It is related that there was, in tide of yore and in times and
years long gone before, at Damascus of Syria, a Caliph known as
Abd al-Malik bin Marwan, the fifth of the Ommiade house. As this
Commander of the Faithful was seated one day in his palace,
conversing with his Sultans and Kings and the Grandees of his
empire, the talk turned upon the legends of past peoples and the
traditions of our lord Solomon, David's son (on the twain be
peace!), and on that which Allah Almighty had bestowed on him of
lordship and dominion over men and Jinn and birds and beasts and
reptiles and the wind and other created things; and quoth the
Caliph, "Of a truth we hear from those who forewent us that the
Lord (extolled and exalted be He!) vouchsafed unto none the like
of that which He vouchsafed unto our lord Solomon and that he
attained unto that whereto never attained other than he, in that
he was wont to imprison Jinns and Marids and Satans in cucurbites
of copper and to stop them with lead and seal
[FN#105] them with
his ring."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Caliph Abd al-Malik bin Marwan sat conversing with his Grandees
concerning our lord Solomon, and these noted what Allah had
bestowed upon him of lordship and dominion, quoth the Commander
of the Faithful, "Indeed he attained unto that whereto never
attained other than he, in that he was wont to imprison Jinns and
Marids and Satans in cucurbites of copper and stop them with lead
and seal them with his ring." Then said Talib bin Sahl (who was a
seeker after treasures and had books that discovered to him
hoards and wealth hidden under the earth), "O Commander of the
Faithful,--Allah make thy dominion to endure and exalt thy
dignity here and hereafter!--my father told me of my grandfather,
that he once took ship with a company, intending for the island
of Sikiliyah or Sicily, and sailed until there arose against them
a contrary wind, which drove them from their course and brought
them, after a month, to a great mountain in one of the lands of
Allah the Most High, but where that land was they wot not. Quoth
my grandfather:--‘This was in the darkness of the night and as
soon as it was day, there came forth to us, from the caves of the
mountain, folk black of colour and naked of body, as they were
wild beasts, understanding not one word of what was addressed to
them; nor was there any of them who knew Arabic, save their King
who was of their own kind. When he saw the ship, he came down to
it with a company of his followers and saluting us, bade us
welcome and questioned us of our case and our faith. We told him
all concerning ourselves and he said, ‘Be of good cheer for no
harm shall befal you.' And when we, in turn, asked them of their
faith, we found that each was of one of the many creeds
prevailing before the preaching of Al-Islam and the mission of
Mohammed, whom may Allah bless and keep! So my shipmates
remarked, We wot not what thou sayest.' Then quoth the King, ‘No
Adam-son hath ever come to our land before you: but fear not, and
rejoice in the assurance of safety and of return to your own
country.' Then he entertained us three days, feeding us on the
flesh of birds and wild beasts and fishes, than which they had no
other meat; and, on the fourth day, he carried us down to the
beach, that we might divert ourselves by looking upon the fisher-
folk. There we saw a man casting his net to catch fish, and
presently he pulled them up and behold, in them was a cucurbite
of copper, stopped with lead and sealed with the signet of
Solomon, son of David, on whom be peace! He brought the vessel to
land and broke it open, when there came forth a smoke, which rose
a-twisting blue to the zenith, and we heard a horrible voice,
saying, ‘I repent! I repent! Pardon, O Prophet of Allah! I will
never return to that which I did aforetime.' Then the smoke
became a terrible Giant frightful of form, whose head was level
with the mountain-tops, and he vanished from our sight, whilst
our hearts were well-nigh torn out for terror; but the blacks
thought nothing of it. Then we returned to the King and
questioned him of the matter; whereupon quoth he, ‘Know that this
was one of the Jinns whom Solomon, son of David, being wroth with
them, shut up in these vessels and cast into the sea, after
stopping the mouths with melted lead. Our fishermen ofttimes, in
casting their nets, bring up such bottles, which being broken
open, there come forth of them Jinnis who, deeming that Solomon
is still alive and can pardon them, make their submission to him
and say, I repent, O Prophet of Allah!'" The Caliph marvelled at
Talib's story and said, "Glory be to God! Verily, to Solomon was
given a mighty dominion." Now al-Nábighah al-Zubyání
[FN#106] was
present, and he said, "Talib hath spoken soothly as is proven by
the saying of the All-wise, the Primæval One,
‘And Solomon, when Allah to him said,
‘Rise, be thou Caliph,
rule with righteous sway:
Honour obedience for obeying thee;
And who rebels imprison him
for aye'
Wherefore he used to put them in copper-bottles and cast them
into the sea." The poet's words seemed good to the Caliph, and he
said, "By Allah, I long to look upon some of these Solomonic
vessels, which must be a warning to whoso will be warned." "O
Commander of the Faithful," replied Talib, "it is in thy power to
do so, without stirring abroad. Send to thy brother Abd al-Aziz
bin Marwán, so he may write to Músá bin Nusayr,
[FN#107] governor
of the Maghrib or Morocco, bidding him take horse thence to the
mountains whereof I spoke and fetch thee therefrom as many of
such cucurbites as thou hast a mind to; for those mountains
adjoin the frontiers of his province." The Caliph approved his
counsel and said "Thou hast spoken sooth, O Talib, and I desire
that, touching this matter, thou be my messenger to Musa bin
Nusayr; wherefore thou shalt have the White Flag
[FN#108] and all
thou hast a mind to of monies and honour and so forth; and I will
care for thy family during shine absence." "With love and
gladness, O Commander of the Faithful!" answered Talib. "Go, with
the blessing of Allah and His aid," quoth the Caliph, and bade
write a letter to his brother, Abd al-Aziz, his viceroy in Egypt,
and another to Musa bin Nusayr, his viceroy in North Western
Africa, bidding him go himself in quest of the Solomonic bottles,
leaving his son to govern in his stead. Moreover, he charged him
to engage guides and to spare neither men nor money, nor to be
remiss in the matter as he would take no excuse. Then he sealed
the two letters and committed them to Talib bin Sahl, bidding him
advance the royal ensigns before him and make his utmost speed
and he gave him treasure and horsemen and footmen, to further him
on his way, and made provision for the wants of his household
during his absence. So Talib set out and arrived in due course at
Cairo.
[FN#109]--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Talib bin
Sahl set out with his escort and crossed the desert country
between Syria and Egypt, where the Governor came out to meet him
and entreated him and his company with high honour whilst they
tarried with him. Then he gave them a guide to bring them to the
Sa'íd or Upper Egypt, where the Emir Musa had his abiding-place;
and when the son of Nusayr heard of Talib's coming, he went forth
to meet him and rejoiced in him. Talib gave him the Caliph's
letter, and he took it reverently and, laying it on his head,
cried, "I hear and I obey the Prince of the Faithful." Then he
deemed it best to assemble his chief officers and when all were
present he acquainted them with the contents of the Caliph's
letter and sought counsel of them how he should act. "O Emir,"
answered they, "if thou seek one who shall guide thee to the
place summon the Shaykh 'Abd al-Samad, ibn 'Abd al-Kuddús, al-
Samúdí;
[FN#110] for he is a man of varied knowledge, who hath
travelled much and knoweth by experience all the seas and wastes
and words and countries of the world and the inhabitants and
wonders thereof; wherefore send thou for him and he will surely
guide thee to thy desire." So Musa sent for him, and behold, he
was a very ancient man shot in years and broken down with lapse
of days. The Emir saluted him and said, "O Shaykh Abd al-Samad,
our lord the Commander of the Faithful, Abd al-Malik bin Marwan'
hath commanded me thus and thus. I have small knowledge of the
land wherein is that which the Caliph desireth; but it is told me
that thou knowest it well and the ways thither. Wilt thou,
therefore, go with me and help me to accomplish the Caliph's
need? So it please Allah the Most High, thy trouble and travail
shall not go waste." Replied the Shaykh, "I hear and obey the
bidding of the Commander of the Faithful; but know, O Emir, that
the road thither is long and difficult and the ways few." "How
far is it?" asked Musa, and the Shaykh answered, "It is a journey
of two years and some months going and the like returning; and
the way is full of hardships and terrors and things wondrous and
marvellous. Now thou art a champion of the Faith
[FN#111] and our
country is hard by that of the enemy; and peradventure the
Nazarenes may come out upon us in shine absence; wherefore it
behoveth thee to leave one to rule thy government in thy stead."
"It is well," answered the Emir and appointed his son Hárún
Governor during his absence, requiring the troops to take the
oath of fealty to him and bidding them obey him in all he should
com mend. And they heard his words and promised obedience. Now
this Harun was a man of great prowess and a renowned warrior and
a doughty knight, and the Shaykh Abd al-Samad feigned to him that
the place they sought was distant but four months' journey along
the shore of the sea, with camping-places all the way, adjoining
one another, and grass and springs, adding, "Allah will assuredly
make the matter easy to us through thy blessing, O Lieutenant of
the Commander of the Faithful!" Quoth the Emir Musa, "Knowest
thou if any of the Kings have trodden this land before us?"; and
quoth the Shaykh, "Yes, it belonged aforetime to Darius the
Greek, King of Alexandria." But he said to Musa privily, "O Emir,
take with thee a thousand camels laden with victual and store of
gugglets."
