Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics) (57 page)

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

It is said, and God knows better, that when ‘Amr ibn al-‘As entered Egypt and got as far as
‘Ain al-Shams
he saw a huge old building, bigger than any he had ever seen, surrounded by remarkable remains. Near it was a hermitage, and he gave orders that the hermit should be brought to him. His messengers hurried there and shouted to the hermit from all sides, at which he looked for the clothes that his ancestors had worn to bring them fortune when they went before a sultan or were faced with important affairs or great dangers. He put on a belt of red leather embroidered with crosses of yellow silk and fastened a band of white silk around his forehead, and from this he hung down a cross of red gold between his eyes and his neck.

Reciting a portion of the Evangel, he came to a picture of Jesus the son of Mary and prostrated himself to it, asking for help. He then took a number of wine cups and went out, carried on the shoulders of servants and guards. They mounted him on a piebald donkey with a white harness and set off after him, accompanied by the monks. When they came to ‘Amr, the hermit greeted him courteously and spoke with eloquence. ‘Amr allowed him to sit and, after returning his greeting, he occupied himself with someone else until the hermit had regained his composure and his wits. ‘Amr asked his name and how old he was, to which the hermit replied that his name was Matrun and that he was a hundred and twenty years old. ‘To what group do you belong?’ asked ‘Amr, and Matrun told him: ‘My forefathers were amongst the disciples of Christ.’

‘Amr then said: ‘Please tell me about this building and why it was built, as well as about the trees planted here and the water channels that have been constructed, for what I see is wonderful.’ Matrun replied:
‘What you have asked me about is remarkable. It will take a long time to explain and it contains lessons for those who will learn and prompts thought.’ I shall tell the emir – God help him – what I have heard about it and the stories that have reached me. I shall tell him about the huge old castle to which it was attached and why it was that its foundations were destroyed. I shall give the name of its queen and set out its story, so that he may have a clear view of it, if this is what God Almighty wills.

I must explain to the emir – may God grant him long life – that in the land of
Zabaj
there was a great king descended from Nebuchadnezzar named al-Shimrakh son of Janah. He treated his opponents with savage hostility and pride; he was an idolater with a passion for wine, dark-eyed girls and women, as well as for acts of violence. He had a huge arena constructed with walls of white marble and red onyx and two galleries topped with pure marble, each with a tree of red coral, on which were birds of gilded copper so constructed that when the wind blew through them they would produce delightful and remarkable songs. Their mouths were filled with pungent musk and their beaks and eyes were made of rubies and other gems. Over this was a dome of topaz and emerald, covered in rough brocade and surmounted with jewels, and in it there was a throne, to the right of which was a gazelle with two fawns under her made of red carnelian, stuffed with dinars and dirhams and inscribed with the name of Shimrakh in order to reveal his fortune and display his happiness.

On days when he was happy and content he would take his seat there and bring in those of his family and state officials whom he wanted. He would turn his head towards the throne covered by the dome, at which a vulture would give a shriek and, opening its beak, it would scatter on them the perfume that was in its belly. The gazelles would then utter melodious cries and pour out over them the dinars and dirhams with which they were filled. The king would reward those present with gifts and robes of honour and mount them on fine horses.

He had another throne for use when he was angry. This was made of yellow teak and placed under a dome of black and white ebony and covered in black silk, on top of which was an eagle made of split onyx and filled with globules of lead. To its right was a savage lion and to the left a fierce and hungry lioness suckling two cubs. When Shimrakh was angry or believed that someone was plotting against him he would sit on that throne snorting and cursing. The eagle would then turn and breathe out naphtha and smoke, while shooting leaden bullets, and the lion and
the lioness would tear the object of his anger to pieces and eat him. The arena had twenty doors of juniper wood as well as ten of red gold marking the king’s pleasure and ten of lead for his anger, so dividing the twenty between anger and gentleness. Fastened over them were a thousand coverings of goats’ hair and purple cloth.

