The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 8 by Richard F. Burton

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"Deep in mine eye-balls ever dwells the phantom-form of thee * My
heart when throbbing or at rest holds fast thy memory:
And love of thee doth never cease to course within my breast, *
As course the juices in the fruits which deck the branchy
tree:
And every day I see thee not my bosom straightened is * And even
censurers excuse the woes in me they see:
O thou whose love hath gotten hold the foremost in the heart * Of
me whose fondness is excelled by mine insanity:
Fear the Compassionate in my case and some compassion show! *
Love of thee makes me taste of death in bitterest pungency."

--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

When it was the Seven Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
Hasan's mother bewept through the watches of the night and the
whiles of the day her separation from her son and his wife and
children. On this wise it fared with her; but as regards Hasan,
when he came to the Princesses, they conjured him to tarry with
them three months, after which long sojourn they gave him five
loads of gold and the like of silver and one load of victual and
accompanied him on his homeward way till he conjured them to
return, whereupon they farewelled him with an embrace; but the
youngest came up to him, to bid him adieu and clasping his neck
wept till she fainted. Then she recited these two couplets,

"When shall the severance-fire be quenched by union, love, with
you? * When shall I win my wish of you and days that were
renew?
The parting-day affrighted me and wrought me dire dismay * And
doubleth woe, O master mine, by the sad word 'Adieu.'"

Anon came forward the second Princess and embraced him and
recited these two couplets,

"Farewelling thee indeed is like to bidding life farewell * And
like the loss of Zephyr[FN#96] 'tis to lose thee far our
sight:
Thine absence is a flaming fire which burneth up my heart * And
in thy presence I enjoy the Gardens of Delight."[FN#97]

Presently came forward the third and embraced him and recited
these two couplets,

"We left not taking leave of thee (when bound to other goal) *
From aught of ill intention or from weariness and dole:
Thou art my soul, my very soul, the only soul of me: * And how
shall I farewell myself and say, 'Adieu my Soul?'"[FN#98]

After her came forward the fourth and embraced him and recited
these two couplets,

"Nought garred me weep save where and when of severance spake he,
* Persisting in his cruel will with sore persistency:
Look at this pearl-like ornament I've hung upon mine ear: * 'Tis
of the tears of me compact, this choicest jewelry!"

In her turn came forward the fifth and embraced him and recited
these two couplets,

"Ah, fare thee not; for I've no force thy faring to endure, * Nor
e'en to say the word farewell before my friend is sped:
Nor any patience to support the days of severance, * Nor any
tears on ruined house and wasted home to shed."

Next came the sixth and embraced him and recited these two
couplets,

"I cried, as the camels went off with them, * And Love pained my
vitals with sorest pain:
Had I a King who would lend me rule * I'd seize every ship that
dares sail the Main."

Lastly came forward the seventh and embraced him and recited
these couplets,

"When thou seest parting, be patient still, * Nor let foreign
parts deal thy soul affright:
But abide, expecting a swift return, * For all hearts hold
parting in sore despight."

And eke these two couplets,

"Indeed I'm heartbroken to see thee start, * Nor can I farewell
thee ere thou depart;
Allah wotteth I left not to say adieu * Save for fear that saying
would melt your heart."

Hasan also wept for parting from them, till he swooned, and
repeated these couplets,

"Indeed, ran my tears on the severance-day * Like pearls I
threaded in necklace-way
The cameleer drove his camels with song * But I lost heart,
patience and strength and stay:
I bade them farewell and retired in grief * From tryst-place and
camp where my dearlings lay:
I turned me unknowing the way nor joyed * My soul, but in hopes
to return some day.
Oh listen, my friend, to the words of love * God forbid thy heart
forget all I say!
O my soul when thou partest wi' them, part too * With all joys of
life nor for living pray!"

Then he farewelled them and fared on diligently night and day,
till he came to Baghdad, the House of Peace and Sanctuary of the
Abbaside Caliphs, unknowing what had passed during his wayfare.
At once entering his house he went in to his mother to salute
her, but found her worn of body and wasted of bones, for excess
of mourning and watching, weeping and wailing, till she was grown
thin as a toothpick and could not answer him a word. So he
dismissed the dromedaries then asked her of his wife and children
and she wept till she fainted, and he seeing her in this state
searched the house for them, but found no trace of them. Then he
went to the store-closet and finding it open and the chest broken
and the feather-dress missing, knew forthright that his wife had
possessed herself thereof and flown away with her children. Then
he returned to his mother and, finding her recovered from her
fit, questioned her of his spouse and babes, whereupon she wept
and said, "O my son, may Allah amply requite thee their loss!
These are their three tombs."[FN#99] When Hasan heard these words
of his mother, he shrieked a loud shriek and fell down in a
fainting-fit in which he lay from the first of the day till
noon-tide; whereupon anguish was added to his mother's anguish
and she despaired of his life. However, after a-while, he came
to himself and wept and buffeted his face and rent his raiment
and went about the house clean distraught, reciting these two
couplets,[FN#100]

"Folk have made moan of passion before me, of past years, * And
live and dead for absence have suffered pains and fears;
But that within my bosom I harbour, with mine eyes * I've never
seen the like of nor heard with mine ears."

Then finishing his verses he bared his brand and coming up to his
mother, said to her, "Except thou tell me the truth of the case,
I will strike off thy head and kill myself." She replied, "O my
son, do not such deed: put up thy sword and sit down, till I tell
thee what hath passed." So he sheathed his scymitar and sat by
her side, whilst she recounted to him all that had happened in
his absence from first to last, adding, "O my son, but that I saw
her weep in her longing for the bath and feared that she would go
and complain to thee on thy return, and thou wouldst be wroth
with me. I had never carried her thither; and were it not that
the Lady Zubaydah was wroth with me and took the key from me by
force, I had never brought out the feather-dress, though I died
for it. But thou knowest, O my son, that no hand may measure
length with that of the Caliphate. When they brought her the
dress, she took it and turned it over, fancying that somewhat
might be lost thereof, but she found it uninjured; wherefore she
rejoiced and making her children fast to her waist, donned the
feather-vest, after the Lady Zubaydah had pulled off to her all
that was upon herself and clad her therein, in honour of her and
because of her beauty. No sooner had she donned the dress than
she shook and becoming a bird, promenaded about the palace,
whilst all who were present gazed at her and marvelled at her
beauty and loveliness. Then she flew up to the palace roof and
perching thereon, looked at me and said: 'Whenas thy son cometh
to thee and the nights of separation upon him longsome shall be
and he craveth reunion and meeting to see and whenas the breezes
of love and longing shake him dolefully let him leave his native
land and journey to the Islands of Wak and seek me.' This, then,
is her story and what befel in thine absence."--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Seven Hundred and Ninety-eighth Night,

She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that as soon
as Hasan's mother had made an end of her story, he gave a great
cry and fell down in a fainting fit which continued till the end
of day, when he revived and fell to buffeting his face and
writhing on the floor like a scotched snake. His mother sat
weeping by his head until midnight, when he came to himself and
wept sore and recited these couplets',[FN#101]

"Pause ye and see his sorry state since when ye fain withdrew; *
Haply, when wrought your cruelty, you'll have the grace to
rue:
For an ye look on him, you'll doubt of him by sickness-stress *
As though, by Allah, he were one before ye never knew.
He dies for nothing save for love of you, and he would be *
Numbered amid the dead did not he moan and groan for you.
And deem not pangs of severance sit all lightly on his soul; *
'Tis heavy load on lover-wight; 'twere lighter an ye slew."

Then having ended his verse he rose and went round about the
house, weeping and wailing, groaning and bemoaning himself, five
days, during which he tasted nor meat nor drink. His mother came
to him and conjured him, till he broke his fast, and besought him
to leave weeping; but he hearkened not to her and continued to
shed tears and lament, whilst she strove to comfort him and he
heeded her not. Then he recited these couplets,[FN#102]

"Beareth for love a burden sore this soul of me, * Could break a
mortal's back however strong that be;
I am distraught to see my case and languor grows * Making my day
and night indifferent in degree:
I own to having dreaded Death before this day: * This day I hold
my death mine only remedy."

