Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 3.djvu/346

318 answer:—Verily thy sons salute thee and say to thee, Thou knewest not if we were innocent or guilty, yet hast thou put us to death and hast not certified thyself of our sin nor looked into our case. Then do thou repeat to him these two couplets:—

Continued Amjad, "We desire of thee naught but that thou repeat to our sire these two couplets."And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Amjad added, speaking to the treasurer, "We desire of thee naught but that thou repeat to our sire these two couplets which thou hast just now heard; and I conjure thee by Allah to have patience with us, whilst I cite to my brother this other pair of couplets." Then he wept with sore weeping and began:—

Now when the treasurer heard these words from Amjad, he wept till his beard was wet, whilst As'ad's eyes brimmed with tears and he in turn repeated these couplets:—

Fate frights us when the thing is past and gone; ○ Weeping is not for form or face alone : What ails the Nights? Allah blot out our sin, ○ And be the Nights by other hand undone! Ere this Zubayr-son felt their spiteful hate, ○ Who fled for refuge to the House and Stone: