Hatim Gold Gi Pipe

[Sourn Sanneh]

Ihave no fear that a friend, whose friendship has lasted nearly a third of acentury, will misunderstand my reasons for inscribing his name upon thesepages. You have lived long enough in the East and, as your writings show,observantly enough, to detect the pearl which lurks in the kitchen-midden, andto note that its lustre is not dimmed nor its value diminished by its uncleansurroundings.

There lived once in the city of Cufa[FN#1] a man called Al-Rabн'a bin Hбtim,who was one of the chief men of the town, a wealthy and a healthy, and Heavenhad vouchsafed him a son, whom he named Ni'amah Allah.[FN#2] One day, being inthe slave-brokers' mart, he saw a woman exposed for sale with a little maid ofwonderful beauty and grace on her arm. So he beckoned to the broker and askedhim, "How much for this woman and her daughter?" He answered "Fifty dinars."Quoth Al-Rabi'a "Write the contract of sale and take the money and give it toher owner." Then he gave the broker the price and his brokerage and taking thewoman and her child, carried them to his house. Now when the daughter of hisuncle who was his wife saw the slave, she said to her husband, "O my cousin,what is this damsel?" He replied, "Of a truth, I bought her for the sake of thelittle one on her arm; for know that, when she groweth up, there will not beher like for beauty, either in the land of the Arabs or the Ajams." His wiferemarked, "Right was thy rede", and said to the woman "What is thy name?" Shereplied, "O my lady, my name is Tauflнk.[FN#3]" "And what is thy daughter'sname?" asked she? Answered the slave, "Sa'ad, the happy." Rejoined hermistress; "Thou sayst sooth, thou art indeed happy, and happy is he who hathbought thee." Then quoth she to her husband, "O my cousin, what wilt thou callher?"; and quoth he, "Whatso thou chooses"; so she said, "Then let us call herNaomi," and he rejoined "Good is thy device." The little Naomi was reared withAl-Rabi'a's son Ni'amah in one cradle, so to speak, till the twain reached theage of ten and each grew handsomer than the other; and the boy used to addressher, "O my sister!" and she, "O my brother!", till they came to that age whenAl-Rabi'a said to Ni'amah, "O my son, Naomi is not thy sister but thy slave. Ibought her in thy name whilst thou wast yet in the cradle; so call her no moresister from this day forth." Quoth Ni'amah, "If that be so, I will take her towife." Then he went to his mother and told her of this, and she said to him, "Omy son, she is thy handmaid." So he wedded and went in unto Naomi and lovedher; and two[FN#4] years passed over them whilst in this condition, nor wasthere in all Cufa a fairer girl than Naomi, or a sweeter or a more graceful. Asshe grew up she learnt the Koran and read works of science and excelled inmusic and playing upon all kinds of instruments; and in the beauty of hersinging she surpassed all the folk of her time. Now one day as she sat with herhusband in the wine chamber, she took the lute, tightened the strings, and sangthese two couplets,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Persian heardthe name of Naomi, he fell to calculating and writing on his hand and presentlysaid, "O my lady, I cannot prescribe a medicine for her till I know whatcountry woman she is, because of the difference of climate: so tell me in whatland she was brought up and what is her age." The old woman replied "She isfourteen years old and she was brought up in Cufa of Irak." He asked, "And howlong hath she sojourned in this country?" "But a few months," answered she. Nowwhen Ni'amah heard the old woman's words and recognised the name of his slave-girl, his heart fluttered and he was like to faint. Then said the Persian,"Such and such medicines will suit her case;" and the old woman rejoined, "Thenmake them up and give me what thou hast mentioned, with the blessing ofAlmighty Allah." So saying, she threw upon the shop board ten gold pieces, andhe looked at Ni'amah and bade him prepare the necessary drugs; whereupon shealso looked at the youth and exclaimed, "Allah have thee in his keeping, O myson! Verily, she favoureth thee in age and mien." Then said she to thephysician, "O my brother the Persian, is this thy slave or thy son?" "He is myson," answered he. So Ni'amah put up the medicine and, placing it in a littlebox, took a piece of paper and wrote thereon these two couplets,[FN#15]

