Now as regards the works of Mercury 'Alí; there lived once at
Cairo,
[FN#215] in the days of Saláh the Egyptian, who was
Chief of the Cairo Police and had forty men under him, a
sharper named Ali, for whom the Master of Police used to set
snares and think that he had fallen therein; but, when they
sought for him, they found that he had fled like zaybak, or
quicksilver, wherefore they dubbed him Ali Zaybak or Mercury
Ali of Cairo. Now one day, as he sat with his men in his
hall, his heart became heavy within him and his breast was
straitened. The hall-keeper saw him sitting with frowning
face and said to him, "What aileth thee, O my Chief? If thy
breast be straitened take a turn in the streets of Cairo, for
assuredly walking in her markets will do away with thy irk."
So he rose up and went out and threaded the streets awhile,
but only increased in cark and care. Presently, he came to a
wine-shop and said to himself, "I will go in and drink myself
drunken." So he entered and seeing seven rows of people in
the shop, said, "Harkye, taverner! I will not sit except by
myself." Accordingly, the vintner placed him in a chamber
alone and set strong pure wine before him whereof he drank
till he lost his senses. Then he sallied forth again and
walked till he came to the road called Red, whilst the people
left the street clear before him, out of fear of him.
Presently, he turned and saw a water-carrier trudging along,
with his skin and gugglet, crying out and saying, "O
exchange! There is no drink but what raisins make, there is
no love-delight but what of the lover we take and none
sitteth in the place of honour save the sensible
freke
[FN#216]!" So he said to him, "Here, give me to drink!"
The water-carrier looked at him and gave him the gugglet
which he took and gazing into it, shook it up and lastly
poured it out on the ground. Asked the water-carrier, "Why
dost thou not drink?"; and he answered, saying, "Give me to
drink." So the man filled the cup a second time and he took
it and shook it and emptied it on the ground; and thus he did
a third time. Quoth the water-carrier, "An thou wilt not
drink, I will be off." And Ali said, "Give me to drink." So
he filled the cup a fourth time and gave it to him; and he
drank and gave the man a dinar. The water-carrier looked at
him with disdain and said, belittling him, "Good luck to thee!
Good luck to thee, my lad! Little folk are one thing and great
folk another!"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say,
When it was the Seven Hundred and Ninth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
water-carrier receiving the dinar, looked at the giver with
disdain and said "Good luck to thee! Good luck to thee!
Little folk are one thing and great folk another." Now when
Mercury Ali heard this, he caught hold of the man's gaberdine
and drawing on him a poignard of price, such an one as that
whereof the poet speaketh in these two couplets,
"Watered steel-blade, the world perfection calls,
Drunk with
the viper poison foes appals,
Cuts lively, burns the blood whene'er it falls;
And picks up
gems from pave of marble halls;"[FN#217]
cried to him, "O Shaykh, speak reasonably to me! Thy water-
skin is worth if dear three dirhams, and the gugglets I
emptied on the ground held a pint or so of water." Replied
the water-carrier "'Tis well," and Ali rejoined, "I gave thee
a golden ducat: why, then dost thou belittle me? Say me, hast
thou ever seen any more valiant than I or more generous than
I?" Answered the water-carrier; "I have indeed, seen one more
valiant than thou and eke more generous than thou; for,
never, since women bare children, was there on earth's face a
brave man who was not generous." Quoth Ali, "And who is he
thou deemest braver and more generous than I?" Quoth the
other, "Thou must know that I have had a strange adventure.
My father was a Shaykh of the Water-carriers who give drink
in Cairo and, when he died, he left me five male camels, a
he-mule, a shop and a house; but the poor man is never
satisfied; or, if he be satisfied he dieth. So I said to
myself, 'I will go up to Al-Hijaz'; and, taking a string of
camels, bought goods on tick, till I had run in debt for five
hundred ducats, all of which I lost in the pilgrimage. Then I
said in my mind, 'If I return to Cairo the folk will clap me
in jail for their goods.' So I fared with the pilgrims-
caravan of Damascus to Aleppo and thence I went on to
Baghdad, where I sought out the Shaykh of the Water-carriers
of the city and finding his house I went in and repeated the
opening chapter of the Koran to him. He questioned me of my
case and I told him all that had betided me, whereupon he
assigned me a shop and gave me a water-skin and gear. So I
sallied forth a-morn trusting in Allah to provide, and went
round about the city. I offered the gugglet to one, that he
might drink; but he cried, 'I have eaten naught whereon to
drink; for a niggard invited me this day and set two gugglets
before me; so I said to him, 'O son of the sordid, hast thou
given me aught to eat that thou offerest me drink after it?'
Wherefore wend thy ways, O water-carrier, till I have eaten
somewhat: then come and give me to drink.' Thereupon I
accosted another and he said, 'Allah provide thee!' And so I
went on till noon, without taking hansel, and I said to
myself, 'Would Heaven I had never come to Baghdad!'
Presently, I saw the folk running as fast as they could; so I
followed them and behold, a long file of men riding two and
two and clad in steel, with double neck-rings and felt bonnets
and burnouses and swords and bucklers. I asked one of the
folk whose suite this was, and he answered, 'That of Captain
Ahmad al-Danaf.' Quoth I, 'And what is he?' and quoth the
other, 'He is town-captain of Baghdad and her Divan, and to
him is committed the care of the suburbs. He getteth a
thousand dinars a month from the Caliph and Hasan Shuman hath
the like. More-over, each of his men draweth an hundred dinars
a month; and they are now returning to their barrack from the
Divan.' And lo! Calamity Ahmad saw me and cried out, 'Come
give me drink.' So I filled the cup and gave it him, and he
shook it and emptied it out, like unto thee; and thus he did
a second time. Then I filled the cup a third time and he took
a draught as thou diddest; after which he asked me, 'O water-
carrier, whence comest thou?' And I answered, 'From Cairo,'
and he, 'Allah keep Cairo and her citizens! What may bring
thee thither?' So I told him my story and gave him to
understand that I was a debtor fleeing from debt and
distress. He cried, 'Thou art welcome to Baghdad'; then he
gave me five dinars and said to his men, 'For the love of
Allah be generous to him.' So each of them gave me a dinar
and Ahmad said to me, 'O Shaykh, what while thou abidest in
Baghdad thou shalt have of us the like every time thou givest
us to drink.' Accordingly, I paid them frequent visits and
good ceased not to come to me from the folk till, one day,
reckoning up the profit I had made of them, I found it a
thousand dinars and said to myself, 'The best thing thou
canst do is to return to Egypt.' So I went to Ahmad's house
and kissed his hand, and he said, 'What seekest thou?' Quoth
I, 'I have a mind to depart'; and I repeated these two
couplets,
'Sojourn of stranger, in whatever land,
Is like castle based
upon the wind:
The breaths of breezes level all he raised.
And so on
homeward-way's the stranger's mind.'
I added, 'The caravan is about to start for Cairo and I wish
to return to my people.' So he gave me a she-mule and an
hundred dinars and said to me, 'I desire to send somewhat by
thee, O Shaykh! Dost thou know the people of Cairo?' 'Yes,'
answered I";--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Tenth Night,
She pursued, It bath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Ahmad al-Danaf had given the water-carrier a she-mule and an
hundred dinars and said to him, "I desire to send a trust by
thee. Dost thou know the people of Cairo?" "I answered (quoth
the water-carrier), 'Yes'; and he said, 'Take this letter and
carry it to Ali Zaybak of Cairo and say to him, 'Thy Captain
saluteth thee and he is now with the Caliph.' So I took the
letter and journeyed back to Cairo, where I paid my debts and
plied my water-carrying trade; but I have not delivered the
letter, because I know not the abode of Mercury Ali." Quoth
Ali, "O elder, be of good cheer and keep thine eyes cool and
clear: I am that Ali, the first of the lads of Captain Ahmad:
here with the letter!" So he gave him the missive and he
opened it and read these two couplets,
"O adornment of beauties to thee write I
On a paper that
flies as the winds go by:
Could I fly, I had flown to their arms in desire,
But a bird
with cut wings; how shall ever he fly?"
"But after salutation from Captain Ahmad al-Danaf to the
eldest of his sons, Mercury Ali of Cairo. Thou knowest that I
tormented Salah al-Din the Cairene and befooled him till I
buried him alive and reduced his lads to obey me, and amongst
them Ali Kitf al-Jamal; and I am now become town-captain of
Baghdad in the Divan of the Caliph who hath made me over-seer
of the suburbs. An thou be still mindful of our covenant,
come to me; haply thou shalt play some trick in Baghdad which
may promote thee to the Caliph's service, so he may appoint
thee stipends and allowances and assign thee a lodging, which
is what thou wouldst see and so peace be on thee." When Ali
read this letter, he kissed it and laying it on his head,
gave the water-carrier ten dinars; after which he returned to
his barracks and told his comrades and said to them, "I
commend you one to other." Then he changed all his clothes
and, donning a travelling cloak and a tarboosh, took a case,
containing a spear of bamboo-cane, four-and-twenty cubits
long, made in several pieces, to fit into one another. Quoth
his lieutenant, "Wilt thou go a journey when the treasury is
empty?"; and quoth Ali, "When I reach Damascus I will send
you what shall suffice you." Then he set out and fared on,
till he overtook a caravan about to start, whereof were the
Shah-bandar, or Provost of the Merchants, and forty other
traders. They had all loaded their beasts, except the
Provost, whose loads lay upon the ground, and Ali heard his
caravan-leader, who was a Syrian, say to the muleteers, "Bear
a hand, one of you!" But they reviled him and abused him.
