No More Learning

I was one of the walkers; but as we were thus engaged, behold
the master, who was standing on the gunwale, cried out to us
at the top of his voice, saying, "Ho there! passengers, run for
your lives and hasten back to the ship and leave your gear and
save yourselves from destruction, Allah preserve you! For this
island whereon ye stand is no true island, but a great fish sta-
tionary a-middlemost of the sea, whereon the sand hath settled.
and trees have sprung up of old time, so that it is become like
unto an island; but when ye lighted fires on it, it felt the heat
and moved; and in a moment it will sink with you into the sea
and ye will all be drowned. So leave your gear and seek your
safety ere ye die. "-
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
―――――


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NOW WHEN IT WAS THE FIVE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINTH NIGHT,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
ship-master cried to the passengers, "Leave your gear and seek
safety ere ye die," all who heard him left gear and goods,
clothes washed and unwashed, fire-pots and brass cooking-pots,
and fled back to the ship for their lives, and some reached it
while others (among whom was I) did not, for suddenly the
island shook and sank into the abysses of the deep, with all that
were thereon, and the dashing sea surged over it with clashing
waves. I sank with the others down, down into the deep, but
Almighty Allah preserved me from drowning and threw in my
way a great wooden tub of those that had served the ship's com-
pany for tubbing. I gripped it for the sweetness of life, and
bestriding it like one riding, paddled with my feet like oars,
whilst the waves tossed me as in sport right and left. Mean-
while, the captain made sail and departed with those who had
reached the ship, regardless of the drowning and the drowned;
and I ceased not following the vessel with my eyes, till she was
hid from sight and I made sure of death. Darkness closed in
upon me while in this plight, and the winds and waves bore me
on all that night and the next day, till the tub brought to with
me under the lee of a lofty island, with trees overhanging the
tide. I caught hold of a branch and by its aid clambered up on
to the land, after coming nigh upon death; but when I reached
the shore, I found my legs cramped and numbed, and my feet
bore traces of the nibbling of fish upon their soles; withal I had
felt nothing for excess of anguish and fatigue. I threw myself
down on the island-ground, like a dead man, and drowned in
desolation swooned away, nor did I return to my senses till next
morning, when the sun rose and revived me. But I found my
feet swollen, so made shift to move by shuffling on my breech
and crawling on my knees, for in that island were found store of
fruit and springs of sweet water. I ate of the fruits, which
strengthened me; and thus I abode days and nights, till my life
seemed to return and my spirits began to revive and I was
better able to move about. So after due consideration I fell to
exploring the island and diverting myself with gazing upon all
things that Allah Almighty had created there; and rested under
the trees, from one of which I cut me a staff to lean upon. One
day as I walked along the marge, I caught sight of some object


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THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
in the distance, and thought it a wild beast or one of the mon-
ster creatures of the sea; but as I drew near it, looking hard
the while, I saw that it was a noble mare, tethered on the beach.
Presently I went up to her, but she cried out against me with a
great cry, so that I trembled for fear and turned to go away,
when there came forth a man from under the earth and followed
me, crying out and saying, "Who and whence art thou, and what
caused thee to come hither? " "O my lord," answered I, “I am
in very sooth a waif, a stranger, and was left to drown with
sundry others by the ship we voyaged in; but Allah graciously
sent me a wooden tub, so I saved myself thereon, and it floated
with me till the waves cast me up on this island. ” When he
heard this he took my hand, and saying "Come with me," carried
me into a great Sardáb, or underground chamber, which was
spacious as a saloon. He made me sit down at its upper end;
then he brought me somewhat of food, and, being anhungered, I
ate till I was satisfied and refreshed. And when he had put me
at mine ease he questioned me of myself, and I told him all that
had befallen me from first to last. And as he wondered at my
adventure, I said, "By Allah, O my lord, excuse me; I have
told thee the truth of my case and the accident which betided
me. And now I desire that thou tell me who thou art, and why
thou abidest here under the earth, and why thou hast tethered
yonder mare on the brink of the sea. " Answered he, "Know
that I am one of the several who are stationed in different parts
of this island, and we are of the grooms of King Mihrján, and
under our hand are all his horses.
And Inshallah! I
will bear thee to King Mihrján — »
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
NOW WHEN IT WAS THE FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTIETH NIGHT,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Syce said to Sindbad the Seaman, "I will bear thee to King
Mihrján and show thee our country. And know that hadst thou
not happened on us, thou hadst perished miserably and none
had known of thee; but I will be the means of the saving of
thy life and of thy return to thine own land. " I called down
blessings on him and thanked him for his kindness and courtesy.
After this, we sat awhile, till the rest of the grooms


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653
came up, each leading a mare, and seeing me with their fellow-
Syce questioned me of my case, and I repeated my story to
them. Thereupon they drew near me, and spreading the table,
ate and invited me to eat; so I ate with them, after which they
took horse, and mounting me on one of the mares, set out with
me and fared on without ceasing, till we came to the capital
city of King Mihrján, and going in to him acquainted him with
my story. Then he sent for me, and when they set me before
him and salams had been exchanged, he gave me a cordial wel-
come and wishing me long life bade me tell him my tale. So I
related to him all that I had seen and all that had befallen me
from first to last, whereat he marveled and said to me, "By
Allah, O my son, thou hast indeed been miraculously preserved!
Were not the term of thy life a long one, thou hadst not escaped
from these straits; but praised be Allah for safety! " Then he
spoke cheerily to me and entreated me with kindness and con-
sideration; moreover, he made me his agent for the port and
registrar of all ships that entered the harbor. I attended him
regularly, to receive his commandments, and he favored me
and did me all manner of kindness and invested me with costly
and splendid robes. Indeed, I was high in credit with him, as
an intercessor for the folk and an intermediary between them.
and him, when they wanted aught of him. I abode thus a great
while, and as often as I passed through the city to the port, I
questioned the merchants and travelers and sailors of the city
of Baghdad; so haply I might hear of an occasion to return to
my native land, but could find none who knew it or knew any
who resorted thither. At this I was chagrined, for I was weary
of long strangerhood; and my disappointment endured for a
time till one day, going in to King Mihrján, I found with him
a company of Indians.
I saluted them and they returned my
salam; and politely welcomed me and asked me of my country-
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased say-
ing her permitted say.
·
NOW WHEN IT WAS THE FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIRST NIGHT,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
Sindbad the Seaman said:
When they asked me of my country
I questioned them of theirs, and they told me that they were of
various castes, some being called Shakiriyah, who are the noblest
-:


