Tree of Pearls, Queen of Egypt

The Garden Isle

 The Garden Isle on a moonlit night long ago, two women of exceeding grace and beauty, though far apart in age, sat gazing at the silver waters of the Nile from their fragrant bower on the famed Garden Island of Al-Salih, Egypt’s Good King. “The moon shines so brightly tonight, Shwaykar,” mused the elder pensively. “Indeed my Lady, and yet it is nothing compared to the radiance of your presence and the sparkle of your conversation,” the young girl sweetly replied. “You flatter me, Shwaykar, and speak not the truth. Which of us derives the most pleasure from the other’s company? Can it be you, when I have nothing to speak of but the worries and anxieties of politics? Or is it I, God having endowed you with everything a singing-girl requires of beauty, intelligence, richness of voice and graceful conversation? While you are in the full flower of youth, I am on the threshold of middle-age and time with its burdens has laid me low.” The handmaiden blushed at this gracious compliment. “Do not speak so, my Lady. Indeed, you abash me with your praise. Who am I, that I should be counted a creature worthy of notice next to Tree of Pearls, consort of Al-Salih— may God have mercy on his soul—and mother of his child? God has favored you with a genius that has no equal amongst mankind. There is none amongst women who would dare aspire to even a small part of your blessings, may God exalt your rank and—” Tree of Pearls interrupted her slave by affectionately placing her hand over the girl’s mouth and bestowing a gentle smile upon her. There was anxiety, and foreboding too, in that smile, and the Lady’s eyes glowed darkly with the great burden of her thoughts. She sighed heavily. “Do you then envy me for what you imagine to be a distinction conferred by fate? Indeed, this is the very source of my troubles.” She bent her head while saying this, a frown suddenly creasing her brow and making Shwaykar’s heart tremble.  | tree of pearls, queen of egypt Tree of Pearls reclined on an ebony couch richly upholstered in patterned brocade. The terrace on which mistress and slave now sat, and which belonged to one of the many palaces that Al-Salih had built on his Garden Island, overlooked a vast expanse of the Nile. This islet was the most beautiful of the verdant patches of green that sat like jewels in the great river between Old Cairo and Al-Jazira. Many a king of old had made it his pleasure-garden. It was Al-Salih who moved his royal seat there from the Citadel, where his predecessors had resided and from whence they had ruled. On this island he built a magnificent fortress that became known as the Fortress of the Measure, in reference to the ancient Nilometer nearby. It was also known as the Garden Fort or the Salihiyya Fort. Numerous palaces, mosques, and naval workshops had formerly existed on the site, and it was home to the famous pavilion that the Fatimid Sultan, Al- ’Amir bi Ahkamillah, had built for his concubine. The Good King demolished all these structures and raised the Fortress in their place, expending a vast fortune in the process. The palaces and mosques that he caused to be raised rested upon great columns and arches fashioned from the venerable granite and marble taken from the ancient ruins surrounding the city. He planted orchards with flowering trees of all kinds, and he erected sixty towers for his armories and for grain and sundry foodstuffs against the possibility of a Frankish siege, for the Franks were intent on invading Egypt in those days. So lavish was he in constructing this fortress that each one of its stones was said to be worth a whole dinar. The King himself had supervised its construction, and when it was completed he moved his womenfolk and his slaves there, as well as his Mamluk horsemen, their number reaching one thousand hardy warriors. Finally, outside the walls he built a vast zoological garden in which he gathered all sorts of savage beasts—lions, for instance, and tigers. Tree of Pearls was Al-Salih’s favorite concubine, and when she gave birth to a son, the King drew her even further into his confidence. Being a woman of surpassing astuteness and intelligence, she acquired great...