And Hasan ceased not to do thus till daybreak, when his eyes
closed and he saw in a dream his wife grief-full and repentant
for that which she had done. So he started up from sleep crying
out and reciting these two couplets,

"Their image bides with me, ne'er quits me, ne'er shall fly; *
But holds within my heart most honourable stead;
But for reunion-hope, I'd see me die forthright, * And but for
phantom-form of thee my sleep had fled."

And as morning morrowed he redoubled his lamentations. He abode
weeping-eyed and heavy-hearted, wakeful by night and eating
little, for a whole month, at the end of which he bethought him
to repair to his sisters and take counsel with them in the matter
of his wife, so haply they might help him to regain her.
Accordingly he summoned the dromedaries and loading fifty of them
with rarities of Al-Irak, committed the house to his mother's
care and deposited all his goods in safe keeping, except some few
he left at home. Then he mounted one of the beasts and set out
on his journey single handed, intent upon obtaining aidance from
the Princesses, and he stayed not till he reached the Palace of
the Mountain of Clouds, when he went in to the damsels and gave
them the presents in which they rejoiced. Then they wished him
joy of his safety and said to him, "O our brother, what can ail
thee to come again so soon, seeing thou wast with us but two
months since?" Whereupon he wept and improvised these couplets,

"My soul for loss of lover sped I sight; * Nor life enjoying
neither life's delight:
My case is one whose cure is all unknown; * Can any cure the sick
but doctor wight?
O who hast reft my sleep-joys, leaving me * To ask the breeze
that blew from that fair site,--
Blew from my lover's land (the land that owns * Those charms so
sore a grief in soul excite),
'O breeze, that visitest her land, perhaps * Breathing her scent,
thou mayst revive my sprite!'"

And when he ended his verse he gave a great cry and fell down in
a fainting-fit. The Princesses sat round him, weeping over him,
till he recovered and repeated these two couplets,

"Haply and happily may Fortune bend her rein * Bringing my love,
for Time's a freke of jealous strain;[FN#103]
Fortune may prosper me, supply mine every want, * And bring a
blessing where before were ban and bane."

Then he wept till he fainted again, and presently coming to
himself recited the two following couplets,

"My wish, mine illness, mine unease! by Allah, own * Art thou
content? then I in love contented wone!
Dost thou forsake me thus sans crime or sin * Meet me in ruth, I
pray, and be our parting gone."

Then he wept till he swooned away once more and when he revived
he repeated these couplets,

"Sleep fled me, by my side wake ever shows * And hoard of
tear-drops from these eyne aye flows;
For love they weep with beads cornelian-like * And growth of
distance greater dolence grows:
Lit up my longing, O my love, in me * Flames burning 'neath my
ribs with fiery throes!
Remembering thee a tear I never shed * But in it thunder roars
and leven glows."

Then he wept till he fainted away a fourth time, and presently
recovering, recited these couplets,

"Ah! for lowe of love and longing suffer ye as suffer we? * Say,
as pine we and as yearn we for you are pining ye?
Allah do the death of Love, what a bitter draught is his! * Would
I wot of Love what plans and what projects nurseth he!
Your faces radiant-fair though afar from me they shine, * Are
mirrored in our eyes whatsoever the distance be;
My heart must ever dwell on the memories of your tribe; * And the
turtle-dove reneweth all as oft as moaneth she:
Ho thou dove, who passest night-tide in calling on thy fere, *
Thou doublest my repine, bringing grief for company;
And leavest thou mine eyelids with weeping unfulfilled * For the
dearlings who departed, whom we never more may see:
I melt for the thought of you at every time and hour, * And I
long for you when Night showeth cheek of blackest blee."