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of their castes and neither oppress nor offer violence to any, and
other Brahmans, a folk who abstain from wine, but live in de-
light and solace and merriment, and own camels and horses and
cattle. Moreover, they told me that the people of India are
divided into two-and-seventy castes, and I marveled at this with
exceeding marvel. Amongst other things that I saw in King
Mihrján's dominions was an island called Kásil, wherein all night
is heard the beating of drums and tabrets; but we were told by
the neighboring islanders and by travelers that the inhabitants
are people of diligence and judgment. In this sea I saw also a
fish two hundred cubits long, and the fishermen fear it; so they
strike together pieces of wood and put it to flight.
I also saw
another fish, with a head like that of an owl, besides many other
wonders and rarities, which it would be tedious to recount. I
occupied myself thus in visiting the islands, till one day, as I
stood in the port, with a staff in my hand, according to my
custom, behold, a great ship, wherein were many merchants, came
sailing for the harbor. When it reached the small inner port
where ships anchor under the city, the master furled his sails.
and making fast to the shore, put out the landing-planks, where-
upon the crew fell to breaking bulk and landing cargo whilst I
stood by, taking written note of them. They were long in
bringing the goods ashore, so I asked the master, "Is there
aught left in thy ship? " and he answered, "O my lord, there
are divers bales of merchandise in the hold, whose owner was
drowned from amongst us at one of the islands on our course;
so his goods remained in our charge by way of trust, and we
propose to sell them and note their price, that we may convey
it to his people in the city of Baghdad, the Home of Peace. "
"What was the merchant's name? " quoth I, and quoth he,
"Sindbad the Seaman "; whereupon I straitly considered him and
knowing him, cried out to him with a great cry, saying, "O
captain, I am that Sindbad the Seaman who traveled with other
merchants; and when the fish heaved and thou calledst to us,
some saved themselves and others sank, I being one of them.
But Allah Almighty threw in my way a great tub of wood, of
those the crew had used to wash withal, and the winds and
waves carried me to this island, where by Allah's grace I fell in
with King Mihrján's grooms and they brought me hither to the
King their master. When I told him my story he entreated me
with favor and made me his harbor-master, and I have prospered


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655
in his service and found acceptance with him. These bales, there-
fore, are mine, the goods which God hath given me-"
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
NOW WHEN IT WAS THE FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SECOND Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
when Sindbad the Seaman said to the captain, "These bales are
mine, the goods which Allah hath given me," the other ex-
claimed, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Verily, there is neither con-
science nor good faith left among men! " Said I, "O Rais, what
mean these words, seeing that I have told thee my case? " And
he answered, “Because thou heardest me say that I had with
me goods whose owner was drowned, thou thinkest to take them
without right; but this is forbidden by law to thee, for we saw
him drown before our eyes, together with many other passen-
gers, nor was one of them saved. So how canst thou pretend
that thou art the owner of the goods? " "O captain," said I,
"listen to my story and give heed to my words, and my truth
will be manifest to thee; for lying and leasing are the letter-
marks of the hypocrites. " Then I recounted to him all that had
befallen me since I sailed from Baghdad with him to the time
when we came to the fish-island where we were nearly drowned;
and I reminded him of certain matters which had passed be-
tween us; whereupon both he and the merchants were certified
of the truth of my story and recognized me and gave me joy of
my deliverance, saying, "By Allah, we thought not that thou
hadst escaped drowning! But the Lord hath granted thee new
life. " Then they delivered my bales to me, and I found my
name written thereon, nor was aught thereof lacking. So I
opened them, and making up a present for King Mihrján of the
finest and costliest of the contents, caused the sailors to carry it
up to the palace, where I went in to the King and laid my
present at his feet acquainting him with what had happened,
especially concerning the ship and my goods; whereat he won-
dered with exceeding wonder and the truth of all that I had
told him was made manifest to him. His affection for me
redoubled after that, and he showed me exceeding honor and
bestowed on me a great present in return for mine. Then I


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THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
sold my bales and what other matters I owned, making a great
profit on them, and bought me other goods and gear of the
growth and fashion of the island-city. When the merchants
were about to start on their homeward voyage, I embarked on
board the ship all that I possessed, and going in to the King,
thanked him for all his favors and friendship, and craved his
leave to return to my own land and friends. He farewelled
me and bestowed upon me great store of the country-stuffs and
produce; and I took leave of him and embarked. Then we set
sail and fared on nights and days, by the permission of Allah
Almighty; and Fortune served us and Fate favored us, so that
we arrived in safety at Bassorah-city where I landed rejoiced at
my safe return to my natal soil. After a short stay, I set out
for Baghdad, the House of Peace, with store of goods and com-
modities of great price. Reaching the city in due time, I went
straight to my own quarter and entered my house, where all my
friends and kinsfolk came to greet me. Then I bought me
eunuchs and concubines, servants and negro slaves, till I had a
large establishment, and I bought me houses, and lands and
gardens, till I was richer and in better case than before, and
returned to enjoy the society of my friends and familiars more
assiduously than ever, forgetting all I had suffered of fatigue
and hardship and strangerhood and every peril of travel; and I
applied myself to all manner joys and solaces and delights, eat-
ing the daintiest viands and drinking the deliciousest wines, and
my wealth allowed this state of things to endure. This, then, is
the story of my first voyage, and to-morrow, Inshallah! I will
tell you the tale of the second of my seven voyages. Saith he
who telleth the tale: Then Sindbad the Seaman made Sindbad
the Landsman sup with him and bade give him an hundred gold
pieces, saying, "Thou hast cheered us with thy company this
day. " The Porter thanked him, and taking the gift, went his
way, pondering that which he had heard and marveling mightily
at what things betide mankind.


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CONCLUSION OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT›
Translation of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton
NOW
Jow during this time Shahrazad had borne the King three boy
children; so, when she had made an end of the story of
Ma'aruf, she rose to her feet and kissing ground before
him, said, "O King of the time and unique one of the age and
the tide, I am thine handmaid, and these thousand nights and a
night have I entertained thee with stories of folk gone before
and admonitory instances of the men of yore. May I then make
bold to crave a boon of thy highness? " He replied, "Ask, O
Shahrazad, and it shall be granted to thee. " Whereupon she
cried out to the nurses and the eunuchs, saying, "Bring me my
children. " So they brought them to her in haste, and they were
three boy children, one walking, one crawling, and one sucking.
She took them, and setting them before the King, again kissed
ground and said, "O King of the Age, these are thy children and
I crave that thou release me from the doom of death, as a dole
to these infants; for, an thou kill me, they will become mother-
less and will find none among women to rear them as they should
be reared. " When the King heard this, he wept and straining
the boys to his bosom, said, “By Allah, O Shahrazad, I pardoned
thee before the coming of these children, for that I found thee
chaste, pure, ingenuous, and pious! Allah bless thee and thy
father and thy mother and thy root and thy branch! I take the
Almighty to witness against me that I exempt thee from aught
that can harm thee. "
So she kissed his hands and feet and rejoiced with exceeding
joy, saying, "The Lord make thy life long and increase thee in
dignity and majesty! " presently adding, "Thou marveledst at
which befell thee on the part of women; yet there betided the
Kings of the Chosroës before thee greater mishaps and more
grievous than that which hath befallen thee, and indeed I have
set forth unto thee that which happened to Caliphs and Kings
and others with their women, but the relation is longsome, and
hearkening groweth tedious, and in this is all-sufficient warning
for the man of wits and admonishment for the wise. " Then she
ceased to speak, and when King Shahryar heard her speech and
profited by that which she had said, he summoned up his reasoning
powers and cleansed his heart and caused his understanding to
11-42


