The Cthulhu Mythos of H.P Lovecraft was inspired by numerous writers and expanded by numerous collaborators in his lifetime. This story, translated by Richard F. Burton from the Arabian Nights, was the inspiration for the inclusion of the City of Pillars in the Cthulhu Mythos. Enjoy.
The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah
translated by Richard F. Burton.
Public Domain License – This story is in the public domain and may be reproduced and shared freely.
Rating: PG. Parental Guidance Recommended. This story includes mild supernatural themes and references.
The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kalabah (Trans. Richard F. Burton)
“Then again—how many young Arabs have the Arabian Nights bred! I ought to know, since at the age of 5 I was one of them. I had not then encountered Graeco-Roman myth, but found in Lang’s Arabian Nights a gateway to glittering vistas of wonder and freedom. It was then that I invented for myself the name of Abdul Alhazred, and made my mother take me to the Oriental curio shops and fit me up an Arabian corner in my room.” —H. P. Lovecraft, letter to Robert E. Howard, Jan 16, 1932 [1]
The legendary Irem (or Iram), City of Pillars, caught Lovecraft’s imagination enough to be mentioned several times in his stories. However, oddly enough, it is not to be found in the Andrew Lang edition of the Arabian Nights that Lovecraft read as a child. It does occur in Richard F. Burton’s multi-volume translation, but I don’t know if Lovecraft ever had access to that version. There were no editions of the Arabian Nights in Lovecraft’s personal library when he died.[2]
[1] H. P. Lovecraft (ed. August Derleth and James Turner), Selected Letters 1932-1934; Sauk City, WI: Arkham House Publishers, Inc., 1976; page 8.[2] S. T. Joshi, Lovecraft’s Library: A Catalogue (second edition, revised and enlarged). New York: Hippocampus Press, 2002.
The book image is adapted from Wikimedia Commons: “Andrew lang, the arabian nights entertainments, longman green & co., londra 1898 (gabinetto vieusseux).jpg”. The year 1898 is too late to be the version that HPL read as a small child, but it is at least from that general era.
The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah [3]
From
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 4
Richard F. Burton (translator)
It is related that Abdullah bin Abi Kilabah went forth in quest of a she-camel which had strayed from him; and, as he was wandering in the deserts of Al-Yaman and the district of Saba,[4] behold, he came upon a great city girt by a vast castle around which were palaces and pavilions that rose high into middle air. He made for the place thinking to find there folk of whom he might ask concerning his she-camel; but, when he reached it, he found it desolate, without a living soul in it. So (quoth he) “I alighted and, hobbling my dromedary,” —And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah bin Abi Kilabah continued, “I dismounted and hobbling my dromedary, and composing my mind, entered into the city. Now when I came to the castle, I found it had two vast gates (never in the world was seen their like for size height) inlaid with all manner of jewels and jacinths, white and red, yellow and green. Beholding this I marvelled with great marvel and thought the case mighty wondrous; then entering the citadel in a flutter of fear and dazed with surprise and affright, I found it long and wide, about equalling Al-Medinah[5] in point of size; and therein were lofty palaces laid out in pavilions all built of gold and silver and inlaid with many-coloured jewels and jacinths and chrysolites and pearls. And the door-leaves in the pavilions were like those of the castle for beauty; and their floors were strewn with great pearls and balls, no smaller than hazel nuts, of musk and ambergris and saffron. Now when I came within the heart of the city and saw therein no created beings of the Sons of Adam I was near swooning and dying for fear. Moreover, I looked down from the great roofs of the pavilion-chambers and their balconies and saw rivers running under them; and in the main streets were fruit-laden trees and tall palms; and the manner of their building was one brick of gold and one of silver. So I said in myself, ‘Doubtless this is the Paradise promised for the world to come.’ Then I loaded me with the jewels of its gravel and the musk of its dust as much as I could carry and returned to my own country, where I told the folk what I had seen. After a time the news reached Mu’awiyah, son of Abu Sufyan, who was then Caliph in Al-Hijaz; so he wrote to his lieutenant in San’a of Al-Yaman to send for the teller of the story and question him of the truth of the case. Accordingly the lieutenant summoned me and questioned me of my adventure and of all appertaining to it; and I told him what I had seen, whereupon he despatched me to Mu’awiyah, before whom I repeated the story of the strange sights; but he would not credit it. So I brought out to him some of the pearls and balls of musk and ambergris and saffron, in which latter there was still some sweet savour; but the pearls were grown yellow and had lost pearly colour.”—ÂAnd Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah son of Abu Kilabah continued, “But the pearls were grown yellow and had lost pearly colour. Now Mu’awiyah wondered at this and, sending for Ka’ab al-Ahbar[6] said to him, ‘O Ka’ab, I have sent for thee to ascertain the truth of a certain matter and hope that thou wilt be able to certify me thereof.’ Asked Ka’ab, ‘What is it, O Commander of the Faithful?’; and Mu’awiyah answered, ‘Wottest thou of any city founded by man which is builded of gold and silver, the pillars whereof are of chrysolite and rubies and its gravel pearls and balls of musk and ambergris and saffron?’ He replied, ‘Yes, O Commander of the Faithful, this is ‘Iram with pillars decked and dight, the like of which was never made in the lands,'[7] and the builder was Shaddad son of Ad the Greater.’ Quoth the Caliph, ‘Tell us something of its history,’ and Ka’ab said, ‘Ad the Greater[8] had two sons, Shadid and Shaddad who, when their father died, ruled conjointly in his stead, and there was no King of the Kings of the earth but was subject to them. After awhile Shadid died and his brother Shaddad reigned over the earth alone. Now he was fond of reading in antique books; and, happening upon the description of the world to come and of Paradise, with its pavilions and galleries and trees and fruits and so forth, his soul moved him to build the like thereof in this world, after the fashion aforesaid. Now under his hand were an hundred thousand Kings, each ruling over an hundred thousand chiefs, commanding each an hundred thousand warriors; so he called these all before him and said to them, ‘I find in ancient books and annals a description of Paradise, as it is to be in the next world, and I desire to build me its like in this world. Go ye forth therefore to the goodliest tract on earth and the most spacious and build me there a city of gold and silver, whose gravel shall be chrysolite and rubies and pearls; and for support of its vaults make pillars of jasper. Fill it with palaces, whereon ye shall set galleries and balconies and plant its lanes and thoroughfares with all manner trees bearing yellow-ripe fruits and make rivers to run through it in channels of gold and silver.’ Whereat said one and all, ‘How are we able to do this thing thou hast commanded, and whence shall we get the chrysolites and rubies and pearls whereof thou speakest?’ Quoth he, ‘What! weet ye not that the Kings of the world are subject to me and under my hand and that none therein dare gainsay my word?’ Answered they, ‘Yes, we know that.'”—ÂAnd Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lieges answered, “Yes, we know that;” whereupon the King rejoined, “Fare ye then to the mines of chrysolites and rubies and pearls and gold and silver and collect their produce and gather together all of value that is in the world and spare no pains and leave naught; and take also for me such of these things as be in men’s hands and let nothing escape you: be diligent and beware of disobedience.” And thereupon he wrote letters to all the Kings of the world and bade them gather together whatso of these things was in their subjects’ hands, and get them to the mines of precious stones and metals, and bring forth all that was therein, even from the abysses of the seas. This they accomplished in the space of 20 years, for the number of rulers then reigning over the earth was three hundred and sixty Kings, and Shaddad presently assembled from all lands and countries architects and engineers and men of art and labourers and handicraftsmen, who dispersed over the world and explored all the wastes and words and tracts and holds. At last they came to an uninhabited spot, a vast and fair open plain clear of sand-hills and mountains, with founts flushing and rivers rushing, and