Quoth Ali in himself, "None will suit me so well to travel
withal as this leader." Now Ali was beardless and well-
favoured; so he went up to and saluted the leader who
welcomed him and said, "What seekest thou?" Replied Ali, "O
my uncle, I see thee alone with forty mule-loads of goods;
but why hast thou not brought hands to help thee?" Rejoined
the other, "O my son, I hired two lads and clothed them and
put in each one's pocket two hundred dinars; and they helped
me till we came to the Dervishes' Convent,
[FN#218] when they
ran away." Quoth Ali, "Whither are you bound?" and quoth the
Syrian, "to Aleppo," when Ali said, "I will lend thee a
hand." Accordingly they loaded the beasts and the Provost
mounted his she-mule and they set out he rejoicing in Ali;
and presently he loved him and made much of him and on this
wise they fared on till nightfall, when they dismounted and
ate and drank. Then came the time of sleep and Ali lay down
on his side and made as if he slept; whereupon the Syrian
stretched himself near him and Ali rose from his stead and
sat down at the door of the merchant's pavilion. Presently
the Syrian turned over and would have taken Ali in his arms,
but found him not and said to himself, "Haply he hath
promised another and he hath taken him; but I have the first
right and another night I will keep him." Now Ali continued
sitting at the door of the tent till nigh upon daybreak, when
he returned and lay down near the Syrian, who found him by
his side, when he awoke, and said to himself, "If I ask him
where he hath been, he will leave me and go away." So he
dissembled with him and they went on till they came to a
forest, in which was a cave, where dwelt a rending lion. Now
whenever a caravan passed, they would draw lots among
themselves and him on whom the lot fell they would throw to
the beast. So they drew lots and the lot fell not save upon
the Provost of the Merchants. And lo! the lion cut off their
way awaiting his prey, wherefore the Provost was sore
distressed and said to the leader, "Allah disappoint the
fortunes
[FN#219] of the far one and bring his journey to
naught! I charge thee, after my death, give my loads to my
children." Quoth Ali the Clever One, "What meaneth all this?"
So they told him the case and he said, "Why do ye run from
the tom-cat of the desert? I warrant you I will kill him." So
the Syrian went to the Provost and told him of this and he
said, "If he slay him, I will give him a thousand dinars,"
and said the other merchants, "We will reward him likewise
one and all." With this Ali put off his mantle and there
appeared upon him a suit of steel; then he took a chopper of
steel
[FN#220] and opening it turned the screw; after which he
went forth alone and standing in the road before the lion,
cried out to him. The lion ran at him, but Ali of Cairo smote
him between the eyes with his chopper and cut him in sunder,
whilst the caravan-leader and the merchants looked on. Then
said he to the leader, "Have no fear, O nuncle!" and the
Syrian answered, saying, "O my son, I am thy servant for all
future time." Then the Provost embraced him and kissed him
between the eyes and gave him the thousand dinars, and each of
the other merchants gave him twenty dinars. He deposited all
the coin with the Provost and they slept that night till the
morning, when they set out again, intending for Baghdad, and
fared on till they came to the Lion's Clump and the Wady of
Dogs, where lay a villain Badawi, a brigand and his tribe,
who sallied forth on them. The folk fled from the highwaymen,
and the Provost said, "My monies are lost!"; when, lo! up
came Ali in a buff coat hung with bells, and bringing out his
long lance, fitted the pieces together. Then he seized one of
the Arab's horses and mounting it cried out to the Badawi
Chief, saying, "Come out to fight me with spears!" Moreover
he shook his bells and the Arab's mare took fright at the
noise and Ali struck the Chief's spear and broke it. Then he
smote him on the neck and cut off his head.
[FN#221] When the
Badawin saw their chief fall, they ran at Ali, but he cried
out, saying, "Allaho Akbar--God is Most Great!"--and, falling
on them broke them and put them to flight. Then he raised the
Chief's head on his spear-point and returned to the
merchants, who rewarded him liberally and continued their
journey, till they reached Baghdad. Thereupon Ali took his
money from the Provost and committed it to the Syrian
caravan-leader, saying, "When thou returnest to Cairo, ask
for my barracks and give these monies to my deputy." Then he
slept that night and on the morrow he entered the city and
threading the streets enquired for Calamity Ahmad's quarters;
but none would direct him thereto.
[FN#222] So he walked on,
till he came to the square Al-Nafz, where he saw children at
play, and amongst them a lad called Ahmad al-Lakít,
[FN#223]
and said to himself, "O my Ali, thou shalt not get news of
them but from their little ones." Then he turned and seeing a
sweet-meat-seller bought Halwá of him and called to the
children; but Ahmad al-Lakit drove the rest away and coming
up to him, said, "What seekest thou?" Quoth Ali, "I had a son
and he died and I saw him in a dream asking for sweetmeats:
wherefore I have bought them and wish to give each child a
bit." So saying, he gave Ahmad a slice, and he looked at it
and seeing a dinar sticking to it, said "Begone! I am no
catamite: seek another than I." Quoth Ali, "O my son, none
but a sharp fellow taketh the hire, even as he is a sharp one
who giveth it. I have sought all day for Ahmad al-Danaf's
barrack, but none would direct me thereto; so this dinar is
thine an thou wilt guide me thither." Quoth the lad, "I will
run before thee and do thou keep up with me, till I come to
the place, when I will catch up a pebble with my foot
[FN#224]
and kick it against the door; and so shalt thou know it."
Accordingly he ran on and Ali after him, till they came to the
place, when the boy caught up a pebble between his toes and
kicked it against the door so as to make the place known.--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Eleventh Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Ahmad the Abortion had made known the place, Ali laid hold of
him and would have taken the dinar from him, but could not; so
he said to him, "Go: thou deservest largesse for thou art a
sharp fellow, whole of wit and stout of heart. Inshallah, if
I become a captain to the Caliph, I will make thee one of my
lads." Then the boy made off and Ali Zaybak went up to the
door and knocked; whereupon quoth Ahmad al-Danaf, "O
doorkeeper, open the door; that is the knock of Quicksilver
Ali the Cairene." So he opened the door and Ali entered and
saluted with the salam Ahmad who embraced him, and the Forty
greeted him. Then Calamity Ahmad gave him a suit of clothes,
saying, "When the Caliph made me captain, he clothed my lads
and I kept this suit
[FN#225] for thee." Then they seated him
in the place of honour and setting on meat they ate well and
drink they drank hard and made merry till the morning, when
Ahmad said to Ali, "Beware thou walk not about the streets of
Baghdad, but sit thee still in this barrack." Asked Ali, "Why
so? Have I come hither to be shut up? No, I came to look
about me and divert myself." Replied Ahmad, "O my son, think
not that Baghdad be like Cairo. Baghdad is the seat of the
Caliphate; sharpers abound therein and rogueries spring
therefrom as worts spring out of earth." So Ali abode in the
barrack three days when Ahmad said to him, "I wish to present
thee to the Caliph, that he may assign thee an allowance."
But he replied, "When the time cometh." So he let him go his
own way. One day, as Ali sat in the barrack, his breast
became straitened and his soul troubled and he said in
himself, "Come, let us up and thread the ways of Baghdad and
broaden my bosom." So he went out and walked from street to
street, till he came to the middle bazar, where he entered a
cook-shop and dined;
[FN#226] after which he went out to wash
his hands. Presently he saw forty slaves, with felt bonnets
and steel cutlasses, come walking, two by two; and last of all
came Dalilah the Wily, mounted on a she-mule, with a gilded
helmet which bore a ball of polished steel, and clad in a coat
of mail, and such like. Now she was returning from the Divan
to the Khan of which she was portress; and when she espied
Ali, she looked at him fixedly and saw that he resembled
Calamity Ahmad in height and breadth. Moreover, he was clad
in a striped Abá-cloak and a burnous, with a steel cutlass by
his side and similar gear, while valour shone from his eyes,
testifying in favour of him and not in disfavour of him. So
she returned to the Khan and going in to her daughter,
fetched a table of sand, and struck a geomantic figure,
whereby she discovered that the stranger's name was Ali of
Cairo and that his fortune overcame her fortune and that of
her daughter. Asked Zaynab, "O my mother, what hath befallen
thee that thou hast recourse to the sand-table?" Answered
Dalilah, "O my daughter, I have seen this day a young man who
resembleth Calamity Ahmad, and I fear lest he come to hear
how thou didst strip Ahmad and his men and enter the Khan and
play us a trick, in revenge for what we did with his chief and
the forty; for methinks he has taken up his lodging in Al-
Danaf's barrack." Zaynab rejoined, "What is this? Methinks
thou hast taken his measure." Then she donned her fine
clothes and went out into the streets. When the people saw
her, they all made love to her and she promised and sware and
listened and coquetted and passed from market to market, till
she saw Ali the Cairene coming, when she went up to him and
rubbed her shoulder against him. Then she turned and said
"Allah give long life to folk of discrimination!" Quoth he,
"How goodly is thy form! To whom dost thou belong?"; and
quoth she, "To the gallant
[FN#227] like thee;" and he said,
"Art thou wife or spinster?" "Married," said she. Asked Ali,
"Shall it be in my lodging or thine?
[FN#228] and she
answered, "I am a merchant's daughter and a merchant's wife
and in all my life I have never been out of doors till to-day,
and my only reason was that when I made ready food and
thought to eat, I had no mind thereto without company. When I
saw thee, love of thee entered my heart: so wilt thou deign
solace my soul and eat a mouthful with me?" Quoth he, "Whoso
is invited, let him accept." Thereupon she went on and he
followed her from street to street, but presently he
bethought himself and said, "What wilt thou do and thou a
stranger? Verily 'tis said, 'Whoso doth whoredom in his
strangerhood, Allah will send him back disappointed.' But I
will put her off from thee with fair words." So he said to
her, "Take this dinar and appoint me a day other than this;"
and she said, "By the Mighty Name, it may not be but thou
shalt go home with me as my guest this very day and I will
take thee to fast friend." So he followed her till she came
to a house with a lofty porch and a wooden bolt on the door
and said to him, "Open this lock."
[FN#229] Asked he "Where is
the key?"; and she answered, "'Tis lost." Quoth he, "Whoso
openeth a lock without a key is a knave whom it behoveth the
ruler to punish, and I know not how to open doors without
keys?"
[FN#230] With this she raised her veil and showed him
her face, whereat he took one glance of eyes that cost him a
thousand sighs. Then she let fall her veil on the lock and
repeating over it the names of the mother of Moses, opened it
without a key and entered. He followed her and saw swords and
steel-weapons hanging up; and she put off her veil and sat
down with him. Quoth he to himself, "Accomplish what Allah
bath decreed to thee," and bent over her, to take a kiss of
her cheek; but she caught the kiss upon her palm, saying,
"This beseemeth not but by night." Then she brought a tray of
food and wine, and they ate and drank; after which she rose
and drawing water from the well, poured it from the ewer over
his hands, whilst he washed them. Now whilst they were on this
wise, she cried out and beat upon her breast, saying, "My
husband had a signet-ring of ruby, which was pledged to him
for five hundred dinars, and I put it on; but 'twas too large
for me, so I straitened it with wax, and when I let down the
bucket,
[FN#231] that ring must have dropped into the well. So
turn thy face to the door, the while I doff my dress and go
down into the well and fetch it." Quoth Ali, "'Twere shame on
me that thou shouldst go down there I being present; none
shall do it save I." So he put off his clothes and tied the
rope about himself and she let him down into the well. Now
there was much water therein and she said to him, "The rope
is too short; loose thyself and drop down." So he did himself
loose from the rope and dropped into the water, in which he
sank fathoms deep without touching bottom; whilst she donned
her mantilla and taking his clothes, returned to her mother--
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When is was the Seven Hundred and Twelfth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ali
of Cairo was in the well, Zaynab donned her mantilla and,
taking his clothes, returned to her mother and said, "I have
stripped Ali the Egyptian and cast him into the Emir Hasan's
well, whence alas for his chance of escaping!"
[FN#232]
Presently, the Emir Hasan, the master of the house, who had
been absent at the Divan, came home and, finding the door
open, said to his Syce, "Why didst thou not draw the bolt?"
"O my lord," replied the groom, "indeed I locked it with my
own hand." The Emir cried, "As my head liveth, some robber
hath entered my house!" Then he went in and searched, but
found none and said to the groom, "Fill the ewer, that I may
make the Wuzu-ablution." So the man lowered the bucket into
the well but, when he drew it up, he found it heavy and
looking down, saw something therein sitting; whereupon he let
it fall into the water and cried out, saying, "O my lord, an
Ifrit came up to me out of the well!" Replied the Emir, "Go
and fetch four doctors of the law, that they may read the
Koran over him, till he go away." So he fetched the doctors
and the Emir said to them, "Sit round this well and exorcise
me this Ifrit." They did as he bade them; after which the
groom and another servant lowered the bucket again and Ali
clung to it and hid himself under it patiently till he came
near the top, when he sprang out and landed among the
doctors, who fell a-cuffing one another and crying out,
"Ifrit! Ifrit!" The Emir looked at Ali and seeing him a young
man, said to him, "Art thou a thief?" "No," replied Ali;
"Then what dost thou in the well?" asked the Emir; and Ali
answered, "I was asleep and dreamt a wet dream;
[FN#233] so I
went down to the Tigris to wash myself and dived, whereupon
the current carried me under the earth and I came up in this
well." Quoth the other, "Tell the truth."
[FN#234] So Ali told
him all that had befallen him, and the Emir gave him an old
gown and let him go. He returned to Calamity Ahmad's lodging
and related to him all that had passed. Quoth Ahmad, "Did I
not warn thee that Baghdad is full of women who play tricks
upon men?" And quoth Ali Kitf al-Jamal, "I conjure thee by
the Mighty Name, tell me how it is that thou art the chief of
the lads of Cairo and yet hast been stripped by a girl?" This
was grievous to Ali and he repented him of not having
followed Ahmad's advice. Then the Calamity gave him another
suit of clothes and Hasan Shuman said to him, "Dost thou know
the young person?" "No," replied Ali; and Hasan rejoined,
"'Twas Zaynab, the daughter of Dalilah the Wily, the portress
of the Caliph's Khan; and hast thou fallen into her toils, O
Ali?" Quoth he, "Yes," and quoth Hasan, "O Ali, 'twas she who
took thy Chief's clothes and those of all his men." "This is
a disgrace to you all!" "And what thinkest thou to do?" "I
purpose to marry her." "Put away that thought far from thee,
and console thy heart of her." "O Hasan, do thou counsel me
how I shall do to marry her." "With all my heart: if thou
wilt drink from my hand and march under my banner, I will
bring thee to thy will of her." "I will well." So Hasan made
Ali put off his clothes; and, taking a cauldron heated
therein somewhat as it were pitch, wherewith he anointed him
and he became like unto a blackamoor slave. Moreover, he
smeared his lips and cheeks and pencilled his eyes with red
Kohl.
[FN#235] Then he clad him in a slave's habit and giving
him a tray of kabobs and wine, said to him, "There is a black
cook in the Khan who requires from the bazar only meat; and
thou art now become his like; so go thou to him civilly and
accost him in friendly fashion and speak to him in the blacks'
lingo, and salute him, saying, ''Tis long since we met in the
beer-ken.' He will answer thee, 'I have been too busy: on my
hands be forty slaves, for whom I cook dinner and supper,
besides making ready a tray for Dalilah and the like for her
daughter Zaynab and the dogs' food.' And do thou say to him,
'Come, let us eat kabobs and lush swipes.'
[FN#236] Then go
with him into the saloon and make him drunken and question
him of his service, how many dishes and what dishes he hath
to cook, and ask him of the dogs' food and the keys of the
kitchen and the larder; and he will tell thee; for a man,
when he is drunken, telleth all he would conceal were he
sober. When thou hast done this drug him and don his clothes
and sticking the two knives in thy girdle, take the
vegetable-basket and go to the market and buy meat and greens,
with which do thou return to the Khan and enter the kitchen
and the larder and cook the food. Dish it up and put Bhang in
it, so as to drug the dogs and the slaves and Dalilah and
Zaynab and lastly serve up. When all are asleep, hie thee to
the upper chamber and bring away every suit of clothes thou
wilt find hanging there. And if thou have a mind to marry
Zaynab, bring with thee also the forty carrier-pigeons." So
Ali went to the Khan and going in to the cook, saluted him
and said, "'Tis long since I have met thee in the beer-ken."
The slave replied, "I have been busy cooking for the slaves
and the dogs." Then he took him and making him drunken,
questioned him of his work. Quoth the kitchener, "Every day I
cook five dishes for dinner and the like for supper; and
yesterday they sought of me a sixth dish,
[FN#237] yellow
rice,
[FN#238] and a seventh, a mess of cooked pomegranate
seed." Ali asked, "And what is the order of thy service?" and
the slave answered, "First I serve up Zaynab's tray, next
Dalilah's; then I feed the slaves and give the dogs their
sufficiency of meat, and the least that satisfies them is a
pound each." But, as fate would have it, he forgot to ask him
of the keys. Then he drugged him and donned his clothes;
after which he took the basket and went to the market. There
he bought meat and greens.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Thirteenth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ali
of Cairo, after drugging the cook-slave with Bhang, took the
two knives which he stuck in his belt and, carrying the
vegetable-basket, went to the market where he bought meat and
greens; and, presently returning to the Khan, he saw Dalilah
seated at the gate, watching those who went in and came out,
and the forty slaves with her, armed. So he heartened his
heart and entered; but Dalilah knew him and said to him,
"Back, O captain of thieves! Wilt thou play a trick on me in
the Khan?" Thereupon he (dressed as a slave) turned and said
to her, "What sayest thou, O portress?" She asked, "What hast
thou done with the slave, our cook?; say me if thou hast
killed or drugged him?" He answered, "What cook? Is there
here another slave-cook than I?" She rejoined, "Thou liest,
thou art Mercury Ali the Cairene." And he said to her, in
slaves' patois, "O portress, are the Cairenes black or white?