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THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
revert, and turned to Allah Almighty and said to himself, "Since
there befell the Kings of the Chosroës more than that which hath
befallen me, never whilst I live shall I cease to blame myself
for the past. As for this Shahrazad, her like is not found in the
lands; so praise be to Him Who appointed her a means for deliv-
ering His creatures from oppression and slaughter! " Then he
arose from his séance and kissed her head, whereat she rejoiced,
she and her sister Dunyazad, with exceeding joy.
When the morning morrowed the King went forth, and sit-
ting down on the throne of the Kingship, summoned the Lords
of his land; whereupon the Chamberlains and Nabobs and Cap-
tains of the host went in to him and kissed ground before him.
He distinguished the Wazir, Shahrazad's sire, with special favor
and bestowed on him a costly and splendid robe of honor, and
entreated him with the utmost kindness, and said to him, “Allah
protect thee for that thou gavest me to wife thy noble daughter,
who hath been the means of my repentance from slaying the
daughters of folk. Indeed, I have found her pure and pious,
chaste and ingenuous, and Allah hath vouchsafed me by her
three boy children; wherefore praised be He for His passing
favor. " Then he bestowed robes of honor upon his Wazirs
and Emirs and Chief Officers and he set forth to them briefly
that which had betided him with Shahrazad, and how he had
turned from his former ways and repented him of what he had
done, and proposed to take the Wazir's daughter Shahrazad to
wife, and let draw up the marriage-contract with her. When
those who were present heard this, they kissed ground before
him and blessed him and his betrothed Shahrazad, and the Wazir
thanked her.
"
Then Shahryar made an end of his sitting in all weal, where-
upon the folk dispersed to their dwelling-places, and the news
was bruited abroad that the King proposed to marry the Wazir's
daughter, Shahrazad. Then he proceeded to make ready the
wedding gear, and presently he sent after his brother, King Shah
Zaman, who came, and King Shahryar went forth to meet him
with the troops. Furthermore, they decorated the city after the
goodliest fashion and diffused scents from censers and burnt
aloes-wood and other perfumes in all the markets and thorough-
fares and rubbed themselves with saffron, what while the drums
beat and the flutes and pipes sounded and mimes and mounte-
banks played and plied their arts, and the King lavished on


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THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
659
them gifts and largesse, and in very deed it was a notable day.
When they came to the palace, King Shahryar commanded to
spread the table with beasts roasted whole, and sweetmeats, and
all manner of viands, and bade the crier cry to the folk that they
should come up to the Diwan and eat and drink, and that this
should be a means of reconciliation between him and them.
high and low, great and small, came up unto him, and they abode
on that wise, eating and drinking, seven days with their nights.
So
Then the King shut himself up with his brother, and related
to him that which had betided him with the Wazir's daughter
Shahrazad during the past three years, and told him what he
had heard from her of proverbs and parables, chronicles and
pleasantries, quips and jests, stories and anecdotes, dialogues and
histories, and elegies and other verses; whereat King Shah Zaman
marveled with the utmost marvel and said, "Fain would I take
her younger sister to wife, so we may be two brothers-german
to two sisters-german, and they on like wise be sisters to us; for
that the calamity which befell me was the cause of our discover-
ing that which befell thee, and all this time of three years past
I have taken no delight in woman; but now I desire to marry
thy wife's sister Dunyazad. "
When King Shahryar heard his brother's words, he rejoiced
with joy exceeding, and arising forthright, went in to his wife
Shahrazad and acquainted her with that which his brother pur-
posed, namely, that he sought her sister Dunyazad in wedlock;
whereupon she answered, "O King of the Age, we seek of him
one condition, to wit, that he take up his abode with us, for that
I cannot brook to be parted from my sister an hour, because we
were brought up together, and may not endure separation each
from another. If he accept this pact, she is his handmaid. " King
Shahryar returned to his brother and acquainted him with that
which Shahrazad had said; and he replied, "Indeed, this is what
was in my mind, for that I desire nevermore to be parted from
thee one hour. As for the kingdom, Allah the Most High shall
send to it whomso He chooseth, for that I have no longer a
desire for the kingship. "
When King Shahryar heard his brother's words, he rejoiced
exceedingly and said, "Verily, this is what I wished, O my
brother. So Alhamdolillah-Praised be Allah! - who hath brought
about union between us. " Then he sent after the Kazis and
Olema, Captains and Notables, and they married the two brothers


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to the two sisters. The contracts were written out, and the two
Kings bestowed robes of honor of silk and satin on those who
were present, whilst the city was decorated and the rejoicings
were renewed. The King commanded each Emir and Wazir and
Chamberlain and Nabob to decorate his palace, and the folk of
the city were gladdened by the presage of happiness and content-
ment. King Shahryar also bade slaughter sheep, and set up
kitchens and made bride-feasts and fed all comers, high and low;
and he gave alms to the poor and needy and extended his bounty
to great and small.
Then the eunuchs went forth that they might perfume the
Hammam for the brides; so they scented it with rosewater and
willow-flower water and pods of musk, and fumigated it with
Kákilí eaglewood and ambergris. Then Shahrazad entered, she
and her sister Dunyazad, and they cleansed their heads and
clipped their hair. When they came forth of the Hammam-bath,
they donned raiment and ornaments, such as men were wont pre-
pare for the Kings of the Chosroës; and among Shahrazad's
apparel was a dress purfled with red gold and wrought with
counterfeit presentments of birds and beasts. And the two
sisters encircled their necks with necklaces of jewels of price, in
the like whereof Iskander rejoiced not, for therein were great
jewels such as amazed the wit and dazzled the eye; and the
imagination was bewildered at their charms, for indeed each of
them was brighter than the sun and the moon. Before them
they lighted brilliant flambeaux of wax in candelabra of gold,
but their faces outshone the flambeaux, for that they had eyes
sharper than unsheathed swords and the lashes of their eyelids
bewitched all hearts. Their cheeks were rosy red, and their
necks and shapes gracefully swayed, and their eyes wantoned
like the gazelle's; and the slave-girls came to meet them with
instruments of music.
Then the two Kings entered the Hammam-bath, and when
they came forth they sat down on a couch set with pearls and
gems, whereupon the two sisters came up to them and stood
between their hands, as they were moons, bending and leaning
from side to side in their beauty and loveliness. Presently they
brought forward Shahrazad and displayed her, for the first dress,
in a red suit; whereupon King Shahryar rose to look upon her,
and the wits of all present, men and women, were bewitched for
that she was even as saith of her one of her describers:
·-


