Arabian Nights: 225th Night: Anis al Jalis, The Slave Girl - 25

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that when King Muhammad ibn-Sulaiman al-Zainabi of Basra heard the advice of his vizier ibn-Sawi he directed the vizier to take Nur al-Din Ali.

The vizier took Nur al-Din Ali to his palace, and shouted to his servants, 
"Throw him to the ground."  The servants threw him to the ground and beat him until he fainted.  Then the vizier shackled him and threw him into a jail, shouting to the jailer, whose name was Qutait, "Qutait, throw him into the jail, and punish him."

The jailer beat Nur al-Din well into the night, until he fainted.  When he came to himself in the dark night, he recited the following:
I will endure it to my last breath.
When God fulfills his His decree, 
He who says life is sweetness 
A day bitter than aloes will see.

Nur al Din suffered the same treatment for ten days until the vizier decided to strike his head.  So he took some gifts and gave them to a group of unknown bedouins, saying, "Give these gifts to the king." When they presented these gifts to the king, the vizier said, "My lord, these gifts were not meant for you, but for Nur al-Din, the new king."  The king replied, "You have reminded me of him.  Bring him and let us strike off his head."

The vizier said, "When he beat me that time, my enemies gloated.  Will you permit me to proclaim in the city, 'Whoever wishes to watch the beheading of Nur al-Din Ali ibn-Khaqan, let him come to the royal palace."  There the public will come to watch, and I will be satisfied.

Morning overtook and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

( 16 )CHARLES DICKENS: DAVID COPPERFIELD: CHAPTER 16: I AM A NEW BOY IN MORE SENSES THAN ONE

Next morning, after breakfast, I entered on school life again.  I went, accompanied by Mr Wickfield to the scene of my future studies- a grave building in a courtyard, with a learned air about it that suited very well to the stray rooks and jackdaws who came down from the Cathedral tower to walk with a clerkly bearing on the grass plot - and was introduced to my new master, Doctor Strong. Doctor Strong looked almost as rusty, to my thinking, as the tall iron rails and gates outside the house; and almost as stiff and heavy as the great stone urn that flanked them, and were set up, on the top of red brick wall, at regular distances all round the court, like sublimated skittles for Time to play at.  Doctor Strong was in his library, with his clothes not particularly well brushed, and his hair not particularly combed, his knee-small unbraced, his long black gaiters unbuttoned, and his shoes  yawning like two caverns on the hearth-rug.  Turning upon me a lustreless eye, t...
Read more

Sailing Around Erythraean Sea: Thirteen

In the previous section Gaurdafui and Tohen on the Red Sea coast were described. Gaurdafui is on the apex of The Horn.Tohen is around 10 kilometres south of Gaurdafui. Gaurdafui's strategic position in relation to Gulf of Aden helped it to align it with known trade routes connecting East Africa to Arabia and India. Continue reading Thirteen. Beyond Taba (modern day Tohen), after four hundred stadia, there is the village of Pano . And then, after sailing four hundred stadia, along a promontory, towards which place the current also draws you, there is another market-town called Opone , into which the same things are imported, as those already mentioned, and in it the greatest quantity of cinnamon is produced, (the arebo, and moto), and slaves of better sort, which are brought to Egypt in increasing numbers and a great quantity of tortoise shell, better than that found elsewhere. My Search:- The village of Pano may be somewhere between Tohen and Hafun. It is widely accepted by scholar...
Read more

Marco Polo in Central Asia: 50: Province of Tendeu, Gog, Magog

Tendue [1] is a province towards east where there are cities and castles, and the chief one bears the same name.  The people belong to the great Khan, like all those formerly subject to Prester John. In this province there is a king named George, descended from that prince who indeed enjoys his power. He holds the land under the Khan, but only part of that was enjoyed by his ancestors.  Khans had often given their daughters and female relations to the reigning kings of this Tendue.  In this province are found stones from which azure [2] is made. They are plentiful and good.  There are camlets woven out of Camel's hair. The natives live on cattle and fruits. These include their merchandise, and they have some manufactures.  The Christians, as already mentioned are masters of land. There are also idolaters and followers of Mohammed. There is likewise people called Argon, meaning French Guasmul that is mixed of two races. They are handsome, prudent and commercial. ...
Read more