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Story Of Nur-Ed-Din And Enis-El-JelisStory Of Nur-Ed-Din And Enis-El-Jelis
Story Of Nur-Ed-Din And Enis-El-Jelis
There was, in El-Basrah, a certain King, who loved the poor and
indigent, and regarded his subjects with benevolence; he bestowed of his
wealth upon him who believed in Mohammad (God bless and save him!) and was
such as one of the poets who have written of him hath thus described: -
He used his lances as pens; and the hearts of his enemies, as paper; their
blood being his ink;
And hence, I imagine, our forefathers applied to the lance the term
Khattiyeh.
The name of this King was Mohammad the son of Suleyman Ez-Zeyni; and he
had two Wezirs; one of whom was named El-Mo`in the son of Sawi; and the
other, El-Fadl the son of Khakan. El-Fadl the son of Khakan was the most
generous of the people of his age, upright in conduct, so that all hearts
agreed in loving him, and the wise complied with his counsel, and all the
people supplicated for him length of life: for he was a person of auspicious
aspect, a preventer of evil and mischief: but the Wezir El-Mo`in the son of
Sawi hated others, and loved not good; he was a man of inauspicious aspect;
and in the same degree that the people loved Fadl-ed-Din the son of
Khakan, so did they abhor El-Mo`in the son of Sawi in accordance with the
decree of the Almighty.
Now the King Mohammad the son of Suleyman Ez-Zeyni was sitting one day
upon his throne, surrounded by the officers of his court, and he called to his
Wezir El-Fadl the son of Khakan, and said to him, I desire a female slave
unsurpassed in beauty by any in her age, of perfect loveliness and exquisite
symmetry, and endowed with all praiseworthy qualities. - Such as this, replied
his courtiers, is not to be found for less than ten thousand pieces of gold.
And the Sultan thereupon called out to the treasurer, saying, Carry ten
thousand pieces of gold to the house of El-Fadl the son of Khakan. So the
treasurer did as he commanded, and the Wezir departed, after the Sultan had
ordered him to repair every day to the market, and to commission the brokers
to procure what he had described, and had commanded also that no female slave
of a greater price than one thousand pieces of gold should be sold without
having been shewn to the Wezir.
The brokers, therefore, sold no female slave without shewing her to him,
and he complied with the King`s command, and thus he continued to do for a
considerable time, no slave pleasing him: but on a certain day, one of the
brokers came to the mansion of the Wezir El-Fadl, and found that he had
mounted to repair to the palace of the King; and he laid hold upon his
stirrup, and repeated these two verses: -
O thou who hast reanimated what was rotten in the state! Thou art the Wezir
ever aided in Heaven.
Thou hast revived the noble qualities that were extinct among men. May thy
conduct never cease to be approved by God!
He then said, O my master, the female slave for the procuring of whom the
noble mandate was issued hath arrived. The Wezir replied, Bring her hither to
me. So the man returned, and, after a short absence, came again, accompanied
by a damsel of elegant stature, high-bosomed, with black eyelashes, and
smooth cheek, and slender waist, and large hips, clad in the handsomest
apparel; the moisture of her lips was sweeter than syrup; her figure put to
shame the branches of the Oriental willow; and her speech was more soft than
the zephyr passing over the flowers of the garden; as one of her describers
hath thus expressed: -
Her skin is like silk, and her speech is soft, neither redundant nor
deficient:
Her eyes, God said to them, Be, - and they were, affecting men`s hearts with
the potency of wine.
May my love for her grow more warm each night, and cease not until the day of
judgment!
The locks on her brow are dark as night, while her forehead shines like the
gleam of morning.
When the Wezir beheld her, she pleased him extremely, and he looked
towards the broker, and said to him, What is the price of this damsel? The
broker answered, The price bidden for her hath amounted to ten thousand pieces
of gold, and her owner hath sworn that this sum doth not equal the cost of the
chickens which she hath eaten, nor the cost of the dresses which she hath
bestowed upon her teachers; for she hath learnt writing and grammar and
lexicology, and the interpretation of the Kur`an, and the fundamentals of law
and religion, and medicine, and the computation of the calendar, and the art
of playing upon musical instruments. The Wezir then said, Bring to me her
master: - and the broker immediately brought him; and lo, he was a foreigner,
who had lived so long that time had reduced him to bones and skin, as the poet
hath said, -
How hath time made me to tremble! For time is powerful and severe.
I used to walk without being weary; but now I am weary and do not walk.
And the Wezir said to him, Art thou content to receive for this damsel
ten thousand pieces of gold from the Sultan Mohammad the son of Suleyman Ez -
Zeyni? The foreigner answered, As she is for the Sultan, it is incumbent on me
to give her a present to him, without price. So the Wezir, upon this, ordered
that the money should be brought, and then weighed the pieces of gold for the
foreigner; after which, the slave-broker addressed the Wezir, and said, With
the permission of our lord the Wezir, I will speak. - Impart what thou hast to
say, replied the Wezir. - It is my opinion then, said the broker, that thou
shouldst not take up this damsel to the Sultan to-day; for she hath just
arrived from her journey, and the change of air hath affected her, and the
journey hath fatigued her; but rather let her remain with thee in thy palace
ten days, that she may take rest, and her beauty will improve; then cause her
to be taken into the bath, and attire her in clothes of the handsomest
description, and go up with her to the Sultan: so shalth thou experience more
abundant good-fortune. And the Wezir considered the advice of the slave -
broker, and approved it. He therefore took her into his palace, and gave her a
private apartment to herself, allotting her every day what she required of
food and drink and other supplies, and she continued a while in this state of
enjoyment.
