Harun Al-Rashid And The Arab Girl.


The Caliph Harun al-Rashid was walking one day with Ja'afar the Barmecide, when he espied a company of girls drawing water and went up to them, having a mind to drink. As he drew near, one of them turned to her fellows and improvised these lines,

"Thy phantom bid thou fleet, and fly * Far from the couch whereon
       &nbsp I lie;
So I may rest and quench the fire, * Bonfire in bones aye flaming
       &nbsp high;
My love-sick form Love's restless palm * Rolls o'er the rug
       &nbsp whereon I sigh:
How 'tis with me thou wottest well * How long, then, union wilt
       &nbsp deny?"

The Caliph marvelled at her elegance and eloquence.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Six Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night,

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph, hearing the girl's verses, marvelled at her elegance and eloquence, and said to her, "O daughter of nobles, are these thine own or a quotation?" Replied she, "They are my very own," and he rejoined, "An thou say sooth keep the sense and change the rhyme." So she said,

"Bid thou thy phantom distance keep * And quit this couch the
       &nbsp while I sleep;
So I may rest and quench the flames * Through all my body rageful
       &nbsp creep,
In love-sick one, whom passion's palms * Roll o'er the bed where
       &nbsp grief I weep;
How 'tis with me thou wottest well; * All but thy union hold I
       &nbsp cheap!"

Quoth the Caliph, "This also is stolen"; and quoth she, "Nay, 'tis my very own." He said, "If it be indeed thine own, change the rhyme again and keep the sense." So she recited the following,

"Unto thy phantom deal behest * To shun my couch the while I
       &nbsp rest,
So I repose and quench the fire * That burns what lieth in my
       &nbsp breast,
My weary form Love's restless palm * Rolls o'er with boon of
       &nbsp sleep unblest.
How 'tis with me thou wottest well * When union's bought 'tis
       &nbsp haply best!"

Quoth Al-Rashid, "This too is stolen"; and quoth she, "Not, so, 'tis mine." He said, "If thy words be true change the rhyme once more." And she recited,

"Drive off the ghost that ever shows * Beside my couch when I'd
       &nbsp repose,
So I may rest and quench the fire * Beneath my ribs e'er flames
       &nbsp and glows
In love-sick one, whom passion's palms * Roll o'er the couch
       &nbsp where weeping flows.
How 'tis with me thou wottest well * Will union come as union
       &nbsp goes?"

Then said the Caliph, "Of what part of this camp art thou?"; and she replied, "Of its middle in dwelling and of its highest in tentpoles."[FN#113] Wherefore he knew that she was the daughter of the tribal chief. "And thou," quoth she, "of what art thou among the guardians of the horses?"; and quoth he, "Of the highest in tree and of the ripest in fruit." "Allah protect thee, O Commander of the Faithful!" said she, and kissing ground called down blessings on him. Then she went away with the maidens of the Arabs, and the Caliph said to Ja'afar, "There is no help for it but I take her to wife." So Ja'afar repaired to her father and said to him, "The Commander of the Faithful hath a mind to thy daughter." He replied, "With love and goodwill, she is a gift as a handmaid to His Highness our Lord the Commander of the Faithful." So he equipped her and carried her to the Caliph, who took her to wife and went in to her, and she became of the dearest of his women to him. Furthermore, he bestowed on her father largesse such as succoured him among Arabs, till he was transported to the mercy of Almighty Allah. The Caliph, hearing of his death, went in to her greatly troubled; and, when she saw him looking afflicted, she entered her chamber and doffing all that was upon her of rich raiment, donned mourning apparel and raised lament for her father. It was said to her, "What is the reason of this?"; and she replied, "My father is dead." So they repaired to the Caliph and told him and he rose and going in to her, asked her who had informed her of her father's death; and she answered "It was thy face, O Commander of the Faithful!" Said he, "How so?"; and she said, "Since I have been with thee, I never saw thee on such wise till this time, and there was none for whom I feared save my father, by reason of his great age; but may thy head live, O Commander of the Faithful!" The Caliph's eyes filled with tears and he condoled with her; but she ceased not to mourn for her father, till she followed him—Allah have mercy on the twain! And a tale is also told of


Footnotes:

[FN#113] The tents of black wool woven by the Badawi women are generally supported by three parallel rows of poles lengthways and crossways (the highest line being the central) and the covering is pegged down. Thus the outline of the roofs forms two or more hanging curves, and these characterise the architecture of the Tartars and Chinese; they are still preserved in the Turkish (and sometimes in the European) "Kiosque," and they have extended to the Brazil where the upturned eaves, often painted vermilion below, at once attract the traveller's notice.