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The Story of Sindbad the Sailor from The Arabian Nights
edited by Raymond Soulard, Jr.
& Kassandra Soulard
Number Sixty-four
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The Story of Sindbad the Sailor from The Arabian Nights
Translated by Husain Haddawy
Burning Man Books isan imprint of Scriptor Press
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When you were young and the world was too big for you to imagine,
someone else imagined it for you . . .
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The Story of Sindbad the Sailor • 5
There lived in Baghdad, in the time of the Commander of theFaithful, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, a man called Sindbadthe Porter, who was poor and who carried loads on his head for
hire. One day, he was carrying a heavy load, and as it was very hot, hebecame weary and began to perspire under the burden and the intenseheat. Soon he came to the door of a merchant’s house, before which theground was swept and watered, and the air was cool, and as there was a wide bench beside the door, he set his load on the bench to rest and takea breath. As he did so, there came out of the door a pleasant breeze anda lovely fragrance; so he remained sitting on the edge of the bench toenjoy this and heard from within the melodious sounds of lutes and
other string instruments accompanying delightful voices singing all kindsof eloquent verses. He also heard the sounds of birds warbling andglorifying the Almighty God, in various voices and tongues, turtledoves,nightingales, thrushes, doves, and curlews. At that he marveled to himself and felt a great delight. He went to the door and saw inside the house a great garden and saw pages, servants, slaves, and attendants, the likes of whom are found only with kings and sultans. And through the doorcame the aromas of all kinds of fine delicious foods and delicious wine.
He raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Glory be to You, O God,Creator and Provider! You bestow riches on whomever You wish, withoutreckoning. O Lord, I ask Your forgiveness of all sins and repent to Youof all faults. O Lord, there is no argument with Your judgment or Yourpower. You are not to be questioned on what You do, for You areomnipotent in every thing. Glory be to You! You enrich whomever You wish and impoverish whomever You wish. You exalt whomever You
wish and humble whomever You wish. There is no god but You. How great is Your majesty, how mighty Your dominion, and how excellent Your government! You have bestowed favors on one you have chosen of your servants, for the owner of this place is in the height of comfort,enjoying all kinds of pleasant perfumes, delicious foods, and finebeverages. You have foreordained and apportioned to Your creatures what You wish, so that among them some are weary, some comfortable,
and some enjoy life, while some, like me, suffer extreme toil and misery.”Then he recited the following verses: