Arabian Nights: 228th Night: Anis al Jalis, The Slave Girl - 28

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that one night, that the Caliph Harun al Rashid passed by one of the chambers in his palace, he heard someone reciting the following verses:

The torments of love has wracked 
Me body and soul, ever since  the 
Fate has drove us apart. God allows
All lovers to unite, but,  condemned 
My unrequited heart.

The Caliph cried out, "Who is in the chamber?"

A woman replied, "O my lord, I am Anis al Jalis, whose lord you sent to Basra to replace the Lord, Muhammad ibn Sulaiman as king."
The Caliph recollected his word to Anis al Jalis, and called out Ja'far.

When the Ja'far came the Caliph said, "I have forgotten Nur al-Din Ali ibn-Khaqan and forgotten to send the investiture and the deed of bestowal, and I fear that his enemy may have succeeded in killing him.  Ride posthaste to Basra, and if you find him dead, hang the vizier, but if you find him alive, bring him with the king and the vizier to me, and do not tarry beyond the time necessary for the journey."

Ja'far prepared himself and set out for Basra with his retinue.

But 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