Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics) (40 page)

‘I took them and went home with my mother, bringing the ape with us, and we called down blessings on ‘Abd Allah. After we had repaired our own house we bought other houses, as well as property, orchards and slaves both male and female. I then went to a fine ship and sailed to Oman with the ape, accompanied by ‘Abd Allah and other merchants. When we got there we found the divers at work, and I let the ape go. It dived down and came up with three oysters, one in its mouth and one in each paw. It did this twenty times and fetched sixty oysters. I sold them all and went back to Basra having made a hundred thousand dinars. I built a villa with a fine orchard next to it, watered by a number of streams, and I constructed baths and two mills, one for saffron and the other for wheat. I bought estates, orchards, khans and whole districts. I had slaves of both sexes; I became the wealthiest man in Basra; in a short time I had become proverbial and I was the master of men.

‘One day I was sitting with the ape seated in front of me on a chair of red gold, studded with pearls and other gems, eating its fill of its sweets. When it had had enough it shook itself, got down from the chair and sat down before me. Then it spoke to me in eloquent Arabic and said: “Damn you, Abu Muhammad, how long am I going to act as your servant, getting money for you until I have made you the wealthiest man of your time?” When I heard it speak, I quaked with fear and said to myself: “By God, it would be a wonder if this ape were not a king of the
jinn
,” and I asked it who it was. “I have been good to you,” the ape replied, “so that you may relieve me of the pain of love and the distress of passion that has sickened and inflamed me.” “Master,” I repeated, “who are you? What do you want and whom do you love?”

‘The ape said: “You should know that I am a
jinn
king and I love a Basran girl called Badr al-Sama’, the daughter of Marhab al-Tamimi.” “You can do things that I can’t, master,” I told it, but it said: “Things are not as you think. Had I power over her, I would not have served you and given you all this wealth, but she is kept from me by spells, magic books and formulae, sacred names and talismans which keep me away from her house, and love for her is killing me.” “How can she be reached?” I asked, and it said: “If you do what I tell you, you will get
to her, but if you disobey me, you will die.” “Say on,” I told him, “for I shall certainly never disobey.”

‘He told me: “Go off tomorrow, taking a purse with a thousand dinars in it. Go to the qadi, greet him and give him a hundred dinars and give another hundred to the official witnesses. Tell them to accompany you to her father and ask him for her hand, giving him whatever money he asks for, and I shall replace it for you.” “To hear is to obey,” I said.

‘Next day I took the thousand dinars and went to greet the qadi. He got up to welcome me gladly, saying: “This is a blessed day.” I gave him two hundred dinars and divided another two hundred amongst the witnesses, telling them that I wanted them to ask the hand of Badr al-Sama’, the daughter of Marhab al-Tamimi, on my behalf. “To hear is to obey,” they said, “for who has a better right to her than you who are today the wealthiest person of your time?”

‘They went off with the qadi to a mosque by the door of Marhab’s house. When we went in, Marhab came to us and, on seeing the qadi, he went up to greet him and kissed his hand. The qadi and the witnesses jumped up to greet him, and the qadi then led them in prayer. After that he went up to Marhab and, addressing him with respect, he said: “We have come to ask for the hand of the sheltered pearl, the guarded jewel, on behalf of this honourable man, Abu Muhammad. You know all about him, his reputation and his riches.” He said that he would gladly accept but on condition that I hand over as dowry ten thousand dinars, ten satin robes, ten maid-servants, a thousand sheep, a hundred cows, ten thousand hens, a thousand
ratls
of sugar, ten
ratls
of saffron, ten of
qamari
aloes
, ten of musk and a thousand of henna for the wedding. I told him that I had all that he wanted and more, so I could do this. He added: “and she is not going to leave my house,” to which I said: “I agree to that.”

