STORY OF THE ASCENDENCY OF THE SOVEREIGN OF LOVE OVER THE CITY OF THE BODY OF THAT PRINCESS OF THE REALM OF ELEGANCE, NAMELY ZULEIKHA; AND THE ABSTAINING OF THE VERACIOUS ONE FROM TREACHERY; AND HIS REMAINING IMPRISONED FOR SEVERAL YEARS; AND THE CONSOLATION WHICH HIS LORDSHIP FOUND ON THE THRONE OF MAGNIFICENCE AND GLORY AFTER ALL HIS TROUBLES AND AFFLICTIONS.

The writer of this lovely story and the promulgator of these pleasant tidings thus addresses the connoisseurs of the subtleties of eloquence and of the value of elucida­tions: Zuleikha, who was a tenant of the harem of dignity, the signet of the sphere of elegance, the light of the eyes of the discerning, and the flambeau of the pavilion of creation, was so constant in her love to Yusuf, and so obsequious in his service, that rhetoricians and expounders must acknowledge their inability to describe it; but the lucid and modest mind of those who were endowed with truth and certainty, and of those who possess the quintessence of acuteness, has attempted to describe the course of those events as follows:

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Each day when the new morning dawned She presented him with a new robe. When the Khosru with the golden crown was rising* She adorned his head with another diadem. When his walking cypress raised his head, She girded his loins in another manner; The cheek of that sun of heart-deceivers Did not appear two days with the same collar. Twice that fresh cypress of the rose-grove of mystery Did not raise its head with the same diadem. That sugar-lip did not use a girdle For his loins except [a slender one] as for a sugar-cane.

It is related that when the fire of love for Yusuf had been kindled in the oven of Zuleikha’s mind, its flames blazed upwards, and all the wishes of that tulip-cheeked one were concentrated in the desire to enjoy the pleasures of youth with Yusuf in the gardens of security, and in the vernal season of life. When Yusuf became aware of this intention, he shunned the society of Zuleikha, but this [shyness] only augmented her love; her full moon became a crescent, and her cypress-like stature became a tooth­pick.*

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There is no hope of enjoyment in love, The pleasure of life is not in love; Its beginning is grief and pain, Its end is self-denial and death.

When the affectionate nurse of Zuleikha beheld her in that state, she inquired about the cause of it, whereon the mistress explained her own efforts and Yusuf’s obstinacy. The nurse wondered greatly that he entertained no affection for Zuleikha, since all Egypt was sleepless to behold her, and distracted by the radiations of her countenance. Zuleikha said: ‘Despite of my pleasing manners and beauty, Yusuf deigns not to favour me with one glance, or to consider my pulchritude.’ The nurse then concocted a stratagem, Zuleikha acted according to her instructions, and the first thing she did was to order a palace to be built, the like of which the eye of man had never beheld under the azure vault of heaven. In that castle an apart­ment was arranged, painted with strange and wonderful figures, among which were also the portraits of Yusuf and Zuleikha, close to each other, and repeated in various parts of the palace. In accordance with these preparations, furniture and provisions necessary for sustenance and pleasure were obtained, as also a carpet embroidered with costly rubies and various gems, which likewise contained the picture of the lover and of his mistress. Zuleikha watched her opportunity, barred the entrances and exits, took up her position on a couch, called for Yusuf on some pretence, and endeavoured to induce him to have carnal intercourse with her; but Yusuf replied: ‘God forbid! verily my lord hath made my dwelling with him easy.* O Zuleikha, how could I defile the skirts of innocence and purity with the filth of concupiscence and sin? How could I, who am the son of Esrâil and the fruit of the tree of the friend, commit forbidden and unlawful acts? How could I requite the favour of the A’ziz—who has ordered thee to respect me—and his benefits with ingratitude?’ Zuleikha would, however, not listen to any excuses, and, throwing off all reserve, manifested her attachment to Yusuf very fervently; but he said: ‘Think not that thou wilt by means of these satanic figments captivate the peacock of the Merciful One, or that thou canst with these carnal strata­gems decoy the traveller of the straight road from his path.’ Zuleikha continued: ‘If thou entertainest scruples about uniting and connecting thyself with me, and if amorous dalliance be a sin according to the religion of thy fathers and ancestors, I have treasures of the gems of the sea and of mines, costly furniture and precious vessels; and if thou agreest to comply with my wishes, I shall expend all these things as a ransom for our indiscretion, and bestow them as alms upon the poor, the needy and the worthy, so that God—w. n. b. e.—will pardon, and not take into account our past crime.’

