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of thy presence supplies,
To the bath, that in midst of hell-fire we may see Even
Paradise shining, come, light of mine eyes!
We will scent it with ambergris, aloes and musk, Till the
fragrance in clouds from all quarters arise.
Yea, Fortune we ll pardon her sins and give thanks, For His
grace, to the Merciful One, the All-Wise;
And I ll say, when I see thee therein,  O my love, All delights
be thy lot in the earth and the skies!
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So they went to the bath and took their pleasure there in;
after which they returned to their palace and there abode in
the fulness of delight, till there came to them the Destroyer
of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies; and glory be to Him
who changeth not neither ceaseth and in whom all things have
their term!
ABOU NUWAS WITH THE THREE BOYS AND THE
KHALIF HAROUN ER RESHID.
Abou Nuwas one day shut himself up and making ready a richly-
furnished saloon, set out therein a banquet of meats of all
kinds and colours that lips and tongue can desire. Then he went
forth, to seek a minion who should befit the entertainment,
saying,  O my God and my Master and my Lord, I beseech Thee to
send me one worthy of this banquet and apt to carouse with me
this day! Hardly had he made an end of speaking, when he
espied three handsome beardless youths, as they were of the
children of Paradise, differing in complexion but equal in
perfection of beauty; and all hearts yearned with desire to the
graceful bending of their shapes, even to what saith the poet:
Two beardless youths I happened on one day And said  I love
you.  Hast thou pelf? asked they.
 Yes, answered I,  and liberality.  Then is the matter easy,
did they say.
Now Abou Nuwas was on this wise given and loved to sport and
make merry with the fair and cull the rose from every fresh-
flowered cheek, even as saith the poet:
Full many a graybeard is amorous and loves Fair faces and music
and dalliance and glee:
From Mosul, the country of pureness,[FN86] he comes, Yet
nought but Aleppo[FN87] remembereth he.
So he accosted them with the salutation, and they returned his
greeting with all honour and civility and would have gone their
way; but he stayed them, repeating these verses:
To none but me your footsteps steer; For I have store of all
good cheer;
Wine that the heart of convent monk Would glad, so bright it is
and clear;
And flesh of sheep, to boot, have I And birds of land and sea
and mere.
Eat ye of these and drink old wine, That doth away chagrin and
fear.
The boys were beguiled by his verses and consented to his
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wishes, saying,  We hear and obey. So he carried them to his
lodging, where they found all ready that he had set forth in
his verses. They sat down and ate and drank and made merry
awhile, after which they appealed to Abou Nuwas to decide which
was the handsomest and most shapely of them. So he pointed to
one of them, after having kissed him twice, and recited the
following verses:
With my life I will ransom the mole, on the cheek of the
loveling that is; For how should I ransom it else with
treasure or aught but my soul?
And blessed for ever be He who fashioned his cheek without hair
And made, of His power and His might, all beauty to dwell
in yon mole!
Then he pointed to another and kissing his lips, repeated these
verses:
There s a loveling hath a mole upon his cheek, As  twere musk
on virgin camphor, so to speak.
My eyes marvel when they see it. Quoth the mole,  Heaven s
blessing on the Prophet look ye seek! [FN88]
Then he pointed to the third and repeated the following verses,
after kissing him half a score times:
All in a silver cup he melted gold full fine, A youth whose
hands were dyed in ruby-coloured wine,
And with the skinkers went and handed round one cup Of wine,
whilst other two were proffered by his eyne.
Fairer than all the Turks, an antelope, whose waist Together
would attract the mountains of Hunain.[FN89]
An if I were content with crooked[FN90] womankind, Betwixt
attractions twain would be this heart of mine.
One love towards Diyarbeker[FN91] drawing it, and one That
draws it, otherguise, to the land of Jamiain.[FN92]
Now each of the youths had drunk two cups, and when it came to
Abou Nuwas s turn, he took the goblet and repeated these
verses:
Drink not of wine except it be at the hands of a loveling slim,
Who in brightness of soul resembles it and it resembles
him.
The drinker of wine, in very truth, hath no delight thereof,
Except the cheek of the fair be pure, who doth the goblet
brim.
Then he drank off his cup, and when it came round to Him again,
joyance got the mastery of him and he repeated The following
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verses:
Make thou thy boon-fellow of cups, brimmed up as full as this,
And eke to follow cup with cup, I rede thee, do not miss,
Poured by a damask-lipped one s hand, a wonder-lovely fair,
Whose mouth s sweet water, after sleep, as musk on apple
is.
Drink not of wine, except it be from the hand of a gazelle,
Whose cheek is goodlier than itself and sweeter still his
kiss.
Presently, the wine crept to his head, drunkenness mastered him
and he knew not hand from head, so that he swayed about for
mirth, inclining anon to this one, to kiss him, and anon to
another. Then he fell to glorying in himself and his case and
the goodliness of his entertainment and his companions, and
recited these verses:
None knoweth perfection of pleasure but he Who drinketh, with
fair ones to hearten him still.
This sings to him, t other, when cheer him would be, Revives
him forthright with the cups he doth fill;
And whenever from one he hath need of a kiss, Long draughts
from his lips, at his case, he doth swill.
God bless them! Right sweet has my day with them been, And
wonder delightsome and void of all ill!
We drank of the wine cup, both mingled and pure, And agreed
whoso slept, we should touzle at will.
At this moment, there came a knocking at the door; so they bade
him who knocked enter, and behold, it was the Khalif Haroun er [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]