Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 4.djvu/60

38

And as saith another:

And yet another:

Beware of drinking wine, for it is the root of all evil: it does away the reason and brings him who uses it into contempt; and how well saith the poet:

This, then,’ added Mejdeddin, ‘is my charge to thee; keep it before thine eyes, and may God stand to thee in my stead.’ Then he swooned away and kept silence awhile. When he came to himself, he besought pardon of God and making the profession of the Faith, was admitted to the mercy of the Most High. His son wept and lamented for him and made due preparation for his burial. Great and small attended him to the grave and the readers recited the Koran about his bier; nor did Ali Shar omit aught of what was due to the dead. Then they prayed over him and committed him to the earth, graving these words upon his tomb: