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sat awaiting him; but he did not come near me for another month, and I said, “Verily, this young man is the incarnation of liberality.” At the end of the month, he came up, riding on a mule and clad in sumptuous raiment. His face shone like the moon at its full and he seemed as if he had just come from the bath, with his rosy cheeks and flower-white forehead and mole like a grain of ambergris, even as says the poet:
Within one mansion of the sky the sun and moon combine; With all fair fortune and delight of goodliness they shine.
Their beauty stirs all those that see to passion and to love: Good luck to them, for that they move to ravishment divine!
In grace and beauty they increase and aye more perfect grow: All souls yearn out to them for love, all hearts to them incline.
Blesséd be God, whose creatures are so full of wonderment! Whate’er He wills He fashions forth, even as He doth design.
When I saw him, I rose and saluted him and kissed his hand, saying, “O my lord, wilt thou not take thy money?” “What hurry is there?” replied he; “wait till I have made an end of my business, when I will come and take it.” Then he went away, and I said to myself, “By Allah, when he comes next time, I must press him to eat with me,” for I had traded with his money and profited largely by it. At the end of the year he came again, dressed even more richly than before, and I conjured him to dismount and eat of my victual; and he said to me, “I consent, on condition that what thou expendest on me shall be of my money in thy hands.” “So be it,” replied I, and made him sit down, whilst I made ready what was needful of meat and drink and so forth and set the tray before him, saying, “In the name of God.” So he came to the table and put out his left hand and ate with me; and I wondered at his using his left hand.[1] When we had
- ↑ The left hand is considered unclean, being used for certain ablutions, and it is therefore a breach of good manners to use it in eating.
