83-2 - Noor al-Deen Alee and the Damsel Anees al-Jalees (2 of 4) :
Noor Loses Everything

"Now Noor al-Deen was scared of the consequences of all this, so he stayed in his garden all day long and came back home only in the night to his mother's apartment, slept there and again went away to the garden in the morning. He did this for the whole two months without showing his face to his parents. One day his mother said to his father - "Shall we lose our son too along with the girl? If this will continue for a long time, he will flee from us." "Then what to do?" "Just watch tonight. When he comes, seize him, threaten him. I will rescue him from you, you make peace with him and give him the girl as his wife, for she also loves him as he loves her, and I will pay you her price."

So when the night fell, the Vazeer kept watch over his son, and when he came in, he seized him and knelt on his chest as if he would kill him. At the same time his mother came and rescued him from his father - "What are you going to do with him?" "I am going to slit his throat." The son asked his father - "Is my death so easy for you?" At this, his father's eyes filled with tears, still he managed to say - "O my son, How easy was to you the loss of my good and my life?" The son asked his forgiveness and the father forgave his son.

Then he asked his son - "If you make sure me that you will behave justly with Anees, I will give her to you." Noor said - "What kind of just behavior am I to do with her?" The Vazeer said - "You take vow, that you will not take another wife, not sell her, not take any concubine to share with her." "I do." Then Noor al-Deen went to that girl and lived with her for a whole year, and during this time the King forgot this matter of getting a maid for himself, and al-Mueen also could not dare to say anything because the King favored al-Fazal.

One day al-Fazal went to a public bath and when he came out of the bath, the air struck him, he caught a cold which turned into fever and it took him to his bed. He became very weak, so one day he called his son and said to him - "O Son, There are many kinds of men and the means are distributed and fixed, and the days are fixed for everybody, so everybody has to die. I don't have to tell you anything else, except that you fear from Allaah and look at you acts and bear in mind Anees." The son said - "O Father, Who can be compared with you? You are famous for your well doing and preachers offer prayers for you." And he died. The news of his death reached the King. Everybody wept including the city. Noor did his last rites.

After his father's died, he mourned for him for a long time him, till one day when he was sitting at home, a knock came on the door. He opened the door and saw an intimate friend of his father. The visitor kissed Noor's hand and said - "O Lord, Your father is not dead, he has gone only to the Chief of the Ancients and the Moderns. Be comforted and leave sorrowing for him." Noor took him to the guest room and offered him whatever he needed. Then he collected all his friends and handmaids and started eating drinking.

One day his steward came to him and said - "My Lord, Have you heard that who spends and does not earn, becomes poor and does not flourish. As you are spending your wealth, it is going waste." Noor said - "I am not going to listen to you. Know O steward, As long as you have enough money for my breakfast, you should not worry about my supper." The steward asked - "Must it be so?" Noor replied, "Yes, It must be so." So the steward went away, and Noor continued to spend his money lavishly. If any of his cup-companion would say, "This thing is very nice." He would give it to him as a gift. This reckless behavior continued for one full year.

One day his friends and Anees were sitting with him that somebody knocked at the door. Noor went to open the door and one of his boon-companions followed him without being seen. Noor opened the door and he found his steward. He asked him what was the matter? The steward said - "What I feared for you has come to pass." "What?" "I don't have any money in my hand. These are the register showing both income and expenditure." Hearing this Noor's head bowed down and he said - "As Allaah's wish."

Now the man who followed him secretly came back to his friends and said to them - "Be careful, what you do, Noor is penniless now." As Noor came back the sadness was on his face. One his friends rose and asked for his leave. He asked him, "Why so early today?" He replied - My wife is in childbirth so I cannot be absent from my house for long. In fact I must go and see how she is doing." Then rose another one, and then rose another one, till all the ten friends had gone.

Then he called his slave girl and asked her - "O Anees, Did you see my case?" Then he told her what the Steward told him. Anees said - "O Lord, For several days I have wanted to talk to you on this matter, but when I heard you saying, "When the world pours favors on you, pass them to your friends." I decided not to tell you anything." He said - "O Anees, You know that I have not wasted my money except on my friends, especially on these ten who have deserted me without even comforting me." "By Allaah, They will not come to your aid." He said - "I am going to them and will ask them something so that I can start trading with that." And he ran away to the street where all his ten friends lived.