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THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
661
A sun on wand in knoll of sand she showed, Clad in her
cramoisy-hued chemisette:
Of her lips' honey-dew she gave me drink * And with her rosy
cheeks quencht fire she set.
Then they attired Dunyazad in a dress of blue brocade, and she
became as she were the full moon when it shineth forth. So
they displayed her in this, for the first dress, before King Shah
Zaman, who rejoiced in her and well-nigh swooned away for
love-longing and amorous desire; yea, he was distraught with
passion for her, whenas he saw her, because she was as saith of
her one of her describers in these couplets:-
She comes appareled in an azure vest* Ultramarine as skies
are deckt and dight:
I view'd th' unparall'd sight, which showed my eyes * A
Summer-moon upon a Winter-night.
-
Then they returned to Shahrazad and displayed her in the second
dress, a suit of surpassing goodliness, and veiled her face with
her hair like a chin-veil. Moreover, they let down her side-
locks, and she was even as saith of her one of her describers in
these couplets:-
O hail to him whose locks his cheeks o'ershade, * Who slew
my life by cruel hard despight:
Said I, "Hast veiled the Morn in Night? " He said, * «Nay, I
but veil the Moon in hue of Night. "
Then they displayed Dunyazad in a second and a third and a
fourth dress, and she paced forward like the rising sun, and
swayed to and fro in the insolence of her beauty; and she was
even as saith the poet of her in these couplets: -
The sun of beauty she to all appears * And, lovely coy, she
mocks all loveliness:
And when he fronts her favor and her smile* A-morn, the
sun of day in clouds must dress.
Then they displayed Shahrazad in the third dress and the fourth
and the fifth, and she became as she were a Bán-branch snell of
a thirsting gazelle, lovely of face and perfect in attributes of
grace, even as saith of her one in these couplets:


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662
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She comes like fullest moon on happy night, Taper of waist
with shape of magic might;
She hath an eye whose glances quell mankind, * And ruby on
her cheeks reflects his light;
Enveils her hips the blackness of her hair; * Beware of curls
that bite with viper-bite!
Her sides are silken-soft, what while the heart * Mere rock
behind that surface 'scapes our sight;
From the fringed curtains of her eyne she shoots* Shafts that
at furthest range on mark alight.
Then they returned to Dunyazad and displayed her in the fifth
dress and in the sixth, which was green, when she surpassed
with her loveliness the fair of the four quarters of the world, and
outvied, with the brightness of her countenance, the full moon
at rising tide; for she was even as saith of her the poet in these
couplets:-
A damsel 'twas the tirer's art had decked with snare and sleight,
* And robed with rays as though the sun from her had borrowed
light;
She came before us wondrous clad in chemisette of green,
veiled by his leafy screen Pomegranate hides from sight;
And when he said, "How callest thou the fashion of thy dress? "
*She answered us in pleasant way, with double meaning dight,
"We call this garment crève-cœur; and rightly is it hight, * For
many a heart wi' this we brake and harried many a sprite. "
* As
Then they displayed Shahrazad in the sixth and seventh dresses
and clad her in youth's clothing, whereupon she came forward
swaying from side to side, and coquettishly moving, and indeed
she ravished wits and hearts and ensorcelled all eyes with her
glances. She shook her sides and swayed her haunches, then
put her hair on sword-hilt and went up to King Shahryar, who
embraced her as hospitable host embraceth guest, and threatened
her in her ear with the taking of the sword; and she was even
as saith of her the poet in these words:
Were not the Murk of gender male, * Than feminines surpassing fair,
Tire-women they had grudged the bride, * Who made her beard
and whiskers wear!
Thus also they did with her sister Dunyazad; and when they
had made an end of the display, the King bestowed robes of


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THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
663
honor on all who were present, and sent the brides to their own
apartments. Then Shahrazad went in to King Shahryar and
Dunyazad to King Shah Zaman, and each of them solaced him-
self with the company of his beloved consort, and the hearts of
the folk were comforted. When morning morrowed, the Wazir
came in to the two Kings and kissed ground before them;
wherefore they thanked him and were large of bounty to him.
Presently they went forth and sat down upon couches of king-
ship, whilst all the Wazirs and Emirs and Grandees and Lords
of the land presented themselves and kissed ground. King
Shahryar ordered them dresses of honor and largesse, and they
prayed for the permanence and prosperity of the King and his
brother. Then the two Sovrans appointed their sire-in-law the
Wazir to be Viceroy in Samarcand, and assigned him five of
the Chief Emirs to accompany him, charging them attend him
and do him service. The Minister kissed ground and prayed
that they might be vouchsafed length of life: then he went in
to his daughters, whilst the Eunuchs and Ushers walked before
him, and saluted them and farewelled them. They kissed his
hands and gave him joy of the kingship and bestowed on him
immense treasures; after which he took leave of them, and set-
ting out, fared days and nights, till he came near Samarcand,
where the townspeople met him at a distance of three marches
and rejoiced in him with exceeding joy. So he entered the
city, and they decorated the houses and it was a notable day.
He sat down on the throne of his kingship, and the Wazirs did
him homage and the Grandees and Emirs of Samarcand, and
all prayed that he might be vouchsafed justice and victory and
length of continuance. So he bestowed on them robes of honor
and entreated them with distinction, and they made him Sultan
over them. As soon as his father-in-law had departed for
Samarcand, King Shahryar summoned the Grandees of his realm
and made them a stupendous banquet of all manner of delicious
meats and exquisite sweetmeats. He also bestowed on them
robes of honor and guerdoned them, and divided the kingdoms
between himself and his brother in their presence, whereat the
folk rejoiced. Then the two Kings abode, each ruling a day in
turn, and they were ever in harmony each with other, while on
similar wise their wives continued in the love of Allah Almighty
and in thanksgiving to Him; and the peoples and the provinces
were at peace, and the preachers prayed for them from the


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664
THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
pulpits, and their report was bruited abroad and the travelers
bore tidings of them to all lands. In due time King Shahryar
summoned chronicles and copyists, and bade them write all that
had betided him with his wife, first and last; so they wrote this
and named it 'The Stories of the Thousand Nights and A
Night. ' The book came to thirty volumes, and these the King
laid up in his treasure. And the two brothers abode with their
wives in all pleasaunce and solace of life and its delights, for
that indeed Allah the Most High had changed their annoy into
joy; and on this wise they continued till there took them the
Destroyer of delights and the Severer of societies, the Desolator
of dwelling-places, and Garnerer of grave-yards, and they were
translated to the ruth of Almighty Allah; their houses fell waste
and their palaces lay in ruins, and the Kings inherited their
riches. Then there reigned after them a wise ruler, who was
just, keen-witted, and accomplished, and loved tales and legends,
especially those which chronicle the doings of Sovrans and Sul-
tans, and he found in the treasury these marvelous stories and
wondrous histories, contained in the thirty volumes aforesaid.
So he read in them a first book and a second and a third
and so
on to the last of them, and each book astounded and
delighted him more than that which preceded it, till he came
to the end of them. Then he admired what so he had read
therein of description and discourse and rare traits and anec-
dotes and moral instances and reminiscences, and bade the folk
copy them and dispread them over all lands and climes; where-
fore their report was bruited abroad and the people named
them 'The marvels and wonders of the Thousand Nights and
A Night. ' This is all that hath come down to us of the origin
of this book, and Allah is All-knowing. So Glory be to Him
Whom the shifts of Time waste not away, nor doth aught of
chance or change affect His sway! Whom one case diverteth
not from other case, and Who is sole in the attributes of per-
fect grace.
And prayer and the Peace be upon the Lord's
Pontiff and Chosen One among His creatures, our Lord MOHAM-
MED the Prince of mankind, through whom we supplicate Him
for a goodly and a godly end.


