Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights) Volume 09 — Night 915 - 916

When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifteenth Night, She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the young Prince had questioned Shimas touching disputed points of olden time and had been duly answered, he presently said, "Now tell me by what power is the creature able to transgress against his Creator, seeing that His omnipotence is without bounds, even as thou hast set forth, and that naught can overcome Him or depart from His will?

Deemest thou not that He is able to turn His creatures from this disobedience and compel them eternally to hold the Truth?"

Answered Shimas, "In very sooth Almighty Allah (honoured be His name!

) is just and equitable and loving-kind to the people of His affection.

[FN#129] He created His creatures with justice and equity and of the inspiration of His justice and the overflowing of His mercy, He gave them kingship over themselves, that they should do whatever they might design.

He showeth them the way of righteousness and bestoweth on them the power and ability of doing what they will of good: and if they do the opposite thereof, they fall into destruction and disobedience."

Q "If the Creator, as thou sayest, have granted to mankind power and ability[FN#130] and they by reason thereof are empowered to do whatso they will, why then doth He not come between them and that which they desire of wrong and turn them to the right?"

--"This is of the greatness of His mercy and the goodliness of His wisdom; for, even as aforetime he showed wrath to Iblis and had no mercy on him, even so he showed Adam mercy, by means[FN#131] of repentance, and accepted of him, after He had been wroth with him."

Q "He is indeed mere Truth, for He it is who requiteth every one according to his works, and there is no Creator save Allah who hath power over all things.

But tell me, hath He created that which He loveth and that which He loveth not or only that which He loveth?"

--"He created all things, but favoureth only that which he loveth."

Q "What reckest thou of two things, one whereof is pleasing to God and earneth future reward for him who practiseth it and the other offendeth Allah and entaileth lawful punishment upon the doer?"

--"Expound to me these two things and make me to apprehend them, that I may speak concerning them."

Q "They are good and evil, the two things inherent in the body and in the soul."

--"O wise youth, I see that thou knowest good and evil to be of the works which the soul and the body combine to do.

Good is named good, because it is in favour with God, and evil is termed ill, for that in it is His ill-will.

Indeed, it behoveth thee to know Allah and to please Him by the practice of good, for that He hath bidden us to this and forbidden us to do evil."

Q "I see these two things, to wit, good and evil, to be wrought only by the five senses familiarly known in the body of man, which be the sensorium[FN#132] whence proceed speech, hearing, sight, smell and touch.

Now I would have thee tell me whether these five senses were created altogether for good or for evil."

--"Apprehend, O man, the exposition of that whereof thou askest and it is a manifest proof; so lay it up in thine innermost thought and take it to thy heart.

And this it is that the Creator (extolled and exalted be He!

) created man with Truth and impressed him with the love thereof and there proceedeth from it no created thing save by the puissance of the Most High, whose trace is in every phenomenon.

He[FN#133] (extol we Him and exalt we Him!

) is not apt but to the ordering of justice and equity and beneficence, and He created man for the love of Him and set in him a soul, wherein the inclination to lusts was innate and assigned him capability and ableness and appointed the Five Senses aforesaid to be to him a means of winning Heaven or Hell."

Q "How so?"

--"In that He created the Tongue for speech, the Hands for action, the Feet for walking and the Eyes for seeing and the Ears for hearing, and upon each bestowed especial power and incited them to exercise and motion, bidding each of them do naught save that which pleaseth Him.

Now what pleaseth Him in Speech is truthfulness and abstaining from its opposite, which is falsehood; and what pleaseth Him in Sight is turning it unto that which He loveth and leaving the contrary, which is turning it unto that which He hateth, such as looking unto lusts; and what pleaseth Him in Hearing is hearkening to naught but the True, such as admonition and that which is in Allah's writ and leaving the contrary, which is listening to that which incurreth the anger of Allah; and what pleaseth Him in the Hands is not hoarding up that which He entrusteth to them, but expending it in such way as shall please Him and leaving the contrary, which is avarice or spending in sinfulness that which He hath committed to them; and what pleaseth Him in the Feet is that they be constant in the pursuit of good, such as the quest of instruction, and leave its contrary, which is the walking in other than the way of Allah.

Now respecting the rest of the lusts which man practiseth, they proceed from the body by command of the soul.

But the lusts which proceed from the body are of two kinds, the lust of reproduction and the lust of the belly.

As for the former, that which pleaseth Allah thereof is that it be not other than lawful[FN#134] and He is displeased with it if contrary to His law.

As for the lust of the belly, eating and drinking, what pleaseth Allah thereof is that each take naught save that which the Almighty hath appointed him be it little or mickle, and praise the Lord and thank Him;

and what angereth Him thereof is that a man take that which is not his by right.

All precepts other than these are false, and thou knowest that Allah created every thing and delighteth only in Good and commandeth each member of the body to do that which He hath made on it incumbent, for that He is the All-wise, the All- knowing."

Q "Was it foreknown unto Allah Almighty (exalted be His power!

) that Adam, by eating of the tree from which He forbade him and whence befel what befel, would leave obedience for disobedience?"

--"Yes, O sage youth.

This was foreknown unto Allah Almighty ere He created Adam, and the proof and manifestation attached thereto is the warning He gave him against eating of the tree and His informing him that, if he ate of the fruit he would be disobedient.

And this was in the way of justice and equity, lest Adam should have an argument wherewith he might excuse himself against his Lord.

