The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 09 (of 10)

Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries

Then I hardened myself against the horrors of repine and said to her,
'Peace be with thee, O noble Lady, and treasured jewel! Allah grant
endurance to the foundation of thy fortune fair and upraise the pillars
of thy glory rare!' Said she, 'And on thee from me be peace and
salutation and high honour, O Abdullah, O son of Fazil! Well come and
welcome and fair welcome to thee, O dearling mine and coolth of mine
eyne!' Rejoined I, 'O my lady, whence wottest thou my name and who art
thou and what case befel the people of this city, that they are become
stones? I would have thee tell me the truth of the matter, for indeed I
am admiring at this city and its citizens and that I have found none
alive therein save thyself. So, Allah upon thee, tell me the cause of
all this, according to the truth!' Quoth she, 'Sit, O Abdullah, and
Inshallah, I will talk with thee and acquaint thee in full with the
facts of my case and of this place and its people; and there is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!'
So I sat me down by her side and she said to me, 'Know, O Abdullah,
(may Allah have mercy on thee!) that I am the daughter of the King of
this city and that it is my sire whom thou sawest seated on the high
stead in the Divan, and those who are round about him were the Lords of
his land and the Guards of his empery. He was a King of exceeding
prowess and had under his hand a thousand thousand and sixty thousand
troopers. The number of the Emirs of his Empire was four-and-twenty
thousand, all of them Governors and Dignitaries. He was obeyed by a
thousand cities, besides towns, hamlets and villages; and sconces and
citadels, and the Emirs[FN#515] of the wild Arabs under his hand were a
thousand in number, each commanding twenty thousand horse. Moreover, he
had monies and treasures and precious stones and jewels and things of
price, such as eye never saw nor of which ear ever heard.'"—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Eight-third Night,

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

General

The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 09 (of 10)

Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries

Then I hardened myself against the horrors of repine and said to her,
'Peace be with thee, O noble Lady, and treasured jewel! Allah grant
endurance to the foundation of thy fortune fair and upraise the pillars
of thy glory rare!' Said she, 'And on thee from me be peace and
salutation and high honour, O Abdullah, O son of Fazil! Well come and
welcome and fair welcome to thee, O dearling mine and coolth of mine
eyne!' Rejoined I, 'O my lady, whence wottest thou my name and who art
thou and what case befel the people of this city, that they are become
stones? I would have thee tell me the truth of the matter, for indeed I
am admiring at this city and its citizens and that I have found none
alive therein save thyself. So, Allah upon thee, tell me the cause of
all this, according to the truth!' Quoth she, 'Sit, O Abdullah, and
Inshallah, I will talk with thee and acquaint thee in full with the
facts of my case and of this place and its people; and there is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!'
So I sat me down by her side and she said to me, 'Know, O Abdullah,
(may Allah have mercy on thee!) that I am the daughter of the King of
this city and that it is my sire whom thou sawest seated on the high
stead in the Divan, and those who are round about him were the Lords of
his land and the Guards of his empery. He was a King of exceeding
prowess and had under his hand a thousand thousand and sixty thousand
troopers. The number of the Emirs of his Empire was four-and-twenty
thousand, all of them Governors and Dignitaries. He was obeyed by a
thousand cities, besides towns, hamlets and villages; and sconces and
citadels, and the Emirs[FN#515] of the wild Arabs under his hand were a
thousand in number, each commanding twenty thousand horse. Moreover, he
had monies and treasures and precious stones and jewels and things of
price, such as eye never saw nor of which ear ever heard.'"—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Eight-third Night,

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 09 (of 10)

The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 09 (of 10)

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