I will slave for you no longer." Then said the slaves to him,
"What is the matter with thee, O our cousin?" Cried Dalilah,
"This is none of your uncle's children, but Ali Zaybak the
Egyptian; and meseems he hath either drugged your cousin or
killed him." But they said, "Indeed this is our cousin
Sa'adu'llah the cook;" and she, "Not so, 'tis Mercury Ali, and
he hath dyed his skin." Quoth the sharper, "And who is Ali? I
am Sa'adu'llah." Then she fetched unguent of proof, with which
she anointed Ali's forearm and rubbed it; but the black did
not come off; whereupon quoth the slaves "Let him go and
dress us our dinner." Quoth Dalilah, "If he be indeed your
cousin, he knoweth what you sought of him yesternight
[FN#239]
and how many dishes he cooketh every day." So they asked him
of this and he said, "Every day I cook you five dishes for
the morning and the like for the evening meal, lentils and
rice and broth and stew
[FN#240] and sherbet of roses; and
yesternight ye sought of me a sixth dish and a seventh, to
wit yellow rice and cooked pomegranate seed." And the slaves
said "Right!" Then quoth Dalilah, "In with him and if he know
the kitchen and the larder, he is indeed your cousin; but, if
not, kill him." Now the cook had a cat which he had brought
up, and whenever he entered the kitchen it would stand at the
door and spring to his back, as soon as he went in. So, when
Ali entered, the cat saw him and jumped on his shoulders; but
he threw it off and it ran before him to the door of the
kitchen and stopped there. He guessed that this was the
kitchen door; so he took the keys and seeing one with traces
of feathers thereon, knew it for the kitchen key and
therewith opened the door. Then he entered and setting down
the greens, went out again, led by the cat, which ran before
him and stopped at another door. He guessed that this was the
larder and seeing one of the keys marked with grease, knew it
for the key and opened the door therewith; where-upon quoth
the slaves, "O Dalilah, were he a stranger, he had not known
the kitchen and the larder, nor had he been able to
distinguish the keys thereof from the rest; verily, he is our
cousin Sa'adu'llah." Quoth she, "He learned the places from
the cat and distinguished the keys one from the other by the
appearance: but this cleverness imposeth not upon me." Then
he returned to the kitchen where he cooked the dinner and,
carrying Zaynab's tray up to her room, saw all the stolen
clothes hanging up; after which he went down and took Dalilah
her tray and gave the slaves and the dogs their rations. The
like he did at sundown and drugged Dalilah's food and that of
Zaynab and the slaves. Now the doors of the Khan were opened
and shut with the sun. So Ali went forth and cried out,
saying, "O dwellers in the Khan, the watch is set and we have
loosed the dogs; whoso stirreth out after this can blame none
save himself." But he had delayed the dogs' supper and put
poison therein; consequently when he set it before them, they
ate of it and died while the slaves and Dalilah and Zaynab
still slept under Bhang. Then he went up and took all the
clothes and the carrier-pigeons and, opening the gate made off
to the barrack of the Forty, where he found Hasan Shuman the
Pestilence who said to him, "How hast thou fared?" Thereupon
he told him what had passed and he praised him. Then he
caused him to put off his clothes and boiled a decoction of
herbs wherewith he washed him, and his skin became white as
it was; after which he donned his own dress and going back to
the Khan, clad the cook in the habit he had taken from him
and made him smell to the counter-drug; upon which the slave
awoke and going forth to the greengrocer's, bought vegetables
and returned to the Khan. Such was the case with Al-Zaybak of
Cairo; but as regards Dalilah the Wily, when the day broke,
one of the lodgers in the Khan came out of his chamber and,
seeing the gate open and the slaves drugged and the dogs
dead, he went in to her and found her lying drugged, with a
scroll on her neck and at her head a sponge steeped in the
counter-drug. He set the sponge to her nostrils and she awoke
and asked, "Where am I?" The merchant answered, "When I came
down from my chamber I saw the gate of the Khan open and the
dogs dead and found the slaves and thee drugged." So she took
up the paper and read therein these words, "None did this
deed save Ali the Egyptian." Then she awoke the slaves and
Zaynab by making them smell the counter-Bhang and said to
them, "Did I not tell you that this was Ali of Cairo?";
presently adding to the slaves, "But do ye conceal the
matter." Then she said to her daughter, "How often have I
warned thee that Ali would not forego his revenge? He hath
done this deed in requital of that which thou diddest with
him and he had it in his power to do with thee other than
this thing; but he refrained therefrom out of courtesy and a
desire that there should be love and friendship between us."
So saying, she doffed her man's gear and donned woman's
attire
[FN#241] and, tying the kerchief of peace about her
neck, repaired to Ahmad al-Danaf's barrack. Now when Ali
entered with the clothes and the carrier-pigeons, Hasan
Shuman gave the hall-keeper the price of forty pigeons and he
bought them and cooked them amongst the men. Presently there
came a knock at the door and Ahmad said, "That is Dalilah's
knock: rise and open to her, O hall-keeper." So he admitted
her and--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Fourteenth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Dalilah was admitted, Hasan asked her, "What bringeth thee
hither, O ill-omened old woman? Verily, thou and thy brother
Zurayk the fishmonger are of a piece!"; and she answered, "O
captain I am in the wrong and this my neck is at thy mercy;
but tell me which of you it was that played me this trick?"
Quoth Calamity Ahmad, "'Twas the first of my lads." Rejoined
Dalilah, "For the sake of Allah intercede with him to give me
back the carrier-pigeons and what not, and thou wilt lay me
under great obligation." When Hasan heard this he said,
"Allah requite thee, O Ali! Why didst thou cook the
pigeons?"; and Ali answered, "I knew not that they were
carrier-pigeons." Then said Ahmad, "O hall-keeper bring us
the cooked pigeons." So he brought them and Dalilah took a
piece and tasting it, said, "This is none of the carrier-
pigeons' flesh, for I fed them on grains of musk and their
meat is become even as musk." Quoth Shuman, "An thou desire
to have the carrier-pigeons, comply with Ali's will." Asked
she "What is that?" And Hasan answered, "He would have thee
marry him to thy daughter Zaynab." She said, "I have not
command over her except of affection"; and Hasan said to Ali
the Cairene "Give her the pigeons." So he gave them to her,
and she took them and rejoiced in them. Then quoth Hasan to
her, "There is no help but thou return us a sufficient
reply"; and Dalilah rejoined, "If it be indeed his wish to
marry her, it availed nothing to play this clever trick upon
us: it behoveth him rather to demand her in marriage of her
mother's brother and her guardian, Captain Zurayk, him who
crieth out, saying, 'Ho! a pound of fish for two farthings!'
and who hangeth up in his shop a purse containing two
thousand dinars." When the Forty heard this, they all rose
and cried out, saying, "What manner of blather is this, O
harlot? Dost thou wish to bereave us of our brother Ali of
Cairo?" Then she returned to the Khan and said to her
daughter, "Ali the Egyptian seeketh thee in marriage." Whereat
Zaynab rejoiced, for she loved him because of his chaste
forbearance towards her,
[FN#242] and asked her mother what
had passed. So she told her, adding, "I made it a condition
that he should demand thy hand of thine uncle, so I might
make him fall into destruction." Meanwhile Ali turned to his
fellows and asked them, "What manner of man is this Zurayk?";
and they answered, "He was chief of the sharpers of Al-Irak
land and could all but pierce mountains and lay hold upon the
stars. He would steal the Kohl from the eye and, in brief, he
had not his match for roguery; but he hath repented his sins
and foresworn his old way of life and opened him a
fishmonger's shop. And now he hath amassed two thousand
dinars by the sale of fish and laid them in a purse with
strings of silk, to which he hath tied bells and rings and
rattles of brass, hung on a peg within the doorway. Every
time he openeth his shop he suspendeth the said purse and
crieth out, saying, 'Where are ye, O sharpers of Egypt, O
prigs of Al-Irak, O tricksters of Ajam-land? Behold, Zurayk
the fishmonger hath hung up a purse in front of his shop, and
whoso pretendeth to craft and cunning, and can take it by
sleight, it is his.' So the long fingered and greedy-minded
come and try to take the purse, but cannot; for, whilst he
frieth his fish and tendeth the fire, he layeth at his feet
scone-like circles of lead; and whenever a thief thinketh to
take him unawares and maketh a snatch at the purse he casteth
at him a load of lead and slayeth him or doeth him a damage.
So O Ali, wert thou to tackle him, thou wouldst be as one who
jostleth a funeral cortége, unknowing who is dead;
[FN#243] for
thou art no match for him, and we fear his mischief for thee.
Indeed, thou hast no call to marry Zaynab, and he who leaveth
a thing alone liveth without it." Cried Ali, "This were
shame, O comrades; needs must I take the purse: but bring me
a young lady's habit." So they brought him women's clothes
and he clad himself therein and stained his hands with Henna,
and modestly hung down his veil. Then he took a lamb and
killing it, cut out the long intestine
[FN#244] which he
cleaned and tied up below; moreover he filled it with the
blood and bound it between his thighs; after which he donned
petticoat-trousers and walking boots. He also made himself a
pair of false breasts with birds' crops and filled them with
thickened milk and tied round his hips and over his belly a
piece of linen, which he stuffed with cotton, girding himself
over all with a kerchief of silk well starched. Then he went
out, whilst all who saw him exclaimed, "What a fine pair of
hind cheeks!" Presently he saw an ass-driver coming, so he
gave him a dinar and mounting, rode till he came to Zurayk's
shop, where he saw the purse hung up and the gold glittering
through it. Now Zurayk was frying fish, and Ali said, "O ass-
man, what is that smell?" Replied he, "It's the smell of
Zurayk's fish." Quoth Ali, "I am a woman with child and the
smell harmeth me; go, fetch me a slice of the fish." So the
donkey-boy said to Zurayk, "What aileth thee to fry fish so
early and annoy pregnant women with the smell? I have here
the wife of the Emir Hasan Sharr al-Tarik, and she is with
child; so give her a bit of fish, for the babe stirreth in
her womb. O Protector, O my God, avert from us the mischief
of this day!" Thereupon Zurayk took a piece of fish and would
have fried it, but the fire had gone out and he went in to
rekindle it. Meanwhile Ali dismounted and sitting down,
pressed upon the lamb's intestine till it burst and the blood
ran out from between his legs. Then he cried aloud, saying,
"O my back! O my side!" Whereupon the driver turned and
seeing the blood running, said, "What aileth thee, O my
lady?" Replied Ali, "I have miscarried"; where-upon Zurayk
looked out and seeing the blood fled affrighted into the
inner shop. Quoth the donkey-driver, "Allah torment thee, O
Zurayk! The lady hath miscarried and thou art no match for
her husband. Why must thou make a stench so early in the
morning? I said to thee, 'Bring her a slice,' but thou
wouldst not." Thereupon, he took his ass and went his way and,
as Zurayk still did not appear, Ali put out his hand to the
purse; but no sooner had he touched it than the bells and
rattles and rings began to jingle and the gold to chink.
Quoth Zurayk, who returned at the sound, "Thy perfidy hath
come to light, O gallows-bird! Wilt thou put a cheat on me and
thou in a woman's habit? Now take what cometh to thee!" And
he threw a cake of lead at him, but it went agley and lighted
on another; whereupon the people rose against Zurayk and said
to him, "Art thou a trades-man or a swashbuckler? An thou be a
tradesman, take down thy purse and spare the folk thy
mischief." He replied, "Bismillah, in the name of Allah! On
my head be it." As for Ali, he made off to the barrack and
told Hasan Shuman what had happened, after which he put off
his woman's gear and donning a groom's habit which was
brought to him by his chief took a dish and five dirhams.
Then he returned to Zurayk's shop and the fishmonger said to
him, "What dost thou want, O my master?"
[FN#245] He showed
him the dirhams and Zurayk would have given him of the fish
in the tray, but he said, "I will have none save hot fish." So
he set fish in the earthen pan and finding the fire dead,
went in to relight it; whereupon Ali put out his hand to the
purse and caught hold of the end of it. The rattles and rings
and bells jingled and Zurayk said, "Thy trick hath not
deceived me. I knew thee for all thou art disguised as a
groom by the grip of thy hand on the dish and the dirhams."--
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Fifteenth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Ali of Egypt put out his hand to the purse, the bells and
rings jingled and Zurayk said, "Thy trick hath not deceived
me for all thou comest disguised as a groom I knew thee by
the grip of thy hand on the dish and the dirhams!" So saying,
he threw the lead at him, but he avoided it and it fell into
the pan full of hot fish and broke it and overturned it, fat
and all, upon the breast and shoulders of the Kazi, who was
passing. The oil ran down inside his clothes to his privy
parts and he cried out, "O my privities! What a sad pickle
you are in! Alas, unhappy I! Who hath played me this trick?"
Answered the people, "O our lord, it was some small boy that
threw a stone into the pan: but for Allah's word, it had been
worse." Then they turned and seeing the loaf of lead and that
it was Zurayk who had thrown it, rose against him and said to
him, "O Zurayk, this is not allowed of Allah! Take down the
purse or it shall go ill for thee." Answered he, "I will take
it down, Inshallah!" Meanwhile Ali returned to the barrack
and told his comrades who cried, "Where is the purse?", all
that had passed and they said, "Thou hast exhausted two-
thirds of his cunning." Then he changed his groom's dress for
the garb of a merchant and going out, met a snake-charmer,
with a bag of serpents and a wallet containing his kit to
whom said he, "O charmer, come and amuse my lads, and thou
shalt have largesse." So he accompanied him to the barrack,
where he fed him and drugging him with Bhang, doffed his
clothes and put them on. Then he took the bags and repairing
to Zurayk's shop began to play the reed-pipe. Quoth Zurayk,
"Allah provide thee!" But Ali pulled out the serpents and
cast them down before him; whereat the fishseller, who was
afraid of snakes, fled from them into the inner shop.
Thereupon Ali picked up the reptiles and, thrusting them back
into the bag, stretched out his hand and caught hold of the
end of the purse. The rings again rang and the bells and
rattles jangled, and Zurayk cried, "Wilt thou never cease to
play me tricks? Now thou feignest thyself a serpent-charmer!"
So saying, he took up a piece of lead, and hurled it at Ali;
but it missed him and fell on the head of a groom, who was
passing by, following his master, a trooper, and knocked him
down. Quoth the soldier, "Who felled him?"; and the folk
said, "'Twas a stone fell from the roof." So the soldier
passed on and the people, seeing the piece of lead, went up
to Zurayk and cried to him, "Take down the purse!"; and he
said, "Inshallah, I will take it down this very night!" Ali
ceased not to practice upon Zurayk till he had made seven
different attempts but without taking the purse. Then he
returned the snake-charmer his clothes and kit and gave him
due benevolence; after which he went back to Zurayk's shop
and heard him say, "If I leave the purse here to-night, he
will dig through the shop-wall and take it; I will carry it
home with me." So he arose and shut the shop; then he took
down the purse and putting it in his bosom set out home, till
he came near his house, when he saw a wedding in a
neighbour's lodging and said to himself, "I will hie me home
and give my wife the purse and don my fine clothes and return
to the marriage." And Ali followed him. Now Zurayk had
married a black girl, one of the freed women of the Wazir
Ja'afar and she had borne him a son, whom he named Abdallah,
and he had promised her to spend the money in the purse on
the occasion of the boy's circumcision and of his marriage-
procession. So he went into his house and, as he entered, his
wife saw that his face was overcast and asked him, "What hath
caused thy sadness?" Quoth he, "Allah hath afflicted me this
day with a rascal who made seven attempts to get the purse,
but without avail;" and quoth she, "Give it to me, that I may
lay it up against the boy's festival-day." (Now Ali, who had
followed him lay hidden in a closet whence he could see and
hear all.) So he gave her the purse and changed his clothes,
saying, "Keep the purse safely, O Umm Abdallah, for I am
going to the wedding." But she said, "Take thy sleep awhile."
So he lay down and fell asleep. Presently, Ali rose and going
on tiptoe to the purse, took it and went to the house of the
wedding and stood there, looking on at the fun. Now
meanwhile, Zurayk dreamt that he saw a bird fly away with the
purse and awaking in affright, said to his wife, "Rise; look
for the purse." So she looked and finding it gone, buffeted
her face and said, "Alas the blackness of thy fortune, O Umm
Abdallah! A sharker hath taken the purse." Quoth Zurayk, "By
Allah it can be none other than rascal Ali who hath plagued
me all day! He hath followed me home and seized the purse;
and there is no help but that I go and get it back." Quoth
she, "Except thou bring it, I will lock on thee the door and
leave thee to pass the night in the street." So he went up to
the house of the wedding, and seeing Ali looking on, said to
himself, "This is he who took the purse; but he lodgeth with
Ahmad al-Danaf." So he forewent him to the barrack and,
climbing up at the back, dropped down into the saloon, where
he found every one asleep. Presently there came a rap at the
door and Zurayk asked, "Who is there!" "Ali of Cairo,"
answered the knocker; and Zurayk said, "Hast thou brought the
purse?" So Ali thought it was Hasan Shuman and replied, "I
have brought it;
[FN#246] open the door." Quoth Zurayk,
"Impossible that I open to thee till I see the purse; for thy
chief and I have laid a wager about it." Said Ali, "Put out
thy hand." So he put out his hand through the hole in the
side-door and Ali laid the purse in it; whereupon Zurayk took
it and going forth, as he had come in, returned to the
wedding. Ali stood for a long while at the door, but none
opened to him; and at last he gave a thundering knock that
awoke all the men and they said, "That is Ali of Cairo's
peculiar rap." So the hall-keeper opened to him and Hasan
Shuman said to him, "Hast thou brought the purse?" Replied
Ali, "Enough of jesting, O Shuman: didst thou not swear that
thou wouldest not open to me till I showed thee the purse, and
did I not give it thee through the hole in the side door? And
didst thou not say to me, 'I am sworn never to open the door
till thou show me the purse?'" Quoth Hasan? "By Allah, 'twas
not I who took it, but Zurayk!" Quoth Ali, "Needs must I get
it again," and repaired to the house of the wedding, where he
heard the buffoon
[FN#247] say, "Bravo,
[FN#248] O Abu
Abdallah! Good luck to thee with thy son!" Said Ali, "My luck
is in the ascendant," and going to the fishmonger's lodging,
climbed over the back wall of the house and found his wife
asleep. So he drugged her with Bhang and clad himself in her
clothes. Then he took the child in his arms and went round,
searching, till he found a palm-leaf basket containing
buns,
[FN#249] which Zurayk of his niggardliness, had kept
from the Greater Feast. Presently, the fishmonger returned
and knocked at the door, whereupon Ali imitated his wife's
voice and asked, "Who is at the door?" "Abu Abdallah,"
answered Zurayk and Ali said, "I swore that I would not open
the door to thee, except thou broughtest back the purse."
Quoth the fish-monger, "I have brought it." Cried All, "Here
with it into my hand before I open the door;" and Zurayk
answered, saying, "Let down the basket and take it therein."
So Sharper Ali let down the basket and the other put the
purse therein, whereupon Ali took it and drugged the child.
Then he aroused the woman and making off by the back way as
he had entered, returned with the child and the purse and the
basket of cakes to the barrack and showed them all to the
Forty, who praised his dexterity. There-upon he gave them
cakes, which they ate, and made over the boy to Hasan Shuman,
saying, "This is Zurayk's child; hide it by thee." So he hid
it and fetching a lamb, gave it to the hall-keeper who cooked
it whole, wrapped in a cloth, and laid it out shrouded as it
were a dead body. Meanwhile Zurayk stood awhile, waiting at
the door, then gave a knock like thunder and his wife said to
him, "Hast thou brought the purse?" He replied, "Didst thou
not take it up in the basket thou diddest let down but now?";
and she rejoined, "I let no basket down to thee, nor have I
set eyes on the purse." Quoth he, "By Allah the sharper hath
been beforehand with me and hath taken the purse again!" Then
he searched the house and found the basket of cakes gone and
the child missing and cried out, saying, "Alas, my child!"
Where-upon the woman beat her breast and said, "I and thee to
the Wazir, for none hath killed my son save this sharper, and
all because of thee." Cried Zurayk, "I will answer for him."
So he tied the kerchief of truce about his neck and going to
Ahmad al-Danaf's lodging, knocked at the door. The hall-
keeper admitted him and as he entered Hasan Shuman asked him,
"What bringeth thee here?" He answered, "Do ye intercede with
Ali the Cairene to restore me my child and I will yield to
him the purse of gold." Quoth Hasan, "Allah requite thee, O
Ali! Why didst thou not tell me it was his child?" "What hath
befallen him?" cried Zurayk, and Hasan replied, "We gave him
raisins to eat, and he choked and died and this is he." Quoth
Zurayk "Alas, my son! What shall I say to his mother?" Then
he rose and opening the shroud, saw it was a lamb barbecued
and said, "Thou makest sport of me, O Ali!" Then they gave
him the child and Calamity Ahmad said to him, "Thou didst
hang up the purse, proclaiming that it should be the property
of any sharper who should be able to take it, and Ali hath
taken it; so 'tis the very property of our Cairene." Zurayk
answered "I make him a present of it;" but Ali said to him,
"Do thou accept it on account of thy niece Zaynab." And
Zurayk replied, "I accept it." Then quoth the Forty, "We
demand of thee Zaynab in marriage for Ali of Cairo;" but
quoth he, "I have no control over her save of kindness."
Hasan asked, "Dost thou grant our suit?"; and he answered,
"Yes, I will grant her in marriage to him who can avail to
her mahr or marriage-settlement." "And what is her dowry?"
enquired Hasan; and Zurayk replied, "She hath sworn that none
shall mount her breast save the man who bringeth her the robe
of Kamar, daughter of Azariah the Jew and the rest of her
gear."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Sixteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Zurayk replied to Shuman, "She hath sworn that none shall
ride astraddle upon her breast save the man who bringeth her
the clothes of Kamar, daughter of Azariah the Jew and her
crown and girdle and pantoufle
[FN#250] of gold," Ali cried,
"If I do not bring her the clothes this very night, I
renounce my claim to her." Rejoined Zurayk, "O Ali, thou art
a dead man if thou play any of thy pranks on Kamar." "Why
so?" asked Ali and the other answered, "Her father, Jew
Azariah, is a skilful, wily, perfidious magician who hath the
Jinn at his service. He owneth without the city a castle,
whose walls are one brick of gold and one of silver and which
is visible to the folk only whilst he is therein: when he
goeth forth, it disappeareth. He brought his daughter this
dress I speak of from an enchanted treasure, and every day he
layeth it in a charger of gold and, opening the windows of
the palace, crieth out, 'Where are the sharpers of Cairo, the
prigs of Al-Irak, the master-thieves of Ajam-land? Whoso
prevaileth to take this dress, 'tis his.' So all the long-
fingered ones essayed the adventure, but failed to take it,
and he turned them by his magic into apes and asses." But Ali
said, "I will assuredly take it, and Zaynab shall be
displayed therein."
[FN#251] So he went to the shop of the Jew
and found him a man of stern and forbidding aspect, seated
with scales and stone-weights and gold and silver and nests
of drawers and so forth before him, and a she-mule tethered
hard by. Presently he rose and shutting his shop, laid the
gold and silver in two purses, which he placed in a pair of
saddle-bags and set on the she-mule's back. Then he mounted
and rode till he reached the city-outskirts followed, with-out
his knowledge, by Ali, when he took out some dust from a
pocket-purse and, muttering over it, sprinkled it upon the
air. No sooner had he done this than sharper Ali saw a castle
which had not its like, and the Jew mounted the steps upon
his beast which was a subject Jinni; after which he
dismounted and taking the saddle-bags off her back, dismissed
the she-mule and she vanished. Then he entered the castle and
sat down. Presently, he arose and opening the lattices, took
a wand of gold, which he set up in the open window and,
hanging thereto a golden charger by chains of the same metal,
laid in it the dress, whilst Ali watched him from behind the
door, and presently he cried out, saying, "Where are the
sharpers of Cairo? Where are the prigs of Al-Irak, the
master-thieves of the Ajam-land? Whoso can take this dress by
his sleight, 'tis his!" Then he pronounced certain magical
words and a tray of food spread itself before him. He ate and
conjured a second time, whereupon the tray disappeared; and
yet a third time, when a table of wine was placed between his
hands and he drank. Quoth Ali, "I know not how I am to take
the dress except if he be drunken." Then he stole up behind
the Jew whinger in grip; but the other turned and conjured,
saying to his hand, "Hold with the sword;" whereupon Ali's
right arm was held and abode half-way in the air hending the
hanger. He put out his left hand to the weapon, but it also
stood fixed in the air, and so with his right foot, leaving
him standing on one foot. Then the Jew dispelled the charm
from him and Ali became as before. Presently Azariah struck a
table of sand and found that the thief's name was Mercury Ali
of Cairo; so he turned to him and said, "Come nearer! Who art
thou and what dost thou here?" He replied, "I am Ali of
Cairo, of the band of Ahmad al-Danaf. I sought the hand of
Zaynab, daughter of Dalilah the Wily, and she demanded thy
daughter's dress to her dowry; so do thou give it to me and
become a Moslem, an thou wouldst save thy life." Rejoined the
Jew, "After thy death! Many have gone about to steal the
dress, but failed to take it from me; wherefore an thou deign
be advised, thou wilt begone and save thyself; for they only
seek the dress of thee, that thou mayst fall into destruction;
and indeed, had I not seen by geomancy that thy fortune
overrideth my fortunes I had smitten thy neck." Ali rejoiced
to hear that his luck overcame that of the Jew and said to
him, "There is no help for it but I must have the dress and
thou must become a True Believer." Asked the Jew, "Is this
thy will and last word," and Ali answered, "Yes." So the Jew
took a cup and filling it with water, conjured over it and
said to Ali, "Come forth from this shape of a man into the
form of an ass." Then he sprinkled him with the water and
straightway he became a donkey, with hoofs and long ears, and
fell to braying after the manner of asinines. The Jew drew
round him a circle which became a wall over against him, and
drank on till the morning, when he said to Ali, "I will ride
thee to-day and give the she-mule a rest." So he locked up
the dress, the charger, the rod and the charms in a
cupboard
[FN#252] and conjured over Ali, who followed him. Then
he set the saddle-bags on his back and mounting, fared forth
of the Castle, whereupon it disappeared from sight and he
rode into Baghdad, till he came to his shop, where he
alighted and emptied the bags of gold and silver into the
trays before him. As for Ali, he was tied up by the shop-
door, where he stood in his asinine form hearing and
understanding all that passed, without being able to speak.
And behold, up came a young merchant with whom fortune had
played the tyrant and who could find no easier Way of earning
his livelihood than water-carrying. So he brought his wife's
bracelets to the Jew and said to him, "Give me the price of
these bracelets, that I may buy me an ass." Asked the Jew,
"What wilt thou do with him?"; and the other answered, "O
master, I mean to fetch water from the river on his back, and
earn my living thereby." Quoth the Jew, "Take this ass of
mine." So he sold him the bracelets and received the ass-
shaped Ali of Cairo in part payment and carried him home.
Quoth Ali to himself, "If the Ass-man clap the pannel on thee
and load thee with water-skins and go with thee half a score
journeys a day he will ruin thy health and thou wilt die."
So, when the water-carrier's wife came to bring him his
fodder, he butted her with his head and she fell on her back;
whereupon he sprang on her and smiting her brow with his
mouth, put out and displayed that which his begetter left
him. She cried aloud and the neighbours came to her
assistance and beat him and raised him off her breast. When
her husband the intended water-carrier came home, she said to
him, "Now either divorce me or return the ass to his owner."
He asked, "What hath happened?"; and she answered, "This is a
devil in the guise of a donkey. He sprang upon me, and had not
the neighbours beaten him off my bosom he had done with me a
foul thing." So he carried the ass back to the Jew, who said
to him, "Wherefore hast thou brought him back?" and he
replied, "He did a foul thing with my wife." So the Jew gave
him his money again and he went away; and Azariah said to Ali,
"Hast thou recourse to knavery, unlucky wretch that thou art,
in order that"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Seventeenth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
when the water-carrier brought back the ass, its Jew owner
returned to him the monies and turning to Ali of Cairo said,
"Hast thou recourse to knavery, unlucky wretch that thou art,
in order that he may return thee to me? But since it pleaseth
thee to be an ass, I will make thee a spectacle and a
laughing stock to great and small." Then he mounted him and
rode till he came without the city, when he brought out the
ashes in powder and conjuring over it sprinkled it upon the
air and immediately the Castle appeared. He entered and
taking the saddle-bags off the ass's back set up the rod and
hung to it the charger wherein were the clothes proclaiming
aloud, "Where be the clever ones of all quarters who may
avail to take this dress?" Then he conjured as before and
meat was set before him and he ate and then wine when he
drank; after which he took a cup of water and muttering
certain words thereover, sprinkled it on the ass Ali, saying,
"Quit this form and return to thy former shape." Ali
straightway became a man once more and Azariah said to him,
"O Ali, take good advice and be content with my mischief.
Thou hast no call to marry Zaynab nor to take my daughter's
dress, for 'tis no easy matter for thee: so leave greed and
'twill be better for thee; else will I turn thee into a bear
or an ape or set on thee an Ifrit, who will cast thee behind
the Mountain Kaf." He replied, "I have engaged to take the
dress and needs must I have it and thou must Islamise or I
will slay thee." Rejoined the Jew, "O Ali, thou art like a
walnut; unless it be broken it cannot be eaten." Then he took
a cup of water and conjuring over it, sprinkled Ali with
somewhat thereof, saying, "Take thou shape of bear;"
whereupon he instantly became a bear and the Jew put a collar
about his neck, muzzled him and chained him to a picket of
iron. Then he sat down and ate and drank, now and then
throwing him a morsel of his orts and emptying the dregs of
the cup over him, till the morning, when he rose and laid by
the tray and the dress and conjured over the bear, which
followed him to the shop. There the Jew sat down and emptied
the gold and silver into the trays before Ali, after binding
him by the chain; and the bear there abode seeing and
comprehending but not able to speak. Presently up came a man
and a merchant, who accosted the Jew and said to him, "O
Master, wilt thou sell me yonder bear? I have a wife who is
my cousin and is sick; and they have prescribed for her to
eat bears' flesh and anoint herself with bears' grease." At
this the Jew rejoiced and said to himself, "I will sell him
to this merchant, so he may slaughter him and we be at peace
from him." And Ali also said in his mind, "By Allah, this
fellow meaneth to slaughter me; but deliverance is with the
Almighty." Then said the Jew, "He is a present from me to
thee." So the merchant took him and carried him into the
butcher, to whom he said, "Bring thy tools and company me."
The butcher took his knives and followed the merchant to his
house, where he bound the beast and fell to sharpening his
blade: but, when he went up to him to slaughter him, the bear
escaped from his hands and rising into the air, disappeared
from sight between heaven and earth; nor did he cease flying
till he alighted at the Jew's castle. Now the reason thereof
was on this wise. When the Jew returned home, his daughter
questioned him of Ali and he told her what had happened;
whereupon she said, "Summon a Jinni and ask him of the youth,
whether he be indeed Mercury Ali or another who seeketh to
put a cheat on thee." So Azariah called a Jinni by
conjurations and questioned him of Ali; and he replied, "'Tis
Ali of Cairo himself. The butcher hath pinioned him and
whetted his knife to slaughter him." Quoth the Jew, "Go,
snatch him up and bring him hither, ere the butcher cut his
throat." So the Jinni flew off and, snatching Ali out of the
butcher's hands, bore him to the palace and set him down
before the Jew, who took a cup of water and conjuring over
it, sprinkled him therewith, saying, "Return to thine own
shape." And he straightway became a man again as before. The
Jew's daughter Kamar,
[FN#253] seeing him to be a handsome
young man, fell in love with him and he fell in love with
her; and she said to him, "O unlucky one, why dost thou go
about to take my dress, enforcing my father to deal thus with
thee?" Quoth he, "I have engaged to get it for Zaynab the
Coney-catcher, that I may wed her therewith." And she said,
"Others than thou have played pranks with my father to get my
dress, but could not win to it," presently adding, "So put
away this thought from thee." But he answered, "Needs must I
have it, and thy father must become a Moslem, else I will slay
him." Then said the Jew, "See, O my daughter, how this
unlucky fellow seeketh his own destruction," adding, "Now I
will turn thee into a dog." So he took a cup graven with
characters and full of water and conjuring over it, sprinkled
some of it upon Ali, saying, "Take thou form of dog."
Whereupon he straight-way became a dog, and the Jew and his
daughter drank together till the morning, when the father
laid up the dress and charger and mounted his mule. Then he
conjured over the dog, which followed him, as he rode towards
the town, and all dogs barked at Ali
[FN#254] as he passed,
till he came to the shop of a broker, a seller of second-hand
goods, who rose and drove away the dogs, and Ali lay down
before him. The Jew turned and looked for him, but finding him
not, passed onwards. Presently, the broker shut up his shop
and went home, followed by the dog, which, when his daughter
saw enter the house, she veiled her face and said, "O my
papa, dost thou bring a strange man in to me?" He replied, "O
my daughter, this is a dog." Quoth she, "Not so, 'tis Ali the
Cairene, whom the Jew Azariah hath enchanted;" and she turned
to the dog and said to him, "Art not Ali of Cairo?" And he
signed to her with his head, "Yes." Then her father asked her,
"Why did the Jew enchant him?"; and she answered, "Because of
his daughter Kamar's dress; but I can release him." Said the
broker, "An thou canst indeed do him this good office, now is
the time," and she, "If he will marry me, I will release
him." And he signed to her with his head, "Yes." So she took
a cup of water, graven with certain signs and conjuring over
it, was about to sprinkle Ali therewith, when lo and behold!
she heard a great cry and the cup fell from her hand. She
turned and found that it was her father's handmaid, who had
cried out; and she said to her, "O my mistress, is't thus
thou keepest the covenant between me and thee? None taught
thee this art save I, and thou didst agree with me that thou
wouldst do naught without consulting me and that whoso
married thee should marry me also, and that one night should
be mine and one night thine." And the broker's daughter said,
"'Tis well." When the broker heard the maid's words, he asked
his daughter, "Who taught the maid?"; and she answered, "O my
papa, enquire of herself." So he put the question and she
replied, "Know, O my lord, that, when I was with Azariah the
Jew, I used to spy upon him and listen to him, when he
performed his gramarye; and when he went forth to his shop in
Baghdad, I opened his books and read in them, till I became
skilled in the Cabbala-science. One day, he was warm with
wine and would have me lie with him, but I objected, saying,
'I may not grant thee this except thou become a Moslem.' He
refused and I said to him, 'Now for the Sultan's
market.'
[FN#255] So he sold me to thee and I taught my young
mistress, making it a condition with her that she should do
naught without my counsel, and that whoso might wed her
should wed me also, one night for me and one night for her."
Then she took a cup of water and conjuring over it, sprinkled
the dog therewith; saying, "Return thou to form of man." And
he straightway was restored to his former shape; whereupon
the broker saluted him with the salam and asked him the
reason of his enchantment. So Ali told him all that had
passed--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Eighteenth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
broker, having saluted Ali of Cairo with the salam, asked him
the reason of his enchantment and what had befallen him; and
he answered by telling him all that had passed, when the
broker said to him, "Will not my daughter and the handmaid
suffice thee?" but he answered, "Needs must I have Zaynab
also." Now suddenly there came a rap at the door and the
maid said, "Who is at the door?" The knocker replied,
"Kamar, daughter of Azariah the Jew; say me, is Ali of Cairo
with you?" Replied the broker's daughter, "O thou daughter of
a dog! If he be with us, what wilt thou with him? Go down, O
maid, and open to her." So the maid let her in, and when she
looked upon Ali and he upon her, he said, "What bringeth
thee hither O dog's daughter?" Quoth she, "I testify that
there is no god but the God and I testify that Mohammed is
the Apostle of God." And, having thus Islamised, she asked
him, "Do men in the Faith of Al-Islam give marriage portions
to women or do women dower men?" Quoth he, "Men endow
women." "Then," said she, "I come and dower myself for thee,
bringing thee, as my marriage-portion, my dress together with
the rod and charger and chains and the head of my father, the
enemy of thee and the foeman of Allah." And she threw down
the Jew's head before him. Now the cause of her slaying her
sire was as follows. On the night of his turning Ali into a
dog, she saw, in a dream, a speaker who said to her, "Become
a Moslemah." She did so; and as soon as she awoke next
morning she expounded Al-Islam to her father who refused to
embrace the Faith; so she drugged him with Bhang and killed
him. As for Ali, he took the gear and said to the broker,
"Meet we to-morrow at the Caliph's Divan, that I may take thy
daughter and the handmaid to wife." Then he set out
rejoicing, to return to the barrack of the Forty. On his way
he met a sweetmeat seller, who was beating hand upon hand and
saying, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Folk's labour hath waxed
sinful and man is active only in fraud!" Then said he to Ali,
"I conjure thee, by Allah, taste of this confection!" So Ali
took a piece and ate it and fell down senseless, for there
was Bhang therein; whereupon the sweetmeat-seller seized the
dress and the charger and the rest of the gear and thrusting
them into the box where he kept his sweetmeats hoisted it up
and made off. Presently he met a Kazi, who called to him,
saying, "Come hither, O sweet-meat seller!" So he went up to
him and setting down his sack laid the tray of sweetmeats
upon it and asked, "What dost thou want?" "Halwá and
dragées,
[FN#256]" answered the Kazi and, taking some in his
hand, said, "Both of these are adulterated." Then he brought
out sweetmeats from his breast-pocket
[FN#257] and gave them
to the sweetmeat-seller, saying, "Look at this fashion; how
excellent it is! Eat of it and make the like of it." So he ate
and fell down senseless, for the sweetmeats were drugged with
Bhang, whereupon the Kazi bundled him into the sack and made
off with him, charger and chest and all, to the barrack of the
Forty. Now the Judge in question was Hasan Shuman and the
reason of this was as follows. When Ali had been gone some
days in quest of the dress and they heard no news of him,
Calamity Ahmad said to his men, "O lads, go and seek for your
brother Ali of Cairo." So they sallied forth in quest of him
and among the rest Hasan Shuman the Pestilence, disguised in
a Kazi's gear. He came upon the sweetmeat-seller and,
knowing him for Ahmad al-Lakit
[FN#258] suspected him of
having played some trick upon Ali; so he drugged him and did
as we have seen. Mean-while, the other Forty fared about the
streets and highways making search in different directions,
and amongst them Ali Kitf al-Jamal, who espying a crowd, made
towards the people and found the Cairene Ali lying drugged
and senseless in their midst. So he revived him and he came
to himself and seeing the folk flocking around him asked,
"Where am I?" Answered Ali Camel-shoulder and his comrades,
"We found thee lying here drugged but know not who drugged
thee." Quoth Ali, "'Twas a certain sweetmeat-seller who
drugged me and took the gear from me; but where is he gone?"
Quoth his comrades, "We have seen nothing of him; but come,
rise and go home with us." So they returned to the barrack,
where they found Ahmad al-Danaf, who greeted Ali and enquired
if he had brought the dress. He replied, "I was coming
hither with it and other matters, including the Jew's head,
when a sweetmeat-seller met me and drugged me with Bhang and
took them from me." Then he told him the whole tale ending
with, "If I come across that man of goodies again, I will
requite him." Presently Hasan Shuman came out of a closet
and said to him, "Hast thou gotten the gear, O Ali?" So he
told him what had befallen him and added, "If I know whither
the rascal is gone and where to find the knave, I would pay
him out. Knowest thou whither he went?" Answered Hasan, "I
know where he is," and opening the door of the closet, showed
him the sweetmeat-seller within, drugged and senseless. Then
he aroused him and he opened his eyes and finding himself in
presence of Mercury Ali and Calamity Ahmad and the Forty,
started up and said, "Where am I and who hath laid hands on
me?" Replied Shuman, "'Twas I laid hands on thee;" and Ali
cried, "O perfidious wretch, wilt thou play thy pranks on
me?" And he would have slain him: but Hasan said to him,
"Hold thy hand for this fellow is become thy kinsman." "How
my kinsman?" quoth Ali; and quoth Hasan, "This is Ahmad al-
Lakit son of Zaynab's sister." Then said Ali to the prisoner,
"Why didst thou thus, O Lakit?" and he replied, "My
grandmother, Dalilah the Wily, bade me do it; only because
Zurayk the fishmonger fore-gathered with the old woman and
said, 'Mercury Ali of Cairo is a sharper and a past master in
knavery, and he will certainly slay the Jew and bring hither
the dress.' So she sent for me and said to me, 'O Ahmad,
dost thou know Ali of Cairo?' Answered I, 'Indeed I do and
'twas I directed him to Ahmad al-Danaf's lodging when he
first came to Baghdad.' Quoth she, 'Go and set thy nets for
him, and if he have brought back the gear, put a cheat on him
and take it from him.' So I went round about the highways of
the city, till I met a sweetmeat-seller and buying his
clothes and stock-in-trade and gear for ten dinars, did what
was done." Thereupon quoth Ali, "Go back to thy grandmother
and Zurayk, and tell them that I have brought the gear and
the Jew's head and tell them to meet me to-morrow at the
Caliph's Divan, there to receive Zaynab's dowry." And Calamity
Ahmad rejoiced in this and said, "We have not wasted our
pains in rearing thee, O Ali!" Next morning Ali took the
dress, the charger, the rod and the chains of gold, together
with the head of Azariah the Jew mounted on a pike, and went
up, accompanied by Ahmad al-Danaf and the Forty, to the
Divan, where they kissed ground before the Caliph--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Seven Hundred and Nineteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ali
the Cairene went up to the Caliph's Divan, accompanied by his
uncle Ahmad al-Danaf and his lads they kissed ground before
the Caliph who turned and seeing a youth of the most valiant
aspect, enquired of Calamity Ahmad concerning him and he
replied, "O Commander of the Faithful, this is Mercury Ali
the Egyptian captain of the brave boys of Cairo, and he is
the first of my lads." And the Caliph loved him for the
valour that shone from between his eyes, testifying for him
and not against him. Then Ali rose; and, casting the Jew's
head down before him, said, "May thine every enemy be like
this one, O Prince of True Believers!" Quoth Al-Rashid,
"Whose head is this?"; and quoth Ali, "'Tis the head of
Azariah the Jew." "Who slew him?" asked the Caliph. So Ali
related to him all that had passed, from first to last, and
the Caliph said, "I had not thought thou wouldst kill him,
for that he was a sorcerer." Ali replied, "O Commander of the
Faithful, my Lord made me prevail to his slaughter." Then the
Caliph sent the Chief of Police to the Jew's palace, where he
found him lying headless; so he laid the body on a
bier,
[FN#259] and carried it to Al-Rashid, who commanded to
burn it. Whereat, behold, up came Kamar and kissing the
ground before the Caliph, informed him that she was the
daughter of Jew Azariah and that she had become a Moslemah.
Then she renewed her profession of Faith before the Commander
of the Faithful and said to him "Be thou my intercessor with
Sharper Ali that he take me to wife." She also appointed him
her guardian to consent to her marriage with the Cairene, to
whom he gave the Jew's palace and all its contents, saying,
"Ask a boon of me." Quoth Ali, "I beg of thee to let me stand
on thy carpet and eat of thy table;" and quoth the Caliph, "O
Ali, hast thou any lads?" He replied, "I have forty lads; but
they are in Cairo." Rejoined the Caliph, "Send to Cairo and
fetch them hither," presently adding, "But, O Ali, hast thou
a barrack for them?" "No," answered Ali; and Hasan Shuman
said, "I make him a present of my barrack with all that is
therein, O Commander of the Faithful." However, the Caliph
retorted, saying, "Thy lodging is thine own, O Hasan;" and he
bade his treasurer give the court architect ten thousand
dinars, that he might build Ali a hall with four daises and
forty sleeping-closets for his lads. Then said he, "O Ali,
hast thou any further wish, that we may command its
fulfilment?". and said Ali, "O King of the age, be thou my
intercessor with Dalilah the Wily that she give me her
daughter Zaynab to wife and take the dress and gear of
Azariah's girl in lieu of dower." Dalilah accepted the
Caliph's intercession and accepted the charger and dress and
what not, and they drew up the marriage contracts between Ali
and Zaynab and Kamar, the Jew's daughter and the broker's
daughter and the handmaid. Moreover, the Caliph assigned him
a solde with a table morning and evening, and stipends and
allowances for fodder; all of the most liberal. Then Ali the
Cairene fell to making ready for the wedding festivities and,
after thirty days, he sent a letter to his comrades in Cairo,
wherein he gave them to know of the favours and honours which
the Caliph had bestowed upon him and said, "I have married
four maidens and needs must ye come to the wedding." So,
after a reasonable time the forty lads arrived and they held
high festival; he homed them in his barrack and entreated them
with the utmost regard and presented them to the Caliph, who
bestowed on them robes of honour and largesse. Then the
tiring-women displayed Zaynab before Ali in the dress of the
Jew's daughter, and he went in unto her and found her a pearl
unthridden and a filly by all save himself unridden. Then he
went in unto the three other maidens and found them
accomplished in beauty and loveliness. After this it befel
that Ali of Cairo was one night on guard by the Caliph who
said to him, "I wish thee O Ali, to tell me all that hath
befallen thee from first to last with Dalilah the Wily and
Zaynab the Coney-catcher and Zurayk the Fishmonger." So Ali
related to him all his adventures and the Commander of the
Faithful bade record them and lay them up in the royal
muniment-rooms. So they wrote down all that had befallen him
and kept it in store with other histories for the people of
Mohammed the Best of Men. And Ali and his wives and comrades
abode in all solace of life, and its joyance, till there came
to them the Destroyer of Delights and Sunderer of Societies;
and Allah (be He extolled and exalted!) is All-
knowing!
[FN#260] And also men relate the tale of
ARDASHIR AND HAYAT AL-NUFUS.