[FN#112] The Emir asked, "And what shall we do with
these?", and the Shaykh answered. "On our way is the desert of
Kayrwán or Cyrene, the which is a vast wold four days' journey
long, and lacketh water; nor therein doth sound of voice ever
sound nor is soul at any time to be seen. Moreover, there bloweth
the Simoon
[FN#113] and other hot winds called Al-Juwayb, which
dry up the water-skins; but if the water be in gugglets, no harm
can come to it." "Right," said Musa and sending to Alexandria,
let bring thence great plenty of gugglets. Then he took with him
his Wazir and two thousand cavalry, clad in mail cap-á-pie and
set out, without other to guide them but Abd al-Samad who
forewent them, riding on his hackney. The party fared on
diligently, now passing through inhabited lands, then ruins and
anon traversing frightful words and thirsty wastes and then
mountains which spired high in air; nor did they leave journeying
a whole year's space till, one morning, when the day broke, after
they had travelled all night, behold, the Shaykh found himself in
a land he knew not and said, "There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" Quoth the Emir,
"What is to do, O Shaykh?"; and he answered, saying, "By the Lord
of the Ka'abah, we have wandered from our road!" "How cometh
that?" asked Musa, and Abd al-Samad replied, "The stars were
overclouded and I could not guide myself by them." "Where on
God's earth are we now?" asked the Emir, and the Shaykh answered,
"I know not; for I never set eyes on this land till this moment."
Said Musa, "Guide us back to the place where we went astray", but
the other, "I know it no more." Then Musa, "Let us push on; haply
Allah will guide us to it or direct us aright of His power." So
they fared on till the hour of noon-prayer, when they came to a
fair champaign, and wide and level and smooth as it were the sea
when calm, and presently there appeared to them, on the horizon
some great thing, high and black, in whose midst was as it were
smoke rising to the confines of the sky. They made for this, and
stayed not in their course till they drew near thereto, when, lo!
it was a high castle, firm of foundations and great and gruesome,
as it were a towering mountain, builded all of black stone, with
frowning crenelles and a door of gleaming China steel, that
dazzled the eyes and dazed the wits. Round about it were a
thousand steps and that which appeared afar off as it were smoke
was a central dome of lead an hundred cubits high. When the Emir
saw this, he marvelled thereat with exceeding marvel and how this
place was void of inhabitants; and the Shaykh, after he had
certified himself thereof, said, "There is no god but the God and
Mohammed is the Apostle of God!" Quoth Musa, "I hear thee praise
the Lord and hallow Him, and meseemeth thou rejoicest." "O Emir,"
answered Abd al-Samad, "Rejoice, for Allah (extolled and exalted
be He!) hath delivered us from the frightful words and thirsty
wastes." "How knowest thou that?" said Musa, and the other, "I
know it for that my father told me of my grandfather that he
said, ‘We were once journeying in this land and, straying from
the road, we came to this palace and thence to the City of Brass;
between which and the place thou seekest is two full months'
travel; but thou must take to the sea-shore and leave it not, for
there be watering-places and wells and camping-grounds
established by King Zú al-Karnayn Iskandar who, when he went to
the conquest of Mauritania, found by the way thirsty deserts and
wastes and wilds and dug therein water-pits and built cisterns.'
" Quoth Musa, "Allah rejoice thee with good news!" and quoth the
Shaykh, "Come, let us go look upon yonder palace and its marvels,
for it is an admonition to whose will be admonished." So the Emir
went up to the palace, with the Shaykh and his officers, and
coming to the gate, found it open. Now this gate was builded with
lofty columns and porticoes whose walls and ceilings were inlaid
with gold and silver and precious stones; and there led up to it
flights of steps, among which were two wide stairs of coloured
marble, never was seen their like; and over the doorway was a
tablet whereon were graven letters of gold in the old ancient
Ionian character. "O Emir," asked the Shaykh, "Shall I read?";
and Musa answered, "Read and God bless thee!; for all that
betideth us in this journey dependeth upon thy blessing." So the
Shaykh, who was a very learned man and versed in all tongues and
characters, went up to the tablet and read whatso was thereon and
it was verse like this,
"The signs that here their mighty works portray
Warn us that
all must tread the self-same way:
O thou who standest in this stead to hear
Tidings of folk,
whose power hath passed for aye,
Enter this palace-gate and ask the news
Of greatness fallen
into dust and clay:
Death has destroyed them and dispersed their might
And in the
dust they lost their rich display;
As had they only set their burdens down
To rest awhile, and
then had rode away."
When the Emir Musa heard these couplets, he wept till he lost his
senses and said, "There is no god but the God, the Living, the
Eternal, who ceaseth not!" Then he entered the palace and was
confounded at its beauty and the goodliness of its construction.
He diverted himself awhile by viewing the pictures and images
therein, till he came to another door, over which also were
written verses, and said to the Shaykh, "Come read me these!" So
he advanced and read as follows,
"Under these domes how many a company
Halted of old and fared
with-outen stay:
See thou what might displays on other wights
Time with his
shifts which could such lords waylay:
They shared together what they gathered
And left their joys and
fared to Death-decay:
What joys they joyed! what food they ate! and now
In dust
they're eaten, for the worm a prey."
At this the Emir Musa wept bitter tears; and the world waxed
yellow before his eyes and he said, "Verily, we were created for
a mighty matter!"
[FN#114] Then they proceeded to explore the
palace and found it desert and void of living thing, its courts
desolate and dwelling places waste laid. In the midst stood a
lofty pavilion with a dome rising high in air, and about it were
four hundred tombs, builded of yellow marble. The Emir drew near
unto these and behold, amongst them was a great tomb, wide and
long; and at its head stood a tablet of white marble, whereon
were graven these couplets,
"How oft have I fought! and how many have slain!
How much have
I witnessed of blessing and bane!
How much have I eaten! how much have I drunk!
How oft have I
hearkened to singing-girl's strain!
How much have I bidden! how oft have forbid!
How many a castle
and castellain
I have sieged and have searched, and the cloistered maids
In
the depths of its walls for my captives were ta'en!
But of ignorance sinned I to win me the meeds
Which won proved
naught and brought nothing of gain:
Then reckon thy reck'ning, O man, and be wise
Ere the goblet of
death and of doom thou shalt drain;
For yet but a little the dust on thy head
They shall strew, and
thy life shall go down to the dead."
The Emir and his companions wept; then, drawing near unto the
pavilion, they saw that it had eight doors of sandal-wood,
studded with nails of gold and stars of silver and inlaid with
all manner precious stones. On the first door were written these
verses,
"What I left, I left it not for nobility of soul,
But through
sentence and decree that to every man are dight.
What while I lived happy, with a temper haught and high,
My
hoarding-place defending like a lion in the fight,
I took no rest, and greed of gain forbad me give a grain
Of
mustard seed to save from the fires of Hell my sprite,
Until stricken on a day, as with arrow, by decree
Of the Maker,
the Fashioner, the Lord of Might and Right.
When my death was appointed, my life I could not keep
By the
many of my stratagems, my cunning and my sleight:
My troops I had collected availed me not, and none
Of my
friends and of my neighbours had power to mend my plight:
Through my life I was weaned in journeying to death
In stress
or in solace, in joyance or despight:
So when money-bags are bloated, and dinar unto dinar
Thou
addest, all may leave thee with fleeting of the night:
And the driver of a camel and the digger of a grave[FN#115]
Are
what shine heirs shall bring ere the morning dawneth bright:
And on Judgment Day alone shalt thou stand before thy Lord,
Overladen with thy sins and thy crimes and shine affright:
Let the world not seduce thee with lurings, but behold
What
measure to thy family and neighbours it hath doled."
When Musa heard these verses, he wept with such weeping that he
swooned away; then, coming to himself, he entered the pavilion
and saw therein a long tomb, awesome to look upon, whereon was a
tablet of China steel and Shaykh Abd al-Samad drew near it and
read this inscription: "In the name of Ever-lasting Allah, the
Never-beginning, the Never-ending; in the name of Allah who
begetteth not nor is He begot and unto whom the like is not; in
the name of Allah the Lord of Majesty and Might; in the name of
the Living One who to death is never dight!"--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Shaykh Abd
al-Samad, having read the aforesaid, also found the following, "O
thou who comest to this place, take warning by that which thou
seest of the accidents of Time and the vicissitudes of Fortune
and be not deluded by the world and its pomps and vanities and
fallacies and falsehoods and vain allurements, for that it is
flattering, deceitful end treacherous, and the things thereof are
but a loan to us which it will borrow back from all borrowers. It
is like unto the dreams of the dreamer and the sleep-visions of
the sleeper or as the mirage of the desert, which the thirsty
take for water;
[FN#116] and Satan maketh it fair for men even
unto death These are the ways of the world; wherefore put not
thou thy trust therein neither incline thereto, for it bewrayeth
him who leaneth upon it and who committeth himself thereunto in
his affairs. Fall not thou into its snares neither take hold upon
its skirts, but be warned by my example. I possessed four thou
sand bay horses and a haughty palace, and I had to wife a thou
sand daughters of kings, high-bosomed maids, as they were moons:
I was blessed with a thousand sons as they were fierce lions, and
I abode a thousand years, glad of heart and mind, and I amassed
treasures beyond the competence of all the Kings of the regions
of the earth, deeming that delight would still endure to me. But
there fell on me unawares the Destroyer of delights and the
Sunderer of societies, the Desolator of domiciles and the Spoiler
of inhabited spots, the Murtherer of great and small, babes and
children and mothers, he who hath no ruth on the poor for his
poverty, or feareth the King for all his bidding or forbidding.
