Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 8.djvu/179

167 their marriage, and it was a notable day. Then he turned to the French king’s vizier, who was present, and said to him, ‘Hast thou heard her words? How can I send her back to her father the infidel, seeing that she is a Muslim and a believer in the Unity of God? Belike he will evil entreat her and deal harshly with her, more by token that she hath slain his sons, and I shall be accountable to her therefor on the Day of Resurrection. And indeed quoth God the Most High, “God shall in nowise give the infidels power over the true-believers.” So return to thy king and say to him, “Turn from this thing and hope not to come at thy desire thereof.”’

Now this vizier was a fool: so he said to the Khalif, ‘O Commander of the Faithful, by the virtue of the Messiah and the true faith, were she forty times a Muslim and forty times thereto, I may not depart from thee without Meryem! And if thou send her not back with me of free will, I will return to her father and cause him despatch thee an army, wherewith I will come upon you from the landward and the seaward and the van whereof shall be at your capital city, whilst the rear is yet on the Euphrates, and they shall lay waste thy dominions.’ When the Khalif heard these words from the vizier of the King of France, the light in his face became darkness and he was exceeding wroth at his speech and said to him, ‘O accursed one, O dog of the Nazarenes, who art thou that thou shouldst dare to come out against me with the King of the Franks?’ [Then to his guards,] ‘Take this accursed fellow and put him to death;’ and he repeated the following verse:

Then he commanded to cut off the vizier’s head and burn his body; but Meryem said, O‘O [sic] Commander of the