He pressed the paper into the box and, sealing it up, wrote upon the cover thefollowing words in Cufic characters, "I am Ni'amah of al-Rabi'a of Cufa." Thenhe set it before the old woman who took it and bade them farewell and returnedto the Caliph's palace, and when she went up with the drugs to the damsel sheplaced the little box of medicine at her feet, saying, "O my lady, know thatthere is lately come to our town a Persian physician, than whom I never saw amore skilful nor a better versed in matters of malady. I told him thy name,after showing him the water-bottle, and forthwith he knew thine ailment andprescribed a remedy. Then he bade his son make thee up this medicine; and thereis not in Damascus a comelier or a seemlier youth than this lad of his, norhath anyone a shop the like of his shop." So Naomi took the box and, seeing thenames of her lord and his father written on the cover, changed colour and saidto herself, "Doubtless, the owner of this shop is come in search of me." So shesaid to the old woman, "Describe to me this youth." Answered the old woman,"His name is Ni'amah, he hath a mole on his right eyebrow, is richly clad andis perfectly handsome." Cried Naomi, "Give me the medicine, whereon be theblessing and help of Almighty Allah!" So she drank off the potion (and shelaughing) and said, "Indeed, it is a blessed medicine!" Then she sought in thebox and, finding the paper, opened it, read it, understood it and knew thatthis was indeed her lord, whereas her heart was solaced and she rejoiced. Nowwhen the old woman saw her laughing, she exclaimed, "This is indeed a blessedday!"; and Naomi said, "O nurse, I have a mind for something to eat and drink."The old woman said to the serving women, "Bring a tray of dainty viands foryour mistress;" whereupon they set food before her and she sat down to eat. Andbehold in came the Caliph who, seeing her sitting at meat, rejoiced; and theold woman said to him, "O Commander of the Faithful, I give thee joy of thyhand maid Naomi's recovery! And the cause is that there is lately come to thisour city a physician than whom I never saw a better versed in diseases andtheir remedies. I fetched her medicine from him and she hath drunken of it butonce and is restored to health." Quoth he, "Take a thousand dinars and applythyself to her treatment, till she be completely recovered." And he went away,rejoicing in the damsel's recovery, whilst the old woman betook herself to thePersian's house and delivered the thousand dinars, giving him to know that shewas become the Caliph's slave and also handing him a letter which Naomi hadwritten. He took it and gave the letter to Ni'amah, who at first sight knew herhand and fell down in a swoon. When he revived he opened the letter and foundthese words written therein: "From the slave despoiled of her Ni'amah, herdelight; her whose reason hath been beguiled and who is parted from the core ofher heart. But afterwards of a truth thy letter hath reached me and hathbroadened my breast, and solaced my soul, even as saith the poet,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ni'amah saw hishandmaid Naomi, he rose to meet her and strained her to his bosom and both fellto the ground fainting. As soon as they came to themselves, the Caliph's sistersaid to them, "Sit ye down and take we counsel for your deliverance from thisyour strait." And they answered, "O our lady, we hear and obey: it is thine tocommand." Quoth she, "By Allah, no harm shall befall you from us!" Then shebade her handmaids bring meat and drink which was done, and they sat down andate till they had enough, after which they sat drinking. Then the cup wentround amongst them and their cares ceased from them; but Ni'amah said, "Would Iknew how this will end." The Princess asked, "O Ni'amah, dost thou love thyslave Naomi?"; and he answered, "Of a truth it is my passion for her which hathbrought me to this state of peril for my life." Then said she to the damsel, "ONaomi, dost thou love thy lord Ni'amah?"; and she replied, "O my lady, it isthe love of him which hath wasted my body and brought me to evil case."Rejoined the Princess, "By Allah, since ye love each other thus, may he not bewho would part you! Be of good cheer and keep your eyes cool and clear." Atthis they both rejoiced and Naomi called for a lute and, when they brought it,she took it and tuned it and played a lively measure which enchanted thehearers, and after the prelude sang these couplets,

Now when he had made an end of his song, Naomi filled the cup and gave it tohim, and he took it and drank it off; then she filled again and gave the cup tothe Caliph's sister who also emptied it; after which the Princess in her turntook the lute and tightened the strings and tuned it and sang these twocouplets,

And they ceased not to sing verses and drink to the sweet sound of the strings,full of mirth and merriment and joy and jollity till behold! in came theCommander of the Faithful. Now when they saw him, they rose and kissed theground before him; and he, seeing Naomi with the lute in her hand, said to her,"O Naomi, praised be Allah who hath done away from thee sickness andsuffering!" Then he looked at Ni'amah (who was still disguised as a woman), andsaid to the Princess, "O my sister, what damsel is this by Naomi's side?" Shereplied, "O Commander of the Faithful, thou hast here a handmaid, one of thyconcubines and the bosom friend of Naomi who will neither eat nor drink withouther." And she repeated the words of the poet,

Quoth the Caliph, "By Allah Omnipotent, verily she is as handsome as Naomi, andto-morrow I will appoint her a separate chamber beside that of her friend andsend her furniture and stuffs and all that befitteth her, in honour of Naomi."Then the Princess called for food and set it before her brother, who ate andmade himself at home in their place and company. Then filling a cup he signedto Naomi to sing; so she took the lute, after draining two of them and sangthese two couplets,

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