I went one year on the pilgrimage to the Holy House of Allah, and
when I had accomplished my pilgrimage, I turned back for
visitation of the tomb of the Prophet, whom Allah bless and keep!
One night, as I sat in the garden,
[FN#80] between the tomb and
the pulpit, I heard a low moaning in a soft voice; so I listened
to it and it said,
"Have the doves that moan in the lotus-tree
Woke grief in thy
heart and bred misery?
Or doth memory of maiden in beauty deckt
Cause this doubt in
thee, this despondency?
O night, thou art longsome for love-sick sprite
Complaining of
Love and its ecstacy:
Thou makest him wakeful, who burns with fire
Of a love, like
the live coal's ardency.
The moon is witness my heart is held
By a moonlight brow of the
brightest blee:
I reckt not to see me by Love ensnared
Till ensnared before I
could reck or see."
Then the voice ceased and not knowing whence it came to me I
abode perplexed; but lo! it again took up its lament and recited,
"Came Rayya's phantom to grieve thy sight
In the thickest gloom
of the black-haired Night!
And hath love of slumber deprived those eyes
And the
phantom-vision vexed thy sprite?
I cried to the Night, whose glooms were like
Seas that surge
and billow with might, with might:
'O Night, thou art longsome to lover who
Hath no aid nor help
save the morning light!'
She replied, 'Complain not that I am long:
'Tis love is the
cause of thy longsome plight!'"
Now, at the first of the couplets, I sprang up and made for the
quarter whence the sound came, nor had the voice ended repeating
them, ere I was with the speaker and saw a youth of the utmost
beauty, the hair of whose side face had not sprouted and in whose
cheeks tears had worn twin trenches.--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Six Hundred and Eighty-first Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
Abdullah bin Ma'amar al-Kaysi thus continued:--So I sprang up and
made for the quarter whence the sound came, nor had the voice
ended repeating the verses, ere I was with the speaker and saw a
youth on whose side face the hair had not sprouted and in whose
cheeks tears had worn twin trenches. Quoth I to him, "Fair befal
thee for a youth!"; and quoth he, "And thee also! Who art thou?"
I replied, "Abdullah bin Ma'amar al-Kaysi;" and he said, "Dost
thou want aught?" I rejoined, "I was sitting in the garden and
naught hath troubled me this night but thy voice. With my life
would I ransom thee! What aileth thee?" He said, "Sit thee down."
So I sat down and he continued, "I am Otbah bin al-Hubáb bin
al-Mundhir bin al-Jamúh the Ansári.
[FN#81] I went out in the
morning to the Mosque Al-Ahzáb
[FN#82] and occupied myself there
awhile with prayer-bows and prostrations, after which I withdrew
apart, to worship privily. But lo! up came women, as they were
moons, walking with a swaying gait, and surrounding a damsel of
passing loveliness, perfect in beauty and grace, who stopped
before me and said, 'O Otbah, what sayst thou of union with one
who seeketh union with thee?' Then she left me and went away; and
since that time I have had no tidings of her nor come upon any
trace of her; and behold, I am distracted and do naught but
remove from place to place." Then he cried out and fell to the
ground fainting. When he came to himself, it was as if the damask
of his cheeks were dyed with safflower,
[FN#83] and he recited
these couplets,
"I see you with my heart from far countrie
Would Heaven you
also me from far could see
My heart and eyes for you are sorrowing;
My soul with you
abides and you with me.
I take no joy in life when you're unseen
Or Heaven or Garden of
Eternity."
Said I, "O Otbah, O son of my uncle, repent to thy Lord and crave
pardon for thy sin; for before thee is the terror of standing up
to Judgment." He replied, "Far be it from me so to do. I shall
never leave to love till the two mimosa-gatherers return."
[FN#84]
I abode with him till daybreak, when I said to him, "Come let us
go to the Mosque Al-Ahzab." So we went thither and sat there,
till we had prayed the midday prayers, when lo! up came the
women; but the damsel was not among them. Quoth they to him, "O
Otbah, what thinkest thou of her who seeketh union with thee?" He
said, "And what of her?"; and they replied, "Her father hath
taken her and departed to Al-Samawah."
[FN#85] I asked them the
name of the damsel and they said, "She is called Rayyá, daughter
of Al-Ghitríf al-Sulami."
[FN#86] Whereupon Otbah raised his head
and recited these verses,
"My friends, Rayya hath mounted soon as morning shone,
And to
Samawah's wilds her caravan is gone.
My friends, I've wept till I can weep no more, Oh, say,
Hath
any one a tear that I can take on loan."
