The Fifteenth Night

The morning now dawned and as usually, Scheherazade stopped talking. After the end of the day, it was the fifteenth night that arrived. She could continue with his story because she was authorized by the king Shahryar:

"I have heard that the third dervish continued his tale, while the other guests waited, tied up with slaves standing by their heads…"

"Oh auspicious king!"

Continuation of the story of the fourteenth night…

I pronounced the Name of God and called on Him with supplication. Then, gripping the cracks in the rock, I gradually managed to climb up. At that point, by Allah's permission, the wind died down and He helped me to make my way in safety until I reached the summit, where the only path that I could take led to the dome. I went in and then performed the ritual ablution as well as two rak'as in gratitude to God for bringing me to safety, after which I fell asleep under its shelter. In my sleep, I heard a voice saying:

"Ibn Khadib, when you wake, dig beneath your feet and you will find a bow of brass with three lead arrows, on which are inscribed talismans. Take the bow and the arrows and shoot the rider on top of the dome, for in this way, you will rescue people from great distress. When you shoot him, he will fall into the sea and the bow will drop at your feet. Take it and bury it where you found it, and when you do this the sea will swell higher and higher, until it comes level with the mountain top."

"A little boat will then come up in which will be a man of brass, but not the one whom you shot. He will come to you with an oar in his hand and you must board his boat, but you are not to pronounce the Name of Almighty God. The man will row you for ten days and bring you to the Sea of Safety, where you will find someone to take you back to your own land, but all this will happen only if you do not mention the Name of God."

When I awoke, I got up eagerly and did what the voice had told me. I shot the horseman and when he fell into the sea, the bow dropped at my feet and I took it and buried it. The sea then stirred and rose higher until it was level with me on the mountain, and before I had waited long, I saw a little boat making its way towards me at which I called down praises on Almighty Allah.

When it arrived, I found in it a man of brass with a lead tablet on his breast, inscribed with names and talismans. I boarded it silently, without speaking, and the brass sailor rowed day after day for the full ten days. Then, looking out, to my great joy, I saw the Islands of Safety. Because of the intensity of my joy, I invoked the Name of God, reciting the formula: "There is no god but Allah."

And crying:

"Allahu akbar!"

As soon as I did this, the boat tipped me into the sea and then itself overturned.

Although, I knew how to swim, and so, I swam all that day until nightfall, by which time my arms could no longer support me and my shoulders were tired. Exhausted and in mortal danger, I recited the confession of faith, being sure that I was about to die. A violent wind stirred up the sea and I was carried on by a wave as big as a castle, which hurled me on to the land in accordance with Allah's will. I climbed up on the shore, where I squeezed out my wet clothes, spreading them out on the ground to dry overnight. The next morning, I put them on and went to see where I could walk. I came to a valley, only to discover, after walking round the edge of it, that I was on a small island surrounded by sea.

I thought:

"Every time that I escape from one predicament, I fall into another that is worse."

While I was thinking over my plight and wishing that I was dead, at a distance I caught sight of a ship with people on it, which was in the way for the island. I got up and sat in a tree, and from there I saw that the ship had come to land, and out of it emerged ten black slaves, each carrying a spade. They walked to the center of the island, where they dug until they had uncovered a trapdoor, which they raised up. Then, they went back to the ship and returned with bread, flour, butter, honey, sheep and utensils that someone living in the underground chamber would need.

The slaves kept on going to and fro from the ship until they had moved all its cargo to the chamber. They then came back bringing the very finest of clothes and in the middle of them was a very old man, a skeletal figure, crushed by Time and worn away. He was wearing a tattered blue robe through which the winds blew west and east, as the Poet has said:

"What shudders are produced by Time.

And Time is strong and violent!

I used to walk without weakness.

But now I am weak and cannot walk."

The old man's hand was being held by a youth cast in the mould of splendor and perfection to the extent that his beauty deserved to be proverbial. He was like a tender branch, enchanting every heart with his grace and enslaving all minds with his coquetry. As the Poet has said:

"Beauty was brought to be measured against him.

But bowed its head in shame.

It was asked: 'Have you seen anything like this Beauty?'

It answered: 'No.' "

They walked on, lady, until they reached the underground chamber and went down into it. They stayed out of sight for an hour or more, and then the slaves and the old man came up, but the youth was not with them. They closed the door of the chamber as it had been before, after which they got into the boat and sailed out of sight. I climbed down from my tree and walked to the pile of earth, where I excavated the soil, removed it and worked patiently until I had cleared it all away. There was the trapdoor, made of wood and as big as a millstone. When I lifted it, I could see under it, to my astonishment, a vaulted stone staircase.