Verily, we abode safe and secure in this palace, till there
descended upon us the judgment of the Lord of the Three Worlds,
Lord of the Heavens, and Lord of the Earths, the vengeance of the
Manifest Truth
[FN#117] overtook us, when there died of us every
day two, till a great company of us had perished. When I saw that
destruction had entered our dwellings and had homed with us and
in the sea of deaths had drowned us, I summoned a writer and bade
him indite these verses and instances and admonitions, the which
I let grave, with rule and compass, on these doors and tablets
and tombs. Now I had an army of a thousand thousand bridles, men
of warrior mien with forearms strong and keen, armed with spears
and mail-coats sheen and swords that gleam; so I bade them don
their long-hanging hauberks and gird on their biting blades and
mount their high-mettled steeds and level their dreadful lances;
and whenas there fell on us the doom of the Lord of heaven and
earth, I said to them, ‘Ho, all ye soldiers and troopers, can ye
avail to ward off that which is fallen on me from the Omnipotent
King?' But troopers and soldiers availed not unto this and said,
‘How shall we battle with Him to whom no chamberlain barreth
access, the Lord of the door which hath no doorkeeper?' Then
quoth I to them, ‘Bring me my treasures' Now I had in my
treasuries a thousand cisterns in each of which were a thousand
quintals
[FN#118] of red gold and the like of white silver,
besides pearls and jewels of all kinds and other things of price,
beyond the attainment of the kings of the earth. So they did that
and when they had laid all the treasure in my presence, I said to
them, ‘Can ye ransom me with all this treasure or buy me one day
of life therewith?' But they could not! So they resigned
themselves to fore-ordained Fate and fortune and I submitted to
the judgment of Allah, enduring patiently that which he decreed
unto me of affliction, till He took my soul and made me to dwell
in my grave. And if thou ask of my name, I am Kúsh, the son of
Shaddád son of Ád the Greater." And upon the tablets were
engraved these lines,
"An thou wouldst know my name, whose day is done
With shifts of
time and chances 'neath the sun,
Know I am Shaddád's son, who ruled mankind
And o'er all earth
upheld dominion!
All stubborn peoples abject were to me;
And Shám to Cairo and
to Adnanwone;[FN#119]
I reigned in glory conquering many kings;
And peoples feared my
mischief every one.
Yea, tribes and armies in my hand I saw;
The world all dreaded
me, both friends and fone.
When I took horse, I viewed my numbered troops,
Bridles on
neighing steeds a million.
And I had wealth that none could tell or count,
Against
misfortune treasuring all I won;
Fain had I bought my life with all my wealth,
And for a
moment's space my death to shun;
But God would naught save what His purpose willed;
So from my
brethren cut I 'bode alone:
And Death, that sunders man, exchanged my lot
To pauper hut
from grandeur's mansion
When found I all mine actions gone and past
Wherefor I'm
pledged[FN#120] and by my sin undone.
Then fear, O man, who by a brink dost range,
The turns of
Fortune and the chance of Change."
The Emir Musa was hurt to his heart and loathed his life for what
he saw of the slaughtering-places of the folk; and, as they went
about the highways and byeways of the palace, viewing its
sitting-chambers and pleasaunces, behold they came upon a table
of yellow onyx, upborne on four feet of juniper-wood,
[FN#121] and
there-on these words graven, "At this table have eaten a thousand
kings blind of the right eye and a thousand blind of the left and
yet other thousand sound of both eyes, all of whom have departed
the world and have taken up their sojourn in the tombs and the
catacombs." All this the Emir wrote down and left the palace,
carrying off with him naught save the table aforesaid. Then he
fared on with his host three days' space, under the guidance of
the Shaykh Abd al-Samad, till they came to a high hill, whereon
stood a horseman of brass. In his hand he held a lance with a
broad head, in brightness like blinding leven, whereon was
graven, "O thou that comest unto me, if thou know not the way to
the City of Brass, rub the hand of this rider and he will turn
round and presently stop. Then take the direction whereto he
faceth and fare fearless, for it will bring thee, without
hardship, to the city aforesaid."--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Seventieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Emir Musa rubbed the horseman's hand he revolved like the
dazzling lightning, and stopped facing in a direction other than
that wherein they were journeying. So they took the road to which
he pointed (which was the right way) and, finding it a beaten
track, fared on through their days and nights till they had
covered a wide tract of country. Then they came upon a pillar of
black stone like a furnace chimney wherein was one sunken up to
his armpits. He had two great wings and four arms, two of them
like the arms of the sons of Adam and other two as they were
lion's paws, with claws of iron, and he was black and tall and
frightful of aspect, with hair like horses' tails and eyes like
blazing coals, slit upright in his face. Moreover, he had in the
middle of his forehead a third eye, as it were that of a lynx,
from which flew sparks of fire, and he cried out saying, "Glory
to my Lord, who hath adjudged unto me this grievous torment and
sore punishment until the Day of Doom!" When the folk saw him,
they lost their reason for affright and turned to flee; so the
Emir Musa asked the Shaykh Abd al-Samad, "What is this?"; and he
answered, "I know not." Whereupon quoth Musa, "Draw near and
question him of his condition; haply he will discover to thee his
case." "Allah assain thee, Emir! Indeed, I am afraid of him;"
replied the Shaykh; but the Emir rejoined, saying, "Fear not; he
is hindered from thee and from all others by that wherein he is."
So Abd al-Samad drew near to the pillar and said to him which was
therein, "O creature, what is thy name and what art thou and how
camest thou here in this fashion?" "I am an Ifrit of the Jinn,"
replied he, "by name Dáhish, son of Al-A'amash,
[FN#122] and am
confined here by the All-might, prisoned here by the Providence
and punished by the judgement of Allah, till it pleases Him, to
whom belong Might and Majesty, to release me." Then said Musa,
"Ask him why he is in durance of this column?" So the Shaykh
asked him of this, and the Ifrit replied, saying, "Verily my tale
is wondrous and my case marvellous, and it is this. One of the
sons of Iblis had an idol of red carnelian, whereof I was
guardian, and there served it a King of the Kings of the sea, a
Prince of puissant power and prow of prowess, over-ruling a
thousand thousand warriors of the Jann who smote with swords
before him and answered his summons in time of need. All these
were under my commandment and obeyed my behest, being each and
every rebels against Solomon, son of David, on whom be peace! And
I used to enter the belly of the idol and thence bid and forbid
them. Now this King's daughter loved the idol and was frequent in
prostration to it and assiduous in its service; and she was the
fairest woman of her day, accomplished in beauty and loveliness,
elegance and grace. She was described unto Solomon and he sent to
her father, saying, ‘Give me thy daughter to wife and break shine
idol of carnelian and testify saying, There is no god but the God
and Solomon is the Prophet of Allah!' an thou do this, our due
shall be thy due and thy debt shall be our debt, but, if thou
refuse, make ready to answer the summons of the Lord and don thy
grave-gear, for I will come upon thee with an irresistible host,
which shall fill the waste places of earth and make thee as
yesterday that is passed away and hath no return for aye.' When
this message reached the King, he waxed insolent and rebellious,
pride-full and contumacious and he cried to his Wazirs, ‘What say
ye of this? Know ye that Solomon son of David hath sent requiring
me to give him my daughter to wife, and break my idol of
carnelian and enter his faith!' And they replied, ‘O mighty King,
how shall Solomon do thus with thee? Even could he come at thee
in the midst of this vast ocean, he could not prevail against
thee, for the Marids of the Jann will fight on thy side and thou
wilt ask succour of shine idol whom thou servest, and he will
help thee and give thee victory over him. So thou wouldst do well
to consult on this matter thy Lord,' (meaning the idol aforesaid)
‘and hear what he saith. If he say, Fight him, fight him, and if
not, not.' So the King went in without stay or delay to his idol
and offered up sacrifices and slaughtered victims; after which he
fell down before him, prostrate and weeping, and repeated these
verses,
‘O my Lord, well I weet thy puissant hand:
Sulaymán would break
thee and see thee bann'd.
