Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/96

78 Seif opened his eyes and seeing no sign of the ships nor aught but sky and water, said to those who were with him in the boat, ‘Where are the ships and boats and where is my brother Saïd?’ ‘O king of the age,’ answered they, ‘there remain nor ships nor boats nor those who were therein; for they are all drowned and become food for fishes.’

When he heard this, he cried aloud and repeated the words which whoso saith shall not be confounded, and they are, ‘There is no power and no virtue save in God the Most High, the Supreme!’ Then he fell to buffeting his face and would have cast himself into the sea, but his men withheld him, saying, ‘O king, what will this profit thee? Thou hast brought all this on thyself; for, hadst thou hearkened to thy father’s words, nought thereof had befallen thee. But this was fore-ordained from all eternity by the will of the Creator of Souls, that the creature might accomplish that which God hath decreed unto him. And indeed, at the time of thy birth, the astrologers predicted to thy father that all manner of troubles should befall thee. So there is nothing for it but patience till God the Most High deliver us from this our strait.’ ‘There is no power and no virtue save in God the Most High, the Supreme!’ replied the prince. ‘Neither is there refuge nor fleeing from that which He decreeth!’ And he sighed and recited the following verses:

Then he became drowned in the sea of melancholy