‘I then got up and went home, where I told the ape everything that Marhab had asked for, and it promised to produce it. It rose and went into the sitting room, where I didn’t know what it was doing, as it was out of sight. When it did not appear I went into the room to see what was happening, but I could not find it and remained perplexed, saying to myself: “It has gone, and I don’t think that it will come back.” I then went out and sat for a time, when suddenly there it was coming up to me. “What are you doing sitting here?” it said. “Get up and come into the sitting room.” “What am I supposed to do?” I asked, and it repeated: “Get up and come into the sitting room.”

‘When I did, I discovered ten trays of gold and ten of silver piled with dinars, as well as ten packages of satin. When I saw this I went out again and asked what I was to do with them. “Send Marhab what he asked from you,” the ape said, “and add another thousand dinars.” I got the boys, girls and servants to carry these on their heads and I saw to it that Marhab got all that he had asked for and a thousand dinars more. He was delighted and summoned the qadi and the witnesses, drew up the girl’s marriage contract and went happily home.

‘On the night of the wedding the ape came to sit in front of me and asked me what I intended to do. “Whatever you tell me,” I replied, and he said: “Take care not to covet the girl, or I shall come back and burn you up and leave you as a lesson for those who can learn.” I agreed to this and when evening came I found the world full of candles and torches burning in holders of gold and silver. There were servants and serving girls, and everyone who saw me congratulated me on my good fortune, as there was no girl on the face of the earth more beautiful than my bride.

‘They then brought me to her house and sat me on a seat of honour, covered with silk and Rumi brocade. There was incense, ambergris and aloes, as well as singing, with drums and pipes, and everything was filled with splendour. Then ten maids, beautiful as moons, came in holding the train of the bride, who was like the moon at its full, more lovely than a statue and standing out more clearly than a banner, with hair dark as night. Above was the narrow path to Paradise; her eyebrows were curved like bows; magic lay in her eyes, and the Pleiades rose from her brow. Copies of the Qur’an were scattered round about her; she was wearing golden bracelets with pearls, together with necklaces and pendants of red gold, while the maids were shouting out praises to God and blessings on the Prophet, the bringer of good news and the warner.

‘When I stole a glance at her I could see that she was indescribably beautiful, with a net of large pearls on her head. At the sight I looked down at the ground, not daring to stare at her again, and I said to myself: “By God, I have never seen and never will see a girl like this.” I wished that she were mine, as she was worth the wealth of the whole world, and I remained regretful that I would have to part from her. People were telling me to look up and see what Almighty God had given me, but I was too frightened of the ape to do this. Then they pushed her towards me and went away, leaving her with me. I sat at the side of the hall and fell asleep without having approached her.

‘Next morning I went out to the market, and people went in and asked her how the night had been. “He never looked up at me,” she told them. Then, when it was afternoon, I went to my house, where the ape was sitting by the door. “Tell me what you did,” it said, and I told it: “By God, I did not learn and do not know whether this was a man or a girl.” “That’s what I want,” it said.

‘It then left, and I was praying to God that he would not come back, but back it came at midnight with servants, both negroes and Indians, carrying on their heads trays of gold and silver, filled with dinars, pearls, gems, musk, aloes, incense and other things passing all description. I remained astonished and amazed at all these riches and I went up to the ape and asked it what it wanted me to do with them. It said: “When you get to the house tonight and see the girl asleep, I want you to go to the top of the room and remove the brocade that is covering an iron door. Open the door and you will see an iron couch with four legs inscribed with talismans. Over the door is a white crested cock; kill it; wrap it in the tablecloth and put the four poles from the couch over it and you will be protected from any harm that I or any other
jinni
could do you.”

‘On the second night my bride was brought to me, after which the servants left her and went away. She fell asleep, and, while she was sleeping, I killed the cock, wrapped it in the cloth and put the four poles from the couch over it. Suddenly there was a huge crash like a peal of thunder and a fiery
‘ifrit
swooped on the girl. I fainted at the sight and when I recovered I heard a voice saying: “By the Lord of the Ka‘ba, the girl has been carried off!” and there was a sound like the rustling of wind and bitter weeping. At this I shed tears, struck my head and was filled with regret when it was no longer of any use, for to me the whole world was worth no more than a bean.

‘I fled from Basra, sad and tearful, with no idea where I was going, and I was reciting these lines:

The pain of parting makes me melt away,

As lovers do when those they love are harsh.

I wonder at the patience that I showed

When I had lost my love, for that was wonderful.

Beloved, do you know that since you left,

I have remained confused in misery.

I then heard a voice that said: “Damn you, have you no fear of Almighty God that you hand over a girl to an unbelieving
‘ifrit
?” I walked for a
time amongst the palm-trees until I caught sight of a person, whom I approached. When I asked him who he was he said: “I am one of the
jinn
who were converted to Islam at the hands of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God ennoble him.” “How can I get to my wife?” I asked him, and he said: “Wretched fellow, you had a bird which you allowed to fly away and now you want to fly after it.” But he added: “Follow this road with God’s blessing all night until dawn and then by the shore you will see a huge cave in which there is an idol made of white stone. You must drink of the water that there is coming out of the cave and smear your face with its mud. Stay there and a barge will pass you as you stand opposite the statue. Various different creatures will emerge, heads without bodies and bodies without heads, and they will prostrate themselves in adoration to the idol rather than to Almighty God. When you see that, embark on the barge and cross to the other bank and walk along it until sunset. On a high point you will see a castle built of bricks of gold and silver. That is where your
‘ifrit
will be. I have now told you about this, so goodbye.”

‘I followed his instructions and reached the cave, where I saw that the creatures had arrived. I waited until they were busy worshipping the idol, and then I boarded the barge and crossed to the far shore, after which I walked along the bank all day until nightfall and I went on walking until the sun rose next morning. It was then that I looked down over a lofty, spacious and solidly constructed castle built of silver and gold. It had a door of aloes wood inset with ivory slabs studded with gleaming pearls and set in white silver with a golden knocker adorned with rubies. I went up, saying: “Where are the leaders? Where are the champions?” strengthening and encouraging myself, holding a deadly sword and telling myself that I would either rescue the girl or die fighting for her. When I entered, my heart was strong, but I was afraid of the ape.

‘As I got to the middle of the place I saw rooms of red gold and a dome of pearls and other gems, with a door set with panels of silver and studded with jewels of all kinds. In the middle there was an inlaid ivory couch decorated with variously engraved panels. On this was seated the girl, who was reciting the Qur’an and praising and glorifying Almighty God. When she caught sight of me she exclaimed: “Abu Muhammad, there is something that we have to settle between us.” “Lady,” I said, “I excuse myself before Almighty God and before you.” “Tyrant and evil-doer,” she said, “did you have no fear of God when you handed me
over to a vile
‘ifrit
?” “Praise be to God that you are safe!” I exclaimed, and she said: “You abandoned me, but the Great and Glorious God came to my help and destroyed my enemy.” “How did that happen?” I asked and she said: “When he snatched me up and flew off with me I fainted and when I recovered consciousness I was in this castle. I plucked up courage and when he was about to approach me I looked up to the heavens and cried: ‘God Who aids those who call for help, Who answers the call of those who are in distress and Who fulfils the needs of those who pray, save me from the evil of this damned
marid
in accordance with Your will, most Merciful of the merciful. I call on You through the truth of Muhammad, the Seal of the prophets.’ Before I had finished my prayer a meteor came down from the sky and burned him up, leaving him as a pile of ashes and protecting me from his evil.” “Praise be to God that you were saved!” I exclaimed.

‘I then got up, and the girl and I took all the precious jewels, wealth and treasures that were in the castle and went down to Basra. There we were met by her father and her relatives, who were delighted by what we had collected. Amongst that, Commander of the Faithful, was this jewel which I have brought you.’

Harun was amazed and delighted by this story and he rewarded Abu Muhammad generously, making him one of his boon companions. He was a constant visitor at court, and he and his wife led the most pleasant, delightful, luxurious and carefree of lives until they were visited by death, which none can avoid.

This is the story, and praise be to the One God, and blessings and peace be on our lord Muhammad, his family and his companions.