O my Lord, to crave succour here I stand
Command and I bow to
thy high command!'
Then I" (continued the Ifrit addressing the Shaykh and those
about him), "of my ignorance and want of wit and recklessness of
the commandment of Solomon and lack of knowledge anent his power,
entered the belly of the idol and made answer as follows.
‘As for me, of him I feel naught affright,
For my lore and my
wisdom are infinite:
If he wish for warfare I'll show him fight
And out of his body
I'll tear his sprite!'
When the King heard my boastful reply, he hardened his heart and
resolved to wage war upon the Prophet and to offer him battle;
wherefore he beat the messenger with a grievous beating and
returned a foul answer to Solomon, threatening him and saying,
‘Of a truth, thy soul hath suggested to thee a vain thing; dost
thou menace me with mendacious words? But gird thyself for
battle; for, an thou come not to me, I will assuredly come to
thee.' So the messenger returned to Solomon and told him all that
had passed and whatso had befallen him, which when the Prophet
heard, he raged like Doomsday and addressed himself to the fray
and levied armies of men and Jann and birds and reptiles. He
commanded his Wazir Al-Dimiryát, King of the Jann, to gather
together the Marids of the Jinn from all parts, and he collected
for him six hundred thousand thousand of devils.
[FN#123]
Moreover, by his order, his Wazir Ásaf bin Barkhiyá levied him an
army of men, to the number of a thousand thousand or more. These
all he furnished with arms and armour and mounting, with his
host, upon his carpet, took flight through air, while the beasts
fared under him and the birds flew overhead, till he lighted down
on the island of the refractory King and encompassed it about,
filling earth with his hosts."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Ifrit
continued, "So when Solomon the prophet (with whom be peace!)
lighted down with his host on the island he sent to our King,
saying, ‘Behold, I am come: defend thy life against that which is
fallen upon thee, or else make thy submission to me and confess
my apostleship and give me thy daughter to lawful wife and break
thine idol and worship the one God, the alone Worshipful; and
testify, thou and shine, and say, ‘There is no God but the God,
and Solomon is the Apostle of Allah!
[FN#124] This if thou do,
thou shalt have pardon and peace; but if not, it will avail thee
nothing to fortify thyself in this island, for Allah (extolled
and exalted be He!) hath bidden the wind obey me; so I will bid
it bear me to thee on my carpet and make thee a warning and an
example to deter others.' But the King made answer to his
messenger, saying, ‘It may not on any wise be as he requireth of
me; so tell him I come forth to him,' With this reply the
messenger returned to Solomon, who thereupon gathered together
all the Jinn that were under his hand, to the number of a
thousand thousand, and added to them other than they of Marids
and Satans from the islands of the sea and the tops of the
mountains and, drawing them up on parade, opened his armouries
and distributed to them arms and armour. Then the Prophet drew
out his host in battle array, dividing the beasts into two
bodies, one on the right wing of the men and the other on the
left, and bidding them tear the enemies' horses in sunder.
Furthermore, he ordered the birds which were in the island to
hover over their heads and, whenas the assault should be made,
that they should swoop down and tear out the foe's eyes with
their beaks and buffet their faces with their wings; and they
answered, saying, ‘We hear and we obey Allah and thee, O Prophet
of Allah!' Then Solomon seated himself on a throne of alabaster,
studded with precious stones and plated with red gold; and,
commanding the wind to bear him aloft, set his Wazir Asaf bin
Barkhiya
[FN#125] and the kings of mankind on his right and his
Wazir Al-Dimiryat and the kings of the Jinn on his left, arraying
the beasts and vipers and serpents in the van. Thereupon they all
set on us together, and we gave them battle two days over a vast
plain; but, on the third day, disaster befel us, and the judgment
of Allah the Most High was executed upon us. Now the first to
charge upon them were I and my troops, and I said to my
companions, ‘Abide in your places, whilst I sally forth to them
and provoke Al-Dimiryat to combat singular.' And behold, he came
forth to the duello as he were a vast mountain, with his fires
flaming and his smoke spireing, and shot at me a falling star of
fire; but I swerved from it and it missed me. Then I cast at him
in my turn, a flame of fire, and smote him; but his shaft
[FN#126]
overcame my fire and he cried out at me so terrible a cry that
meseemed the skies were fallen flat upon me, and the mountains
trembled at his voice. Then he commanded his hosts to charge;
accordingly they rushed on us and we rushed on them, each crying
out upon other, and battle reared its crest rising in volumes and
smoke ascending in columns and hearts well nigh cleaving. The
birds and the flying Jinn fought in the air and the beasts and
men and the foot-faring Jann in the dust and I fought with Al-
Dimiryat, till I was aweary and he not less so. At last, I grew
weak and turned to flee from him, whereupon my companions and
tribesmen likewise took to flight and my hosts were put to the
rout, and Solomon cried out, saying, ‘Take yonder furious tyrant,
the accursed, the infamous!' Then man fell upon man and Jinn upon
Jinn and the armies of the Prophet charged down upon us, with the
wild beasts and lions on their right hand and on their left,
rending our horses and tearing our men; whilst the birds hovered
over-head in air pecking out our eyes with their claws and beaks
and beating our faces with their wings, and the serpents struck
us with their fangs, till the most of our folk lay prone upon the
face of the earth, like the trunks of date-trees. Thus defeat
befel our King and we became a spoil unto Solomon. As to me, I
fled from before Al-Dimiryat, but he followed me three months'
journey, till I fell down for weariness and he overtook me, and
pouncing upon me, made me prisoner. Quoth I, ‘By the virtue of
Him who hath exalted thee and abased me, spare me and bring me
into the presence of Solomon, on whom be peace!' So he carried me
before Solomon, who received me after the foulest fashion and
bade bring this pillar and hollow it out. Then he set me herein
and chained me and sealed me with his signet-ring, and Al-
Dimiryat bore me to this place wherein thou seest me. Moreover,
he charged a great angel to guard me, and this pillar is my
prison until Judgment-day." Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Jinni who was prisoned in the pillar had told them his tale, from
first to last, the folk marvelled at his story and at the
frightfulness of his favour, and the Emir Musa said, "There is no
God but the God! Soothly was Solomon gifted with a mighty
dominion." Then said the Shaykh Abd al-Samad to the Jinni, "Ho
there! I would fain ask thee of a thing, whereof do thou inform
us." "Ask what thou wilt," answered the Ifrit Dahish and the
Shaykh said, "Are there hereabouts any of the Ifrits imprisoned
in bottles of brass from the time of Solomon (on whom be
peace!)?" "Yes," replied the Jinni; "there be such in the sea of
al-Karkar
[FN#127] on the shores whereof dwell a people of the
lineage of Noah (on whom be peace!); for their country was not
reached by the Deluge and they are cut off there from the other
sons of Adam." Quoth Abd al-Samad, "And which is the way to the
City of Brass and the place wherein are the cucurbites of
Solomon, and what distance lieth between us and it?" Quoth the
Ifrit, "It is near at hand," and directed them in the way
thither. So they left him and fared forward till there appeared
to them afar off a great blackness and therein two fires facing
each other, and the Emir Musa asked the Shaykh, "What is yonder
vast blackness and its twin fires?"; and the guide answered,
"Rejoice O Emir, for this is the City of Brass, as it is
described in the Book of Hidden Treasures which I have by me. Its
walls are of black stone and it hath two towers of Andalusian
brass,
[FN#128] which appear to the beholder in the distance as
they were twin fires, and hence is it named the City of Brass."
Then they fared on without ceasing till they drew near the city
and behold, it was as it were a piece of a mountain or a mass of
iron cast in a mould and impenetrable for the height of its walls
and bulwarks; while nothing could be more beautiful than its
buildings and its ordinance. So they dismounted down and sought
for an entrance, but saw none neither found any trace of opening
in the walls, albeit there were five-and-twenty portals to the
city, but none of them was visible from without. Then quoth the
Emir, "O Shaykh, I see to this city no sign of any gate;" and
quoth he, "O Emir, thus is it described in my Book of Hidden
Treasures; it hath five-and-twenty portals; but none thereof may
be opened save from within the city." Asked Musa, " And how shall
we do to enter the city and view its wonders?" and Talib son of
Sahl, his Wazir, answered, "Allah assain the Emir! let us rest
here two or three days and, God willing, we will make shift to
come within the walls." Then said Musa to one of his men, "Mount
thy camel and ride round about the city, so haply thou may light
upon a gate or a place somewhat lower than this fronting us, or
Inshallah! a breach whereby we can enter." Accordingly he mounted
his beast, taking water and victuals with him, and rode round the
city two days and two nights, without drawing rein to rest, but
found the wall thereof as it were one block, without breach or
way of ingress; and on the third day, he came again in sight of
his companions, dazed and amazed at what he had seen of the
extent and loftiness of the place, and said, "O Emir, the easiest
place of access is this where you have alighted." Then Musa took
Talib and Abd al-Samad and ascended the highest hill which
overlooked the city. When they reached the top, they beheld
beneath them a city, never saw eyes a greater or a goodlier, with
dwelling-places and mansions of towering height, and palaces and
pavilions and domes gleaming gloriously bright and sconces and
bulwarks of strength infinite; and its streams were a-flowing and
flowers a-blowing and fruits a glowing. It was a city with gates
impregnable; but void and still, without a voice or a cheering
inhabitant. The owl hooted in its quarters; the bird skimmed
circling over its squares and the raven croaked in its great
thoroughfares weeping and bewailing the dwellers who erst made it
their dwelling.
[FN#129] The Emir stood awhile, marvelling and
sorrowing for the desolation of the city and saying, Glory to Him
whom nor ages nor changes nor times can blight, Him who created
all things of His Might!" Presently, he chanced to look aside and
caught sight of seven tablets of white marble afar off. So he
drew near them and finding inscriptions graven thereon, called
the Shaykh and bade him read these. Accordingly he came forward
and, examining the inscriptions, found that they contained matter
of admonition and warning and instances and restraint to those of
understanding. On the first tablet was inscribed, in the ancient
Greek character: "O son of Adam, how heedless art thou of that
which is before thee! Verily, thy years and months and days have
diverted thee therefrom. Knowest thou not that the cup of death
is filled for thy bane which in a little while to the dregs thou
shalt drain? Look to thy doom ere thou enter thy tomb. Where be
the Kings who held dominion over the lands and abased Allah's
servants and built these palaces and had armies under their
commands? By Allah, the Destroyer of delights and the Severer of
societies and the Devastator of dwelling-places came down upon
them and transported them from the spaciousness of their palaces
to the staitness of their burial-places." And at the foot of the
tablet were written the following verses,
"Where are the Kings earth-peopling, where are they?
The built
and peopled left they e'er and aye!
They're tombed yet pledged to actions past away
And after death
upon them came decay.
Where are their troops? They failed to ward and guard!
Where
are the wealth and hoards in treasuries lay?
Th' Empyrean's Lord surprised them with one word,
Nor wealth
nor refuge could their doom delay!"
When the Emir heard this, he cried out and the tears ran down his
cheeks and he exclaimed, "By Allah, from the world abstaining is
the wisest course and the sole assaining!" And he called for pen-
case and paper and wrote down what was graven on the first
tablet. Then he drew near the second tablet and found these words
graven thereon, "O son of Adam, what hath seduced thee from the
service of the Ancient of Days and made thee forget that one day
thou must defray the debt of death? Wottest thou not that it is a
transient dwelling wherein for none there is abiding; and yet
thou taketh thought unto the world and cleaves" fast thereto?
Where be the kings who Irak peopled and the four quarters of the
globe possessed? Where be they who abode in Ispahan and the land
of Khorasan? The voice of the Summoner of Death summoned them and
they answered him, and the Herald of Destruction hailed them and
they replied, Here are we! Verily, that which they builded and
fortified profited them naught; neither did what they had
gathered and provided avail for their defence." And at the foot
of the tablet were graven the following verses,
Where be the men who built and fortified
High places never man
their like espied?
In fear of Fate they levied troops and hosts,
Availing naught
when came the time and tide,
Where be the Kisrás homed in strongest walls?
As though they
ne'er had been from home they tried!"
The Emir Musa wept and exclaimed, "By Allah, we are indeed
created for a grave matter!" Then he copied the inscription and
passed on to the third tablet,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Emir
Musa passed on to the third tablet, whereon was written, "O son
of Adam, the things of this world thou lovest and prizest and the
hest of thy Lord thou spurnest and despisest. All the days of thy
life pass by and thou art content thus to aby. Make ready thy
viaticum against the day appointed for thee to see and prepare to
answer the Lord of every creature that be!" And at the foot were
written these verses,
"Where is the wight who peopled in the past
Hind land and Sind;
and there the tyrant played?
Who Zanj[FN#130] and Habash bound beneath his yoke,
And Nubia
curbed and low its puissance laid.
Look not for news of what is in his grave.
Ah, he is far who
can thy vision aid!
The stroke of death fell on him sharp and sure;
Nor saved him
palace, nor the lands he swayed."
At this Musa wept with sore weeping and, going on to the fourth
tablet, he read inscribed thereon, "O son of Adam, how long shall
thy Lord bear with thee and thou every day sunken in the sea of
thy folly? Hath it then been stablished unto thee that some day
thou shalt not die? O son of Adam, let not the deceits of thy
days and nights and times and hours delude thee with their
delights; but remember that death lieth ready for thee ambushing,
fain on thy shoulders to spring, nor doth a day pass but he
morneth with thee in the morning and nighteth with thee by night.
Beware, then, of his onslaught and make provision there-against.
As was with me, so it is with thee; thou wastest thy whole life
and squanderest the joys in which thy days are rife. Hearken,
therefore, to my words and put thy trust in the Lord of Lords;
for in the world there is no stability; it is but as a spider's
web to thee." And at the foot of the tablet were written these
couplets,
"Where is the man who did those labours ply
And based and built
and reared these walls on high?
Where be the castles' lords? Who therein dwelt
Fared forth and
left them in decay to lie.
All are entombed, in pledge against the day
When every sin
shall show to every eye.
None but the Lord Most High endurance hath,
Whose Might and
Majesty shall never die."
When the Emir read this, he swooned away and presently coming to
himself marvelled exceedingly and wrote it down. Then he drew
near the fifth tablet and behold, thereon was graven, "O son of
Adam, what is it that distracteth thee from obedience of thy
Creator and the Author of thy being, Him who reared thee whenas
thou west a little one, and fed thee whenas thou west full-grown?
Thou art ungrateful for His bounty, albeit He watcheth over thee
with His favours, letting down the curtain of His protection over
thee. Needs must there be for thee an hour bitterer than aloes
and hotter than live coals. Provide thee, therefore, against it;
for who shall sweeten its gall or quench its fires? Bethink thee
who forewent thee of peoples and heroes and take warning by them,
ere thou perish." And at the foot of the tablet were graven these
couplets,
"Where be the Earth-kings who from where they ‘bode,
Sped and
to grave yards with their hoardings yode:
Erst on their mounting-days there hadst beheld
Hosts that
concealed the ground whereon they rode:
How many a king they humbled in their day!
How many a host they
led and laid on load!
But from th' Empyrean's Lord in haste there came
One word, and
joy waxed grief ere morning glowed."
The Emir marvelled at this and wrote it down; after which he
passed on to the sixth tablet and behold, was inscribed thereon,
"O son of Adam, think not that safety will endure for ever and
aye, seeing that death is sealed to thy head alway. Where be thy
fathers, where be thy brethren, where thy friends and dear ones?
They have all gone to the dust of the tombs and presented
themselves before the Glorious, the Forgiving, as if they had
never eaten nor drunken, and they are a pledge for that which
they have earned. So look to thyself, ere thy tomb come upon
thee." And at the foot of the tablet were these couplets,
"Where be the Kings who ruled the Franks of old?
Where be the
King who peopled Tingis-wold[FN#131]?
Their works are written in a book which He,
The One, th' All-
father shall as witness hold."
At this the Emir Musa marvelled and wrote it down, saying, "There
is no god but the God! Indeed, how goodly were these folk!" Then
he went up to the seventh tablet and behold, thereon was written,
"Glory to Him who fore-ordaineth death to all He createth, the
Living One, who dieth not! O son of Adam, let not thy days and
their delights delude thee, neither shine hours and the delices
of their time, and know that death to thee cometh and upon thy
shoulder sitteth. Beware, then, of his assault and make ready for
his onslaught. As it was with me, so it is with thee; thou
wastest the sweet of thy life and the joyance of shine hours.
