Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 9.djvu/197

171 passed between him and her and her father and how she had restored his brothers to human form, adding, ‘And here they are before thee, O Commander of the Faithful!’

The Khalif looked at them and seeing two young men like moons, said, ‘God requite thee for me with good, O Abdallah, for that thou hast acquainted me with an advantage whereof I knew not! Henceforth, God willing, I will never leave to pray these two inclinations before the breaking of the dawn, what while I abide on life.’ Then he reproved Abdallah’s brothers for that wherein they had sinned against him of time past and they excused themselves before the Khalif, who said, ‘Join hands and forgive one another and God pardon what is past!’ After which he turned to Abdallah and said to him, ‘O Abdallah, make thy brothers thine assistants and be careful of them.’ Then he charged them to be obedient to their brother and bade them return to Bassora, after he had bestowed on them abundant largesse. So they went down from the divan, whilst the Khalif rejoiced in this advantage that he had gotten by the fashion aforesaid, to wit, his assiduity in praying two inclinations before dawn, and said, ‘He spoke truth who said, “The misfortunes of some folk profit others.”’

Abdallah and his brothers departed from Baghdad in all honour and worship and increase of dignity, and fared on till they drew near Bassora, when the notables and chief men of the place came out to meet them and brought them into the city in state that had not its match. Moreover, they adorned the city in their honour and all the