سندبادنامه 147
English (machine translation) 147
- Language
- English
147.1
When these unrestrained actions and these disjointed ravings appeared from him,
I supposed that madness had taken possession of his heart and that melancholy had overcome his temperament;
for no possessor of manliness and chivalry, endowed with intellect and nobility, would see license for these reprehensible words and deeds
from wisdom and virtue, nor deem it permissible in the law of generosity and humanity,
nor set the foot of cruelty upon the fair visage of piety and fidelity, nor tolerate this obscenity in the royal harem,
nor, for the sake of the dominance of lust and the gratification of ambition, attach such an accusation to the hem of his own name,
nor read from the scripture of delusion and fancy the chapter of the overthrow of fortune, the verse of the transfer of dominion, the decline
of sovereignty, and the destruction of a king who is the shadow of divine mercy, the adornment of prosperity, the capital
of grandeur, the substance of relief for the classes of the world, and the foundation for the cultivation of the inhabited quarter of the earth, whose perfect grace
and all-embracing justice [sustain all], nor delineate it upon the page of the heart.'
Then, like Zulaykhā, she said: 'What is the recompense of him who intended evil to your wife, except that he be imprisoned
or suffer a painful punishment?' (12:25)
147.13
When the king listened to these preliminaries and heard these circumstances, he became troubled and pensive,
and the mark of anger appeared on his blessed brow. The slave-girl wished to stir up the fire
147.16
The king being affected and ordering the prince's execution
of discord, set surging the flood of misfortune, and apply the whetstone to the sword of the king's wrath.
And she said, 'Were it not for this slave's anguish and cries of distress, rebukes, and reproaches, and the sovereign's awe, power,
majesty, and punishment, he certainly intended to defile the hem of chastity, the pocket of righteousness,
the pious soul, and the spotless honor of this slave—who is clad in the cloak of protection and integrity—
with the impurity of his own wickedness and depravity, and to strip and bare this slave—who is the secluded lady of the era, the Mary
of the times, and the Rābiʿa of the age—of the chamber of chastity and the veil of purity,
and to bring disgrace and ignominy. I hope from the justice and benevolence of the just king that he will grant me equity
against that unprincipled, improvident person, and carry the chastisement of this transgression and disrespect, and the reprimand
for this treachery and lack of self-restraint which he has committed, to the limit of exemplary punishment, so that for other unprincipled transgressors
it may serve as a warning and an admonition:
Linked texts (1)
- سندبادنامه — Ẓahīrī Samarqandī, Persian