There was a man, of those
possessed of houses and riches, who had wealth and servants and slaves and
other possessions; and he departed from the world to receive the mercy of God
(whose name be exalted!), leaving a young son. And when the son grew up, he
took to eating and drinking, and the hearing of instruments of music and songs,
and was liberal and gave gifts, and expended the riches that his father had
left to him until all the wealth had gone. He then betook himself to the sale
of the male black slaves, and the female slaves, and other possessions, and
expended all that he had of his father’s wealth and other things, and became so
poor that he worked with the labourers. In this state he remained for a period
of years. While he was sitting one day beneath a wall, waiting to see who would
hire him, lo! a man of comely countenance and apparel drew near to him and
saluted him. So the youth said to him, “O uncle, hast thou known me before
now?” The man answered him, “I have not known thee, O my son, at all; but I see
the traces of affluence upon thee, though thou art in this condition.” The
young man replied, “O uncle, what fate and destiny have ordained hath come to
pass. But hast thou, O uncle, O comely-faced, any business in which to employ me?”
The man said to him, “O my son, I desire to employ thee in an easy business.”
The youth asked, “And what is it, O uncle?” And the man answered him, “I have
with me ten sheykhs in one abode, and we have no one to perform our wants. Thou
shalt receive from us, of food and clothing, what will suffice thee, and shalt
serve us, and thou shalt receive of us thy portion of benefits and money.
Perhaps, also, God will restore to thee thine affluence by our means.” The
youth therefore replied, “I hear and obey.” The sheykh then said to him, “I
have a condition to impose upon thee.” “And what is thy condition, O uncle?”
asked the youth. He answered him, “O my son, it is that thou keep our secret
with respect to the things that thou shalt see us do; and when thou seest us
weep, that thou ask us not respecting the cause of our weeping.” And the young
man replied, “Well, O uncle.”
So the sheykh said to
him, “O my son, come with us, relying on the blessing of God (whose name be
exalted!).” And the young man followed the sheykh until the latter conducted
him to the bath; after which he sent a man, who brought him a comely garment of
linen, and he clad him with it, and went with him to his abode and his
associates. And when the young man entered, he found it to be a high mansion,
with lofty angles, ample, with chambers facing one another, and saloons; and in
each saloon was a fountain of water, and birds were warbling over it, and there
were windows overlooking, on every side, a beautiful garden within the mansion.
The sheykh conducted him into one of the chambers, and he found it decorated
with coloured marbles, and its ceiling ornamented with blue and brilliant gold,
and it was spread with carpets of silk; and he found in it ten sheykhs sitting
facing one another, wearing the garments of mourning, weeping, and wailing. So
the young man wondered at their case, and was about to question the sheykh who
had brought him, but he remembered the condition, and therefore withheld his
tongue. Then the sheykh committed to the young man a chest, containing thirty
thousand pieces of gold, saying to him, “O my son, expend upon us out of this
chest, and upon thyself, according to what is just, and be thou faithful, and
take care of that wherewith I have intrusted thee.” And the young man replied,
“I hear and obey.” He continued to expend upon them for a period of days and
nights, after which one of them died; whereupon his companions took him, and
washed him and shrouded him, and buried him in a garden behind the mansion. And
death ceased not to take of them one after another, until there remained only
the sheykh who had hired the young man. So he remained with the young man in
that mansion, and there was not with them a third; and they remained thus for a
period of years. Then the sheykh fell sick; and when the young man despaired of
his life, he addressed him with courtesy, and was grieved for him, and said to
him, “O uncle, I have served you, and not failed in your service one hour for a
period of twelve years, but have acted faithfully to you, and served you
according to my power and ability.” The sheykh replied, “Yes, O my son, thou
hast served us until these sheykhs have been taken unto God (to whom be
ascribed might and glory!), and we must inevitably die.” And the young man
said, “O my master, thou art in a state of peril, and I desire of thee that
thou inform me what hath been the cause of your weeping, and the continuance of
your wailing and your mourning and your sorrow.” He replied, “O my son, thou
hast no concern with that, and require me not to do what I am unable; for I
have begged God (whose name be exalted!) not to afflict any one with my
affliction. Now if thou desire to be safe from that into which we have fallen,
open not that door,” and he pointed to it with his hand, and cautioned him
against it; “and if thou desire that what hath befallen us should befall thee,
open it, and thou wilt know the cause of that which thou hast beheld in our
conduct; but thou wilt repent, when repentance will not avail thee.” Then the
illness increased upon the sheykh, and he died; and the young man washed him
with his own hands, and shrouded him, and buried him by his companions.
