Free Arabian Nights and Days by Naguib Mahfouz Page B

of the sweet
baseema
and another of
mushabbik
with the words: “We have nothing but this—it’s what we make our living from.”
    “We praise God, Who has provided us with these delicious things to eat and has made our evening so enjoyable.”
    The leading man leaned over and said something into the ear of one of the others, who left the place in a hurry. Abdullah caught some glances from the leading man and it seemed to him that it was not the first time he had seen him. He tried to remember where and when it had been, but his memory failed him. Then the man came back loaded with fried and grilled fish. People’s appetites were sharpened with the prospect of such delicious food.
    “Our dwelling is not worthy of someone of your rank,” said Fadil in thanks.
    “A dwelling is known by those who live in it,” said the man courteously, then made the request: “Let us hear some music, for it is this that has given us joy in making your acquaintance.”
    So Fadil went behind the screen and before he was seated again the voice of Husniya came to them as she sang:
    “Had we known of your coming, we would have spread out
    our very hearts, the very blackness of our eyes;
    Spread out our cheeks that we might meet
    through the exchange of glances.”
    Everyone was moved and one of the strangers called out, “Praise be to the Great Creator!”
    The leading man asked Fadil, “How did you come to own this slave-girl if you are as poor as you claim?”
    “She’s just my sister.”
    “She has a trained voice that bespeaks a noble origin.”
    Fadil was speechless, and it was Abdullah the porter who said, “He is in fact of noble origin but his path was obstructed by the perfidy of time.”
    “What’s the story of that perfidy?”
    “There is no one in our city,” answered Abdullah the porter, “who does not know the story of the merchant Sanaan al-Gamali.”
    The merchant was silent for a while, then said, “It is one of the extraordinary tales we have heard of your city.”
    “But do you believe what is related of the genie?” inquired one of his comrades.
    “Why not,” asked Fadil in his turn, “when such catastrophes have been brought down upon us?”
    “But the ruler cannot summon genies to give evidence or be interrogated, so how can justice be done?”
    “It is for the ruler to dispense justice from the beginning so that genies don’t intrude on our lives.”
    The leading man of the strangers asked him, “Do you suffer injustice in your lives?”
    The caution he had acquired from his past experience in the police force came to his aid.
    “We have a just sultan, praise be to God, though life is not devoid of ordeals.”
    The conversation continued for a while till the strangers rose and left.
XII
    The three of them plunged silently into the darkness. The second merchant turned toward the first and said, “Hopefully Your Majesty found the entertainment he had wished for?”
    “A viewing of the afflictions of the heart,” muttered the other.
    Then, after a while, “The company of poets no longer exhilarates me, nor do the antics of Shamloul the hunchback make me laugh.”
    “May God keep you in His care, Your Majesty.”
    “A short and baffling dream,” he said, addressing himself. “No truth shows itself but it vanishes.”
    The other waited for the sultan to throw some light on his words, but he kept silent.
XIII
    Fadil and Akraman took a room, while a second room did for Rasmiya, Umm Saad, and Husniya. Despite the simplicity of their life, the two newlyweds enjoyed a serene happiness, and Fadil wished for Husniya the same sort of happy outcome as he had had.
    He was more successful in forgetting the past than the women were, for he had things to occupy him, while for them the bygone days with their glory and bright lights were not erased from their memory.
    He spent time alone with Abdullah the porter exchanging the thoughts of mind and heart. The man was made of sound metal and had a noble soul;