ACT III
EVENING
Scene I. The Hammam in the Wazir Mansur’s Harim.
The scene represents a colonnaded courtyard, the centre of which is occupied by a large, marble swimming pool. The front part of the scene is under the portico of the colonnade. At the back may be seen three large arched windows screened from the outer world by elaborate traceries. The main entrance is an arch or double door, left. A grated trap to the right, partly concealed by a rug, leads to a secret passage below. There is a couch to the left; behind it stands a brazier of burning incense.
The court is of the most delicate architecture; white marble with green and azure traceries.
It is early evening; the moonlight floods the courtyard from the right, and finds its way into the portico, from the ceiling of which hang several lamps, shedding dim light.
Kut-al-Kulub, in gorgeous robes, lies reclining on the couch, a slave holding up a mirror before her. Another one is sprinkling perfumes, and a third blackening her eyelids.
Various groups of women are seen reclining by the pool; some are robing, others combing their hair.
To the right sit Four Female Musicians with lutes, harps and tambourines. One of them is singing:—
(During the song a Young Girl, wrapped in a long garment, enters followed by a Negress. She steps to the swimming pool. The Negress takes the cloak from her and she plunges into the water.)
(Miskah enters from the door, left, and glides to Kut-al-Kulub’s couch.)
Kut-al-K. (Turning impatiently.) Thy news! Yet answer me nought but he is come; he is waiting; he has mistook the secret entrance!
Miskah. O my mistress, would my tongue might say yes. Alas! He’s nowhere to be seen. But thy slave of the fires is watching for him with burning eyes.
Kut-al-K. I could have thee whipped for thy words.
Miskah. No stranger hath passed the door-keeper, nor man nor woman, saving a weeping damsel the eunuchs brought this mid-afternoon.
Kut-al-K. Damsel? What damsel?
Miskah. She is destined for thy lord, they say. They are guarding her in the first hall of the harim.
Kut-al-K. What fresh intruder is this? Bring hither the slut!
Miskah. Hearkening and obedience.
(She hurries off through the door.)
Kut-al-K. (Looking at herself in the mirror.) Another? By the days of my beauty! And he—— (To the slave dressing her hair.) O thou fat-fingered fool. Art thou not done yet? Take thy hot hands from my head!
(The women near the pool have splashed the girl in the water. She suddenly turns and pulls one of them into the pool. There is a loud scream and much splashing and laughter.)
Kut-al-K. (Irritated, sits erect on her couch, claps her hands and shouts at the top of her voice.) Cease your noise! Cease your noise, I say! (Claps her hands again.) Allah! Must I call the guard? (The Women are gradually silenced.) Out on ye, ye shameless ones! Get ye to your couches, each and all. The hour grows late.
(The Women in the bath are seen to swim towards the right end of the bath. Others in the arcades go off to the right as well. Suppressed laughter and whisperings.)
(Kut-al-K watches them impatiently.)
Kut-al-K. (To the Musicians.) Go ye as well!
(The Musicians rise and follow the others.)
(Kut-al-K sinks down on the couch.)
(Miskah re-enters with the Two Eunuchs, conducting Marsinah, who is veiled.)
Kut-al-K. (To the Eunuchs.) Leave her with me. She shall be safe in my keeping. (The Two Eunuchs bow and retire.) What have we here? (Sarcastically.) Peace be upon thee, O wonder of loveliness concealed.
Marsinah. And upon thee peace, O my lady, and Allah’s benediction.
Kut-al-K. (Half aside to her women.) A voice like unto choking honey. (Pointedly to Marsinah.) Wilt thou not favour us by revealing the fountain of so much sweetness?
(She leans forward toward Marsinah.)
Marsinah. (Unveils and kneels, bowing low.) O my lady, I am thy slave.
Kut-al-K. (Annoyed by Marsinah’s beauty.) My slave, art thou? My slaves come not before me with no henna on their hands, eyes unkohled, cheeks riddled and raddled with tears. Who art thou? Who sent thee hither?
Marsinah. My father. The Wazir Mansur has chosen me to be his wife.
Kut-al-K. Wife—thou? O thou cotton-refuse! O thou pickings! Thou his wife? A handmaid to his wife perchance, or handmaid to the handmaid, more likely.
Marsinah. ’Tis not of my seeking! Allah is my witness! I longed not for a harim of glitter and gold. Mine was a far different dream.
Kut-al-K. (Sarcastically.) Sayst thou so?
Marsinah. O mistress dear, thou art the high lady here, thy lord’s love of loves. Turn thou thy white hand of pleading towards Mansur for me. Win thou my freedom, and thou wilt give life not to me alone, who am a nought and a nothing, but also to one who is waiting and watching this night, waiting and watching in vain.
Kut-al-K. Yehh! What light do I see in the lattice? So thy little heart is caught in the mighty net of love. (The Slave Girls giggle.)
Marsinah. Why should I answer no? Thou art a woman. To thee I need not hide what I dared not confess to my father. Yehh! I love a youth, to the very core of my bosom do I love him; a youth fair of face, and rich in grace; none gentler, none nobler in all our race.
Kut-al-K. A pretty verse, forsooth. And surely there are further rhymes to follow, such as “enlace” and “embrace.” (She smiles at her Slaves, who giggle at her gibe.)
Marsinah. He hath kissed me, ’tis true.
Kut-al-K. (With a sarcastic laugh.) Ah! Ah!
Marsinah. Oh, but in all honour. This sunset he was coming to beg my father’s consent to husband me.
Kut-al-K. Was he! Was he!
Marsinah. By the life of my youth, he was. I should be bespoken by now, had not sudden fate doomed me to become Mansur’s wife.
Kut-al-K. Wife! Say thou wife again and I’ll have thee slippered till thou liest fainting at my feet. Wife thou! A thing kissed and clasped by another! What devil hath blown conceit into thy nostrils? (Calling out.) Ho Kádim! Ho Taváshi! Hither! Take her away to the kitchens!
(Marsinah veils herself.)
(The Two Eunuchs return and approach Marsinah, laying hands on her.)
Kut-al-K. I’ll soon “wife” thee, thou scum of the slave market, thou baggage of ill-omen and insolent!
Marsinah. O spare me these cruel hands, O sweet lady, spare me, spare me!
(At that moment Mansur enters through the courtyard from the right. He is sullen and his manner shows, though only slightly, that he has been drinking. He has a cup in his hand. Kafur follows him. All the Women crouch at Mansur’s approach.)
Mansur. Hold! What to do is here?
Kut-al-K. (Rises on her knees and turns to him in her most seductive manner.) O my lord—thou? What blessed fate brings thee at this unwonted hour?
Mansur. (Ignoring her.) Who is yon woman?
Kut-al-K. A nought! A slave girl! An offering of ugliness some friend hath sent thee in sport. Wilt thou not smile on thy Kut-al-Kulub, O my king?
Marsinah. (Crying out.) Ho Mansur!
Kut-al-K. (To the Eunuchs holding Marsinah.) To the kitchens with her! And at once!
Marsinah. (Breaking away from the Eunuchs, she kneels before Mansur, calling out.) To my aid, O my lord; I lay hold upon thy skirt, in this my calamity.
(The Eunuchs are about to seize her again but Mansur stops them with a gesture.)
Mansur. (Coming to her.) Who art thou?
Marsinah. I am Marsinah, the daughter of Hajj—thy cup-companion.
Mansur. Hajj’s daughter, art thou? (Sneeringly.) Now Allah requite thee that thou art come! His daughter! Ha! (To Kut-al-K.) And ugly to boot, sayst thou? Yehh! The liar, the son of filth! Juggle this trick besides, would he? ’Tis well!
Kut-al-K. (Sarcastically.) She swears thou hast chosen her thy wife.
Mansur. Doth she?
Kut-al-K. (Indignantly.) And that, after confessing she hath been loved by another.
Mansur. Yehh!
Marsinah. (To Kut-al-K.) By Allah, this is not allowed! To betray what I have told thee between mine eyes and thine.
Mansur. So she has been loved, has she—this (with a great sneer) maid! I am to eat broken bread from other men’s tables! Broken bread!
Marsinah. (Rises.) ’Tis a lie! My loved one’s loving is not of the colour of thy loathsome lusting. ’Tis white as the turband of the Prophet. Nor can thy villainous tongue spot its purity.
Mansur. Ha! Ha! So great a fire in so small an oven? Yehh! Here will be a pleasing thing to rake and quench.
Marsinah. (Kneeling, pleading.) Oh, as thou art powerful, be merciful. Forgive my fury. My lips know not what they say. Thou seest I am alone here, helpless as the fly in the tent of the spider. Have thou pity on me, so Allah have pity on thee.
Mansur. And how can Allah have pity on me before I yet have sinned? Oh, my hidden delight, I beseech thee unveil first, that I may learn the hell I am to fall to, through the curse of thy comeliness. Unveil, I tell thee.
Marsinah. Never!
Mansur. Never! Thou’lt not? (He flings away his wine-cup.) Thus to thy likes! (He goes up to her and seizing her roughly, tears the veil from her face.)
Marsinah. Awah! (She bows her head in shame, her long black hair uncoiling about her.)
Mansur. By the Creator—she is beautiful—exceedingly!
Kut-al-K. (Biting her lips.) Is she?
Mansur. (Turning to Kut-al-K and thrusting her down on the couch.) O thou viper, what made thee say otherwise? Jealous, art thou? Ha! Ha! Still! (To Marsinah—watching Kut-al-K.) Thou art lovesome and lovely, O my blossom, O my palm-bud. Thou shalt indeed be my bride this eventide. (He caresses her head.)
Marsinah. (Rising and shrinking away.) If I pass this night here, I shall kill myself with mine own hand.
Mansur. Trouble not thy hand! For at dawn, O Marsinah,——(He runs his hand down her arm.) at dawn thou shalt pay for thine insolence with gorgeous untold sufferings, such as my soul never yet devised.
(He smacks his lips.)
(Marsinah shudders.)
(Kut-al-K sighs with satisfaction.)
Mansur. (To Kut-al-K.) Thou art satisfied?
Kut-al-K. (Smiling.) I am all thine, O my master.
Mansur. ’Tis well! (To the slaves.) Up! Robe my bride! Hang jewels upon her! Rob what is best from the splendour of my Wife of wives. (Three Slave Girls and the Negress hurry off hastily to the left.)
Kut-al-K. (Furious.) My robes? My jewels?
Mansur. (Sardonically.) Saidst thou not “I am all thine”? (To Marsinah.) Go, O my ruby! Seek thy setting, O my bride of blood. (To the slaves.) And look you, she doth no harm to her sweet body.
Marsinah. (Blanched and staring, is led off through the courtyard; suddenly she turns defiantly.) Be this the end that Allah hath ordained me—’tis well! Yet the Judge of Judges is not unjust. He hath power to change our fate between the shutting and the opening of an eye. Thy hour will come. Thy death will find thee!
Mansur. (With a gesture to the slaves.) Away!
Marsinah. (In a high voice.) And black will it be, O Mansur! Black as thy doomsday record! (She screams as she is dragged off by the Eunuchs.)
Mansur. (Calling after her.) Ha! Ha! Ha! Thy rage but feeds me! Ha! Ha! There’s something still in life! Something! By Allah! This night will I make a night among nights! Ho Kafur! Prepare my bath of scents! Hot and heating let it be! So that my tired pulses may beat—beat!
(Kafur bows and hastens into the courtyard.)
Mansur. (Stopping him.) And call thou the women! Let them come forth wildering to the wits, seducing to the senses! Song, and perfumes, and dance till sunrise! What though the Caliph reap my head to-morrow, these last hours shall be locked in my breast, mine own!
(Kafur bows and vanishes.)
Kut-al-K. (Kneeling before Mansur and throwing her arms about his knees.) Thus do I love my lord.
Mansur. (Smiling on her.) Dost thou, in sooth?
Kut-al-K. Yehh! Bid me do aught to add to thy content, and I’ll do it.
Mansur. (In a playful tone.) Wilt thou? Wilt thou?
Kut-al-K. I swear it.
Mansur. Thou? (He looks down at her, smiling, then suddenly spits in her face. Turning away with a chuckling sneer.) Thou—O bosom of burning desire, go thou and sleep! (He hurries off through the courtyard.)
Kut-al-K. (Shaking with rage, her hands clenched, she groans.) Wah! Dog of hell! Poison thee I could! Poison thee! (She sits on the couch beating it impotently with her fists.) Poison! Poison! Poison!
Miskah. (Hurries across to her, trying to soothe her.) O dear my mistress! Doth Destiny not decree all things for the best? If thy lord be lost in the arms of Marsinah, wilt thou not be freer for him whom thy soul desires?
(A gentle tapping is heard.)
Kut-al-K. He’ll not come! He’ll not come! ’Tis long past the hour! Fate curses me ever! He’ll not come——(Louder tapping.) O Miskah! Hark! (She sits erect and eager—pointing to the trap. The tapping is repeated.) ’Tis he! Unbolt.
(Kut-al-K reclines on her couch, assuming indifference.)
(Miskah goes and unbolts the grating, lifting the trap.)
(Hajj enters, still wrapped in Jawan’s white cloak.)
Hajj. Peace to thee, O my lady of radiance. I am thy slave in very truth. My heart is between thy hands. (He kneels and bows.)
Kut-al-K. Thou? By the life of mine eyes, I had forgot thee quite. Comest thou at this hour?
Hajj. Be not an-angered, O my princess. I have faced death sevenfold to venture to thee to-night.
Kut-al-K. Hush! My lord is within the harim.
Hajj. (Thinking at once of Marsinah.) Mansur? In the harim? Is he alone? No one with him? No woman?
Kut-al-K. Belike so.... What matters it?
Hajj. Was a maiden brought here a little while since?
Kut-al-K. Yes. What of her?
Hajj. Doth Mansur know she’s here?
Kut-al-K. (Impatiently.) What is’t to thee? The moments are slipping away. O my loved one, dost thou not love me? (She smiles on him.)
Hajj. (Distracted.) Love thee? Yea, yea, I love thee. (He smiles a vacant smile at her.) The maiden—the maiden is where?
Kut-al-K. What maiden?
Hajj. Marsinah.
Kut-al-K. (Suspiciously.) Marsinah? How comest thou to know her name? What is this wench to thee? Who is she?
Hajj. She is my daughter.
Kut-al-K. Thy daughter.
Hajj. I have said it.
Kut-al-K. Thy daughter! (She rises, stands on the couch, and bursts out, laughing angrily.) Ah! Ha! Ha! Thy daughter! Is such thy love for me? Thou must needs send thy daughter to him? A slip—a snippet—a chick unfledged; her must thou send, for Mansur to make mock of me to her naked face. Yehh! A sweet love, a deep love! Allah ruin thee for it.
Hajj. Mock thee! What has he done?
Kut-al-K. What? He has chosen her wife of the night,—sent her to deck herself out of my coffers.
Hajj. (Hopefully.) Yehh!
Kut-al-K. Yea, but heaven is just! Dawn shall put an end to her life.
Hajj. (Rising, terrified.) Who told thee that?
Kut-al-K. Who? He, Mansur. Torture is to crown his night of pleasure.
Hajj. (With a cry.) Ah! Thou wilt save her?
Kut-al-K. Save her? (Very definitely.) After my death.
Hajj. No! No! Thou must! Thou wilt! O Kut-al-Kulub, thou wilt?
Kut-al-K. An she be so wondrous dear to thee, why didst thou offer her to him?
Hajj. He swore to make her his wife.
Kut-al-K. (Laughing wildly.) His wife! Thou dost not know Mansur.
Hajj. (Desperately.) O Kut-al-Kulub, save her, save her! Slip her into this cloak of mine and let her go with me as I came.
Kut-al-K. And I be strangled after?
Hajj. What hast thou to do with another’s escape? How shall Mansur know?
Kut-al-K. (Half to herself.) Ha! ’Twere a fit revenge on him! A feast for the bride, and no bride to feast!
Hajj. Couldst thou not replace her by some slave girl? Did he in truth see her face?
Kut-al-K. See it! ’Twas her beauty made him mock me!
Hajj. How? She won him as she was brought—unadorned?
Kut-al-K. Unadorned, tear-stained, a very misery!
