting prepare.

  And so with the shiftings of fortune, they pass o’er a man and then cease And after no longer they irk him nor come to his memory fore’er.

  Then he said to himself, ‘I will make this one more cast, trusting in God, so haply He may not disappoint my expectation.’ So saying, he rose and casting the net as far as he could into the river, gathered the cords in his hands and waited awhile. Then he pulled at it and finding it heavy, handled it gently and drew it in, little by little, till he got it ashore, when he found in it a one-eyed, lame ape. Quoth Khelifeh, ‘There is no power and no virtue but in God! Verily, we are God’s and to Him we return! What miserable ill-luck and sorry fortune is this! What is come to me this blessed day? But all this is of the ordinance of God the Most High!’ Then he bound the ape with a cord to a tree that grew on the river-bank, and taking a whip he had with him, raised it in the air, thinking to bring it down upon him, when God made the ape speak with a fluent tongue, saying, ‘O Khelifeh, hold thy hand and beat me not, but leave me bounden to this tree and go down to the river and cast thy net, confiding in God, for He will give thee thy daily bread.’

  So he went down to the river and casting his net, let the cords run out. Then he pulled it in and found it heavier than before; so he tugged at it, till he brought it to land, when, behold, there was another ape in it, with front teeth wide apart, eyes pencilled with kohl and hands stained with henna; and he was laughing and wore a tattered waistcloth about his middle. Quoth Khelifeh, ‘Praised be God who hath changed the fish of the river into apes!’ Then, going up to the first ape, he said to him, ‘See, O unlucky wretch, how foul was the counsel thou gavest me! None but thou made me light on this second ape: and for that thou gavest me good-morrow with thy one eye and thy lameness, I am become distressed and weary, without dirhem or dinar.’ So saying, he took a stick and flourishing it thrice in the air, was about to bring it down upon the lame ape, when it cried out for mercy and said to him, ‘I conjure thee, by Allah, spare me for this my fellow’s sake and seek of him thy need; for he will guide thee to thy desire!’

  So he held his hand from him and throwing down the stick, went up to the second ape, who said to him, ‘O Khelifeh, this [my] speech will profit thee nothing, except thou hearken to what I say to thee; but, if thou do my bidding and cross me not, I will be the means of thine enrichment.’ ‘And what hast thou to say to me,’ asked Khelifeh, ‘that I may obey thee therein?’ ‘Go and cast thy net a third time,’ replied the ape; ‘and after I will tell thee what to do.’ So he took his net and going down to the river, cast it once more and waited awhile. Then he drew it in and finding it heavy, laboured at it till he got it ashore, when he found in it yet another ape; but this one was red, with a blue waistcloth about his middle; his hands and feet were stained with henna and his eyes blackened with kohl.

  When Khelifeh saw this, he exclaimed, ‘Glory to God the Great! Extolled be the perfection of the Lord of Dominion! This is indeed a blessed day from first to last: its ascendant was fortunate in the countenance of the first age, and the book is known by its superscription! Verily, this is a day of apes: there is not a fish left in the river, and we are come out to-day but to catch apes!’ Then he turned to the third ape and said, ‘And what art thou for another unlucky wretch?’ Quoth the ape, ‘Dost thou not know me, O Khelifeh?’ ‘Not I,’ answered the fisherman; and the ape said, ‘I am the ape of Aboussaadat the Jew money-changer.’ ‘And what dost thou for him?’ asked Khelifeh. Quoth the ape, ‘I give him good-morrow every morning, and he gains five dinars; and again at the end of the day, I give him good-even and he gains other five dinars.’ Whereupon Khelifeh turned to the first ape and said to him, ‘See, O unlucky wretch, what fine apes other folk have! As for thee, thou givest me good-morrow with thy one eye and thy lameness and thine unlucky visnomy and I become poor and bankrupt and hungry!’

  So saying, he took the stick and flourishing it thrice in the air, was about to come down with it on the first ape, when Aboussaadat’s ape said to him, ‘Hold thy hand from him, O Khelifeh, and come hither to me, that I may tell thee what to do.’ So Khelifeh threw down the stick and said, ‘And what hast thou to say to me, O prince of all apes?’ ‘Leave me and the other two apes here,’ answered the ape, ‘and take thy net and cast it into the river; and whatever comes up, bring it to me, and I will tell thee what shall pleasure thee.’ ‘I hear and obey,’ answered the fisherman and took the net and gathered it on his shoulder, reciting the following verses:

  Whene’er my breast is straitened, for aid I supplicate A Maker who availeth to save from every strait;

  For, ere the glance returneth, the captive is set free From bonds and healed the broken, by grace of God the Great.

  All thine affairs to Him, then, commit; for every man Of understanding knoweth His bounties without date.

  And also these:

  Thou’rt He who dost the folk, indeed, cast into weariness And cares and woes, effect and cause, dispellest none the less.

 

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