THE STORY OF THE VIZIER NOUREDINE, HIS BROTHER THE VIZIER CHAMSEDDINE, AND HASSAN BADREDDINE
Harun al-Rashid
Source
Noureddine becomes the vizier in place of his father-in-law, and Hassan Bardeddine grows in age and beauty.
ON THE FOURTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
The sultan asked the vizier after having complimented Noureddine on his beautiful verses: "Who is this eloquent and handsome young man?" »
Then the vizier told the story to the sultan from beginning to end, and said to him: “This young man is my nephew!" And the sultan said to him: "How come I haven't heard of it yet?" The vizier said, “O my lord and overlord, I must tell you that I had a brother vizier at the court of Egypt. When he died, he left two sons, the eldest of whom became vizier in place of my brother, while the second, here, came to see me, for I had promised and sworn to his father to give my daughter in marriage to one of my nephews. Also, hardly had it happened that I married him with my daughter! He is a young man, as you see; and I am growing old, and also a little deaf, and inattentive to the affairs of the kingdom. I, therefore, come to ask my suzerain the sultan to kindly accept my nephew, who is at the same time my son-in-law, as my successor to the vizierate! And I can assure you that he is truly worthy to be your vizier, for he is a man of good counsel, fertile in excellent ideas, and well-versed in the conduct of affairs!"
Then the sultan took a better look at young Noureddine, and he was charmed by this examination, and accepted the advice of his old vizier, and, without further ado, he appointed Noureddine as grand vizier in place of his father-in-law, and made a present of a magnificent robe of honor, the finest he could find, and a mule from his own stables, and appointed him his guards and his chamberlains.
Noureddine then kissed the sultan's hand and went out with his father-in-law. Both returned to their house overjoyed and went to kiss the newborn Hassan Badreddine and said: "The coming into the world of this child brought happiness!"
The next day, Noureddine went to the palace to fulfill his new functions, and, on arriving, he kissed the earth in the hands of the sultan and he recited these two stanzas:
For you happiness is new every day, and prosperity too!
And so much so that the envious person dried up out of spite!
Oh ! for you may every day be white; and black the days of all the envious!
So the sultan allowed him to sit on the vizierate's couch, and Noureddine sat on the vizierate's couch. And he began to fulfill his office, and to conduct current affairs, and to dispense justice, just as if he had been vizier for many years, and he acquitted himself so well, and all this under the eyes of the sultan, that the sultan marveled at his intelligence, his understanding of affairs, and the admirable manner in which he dispensed justice; and he loved him still more, and made him his intimate.
As for Noureddine, he continued to discharge his high functions admirably; but that did not make him forget the education of his son Hassan Badreddine, despite all the affairs of the kingdom. Noureddine, day by day, became more powerful and more in favor with the sultan, who made him increase the number of his chamberlains, his servants, his guards, and his runners. And Noureddine became so rich that it allowed him to trade on a large scale, such as fitting out trading ships himself which went all over the world, building apartment houses, building mills, and wheels to make raise water, to plant magnificent gardens and orchards. And all this until his son Hassan Badreddine reached the age of four.
At this moment, the old vizier, Noureddine's father-in-law, died; and Noureddine gave him a solemn burial, and he and all the greats of the kingdom attended the burial.
And it was then that Noureddine devoted himself entirely to the education of his son. He entrusted it to the scholar most versed in religious and civil laws. This venerable scholar came every day to give home reading lessons to the young Hassan Badreddine; and little by little, as he went along, he introduced him to the knowledge of the Coran, which the young Hassan ended up learning entirely by heart; after that, the old scholar, for years and years, continued to teach his pupil all useful knowledge. And Hassan continued to grow in beauty, grace, and perfection, as the poet says:
This young boy! he is the moon and, like her, he only shines and grows in beauty,
So that the sun borrows the brilliance of his rays from the anemones of his cheeks!
He is the king of beauty by his unequaled distinction.
*And one is quite inclined to suppose that the splendors of the meadows and the flowers are borrowed from him!
But, during all this time, the young Hassan Badreddine did not leave for a moment the palace of his father Noureddine, because the old scholar demanded great attention to his lessons. But when Hassan had reached his fifteenth year and had nothing more to learn from the old scholar, his father Noureddine took him, put him in the most magnificent robe he could find among his robes, and put him on a mule, the most beautiful among his mules and the fittest, and went with him towards the palace of the sultan, crossing the streets of Basra in a large procession. Also all the inhabitants, at the sight of the young Hassan Badreddine, uttered cries of admiration for his beauty, the delicacy of his figure, his graces, his charming manners; and they could not help exclaiming: “Ya Allah! how handsome he is! What a moon! May Allah protect him from the evil eye!" And that until the arrival of Badreddine and his father at the palace.
As for the sultan, when he saw the young Hassan Badreddine and his beauty, he was so amazed that he lost his breath and forgot to breathe for quite a while. And he brought him near to him and loved him very much; he made him his favorite, showered him with blessings, and said to his father Noureddine: “Vizier, you absolutely must send him to me here every day because I feel that I will no longer be able to do without him! And Vizier Noureddine was obliged to reply: “I listen and I obey!” »
In the meantime, while Hassan Badreddine had become the sultan's friend and favorite, Noureddine his father fell seriously ill, and, feeling that he would not be long in being called to Allah, he sent for his son Hassan, and made him his last recommendations and said to him: "Know, O my child, that this world is a perishable dwelling, but the future world is eternal! Also, before I die, I want to give you some advice; listen to them carefully and open your heart to them!" And Noureddine began to give Hassan the best rules for conducting himself in the society of his fellows and for directing himself in existence.
After that, Nourreddine remembered his brother Chamseddine the vizier of Egypt, his country, his parents, and all his friends in Cairo.
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.*