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Rh And the sultan's vizir there arose in the audience and said, "O our lord, I know the meaning of these words." And the sultan answered and said to him, "If you know the meaning of these words, except by asking Ali, to know them by your own understanding, I, the sultan, will give you my sultanship, and what speaks, and what speaks not of my possessions, I, the sultan, have given you as yours. And if you know not the meaning of these words by your own understanding, I shall take all your property, but you shall not ask Ali."

And the vizir said, "If I know not these words by my own understanding, I, the vizir, have given you, the sultan, of my possessions, what speaks and what speaks not, except my wife, the child of a family to return to them, and my head shall be lawful to you, sultan."

And the sultan said, "And I will descend from my sultanship to be your vizir, I who am sultan."

And the vizir arose and went to his house, and bent down and considered, and he went and took books, of which there were a great number in his house. And he opened them to see the meaning of Ali's words, without finding one that had Ali's words in it. So he sat thinking and pondering—"I have told the Sultan that I should know these words by my own understanding, and now I have considered and pondered and have not known them."

And he called, "Juma! where does that young man Ali live?" And he said, "Which Ali, master?"

And he said, "That young man who had much property, the son of the late Vizir Hassan, who has ruined himself. Do you not know where he lives? I beg of you to take me, I have a business I want to ask him about. And these words of mine to you, let no one know them. And I have set you free, for the sake of no one's knowing them."