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towards Mecca, pronounced the professions of the faith and prepared for death.
Now he had read in books that whoso will flatter the lion, beguileth him, for that he is lightly duped by fair words and glorieth in praise; so he began and said, ‘O lion of the forest and the waste! O unconquerable warrior! O father of heroes and Sultan of wild beasts! Behold, I am a desireful lover, whom passion and severance have undone. Since I parted from my beloved, I have lost my reason; wherefore, do thou hearken to my speech and have ruth on my passion and love-longing.’ When the lion heard this, he drew back from him and sitting down on his hind-quarters, raised his head to him and began to frisk his tail and paws to him; which when Uns el Wujoud saw, he recited these verses:
Wilt slay me, O lord of the desert, before My enslaver I meet with, e’en her I adore?
No fat on me is; I’m no booty for thee; For the loss of my loved one hath wasted me sore.
Yea, my love’s separation hath worn out my soul, And I’m grown like a shape, with a shroud covered o’er.
Give the railers not cause to exult in my woe, O prince of the spoilers, O lion of war!
A lover, all sleepless for loss of my dear, I’m drowned in the tears from mine eyelids that pour;
And my pining for her in the darkness of night Hath robbed me, for passion, of reason and lore.
Night ccclxxiv.When he had finished, the lion rose and coming softly up to him, with his eyes full of tears, licked him with his tongue, then walked on before him, signing to him, as who should say, ‘Follow me.’ So he followed him, and he led him on till he brought him, over a mountain, to the farther side, where he came upon the track of a caravan and knew it to be that of Rose-in-bud and her company. When the lion saw that he knew the track and set himself to follow it, he turned back and went his way; whilst Uns el Wujoud