Now the Wezir El-Fadl had a son like the shining full moon, with
brilliant countenance, and red cheek, marked with a mole like a globule of
ambergris, and with grey down. The youth knew not of this damsel, and his
father had charged her, saying, Know that I have purchased thee for the King
Mohammad the son of Suleyman Ez-Zeyni, and that I have a son who hath not left
a girl in the quarter without making love to her; therefore keep thyself
concealed from him, and beware of shewing him thy face, or suffering him to
hear thy voice. The damsel replied, I hear and obey: - and he left her and
departed. And it happened, as fate had ordained, that she went one day into
the bath which was in the house, and, after certain of the female slaves had
bathed her, she attired herself in rich apparel, and her beauty and loveliness
increased in consequence. She then went in to the Wezir`s wife, and kissed her
hand, and said to her, May it be favourable, O Enis-el-Jelis! How didst thou
find this bath? - O my mistress, she answered, I wanted nothing but thy
presence there. And upon this, the mistress of the house said to the female
slaves, Arise, and let us go into the bath. And they complied with her
command, and went, accompanied by their mistress, who first charged two young
slave-girls to keep the door of the private apartment in which was
Enis-el-Jelis, saying to them, Suffer no one to go in to the damsel; - and
they replied, We hear and obey. But while Enis-el-Jelis was sitting in her
chamber, lo, the Wezir`s son, whose name was "Ali Nur-ed-Din, came in, and
asked after his mother and the family. The two girls answered, They are gone
into the bath. Now the damsel Enis-el-Jelis heard the speech of `Ali Nur-ed-
Din as she sat in her chamber, and she said within herself, I wonder what this
youth is like, of whom the Wezir hath told me that he hath not left a girl in
the quarter without making love to her: by Allah, I have a desire to see him.
She then rose upon her feet, fresh as she was from the bath, and, approaching
the door of the chamber, looked at `Ali Nur-ed-Din, and beheld him to be a
youth like the full moon. The sight of him occasioned her a thousand sighs:
and a look from the youth, at her, affected him also in the same manner. Each
was caught in the snare of the other`s love, and the youth approached the two
slave-girls, and cried out at them; whereupon they fled from before him, and
stopped at a distance, looking to see what he would do. He then advanced to
the door of the chamber, and, opening it, went in, and said to the damsel, Art
thou she whom my father hath purchased for me? She answered, Yes. And upon
this, the youth, who was in a state of intoxication, went up to her, and
embraced her, while she, in like manner, threw her arms around his neck, and
kissed him. But the two slave-girls, having seen their young master enter the
chamber of the damsel Enis-el-Jelis, cried out. The youth, therefore, soon ran
forth, and fled for safety, fearing the consequence of his intrusion; and when
the mistress of the house heard the cry of the two slave-girls, she came out
dripping from the bath, saying, What is the cause of this cry in the house?
And when she drew near to the two slave-girls whom she had placed at the door
of the private chamber, she said to them, Wo to you! What is the matter? -
They answered, as soon as they beheld her, Our master `Ali Nur-ed-Din came to
us and beat us, and we fled from him, and he went into the chamber of
Enis-el-Jelis, and when we cried out to thee he fled. The mistress of the
house then went to Enis-el-Jelis, and said to her, What is the news? - O my
mistress, she answered, as I was sitting here, a youth of handsome person came
in to me, and said to me, Art thou she whom my father hath purchased for me? -
And I answered, Yes. - By Allah, O my mistress, I believed that what he said
was true; and he came up to me and embraced me, and kissed me three times, and
left me overcome by his love.
Upon this, the mistress of the house wept, and slapped her face, and her
female slaves did the like, fearing for `Ali Nur-ed-Din, lest his father
should slay him; and while they were in this state, lo, the Wezir came in, and
inquired what had happened. His wife said to him, Swear that thou wilt listen
to that which I shall say. He replied, Well? So she told him what his son had
done; and he mourned, and rent his clothes, and slapped his face, and plucked
his beard. His wife then said to him, Kill not thyself. I will give thee, of
my own property, ten thousand pieces of gold, her price. - But upon this, he
raised his head towards her, and said to her, Wo to thee! I want not her
price, but I fear the loss of my life and my property. - Wherefore, O my
master? she asked. - Knowest thou not, said he, that we have this enemy
El-Mo`in the son of Sawi? When he heareth of this event, he will repair to the
sultan, and say to him, Thy Wezir whom thou imaginest to love thee hath
received from thee ten thousand pieces of gold, and purchased therewith a
female slave such as no one hath seen equalled, and when she pleased him, he
said to his son, Take her; for thou art more worthy of her than the Sultan: -
and he took her; and the damsel is now with him. - Then the King will say,
Thou liest. And he will say to the King, With thy permission, I will break in
upon him suddenly, and bring her to thee. And he will give him permission to
do so: he will therefore make a sudden attack upon the house, and take the
damsel, and conduct her into the presence of the Sultan, and he will question
her, and she will not be able to deny: he will then say, O my lord, I give
thee good counsel, but I am not in favour with thee: - and the Sultan will
make an example of me, and all the people will make me a gazing-stock, and
my life will be lost. - His wife, however, replied, Acquaint no one; for this
thing hath happened privily: commit, therefore, thine affair unto God, in this
extremity. And upon this, the heart of the Wezir was quieted, and his mind was
relieved.
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