Now when his sister heard these words and saw his condition and
how he lay fainting on the floor, she screamed and beat her face
and the other Princesses hearing her scream came out and learning
his misfortune and the transport of love and longing and the
passion and distraction that possessed him they questioned him of
his case. He wept and told them what had befallen in his absence
and how his wife had taken flight with her children, wherefore
they grieved for him and asked him what she said at leave-taking.
Answered he, "O my sisters, she said to my mother, 'Tell thy son,
whenas he cometh to thee and the nights of sever- ance upon him
longsome shall be and he craveth reunion and meeting to see, and
whenas the winds of love and longing shake him dolefully, let him
fare in the Islands of Wak to me." When they heard his words they
signed one to other with their eyes and shook their heads, and
each looked at her sister, whilst Hasan looked at them all. Then
they bowed their heads groundwards and bethought themselves
awhile; after which they raised their heads and said, "There is
no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great!"; presently adding, "Put forth thy hand to heaven and when
thou reach thither, then shalt thou win to thy wife.--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

When it was the Seven Hundred and Ninety-ninth Night,

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Princesses said to Hasan, "Put forth thy hand to Heaven and when
thou reach thither, then shalt thou win to wife and children,"
thereat the tears ran down his cheeks like rain and wet his
clothes, and he recited these couplets,

"Pink cheeks and eyes enpupil'd black have dealt me sore
despight; * And whenas wake overpowered sleep my patience
fled in fright:
The fair and sleek-limbed maidens hard of heart withal laid waste
* My very bones till not a breath is left for man to sight:
Houris, who fare with gait of grace as roes o'er sandy-mound: *
Did Allah's saints behold their charms they'd doat thereon
forthright;
Faring as fares the garden breeze that bloweth in the dawn. * For
love of them a sore unrest and troubles rack my sprite:
I hung my hopes upon a maid, a loveling fair of them, * For whom
my heart still burns with lowe in Laz -hell they light;--
A dearling soft of sides and haught and graceful in her gait, *
Her grace is white as morning, but her hair is black as
night:
She stirreth me! But ah, how many heroes have her cheeks *
Upstirred for love, and eke her eyes that mingle black and
white."

Then he wept, whilst the Princesses wept for his weeping, and
they were moved to compassion and jealousy for him. So they fell
to comforting him and exhorting him to patience and offering up
prayers for his reunion with his wife; whilst his sister said to
him, "O my brother, be of good cheer and keep thine eyes cool and
clear and be patient; so shalt thou win thy will; for whoso hath
patience and waiteth, that he seeketh attaineth. Patience
holdeth the keys of relief and indeed the poet saith,

'Let destiny with slackened rein its course appointed fare! And
lie thou down to sleep by night, with heart devoid of care;
For 'twixt the closing of an eye and th' opening thereof, God
hath it in His power to change a case from foul to
fair."[FN#104]

So hearten thy heart and brace up thy resolve, for the son of ten
years dieth not in the ninth.[FN#105] Weeping and grief and
mourning gender sickness and disease; wherefore do thou abide
with us till thou be rested, and I will devise some device for
thy winning to thy wife and children, Inshallah--so it please
Allah the Most High!" And he wept sore and recited these verses,

"An I be healed of disease in frame, * I'm unhealed of illness in
heart and sprite:
There is no healing disease of love, * Save lover and loved one
to re-unite."

Then he sat down beside her and she proceeded to talk with him
and comfort him and question him of the cause and the manner of
his wife's departure. So he told her and she said, "By Allah, O
my brother, I was minded to bid thee burn the feather-dress, but
Satan made me forget it." She ceased not to converse with him
and caress him and company with him other ten days, whilst sleep
visited him not and he delighted not in food; and when the case
was longsome upon him and unrest waxed in him, he versified with
these couplets,

"A beloved familiar o'erreigns my heart * And Allah's ruling
reigns evermore:
She hath all the Arab's united charms * This gazelle who feeds on
my bosom's core.
Though my skill and patience for love of her fail, * I weep
whilst I wot that 'tis vain to deplore.
The dearling hath twice seven years, as though * She were moon of
five nights and of five plus four."[FN#106]