After this discussion between Yusuf and Zuleikha had been protracted, as it is narrated in detailed histories and also in the poem called ‘Yusuf and Zuleikha,’ by my lord Mulâvi Makhdûmi,* the base Eblis, whose constant study is how to deceive and to seduce, inflamed the senses of Yusuf so that a carnal desire originated in his mind. It is said that during the above conversation the veracious one cast a glance upon the carpet, where he beheld his own and Zuleikha’s portrait in the posture of embracing each other. He looked aside, but on the wall his eye met the same figure, therefore he looked up to the ceiling, where he again encountered his and Zuleikha’s portrait in close union. He was displeased, and glanced at Zuleikha, whose sensual appetite had by this time become very strong. She imagined that now her desires would be gratified, therefore she reiterated her caresses and solicitations. Satan likewise became an accessory to the case by suggesting false and deceitful arguments to make transgression acceptable to his lordship, who was ready to commit an act derogatory to his prophetic dignity; but divine favour came to his aid, and God said: ‘But she resolved within herself to enjoy him, and he would have resolved to enjoy her had he not seen the evident demonstration of the Lord.’* Expounders state that the reason of Yusuf’s not carrying out the inten­tion, and of Zuleikha’s disappointment, was the ‘demon­stration of the Lord’ mentioned in the above verse. Others also maintain that in the same apartment Yusuf perceived the portrait of Ya’qûb, which addressed him aloud as follows: ‘O my son, thy name is written in the list of prophets, and thou art the darling of Ya’qûb. Alas! wouldst thou, who art an heir of Ebrahim, defile the pages of the acts of prophets with sin and crime, and thus make thy heart a companion of repentance?’ Some say that on the above occasion Jebrâil descended and spoke to him as follows: ‘O Yusuf, the verse of chastity has been written down with the pen of dominion upon the table of divine grace, and it would be a pity to expunge so certain an order with the dust of such a crime.’ According to another tradition, the figure of a hand appeared between Yusuf and Zuleikha, on the palm of which the following three lines were written in Arabic with the pen of light:

‘Fear the day on which you will return to your Lord.
Do not commit adultery, because it is a sinful and an evil way.
Verily guardian angels are appointed over you, who write down your acts.’

According to another tradition, the following words were addressed to Yusuf [from heaven?]: ‘What man, whose name is written in the company of prophets, wishes to commit foolish acts?’ According to another opinion, the same child which bore testimony to Yusuf’s purity* said to him in eloquent language: ‘O veracious one, do not commit adultery.’ Some again say that in the retired apartment Yusuf’s glance fell upon a curtain, and that on his asking Zuleikha what was behind it, she replied: ‘It is my deity, and I have stretched the curtain before it that

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He may not see an irreligious act of mine, He may not see me in the deed, in which thou seest me.’

Hereupon Yusuf replied: ‘Thou art ashamed of an idol, and shall I not be ashamed of the Eternal One?’ In the history of Tabari and others there are different explana­tions concerning the ‘demonstration of the Lord.’ The writer of these pages, however, hopes to be excused from recording them, because he fears they would only be an occasion of greatly lengthening his narrative. When Yusuf was convinced by the divine argument,

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He removed the Alf from the two branches of the Lamalf* And was saved from the silver-lamp of camphor.

He disentangled himself from Zuleikha’s arms, fled from the secret apartment, and escaped through six barred doors; but at the seventh, which was the last, she overtook him, and catching hold of his cloak from behind, she pulled it until it was torn, whereon, all of a sudden, the A’ziz appeared at the door. Zuleikha was then much ashamed, and called out to her husband: ‘What shall be the reward of him who seeketh to commit evil in thy family, but a prison and sore punishment?’* A’ziz was amazed.

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What Qâzi can judge beauty, for thou art Thyself informer, plaintiff and witness too?

Yusuf on his part also accused Zuleikha of wishing to seduce him, as God said: ‘She wanted me to lie with her.’* But the A’ziz, who was extremely jealous, drew his sword, and would have killed Yusuf for a sin which he had not committed, when by divine inspiration a sucking babe of the age of seven months declared Zuleikha’s falsehood, burst out into words, and, pointing to Yusuf’s torn garment, said: ‘If Yusuf’s dress is torn in front, Zuleikha is right, and Yusuf a liar; but if it be torn behind, Zuleikha is untrue, and Yusuf is a teller of truth.’* When the A’ziz had investigated the case, he discovered the guilt of the former, and the innocence of the latter. He saw that Zuleikha’s insisting on the punishment of Yusuf was one of her stratagems, and a sequence of her cunning disposition. Therefore he turned to Yusuf, craved his pardon, consoled and requested him not to reveal to anyone what had taken place, lest this disgraceful story should become public in Egypt, and be discussed by the vicious. Then he angrily said to Zuleikha: ‘Crave pardon for thy sin, because thou art guilty in having wished to deceive thy husband, hast used pretences, and been convicted of intending to commit adultery. Thou must now perform the ordained prayers for the remission of thy sin.’

When Zuleikha was guarding the sun of Yusuf’s beauty, veiled within the precincts of custody, and would not allow strangers to be gladdened by the aspect of his soul-rejoicing and grief-removing person, the women of Egypt, who were anxious to contemplate his beauteous figure, became jealous of Zuleikha, sad for Yusuf, and circulated lampoons about her:

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They blamed her good and her bad qualities; They opened the mouth of reproof towards her; They ruined her reputation and good name, [Saying that] Her heart was crazy for a Hebrew slave, Which is the more strange since he hates her, And is far from having sympathy with her.

The gossiping and the secret stories gradually became public, and were in the mouth of everyone; Zuleikha heard them, and wishing to put to shame some of their propa­gators, she arranged a splendid banquet for the purpose of extinguishing the fire of their envy and reprobation, and invited to it the wives of many grandees, among whom were the wives of the king’s cupbearer, of the table-decker, of the chamberlain, of the equerry, and of the chief jailor. For each of the just-named five ladies a couch adorned with silk-brocade, and a chair decorated with jewels, was erected. A company of singers, musicians and organ-players was engaged—for the purpose of exhilarating and amusing the assembly—and Zuleikha ordered them to commence the entertainment with amorous ditties, on which occasion she handed to each of those sarcastic ladies —who were drunk with the wine of anxiety for Yusuf, desirous to blame Zuleikha, and to discover her secrets—a bright knife and a delicious orange:

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And said to them: O my beloved ones, Who occupy the highest seats in the assembly of the good, Why do you blame me so bitterly, And reprove my love for the Hebrew slave? Were I to allow him to come forth, I would inform him of these your views. All of them said: Above all stories We have no wish except for him: Order him to come out walking, That he may put the skirt of loveliness on our heads, Because we ardently long for him with heart and soul; We saw not his face; still, we are in love with him.

Then Zuleikha issued orders that the full moon—from envy of whose beauty the sun was confused—be brought forth from his retirement, and that his veil be removed. When he, who was the envy of the Suri-rose,* stepped forward from the closet and the messengers of the dawn of his pulchritude arose from the horizon of the curtain, Zuleikha said:

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This is the darling For whom I am the target of blame.

When those who before reproved Zuleikha, had cast a glance at the person of Yusuf, they pitied her and con­fessed their own guilt. When they wished to carve the oranges, so occupied were they with looking at Yusuf that they cut their own hands, and considered themselves deserving of having their hands amputated on account of that one stolen glance.* Qotâda says that:

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When from unconsciousness recovered, They found their hands severed.

Wuhub informs us that several persons present in that assembly gave up the ghost [i.e. died] at the sight of Yusuf; the truth, however, is that painful wounds were wrought on their hands, and that they unanimously exclaimed: ‘This is not a man; it is a holy angel!’ Then Zuleikha said to them by way of reproof: ‘This is the youth for whose love you have blamed me.’ The women replied: ‘O Zuleikha, abandon these words! Are not we punished and blamed a hundredfold, and have we not incurred a thousand obligations towards thee? We have erred in censuring thee.’ Zuleikha said: ‘Beloved friends and dear sisters, console me in this matter, and aid me in this affair, for in my attachment and love for this Kana’anite my senses cease to act and my respiration is fatigued.’ After the termination of the banquet those ladies returned to their homes with lacerated hands, and with the collar of patience torn, sad and melancholy. Two of the ladies, however, who were smooth-tongued, remained with Zuleikha and made a covenant with her that they would open the portals of intercourse between the lover and the beloved, and would spread out between them the couch of familiarity, because they had no idea that Yusuf was a white falcon, with eyes blind to sensuous and sensual matters, accustomed to feed on spiritual nourishment, and would never succumb to the satanic inspirations of the deceitful Eblis, nor be captured in the net of those who hunt for lust. One of these two females said to Yusuf by way of pleasantry: ‘O fortunate youth, do not rejoice to see Zuleikha in the bonds of separation and affliction, but rather consider her acquiescence to be good luck. Do not disappoint her in her hopes of union with thee, as she is a sun brought up in the shadow of chastity, and an angel whom her love for thee has led astray. In the company of the moon-faced she is like the sun among the stars; in the rose-grove of the jessamine-perfumed ones she is like the great luminary to the sight of men.

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On this blue, scintillating surface The moon is humbled by her pulchritude; The universe brings as offering to her Luna-face All the gold of the stars in scales. When she shows the jewels of her pearl-casket* The heart is rejoiced, the spirit nourished. Her conversation is a gem in limpid rubies, Her mouth is an atom in the sun* In the garden of loveliness she is a walking cypress. She is a fresh rose from the fountain-head of life, She is a noble person created from the genii, She is altogether politeness as the light of vision.

