Supplemental Nights to The Book of the Thousand and One Nights | Page 9

estate and on the
throne[FN#23] of my Caliphate and clad in my royal clothing, stand thou in attendance
upon him and enjoin the Emirs and Grandees and the folk of my household and the
officers of my realm to be upon their feet, as in his service and obey him in whatso he
shall bid them do; and thou, if he speak to thee of aught, do it and hearken unto his say
and gainsay him not in anything during this coming day." Ja'afar acknowledged the order
with "Hearkening and obedience" and withdrew, whilst the Prince of True Believers went
in to the palace women, who came up to him, and he said to them, "When this sleeper
shall awake to- morrow, kiss ye the ground between his hands, and do ye wait upon him
and gather round about him and clothe him in the royal clothing and serve him with the
service of the Caliphate and deny not aught of his estate, but say to him, ‘Thou art the
Caliph.'" Then he taught them what they should say to him and how they should do with
him and withdrawing to a retired room,[FN#24] let down a curtain before himself and
slept. Thus fared it with the Caliph; but as regards Abu al-Hasan, he gave not over
snoring in his sleep till the day brake clear, and the rising of the sun drew near, when a
woman in waiting came up to him and said to him, "O our lord, the morning prayer!"
hearing these words he laughed and opening his eyes, turned them about the palace and
found himself in an apartment whose walls were painted with gold and lapis lazuli and its
ceiling dotted and starred with red gold. Around it were sleeping chambers, with curtains
of gold- embroidered silk let down over their doors, and all about vessels of gold and
porcelain and crystal and furniture and carpets dispread and lamps burning before the
niche wherein men prayed, and slave-girls and eunuchs and Mamelukes and black slaves
and boys and pages and attendants. When he saw this he was bewildered in his wit and
said, "By Allah, either I am dreaming a dream, or this is Paradise and the Abode of
Peace!"[FN#25] And he shut his eyes and would have slept again. Quoth one of the
eunuchs, "O my lord, this is not of thy wont, O Commander of the Faithful!" then the rest
of the handmaids of the palace came up to him and lifted him into a sitting posture, when
he found himself upon a mattrass raised a cubit's height from the ground and all stuffed
with floss silk. So they seated him upon it and propped his elbow with a pillow, and he
looked at the apartment and its vastness and saw those eunuchs and slave-girls in
attendance upon him and standing about his head, whereupon he laughed at himself and
said, "By Allah, 'tis not as I were on wake, yet I am not asleep! And in his perplexity he
bowed his chin upon his bosom and then opened his eyes, little by little, smiling and
saying, "What is this state wherein I find myself?" then he arose and sat up, whilst the
damsels laughed at him privily; and he was bewildered in his wit, and bit his finger; and
as the bite pained him, he cried, "Oh!" and was vexed; and the Caliph watched him,
whence he saw him not, and laughed. Presently Abu al-Hasan turned to a damsel and

called to her; whereupon she answered, "At thy service, O Prince of True Believers!"
Quoth he, "what is thy name?" and quoth she, "Shajarat al-Durr."[FN#26] then he said to
her, "By the protection of Allah, O damsel, am I Commander of the Faithful?" She
replied, "Yes, indeed, by the protection of Allah thou in this time art Commander of the
Faithful." quoth he, "By Allah, thou liest, O thousandfold whore!"[FN#27] Then he
glanced at the Chief Eunuch and called to him, whereupon he came to him and kissing
the ground before him, said, "Yes, O Commander of the Faithful." Asked Abu al-Hasan,
"Who is Commander of the Faithful?" and the Eunuch answered "Thou." And Abu
al-Hasan said, "Thou liest, thousandfold he-whore that thou art!" then he turned to
another eunuch and said to him, "O my chief,[FN#28] by the protection of Allah, am I
Prince of the True Believers?" Said he, "Ay, by Allah, O my lord, thou art in this time
Commander of the Faithful and Viceregent of the Lord of the three Worlds." Abu
al-Hasan laughed at himself and doubted of his reason and was bewildered at what he
beheld, and said, "In one night do I become Caliph? Yesterday I was Abu al-Hasan the
Wag, and to-day I am Commander