Sol 5.6

  1. They said, “And then?” He said, “They relate

    a famous, well-known tale:

  2. Once there was a prince in Ahvaz,

    whose kingdom embraced Syria and the Hijaz.

  3. He possessed fortresses and estates,

    wealth, soldiers, and armies

  4. such as no other king possessed;

    yet with all this, he was granted no child.

  5. Until, when he had become a feeble old man,

    a daughter came to him—a delight to behold.

  6. Beautiful, she captivated him with love,

    and she continued to grow, reared in his care.

  7. He watched over her, wary and tender,

    rightly bound to cherish and protect her.

  8. He said, “I will not marry her off, for I see

    no equal match for her among mankind.

  9. Any king who seeks her hand

    I will answer with the violence of an outraged man.”

  10. One day he entered the bathhouse and was cupped,

    with a company of servants around him.

  11. At once the cupper said to him,

    “I have a request, O valiant lord.”

  12. The sultan grew angry because he had addressed him,

    and blamed his servants for the offense he had dared.

  13. He said to them, “Do you deem it fitting for this brute

    to speak in my presence, you rabble?

  14. Though he is an old man, long in service,

    owed abundant rights and reverence,

  15. raised amid my favor and my palace,

    the nursling of my dynasty and benevolence,

  16. even so, he has no right to utter a word

    in my presence—and he has acted wrongly.”

  17. His rage subsided and his clemency returned;

    he said, “Send him back to the work that concerns him.”

  18. When he returned and stood to cup him,

    he resumed his habit of addressing him:

  19. “I have a request.” He said, “What is your request?”

    “State it and make it clear.” He said, “Your daughter—

  20. I want her in marriage for my son.” The king marveled

    at his words and ignorance, yet did not grow angry,

  21. because what had happened was a wonder,

    and wisdom does not call for anger at wonders.

  22. He said, “Repeat what you said,” thinking him

    deranged, overtaken by madness.

  23. So he repeated the claim and committed the offense.

    “No doubt this wretched man is afflicted.”

  24. An old servant said to him,

    “He persists in this speech and talk,

  25. yet he is neither mad nor drunk;

    surely there is some story and matter behind him.”

  26. They pondered his affair and said,

    “Wealth made him utter what we heard.

  27. Beneath him is surely a treasure;

    it is what made him speak this falsehood.”

  28. So they dug up the bathhouse beneath his feet

    and found that for whose sake he had transgressed:

  29. treasuries of the tyrants of old,

    once firmly secured there.

  30. Afterward they asked him about his request,

    and he renewed the former part of his importunity.

  31. He said, “I did not say it, nor do I know

    what happened through me; I bear no guilt.”

  32. They said, “You speak truly.” Wealth said, “That was my doing;

    but for me, you would not have abandoned the path of good sense.”

  33. Thus, Ṣubayḥ, O men—

    wealth raised him to the heights.

  34. Had he been concerned with feeding his family,

    he would have been occupied with nothing but his work.

  35. But, freed from that concern,

    he grew proud against us through wealth and transgressed.

  36. An elder said, “What prevents him

    from seeking the king’s daughter, and what can repel him?

  37. He belongs to the house of kingship and emirate,

    and behind him stand massed armies;

  38. he also has riches, merit, and refinement,

    rank, a noble house, and illustrious lineage.”

  39. Another elder among them said, “This is a lie;

    he is not one to rave over impossibilities.”

  40. Some of the people said the same,

    and said that he knew no self-restraint.

  41. Yet they said what they said only

    as a stratagem, concealing their intent:

  42. so that a gathering there might hear them,

    as though they had not intended it.

  43. Then the tale would emerge and spread abroad,

    circulating and disseminating among men.

  44. What they desired thereby came about,

    and through my ruin they achieved what they had plotted.

  45. Thus, when a prudent man devises a scheme,

    he attains against his enemies what he desires,

  46. while outwardly innocent of them,

    and another’s claws are stained with blood.

  47. Like the tale of al-Qadir and the baker:

    guile is a malady for which there is no cure.

Sol 5.6