Page:Tales from the Gulistan (1928).pdf/214

On Love and Youth

In the year when Muhammad Khovarezm Shâh concluded peace with [the king of] Khatâ to suit his own purpose, I entered the cathedral mosque of Kashgâr and saw an extremely handsome, graceful boy as described in the simile:

He was holding in his hand the introduction to Zamaksharni's [Arabic] syntax, and reciting: 'Zaid struck Amru and was the injurer of Amru.'

I said: "Boy! Khovarezm and Khatâ have concluded peace, and the quarrel between Zaid and Amru still subsists!"

He smiled and asked for my birthplace; I replied: "The soil of Shirâz."

He continued: "What rememberest thou of the compositions of Sa'di?"

I recited:

He considered awhile, and then said: "Most of his poetry