Down this I went until I reached the bottom and there I found a clean chamber furnished with rugs and silks, in which the youth was sitting on a raised dais, leaning back against a round cushion, holding a fan in his hand, with nosegays and scented herbs set before him. He was alone and when he saw me, he turned pale. I greeted him and said:

"Calm yourself, don't be alarmed. I mean you no harm. I am a mortal like you, and the son of a king, who has been brought to you by fate to cheer you in your loneliness."

"What is your story and how is it that you come to be living alone underground?"

When he was sure that I was a man like himself, his color returned and he let me approach him.

Then, he said:

"My brother, my story is a strange one. My father is a merchant jeweler, who engages in trade, with slaves, black and white, acting for him, sailing to the furthest of lands with his goods, travelling with camels and carrying vast stores of wealth. He had never had a son, but then in a dream he saw that, although he would have one, this son would be short-lived. He woke in the morning after his dream, crying and weeping, and it was on the following night that my mother conceived me, a date that my father noted. When the period of her pregnancy ended, she gave birth to me, to his delight. He gave banquets and fed the mendicants and the poor because, so near the end of his life, he had been granted this gift. Then, he summoned all the astrologers and astronomers, the sages and those who could cast a horoscope. They investigated my horoscope and told my father: 'Your son will live for fifteen years, after which he will be faced by a danger, but if he escapes, his life will be a long one. The cause of his death will be as follows. In the Sea of Destruction is the Magnetic Mountain on top of which stands a horse of brass with a rider on whose chest is a lead tablet. Fifty days after this rider falls from his horse, your son will die, killed by the man who shoots the rider, being his name: Ajib ibn Khadib.' "

"This caused my father great distress, but he gave me the best of upbringings until I reached the age of fifteen. Then, ten days ago, he heard that the rider had fallen into the sea and that the name of the man who had shot him was: Ajib, son of king Khadib. Fearing that I would be killed, my father brought me here. This is my story and this is why I am here all alone."

When I heard this, I was astonished and I said to myself:

"I was the man who shot the rider, but I shall never kill this youth."

Speaking aloud, I said:

"Master, may you be preserved from disease and destruction, and if Allah Almighty wills it, you shall not see care, sorrow or confusion. I shall sit with you and serve you and then, having kept company with you throughout this period, I shall go on my way and you can take me to some of your mamluks, with whom I can travel back to my own lands."

I sat talking to him until nightfall, when I got up, set light to a large candle and lit the lamps. After having brought out some food, we sat down to a meal, and we then ate some sweetmeats, which I had produced. We sat talking until most of the night had passed, when the youth went to sleep. I put a covering over him and settled down to sleep myself.

In the morning, I got up, heated some water and gently woke my companion. When he was awake, I brought him the hot water and he washed his face and thanked me. He said:

"By Allah!"

"When I will be free from my present danger and safe from Ajib ibn Khadib, I shall ask my father to reward you, but if I die, may my blessing be on you even so."

I answered:

"May there never be a day on which evil strikes you and may Allah will it that the day of my death comes before yours."

I prepared some food, we ate and I got him to perfume himself with incense. Then, I made a draughts board for him and, after eating some sweetmeats, he and I started to play, going on until nightfall, when I got up, lit the lamps and brought out some more food. I sat talking to him until only a little was left of the night, when he fell asleep, after which I covered him up and slept myself. I went on doing this for a period of days and nights, becoming fond of him and forgetting my cares. I thought:

"The astrologers lied."

"I shall never kill this boy."

I continued to serve him, to act as his companion and to talk with him for thirty-nine days until the night of the fortieth day. The youth was full of gladness and said to me:

"Thanks to Allah!"

"My brother, you saved me from death, and this is because of your blessing and the blessing brought by your arrival. I pray that Allah may restore you to your own land."

He asked me to heat him water for a bath, which I willingly agreed to do. I warmed up a great quantity of water and brought it to him. He had a good bath, using lupin flour, and I helped by rubbing him down and bringing a change of clothes, after which I made up a high couch for him. He came and lay down to sleep there after his bath, saying:

"Brother, cut me up a melon and dissolve some sugar in its juice."

I went to the store cupboard and found a fine melon, which I put on a plate. I said him:

"Master!"

"Do you have a knife?"

He replied:

"It is on this high shelf above my head."

So, I got up quickly, took the knife and drew it from its sheath, but as I went back, I tripped. with the knife in my hand, I fell on top of the youth and, in accordance with the eternal decree, it quickly penetrated his heart and he died on the spot. When this happened and I realized that I had killed him, I uttered a loud cry, beat my face and tore my clothes, saying:

"To Allah we belong and to Him do we return."

"Oh Muslims!"

"This handsome youth had only a single night left of the dangerous period of forty days that the astrologers and sages had predicted for him, and his death came as astrologers and sages had predicted for him, and his death came at my hands. How I wish I had not tried to cut this melon. This is an agonizing disaster, but it came about in order that Allah's decree might be fulfilled."

To be continued during the sixteenth night…