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to me.” So she played a lively measure and sang the following verses:
Fortune hath played the traitor; indeed, ’twas ever so, Transpiercing hearts and bosoms and kindling care and woe
And parting friends in sunder, that were in union knit, So down their cheeks thou seëst the tears in torrents flow.
They were, and I was with them, in all delight of life, And fortune did unite us full straitly whiles ago.
So gouts of blood, commingled with tears, both night and day I’ll weep, my sore affliction for loss of thee to show.
When he heard this, he was moved to great delight, and his sister said to him, “O my brother, he who decideth in aught against himself, it behoveth him to abide by it and do according to his word; and thou hast by this judgment decided against thyself.” Then said she, “O Nimeh, stand up, and do thou likewise, O Num!” So they stood up and she continued, “O Commander of the Faithful, she who stands before thee is Num, whom El Hejjaj ben Yousuf eth Thekefi stole and sent to thee, falsely pretending in his letter to thee that he had bought her for ten thousand dinars. This other is her lord, Nimeh ben er Rebya; and I beseech thee, by the honour of thy pious forefathers and by Hemzeh and Akil and Abbas,[1] to pardon them and bestow them one on the other, that thou mayst earn the recompense in the next world of thy just dealing with them; for they are under thy hand and have eaten of thy meat and drunken of thy drink; and behold, I make intercession for them and beg of thee the boon of their lives.” “Thou sayst sooth,” replied the Khalif, “I did indeed give judgment as thou sayst, and I use not to go back on my word.” Then said he, “O Num, is this thy lord?” And she answered, “Yes, O Commander of the
- ↑ Hemzeh and Abbas were uncles of Mohammed. The Akil here alluded to is apparently a son of the Khalif Ali, who deserted his father and joined the usurper Muawiyeh, the founder of the Ommiade dynasty.