they said, “This is the manner of place the King commanded us to seek and ordered us to find.” So they busied themselves in building the city even as bade them Shaddad, King of the whole earth in its length and breadth; leading the fountains in channels and laying the foundations after the prescribed fashion. Moreover, all the Kings of earth’s several-reigns sent thither jewels and precious stones and pearls large and small and carnelian and refined gold and virgin silver upon camels by land, and in great ships over the waters, and there came to the builders’ hands of all these materials so great a quantity as may neither be told nor counted nor conceived. So they laboured at the work three hundred years; and, when they had brought it to end, they went to King Shaddad and acquainted him therewith. Then said he, “Depart and make thereon an impregnable castle, rising and towering high in air, and build around it a thousand pavilions, each upon a thousand columns of chrysolite and ruby and vaulted with gold, that in each pavilion a Wazir may dwell.” So they returned forthwith and did this in other twenty years; after which they again presented themselves before King Shaddad and informed him of the accomplishment of his will. Then he commanded his Wazirs, who were a thousand in number, and his Chief Officers and such of his troops and others as he put trust in, to prepare for departure and removal to Many-columned Iram, in the suite and at the stirrup of Shaddad, son of Ad, King of the World; and he bade also such as he would of his women and his Harim and of his handmaids and eunuchs make them ready for the journey. They spent twenty years in preparing for departure, at the end of which time Shaddad set out with his host.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Shaddad bin Ad fared forth, he and his host, rejoicing in the attainment of his desire till there remained but one day’s journey between him and Iram of the Pillars. Then Allah sent down on him and on the stubborn unbelievers with him a mighty rushing sound from the Heavens of His power, which destroyed them all with its vehement clamour, and neither Shaddad nor any of his company set eyes on the city.[9] Moreover, Allah blotted out the road which led to the city, and it stands in its stead unchanged until the Resurrection Day and the Hour of Judgement.” So Mu’awiyah wondered greatly at Ka’ab al-Ahbar’s story and said to him, “Hath any mortal ever made his way to that city?” He replied, “Yes; one of the companions of Mohammed (on whom be blessing and peace!) reached it, doubtless and forsure after the same fashion as this man here seated.” “And (quoth Al-Sha’abi[10]) it is related, on the authority of learned men of Himyar in Al-Yaman that Shaddad, when destroyed with all his host by the sound, was succeeded in his Kingship by his son Shaddad the Less, whom he left vice-regent in Hazramaut[11] and Saba, when he and his marched upon Many-columned Iram. Now as soon as he heard of his father’s death on the road, he caused his body to be brought back from the desert to Hazramaut and bade them hew him out a tomb in a cave, where he laid the body on a throne of gold and threw over the corpse threescore and ten robes of cloth of gold, purfled with precious stones. Lastly at his sire’s head he set up a tablet of gold whereon were graven these verses,
‘Take warning O proud, * And in length o’ life vain!
I’m Shaddad son of Ad, * Of the forts castellain;
Lord of pillars and power, * Lord of tried might and main,
Whom all earth-sons obeyed * For my mischief and bane
And who held East and West * In mine awfullest reign.
He preached me salvation * Whom God did assain,[12]
But we crossed him and asked * ‘Can no refuge be ta’en?’
When a Cry on us cried * From th’ horizon plain,
And we fell on the field * Like the harvested grain,
And the Fixt Day await * We, in earth’s bosom lain!'”
Al-Sa’alibi also relateth, “It chanced that two men once entered this cave and found steps at its upper end; so they descended and came to an underground chamber, an hundred cubits long by forty wide and an hundred high. In the midst stood a throne of gold, whereon lay a man of huge bulk, filling the whole length and breadth of the throne. He was covered with jewels and raiment gold-and-silver wrought, and at his head was a tablet of gold bearing an inscription. So they took the tablet and carried it off, together with as many bars of gold and silver and so forth as they could bear away.”