When therefore, he fell into error and calamity and when disgrace waxed sore upon him and reproach, this passed to his posterity after him; wherefore Allah sent Prophets and Apostles and gave to them Books and they taught us the divine commandments and expounded to us what was therein of admonitions and precepts and made clear to us and manifest the way of righteousness and explained to us what it behoved us to do and what to leave undone.

Now we are endowed with Freewill and he who acteth within these lawful limits winneth his wish and prospereth, while whoso transgresseth these legal bounds and doeth other than that which these precepts enjoin, resisteth the Lord and is ruined in both Abodes.

This then is the road of Good and Evil.

Thou knowest that Allah over all things is Omnipotent and created not lusts for us but of His pleasure and volunty, and He bade us use them in the way of lawfulness, so they might be to us a good; but, when we use them in the way of sinfulness they are to us an evil.

Therefore what of righteous we compass is from Allah Almighty, and what of wrongous from ourselves[FN#135] His creatures, not from the Creator, exalted be He herefor with highmost exaltation!"

--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Sixteenth Night, She continued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the youth, King Jali'ad's son had questioned Shimas concerning these subtleties and had been duly answered, he pursued, "That which thou hast expounded to me concerning Allah and His creatures I understand; but tell me of one matter, concerning which my mind is perplexed with extreme wonderment, and that is that I marvel at the sons of Adam, how careless they are of the life to come and at their lack of taking thought thereof and their love to this world, albeit they know that they must needs leave it and depart from it, whilst they are yet young in years."

--"Yes, verily; and that which thou seest of its changefulness and traitorousness with its children is a sign that Fortune to the fortunate will not endure nor to the afflicted affliction; for none of its people is secure from its changefulness and even if one have power over it and be content therewith, yet there is no help but that his estate change and removal hasten unto him.

Wherefore man can put no trust therein nor profit by that which he enjoyeth of its gilding and glitter[FN#136]; and we knowing this will know that the sorriest of men in condition are those who are deluded by this world and are unmindful of the other world; for that whatso of present ease they enjoy will not even the fear and misery and horrors which will befal them after their removal therefrom.

Thus are we certified that, if the creature knew that which will betide him with the coming of death[FN#137] and his severance from that which he enjoyeth of pleasure and delight, he would cast away the world and that which is therein; for we are certified that the next life is better for us and more profitable."

Said the Prince, "O sage, thou hast dispelled the darkness that was upon my heart by the light of thy shining lamp and hast directed me into the right road I must tread on the track of Truth and hast given me a lantern whereby I may see."

Then rose one of the learned men who were in the presence and said, "When cometh the season of Prime, needs must the hare seek the pasture as well as the elephant; and indeed I have heard from you twain such questions and solutions as I never before heard; but now leave that and let me ask you of somewhat.

Tell me, what is the best of the goods of the world?"

Replied the Prince, "Health of body, lawful livelihood and a virtuous son."

Q "What is the greater and what is the less?"

-- "The greater is that to which a lesser than itself submitteth and the less that which submitteth to a greater than itself."

Q "What are the four things wherein concur all creatures?"

--"Men concur in meat and drink, the sweet of sleep, the lust of women and the agonies of death."

Q "What are the three things whose foulness none can do away?"

--"Folly, meanness of nature, and lying."

Q

"What is the best kind of lie,[FN#138] though all kinds are foul?"

--"That which averteth harm from its utterer and bringeth gain."

Q "What kind of truthfulness is foul, though all kinds are fair?"

--"That of a man glorying in that which he hath and vaunting himself thereof."

Q "What is the foulest of foulnesses?"

--"When a man boasteth himself of that which he hath not."

Q "Who is the most foolish of men?"

--"He who hath no thought but of what he shall put in his belly."

Then said Shimas, "O King, verily thou art our King, but we desire that thou assign the kingdom to thy son after thee, and we will be thy servants and lieges."

So the King exhorted the Olema and others who were in the presence to remember that which they had heard and do according thereto and enjoined them to obey his son's commandment, for that he made him his heir-apparent,[FN#139] so he should be the successor of the King his sire; and he took an oath of all the people of his empire, literates and braves and old men and boys, to mention none other, that they would not oppose him in the succession nor transgress against his commandment.

Now when the Prince was seventeen years old, the King sickened of a sore sickness and came nigh to die; so, being certified that his decease was at hand, he said to the people of his household, "This is disease of Death which is upon me;

wherefore do ye summon my son and kith and kin and gather together the Grandees and Notables of my empire, so not one of them may remain except he be present."

Accordingly they fared forth and made proclamation to those who were near and published the summons to those who were afar off, and they all assembled and went in to the King.

Then said they to him, "How is it with thee, O King, and how deemest thou for thyself of these thy dolours?"

Quoth Jali'ad, "Verily, this my malady is mortal and the shaft of death hath executed that which Allah Almighty decreed against me: this is the last of my days in the world here and the first of my days in the world hereafter."

Then said he to his son, "Draw near unto me."

So the youth drew near, weeping with weeping so sore, that he well nigh drenched the bed, whilst the King's eyes welled tears and all who were present wept.

Quoth Jali'ad, "Weep not, O my son; I am not the first whom this Inevitable betideth; nay, it is common to all that Allah hath created.

But fear thou the Almighty and do good deeds which shall precede thee to the place whither all creatures tend and wend.

Obey not thy lusts, but occupy thy soul with lauding the Lord in thy standing up and thy sitting down, in thy waking and in thy sleeping.

Make the Truth the aim of thine eyes; this is the last of my speech with thee and--The Peace."

--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.