Ramadan Kareem to all Egyptian Chronicles readers.
Tonight, we will find out what Karkoub will do behind enemy lines—but first, it’s time for our usual chit-chat.
We have previously discussed how Taher Abu Fasha set his version of the al-Nu’man saga in the pre-Islamic era. However, in the original tale from The Thousand and One Nights, the story is placed within the time of the Umayyad Caliphate.
The narrative is associated with the period before the reign of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.
Here, however, The Thousand and One Nights falls into a major literary issue: anachronism.
One striking inconsistency is that Omar al-Nu’man is portrayed as a king ruling from Baghdad—a city that was not founded until the Abbasid period, decades later. The saga effectively places him in Baghdad roughly 80 to 100 years before the city even existed.
When looking into the reason behind this, historians suggest that medieval compilers of the Nights in Egypt and Syria viewed Baghdad as the quintessential “City of Kings.” They simply could not imagine a great ruler without Baghdad as his capital, and so they projected the city backwards in time.
Another inconsistency is that Sharkan is depicted as the governor of Damascus, which was itself the capital of the Umayyads.
That said, in a vast and imaginative work of fiction like The Thousand and One Nights, such anachronisms remain relatively minor.
Now, enough chit-chat.
Let us now see what is going to happen in the 111th episode of One Thousand and One Nights, as originally broadcast on Egyptian State Radio.
Ep. 20 Behind the enemy lines
The One Hundred and Eleventh Night
When it was the one hundred and eleventh night, and the next evening had come, King Shahryar took his seat as on the previous night.
At the appointed hour, Shahrazad arrived. She greeted him, sat before him, and began to recount what had passed, continuing the tale where it had been cut short.
Shahrazad said:
“I have been told, O fortunate king, wise in judgment…”
That Uncle Karkoub, having taken the bead and the letter, set out toward the city of King Hardoub, seeking an audience with Commander Kharoub—
To deliver the letter… and receive the reply.
All this, so that the plan might unfold, the city be laid bare, and the war be brought to its end with the fall of Hardoub’s stronghold.
As the humble garbage collector drew near the city, the guards upon its mighty walls caught sight of him.
They shouted, and rushed toward him at once—
Guard 1:
Who goes there?! Who is that approaching?
Karkoub:
Easy! Easy! Don’t be afraid—wait! Don’t strike!
Guard 1:
Who are you?
Karkoub:
A trustworthy man!
Guard 2:
Where do you come from?
Karkoub:
A friend… a friend!
Guard 1:
Seize him!
Guard 2:
Take him!
Guard 3:
Don’t let him escape!
Karkoub:
By God—wait! Just wait!
Guard 1:
A spy! Take him away!
Karkoub:
Hold on—why are you hitting me?!
Guard 2:
Come along with us.
Karkoub:
I am coming with you! Hey—watch it! Don’t hit me!
Guard 3:
He’s a stranger!
Guard 1:
Not one of us!
Karkoub:
Don’t you know who I am?
Guard 2:
Yes—we do. A spy!
All Guards:
A spy! A spy! A spy!
Karkoub:
Oh, come on! I’m no spy! I carry a letter—a message for Commander Kharoub!
Guard 1:
For Commander Kharoub?
Take him… to the commander!
And In the Tent of Commander Kharoub
Commander Kharoub:
And this “spy”—what have you done with him?
Guard:
We couldn’t make sense of him, my lord.
Commander Kharoub:
What does he say?
Guard:
Nonsense no madman would dare utter.
Commander Kharoub:
Bring him in.
Guard:
Bring in the spy!
Karkoub (struggling):
I’m not a spy—watch it!
Guard:
Let him go.
Karkoub:
I tell them “ox,” they say “milk it!”
Commander Kharoub:
Come here, man. What are you?
Karkoub:
A human being.
Commander Kharoub:
Do you think we took you for a camel? We know you’re human! Then what are you doing here? Who are you?
Karkoub:
I’m your uncle—Karkoub.
Commander Kharoub:
Karkoub? Karkoub what?
Karkoub:
Just Karkoub. That’s enough.
Commander Kharoub:
Shall I ask them why they dragged you here, then? What do you want, Karkoub?
Karkoub:
I am a messenger. Sent by the Queen—the mother of King Hardoub. I carry a token… and a letter.
Commander Kharoub:
Where is this token? And the letter? You will present them only to Commander Kharoub.
Karkoub:
You’re speaking to Commander Kharoub? You mean—you are Commander Kharoub?
Commander Kharoub:
Yes.
Karkoub:
Ah… greetings, Kharo—Kharoub.
Commander Kharoub:
Strange fellow… Where is the token?
Karkoub:
Here—take it.
Commander Kharoub:
The bead! The bead—yes, it is real!
Karkoub:
And here is the letter.
Commander Kharoub:
Let me see… yes, it is her hand… the letter is truly from her.
Read it, Uncle… Markoub.
Karkoub:
Karkoub… Karkoub!
Commander Kharoub:
Forgive me, Uncle Markoub.
Karkoub:
I say Karkoub, and you say Markoub?!
Commander Kharoub:
Patience, Uncle Markoub—why so tense?
Karkoub:
Unbelievable… he still says Markoub!
Commander Kharoub (reading):
“From Queen Stormbreaker, the blazing fire,
mother of King Hardoub,
to the Commander of Armies, Commander Kharoub—
Upon receiving this letter, move all your forces from the western side to the sea side.
Prepare for battle, for from that direction Daw’ al-Makan will attack you.
I have killed Sharkan, and he is now no more.”
Commander Kharoub:
By God… Sharkan? Sharkan is dead?!
Soldiers:
Sharkan is dead?! The queen has killed him!
Commander Kharoub:
Struck down! And they said no one could defeat him—yet a woman has done it!
A Soldier:
This is great news!
Commander Kharoub:
God is generous! Announce this in my name so it becomes official!
Raise the banners! Strike the drums! Adorn the city in its finest decorations! Bring forth food and drink!
Come, Uncle Markoub!
Karkoub:
Will you never stop saying “Markoub”?! I am not Markoub—I am Karkoub!
We are all Karkoubs! My whole family is the family of Karkoubs! My wife is Karkouba—and I am Karkoub! Karkoub! Karkoub!
Commander Kharoub:
Understood, understood… Uncle Markoub.
Karkoub:
Hopeless… what’s in his head stays in his head.
Commander Kharoub:
Come along, Uncle Markoub.
Karkoub:
Come along where? What is happening?
Commander Kharoub:
Today is a feast for the soldiers!
Karkoub:
I want the reply to the letter.
Commander Kharoub:
A reply? Before we carry out the command?
First, we act—then we reply.
Ayyoub! Ayyoub!
Ayyoub:
My lord, Commander Kharoub.
Commander Kharoub:
All troops stationed on the western side are to be moved immediately to the sea side.
Ayyoub:
Move the armies from the mountain… at once? Let me ask again—are you certain?
Karkoub:
Why are you questioning so much? What’s it to you?
Commander Kharoub:
Let us speak, Uncle Karkoub…
Ayyoub:
You want us to move the troops?
Commander Kharoub:
These are orders.
Ayyoub:
Orders…? If we do that, the city will be exposed! If the enemy finds out, they’ll circle the mountain—no armies, no walls left to defend us! We won’t withstand even a breath of their force!
Karkoub:
Do you think you understand better than Stormbreaker?
Ayyoub:
What has the queen to do with this?
Commander Kharoub:
She is the one who gave the order.
Ayyoub:
Impossible!
Commander Kharoub:
And if she sent a letter?
Ayyoub:
Let me see it with my own eyes.
Commander Kharoub:
Show him the letter.
Ayyoub (reading):
By God… it is her handwriting! It is true!
Forgive me, Uncle Markoub—I didn’t know there was a letter. If the queen has commanded it, then surely there is wisdom behind it.
Commander Kharoub:
The queen’s orders are not to be questioned!
Ayyoub:
Forgive me—I will carry out the orders at once. The troops will be moved.
Karkoub:
And don’t delay!
