The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 08 (of 10)
General
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 08 (of 10)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nur al-Din lay
with that damsel through the night in solace and delight, the twain
garbed in the closely buttoned garments of embrace, safe and secure
against the misways of nights and days, and they passed the dark hours
after the goodliest fashion, fearing naught, in their joys
love-fraught, from excess of talk and prate. As saith of them the right
excellent poet,[FN#483]
"Go, visit her thou lovest, and regard not
The words detractors utter; envious churls
Can never favour love. Oh! sure the merciful
Ne'er make a thing more fair to look upon,
Than two fond lovers in each other's arms,
Speaking their passion in a mute embrace.
When heart has turned to heart, the fools would part them
Strike idly on cold steel. So when thou'st found
One purely, wholly thine, accept her true heart,
And live for her alone. Oh! thou that blamest
The love-struck for their love, give o'er thy talk
How canst thou minister to a mind diseased?"
When the morning morrowed in sheen and shone, Nur al-Din awoke from
deep sleep and found that she had brought water:[FN#484] so they made
the Ghusl-ablution, he and she, and he performed that which behoved him
of prayer to his Lord, after which she set before him meat and drink,
and he ate and drank. Then the damsel put her hand under her pillow and
pulling out the girdle which she had knitted during the night, gave it
to Nur al-Din, who asked, "Whence cometh this girdle?"[FN#485] Answered
she, "O my lord, 'tis the silk thou boughtest yesterday for twenty
dirhams. Rise now and go to the Persian bazar and give it to the
broker, to cry for sale, and sell it not for less than twenty gold
pieces in ready money." Quoth Nur al-Din, "O Princess of fair ones how
can a thing, that cost twenty dirhams and will sell for as many dinars,
be made in a single night?"; and quoth she, "O my lord, thou knowest
not the value of this thing; but go to the market therewith and give it
to the broker, and when he shall cry it, its worth will be made
manifest to thee." Herewith he carried the zone to the market and gave
it to the broker, bidding him cry it, whilst he himself sat down on a
masonry bench before a shop. The broker fared forth and returning after
a while said to him, "O my lord, rise take the price of thy zone, for
it hath fetched twenty dinars money down." When Nur al-Din heard this,
he marvelled with exceeding marvel and shook with delight. Then he
rose, between belief and misbelief, to take the money and when he had
received it, he went forthright and spent it all on silk of various
colours and returning home, gave his purchase to the damsel, saying,
"Make this all into girdles and teach me likewise how to make them,
that I may work with thee; for never in the length of my life saw I a
fairer craft than this craft nor a more abounding in gain and profit.
By Allah, 'tis better than the trade of a merchant a thousand times!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account