For all his arrogance and pride, Shimrakh was hospitable to guests; he gave justice to the wronged and provided food for the poor and the wretched, while wishing to do good. In his palace he had a thousand of the most beautiful girls of the age, for each of whom he provided a personal maid to serve her and rooms for her retinue of servants. When he wanted to sleep with one of them he would summon her, and she would come in all her finery, anointed with all kinds of perfume. He would then approach an idol that he had made of red gold, prostrate himself to it, glorify it and say: ‘My God, I am going to lie with this girl in the hopes of having a son who will succeed to my throne, and any child of mine will be your servant.’

He would then lie with the girl who, if God so willed it, would conceive. When her pregnancy became obvious he would tell her: ‘If you give birth to a girl, I shall cut you in pieces and make you suffer the force of my anger.’ God, the Great and Glorious, decreed that the thousand gave birth to a thousand girls, wall-eyed, one-eyed or eyeless. When Shimrakh saw this he would sit on his Throne of Wrath and summon mother and daughter. When they came he would snort and curse and the eagle would turn and shoot lead bullets and the lions would spring at them and kill them. He would then put the dead mother’s personal maid in her place, assigning to her her mistress’s servants and her wealth. He continued to act like this over a period of time, with constant tyranny and continuous evil-doing, glorying in his long-standing rule.

One night he had been happily drunk and enjoying himself amongst his retainers, servants and companions. He then sank into a drunken sleep, only to wake up in terror and pull off his clothes, baring his breast before collapsing in a faint, which lasted for part of the day. When he recovered consciousness he held a general meeting of his people in his Hall of Pleasure and Contentment. This was attended by his intimates, his chamberlains and his viziers, who took their places according to their rank. One of the viziers asked: ‘What was it that we saw happen to our lord the king and what was it that occurred to him in his sleep?’ The king replied: ‘I saw in a dream that the eagle that perches beside my Throne of Wrath flew up into the sky until it passed out of my sight, but
then it came back, swollen in size until it was as large as a huge camel, and the sound of its shriek was loud as thunder. It seized me by my big toe and flew off with me into the sky, holding me upside down, until it had taken me beyond my own kingdom and beyond the whole world.

‘I had despaired of life when it brought me to a gloomy and barren waste, both rough and savage, in which a huge fire was blazing with lofty flames. Fiery beasts as big as great elephants were there and they bared tusks like spears at me, shooting sparks and being about to tear me to pieces. I also saw snakes the size of tall palm-trees that were fast approaching me. The eagle was about to throw me down on my head amongst them, but when I had thought that there could be no escape a handsome and sweet-scented young man came flying on green wings between earth and sky. He rescued me from the eagle’s talons and set me down on the ground before placing me on a green cushion. “Do you know me?” he asked, and when I said “no” he said: “I am the good that you did to wrong-doers and the justice that you gave to the weak against the strong. Had God, the Great and Glorious, not sent me to you, you would have perished in the fire thanks to what you did to your guests, your servants and your friends.”

‘I saw the mothers of my children sleeping on their backs in a green garden where there were fruit trees and flowing streams. They were wearing green clothes of silk brocade, and their children were rolling on top of them, while blood was still streaming from their throats. I could also see all the governors of the kings whom I had conquered during my reign propping themselves up on their elbows, talking and joking. I was ashamed, contrasting my sadness with their delight, and I said to the young man: “I repent.” I promised him faithfully that I would abandon wrong-doing and aggression, that I would no longer slaughter my wives and children and that I would be true to my religion. “If you want a son,” he told me, “dedicate him to the One, Eternal God.” At that he vanished from my sight, and I woke up filled with terror at what I had seen and I have summoned you to ask for your advice that I may keep to the promise God took from me that I would abide by His covenant.’ In reply, they all said: ‘May God help you to reach His right guidance and confirm you in obedience to Him! We agree that what the king has decided will serve as an exhortation leading to his well-being and the completion of his happiness.’

Shimrakh ordered that his Throne of Wrath should be destroyed, the wild beasts killed and the eagle which he had used to punish his people
broken and thrown into the sea. He had a proclamation made to all his governors that they should bring justice to those who had been wronged, abandon acts of sinful disobedience to God, and distribute the wealth of the mighty to the wretched poor.

This made him happy, and the vulture flew to his throne, scattering perfume, while the gazelles frisked round it, strewing dinars and dirhams. He then distributed splendid robes of honour, and those present left with the honours he had given them, while he himself went to an empty chamber and put on a coarse hair-shirt and prostrated himself to the Great and Glorious God. As he did so he prayed: ‘My God, Lord of the heavens, Who causes water to flow and clears blindness from the hearts of men, You Who have saved me from punishment and affliction after showing me the supreme calamity, through Your magnanimity grant me a son to comfort me and fulfil my hopes as my successor. You listen to men’s prayers and act in accordance with Your will.’

He left the chamber, removed the shirt and, after putting his clothes back on, he summoned the girl who was dearest to him and of whom he was particularly fond, and lay with her. By the permission of Almighty God, she immediately conceived, and he kept a note of the date and ordered everyone in the palace to obey her. When the months of her pregnancy came to an end, she gave birth to a boy like a full moon, whom his father named Mauhub. The mother died, and it was the other girls who tried to suckle the baby, but he would not accept their milk. To relieve his distress, Shimrakh went out to hunt and caught sight of a lioness with two cubs. He liked the look of the cubs and ordered that they should be caught, and they were taken unharmed and tied up. The lioness went with them to the palace and, after she had been calmed and become tame, the baby was put to her teat and accepted her milk.

Shimrakh was delighted and distributed money, while the lioness and her cubs were given the best food. She treated the baby tenderly and attended him constantly until, after having been suckled for two years, he weaned himself. As he grew up his father summoned teachers and astrologers, telling them to instruct and educate him. He learned all that was needed by a prince in a shorter time than any other, after which his father set him to mastering horsemanship, the use of arms and hunting, until by the time that he was fourteen he had reached the desired standard.

At that point his father summoned him and gave him the following advice: ‘My son, in the case of our own great ancestors and every other
king until now, when a son of theirs reached manhood his father would send him to the sacred church of Jerusalem to be given religious instruction by the bishops and to receive blessing from the patriarch and the archbishop. He would be baptized in the font with the Evangel being recited over him, so that he might return to the Eternal Lord, the great object of our worship. It is He Who will lead you in the right way to both righteousness and glory, since here is the completion of blessing and the fulfilment of what tradition demands. So now get ready to leave and may you enjoy success and happiness if God Almighty so wills.’

The narrators noted that it was recorded in the lives of the great kings that when one of them reached maturity and went to be baptized in the font of the church of Jerusalem splendid sacrifices would be made and bountiful alms distributed. The Evangel would be recited over him, and he would be taken to Bethlehem, where his picture would be placed on the walls of the church next to those of his ancestors with their names and dates. A record would be kept of when he came there, and the day would be kept as an official feast every year. A crystal candle fed with oil of jasmine would burn before the picture night and day, regardless of whether it was of a boy or a girl. The visitors would then return to Jerusalem. [
lac.
]

This is how Baalbek got its name, as Baal was a huge old statue – but there is no god but God Almighty, Who is great beyond compare and Whose Names are hallowed and besides Whom there is no other god. When visitors came there and prostrated themselves to the statue they would be entered by a devil sent by the sorcerers and divines who served the statue and spoke with its tongue. They were told what to do, and offerings and sacrifices were made to the idol in the presence of the deacons and monks, after which they would return to their own countries. Those who wished would marry, while others who were suited to the monastic life would become monks.

When Shimrakh told his son to set out, he gave him an armed escort together with equipment and money and sent with him monks and reputable shaikhs, choosing an auspicious day for his departure. When he reached Jerusalem he was met by the priests and monks assigned to the church, together with the patriarch and the archbishop. They provided him with food and barley and presented him with fine presents, as people came from all parts to look at him.