Give ear, then, to my rede and put thy trust in the Lord of Lords
and know that in the world is no stability, but it is as it were
a spider's web to thee and all that is therein shall die and
cease to be. Where is he who laid the foundation of Amid
[FN#132]
and builded it and builded Fárikín
[FN#133] and exalted it? Where
be the peoples of the strong places? Whenas them they had
inhabited, after their might into the tombs they descended. They
have been carried off by death and we shall in like manner be
afflicted by doom. None abideth save Allah the Most High, for He
is Allah the Forgiving One." The Emir Musa wept and copied all
this, and indeed the world was belittled in his eyes. Then he
descended the hill and rejoined his host, with whom he passed the
rest of tile day, casting about for a means of access to the
city. And he said to his Wazir Talib bin Sahl and to the chief
officers about him, "How shall we contrive to enter this city and
view its marvels?: haply we shall find therein wherewithal to win
the favour of the Commander of the Faithful." "Allah prolong the
Emir's fortune!" replied Talib, "let us make a ladder and mount
the wall therewith, so peradventure we may come at the gate from
within." Quoth the Emir, "This is what occurred to my thought
also, and admirable is the advice!" Then he called for carpenters
and blacksmiths and bade them fashion wood and build a ladder
plated and banded with iron. So they made a strong ladder and
many men wrought at it a whole month. Then all the company laid
hold of it and set it up against the wall, and it reached the top
as truly as if it had been built for it before that time. The
Emir marvelled and said, "The blessing of Allah be upon you. It
seems as though ye had taken the measure of the mure, so
excellent is your work." Then said he to his men, "Which of you
will mount the ladder and walk along the wall and cast about for
a way of descending into the city, so to see how the case stands
and let us know how we may open the gate?" Whereupon quoth one of
them, "I will go up, O Emir, and descend and open to you"; and
Musa answered, saying, "Go and the blessing of Allah go with
thee!" So the man mounted the ladder; but, when he came to the
top of the wall, he stood up and gazed fixedly down into the
city, then clapped his hands and crying out, at the top of his
voice, "By Allah, thou art fair!" cast himself down into the
place, and Musa cried, "By Allah, he is a dead man!" But another
came up to him and said, "O Emir, this was a madman and doubtless
his madness got the better of him and destroyed him. I will go up
and open the gate to you, if it be the will of Allah the Most
High." "Go up," replied Musa, "and Allah be with thee! But beware
lest thou lose thy head, even as did thy comrade." Then the man
mounted the ladder, but no sooner had he reached the top of the
wall than he laughed aloud, saying, "Well done! well done!"; and
clapping palms cast himself down into the city and died
forthright. When the Emir saw this, he said, "An such be the
action of a reasonable man, what is that of the madman? If all
our men do on this wise, we shall have none left and shall fail
of our errand and that of the Commander of the Faithful. Get ye
ready for the march: verily we have no concern with this city."
But a third one of the company said, "Haply another may be
steadier than they." So a third mounted the wall and a fourth and
a fifth and all cried out and cast themselves down, even as did
the first, nor did they leave to do thus, till a dozen had
perished in like fashion. Then the Shaykh Abd al-Samad came
forward and heartened himself and said, "This affair is reserved
to none other than myself; for the experienced is not like the
inexperienced." Quoth the Emir, "Indeed thou shalt not do that
nor will I have thee go up: an thou perish, we shall all be cut
off to the last man since thou art our guide." But he answered,
saying, "Peradventure, that which we seek may be accomplished at
my hands, by the grace of God Most High!" So the folk all agreed
to let him mount the ladder, and he arose and heartening himself,
said, "In the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the
Compassionate!" and mounted the ladder, calling on the name of
the Lord and reciting the Verses of Safety.
[FN#134] When he
reached the top of the wall, he clapped his hands and gazed
fixedly down into the city; whereupon the folk below cried out to
him with one accord, saying "O Shaykh Abd al-Samad, for the
Lord's sake, cast not thyself down!"; and they added, "Verily we
are Allah's and unto Him we are returning! If the Shaykh fall, we
are dead men one and all." Then he laughed beyond all measure and
sat a long hour, reciting the names of Allah Almighty and
repeating the Verses of Safety; then he rose arid cried out at
the top of his voice, saying, O Emir, have no fear; no hurt shall
betide you, for Allah (to whom belong Might and Majesty!) hath
averted from me the wiles and malice of Satan, by the blessing of
the words, ‘In the name of Allah the Compassionating the
Compassionate!'" Asked Musa, "What didst thou see, O Shaykh?";
and Abd al-Samad answered, "I saw ten maidens, as they were
Houris of Heaven calling to me with their hands"--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Shaykh
Abd al-Samad answered, "I saw ten maidens like Houris of
Heaven,
[FN#135] and they calling and signing,
[FN#136] ‘Come
hither to us'; and meseemed there was below me a lake of water.
So I thought to throw myself down, when behold, I espied my
twelve companions lying dead; so I restrained myself and recited
somewhat of Allah's Book, whereupon He dispelled from me the
damsels' witchlike wiles and malicious guiles and they
disappeared. And doubtless this was an enchantment devised by the
people of the city, to repel any who should seek to gaze upon or
to enter the place. And it hath succeeded in slaying our
companions." Then he walked on along the wall, till he came to
the two towers of brass aforesaid and saw therein two gates of
gold, without pad locks or visible means of opening. Hereat he
paused as long as Allah pleased
[FN#137] and gazed about him
awhile, till he espied in the middle of one of the gates, a
horseman of brass with hand outstretched as if pointing, and in
his palm was somewhat written. So he went up to it and read these
words, "O thou who comest to this place, an thou wouldst enter
turn the pin in my navel twelve times and the gate will open."
Accordingly, he examined the horseman and finding in his navel a
pin of gold, firm-set and fast fixed, he turned it twelve times,
whereupon the horseman revolved like the blinding lightning and
the gate swung open with a noise like thunder. He entered and
found himself in a long passage,
[FN#138] which brought him down
some steps into a guard-room furnished with goodly wooden
benches, whereon sat men dead, over whose heads hung fine shields
and keen blades and bent bows and shafts ready notched. Thence,
he came to the main gate of the city; and, finding it secured
with iron bars and curiously wrought locks and bolts and chains
and other fastenings of wood and metal, said to himself, "Belike
the keys are with yonder dead folk." So he turned back to the
guard-room and seeing amongst the dead an old man seated upon a
high wooden bench, who seemed the chiefest of them, said in his
mind, "Who knows but they are with this Shaykh? Doubtless he was
the warder of the city and these others were under his hand." So
he went up to him and lifting his gown, behold, the keys were
hanging to his girdle; whereat he joyed with exceeding joy and
was like to fly for gladness. Then he took them and going up to
the portal, undid the padlocks and drew back the bolts and bars,
whereupon the great leaves flew open with a crash like the
pealing thunder by reason of its greatness and terribleness. At
this he cried out saying, "Allaho Akbar--God is most great!" And
the folk without answered him with the same words, rejoicing and
thanking him for his deed. The Emir Musa also was delighted at
the Shaykh's safety and the opening of the city-gate, and the
troops all pressed forward to enter; but Musa cried out to them,
saying, "O folk, if we all go in at once we shall not be safe
from some ill-chance which may betide us. Let half enter and
other half tarry without." So he pushed forwards with half his
men, bearing their weapons of war, and finding their comrades
lying dead, they buried them; and they saw the doorkeepers and
eunuchs and chamberlains and officers reclining on couches of
silk and all were corpses. Then they fared on till they came to
the chief market-place, full of lofty buildings whereof none
overpassed the others, and found all its shops open, with the
scales hung out and the brazen vessels ordered and the
caravanserais full of all manner goods; and they beheld the
merchants sitting on the shop-boards dead, with shrivelled skin
and rotted bones, a warning to those who can take warning; and
here they saw four separate markets all replete with wealth. Then
they left the great bazar and went on till they came to the silk
market, where they found silks and brocades, orfrayed with red
gold and diapered with white silver upon all manner of colours,
and the owners lying dead upon mats of scented goats' leather,
and looking as if they would speak; after which they traversed
the market-street of pearls and rubies and other jewels and came
to that of the schroffs and money-changers, whom they saw sitting
dead upon carpets of raw silk and dyed stuffs in shops full of
gold and silver. Thence they passed to the perfumers' bazar where
they found the shops filled with drugs of all kinds and bladders
of musk and ambergris and Nadd-scent and camphor and other
perfumes, in vessels of ivory and ebony and Khalanj-wood and
Andalusian copper, the which is equal in value to gold; and
various kinds of rattan and Indian cane; but the shopkeepers all
lay dead nor was there with them aught of food. And hard by this
drug-market they came upon a palace, imposingly edified and
magnificently decorated; so they entered and found therein
banners displayed and drawn sword blades and strung bows and
bucklers hanging by chains of gold and silver and helmets gilded
with red gold. In the vestibules stood benches of ivory, plated
with glittering gold and covered with silken stuffs, whereon lay
men, whose skin had dried up on their bones; the fool had deemed
them sleeping; but, for lack of food, they had perished and
tasted the cup of death. Now when the Emir Musa saw this, he
stood still, glorifying Allah the Most High and hallowing Him and
contemplating the beauty of the palace and the massiveness of its
masonry and fair perfection of its ordinance, for it was builded
after the goodliest and stablest fashion and the most part of its
adornment was of green
[FN#139] lapis-lazuli, and on the inner
door, which stood open, were written in characters of gold and
ultramarine, these couplets,
"Consider thou, O man, what these places to thee showed
And be
upon thy guard ere thou travel the same road:
And prepare thee good provision some day may serve thy turn
For
each dweller in the house needs must yede wi' those who yode
Consider how this people their palaces adorned
And in dust have
been pledged for the seed of acts they sowed
They built but their building availed them not, and hoards
Nor
saved their lives nor day of Destiny forslowed:
How often did they hope for what things were undecreed.
And
passed unto their tombs before Hope the bounty showed
And from high and awful state all a sudden they were sent
To
the straitness of the grave and oh! base is their abode:
Then came to them a Crier after burial and cried,
What booted
thrones or crowns or the gold to you bestowed:
Where now are gone the faces hid by curtain and by veil,
Whose
charms were told in proverbs, those beauties à-la-mode?