O Yusuf, as thou art undoubtedly the sun and she is the moon, and as the conjunction of the two luminaries is a necessity, it is best for her to be thy bride, and for thee to be her king.’ Yusuf replied: ‘This union and meeting is void of profit and honour, because the conjunction of the two luminaries in one degree is the cause of hostility, and the union of friends is the prelude of their separation; therefore it will be better if the moon retreats from the sun, whereby her splendour will increase. We cannot retain the purity of our essence by entering the miry abode of lust, nor can we dwell in the mansion of innocence with sinful acts, nor can we renounce paradise for the sake of indulging in a vicious disposition, neither can we gather provisions for salvation in the precincts of hell.’ When that female adviser had heard these words she became silent, and restrained her breath; but the other woman stretched forth the tongue of blame, and commenced to threaten Yusuf, saying: ‘Dear friend, with Zuleikha, who looks like the moon, and has a countenance like the sun, thou must not walk in the way of pride and haughtiness. It is incumbent upon thee sincerely to obey thy bene­factress, and if thou persistest henceforth like a hollow-hoof to keep aloof in this matter, and again brayest forward such excuses and pretences, thou wilt indeed not remain free from the rage of vengeance, but wilt be associated with criminals and prisoners.’ Yusuf replied: ‘A lion of the plains of prophecy cannot be deceived by the vulpine games of the lascivious, nor will the high-soaring Homâi abandon the nest of the propinquity of the Eternal for the purpose of falling into the snares of those who are endowed with the habits of robins and the nature of sparrows.’* Then he sought assistance from the Supreme King of the invisible world against the deceit of women, and said: ‘O Lord, the narrow prison will be more pleasant to me than this banquet, and that I should be called a sinner. The confinement of a jail will be better than this spacious rose-garden of ignominy, into which they desire to force me.’ Accordingly those two women, who coveted and desired the union of Yusuf with Zuleikha, desisted, because they despaired of his compliance. They went to Zuleikha, explained the matter to her, and requested her, as a favour, to send Yusuf to prison, in the confinement of which he might learn to appreciate the value of the garden of paradise which he had lost, and might in that solitude remember Zuleikha’s love, and covet it with all his heart and soul. Zuleikha approved of this suggestion, and said to the A’ziz: ‘This Hebrew youth and Kana’anitish slave has put me to shame among the people, and has, in the height of his dishonesty, accused me of wishing to lie with him. Do thou imprison him, that the world may know that the skirts of my purity are free from the defilement of transgression, and that the criminal is this Hebrew slave.’ The A’ziz consulted his courtiers, all of whom approved of the sug­gestion of Zuleikha; therefore he ordered the collar of resignation to be thrown upon the neck of that distinguished youth, who was accordingly placed in irons, and sent to a prison which is the cemetery of life, the house of mourning and of unhappiness, the ante-room of punishment and the narrow mansion of perplexity; the inhabitants whereof, who were pining in the corner of despair as if they had been living in their graves, received new life from the splendour of Yusuf’s beauty:

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When that living heart entered the prison It infused life into the dead bodies. Turmoil arose in that place of affliction, Shouts of the prisoners were heard; At the arrival of the king of beauty All the chained ones struck their chains.

When Yusuf arrived in the prison, Zuleikha ordered the jailer to take off the collar from his neck and the fetters from his feet, to place on his head the diadem of respect, and to adorn his body with a dress of honour. The jailer complied with her orders, placed Yusuf in a separate apart­ment adorned with expensive couches, and perfumed with ambergris, rose-water and musk. In that apartment Yusuf dwelt, and after having finished his devotions, visited the prisoners and explained their dreams, according to the verse: ‘We shall make him an interpreter of dreams.’ He comforted the unhappy and the despairing with words of kindness; he became the friend of all in that unpleasant abode, and consoled every one with words befitting his circumstances. Most of the prisoners were gladdened by the aspect of his soul-exhilarating person, and forgot the afflictions of the world and the miseries of the prison for a time. Yusuf, who had, by his confinement in prison, been rescued from the blackness of the deceit of women, became habituated to the society of the prison, spent his time trusting in divine favour, and thus nights and days succeeded each other.

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He sat in the abode of patience like a man, Thanking God for having escaped the guiles of woman.

When that Luna-faced Kana’anite had been made a prisoner by the efforts of Zuleikha, and the command of the A’ziz, the mind of the lady was burning from the fire of separation.

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When that cypress left the rose-garden The rose-garden became darker than a prison. What repose could there remain in the garden When the rose is gone, and thorns are left? At the departure of that rose of the garden She tore her robes like the bursting bud.

But as she had herself been the cause, and had herself planned this matter, she had no remedy; wherefore she consoled herself in the bitterness of her affliction with the following strains:

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It is better for the wise to take the world bitterly, Because sweet life terminates with bitterness. He who dwells here in pain and grief, Will smile in death, like a brightly-burning light.