When the youngest Princess saw him thus distracted for love and
longing for passion and the fever-heat of desire, she went in to
her sisterhood weeping-eyed and woeful-hearted, and shedding
copious tears threw herself upon them, kissed their feet and
besought them to devise some device for bringing Hasan to the
Islands of Wak and effecting his reunion with his wife and wees.
She ceased not to conjure them to further her brother in the
accomplishment of his desire and to weep before them, till she
made them weep and they said to her, "Hearten thy heart: we will
do our best endeavour to bring about his reunion with his family,
Inshallah!" And he abode with them a whole year, during which his
eyes never could retain their tears. Now the sisterhood had an
uncle, brother-german to their sire and his name was Abd
al-Kadd£s, or Slave of the Most Holy; and he loved the eldest
with exceeding love and was wont to visit her once a year and do
all she desired. They had told him of Hasan's adventure with the
Magian and how he had been able to slay him; whereat he rejoiced
and gave the eldest Princess a pouch[FN#107] which contained
certain perfumes, saying, "O daughter of my brother, an thou be
in concern for aught, or if aught irk thee, or thou stand in any
need, cast of these perfumes upon fire naming my name and I will
be with thee forthright and will do thy desire." This speech was
spoken on the first of Moharram[FN#108]; and the eldest Princess
said to one of the sisterhood, "Lo, the year is wholly past and
my uncle is not come. Rise, bring me the fire-sticks and the box
of perfumes." So the damsel arose rejoicing and, fetching what
she sought, laid it before her sister, who opened the box and
taking thence a little of the perfume, cast it into the fire
naming her unde's name; nor was it burnt out ere appeared a
dust-cloud at the farther end of the Wady; and presently lifting,
it discovered a Shaykh riding on an elephant, which moved at a
swift and easy pace, and trumpeted under the rider. As soon as
he came within sight of the Princesses, he began making signs to
them with his hands and feet; nor was it long ere he reached the
castle and, alighting from the elephant, came in to them,
whereupon they embraced him and kissed his hands and saluted him
with the salam. Then he sat down, whilst the girls talked with
him and questioned him of his absence. Quoth he, "I was sitting
but now with my wife, your aunt, when I smelt the perfumes and
hastened to you on this elephant. What wouldst thou, O daughter
of my brother?" Quoth she, "O uncle, indeed we longed for thee,
as the year is past and 'tis not thy wont to be absent from us
more than a twelvemonth." Answered he, "I was busy, but I
purposed to come to you to-morrow." Wherefore they thanked him
and blessed him and sat talking with him.--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundredth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
girls sat down to chat with their uncle the eldest said to him "O
my uncle, we told thee the tale of Hasan of Bassorah, whom Bahram
the Magian brought and how he slew the wizard and how, after
enduring all manner of hardships and horrors, he made prize of
the Supreme King's daughter and took her to wife and journeyed
with her to his native land?" Replied he, "Yes, and what befel
him after that?" Quoth the Princess, "She played him false after
he was blest with two sons by her; for she took them in his
absence and fled with them to her own country, saying to his
mother: 'Whenas thy son returneth to thee and asketh for me and
upon him the nights of severance longsome shall be and he craveth
reunion and meeting to see and whenas the breezes of love and
longing shake him dolefully, let him come in the Islands of Wak
to me.'" When Abd al-Kaddus heard this, he shook his head and bit
his forefinger; then, bowing his brow groundwards he began to
make marks on the earth with his finger-tips;[FN#109] after which
he again shook his head and looked right and left and shook his
head a third time, whilst Hasan watched him from a place where he
was hidden from him. Then said the Princesses to their uncle,
"Return us some answer, for our hearts are rent in sunder." But
he shook his head at them, saying, "O my daughters, verily hath
this man wearied himself in vain and cast himself into grievous
predicament and sore peril; for he may not gain access to the
Islands of Wak." With this the Princesses called Hasan, who came