Hajj. And thou dost hesitate? She can enslave his senses thus, wretched, ragged? What then will she do with jewels hung in her hair, robes rich and fair, her bright eyes kohled, darting love everywhere? I tell thee she’ll steal the heart from his breast! Yehh! Become queen in thy stead, and thou be lost to his arms for ever.
Kut-al-K. (With sudden rage.) Allah! I’ll be rid of this damned witch come what may! (Clapping her hands.) Ho! Miskah! Haste! Haste! (To Hajj.) Thy cloak! Thy cloak!
(Miskah hurries to her mistress.)
(Hajj hands his cloak to Miskah.)
Kut-al-K. Take it! Throw it over the accursed one robing in my chamber. Bring her hither. Lose not an instant.
Miskah. With obedience.
(She hurries off with Hajj’s cloak.)
Hajj. (Coming to Kut-al-K and kneeling, with utmost gratitude.) By Him who fashioned thee in thy splendour, thou art indeed the noblest of thy sisterhood.
Kut-al-K. (Dryly—eyeing him.) Are thy desires contented?
Hajj. Contented? I kiss the fringe of thy gown, the hollow of thy hand, O thou soul of liberality.
Kut-al-K. (Looking at him, her mouth twitching.) ’Tis well.
(Miskah re-enters with Marsinah, who is completely cloaked.)
Hajj. (Rising, moving towards her.) O Marsinah!
Marsinah. (Surprised.) O my father....
(They embrace.)
Kut-al-K. (Impatiently.) No words. (To Miskah.) Lead her forth by the secret passage. Out and away with her.
Miskah. Away? She’s in thy richest robes, unworn as yet by thee!
Kut-al-K. (Impatiently.) What matter robes? (To Hajj.) Whither is she to be taken?
Hajj. I’ll go with her.
Kut-al-K. Wait thou. Let her go first and pass beyond the outer gates. ’Tis safer. Whither?
Hajj. (To Miskah.) Take her to the Mosque of the Carpenters—to Imam Mahmud. Say I commit her to his charge under Allah. Tell him she’s my daughter,—the daughter of Hajj, the beggar.
Kut-al-K. (Starts and gives Hajj a look, which he does not see.) Hajj—the beggar.
(Marsinah and Miskah leave by the trap.)
(Directly the two have disappeared down the trap, Kut-al-K goes to the grating and flings it to, turning round and facing Hajj.)
Kut-al-K. (Hoarsely.) Hajj, the beggar! The beggar, Hajj. Yehh! Is it to thy like that I have offered amorous mercy? And is it by thy like that I have been laughed to scorn? A beggar! A beggar to sneer at me, to spurn me! I, of the old blood of Egypt!
Hajj. Heaven forbid I should spurn thee, O my love.
Kut-al-K. Love! Love! Thou! Thou camest for one purpose alone—thy daughter. ’Tis well! She is saved. But by Allah, not thou!
Hajj. Not?
Kut-al-K. We enter the hammam free. Out we pass not unless we pay.
Hajj. (With horror.) Kut-al-Kulub!
Kut-al-K. The grating is shut; the latch my secret. A blissful night to thee, and a blessed, O my beggar of love. (She turns to pass him.)
Hajj. (Following and clutching her.) O, Kut-al-Kulub, thou’lt not betray me! Not doom me thus to my death?
Kut-al-K. Dost thou touch me, O thou dog?
Hajj. Yes, I touch thee, I hold thee, I clasp thee! (He sinks down before her, clasping her knees in his arms.) Here on my trembling knees, mine arms about thy white beauty. O Kut-al-Kulub, thou must listen to me.
Kut-al-K. Off with thine arms, thou filth of the gutter.
Hajj. Never! Never! Never!
Kut-al-K. How? Force me? Force? (She releases herself, shouting.) Ho, Mansur! Ho, Mansur! (She hurries to a gong by the door and beats it with her fist.) O the shame of me! Ho, Mansur!
Hajj. (Between his teeth.) Now Allah kill all womankind. (He turns and crouches in the corner right.)
(Mansur appears in the courtyard. He is clad in a thin robe of yellow, as coming from his bath. Kafur follows him.)
Mansur. (Annoyed.) What now?
Kut-al-K. (With supreme scorn.) Behold! A man in thy harim!!
Mansur. A man? (He snatches the sword from Kafur. To Kafur.) Take her within.
