Enter el-Hajjaj

Nights 228-246

(Although I had originally scheduled only through night 245 this week, night 246 was only 2 pages and resolved the story from nights 237-245).

The two stories this week aren’t the best stories of lovers, but they are fast-paced. The first story is better. In it, al-Amjad, one of the two boys from last week, gets caught in a rich man’s room with a woman that he just met. The woman is a bit demanding, and al-Amjad ends up beheading her! (night 232, p. 799). It's a surprise; she doesn’t deserve to die, and she’s partially in the demanding situation because of him. 

Later, al-Amjad’s half-brother ends up enslaved, escapes, gets stranded on a deserted island, and causes two groups of ships to start pursuing each other so they can capture him. It's fun. The two half-brothers eventually reunite, and it looks like we have a happy ending coming. But first, we get a story from Bahram (a Magian flame-worshipper who I was sure would be killed, but instead converts to Islam). Bahram’s story is a typical love story. Like many in the Nights, it is predictable and problematic (here, the woman in the story is enslaved by the man). It is also notable for bringing in our latest Magic card: el-Hajjaj (night 237, p. 810). The appendix tells us he was a real-life governor of Iraq from c. 661-714: harsh, but well-spoken. He has his own Wikipedia page. In this story, he is a minor antagonist, lusting after the woman and separating her from her lover.

The only other note I had from this section was from night 242, p. 819. In a poem, a character’s joy is compared to that of Moses and Joseph. I have noticed a few appearances from Joseph. The Nights like to bring in characters from Genesis. If I recall, they also appear in the Koran. It’s interesting that the New Testament characters are not as popular in Islamic literature. I had thought they had a closer relationship with Christianity, not just the Book of Genesis.