Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 2.djvu/27

 Nur al-Dln Alt and the Damsel Ams al-Jalis. 9 Forgive me ! thee-ward sinned I, but the wise o Ne'er to the sinner shall deny his grace : Thyfoe may pardon sue when lieth he o In lowest, and thou boldest highest place ! " Thereupon the Wazir rose from off his son's breast saying, " I forgive thee ! " ; for his heart yearned to him ; and the youth kissed the hand of his sire who said, " O my son, were I sure that thou wouldest deal justly by Anis al-Jalis, I would give her to thee." " O my father, what justice am I to do to her ? " " I enjoin thee, my son, not to take another wife or concubine to share with her, nor sell her." " O my father ! I swear to thee that verily I will not do her injustice in either way." Having sworn to that effect Nur al-Din went in to the damsel and abode with her_a whole year, whilst Allah Almighty caused the King to forget the matter of the maiden ; and Al-Mu'in, though the affair came to his ears, dared not divulge it by reason of the high favour in which his rival stood with the Sultan. At the end of the year Al-Fazl went one day to the public baths ; and, as he came out whilst he was still sweating, the air struck him l and he caught a cold which turned to a fever ; then he took to his bed. His malady gained ground and rest- lessness was longsome upon him and weakness bound him like a chain ; so he called out, " Hither with my son ; " and when Nur al-Din Ali came he said to him, " O my son, know that man's lot and means are distributed and decreed ; and the end of days by all must be dree'd ; and that every soul drain the cup of death is nature's need." Then he repeated these lines : die my death, but He alone is great who dieth not ! o And well I wot, soon shall I die, for death was made my lot: A King there's not that dies and holds his kingdom in his hand, o For Sovranty the Kingdom is of Him who dieth not. Then he continued, " O my son, I have no charge to leave thee save that thou fear Allah and look to the issues of thine acts and bear in mind my injunctions anent Anis al-Jalis." 4 'O my father ! " said Nur al-Din, "who is like unto thee ? Indeed thou art famed for well doing and preachers offer prayers for thee in their pulpits!" Quoth Al-Fazl, " O my son, I hope that Allah Almighty may grant Orientals fear the " Zug " or draught as much as Germans ; and with even a better Draughts are most dangerous in hot climates.