THE MAN OF AI-YAMAN AND HIS SIX SlAVE-GIRLS.
The Caliph Al-Maamun was sitting one day in his palace,
surrounded by his Lords of the realm and Officers of state, and
there were present also before him all his poets and cup-
companions amongst the rest one named Mohammed of Bassorah.
Presently the Caliph turned and said to him, "O Mohammed, I wish
thee forthwith to tell me something that I have never before
heard." He replied, "O Commander of the Faithful, dost thou wish
me to tell thee a thing I have heard with my ears or a thing I
have seen with my eyes?" Quoth Al-Maamun, "Tell me whichever is
the rarer; so Mohammed al-Basri began: "Know, then, O Commander
of the Faithful that there lived once upon a time wealthy man,
who was a native of Al-Yaman;but he emigrated from his native
land and came to this city of Baghdad, whose sojourn so pleased
him that he transported hither his family and possessions. Now he
had six slave-girls, like moons one and all; the first white, the
second brown, the third fat, the fourth lean, the fifth yellow
and the sixth lamp-black; and all six were comely of countenance
and perfect in accomplishments and skilled in the arts of singing
and playing upon musical-instruments. Now it so chanced that, one
day, he sent for the girls and called for meat and wine; and they
ate and drank and were mirthful and made merry Then he filled the
cup and, taking it in his hand, said to the blonde girl, 'O new
moon face, let us hear somewhat of thy pleasant songs.' So she
took the lute and tuning it, made music thereon with such sweet
melody that the place danced with glee; after which she played a
lively measure and sang these couplets,
'I have a friend, whose form is fixed within mine eyes,[FN#349] *
Whose name deep buried in my very vitals lies:
Whenas remembers him my mind all heart am I, * And when on him my
gaze is turned I am all eyes.
My censor saith, 'Forswear, forget, the love of him,' * 'Whatso
is not to be, how shall's be?' My reply is.
Quoth I, 'O Censor mine, go forth from me, avaunt! * And make not
light of that on humans heavy lies.'
Hereat their master rejoiced and, drinking off his cup, gave the
damsels to drink, after which he said to the berry-brown girl, 'O
brasier-light[FN#350] and joy of the sprite, let us hear thy
lovely voice, whereby all that hearken are ravished with
delight.' So she took the lute and thereon made harmony till the
place was moved to glee; then, captivating all hearts with her
graceful swaying, she sang these couplets,
'I swear by that fair face's life, I'll love but thee * Till
death us part, nor other love but thine I'll see:
O full moon, with thy loveliness mantilla'd o'er, * The loveliest
of our earth beneath thy banner be:
Thou, who surpassest all the fair in pleasantness * May Allah,
Lord of worlds, be everywhere with thee!'
The master rejoiced and drank off his cup and gave the girls to
drink; after which he filled again; and, taking the goblet in his
hand, signed to the fat girl and bade her sing and play a
different motive. So she took the lute and striking a grief-
dispelling measure, sang these couplets,
'An thou but deign consent, O wish to heart affied! * I care not
wrath and rage to all mankind betide.
And if thou show that fairest face which gives me life, * I reck
not an dimimshed heads the Kings go hide.
I seek thy favours only from this 'versal-world: * O thou in whom
all beauty cloth firm-fixt abide!'
The man rejoiced and, emptying his cup, gave the girls to drink.
Then he signed to the thin girl and said to her, 'O Houri of
Paradise, feed thou our ears with sweet words and sounds.' So she
took the lute; and, tuning it, preluded and sang these two
couplets,
'Say me, on Allah's path[FN#351] hast death not dealt to me, *
Turning from me while I to thee turn patiently:
Say me, is there no judge of Love to judge us twain, * And do me
justice wronged, mine enemy, by thee?'
Their lord rejoiced and, emptying the cup, gave the girls to
drink. Then filling another he signed to the yellow girl and said
to her, O sun of the day, let us hear some nice verses.' So she
took the lute and, preluding after the goodliest fashion, sang
these couplets,
'I have a lover and when drawing him, * He draws on me a sword-
blade glancing grim:
Allah avenge some little of his wrongs, * Who holds my heart yet
wreaks o erbearing whim
Oft though I say, 'Renounce him, heart!' yet heart * Will to none
other turn excepting him.
He is my wish and will of all men, but * Fate's envious hand to
me's aye grudging him.'
The master rejoiced and drank and gave the girls to drink; then
he filled the cup and taking it in hand, signed to the black
girl, saying, 'O pupil of the eye, let us have a taste of thy
quality, though it be but two words.' So she took the lute and
tuning it and tightening the strings, preluded in various modes,
then returned to the first and sang to a lively air these
couplets,
'Ho ye, mine eyes, let prodigal-tears go free; * This ecstasy
would see my being unbe:[FN#352]
All ecstasies I dreefor sake of friend * I fondle, maugre
enviers' jealousy:
Censors forbid me from his rosy cheek, * Yet e'er inclines my
heart to rosery:
Cups of pure wine, time was, went circuiting * In joy, what time
the lute sang melody,
While kept his troth the friend who madded me, * Yet made me
rising star of bliss to see:
But--with Time, turned he not by sin of mine; * Than such a turn
can aught more bitter be?
Upon his cheek there grows and glows a rose, * Nay two, whereof
grant Allah one to me!
An were prostration[FN#353] by our law allowed * To aught but
Allah, at his feet I had bowed.'
Thereupon rose the six girls and, kissing the ground before their
lord, said to him, 'Do thou justice between us, O our lord!' So
he looked at their beauty and loveliness and the contrast of
their colours and praised Almighty Allah and glorified Him. Then
said he, 'There is none of you but hath learnt the Koran by
heart, and mastered the musical-art and is versed in the
chronicles' of yore and the doings of peoples which have gone
before; so it is my desire that each one of you rise and,
pointing finger at her opposite, praise herself and dispraise her
co-concubine; that is to: say, let the blonde point to the
brunette, the plump to the slenderer and the yellow to the black
girl; after which the rivals, each in her turn, shall do the like
with the former; and be this illustrated with citations from Holy
Writ and somewhat of anecdotes and,; verse, so as to show forth
your fine breeding and elegance of your pleading.' And they
answered him, 'We hear and we obey!;"--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
handmaids answered the man of Al-Yaman, "'We hear and we obey!'
Accordingly the blonde rose first and, pointing at the black
girl, said to her: 'Out on thee, blackamoor! It is told by
tradition that whiteness saith, 'I am the shining light, I am the
rising moon of the fourteenth night. My hue is patent and my brow
is resplendent and of my beauty quoth the poet,'
'White girl with softly rounded polished cheeks * As if a pearl
concealed by Beauty's boon:
Her stature Alif-like;[FN#354] her smile like Mím[FN#355] * And
o'er her eyes two brows that bend like Nún.[FN#356]
'Tis as her glance were arrow, and her brows * Bows ever bent to
shoot Death-dart eftsoon:
If cheek and shape thou view, there shalt thou find * Rose,
myrtle, basil and Narcissus wone.
Men wont in gardens plant and set the branch, * How many garths
thy stature-branch cloth own!'
'So my colour is like the hale and healthy day and the newly
culled orange spray and the star of sparkling ray;[FN#357] and
indeed quoth Almighty Allah, in His precious Book, to his prophet
Moses (on whom be peace!), Put thy hand into thy bosom; it shall
come forth white, without hurt.'[FN#358] And again He saith, But
they whose faces shall become white, shall be in the mercy of
Allah; therein shall they remain forever.'[FN#359] My colour is a
sign, a miracle, and my loveliness supreme and my beauty a term
extreme. It is on the like of me that raiment showeth fair and
fine and to the like of me that hearts incline. Moreover, in
whiteness are many excellences; for instance, the snow falleth
white from heaven, and it is traditional-that the beautifullest
of a colours white. The Moslems also glory in white turbands, but
I should be tedious, were I to tell all that may be told in
praise of white; little and enough is better than too much of
unfilling stuff. So now I will begin with thy dispraise, O black,
O colour of ink and blacksmith's dust, thou whose face is like
the raven which bringeth about the parting of lovers. Verily, the
poet saith in praise of white and blame of black,
'Seest not that pearls are prized for milky hue, * But with a
dirham buy we coals in load?
And while white faces enter Paradise, * Black faces crowd
Gehenna's black abode.'
And indeed it is told in certain histories, related on the
authority of devout men, that Noah (on whom be peace!) was
sleeping one day, with his sons Cham and Shem seated at his head,
when a wind sprang up and, lifting his clothes, uncovered his
nakedness; whereat Cham looked and laughed and did not cover him:
but Shem arose and covered him. Presently, their sire awoke and
learning, what had been done by his sons, blessed Shem and cursed
Cham. So Shem's face was whitened and from him sprang the
prophets and the orthodox Caliphs and Kings; whilst Cham's face
was blackened and he fled forth to the land of Abyssinia, and of
his lineage came the blacks.[FN#360] All people are of one mind
in affirming the lack of understanding of the blacks, even as
saith the adage, 'How shall one find a black with a mind?' Quoth
her master, 'Sit thee down, thou hast given us sufficient and
even excess.' Thereupon he signed to the negress, who rose and,
pointing her finger at the blonde, said: Dost thou not know that
in the Koran sent down to His prophet and apostle, is transmitted
the saying of God the Most High, 'By the night when it covereth
all things with darkness; by the day when it shineth
forth!'[FN#361] If the night were not the more illustrious,
verily Allah had not sworn by it nor had given it precedence of
the day. And indeed all men of wit and wisdom accept this.
Knowest thou not that black is the ornament of youth and that,
when hoariness descendeth upon the head, delights pass away and
the hour of death draweth in sight? Were not black the most
illustrious of things, Allah had not set it in the core of the
heart[FN#362] and the pupil of the eye; and how excellent is the
saying of the poet,
'I love not black girls but because they show * Youth's colour,
tinct of eye and heartcore's hue;
Nor are in error who unlove the white, * And hoary hairs and
winding-sheet eschew.'
And that said of another,
'Black[FN#363] girls, not white, are they * All worthy love I
see:
Black girls wear dark-brown lips;[FN#364] * Whites, blotch of
leprosy.'
And of a third,
'Black girls in acts are white, and 'tis as though * Like eyes,
with purest shine and sheen they show;
If I go daft for her, be not amazed; * Black bile[FN#365] drives
melancholic-mad we know
'Tis as my colour were the noon of night; * For all no moon it
be, its splendours glow.
Moreover, is the foregathering of lovers good but in the night?
Let this quality and profit suffice thee. What protecteth lovers
from spies and censors like the blackness of night's darkness;
and what causeth them to fear discovery like the whiteness of the
dawn's brightness? So, how many claims to honour are there not in
blackness and how excellent is the saying of the poet,
'I visit them, and night-black lendeth aid to me * Seconding
love, but dawn-white is mine enemy.'
And that of another,
'How many a night I've passed with the beloved of me, * While
gloom with dusky tresses veilèd our desires:
But when the morn-light showed it caused me sad affright; * And I
to Morning said, 'Who worship light are liars!'[FN#366]
And saith a third,
'He came to see me, hiding neath the skirt of night, * Hasting
his steps as wended he in cautious plight.
I rose and spread my cheek upon his path like rug, * Abject, and
trailed my skirt to hide it from his sight;
But rose the crescent moon and strave its best to show * The
world our loves like nail-slice raying radiant
light:[FN#367]
Then what befel befel: I need not aught describe; * But think thy
best, and ask me naught of wrong or right.
Meet not thy lover save at night for fear of slander * The Sun's
a tittle-tattler and the Moon's a pander.'
And a fifth,
'I love not white girls blown with fat who puff and pant; * The
maid for me is young brunette embonpoint-scant.
I'd rather ride a colt that's darn upon the day * Of race, and
set my friends upon the elephant.'
And a sixth,
My lover came to me one night, * And clips we both with fond
embrace;
And lay together till we saw * The morning come with swiftest
pace.
Now I pray Allah and my Lord * To reunite us of His grace
And make night last me long as he * Lies in the arms that tightly
lace.'
Were I to set forth all the praises of blackness, my tale would
be tedious; but little and enough is better than too much of
unfilling stuff. As for thee, O blonde, thy colour is that of
leprosy and thine embrace is suffocation;[FN#368] and it is of
report that hoar-frost and icy cold[FN#369] are in Gehenna for
the torment of the wicked. Again, of things black and excellent
is ink, wherewith is written Allah's word; and were it not for
black ambergris and black musk, there would be no perfumes to
carry to Kings. How many glories I may not mention dwell in
blackness, and how well saith the poet,
'Seest not that musk, the nut brown musk, e'er claims the highest
price * Whilst for a load of whitest lime none more than
dirham bids?