forth and, advancing to Shaykh Abd al-Kaddus, kissed his hand and
saluted him. The old man rejoiced in him and seated him by his
side; whereupon quoth the damsels, "O uncle, acquaint our brother
Hasan with that thou hast told us." So he said to Hasan, "O my
son, put away from thee this peine forte et dure; for thou canst
never gain access to the Islands of Wak, though the Flying Jinn
and the Wandering Stars were with thee; for that betwixt thee and
these islands are seven Wadys and seven seas and seven mighty
mountains. How then canst thou come at this stead and who shall
bring thee thither? Wherefore, Allah upon thee, O my son, do
thou reckon thy spouse and sons as dead and turn back forthright
and weary not thy sprite! Indeed, I give thee good counsel, an
thou wilt but accept it." Hearing these words from the Shaykh,
Hasan wept till he fainted, and the Princesses sat round him,
weeping for his weeping, whilst the youngest sister rent her
raiment and buffeted her face, till she swooned away. When
Shaykh Abd al-Kaddus saw them in this transport of grief and
trouble and mourning, he was moved to ruth for them and cried,
"Be ye silent!" Then said he to Hasan, "O my son, hearten thy
heart and rejoice in the winning of thy wish, an it be the will
of Allah the Most High;" presently adding, "Rise, O my son, take
courage and follow me." So Hasan arose forthright and after he
had taken leave of the Princesses followed him, rejoicing in the
fulfilment of his wish. Then the Shaykh called the elephant and
mounting, took Hasan up behind him and fared on three days with
their nights, like the blinding leven, till he came to a vast
blue mountain, whose stones were all of azure hue and amiddlemost
of which was a cavern, with a door of Chinese iron. Here he took
Hasan's hand and let him down and alighting dismissed the
elephant. Then he went up to the door and knocked, whereupon it
opened and there came out to him a black slave, hairless, as he
were an Ifrit, with brand in right hand and targe of steel in
left. When he saw Abd al-Kaddus, he threw sword and buckler from
his grip and coming up to the Shaykh kissed his hand. Thereupon
the old man took Hasan by the hand and entered with him, whilst
the slave shut the door behind them; when Hasan found himself in
a vast cavern and a spacious, through which ran an arched
corridor and they ceased not faring on therein a mile or so, till
it abutted upon a great open space and thence they made for an
angle of the mountain wherein were two huge doors cast of solid
brass. The old man opened one of them and said to Hasan, "Sit at
the door, whilst I go within and come back to thee in haste, and
beware lest thou open it and enter." Then he fared inside and,
shutting the door after him, was absent during a full sidereal
hour, after which he returned, leading a black stallion, thin of
flank and short of nose, which was ready bridled and saddled,
with velvet housings; and when it ran it flew, and when it flew,
the very dust in vain would pursue; and brought it to Hasan,
saying, "Mount!" So he mounted and Abd al-Kaddus opened the
second door, beyond which appeared a vast desert. Then the twain
passed through the door into that desert and the old man said to
him, "O my son, take this scroll and wend thou whither this steed
will carry thee. When thou seest him stop at the door of a
cavern like this, alight and throw the reins over the saddle-bow
and let him go. He will enter the cavern, which do thou not
enter with him, but tarry at the door five days, without being
weary of waiting. On the sixth day there will come forth to thee
a black Shaykh, clad all in sable, with a long white beard,
flowing down to his navel. As soon as thou seest him, kiss his
hands and seize his skirt and lay it on thy head and weep before
him, till he take pity on thee and he will ask thee what thou
wouldst have. When he saith to thee, 'What is thy want?' give
him this scroll which he will take without speaking and go in and
leave thee. Wait at the door other five days, without wearying,
and on the sixth day expect him; and if he come out to thee
himself, know that thy wish will be won, but, if one of his pages
come forth to thee, know that he who cometh forth to thee,
purposeth to kill thee; and--the Peace![FN#110] For know, O my
son, that whoso self imperilleth doeth himself to death;"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

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