Thousand & One Nights: 94th Night

Ninety fourth night 
Shahrazad said:
I heard, O happy King, Ja'far said to the Caliph:

Shams al-Din told her what happened and how Badr al-Din Hasan had spent a night at his house, ten years ago, but had disappeared in the morning, how on that night the young man had gone into his daughter, taken her virginity, and made her pregnant, and how when her time came, she gave birth to a boy. The boy is with me. "Here is the son of your son," said Shams al-Din, bringing the boy in front of him.

She embraced Ajib pressing him.to her heart and kissed him. Tears of happiness trickled down her cheeks and she kissed the boy again and again. Shams al-Din said to her, "Get yourself ready and come with us to Egypt in search of your son, if God willing we may reunite with him."

The vizier went to take leave of the king. The king provided him for the journey and loaded him with gifts to king of Cairo.

Shams al-Din and his team set out of Basra. Badr al-Din's mother also accompanied them. They reached Aleppo where they stayed for three days. Then they came to Damascus. They pitched their tent at the place of their previous journey. Shamsu al-Din wanted to purchase some gifts to the king of Cairo, and went out of the tent.

Ajib said to the eunuch, "Tutor, let us go to the city and enjoy the sights and see what has become the cook and his shop."

"Very well, let us go," said the eunuch.

They left the tent and reached the city. They entered the city through Heavenly Gate. They, spent time at Umayyad mosque. [1] They remained there till the end of afternoon prayer. Then they walked through the Grand Market. They finally came to the shop of Badr al-Din Hasan and found him standing there. He had, for that day, prepared pomegranate-seed dish, preserved in almonds and sweet julep and flavoured with cardamom and rose water and the food was ready to serve. When Ajib looked at him and saw the wound on his forehead he regreted very much and felt pity towards him.

"Peace be with you, you have been on my mind," said Ajib to Badr al-Din. Badr al-Din felt very much happy at the sight of the boy. He bowed his head and tried to reply, but his tongue could not find the words. He looked at his son sadly and imploringly. 'I longed to see him, but when he is before me, I am dumbfounded,' he thought. Then he said, "Perhaps you and the noble gentleman will enter the shop and eat my food to heal my broken heart, for by God, I cannot look at you without a throbbing in.my heart. When I followed you last time, I was beside myself.

The break of dawn. Shahrazad stopped the story.







1. The site of Umayyad mosque has been a centre of worship from ancient times. In the iron age Armenians built there a temple dedicated to their God of Rain. Under the Roman rule it became the centre of Imperial cult of Jupiter. It was converted to a Cathedral by Emperor Theodosius 1. Under Islamic time a major portion of the site was confiscated by Umayyad Caliph al Walid.

 

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