The tombs aloud reply to the questioners and cry,
‘Death's
canker and decay those rosy cheeks corrode'
Long time they ate and drank, but their joyaunce had a term,
And the eater eke was eaten, and was eaten by the worm."
When the Emir read this, he wept, till he was like to swoon away-
-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred ante Seventy-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Emir
wept till he was like to swoon away, and bade write down the
verses, after which he passed on into the inner palace and came
to a vast hall, at each of whose four corners stood a pavilion
lofty and spacious, washed with gold and silver and painted in
various colours. In the heart of the hall was a great jetting-
fountain of alabaster, surmounted by a canopy of brocade, and in
each pavilion was a sitting-place and each place had its richly-
wrought fountain and tank paved with marble and streams flowing
in channels along the floor and meeting in a great and grand
cistern of many-coloured marbles. Quoth the Emir to the Shaykh
Abd al-Samad, "Come let us visit yonder pavilion!" So they
entered the first and found it full of gold and silver and pearls
and jacinths and other precious stones and metals, besides chests
filled with brocades, red and yellow and white. Then they
repaired to the second pavilion, and, opening a closet there,
found it full of arms and armour, such as gilded helmets and
Davidean
[FN#140] hauberks and Hindi swords and Arabian spears and
Chorasmian
[FN#141] maces and other gear of fight and fray. Thence
they passed to the third pavilion, wherein they saw closets
padlocked and covered with curtains wrought with all manner of
embroidery. They opened one of these and found it full of weapons
curiously adorned with open work and with gold and silver
damascene and jewels. Then they entered the fourth pavilion, and
opening one of the closets there, beheld in it great store of
eating and drinking vessels of gold and silver, with platters of
crystal and goblets set with fine pearls and cups of carnelian
and so forth. So they all fell to taking that which suited their
tastes and each of the soldiers carried off what he could. When
they left the pavilions, they saw in the midst of the palace a
door of teak-wood marquetried with ivory and ebony and plated
with glittering gold, over which hung a silken curtain purfled
with all manner of embroideries; and on this door were locks of
white silver, that opened by artifice without a key. The Shaykh
Abd al-Samad went valiantly up thereto and by the aid of his
knowledge and skill opened the locks, whereupon the door admitted
them into a corridor paved with marble and hung with veil-
like
[FN#142] tapestries embroidered with figures of all manner
beasts and birds, whose bodies were of red gold and white silver
and their eyes of pearls and rubies, amazing all who looked upon
them. Passing onwards they came to a saloon builded all of
polished marble, inlaid with jewels, which seemed to the beholder
as though the floor were flowing water
[FN#143] and whoso walked
thereon slipped. The Emir bade the Shaykh strew somewhat upon it,
that they might walk over it; which being done, they made shift
to fare forwards till they came to a great domed pavilion of
stone, gilded with red gold and crowned with a cupola of
alabaster, about which were set lattice-windows carved and
jewelled with rods of emerald,
[FN#144] beyond the competence of
any King. Under this dome was a canopy of brocede, reposing upon
pillars of red gold and wrought with figures of birds whose feet
were of smaragd, and beneath each bird was a network of fresh-
hued pearls. The canopy was spread above a jetting fountain of
ivory and carnelian, plated with glittering gold and thereby
stood a couch set with pearls and rubies and other jewels and
beside the couch a pillar of gold. On the capital of the column
stood a bird fashioned of red rubies and holding in his bill a
pearl which shone like a star; and on the couch lay a damsel, as
she were the lucident sun, eyes never saw a fairer. She wore a
tight-fitting body-robe of fine pearls, with a crown of red gold
on her head, filleted with gems, and on her forehead were two
great jewels, whose light was as the light of the sun. On her
breast she wore a jewelled amulet, filled with musk and ambergris
and worth the empire of the Caesars; and around her neck hung a
collar of rubies and great pearls, hollowed and filled with
odoriferous musk And it seemed as if she gazed on them to the
right and to the left.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the damsel
seemed to be gazing at the folk to the right and to the left. The
Emir Musa marvelled at her exceeding beauty and was confounded at
the blackness of her hair and the redness of her cheeks, which
made the beholder deem her alive and not dead, and said to her,
"Peace be with thee, O damsel!" But Talib ibn Sahl said to him,
"Allah preserve thee, O Emir, verily this damsel is dead and
there is no life in her; so how shall she return thy salam?"
adding, ‘ Indeed, she is but a corpse embalmed with exceeding
art; her eyes were taken out after her death and quicksilver set
under them, after which they were restored to their sockets.
Wherefore they glisten and when the air moveth the lashes, she
seemeth to wink and it appeareth to the beholder as though she
looked at him, for all she is dead." At this the Emir marvelled
beyond measure and said, "Glory be to God who subjugateth His
creatures to the dominion of Death!" Now the couch on which the
damsel lay, had steps, and thereon stood two statues of
Andalusian copper representing slaves, one white and the other
black. The first held a mace of steel
[FN#145] and the second a
sword of watered steel which dazzled the eye; and between them,
on one of the steps of the couch, lay a golden tablet, whereon
were written, in characters of white silver, the following words:
"In the name of God, the Compassionating, the Compassionate!
Praise be to Allah, the Creator of mankind; and He is the Lord of
Lords, the Causer of Causes! In the name of Allah, the Never
beginning, the Everlasting, the Ordainer of Fate and Fortune! O
son of Adam! what hath befooled thee in this long esperance? What
hath unminded thee of the Death-day's mischance? Knowest thou not
that Death calleth for thee and hasteneth to seize upon the soul
of thee? Be ready, therefore, for the way and provide thee for
thy departure from the world; for, assuredly, thou shalt leave it
without delay. Where is Adam, first of humanity? Where is Noah
with his progeny? Where be the Kings of Hind and Irak-plain and
they who over earth's widest regions reign? Where do the
Amalekites abide and the giants and tyrants of olden tide?
Indeed, the dwelling-places are void of them and they have
departed from kindred and home. Where be the Kings of Arab and
Ajam? They are dead, all of them, and gone and are become rotten
bones. Where be the lords so high in stead? They are all done
dead. Where are Kora and Haman? Where is Shaddad son of Ad? Where
be Canaan and Zu‘l-Autad,
[FN#146] Lord of the Stakes? By Allah,
the Reaper of lives hath reaped them and made void the lands of
them. Did they provide them against the Day of Resurrection or
make ready to answer the Lord of men? O thou, if thou know me
not, I will acquaint thee with my name: I am Tadmurah,
[FN#147]
daughter of the Kings of the Amalekites, of those who held
dominion over the lands in equity and brought low the necks of
humanity. I possessed that which never King possessed and was
righteous in my rule and did justice among my lieges; yea, I gave
gifts and largesse and freed bondsmen and bondswomen. Thus lived
I many years in all ease and delight of life, till Death knocked
at my door and to me and to my folk befel calamities galore; and
it was on this wise. There betided us seven successive years of
drought, wherein no drop of rain fell on us from the skies and no
green thing sprouted for us on the face of earth.
[FN#148] So we
ate what was with us of victual, then we fell upon the cattle and
devoured them, until nothing was left. Thereupon I let bring my
treasures and meted them with measures and sent out trusty men to
buy food. They circuited all the lands in quest thereof and left
no city unsought, but found it not to be bought and returned to
us with the treasure after a long absence; and gave us to know
that they could not succeed in bartering fine pearls for poor
wheat, bushel for bushel, weight for weight. So, when we
despaired of succour, we displayed all our riches and things of
price and, shutting the gates of the city and its strong places,
resigned ourselves to the deme of our Lord and committed our case
to our King. Then we all died,
[FN#149] as thou seest us, and left
what we had builded and all we had hoarded. This, then, is our
story, and after the substance naught abideth but the trace."
Then they looked at the foot of the tablet and read these
couplets,
"O child of Adam, let not hope make mock and flyte at thee,
Prom all thy hands have treasuréd, removéd thou shalt be;
I see thou covetest the world and fleeting worldly charms,
And
races past and gone have done the same as thou I see.
Lawful and lawless wealth they got; but all their hoarded store,
Their term accomplished, naught delayed of Destiny's
decree.
Armies they led and puissant men and gained them gold galore;
Then left their wealth and palaces by Pate compelled to
flee,
To straitness of the grave-yard and humble bed of dust
Whence,
pledged for every word and deed, they never more win free:
As a company of travellers had unloaded in the night
At house
that lacketh food nor is o'erfain of company:
Whose owner saith, ‘O folk, there be no lodging here for you;'
So packed they who had erst unpacked and faréd hurriedly:
Misliking much the march, nor the journey nor the halt
Had
aught of pleasant chances or had aught of goodly greet
Then prepare thou good provision for to-morrow's journey stored,
Naught but righteous honest life shall avail thee with the
Lord!"