(Kut-al-K turns and as she goes laughs a low laugh, full of the satisfaction of revenge. Kafur follows her.)
(Mansur comes down slowly, step by step, sword in hand; he is slightly under the influence of drink.)
(Hajj lies quite still on his knees, hiding his face behind a cushion he has picked up. Mansur raises the sword, ready to run at Hajj.)
(Hajj lifts up his head suddenly and faces Mansur.)
Mansur. (Starting, amazed.) Hajj? Am I alive?
Hajj. Only to die!
(Taking advantage of Mansur’s amazement, he throws the cushion at him, warding off Mansur’s blow of the scymitar. But in trying to pass Mansur, he slips and falls on his knees sinking backwards. The full moonlight shines on Hajj, revealing the chain he took from Jawan’s body.)
Mansur. (About to strike, sees the chain, arrests the sword and gazes intently.) By the Living! Whence comes that amulet on thy breast? That broken hand of Fatimah! Speak! Nought shall befall thee. I swear it by the One, the Eternal! I mean my words. Look!
(He throws the sword from him and reveals the other half of the broken hand on a chain on his own breast.)
Hajj. (Amazed.) Ah!—The Broken hand of Fatimah! Then thou art Yusuf?
Mansur. Yes, I am Yusuf. Who art thou?
Hajj. I? (He steadies himself on his knees; deliberately looking him in the eye.) I? I am thy father. (He rises.)
Mansur. (Doubtfully.) Thou?
Hajj. Yes, I am he who hath searched for thee year on year, ever since the day the Caliph captured thee, O my son.
Mansur. (Beginning to believe Hajj.) Yehh! Art thou he in sooth?
Hajj. Am I he? Canst thou not recall my tent in the wild and wold? And the enemy’s dust-cloud walling the horizon? And my bending over thee and snapping this talisman in twain, giving thee half, keeping half?
Mansur. I recall it well. Art thou my father?
Hajj. Look, the pieces fit. (He joins the two chains.) The hand is one, as our blood is. Dost thou still doubt?
Mansur. Thou? But thou art Hajj—the beggar.
Hajj. I have been many things since I lost thee, O my Yusuf.
Mansur. My mother! Her name?
Hajj. Gulnar.
Mansur. Gulnar—yes! That was her name. Thou! Fate is a juggler—the greatest of them all.
Hajj. On thy knees, O true-born son, that I may call down blessings upon thee as I did in the years long gone. Down! Down!
Mansur. (Overcome, kneels before Hajj, bending his head.) O my father!
(Hajj smiling in triumph over Mansur, draws his knife stealthily.)
Hajj. May Allah send thy soul—damnation! (He plunges the knife into Mansur’s back between the shoulder blades. It enters up to the hilt.)
(Mansur groaning aloud “Wah” and clutching at Hajj, rises and struggles with him.)
Hajj. O snake, O son of snake! I have scotched thee! Thee and thy father both in one day.
Mansur. My father! (Groans.) O thou hog of hell!
Hajj. Yes, thy true father, Jawan, the White Sheikh! He, who defiled Gulnar, as thou wouldst defile Marsinah! Ha! Ha! Allah is just! Scratch, wouldst thou? O thou rat, thou spawn of rat! (Lifting him up.) Into the water with thee! Vermin must be drowned.
(Lifting Mansur bodily, he hurls him into the water. Mansur tries to climb out of the tank on the lower side, but Hajj intercepts him, grasps him by the throat, and holds him under the water. Mansur clutches Hajj’s arm, but in vain. Hajj leans over the edge of the pool, pushing Mansur down into the water. Mansur’s hands can be seen clinging desperately to Hajj’s arm.)