Footnotes by Richard F. Burton
[3] The Bresl. Edit. (vii. 171-174) entitles this tale, “Story of Shaddad bin Ad and the City of Iram the Columned;” but it relates chiefly to the building by the King of the First Adites who, being promised a future Paradise by Prophet Húd, impiously said that he would lay out one in this world. It also quotes Ka’ab al-Ahbar as an authority for declaring that the tale is in the “Pentateuch of Moses.” Iram was in al-Yaman near Adan (our Aden) a square of ten parasangs (or leagues each= 18,000 feet) every way, the walls were of red (baked) brick 500 cubits high and 20 broad, with four gates of corresponding grandeur. It contained 300,000 Kasr (palaces) each with a thousand pillars of gold-bound jasper, etc. (whence its title). The whole was finished in five hundred years, and, when Shaddad prepared to enter it, the “Cry of Wrath” from the Angel of Death slew him and all his many. It is mentioned in the Koran (chaps. Ixxxix. 6-7) as “Irem adorned with lofty buildings (or pillars).” But Ibn Khaldun declares that commentators have embroidered the passage; Iram being the name of a powerful clan of the ancient Adites and “imad” being a tent-pole: hence “Iram with the numerous tents or tent-poles.” Al-Bayzawi tells the story of Abdullah ibn Kilabah (D’Herbelot’s Colabah). At Aden I met an Arab who had seen the mysterious city on the borders of Al-Ahkaf, the waste of deep sands, west of Hadramaut; and probably he had, the mirage or sun-reek taking its place. Compare with this tale “The City of Brass” (Night dlxv.). [Return][4] The biblical-“Sheba,” named from the great-grandson of Joctan, whence the Queen (Bilkis) visited Solomon It was destroyed by the Flood of Marib. [Return][5] The full title of the Holy City is “Madinat al-Nab)” = the City of the Prophet, of old Yasrib (Yathrib) the Iatrippa of the Greeks (Pilgrimage, ii. 119). The reader will remember that there are two “Yasribs:” that of lesser note being near Hujr in the Yamamah province. [Return][6] “Ka’ab of the Scribes,” a well-known traditionist and religious poet who died (A.H. 32) in the Caliphate of Osman. He was a Jew who islamised; hence his name (Ahbar, plur. of Hibr, a Jewish scribe, doctor of science, etc. Jarrett’s El-Siyuti, p. 123). He must not be confounded with another Ka’ab al-Ahbar the Poet of the (first) Cloak-poem or “Burdah,” a noble Arab who was a distant cousin of Mohammed, and whose tomb at Hums (Emesa) is a place of pious visitation. According to the best authorities (no Christian being allowed to see them) the cloak given to the bard by Mohammed is still preserved together with the Khirkah or Sanjak Sherif (“Holy Coat” or Banner, the national oriflamme) at Stambul in the Upper Seraglio. (Pilgrimage, i. 213.) Many authors repeat this story of Mu’awiyah, the Caliph, and Ka’ab of the Burdah, but it is an evident anachronism, the poet having been dead nine years before the ruler’s accession (A.H. 41). [Return][7] Koran, lxxxix. 6-7. [Return][8] Arab. “Kahraman” from Pers., braves, heroes. [Return][9] The Deity in the East is as whimsical-a despot as any of his “shadows” or “vice regents.” In the text Shaddad is killed for mere jealousy a base passion utterly unworthy of a godhead; but one to which Allah was greatly addicted. [Return][10] Some traditionist, but whether Sha’abi, Shi’abi or Shu’abi we cannot decide. [Return][11] The Hazarmaveth of Genesis (x. 26) in South Eastern Arabia. Its people are the Adramitae (mod. Hazrami) of Ptolemy who places in their land the Arabiæ Emporium, as Pliny does his Massola. They border upon the Homeritæ or men of Himyar, often mentioned in The Nights. Hazramaut is still practically unknown to us, despite the excursions of many travellers; and the hard nature of the people, the Swiss of Arabia, offers peculiar obstacles to exploration. [Return][12] i.e. the prophet Hud generally identified (?) with Heber. He was commissioned (Koran, chaps. vii.) to preach Al-Islam to his tribe the Adites who worshipped four goddesses, Sakiyah (the rain-giver), Razikah (food-giver), Hafizah (the saviouress) and Salimah (who healed sickness). As has been seen he failed, so it was useless to send him. [Return]