He went to the nearest friend and knocked his door. A handmaid opened the door and asked him "Who are you?" Noor said - "Tell your master that your friend Noor al-Deen stands at the door." She went inside and came out to tell him that her master was not at home. Noor thought, if this one has turned me away like this, another may prove better, so he went his another friend, but his this friend also gave him the same reply. Thus he went to all of his ten friends but none of them opened his door to him. He said to himself, "When a tree is laden with fruits, everybody comes to it, but when its all fruits are gone, people leave it to suffer from dust and the Sun."

Then he came back to his slave girl. His grieve grew more than before. Anees said to him - "Didn't I tell you that none of will come to your aid?" She said - "Now you sell some of the movable and immovable household stuff, pots and pans and spend their proceeds until Allaah gives you something substantial." So he sold everything which was in the house, came back to Anees and asked her - "Now what shall I do?" She answered - "Now it is my advice that you take me to the market and sell me. Your father bought me for 10,000 Deenaars. Hopefully Allaah will give the same price for me; and if it be His will we shall meet again."

Noor cried - "Oh Aness, I can't live without you even for one hour." Anees replied - "By Allaah, nor it is easy for me, but need has its own law as some poet has said - "Need drives a man on crooked roads and doubtful paths." So he took her to the market, while the tears rolled down his cheeks like rain, and handed over her to the broker and said - "O Haaj Hasan, Note her value before you cry for her sale." He said - "O Lord Noor, Fundamentals are remembered. Is it not that your father bought her for 10,000 Deenaars." "Yes."

A little later when all merchants had gathered in the marked he cried loud - "Every round thing is not a walnut, and every long thing is not a banana, not all reds are meats and not all whites are fat, nor every brown thing is date. I have a pearl with me, at what sum shall I cry for her?" One of them said - "4,500 Deenaars." So the broker opened the door of the sale by crying out this sum to other traders. Presently al-Mueen was passing from that side. He saw Noor al-Deen sitting at one side. He thought to himself - "Why the son of Khaakaan is sitting here? Has he come to buy any slave girl?" Then he saw the broker crying for Anees, he understood that Noor is penniless and he has come to sell Anees here. "How cool is this to my heart."

He went to the broker and said - "I want this girl." The broker did not dare to cross him so he said, "So be it." "What is the bid for this girl?" "4,500 Deenaars." "4,500 is my bid for this girl." When the merchants heard his bid, they did not dare to bid another Dirham because of fear. So al-Mueen asked him - "Why are you standing here, go and offer 4,500 Dirhams for me and 500 for you." The broker went to Noor and said "O Lord, Your slave is going for nothing." "How?"

The broker said - "We opened the bid at 4,500, but unfortunately al-Mueen was passing from this side and as he saw the girl, she pleased him so he got ready to buy her in 4,500 Dirhams and 500 for me. I am sure that he has known that this girl belongs to you, and he would pay less price for her. I know that it is injustice. He will give you a written order and will tell his people to give you nothing. So as often you will go to him to take your money, they will always ask you come tomorrow and when they will be tired of you, they will ask you to show the check and when you will show the check, they will tear it. Thus you will lose the girl as well her price."

He asked him  "Then how this matter should be managed?" The broker said - "I give you one advice, if you will follow it, you should be satisfied." "And what is that?" "When I am standing in the middle of the market, you come to me, take the girl by her hand and scold her and say to her, "I have kept my vow and brought you here, because I swore to carry you from home to Bazaar and make brokers cry you for sale." If you do this, perhaps this works and the Vazeer and other people believe that you have not brought her to market, but to discharge your debt." "Good idea." 

Then the broker returning to the market took the girl by hand and signed to the Vazeer and said - "O Lord, Here is her owner." And Noor al-Deen appeared there snatching the girl from the broker's hand and said to her - "Shame on you. I brought you to Bazaar to discharge my debt. Now come home and do not baffle me any more. Do I need your price, that I sell you? Even the furniture will fetch me many times more money than I will get by selling you."

When al-Mueen saw this, he said to Noor al-Deen - "Do you have anything left in your house to sell?" And the Vazeer was about to beat him that the merchants saved him. Still Noor went to the Vazeer and he threw him on the ground and the Vazeer fell upon the brick clay. Seeing the condition of their Vazeer, his people wanted to kill Noor with their sword but the merchants said - "He is the Vazeer, and he is the son of Vazeer. May be sometime both will become friends, then you will lose the favor of both, so do not come in between them." So they held their hands. After beating the Vazeer, Noor took his maid to his house. The Vazeer also went away from there.

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