I made for it and when I came near that fire, I saw a palace with gate of copper whose shine looked to me like fire.

I hardly sat down near the gate, that 10 young men came there. They all were blind on the same one side eye. There was one Sheikh also with them. When they saw me, they saluted me, "Salaam" and asked me my name and my history. I told them all that happened with me. They took me in the mansion. There were 10 couches with blue covering, and there was one more, a smaller one, that was also blue. All the 10 men sat on the 10 couches and the Old man sat on the smaller one.

The old man asked me to sit down on the floor and not to ask any question about their story or blindness. He gave everybody food and drink, including me and asked me several questions about my adventure. Then the 10 young men said to him - "Will you not set our ritual before us? The time has come." He rose, went to a closet, and came out with 10 trays covered blue cloth. He kept one tray in front of each young man and lighted 10 candles. He stuck one candle on each tray and uncovered the covers. There were ashes, powdered charcoal and kettle soot on them. Seeing them all started weeping and wailing. They smeared their faces and clothes with that stuff, saying - "We were sitting at ease, but our obstinacy brought unease to us." They did this till morning, when the old man heated water for them, they washed themselves and wore clean clothes.

When I saw this, O Lady, I forgot all instruction given by the old man, I could not keep silent, I asked them - "Why do you do this? You all look sane, but your these actions look like one possessed by evil spirit. I request you to tell me about why you don't want to tell me your story and the cause of losing your eye?" They turned to me and said - "Don't ask us any questions." Then we all slept. When we woke up, we ate food, and they talked till nightfall. Then we all again ate, the old man lighted candles and they again talked till midnight. Then they asked again the old man about their ritual.

I stayed there with them in this way, for one month. During this period, my curiosity increased so much that I had to forgo my food, I lost command of myself and asked them - "Will you not tell me the reason of this you do, and the words you speak every night?" They said - "It is better to keep these things secret." But I was not going to be silent on that day, and insisted them to tell me about it. They replied - "We have kept our secret only for your good, if we reply your question, we will bring evil upon you, and you will become like us - with one eye only." I said - "If you will not tell me, then let me leave you and return to my own place, and be at rest, instead of seeing you like this everyday."

They warned me - "Remember O Youth, After that, we will not be able to keep you here, thus you will not suffer with us." They brought a ram and killed it and cleaned it. Then they gave me a knife and said - "Take this skin and lie down on it, we will sew it around you. Then a bird, Hight Rukh, will come to you. It will catch you in its paw, fly and will set you on a high mountain peak. When you feel that the bird is not flying, you rip out this skin with this blade. The bird will be scared and fly away. After this you walk for half a day, you will come to a palace of teak wood and sandalwood plated with gold, studded with emeralds and costly gems. Enter that palace and your wish is fulfilled, because we have all entered that palace, and that is the cause of our losing one eye. If we will tell you our own story, it will take a long time, because everybody has lost his eye through his own adventure."

I got happy to hear that. They did as they said and I eventually reached the palace made of teak wood. I entered the door of the palace. I found myself in a great size hall like a horse course. Around it were about 100 chambers with the doors of sandalwood plated with red gold and silver rings for knocking. At the upper corner, there stood 40 girls - all lovely and beautiful. When they saw me, they welcomed me. They said - "We have been waiting for you for the whole month. We are worthy of you and you are worthy of us." Then they made me sit on a Deevaan and said - "We are your slave today, order whatever you want."

Then they brought food and we all ate together. Some of them warmed water for me, gave me a bath and changed my clothes. Then they talked to me till the night fell. Then five of them rose, and laid the trays full of flowers, herbs, dry and fresh fruits and confections, and wine to drink. We enjoyed till the time came for rest. Then one of the said to me - "You choose one of us who will sleep with you today and will not be with you again for 40 days." So I chose a girl. I was with her all the night. In the morning, I took bath and dressed in fairest apparel. They served me food and drink, and we drank till nightfall. I again chose a girl and spent the night with her. Thus I lived with them for all the days.