And while white speck upon the eye deforms the loveliest youth, *
Black eyes discharge the sharpest shafts in lashes from
their lids.'
Quoth her master, 'Sit thee down: this much sufficeth.' So she
sat down and he signed to the fat girl, who rose"--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that "the man of
Al-Yaman, the master of the handmaids, signed to the fat girl who
rose and, pointing her finger at the slim girl, bared her calves
and wrists and uncovered her stomach, showing its dimples and the
plump rondure of her navel. Then she donned a shift of fine
stuff, that exposed her whole body, and said: 'Praised be Allah
who created me, for that He beautified my face and made me fat
and fair of the fattest and fairest; and likened me to branches
laden with fruit, and bestowed upon me abounding beauty and
brightness: and praised be He no less, for that He hath given me
the precedence and honoured me, when He mentioneth me in His holy
Book! Quoth the Most High, 'And he brought a fatted
calf.'[FN#370] And He hath made me like unto a vergier full of
peaches and pomegranates. In very sooth even as the townsfolk
long for fat birds and eat of them and love not lean birds, so do
the sons of Adam desire fat meat and eat of it. How many vauntful
attributes are there not in fatness, and how well saith the poet,
'Farewell thy love, for see, the Cafilah's[FN#371] on the move: *
O man, canst bear to say adieu and leave thy love?
'Tis as her going were to seek her neighbour's tent, * The gait
of fat fair maid, whom hearts shall all approve.'
Sawest thou ever one stand before a flesher's stall but sought of
him fat flesh? The wise say, 'Joyance is in three things, eating
meat and riding meat and putting meat into meat.'[FN#372] As for
thee, O thin one, thy calves are like the shanks of sparrows or
the pokers of furnaces; and thou art a cruciform plank of a piece
of flesh poor and rank; there is naught in thee to gladden the
heart; even as saith the poet,
'With Allah take I refuge from whatever driveth me * To bed with
one like footrasp[FN#373] or the roughest ropery:
In every limb she hath a horn that butteth me whene'er * I fain
would rest, so morn and eve I wend me wearily.'
Quoth her master, 'Sit thee down: this much sufficeth.' So she
sat down and he signed to the slender girl, who rose, as she were
a willow-wand, or a rattan-frond or a stalk of sweet basil, and
said: 'Praised be Allah who created me and beautified me and made
my embraces the end of all desire and likened me to the branch,
whereto all hearts incline. If I rise, I rise lightly; if I sit,
I sit prettily; I am nimble-witted at a jest and merrier-souled
than mirth itself. Never heard I one describe his mistress,
saying, 'My beloved is the bigness of an elephant or like a
mountain long and broad;' but rather, 'My lady hath a slender
waist and a slim shape.'[FN#374] Furthermore a little food
filleth me and a little water quencheth my thirst; my sport is
agile and my habit active; for I am sprightlier than the sparrow
and lighter-skipping than the starling. My favours are the
longing of the lover and the delight of the desirer; for I am
goodly of shape, sweet of smile and graceful as the bending
willow-wand or the rattan-cane[FN#375] or the stalk of the basil-
plant; nor is there any can compare with me in loveliness, even
as saith one of me,
'Thy shape with willow branch I dare compare, * And hold thy
figure as my fortunes fair:
I wake each morn distraught, and follow thee, * And from the
rival's eye in fear I fare.'
It is for the like of me that amourists run mad and that those
who desire me wax distracted. If my lover would draw me to him, I
am drawn to him; and if he would have me incline to him, I
incline to him and not against him. But now, as for thee, O fat
of body, thine eating is the feeding of an elephant, and neither
much nor little filleth thee. When thou liest with a man who is
lean, he hath no ease of thee; nor can he anyways take his
pleasure of thee; for the bigness of thy belly holdeth him off
from going in unto thee and the fatness of thy thighs hindereth
him from coming at thy slit. What goodness is there in thy
grossness, and what courtesy or pleasantness in thy coarseness?
Fat flesh is fit for naught but the flasher, nor is there one
point therein that pleadeth for praise. If one joke with thee,
thou art angry; if one sport with thee, thou art sulky; if thou
sleep, thou snorest if thou walk, thou lollest out thy tongue! if
thou eat, thou art never filled. Thou art heavier than mountains
and fouler than corruption and crime. Thou hast in thee nor
agility nor benedicite nor thinkest thou of aught save meat and
sleep. When thou pissest thou swishes"; if thou turd thou
gruntest like a bursten wine skin or an elephant transmogrified.
If thou go to the water closet, thou needest one to wash thy gap
and pluck out the hairs which overgrow it; and this is the
extreme of sluggish ness and the sign, outward and visible, of
stupidity[FN#376] In short, there is no good thing about thee,
and indeed the poet Title of thee,
'Heavy and swollen like an urine-bladder blown, * With hips and
thighs like mountain propping piles of stone;
Whene'er she walks in Western hemisphere, her tread * Makes the
far Eastern world with weight to moan and groan.'
Quoth her master, 'Sit thee down, this sufficeth;' so she sat
down and he signed to the yellow girl, who rose to her feet and
praised Allah Almighty and magnified His name, calling down peace
and blessing on Mohammed the best of His creatures; after which
she pointed her finger at the brunette and said to her," And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-seventh Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that "the
yellow girl stood up and praised Almighty Allah and magnified His
name; after which she pointed her finger at the brown girl and
said to her: 'I am the one praised in the Koran, and the
Compassionate hath described my complexion and its excellence
over all other hues in His manifest Book, where Allah saith, 'A
yellow, pure yellow, whose colour gladdeneth the
beholders.'[FN#377] Wherefore my colour is a sign and portent and
my grace is supreme and my beauty a term extreme; for that my
tint is the tint of a ducat and the colour of the planets and
moons and the hue of ripe apples. My fashion is the fashion of
the fair, and the dye of saffron outvieth all other dyes; so my
semblance is wondrous and my colour marvellous. I am soft of body
and of high price, comprising all qualities of beauty. My colour
is essentially precious as virgin gold, and how many boasts and
glories cloth it not unfold! Of the like of me quoth the poet,
'Her golden yellow is the sheeny sun's; * And like gold sequins
she delights the sight:
Saffron small portion of her glance can show; * Nay,[FN#378] she
outvies the moon when brightest bright.'
And I shall at once begin in thy dispraise, O berry-brown girl!
Thy tincture is that of the buffalo, and all souls shudder at thy
sight. If thy colour be in any created thing, it is blamed; if it
be in food, it is poisoned; for thy hue is the hue of the dung-
fly; it is a mark of ugliness even in dogs; and among the colours
it is one which strikes with amazement and is of the signs of
mourning. Never heard I of brown gold or brown pearls or brown
gems. If thou enter the privy, thy colour changeth, and when thou
comest out, thou addest ugliness to ugliness. Thou art a non-
descript; neither black, that thou mayst be recognised, nor
white, that thou mayst be described; and in thee there is no good
quality, even as saith the poet,
'The hue of dusty motes is hers; that dull brown hue of hers * Is
mouldy like the dust and mud by Cossid's foot
upthrown:[FN#379]
I never look upon her brow, e'en for eye-twinkling's space, *
But in brown study fall I and my thoughts take browner
tone.'
Quoth her master, 'Sit thee down; this much sufficeth;' so she
sat down and he signed to the brunette. Now she was a model of
beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace; soft of
skin, slim of shape, of stature rare, and coal-black hair; with
cheeks rosy-pink, eyes black rimmed by nature's hand, face fair,
and eloquent tongue; moreover slender-waisted and heavy-hipped.
So she rose and said: 'Praise be to Allah who hath created me
neither leper-white nor bile-yellow nor charcoal-black, but hath
made my colour to be beloved of men of wit and wisdom, for all
the poets extol berry-brown maids in every tongue and exalt their
colour over all other colours. To 'brown of hue (they say) praise
is due;' and Allah bless him who singeth,
'And in brunettes is mystery, could'st" thou but read it right, *
Thy sight would never dwell on others, be they red or white:
Free-flowing conversation, amorous coquettishness * Would teach
Hárut himself a mightier spell of magic might.'
And saith another,
'Give me brunettes, so limber, lissom, lithe of sway, * Brunettes
tall, slender straight like Samhar's nut-brown
lance;[FN#380]
Languid of eyelids and with silky down on either cheek, * Who
fixed in lover's heart work to his life mischance.'
