The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 07 (of 10)
General
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 07 (of 10)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the two
Marids, after snatching up Gharib and Sahim in their sleep, carried
them to Mura’ash, king of the Jann, whom they saw seated on the throne
of his kinship, as he were a huge mountain, with four heads on his
body,[FN#26] the first that of a lion, the second that of an elephant,
the third that of a panther, and the fourth that of a lynx. The Marids
set them down before Mura’ash and said to him, “O King, these twain be
they we found in the Valley of Springs.” Thereupon he looked at them
with wrathful eyes and snarked and snorted and shot sparks from his
nostrils, so that all who stood by feared him. Then said he, “O dogs
of mankind, ye have slain my son and lighted fire in my liver.” Quoth
Gharib, “Who is thy son, and who hath seen him?” Quoth Mura’ash, “Were
ye not in the Valley of Springs and did ye not see my son there, in the
guise of a bird, and did ye not shoot at him with wooden bolts that he
died?” Replied Gharib, “I know not who slew him; and, by the virtue of
the Great God, the One, the Immemorial who knoweth things all, and of
Abraham the Friend, we saw no bird, neither slew we bird or beast!”
Now when Mura’ash heard Gharib swear by Allah and His greatness and
by Abraham the Friend, he knew him for a Moslem (he himself being a
worshipper of Fire, not of the All-powerful Sire), so he cried out
to his folk, “Bring me my Goddess.[FN#27]” Accordingly they brought
a brazier of gold and, setting it before him, kindled therein fire
and cast on drugs, whereupon there arose therefrom green and blue
and yellow flames and the King and all who were present prostrated
themselves before the brazier, whilst Gharib and Sahim ceased not to
attest the Unity of Allah Almighty, to cry out “God is Most Great” and
to bear witness to His Omnipotence. Presently, Mura’ash raised his
head and, seeing the two Princes standing in lieu of falling down to
worship, said to them, “O dogs, why do ye not prostrate yourselves?”
Replied Gharib, “Out on you, O ye accursed! Prostration befitteth not
man save to the Worshipful King, who bringeth forth all creatures
into beingness from nothingness and maketh water to well from the
barren rockwell, Him who inclineth heart of sire unto new-born scion
and who may not be described as sitting or standing; _the_ God of
Noah and Salih and Hud and Abraham the Friend, Who created Heaven and
Hell and trees and fruit as well,[FN#28] for He is Allah, the One,
the All-powerful.” When Mura’ash heard this, his eyes sank into his
head[FN#29] and he cried out to his guards, saying, “Pinion me these
two dogs and sacrifice them to my Goddess.” So they bound them and were
about to cast them into the fire when, behold, one of the crenelles
of the palace-parapet fell down upon the brazier and brake it and put
out the fire, which became ashes flying in air. Then quoth Gharib,
“God is Most Great! He giveth aid and victory and He forsaketh those
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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