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father, asked his leave to depart. The King granted him leave and presenting him with other fifty thousand dinars, let pitch a tent for him without the city, in which they abode two days, then set out on their journey. And Taj el Mulouk delighted in Aziz’s company and said to him, ‘O my brother, I can never bear to be parted from thee.’ ‘Nor I from thee,’ replied Aziz; ‘and fain would I die at thy feet: but, O my brother, my heart is concerned for my mother.’ ‘When we have attained our wish,’ said the prince, ‘all will be well.’ As for the Vizier, he exhorted Taj el Mulouk to patience, whilst Aziz entertained him with talk and recited verses to him and diverted him with stories and anecdotes; and so they fared on day and night for two whole months, till the way became tedious to the prince and the fires of passion redoubled on him. So he repeated the following verses:
Long is the road and restlessness and grief redouble aye, Whilst in my breast the fires of love rage ever night and day
O thou, the goal of all my hopes, sole object of my wish, I swear by Him, the Most High God, who moulded man from clay,
For love of thee I bear a load of longing and desire, Such as the mountains of Es Shumm might ne’er withal away!
Indeed, O lady of my world,[1] love slayeth me outright; No breath of life in me is left, my fainting spright to stay
But for the hope of union with thee, that lures me on, My weary body had no strength to furnish forth the way.
When he had finished, he wept and Aziz wept with him, from a lacerated heart, till the Vizier was moved to pity by their weeping and said to the prince, ‘O my lord, take courage and be of good cheer; all will yet be well.’ ‘O Vizier,’ said Taj el Mulouk, ‘indeed I am weary of the length of the way. Tell me how far we are distant yet from the city.’ ‘But a little way,’ replied Aziz. Then they continued their journey, traversing valleys and plains and hills and stony wastes, till one night, as Taj el Mulouk
- ↑ Dunya.