But at the new year they came to me crying and clinging to me. I wondered at this and asked them what was the matter? They said - "We had never known you, although we have spent many nights with many others, but we have never seen anyone more pleasant than you, and more courteous than you." And they wept again. They said to me - "If you listen to us we will never part, and if not, then we will be separated for ever and we will weep that you never listened to us. We are the daughters of Kings who used to meet here and have lived together for many years; and once every year by force we are absent for 40 days, and afterwards we returned and lived here for the rest of the 12 months eating, drinking and enjoying. Now we are about to depart. Take our keys of this palace. It has 40 chambers, but you can open only 39 chambers. Please be warned, that you don't open the 40th chamber. It has something which will separate us for ever." I said - "I will never open it."

They all departed flying like birds leaving me alone in that palace. When the night fell, I opened the first chamber. Then in the morning the second chamber's door. When I opened the door of the 4th chamber. There were 40 little rooms in it and all of them were filled with costly precious gems. I thought that this kind of wealth was not even with Kings, and I had 40 girls also with me. Thus now I was the richest person of the world. I had opened all the 39 chambers except the 40th which they forbade me to open, but my mind was on the same one.

One day Satan asked me to open it. After a moment's hesitation, I opened the door of that forbidden chamber and entered it. I smelt a perfume I have never smelt before. It was so sharp that it made my senses sunken and I saw two pots from which this fragrance was coming out. I saw a black horse before two mangers - one containing the husked sesame and other containing the water. I thought that this horse must be a mysterious horse. Satan again instigated me and I took him out of the palace and mounted him, but he wouldn't move. I beat him with a whip. As I beat him, he cried in a loud voice, opened his wings and flew in the sky.

After an hour, he descended me on a terrace, and lashed me on my face with his tail and made me blind by my left eye. The he flew away. I came down from there and found myself among the 10 one-eyed youths sitting upon 10 couches with blue covers. They cried - "Welcome to you. We have lived our lives happily, but we did not expect to see you again." I said - "See, I have become like you, and now you have to bring me a tray of black material to blacken my face and receive into your society." They cried - "No, by Allaah, no, You will not join us, you get out. You will go forward." And they drove me away. 

I remembered their words, "We were sitting at ease, but our obstinacy brought unease to us." Then I shaved my head, mustache, and eyebrows, renouncing the world, wandered in Qalandar guise. Allaah guarded me till I came to Bagadaad, today night. Here I met these two Qalandars standing bewildered. I greeted them - "I am a stranger." They said - "We are also strangers." Thus we three Qalandars, three monoculars blind with left eye, met here. O Lady, This is the cause of shaving my beard, the manner of losing my left eye." 

The woman said - "Let him go." The third Qalandar said - "I will not go until I will hear the stories of others." Then the woman addressing the Caliph, Zaafar and Masaroor and said - "What stories do you have to tell?" Zaafar stood up and told her what he had told the porters; she gave them life each for each sake and said - "Now you all may go."

They all went out, and when they were in the street, Caliph, seeing that the morning has not yet broke, said to the Qalandars - "Where will you go? The morning has not yet broke?" They said - "By Allaah, We don't know where we will go." So the Caliph said to Zaafar - "Take them home with you, and bring them to me tomorrow, so that we may record their adventures." Zaafar did as the Caliph said. The caliph also went to his palace. He tried to sleep but could not sleep. He was still impatient to know the history of the three women and two black bitches.

So as soon as the morning broke, he asked Zaafar to call for those three women, the two bitches and three Qalandars. Zaafar immediately went there and brought all of them. Zaafar  said - "We pardon you for the ill-treatment of yesterday, but now you should know that you are standing in front of the Fifth of the son of Abbaas, Haaroon al-Rasheed, brother of the Caliph Moosaa al-Haadee, son of al-Mansoor. Speak, therefore, before him the Truth and the only Truth." Hearing the words of Zaafar, the eldest woman came forward and said - "My story is this....

Contd on Next Page