The Tale of Attaf (Cotheal)

By DigiCat

'The Tale of Attaf' is one of the stories featured in a set known as One Thousand and One Nights, which is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. 'The Tale of Attaf' itself is a tale about Harun al-Rashid, who consults his library (the House of Wisdom), reads a random book, and ends up laughing and weeping and eventually dismisses the faithful vizier Ja'far ibn Yahya from sight. Ja'afar, disturbed and upset flees Baghdad and plunges into a series of adventures in Damascus, involving Attaf and the woman whom Attaf eventually marries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DigiCat
• Release date: Aug 10, 2022
• ISBN: 8596547164852

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Anonymous

The Tale of Attaf (Cotheal)

EAN 8596547164852

DigiCat, 2022

Contact: [e-mail]

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Titlepage

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story of attaf the generous, and what happened to him with the wazir ja'afar who fell in love with a young lady not knowing her to be the cousin-wife of attaf who, in his generosity divorced her and married her to him. The naib of damascus being jealous of attaf's intimacy with ja'afar imprisons him for treason and pillages his property. escape of attaf from prison and his flight to baghdad where he arrives in a beggarly condition, and being accused of assassination is condemned to death, but being released he goes to ja'afar who recognises him and is rewarded by him and the caliph. His wife is restored to him and after a while they are sent home to damascus of which he is appointed wali in place of the naib who is condemned to death, but is afterwards exiled.

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, to whom we cry for help.

They say God is omniscient, knowing the past and the future, and we learn from the histories of the peoples that there was in ancient times and bygone seasons (and God knows best!) a Caliph of the Caliphs or the orthodox and he was Harun er-Rashid who one night became very restless and from the drowsiness that came upon him he sat down upon the bed and dressed himself in sleeping-clothes; then it was that he called to his service Mesrúr the sword-bearer of grace who came immediately into his presence and said to him, O Mesrur, the night is very oppressive and I wish thee to dispel my uneasiness. Then Mesrur said to him, O Commander of the Faithful, arise now and go to the terrace-roof of the palace and look upon the canopy of heaven and upon the twinkling stars and the brightness of the moon, while listening to the music of the rippling streams and the creaking norias as they are spoken of by the poet who said:—

A Noria that discharges by the spouts of her tears resembles the actions of a distracted lover: She is the lover of her branches (sweeps or levers) by the magic in her heart until she laughs: She complains and the tears run from her eyes, she rises in the morning to find herself weeping and complaining.

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Then he said, O Commander of the Faithful, the streams also are thus mentioned by one of them:—

My favorite is a damsel dispensing drink, and my recreation is a running stream; A damsel whose eyes are a garden of Paradise, and a garden whose springs make a running brook.

Then again said Harun er-Rashid, O Mesrur, such is not my wish, and Mesrur replied, O Commander of the Faithful, in thy palace are three hundred and sixty damsels, they are thy concubines and thy slaves, and they are as if they were rising moons and beautiful gazelles, and in elegant robes they are dressed like the flowers. Walk around in the midst of the palaces and from thy hiding-place see each of them enter by herself in her own apartment admiring her beauty and her magnificent dresses, all showing their joy and mirth since they will not know of thee; then listen to their singing and their playing and their joyous company in their apartments and perhaps you'll attach yourself to one of them who'll play with thee, keep thee awake and be thy cup-companion, dispelling what may remain of thy restlessness. But he replied, O Mesrur, bring to me my cousin Ja'afar the Barmeky immediately. So he answered, Hearing is obedience. Then Mesrur went out to the house of Ja'afar and said to him, Come to the Commander of the Faithful, and he answered, To hear is to obey. Then Ja'afar dressed himself and went with