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665
ARABIC LITERATURE
BY RICHARD GOTTHEIL
F NO civilization is the complexion of its literary remains
so characteristic of its varying fortunes as is that of the
Arabic. The precarious conditions of desert life and of
the tent, the more certain existence in settled habitations, the grand-
eur of empire acquired in a short period of enthusiastic rapture, the
softening influence of luxury and unwonted riches, are so faithfully
portrayed in the literature of the Arabs as to give us a picture of
the spiritual life of the people which no mere massing of facts can
ever give. Well aware of this themselves, the Arabs at an early date
commenced the collection and preservation of their old literary monu-
ments with a care and a studious concern which must excite within
us a feeling of wonder. For the material side of life must have
made a strong appeal to these people when they came forth from
their desert homes. Pride in their own doings, pride in their own
past, must have spurred them on; yet an ardent feeling for the
beautiful in speech is evident from the beginning of their history.
The first knowledge that we have of the tribes scattered up and down
the deserts and oases of the Arabian peninsula comes to us in the
verses of their poets. The early Teuton bards, the rhapsodists of
Greece. were not listened to with more rapt attention than was the
simple Bedouin, who, seated on his mat or at the door of his tent,
gave vent to his feelings of joy or sorrow in such manner as nature
had gifted him. As are the ballads for Scottish history, so are the
verses of these untutored bards the record of the life in which they
played no mean part. Nor could the splendors of court life at
Damascus, Bagdad, or Cordova make their rulers insensible to the
charms of poetry, — that "beautiful poetry with which Allah has
adorned the Muslim. " A verse happily said could always charm, a
satire well pointed could always incite; and the true Arab of to-day
will listen to those so adorned with the same rapt attention as did
his fathers of long ago.
This gift of the desert- otherwise so sparing of its favors-has
not failed to leave its impression upon the whole Arabic literature.
Though it has produced some prose writers of value, writing, as an
art to charm and to please, has always sought the measured cadence
of poetry or the unmeasured symmetry of rhymed prose. Its first
lispings are in the "trembling» (rájaz) metre, -iambics, rhyming in
the same syllable throughout; impromptu verses, in which the poet


## p. 666 (#76) #############################################

666
ARABIC LITERATURE
expressed the feelings of the moment: a measure which, the Arabs
say, matches the trembling trot of the she-camel. It is simple in its
character; coming so near to rhymed prose that Khalil (born 718),
the great grammarian, would not willingly admit that such lines could
really be called poetry. Some of these verses go back to the fourth
and fifth centuries of our era. But a growing sense of the poet's art
was incompatible with so simple a measure; and a hundred years
before the appearance of the Prophet, many of the canonical sixteen
metres were already in vogue. Even the later complete poems bear
the stamp of their origin, in the loose connection with which the
different parts stand to each other. The "Kasidah» (poem) is built
upon the principle that each verse must be complete in itself, — there
being no stanzas, and separable from the context; which has made
interpolations and omissions in the older poems a matter of ease.
The classical period of Arabic poetry, which reaches from the
beginning of the sixth century to the beginning of the eighth, is
dominated by this form of the Kasidah. Tradition refers its origin
to one al-Muhalhel ibn Rabí'a of the tribe of Taghlib, about one
hundred and fifty years before Muhammad; though, as is usual, this
honor is not uncontested. The Kasidah is composed of distichs, the
first two of which only are to rhyme; though every line must end in
the same syllable. It must have at least seven or ten verses, and
may reach up to one hundred or over. In nearly every case it deals
with tribe or a single person, the poet himself or a friend, — and
may be either a panegyric, a satire, an elegy, or a eulogy.
That
which it is the aim of the poet to bring out comes last; the greater
part of the poem being of the nature of a captatio benevolentia. Here
he can show his full power of expression. He usually commences
with the description of a deserted camping-ground, where he sees the
traces of his beloved. He then adds the erotic part, and describes
at length his deeds of valor in the chase or in war; in order, then, to
lead over to the real object he has in view. Because of this disposi-
tion of the material, which is used by the greater poets of this time.
the general form of the Kasidah became in a measure stereotyped.
No poem was considered perfect unless molded in this form.
Arabic poetry is thus entirely lyrical. There was too little, among
these tribes, of the common national life which forms the basis for
the Epos. The Semitic genius is too subjective, and has never gotten
beyond the first rude attempts at dramatic composition. Even in its
lyrics, Arabic poetry is still more subjective than the Hebrew of the
Bible. It falls generally into the form of an allocution, even where
it is descriptive. It is the poet who speaks, and his personality per-
vades the whole poem. He describes nature as he finds it, with little
of the imaginative, "in dim grand outlines of a picture which must
―――――


