THE STORY OF THE VIZIER NOUREDIDNE, HIS BROTHER THE VIZIER CHAMSEDDINE, AND HASSAN BADREDDINE
Harun al-Rashid
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Everybody was happy to be together in Cairo and they lived happily ever after.
Harun Al-Rashid pardoned the negro Rihan, as he found the story amazing.
ON THE EIGHTEENTH NIGHT
Scheherazade said:
The vizier told him the whole story, then he said to him: “O my child! as for your mother, I brought her from Basra, and you are going to see her, as well as your son Agib, the fruit of your first wedding night with his mother!" And the vizier ran to fetch them.
And the first to arrive was Agib, who this time threw himself on his father's neck, without fearing him as he feared the amorous pastry chef; and Badreddine, in his joy, recited these verses:
After you left, I began to cry, to cry for a long time.
And the tears overflowed from my eyelids.
And I made a vow, if ever Allah brought together the lovers afflicted by their separation,
Never to put the word old separation on my lips!
So happiness has just swooped down on me, and with such rapidity,
And I was in such bliss, that despite myself, I shed tears from my eyes!
Fate has sworn to always remain my enemy and the cause of my sorrows!
And I, O Destiny, O Time, have violated your oath! It is impiety!
Happiness kept its promise and paid its debts. And my friend came back to me
You, therefore, rise towards the one who brought happiness,
And raise the skirts of your robe to serve him!
No sooner had he finished reciting them than Agib's grandmother, his own mother, arrived sobbing and threw herself into his arms, almost fainting with joy.
And, after great outpourings, in tears of joy, they told each other their stories and their sorrows and all their sufferings.
Then all thanked Allah for having finally reunited them all safe and sound and began to live again in bliss and perfect happiness and pure delight, and this until the end of their days which were very many, and leaving many children all as beautiful as the moon and the stars.
— And such is, O fortunate King, said Scheherazade to King Schahriar, the marvelous story that the vizier Jia'far Al-Barmaki told to the caliphate Harun Al-Rashid, the emir of the Believers, in the city of Baghdad!
Yes! This was the story of the adventures of the vizier Chamseddine, his brother the vizier Noureddine, and Hassan Badreddine, son of Noureddine!
— Also, the caliph Harun Al-Rashid did not fail to say: "By Allah, all this is astonishing and admirable!" And, in his contentment, he not only bestowed on his vizier Jia'far the pardon of the negro Rihan, but also he befriended the young man who was the husband of the woman cut off in the story of the Three Apples, and, to console him for the loss of his unjustly sacrificed wife, he gave him one of the prettiest virgins as a concubine, gave him sumptuous emoluments, and attached him to him as his intimate friend and table companion. Then he ordered the writers of the palace to write this marvelous story in their finest handwriting and to lock it up carefully in the cupboard of papers to serve as a lesson to their children's children.
But continued, the fine and discreet Scheherazade, addressing King Schahriar, sultan of the islands of India and China, do not believe, O fortunate King, that this story is as admirable as the one I will tell you if you're not tired!" And King Schahriar asked her: "And what is this story?" Scheherazade replied: "It is much more admirable than all the others!" And Schahriar asked her again: "And what is his title?" She replied:
“It is the story of the Hunchback with the Tailor, the Jew, the Christian, and the Barber of Baghdad!"
And King Schahriar answered: “Certainly, you can tell it, but only tomorrow night, as I have had a long and tiring day and we need to sleep now."
So Sheherazade fell silent.
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Eighth Night - Ninth Night - Tenth Night - Eleventh Night - Twelfth Night - Thirteenth Night
Fourteenth Night - Fifteenth Night - Sixteenth Night - Seventeenth Night
Next Story:The Story of the Hunchback with the Tailor, the Jew, the Christian, and the Barber of Baghdad