Hajj. That’s for Marsinah! Marsinah, dost thou hear? How? Swear by the Koran to wed her, and then debauch and torture her? Ha! Ha! ’Twas not written! This bath of thine was written instead. May it profit thee till doomsday. Drink it, dost thou? ’Tis well! Thou wert ever fond of wetting thy gullet. (A bubbling noise and splashing.) Take thy fill! Ha! Good, is’t? Bubble, bubble! (A desperate splash. One of Mansur’s hands climbs higher on Hajj’s arms.) What? Whistle? The devils whistle they say. Art thou in hell so soon, joining thy father, the——(The left hand falls lifeless from Hajj’s arm.) At last! Silent bubbles—one,—two,—no more? Nay, look not so large-eyed. ’Tis very simple. The springs of thy life are spent. (A slight pause. With a sigh of relief, Hajj draws his wet arm from the water, and kneels with his back to the spectator, his right arm raised to heaven fervently.) O Allah! Thou hast delivered into my hands the father! Thou hast delivered into my hands the son! Glorified be thy Glory! O Lord of the three Worlds! Thou, the One, the Eternal!
(A sudden confused murmur of voices, distant cries and the clash of steel. Hajj turns and sits riveted. The noise increases.)
(The door is burst open, and several Archers of the Caliph enter, some with torches, some with scymitars drawn. The Caliph himself follows, his sword unsheathed, his cloak thrown back revealing a gorgeous silver armour and violet robes. Narjis comes next. Kafur, Afife and Servants of Mansur’s household crowd in after the others.)
Caliph. Break open the doors! Find the women! Bring them to me!
(Soldiers hurry off in various directions.)
Caliph. (Turning to Narjis.) Dost thou still swear that Marsinah was brought hither by Mansur’s eunuchs?
Narjis. Did I not see them drag her away from our very door?
(Kut-al-K is brought in by the Captain of the Watch; other Women follow led on by the Soldiers.)
Kut-al-K. (Kneeling.) Mercy, O mercy, O Commander of the Faithful!
Caliph. Where’s Marsinah?
Kut-al-K. Marsinah’s fled to the Carpenter’s Mosque. ’Twas at the entreaties of yon wretch that I consented to her escape. (She points to Hajj grovelling in the dark.)
Caliph. (Turning and seeing Hajj.) The Moorman! Yehh! What magic brings thee hither from prison?
Hajj. Allah hath freed me so I might render thee service. (Taking a torch from a soldier and holding it over the bath.) Behold!
Caliph. (Looking down into the water.) Mansur?
Kut-al-K. (Gazing into the pool.) Mansur! Awah! (She sinks down by edge of bath with a wail.)
Hajj. Mansur. Now, say me, have I not atoned for my crime?
Caliph. No deed of thine can wipe out thy attempt upon my life. Thy death is fixed and unalterable.
Narjis. Wah! Kill the father of Marsinah?
Caliph. Thou? But thou art the Moorman?
Hajj. Both! Two persons in one, both at thy feet.
Caliph. So thou art the sire of her whom Allah hath revealed unto my heart?
Hajj. (Looking up.) Marsinah? Am I then pardoned?
Caliph. Pardoned? What religion were mine should I pardon the hand thou didst raise against my sacred person? Yet art thou also the father of my chosen bride. Say me then, what shall be thy lot?
Hajj. Thou art the lord of my neck.
Caliph. Be thou banished! Banished from Baghdad, from my sight, from the sight of thy daughter. Banished as one who had never been. To-morrow by dawn be gone without the walls of the city.
Hajj. (Appealingly.) Banished! O King, be royal and show me mercy.
Caliph. I have shown thee mercy far beyond justice. My word is spoken. Go!
Hajj. (Bowing his head to the ground.) There is no majesty nor might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great. (He rises slowly.) Woe is me! Woe is me. Ah! Wah! Never to see her again, the daughter of my bosom. Never again to touch her hand, to press my lips upon her eyes. O sons of Adam, beget not children! By Him, the Uniter and Separator, beget them not! The agony of their loss exceedeth far the rapture of fatherhood. Banished for ever! Rend thy robe, O Hajj! Beat thy breast! Thy joy in life is ended. Old age hath fallen upon thee as an icy garment. Dark is everywhere. Ashes! Ashes! (He reaches the brazier. It has ceased burning some time before. Taking the ashes from it, he strews them on his head, then turns to the door, beating his breast.) Out—out, thou cutoff moment of time! Into the Desert of Desolation with thee, O thou forgotten grain of the sands of man! Marsinah is dead to thee, thou dead to Marsinah! Awah! Awah! Awah! (He staggers out by the door, rending his garment and wailing aloud.)
[Curtain]