And yet another,
'Now, by my life, brown hue hath point of comeliness * Leaves
whiteness nowhere and high o'er the Moon takes place;
But an of whiteness aught it borrowed self to deck, * 'Twould
change its graces and would pale for its disgrace:
Not with his must[FN#381] I'm drunken, but his locks of musk *
Are wine inebriating all of human race.
His charms are jealous each of each, and all desire * To be the
down that creepeth up his lovely face.'
And again another,
'Why not incline me to that show of silky down, * On cheeks of
dark brunette, like bamboo spiring brown?
Whenas high rank in beauty poets sing, they say * Brown ant-like
specklet worn by nenuphar in crown.
And see I sundry lovers tear out others' eyne * For the brown
mole beneath that jetty pupil shown,
Then why do censors blame me for one all a mole? * Allah I pray
demolish each molesting clown!'[FN#382]
My form is all grace and my shape is built on heavy base; Kings
desire my colour which all adore, rich and poor. I am pleasant,
active, handsome, elegant, soft of skin and prized for price: eke
I am perfect in seemlibead and breeding and eloquence; my aspect
is comely and my tongue witty; my temper is bright and my play a
pretty sight. As for thee, thou art like unto a mallow growing
about the Lúk Gate;[FN#383] in hue sallow and streaked-yellow and
made all of sulphur. Aroynt thee, O copper-worth of jaundiced
sorrel, O rust of brass-pot, O face of owl in gloom, and fruit of
the Hell-tree Zakkúm;[FN#384] whose bedfellow, for heart-break,
is buried in the tomb. And there is no good thing in thee, even
as saith the poet of the like of thee,
'Yellowness, tincturing her tho' nowise sick or sorry, *
Straitens my hapless heart and makes my head sore ache;
An thou repent not, Soul! I'll punish thee with kissing[FN#385] *
Her lower face that shall mine every grinder break!'
And when she ended her lines, quoth her master, 'Sit thee down,
this much sufficeth!'"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that "when the
yellow girl ended her recitation, quoth her master, 'Sit thee
down; this much sufficeth!' Then he made peace between them and
clad them all in sumptuous robes of honour and hanselled them
with precious jewels of land and sea. And never have I seen, O
Commander of the Faithful, any when or any where, aught fairer
than these six damsels fair." Now when Al-Maamun heard this story
from Mohammed of Bassorah, he turned to him and said, "O
Mohammed, knowest thou the abiding-place of these damsels and
their master, and canst thou contrive to buy them of him for us?"
He answered, "O Commander of the Faithful, indeed I have heard
that their lord is wrapped up in them and cannot bear to be
parted from them." Rejoined the Caliph, "Take thee ten thousand
gold pieces for each girl, that is sixty thousand for the whole
purchase; and carry the coin to his house and buy them of him."
So Mohammed of Bassorah took the money and, betaking himself to
the Man of Al-Yaman, acquainted him with the wish of the Prince
of True Believers. He consented to part with them at that price
to pleasure the Caliph; and despatched them to Al-Maamun, who
assigned them an elegant abode and therein used to sit with them
as cup-companions; marvelling at their beauty and loveliness, at
their varied colours and at the excellence of their conversation.
Thus matters stood for many a day; but, after awhile, when their
former owner could no longer bear to be parted from them, he sent
a letter to the Commander of the Faithful complaining to him of
his own ardent love-longing for them and containing, amongst
other contents, these couplets,
"Captured me six, all bright with youthful blee; * Then on all
six be best salams from me!
They are my hearing, seeing, very life; * My meat, my drink, my
joy, my jollity:
I'll ne'er forget the favours erst so charmed * Whose loss hath
turned my sleep to insomny:
Alack, O longsome pining and O tears! * Would I had farewelled
all humanity:
Those eyes, with bowed and well arched eyebrows[FN#386] dight, *
Like bows have struck me with their archery."
Now when the letter came to the hands of Al-Maamun, he robed the
six damsels in rich raiment; and, giving them threescore thousand
dinars, sent them back to their lord who joyed in them with
exceeding joy[FN#387] (more especially for the monies they
brought him), and abode with them in all the comfort and
pleasance of life, till there came to them the Destroyer of
delights and the Severer of societies. And men also recount the
tale of
