Persian Letters/Letter 154

Letter 154
Usbek to his Wives, at the Seraglio at Ispahan

MAY this letter fall among you like a thunderbolt from a stormy sky! Solim is your chief eunuch, not to guard you only, but to punish you. Let the whole seraglio humble itself before him. He is empowered to judge your past deeds; and in future he will subject you to a discipline so harsh, that, if you do not regret your virtue, you will certainly regret your liberty.

Paris, the 4th of the moon of Chabban, 1719.