Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 1.djvu/355

327 gained upon him and sleeplessness was long upon him; so he called his son Noureddin and said to him, ‘O my son, know that fortune is lotted out and the term of life fixed, and needs must every soul drain the cup of death.’ And he repeated the following verses:

Then he continued, ‘O my son, I have no charge to lay on thee, except that thou fear God and look to the issue of thine actions and cherish the damsel Enis el Jelis.’ ‘O my father,’ said Noureddin, ‘who is like unto thee? Indeed thou art renowned for the practice of virtue and the praying of the preachers for thee in the pulpits.’ Quoth Fezl, ‘O my son, I hope for acceptance from God the Most High.’ Then he pronounced the two professions of the faith and was numbered among the blessed. The palace was filled with crying and lamentation, and the news of his death reached the King and the people of the city, and even the children in the schools wept for Fezl ben Khacan. Then his son Noureddin arose and took order for his funeral, and the Amirs and Viziers and grandees were present, amongst them the Vizier Muïn ben Sawa; and as the funeral train came forth of the palace, one of the mourners recited the following verses:

When they had laid him in the earth, Noureddin returned