He remained in that
place, possessing it and all the treasure; but notwithstanding this, he was
uneasy, reflecting upon the conduct of the sheykhs. And while he was meditating
one day upon the words of the sheykh, and his charge to him not to open the
door, it occurred to his mind that he might look at it. So he went in that
direction, and searched until he saw an elegant door, over which the spider had
woven its webs, and upon it were four locks of steel. When he beheld it, he
remembered how the sheykh had cautioned him, and he departed from it. His soul
desired him to open the door, and he restrained it during a period of seven
days; but on the eighth day his soul overcame him, and he said, “I must open
that door, and see what will happen to me in consequence; for nothing will
repel what God (whose name be exalted!) decreeth and predestineth, and no event
will happen but by His will.” Accordingly he arose and opened the door, after
he had broken the locks. And when he had opened the door he saw a narrow
passage, along which he walked for the space of three hours; and lo! he came
forth upon the bank of a great river. At this the young man wondered. And he
walked along the bank, looking to the right and left; and behold! a great eagle
descended from the sky, and taking up the young man with its talons, it flew
with him, between heaven and earth, until it conveyed him to an island in the
midst of the sea. There it threw him down, and departed from him.
So the young man was
perplexed at his case, not knowing whither to go; but while he was sitting one
day, lo! the sail of a vessel appeared to him upon the sea, like the star in
the sky; wherefore the heart of the young man became intent upon the vessel, in
the hope that his escape might be effected in it. He continued looking at it
until it came near unto him; and when it arrived, he beheld a bark of ivory and
ebony, the oars of which were of sandal-wood and aloes-wood, and the whole of
it was encased with plates of brilliant gold. There were also in it ten
damsels, virgins, like moons. When the damsels saw him, they landed to him from
the bark, and kissed his hands, saying to him, “Thou art the king, the
bridegroom.” Then there advanced to him a damsel who was like the shining sun
in the clear sky, having in her hand a kerchief of silk, in which were a royal
robe, and a crown of gold set with varieties of jacinths. Having advanced to
him, she clad him and crowned him; after which the damsels carried him in their
arms to the bark, and he found in it varieties of carpets of silk of divers
colours. They then spread the sails, and proceeded over the depths of the sea.
“Now when I proceeded
with them,” says the young man, “I felt sure that this was a dream, and knew
not whither they were going with me. And when they came in sight of the land, I
beheld it filled with troops, the number of which none knew but God (whose
perfection be extolled, and whose name be exalted!) clad in coats of mail. They
brought forward to me five marked horses, with saddles of gold, set with
varieties of pearls and precious stones; and I took a horse from among these
and mounted it. The four others proceeded with me; and when I mounted, the
ensigns and banners were set up over my head, the drums and the cymbals were
beaten, and the troops disposed themselves in two divisions, right and left. I
wavered in opinion as to whether I were asleep or awake, and ceased not to
advance, not believing in the reality of my stately procession, but imagining
that it was the result of confused dreams, until we came in sight of a verdant
meadow, in which were palaces and gardens, and trees and rivers and flowers,
and birds proclaiming the perfection of God, the One, the Omnipotent. And now
there came forth an army from among those palaces and gardens, like the torrent
when it poureth down, until it filled the meadow. When the troops drew near to
me, they hailed, and lo! a king advanced from among them, riding alone,
preceded by some of his chief officers walking.”
The king, on approaching
the young man, alighted from his courser; and the young man, seeing him do so,
alighted also; and they saluted each other with the most courteous salutation.
Then they mounted their horses again, and the king said to the young man,
“Accompany us; for thou art my guest.” So the young man proceeded with him, and
they conversed together, while the stately trains in orderly disposition went
on before them to the palace of the king, where they alighted, and all of them
entered, together with the king and the young man, the young man’s hand being
in the hand of the king, who thereupon seated him on the throne of gold and
seated himself beside him. When the king removed the litham from his face, lo!
this supposed king was a damsel, like the shining sun in the clear sky, a lady
of beauty and loveliness, and elegance and perfection, and conceit and amorous
dissimulation. The young man beheld vast affluence and great prosperity, and
wondered at the beauty and loveliness of the damsel. Then the damsel said to
him, “Know, O king, that I am the queen of this land, and all these troops that
thou hast seen, including every one, whether of cavalry or infantry, are women.
There are not among them any men. The men among us, in this land, till and sow
and reap, employing themselves in the cultivation of the land, and the building
and repairing of the towns, and in attending to the affairs of the people, by
the pursuit of every kind of art and trade; but as to the women, they are the
governors and magistrates and soldiers.” And the young man wondered at this
extremely. And while they were thus conversing, the vizier entered; and lo! she
was a grey-haired old woman, having a numerous retinue, of venerable and
dignified appearance; and the queen said to her, “Bring to us the Kádee and the
witnesses.” So the old woman went for that purpose. And the queen turned
towards the young man, conversing with him and cheering him, and dispelling his
fear by kind words; and, addressing him courteously, she said to him, “Art thou
content for me to be thy wife?” And thereupon he arose and kissed the ground
before her; but she forbade him; and he replied, “O my mistress, I am less than
the servants who serve thee.” She then said to him, “Seest thou not these
servants and soldiers and wealth and treasures and hoards?” He answered her,
“Yes.” And she said to him, “All these are at thy disposal; thou shalt make use
of them, and give and bestow as seemeth fit to thee.” Then she pointed to a
closed door, and said to him, “All these things thou shalt dispose of; but this
door thou shalt not open; for if thou open it, thou wilt repent, when
repentance will not avail thee.” Her words were not ended when the vizier, with
the Kádee and the witnesses, entered, and all of them were old women, with
their hair spreading over their shoulders, and of venerable and dignified
appearance. When they came before the queen, she ordered them to perform the
ceremony of the marriage-contract. So they married her to the young man. And
she prepared the banquets and collected the troops; and when they had eaten and
drunk, the young man took her as his wife. And he resided with her seven years,
passing the most delightful, comfortable, and agreeable life.
But he meditated one day
upon opening the door, and said, “Were it not that there are within it great
treasures, better than what I have seen, she had not prohibited me from opening
it.” He then arose and opened the door, and lo! within it was the bird that had
carried him from the shore of the great river, and deposited him upon the
island. When the bird beheld him, it said to him, “No welcome to a face that
will never be happy!” So, when he saw it and heard its words, he fled from it;
but it followed him and carried him off, and flew with him between heaven and
earth for the space of an hour, and at length deposited him in the place from
which it had carried him away; after which it disappeared. He thereupon sat in
that place, and, returning to his reason, he reflected upon what he had seen of
affluence and glory and honour, and the riding of the troops before him, and
commanding and forbidding; and he wept and wailed. He remained upon the shore
of the great river, where that bird had put him, for the space of two months,
wishing that he might return to his wife; but while he was one night awake,
mourning and meditating, some one spoke (and he heard his voice, but saw not
his person), calling out, “How great were the delights! Far, far from thee is
the return of what is passed! And how many therefore will be the sighs!” So
when the young man heard it, he despaired of meeting again that queen, and of
the return to him of the affluence in which he had been living. He then entered
the mansion where the sheykhs had resided, and knew that they had experienced
the like of that which had happened unto him, and that this was the cause of
their weeping and their mourning; wherefore he excused them. Grief and anxiety
came upon the young man, and he entered his chamber, and ceased not to weep and
moan, relinquishing food and drink and pleasant scents and laughter, until he
died; and he was buried by the side of the sheykhs.