And the Emir Musa wept as he read, "By Allah, the fear of the
Lord is the best of all property, the pillar of certainty and the
sole sure stay. Verily, Death is the truth manifest and the sure
behest, and therein, O thou, is the goal and return place
evident. Take warning, therefore, by those who to the dust did
wend and hastened on the way of the predestined end. Seest thou
not that hoary hairs summon thee to the tomb and that the
whiteness of thy locks maketh moan of thy doom? Wherefore be thou
on the wake ready for thy departure and shine account to make. O
son of Adam, what hath hardened thy heart in mode abhorred? What
hath seduced thee from the service of thy Lord? Where be the
peoples of old time? They are a warning to whoso will be warned!
Where be the Kings of al-Sín and the lords of majestic mien?
Where is Shaddad bin Ad and whatso he built and he stablished?
Where is Nimrod who revolted against Allah and defied Him? Where
is Pharaoh who rebelled against God and denied Him? Death
followed hard upon the trail of them all, and laid them low
sparing neither great nor small, male nor female; and the Reaper
of Mankind cut them off, yea, by Him who maketh night to return
upon day! Know, O thou who comest to this place, that she whom
thou seest here was not deluded by the world and its frail
delights, for it is faithless, perfidious, a house of ruin, vain
and treacherous; and salutary to the creature is the remembrance
of his sins; wherefore she feared her Lord and made fair her
dealings and provided herself with provaunt against the appointed
marching day. Whoso cometh to our city and Allah vouchsafeth him
competence to enter it, let him take of the treasure all he can,
but touch not aught that is on my body, for it is the covering of
my shame
[FN#150] and the outfit for the last journey; wherefore
let him fear Allah and despoil naught thereof; else will he
destroy his own self. This have I set forth to him for a warning
from me and a solemn trust to be; wherewith, peace be with ye and
I pray Allah to keep you from sickness and calamity." And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-seventh Night,
She said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Emir Musa read this, he wept with exceeding weeping till he
swooned away and presently coming to himself, wrote down all he
had seen and was admonished by all he had witnessed. Then he said
to his men, "Fetch the camels and load them with these treasures
and vases and jewels." "O Emir," asked Talib, "shall we leave our
damsel with what is upon her, things which have no equal and
whose like is not to be found and more perfect than aught else
thou takest; nor couldst thou find a goodlier offering
wherewithal to propitiate the favour of the Commander of the
Faithful?" But Musa answered, "O man, heardest thou not what the
Lady saith on this tablet? More by token that she giveth it in
trust to us who are no traitors." "And shall we," rejoined the
Wazir Talib, "because of these words, leave all these riches and
jewels, seeing that she is dead? What should she do with these
that are the adornments of the world and the ornament of the
worldling, seeing that one garment of cotton would suffice for
her covering? We have more right to them than she." So saying he
mounted the steps of the couch between the pillars, but when he
came within reach of the two slaves, lo! the mace-bearer smote
him on the back and the other struck him with the sword he held
in his hand and lopped off his head, and he dropped down dead.
Quoth the Emir, "Allah have no mercy on thy resting-place! Indeed
there was enough in these treasures, and greed of gain assuredly
degradeth a man." Then he bade admit the troops; so they entered
and loaded the camels with those treasures and precious ores;
after which they went forth and the Emir commanded them to shut
the gate as before. They fared on along the sea-shore a whole
month, till they came in sight of a high mountain overlooking the
sea and full of caves, wherein dwelt a tribe of blacks, clad in
hides, with burnooses also of hide and speaking an unknown
tongue. When they saw the troops they were startled like shying
steeds and fled into the caverns, whilst their women and children
stood at the cave doors, looking on the strangers. "O Shaykh Abd
al-Samad," asked the Emir, "what are these folk?" and he
answered, "They are those whom we seek for the Commander of the
Faithful." So they dismounted and setting down their loads,
pitched their tents; whereupon, almost before they had done, down
came the King of the blacks from the mountain and drew near the
camp. Now he understood the Arabic tongue; so, when he came to
the Emir he saluted him with the salam and Musa returned his
greeting and entreated him with honour. Then quoth he to the
Emir, "Are ye men or Jinn?" "Well, we are men," quoth Musa; "but
doubtless ye are Jinn, to judge by your dwelling apart in this
mountain which is cut off from mankind, and by your inordinate
bulk." "Nay," rejoined the black; "we also are children of Adam,
of the lineage of Ham, son of Noah (with whom be peace!), and
this sea is known as Al-Karkar." Asked Musa, "O King, what is
your religion and what worship ye?"; and he answered, saying, "We
worship the God of the heavens and our religion is that of
Mohammed, whom Allah bless and preserve!" "And how came ye by the
knowledge of this," questioned the Emir, "seeing that no prophet
was inspired to visit this country?" "Know, Emir," replied the
King, "that there appeared to us whilere from out the sea a man,
from whom issued a light that illumined the horizons and he cried
out, in a voice which was heard of men far and near, saying, ‘O
children of Ham, reverence to Him who seeth and is not seen and
say ye, ‘There is no god but the God, and Mohammed is the
messenger of God!' And he added, ‘I am Abu al-Abbás al-Khizr.'
Before this we were wont to worship one another, but he summoned
us to the service of the Lord of all creatures; and he taught us
to repeat these words, ‘There is no god save the God alone, who
hath for partner none, and His is the kingdom and His is the
praise. He giveth life and death and He over all things is
Almighty.' Nor do we draw near unto Allah (be He exalted and
extolled!) except with these words, for we know none other; but
every eve before Friday
[FN#151] we see a light upon the face of
earth and we hear a voice saying, ‘Holy and glorious, Lord of the
Angels and the Spirit! What He willeth is, and what He willeth
not, is not. Every boon is of His grace and there is neither
Majesty nor is there Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great!' But ye," quoth the King, "who and what are ye and what
bringeth you to this land?" Quoth Musa, "We are officers of the
Sovereign of Al-Islam, the Commander of the Faithful, Abd al-
Malik bin Marwan, who hath heard tell of the lord Solomon, son of
David (on whom be peace!) and of that which the Most High
bestowed upon him of supreme dominion; how he held sway over Jinn
and beast and bird and was wont when he was wroth with one of the
Marids, to shut him in a cucurbite of brass and, stopping its
mouth on him with lead, whereon he impressed his seal ring, to
cast him into the sea of Al-Karkar. Now we have heard tell that
this sea is nigh your land; so the Commander of the Faithful hath
sent us hither, to bring him some of these cucurbites, that he
may look thereon and solace himself with their sight. Such, then,
is our case and what we seek of thee, O King, and we desire that
thou further us in the accomplishment of our errand commanded by
the Commander of the Faithful." "With love and gladness," replied
the black King, and carrying them to the guest house, entreated
them with the utmost honour and furnished them with all they
needed, feeding them upon fish. They abode thus three days, when
he bade his divers fetch from out the sea some of the vessels of
Solomon. So they dived and brought up twelve cucurbites, whereat
the Emir and the Shaykh and all the company rejoiced in the
accomplishment of the Caliph's need. Then Musa gave the King of
the blacks many and great gifts; and he, in turn, made him a
present Of the wonders of the deep, being fishes in human
form,
[FN#152] saying "Your entertainment these three days hath
been of the meat of these fish." Quoth the Emir, "Needs must we
carry some of these to the Caliph, for the sight of them will
please him more than the cucurbites of Solomon." Then they took
leave of the black King and, setting out on their homeward
journey, travelled till they came to Damascus, where Musa went in
to the Commander of the Faithful and told him all that he had
sighted and heard of verses and legends and instances, together
with the manner of the death of Talib bin Sahl; and the Caliph
said, "Would I had been with you, that I might have seen what you
saw!" Then he took the brazen vessels and opened them, cucurbite
after cucurbite, whereupon the devils came forth of them, saying,
"We repent, O Prophet of Allah! Never again will we return to the
like of this thing; no never!" And the Caliph marvelled at this.
As for the daughters of the deep presented to them by the black
King, they made them cisterns of planks, full of water, and laid
them therein; but they died of the great heat. Then the Caliph
sent for the spoils of the Brazen City and divided them among the
Faithful,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say,
When it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph
marvelled much at the cucurbites and their contents; then he sent
for the spoils and divided them among the Faithful, saying,
"Never gave Allah unto any the like of that which he bestowed
upon Solomon David-son!" Thereupon the Emir Musa sought leave of
him to appoint his son Governor of the Province in his stead,
that he might be take himself to the Holy City of Jerusalem,
there to worship Allah. So the Commander of the Faithful invested
his son Harun with the government and Musa repaired to the
Glorious and Holy City, where he died. This, then, is all that
hath come down to us of the story of the City of Brass, and God
is All-knowing! Now (continued Shahrazad) I have another tale to
tell anent the CRAFT AND MALICE OF WOMEN, OR THE
TALE OF THE KING, HIS SON, HIS CONCUBINE AND THE SEVEN WAZIRS.
