Ikkar, the Jewish vizier of the king of Ashur, was the wisest man in the land, but he was not happy. He was the favorite of the king who bestowed upon him many honors, and well respected by the people who bowed before him in the streets and cast themselves on the ground at his feet to kiss the hem of his garment. He always had a kind word and a smile for those who came to him for advice and guidance, but his eyes were ever sad, and tears would trickle down his cheeks as he watched the little children at play in the streets.
He was recognized and respected as a man of wisdom far beyond the borders of Ashur, rulers feared to offend the king who had Ikkar as the chief of all his advisors and counselors. Sadly, Ikkar would often sit alone in his beautiful palace and sigh heavily. No sound of children’s laughter was ever heard in his home, and that was the cause of his sorrow. Ikkar was a pious man and deeply learned in the Holy Writings; every day he prayed long and with holy intent. He listened to the advice of holy men that he be blessed with at one son, or a daughter, so his name would not be forgotten in time. Yet, the years passed and no child was born to him.
Ikkar was married to a beautiful woman, Aaliyah. Her kindness and open hand was known throughout the land. Their one sadness was not having children. One night Ikkar had a dream in which a spirit appeared to him and said:
“Ikkar, you will die full of years and honor, but childless. Therefore, take Nadan, the son of your widowed sister and let him be a son to you.”
Nadan was a handsome youth of fifteen, and Ikkar related his dream to the boy’s mother who permitted him to take Nadan to his palace and there bring him up as his own son. The sadness faded from the vizier’s eyes as he watched the lad at his lessons, and Ikkar himself taught wisdom to Nadan. Sadly, to his surprise, and then to his grief, Nadan was not thankful for the riches and love lavished upon him. He neglected his lessons and grew very proud and arrogant. He treated the servants of the household harshly and did not obey the wise rules of Ikkar.
The vizier, however, was hopeful that he would reform and gain wisdom with years, and he took him to the palace of the king and appointed him an officer of the royal guard. For Ikkar’s sake, the king made Nadan one of his favorites, and all in the land looked upon the young man as the successor of Ikkar and the future vizier. This only served to make Nadan still more arrogant, and a wicked idea entered his head to gain further favor with the king and replace Ikkar at once.
“O King, live forever!” he said one day, when Ikkar was absent in a distant part of the land; “it grieves me to have to utter words of warning against Ikkar, the wise, the father who has adopted me. But he conspires to destroy you.”
The king laughed at this suggestion, but he became serious when Nadan promised to give him proof in three days. Nadan then set to work and wrote two letters. One was addressed to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and read as follows:
“Pharaoh, son of the Sun and mighty ruler on earth, live forever! You would reign over Ashur. Give ear then to my words and on the tenth day of the next month come with your troops to the Eagle Plain beyond the city, and I, Ikkar, the grand vizier, will deliver your enemy, the King of Ashur, into your hands.”
Nadan then forged Ikkar’s name and took the letter to the king.
“I have found this,” he said, “and have brought it to you. It shows you that Ikkar would deliver this country to your enemy.”
The king was very angry and would have sent for Ikkar at once, but Nadan counseled patience.
“Wait until the tenth of next month, the day of the annual review, and you will see what will surprise you still more,” he said.
Then he wrote the second letter. This was to Ikkar and was forged with the king’s name and sealed with the king’s seal that he obtained. It bade Ikkar on the tenth of the next month to assemble the troops on the Eagle Plain to show how strong and disciplined they were to the foreign envoys. They were to pretend to attack the king.
The vizier returned the day before the review, and while the king stood with Nadan and the foreign envoys, Ikkar and the troops, acting on their instructions, made a pretense of attacking his majesty.
“Do you not see?” said Nadan. “The king of Egypt not being here, Ikkar threatens you,” and he immediately gave orders to the royal trumpeters to sound, “Halt!” Ikkar was brought before the king and confronted with the letter to Pharaoh.
“Explain this, if you can,” exclaimed the king, angrily. “I have trusted you and filled you with riches and honors and you betrayed me. Is not this your signature, and is not your seal attached?”
Ikkar was too shocked to reply, as Nadan whispered to the king that this proved his guilt.
“Lead him to the execution,” cried the king, “and let his head be severed from his body and cast one hundred amos (cubits) from the outermost wall of the city.”
Falling on his knees, Ikkar pleaded that at least he should be granted the privilege of being executed within his own house so that he might be buried there.
This request was granted, and Nabu Samak, the executioner, led Ikkar as a prisoner to his palace. Nabu Samak was a great friend to Ikkar and it grieved him to have to carry out the king’s order.
“Ikkar,” he said, “I am certain that you are innocent, and I will save you. Listen to me, in the prison is a bloodthirsty highwayman who has committed many murders and who deserves death. His beard and hair are like yours, and at a distance he can easily be mistaken for you. I shall behead him and show his head to the crowd, while you hide and live in secret.”
Ikkar thanked his friend and the plan was carried out. The murder’s head was exhibited to the crowd from the roof of the house and the people wept because they thought it was the head of the good Ikkar. Meanwhile, the vizier went down into the cellar deep beneath his palace and lived there, while his adopted son, Nadan, was appointed chief of the king’s counselors in his stead.
Now, when Pharaoh, king of Egypt, heard that Ikkar, the wise, had been executed, he determined to make war upon Ashur. Therefore, he dispatched a letter to the king, asking him to send an architect to design and build a palace in the clouds.
“If this you do,” he wrote, “I, Pharaoh, son of the Sun, will pay you tribute; if you fail, you must pay me tribute.”
The king of Ashur was stunned when he received the letter that had to be answered in three months. Nadan could not advise him what to do. The King bitterly regretted that Ikkar, the man of wisdom, was no longer by his side to advise him.
“I would give one-fourth of my kingdom to bring Ikkar to life again,” he sighed.
Hearing these words, Nabu Samak, the executioner, fell on his knees and revealed that Ikkar was alive.
“Bring him before me at once,” ordered the king.
Ikkar scarcely believed the good news when his friend came to him in the cellar. The people wept tears of joy and pity when the old vizier led through the streets of the city.
For the twelve months, he was hidden in the cellar his beard had grown down to the ground, his hair hung below his shoulders and his fingernails were very long. The king wept when he saw his old vizier.
“Ikkar,” he said, “for months have I felt that you were innocent, and I have missed your wise counsels. Help me in my difficulty and you shall be pardoned.”
“Your majesty,” said Ikkar, “I desire nothing more than to serve you. I am innocent. Time will prove me guiltless.”
When he saw Pharaoh’s demand, he smiled. “’This is an easy task,” he said. “I will go to Egypt and outwit Pharaoh.”
He gave orders that four of the tame eagles in the gardens of the palace be brought to him with cords five hundred amos long attached to their claws. Then he selected four agile youths, and trained them to sit on the backs of the eagles and soar aloft. This done, he set out for Egypt with a big caravan and a long retinue of slaves.
“What is your name?” asked Pharaoh, when he presented himself.
“My name is Chirag ibn Rahim, and I am the lowest of my king’s advisers.”
“Does your master then think my demand so simple?” asked Pharaoh.
Ikkar bowed to indicate that this was so, and Pharaoh was much annoyed and puzzled.
“Perform your task and at once,” he commanded.
At a sign from Ikkar, the four youths mounted the eagles that flew to the height of their cords. The birds remained in the air two hundred amos apart, as they had been trained, and the lads held cords in the form of a square.
“That is the plan of the palace in the clouds,” said Ikkar, pointing aloft. “Bid your men carry up bricks and mortar. The task is so simple that the boys will build.”
Pharaoh frowned, as he had not expected to be outwitted in such a way, but he would not immediately acknowledge this.
“In this land,” he said, sarcastically, “we use no mortar. We sew the stones together. Can you do this?”
“Easily,” replied Ikkar, “if your wise men can make me a thread of sand.”
“And can you weave a thread of sand?” asked Pharaoh.
“I can,” responded Ikkar.
Noting the direction of the sun, he bored a tiny hole in the wall, and a thin sunbeam gleamed through. Then, taking a few grains of sand, he blew them through the hole and in the sunbeam, they seemed like a thread.
“Take it, quickly,” he cried, but of course, nobody could do this.
Pharaoh looked long and earnestly at Ikkar.
“Truly, you are a man of wisdom,” he said. “If he were not dead I should say you wert Ikkar, the wise.”
“I am Ikkar,” answered the vizier, and he told the story of his escape.
“I will prove your innocence,” exclaimed Pharaoh. “I will write a letter to your royal master.”
Not only did he do so, but also he gave Ikkar many valuable presents and the vizier returned to Ashur, resumed his place by the king’s side, and became a greater favorite than before. The king ordered that his name be inscribed in the royal records so his name would never be forgotten.
Nadan was banished and never heard of again.
May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)
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