And you too, Uncle Kharo—
Commander Kharoub:
Yes, Uncle Markoub?
Karkoub:
We need to send the reply.
Commander Kharoub:
At once!
Where is the pigeon keeper? Bring the carrier pigeons!
Write this, scribe:
“From Commander Kharoub to the Queen, mother of King Hardoub—
The letter has been received, and the command has been fulfilled.
—Kharoub.”
Meanwhile In the Camp of Daw’ al-Makan
One of the Commanders:
My lord, we are ready. The entire army stands prepared.
Daw’ al-Makan:
Then what are we waiting for?
Commander:
For your orders, my lord. Are you not the one who gives them?
Daw’ al-Makan:
Of course. Who else holds command?
Commander:
Then give the order, my lord—let the armies march.
Daw’ al-Makan:
The orders… will come to us from the heavens.
Commanders (murmuring):
From the heavens?
Orders from the heavens?
Daw’ al-Makan:
You shall see, Battash.
Battash:
This is something I have yet to learn—
(Sound of wings fluttering)
Battash:
The pigeon!
Daw’ al-Makan:
What pigeon, man?
Battash:
A carrier pigeon—look, my lord!
Daw’ al-Makan:
It is descending toward us… it has landed there. Bring it here.
Another Commander:
It seems the orders have arrived… here, my lord—beneath its left wing—by God, it is a letter!
Daw’ al-Makan (reading):
“From Commander Kharoub
to the Queen, mother of King Hardoub—
The letter has been received,
and the command has been fulfilled.
—Kharoub.”
Daw’ al-Makan:
Excellent!
Sound the horns! Begin the march! Beat the drums of war—
To the City of Hardoub!
Soldiers (roaring):
To the City of Hardoub!
Shahrazad said:
Thus did the plan of Daw’ al-Makan succeed.
He advanced with his armies in safety, until he reached the city—from the side that had been left unguarded.
He entered it as conquerors enter, and claimed it as the powerful claim dominion.
Back in the Tent of Commander Kharoub amid Defeat
Commander Kharoub:
Find me Markoub! Bring me Markoub from beneath the very bones of the earth—where is he?!
Soldier:
My lord, we could not find him. He vanished—like salt dissolved in water.
Commander Kharoub:
We destroyed ourselves with our own hands! We exposed the city to them!
I said that letter was forged—that dog called Markoub!
What a black fate… where are the armies?
Soldier:
Those who were not killed have fled.
Commander Kharoub:
And the forces at the sea side?
Soldier:
They cannot abandon their posts—the enemy has surrounded them by water.
Commander Kharoub:
So we sit and wait for them to slaughter us?! Fight! Defend the city!
Soldier:
Their armies are like locusts—they have blocked every road, opened the prisons, and freed the captives—
Soldier (from Daw’ al-Makan’s army):
Seize Commander Kharoub and his officers!Bind them in chains! Take them to the fortress prison—bind them!
Shahrazad continued:
And the warriors advanced like ogres, and seized Uncle Karkoub—fearful and trembling.
They bound him in chains and iron, and cast him into the depths of a distant prison, appointing those who would torment him, before returning to defend what remained of the city.
But the armies of Daw’ al-Makan surrounded every place, planted their feet firmly, and declared their advance.
The millstone of war began to turn, and the market of thrust and blow was raised.
Daw’ al-Makan rode forth into the heart of the battlefield and called out to his knights:
“Courage is but the patience of an hour!”
Men clashed against men. Mountains seemed to crack. They fell upon their enemies as fate itself descends.
Warriors were cast from their saddles, and the fields ran red with blood—until bodies floated like shadows upon crimson seas.
The enemy strongholds became their graves, hemmed in between walls and waters, with no path left for escape.
At last, Commander Kharoub, seeing victory denied him and escape made impossible, stepped forward.
He broke his ranks… laid down his sword…
And surrendered himself to the armies of al-Nu’man.
(Sound of a rooster crowing)
Shahrazad:
My king…
And before the tale was complete, the dawn overtook Shahrazad, and she fell silent until another night.
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