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ARABIC LITERATURE
667
be filled up by the reader, guided only by a few glorious touches
powerfully standing out. " A native quickness of apprehension and
intense feeling nurtured this poetic sentiment among the Arabs. The
continuous enmity among the various tribes produced a sort of knight-
errantry which gave material to the poet; and the richness of his
language put a tongue in his mouth which could voice forth the
finest shades of description or sentiment. Al-Damári has wisely said:
"Wisdom has alighted upon three things,—the brain of the Franks,
the hands of the Chinese, and the tongues of the Arabs. "
The horizon which bounded the Arab poet's view was not far
drawn out. He describes the scenes of his desert life: the sand
dunes; the camel, antelope, wild ass, and gazelle; his bow and arrow
and his sword; his loved one torn from him by the sudden striking
of the tents and departure of her tribe. The virtues which he sings
are those in which he glories, "love of freedom, independence in
thought and action, truthfulness, largeness of heart, generosity, and
hospitality. " His descriptions breathe the freshness of his outdoor
life and bring us close to nature; his whole tone rings out a solemn
note, which is even in his lighter moments grave and serious,-as
existence itself was for those sons of the desert, who had no settled
habitation, and who, more than any one, depended upon the bounty
of Allah. Although these Kasídahs passed rapidly from mouth to
mouth, little would have been preserved for us had there not been a
class of men who, led on some by desire, some by necessity, made it
their business to write down the compositions, and to keep fresh in
their memory the very pronunciation of each word. Every poet had
such a Ráwiah. Of one Hammád it is said that he could recite one
hundred Kasidahs rhyming on each letter of the alphabet, each Ka-
sídah having at least one hundred verses. Abu Tammám (805), the
author of the 'Hamásah,' is reported to have known by heart four-
teen thousand pieces of the metre rájaz. It was not, however, until
the end of the first century of the Hijrah that systematic collections
of this older literature were commenced.
It was this very Hammád (died 777) who put together seven of the
choicest poems of the early Arabs. He called them 'Mu 'allakât,'
"the hung up” (in a place of honor, in the estimation of the people).
The authors of these seven poems were: Imr-al-Kais, Tárafa, Zuhéir,
Labîd (570), 'Antara, 'Amr, and al-Hárith. The common verdict of
their countrymen has praised the choice made by Hammád. The
seven remained the great models, to which later poets aspired: in
description of love, those of Imr-al-Kais and 'Antara; in that of the
camel and the horse, Labîd; of battle, 'Amr; in the praise of arms,
Hárith; in wise maxims, Zuhéir. To these must be added al-Nabi-
ghah, 'Alkamah, Urwa ibn al-Ward, Hássan ibn Thábit, al-A'sha, Aus


## p. 668 (#78) #############################################

668
ARABIC LITERATURE
ibn Hájar, and as-Shánfarah, whose poem has been called "the most
magnificent of old Arabic poems. " In addition to the single poems
found in the 'Mu 'allakât' and elsewhere, nearly all of these com-
posed whole series of poems, which were at a later time put in the
form of collections and called 'Diwans. ' Some of these poets have
left us as many as four hundred verses. Such collections were made
by grammarians and antiquarians of a later age. In addition to the
collections made around the name of a single poet, others were made,
fashioned upon a different principle: The 'Mufáddaliyát' (the most
excellent poems), put together by al-Mufáddal (761); the 'Diwan' of
the poets of the tribe of Hudhéil; the 'Hamásah' (Bravery; so called
from the subject of the first of the ten books into which the collec-
tion is divided) of Abu Tammám. The best anthology of these poems
is The Great Book of Songs,' put together by Abu al-Fáraj al-Ispa-
háni (died 967).
With these poets Arabic literature reached its highest development.
They are the true expression of the free Arabic spirit. Most of them
lived before or during the time of the appearance of Muhammad.
His coming produced a great change in the life of the simple Bedouins.
Though they could not be called heathen, their religion expressed
itself in the simple feeling of dependence upon higher powers, with-
out attempting to bring this faith into a close connection with their
daily life. Muhammad introduced a system into which he tried to
mold all things. He wished to unite the scattered tribes to one only
purpose. He was thus cutting away that untrammeled spirit and
that free life which had been the making of Arabic poetry. He knew
this well. He knew also the power the poets had over the people.
His own 'Qur'an' (Koran) was but a poor substitute for the elegant
verses of his opponents. "Imr-al-Kais," he said, "is the finest of all
poets, and their leader into everlasting fire. " On another occasion
he is reported to have called out, "Verily, a belly full of matter is
better than a belly full of poetry. " Even when citing verses, he
quoted them in such a manner as to destroy the metre. Abu Bekr .
very properly remarked, "Truly God said in the Qur'an,' 'We have
not taught him poetry, and it suits him not. '" In thus decrying the
poets of "barbarism," and in setting up the 'Qur'an' as the greatest
production of Arabic genius, Muhammad was turning the national
poetry to its decline. Happily his immediate successors were unable
or unwilling to follow him strictly. Ali himself, his son-in-law, is
said to have been a poet; nor did the Umáyyid Caliphs of Damascus,
"very heathens in their carnal part," bring the new spirit to its full
bloom, as did the Abbassides of Bagdad.
And yet the old spirit was gradually losing ground. The consoli-
dation of the empire brought greater security; the riches of Persia


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ARABIC LITERATURE
669
and Syria produced new types of men. The centre of Arab life was
now in the city, with all its trammels, its forced politeness, its herd-
ing together. The simplicity which characterized the early caliphs
was going; in its place was come a court, court life, court manners,
court poets. The love of poetry was still there; but the poet of the
tent had become the poet of the house and the palace. Like those
troubadours who had become jongleurs, they lived upon the crumbs
which fell from the table of princes. Such crumbs were often not to
be despised. Many a time and oft the bard tuned his lyre merely
for the price of his services. We know that he was richly rewarded.
Harún gave a dress worth four hundred thousand pieces of gold to
Ja'far ibn Yahya; at his death, Ibn 'Ubeid al-Buchtarí (865) left one
hundred complete suits of dress, two hundred shirts, and five hundred
turbans - all of which had been given him for his poems. The fresh-
ness of olden times was fading little by little; the earnestness of the
Bedouin poet was making way for a lightness of heart. In this
intermediate period, few were born so happily, and yet so imbued
with the new spirit, as was 'Umar ibn 'Rabí'a (644), "the man of
pleasure as well as the man of literature. " Of rich parentage, gifted
with a love of song which moved him to speak in verses, he was
able to keep himself far from both prince and palace. He was of
the family of Kureish, in whose Muhammad all the glories of Ara-
bia had centred, with one exception, - the gift of poetry. And now
"this Don Juan of Mecca, this Ovid of Arabia," was to wipe away
that stain. He was the Arabian Minnesinger, whom Friedrich Rückert
called "the greatest love-poet the Arabs have produced. " A man of
the city, the desert had no attractions for him. But he sang of love
as he made love,—with utter disregard of holy place or high station,
in an erotic strain strange to the stern Umáyyids. No wonder they
warned their children against reading his compositions. "The great-
est sin committed against Allah are the poems of 'Umar ibn Rabí'a,"
they said.
With the rise of the Abbassides (750), that "God-favored dynasty,"
Arabic literature entered upon its second great development; a
development which may be distinguished from that of the Umayyids
(which was Arabian) as, in very truth, Muhammadan. With Bagdad
as the capital, it was rather the non-Arabic Persians who held aloft
the torch than the Arabs descended from Kuréish. It was a bold
move, this attempt to weld the old Persian civilization with the new
Muhammadan. Yet so great was the power of the new faith that it
succeeded. The Barmecide major-domo ably seconded his Abbasside
master; the glory of both rests upon the interest they took in art,
literature, and science. The Arab came in contact with a new
world. Under Mansúr (754), Harun al-Rashid (786), and Ma'mún


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670
ARABIC LITERATURE
(813), the wisdom of the Greeks in philosophy and science, the
charms of Persia and India in wit and satire, were opened up to
enlightened eyes. Upon all of these, whatever their nationality,
Islam had imposed the Arab tongue, pride in the faith and in its
early history. 'Qur'an' exegesis, philosophy, law, history, and science
were cultivated under the very eyes and at the bidding of the
Palace. And, at least for several centuries, Europe was indebted to
the culture of Bagdad for what it knew of mathematics, astronomy,
and philosophy.
The Arab muse profited with the rest of this revival. History and
philosophy, as a study, demanded a close acquaintance with the
products of early Arab genius. The great philologian al-Asmái
(740-831) collected the songs and tales of the heroic age; and a little
later, with other than philological ends in view, Abu Tammán and
al-Búchturí (816-913) made the first anthologies of the old Arabic
literatures (Hamásah '). Poetry was already cultivated: and amid
the hundreds of wits, poets, and singers who thronged the entrance
to the court, there are many who claim real poetic genius. Among
them are al-Ahtal (died 713), a Christian; 'Umar ibn Rabí'a (died
728), Jarír al-Farázdak (died 728), and Muslim ibn al-Walid (died 828).
But it is rather the Persian spirit which rules, - the spirit of the
Shahnámeh and Firdaúsi,—“charming elegance, servile court flattery,
and graceful wit. " In none are the characteristics so manifest as in
Abu Núwas (762-819), the Poet Laureate of Harun, the Imr-al-Kais of
his time. His themes are wine and love. Everything else he casts
to the wind; and like his modern counterpart, Heine, he drives the
wit of his satire deep into the holiest feelings of his people. "I
would that all which Religion and Law forbids were permitted me;
and if I had only two years to live, that God would change me into
a dog at the Temple in Mecca, so that I might bite every pilgrim in
the leg," he is reported to have said. When he himself did once
make the required pilgrimage, he did so in order to carry his loves
up to the very walls of the sacred house. "Jovial, adventure-loving,
devil-may-care,» irreligious in all he did, yet neither the Khalif nor
the whole Muhammadan world were incensed. In spite of all, they
petted him and pronounced his wine-songs the finest ever written;
full of thought and replete with pictures, rich in language and true
to every touch of nature. "There are no poems on wine equal to
my own, and to my amatory compositions all others must yield," he
himself has said. He was poor and had to live by his talents. But
wherever he went he was richly rewarded. He was content only to
be able to live in shameless revelry and to sing. As he lived, so he
died, in a half-drunken group, cut to pieces by those who thought
themselves offended by his lampoons.


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ARABIC LITERATURE
671
At the other end of the Muslim world, the star of the Umáyyids,
which had set at Damascus, rose again at Cordova. The union of
two civilizations-Indo-Germanic and Semitic-was as advantageous
in the West as in the East. The influence of the spirit of learning
which reigned at Bagdad reached over to Spain, and the two dynasties
vied with each other in the patronage of all that was beautiful in
literature and learned in science. Poetry was cultivated and poets
cherished with a like regard: the Spanish innate love of the Muse
joined hands with that of the Arabic. It was the same kind of
poetry in Umáyyid Spain as in Abbasside Bagdad: poetry of the city.
and of the palace. But another element was added here,― the West-
ern love for the softer beauties of nature, and for their expression
in finely worked out mosaics and in graceful descriptions. It is this
that brings the Spanish-Arabic poetry nearer to us than the more
splendid and glittering verses of the Abbassides, or the cruder and
less polished lines of the first Muhammadans. The amount of poetry
thus composed in Arab Spain may be gauged by the fact that an
anthology made during the first half of the tenth century, by Ibn
Fáraj, contained twenty thousand verses. Cordova under 'Abd-al-
Rahmán III. and Hákim II. was the counterpart of Bagdad under
Harun. "The most learned prince that ever lived," Hákim was so
renowned a patron of literature that learned men wandered to him
from all over the Arab Empire. He collected a library of four hun-
dred thousand volumes, which had been gathered together by his
agents in Egypt, Syria, and Persia: the catalogue of which filled
forty-four volumes. In Cordova he founded a university and twenty-
seven free schools. What wonder that all the sciences-Tradition,
Theology, Jurisprudence, and especially History and Geography-
flourished during his reign. Of the poets of this period there may be
mentioned: Sa'íd ibn Júdi—the pattern of the Knight of those days,
the poet loved of women; Yáhyah ibn Hakam, "the gazelle"; Ahmad
ibn 'Abd Rabbíh, the author of a commonplace book; Ibn Abdún of
Badjiz, Ibn Hafájah of Xucar, Ibn Sa'id of Granada. Kings added a
new jewel to their crown, and took an honored place among the
bards; as 'Abd al-Rahmán I. , and Mu'tamid (died 1095), the last King
of Seville, whose unfortunate life he himself has pictured in most
beautiful elegies. Although the short revival under the Almohades
(1184-1198) produced such men as Ibn Roshd, the commentator on
Aristotle, and Ibn Toféil, who wrote the first 'Robinson Crusoe'
story, the sun was already setting. When Ferdinand burned the
books which had been so laboriously collected, the dying flame of
Arab culture in Spain went out.
During the third period-from Ma'mún (813), under whom the
Turkish body-guards began to wield their baneful influence, until
the break-up of the Abbasside Empire in 1258-there are many


## p. 672 (#82) #############################################

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ARABIC LITERATURE
>
names, but few real poets, to be mentioned. The Arab spirit had
spent itself, and the Mogul cloud was on the horizon.
There were
'Abd-allah ibn al-Mu'tazz, died 908; Abu Firás, died 967; al-Tughrai,
died 1120; al-Busíri, died 1279,-author of the 'Búrda, poem in praise
of Muhammad: but al-Mutanábbi, died 965, alone deserves special
mention. The "Prophet-pretender" - for such his name signifies-
has been called by Von Hammer "the greatest Arabian poet"; and
there is no doubt that his 'Diwán,' with its two hundred and eighty-
nine poems, was and is widely read in the East. But it is only a
depraved taste that can prefer such an epigene to the fresh desert-
music of Imr-al-Kais. Panegyrics, songs of war and of bloodshed,
are mostly the themes that he dilates upon. He was in the service
of Saif al-Daulah of Syria, and sang his victories over the Byzantine
Kaiser. He is the true type of the prince's poet. Withal, the taste
for poetic composition grew, though it produced a smaller number
of great poets. But it also usurped for itself fields which belong to
entirely different literary forms. Grammar, lexicography, philoso-
phy, and theology were expounded in verse; but the verse was formal,
stiff, and unnatural. Poetic composition became a tour de force.
This is nowhere better seen than in that species of composition
which appeared for the first time in the eleventh century, and
which so pleased and charmed a degenerate age as to make of the
'Makamat' the most favorite reading. Ahmad Abu Fadl al-Hama-
dhání, "the wonder of all time" (died 1007), composed the first of
such "sessions. " Of his four hundred only a few have come down
to our time. Abu Muhammad al-Hariri (1030-1121), of Bâsra, is cer-
tainly the one who made this species of literature popular; he has
been closely imitated in Hebrew by Charízi (1218), and in Syriac by
Ebed Yéshu (1290). "Makámah" means the place where one stands,
where assemblies are held; then, the discourses delivered, or conver-
sations held in such an assembly. The word is used here especially
to denote a series of "discourses and conversations composed in a
highly finished and ornamental style, and solely for the purpose of
exhibiting various kinds of eloquence, and exemplifying the rules of
grammar, rhetoric, and poetry. " Hariri himself speaks of —
"These Makamat,' which contain serious language and lightsome,
And combine refinement with dignity of style,
And brilliancies with jewels of eloquence,
And beauties of literature with its rarities,
Besides quotations from the Qur'an,' wherewith I adorned them,
And choice metaphors, and Arab proverbs that I interspersed,
And literary elegancies, and grammatical riddles,
And decisions upon ambiguous legal questions,
And original improvisations, and highly wrought orations,
And plaintive discourses, as well as jocose witticisms. »


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673
The design is thus purely literary. The fifty "sessions" of Hariri,
which are written in rhymed prose interspersed with poetry, contain
oratorical, poetical, moral, encomiastic, and satirical discourses, which
only the merest thread holds together. Each Makámah is a unit,
and has no necessary connection with that which follows. The
thread which so loosely binds them together is the delineation of the
character of Abu Zeid, the hero, in his own words. He is one of
those wandering minstrels and happy improvisers whom the favor
of princes had turned into poetizing beggars. In each Makámah is
related some ruse, by means of which Abu Zeid, because of his
wonderful gift of speech, either persuades or forces those whom he
meets to pay for his sustenance, and furnish the means for his
debauches. Not the least of those thus ensnared is his great admirer,
Háreth ibn Hammám, the narrator of the whole, who is none other
than Hariri. Wearied at last with his life of travel, debauch, and
deception, Abu Zeid retires to his native city and becomes an ascetic,
thus to atone in a measure for his past sins. The whole might be
called, not improperly, a tale, a novel. But the intention of th
poet is to show forth the richness and variety of the Arabic lan-
guage; and his own power over this great mass brings the descript-
ive-one might almost say the lexicographic-side too much to the
front. A poem that can be read either backward or forward, or
which contains all the words in the language beginning with a cer-
tain letter, may be a wonderful mosaic, but is nothing more. The
merit of Hariri lies just in this: that working in such cramped quar-
ters, with such intent and design continually guiding his pen, he has
often really done more. He has produced rhymed prose and verses
which are certainly elegant in diction and elevated in tone.
Such tales as these, told as an exercise of linguistic gymnastics,
must not blind us to the presence of real tales, told for their own
sake. Arabic literature has been very prolific in these. They light-
ened the graver subjects discussed in the tent,- philosophy, religion,
and grammar,—and they furnished entertainment for the more bois-
terous assemblies in the coffee-houses and around the bowl. For the
Arab is an inveterate story-teller; and in nearly all the prose that
he writes, this character of the "teller" shimmers clearly through
the work of the "writer. " He is an elegant narrator. Not only does
he intersperse verses and lines more frequently than our own taste
would license: by nature, he easily falls into the half-hearted poetry
of rhymed prose, for which the rich assonances of his language pre-
dispose. His own learning was further cultivated by his early con-
tact with Persian literature; through which the fable and the wisdom
of India spoken from the mouths of dumb animals reached him. In
this more frivolous form of inculcating wisdom, the Prophet scented
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674
ARABIC LITERATURE
danger to his strait-laced demands: "men who bring sportive legends,
to lead astray from God's path without knowledge and to make a
jest of it; for such is shameful woe," is written in the thirty-first
Surah. In vain; for in hours of relaxation, such works as the 'Fables
of Bidpai' (translated from the Persian in 750 by 'Abd Allah ibn
Mukáffah), the Ten Viziers,' the 'Seven Wise Masters,' etc. , proved
to be food too palatable. Nor were the Arabs wanting in their own
peculiar Romances,' influenced only in some portions of the setting
by Persian ideas. Such were the Story of Saif ibn dhi Yázan,' the
'Tale of al-Zir,' the 'Romance of Dálhmah,' and especially the
'Romance of Antar' and the Thousand Nights and A Night. ' The
last two romances are excellent commentaries on Arab life, at its dawn
and at its fullness, among the roving chiefs of the desert and the
homes of revelry in Bagdad. As the rough-hewn poetry of Imr-al-
Kais and Zuhéir is a clearer exponent of the real Arab mind, roving
at its own suggestion, than the more perfect and softer lines of a
Mutanábbi, so is the 'Romance of Antar' the full expression of real
Arab hero-worship. And even in the cities of the Orient to-day, the
loungers in their cups can never weary of following the exploits of
this black son of the desert, who in his person unites the great vir-
tues of his people, magnanimity and bravery, with the gift of poetic
speech. Its tone is elevated; its coarseness has as its origin the out-
spokenness of unvarnished man; it does not peep through the thin
veneer of licentious suggestiveness. It is never trivial, even in its
long and wearisome descriptions, in its ever-recurring outbursts of
love. Its language suits its thought: choice and educated, and not
descending—as in the 'Nights'-to the common expressions of ordi-
nary speech. In this it resembles the 'Makamat' of Hariri, though
much less artificial and more enjoyable. It is the Arabic romance of
chivalry, and may not have been without influence on the spread of
the romance of medieval Europe. For though its central figure is a
hero of pre-Islamic times, it was put together by the learned philo-
logian, al-'Asmái, in the days of Harun the Just, at the time when
Charlemagne was ruling in Europe.
There exist in Arabic literature very few romances of the length
of Antar. ' Though the Arab delights to hear and to recount tales,
his tales are generally short and pithy. It is in this sh ter form
that he delights to inculcate principles of morality and norms of
character. He is most adroit at repartee and at pungent replies. He
has a way of stating principles which delights while it instructs.
The anecdote is at home in the East: many a favor is gained, many
a punishment averted, by a quick answer and a felicitously turned
expression. Such anecdotes exist as popular traditions in very large.
numbers; and he receives much consideration whose mind is well


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675
stocked with them. Collections of anecdotes have been put to writ-
ing from time to time. Those dealing with the early history of the
caliphate are among the best prose that the Arabs have produced.
For pure prose was never greatly cultivated. The literature dealing
with their own history, or with the geography and culture of the
nations with which they came in contact, is very large, and as a
record of facts is most important. Ibn Hishám (died 767), Wákidi
(died 822), Tabari (838-923), Masudí (died 957), Ibn Athír (died 1233),
Ibn Khaldún (died 1406), Makrísi (died 1442), Suyúti (died 1505), and
Makkári (died 1631), are only a few of those who have given us large
and comprehensive histories. Al-Birúni (died 1038), writer, mathema-
tician, and traveler, has left us an account of the India of his day
which has earned for him the title "Herodotus of India," though for
careful observation and faithful presentation he stands far above the
writer with whose name he is adorned.