Then said I to him, "O Otbah, I have brought with me great
wealth, wherewith I desire to succour generous men; and by Allah,
I will lavish it before thee,
[FN#87] so thou mayst attain thy
desire and more than thy desire! Come with me to the assembly of
the Ansaris." So we rose and went, till we entered their
assembly, when I salam'd to them and they returned my greeting
civilly. Then quoth I, "O assembly, what say ye of Otbah and his
father?": and they replied, "They are of the princes of the
Arabs." I continued, "Know that he is smitten with the calamity
of love and I desire your furtherance to Al-Samawah." And they
said, "To hear is to obey." So they mounted with us, the whole
party, and we rode till we drew near the place of the Banu
Sulaym. Now when Ghitrif heard of our being near, he hastened
forth to meet us, saying, "Long life to you, O nobles!"; whereto
we replied, "And to thee also! Behold we are thy guests." Quoth
he, "Ye have lighted down at a most hospitable abode and ample;"
and alighting he cried out, "Ho, all ye slaves, come down!" So
they came down and spread skin-rugs and cushions and slaughtered
sheep and cattle; but we said, "We will not taste of thy food,
till thou have accomplished our need." He asked, "And what is
your need?"; and we answered, "We demand thy noble daughter in
marriage for Otbah bin Hubab bin Mundhir the illustrious and well
born." "O my brethren," said he, "she whom you demand is owner of
herself, and I will go in to her and tell her." So he rose in
wrath
[FN#88] and went in to Rayya, who said to him, "O my papa,
why do I see thee show anger?" And he replied, saying, "Certain
of the Ansaris have come upon me to demand thy hand of me in
marriage." Quoth she, "They are noble chiefs; the Prophet, on
whom be the choicest blessings and peace, intercedeth for them
with Allah. For whom among them do they ask me?" Quoth he, "For a
youth known as Otbah bin al-Hubab;" and she said, "I have heard
of Otbah that he performeth what he promised and findeth what he
seeketh." Ghitrif cried, "I swear that I will never marry thee to
him; no, never, for there hath been reported to me somewhat of
thy converse with him." Said she, "What was that? But in any
case, I swear that the Ansaris shall not be uncivilly rejected;
wherefore do thou offer them a fair excuse." "How so?" "Make the
dowry heavy to them and they will desist." "Thou sayst well,"
said he, and going out in haste, told the Ansaris, "The damsel of
the tribe
[FN#89] consenteth; but she requireth a dowry worthy
herself. Who engageth for this?" "I," answered I. Then said he,
"I require for her a thousand bracelets of red gold and five
thousand dirhams of the coinage of Hajar
[FN#90] and a hundred
pieces of woollen cloth and striped stuffs
[FN#91] of Al-Yaman and
five bladders of ambergris." Said I, "Thou shalt have that much;
dost thou consent?"; and he said, "I do consent." So I despatched
to Al-Medinah the Illumined
[FN#92] a party of the Ansaris, who
brought all for which I had become surety; whereupon they
slaughtered sheep and cattle and the folk assembled to eat of the
food. We abode thus forty days when Ghitrif said to us, "Take
your bride." So we sat her in a dromedary-litter and her father
equipped her with thirty camel-loads of things of price; after
which we farewelled him and journeyed till we came within a day's
journey of Al-Medinah the Illumined, when there fell upon us
horsemen, with intent to plunder, and methinks they were of the
Banu Sulaym, Otbah drove at them and slew of them much people,
but fell back, wounded by a lance-thrust, and presently dropped
to the earth. Then there came to us succour of the country
people, who drove away the highwaymen; but Otbah's days were
ended. So we said, "Alas for Otbah, oh!;" and the damsel hearing
it cast herself down from the camel and throwing herself upon
him, cried out grievously and repeated these couplets,
"Patient I seemed, yet Patience shown by me
Was but
self-guiling till thy sight I see:
Had my soul done as due my life had gone,
Had fled before
mankind forestalling thee:
Then, after me and thee none shall to friend
Be just, nor any
soul with soul agree."
Then she sobbed a single sob and gave up the ghost. We dug one
grave for them and laid them in the earth, and I returned to the
dwellings of my people, where I abode seven years. Then I betook
me again to Al-Hijaz and entering Al-Medinah the Illumined for
pious visitation said in my mind, "By Allah, I will go again to
Otbah's tomb!" So I repaired thither, and, behold, over the grave
was a tall tree, on which hung fillets of red and green and
yellow stuffs.
[FN#93] So I asked the people of the place, "How be
this tree called?"; and they answered, "The tree of the Bride and
the Bridegroom." I abode by the tomb a day and a night, then went
my way; and this is all I know of Otbah. Almighty Allah have
mercy upon him! And they also tell this tale of
HIND, DAUGHTER OF AL-NU'MAN AND AL-HAJJAJ.
