Page:Muhammad Diyab al-Itlidi - Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalîfahs - Alice Frere - 1873.djvu/230

Rh wound with the blood welling therein. And she cried, 'Slaves of Allâh! who will bring me medicine for one that cannot be consoled, and a remedy for one that may not be named? Long has been the parting, and the traveller has tarried. But the heart takes wing, and the mind is absent, and the soul is troubled, and the spirit stolen, and sleep is imprisoned. Allâh's pity be upon those who live in suffering and die in sorrow! Had there been either strength to bear, or a road to consolation, it had been truly an excellent thing.'

"Then she was silent for a space with drooping head. When she raised it, I said, 'O thou maiden! art thou of men or of genii? a heavenly being or an earthly? For of a truth the ardour of thy mind has astonished. me, and the beauty of thy language has turned my head.'

"Then she hid her face in her sleeve as though she had not perceived me, but presently said, 'Pardon its inadequacy, O Speaker! but what is more helpless than an arm deprived of its fellow, and who more injured than a forsaken lover?'

"Then she turned and departed. And by Allâh! God save the Prince! I have not since then eaten