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When the Sheikh heard this, he said, ‘O my son, did I not warn thee not to open the door? But now tell me what hath befallen thee.’ So Janshah told him all that had passed between him and the three maidens, and Sheikh Nesr said, ‘Know, O my son, that these three maidens are of the daughters of the Jinn and come hither every year [for a day], to divert themselves and make merry until mid-afternoon, when they return to their own country.’ ‘And where is their country?’ asked Janshah. ‘By Allah, O my son,’ answered the old man, ‘I know not: but now take heart and put away this love from thee and come with me, that I may send thee to thine own land with the birds.’ When Janshah heard this, he gave a great cry and fell down in a swoon; and presently, coming to himself, said, ‘O my father, I care not to return to my native land. I conjure thee by Allah, let me abide with thee, that I may again foregather with the maidens and look upon the face of her I love, though it be but once a year. And know, O my father, that I will never again name my people, though I die before thee.’ And he sighed and repeated the following verses:
Would that the phantom[1] never came to mock the lover’s pain Anights, and would this love were not created for men’s bane!
Except my heart were all afire with memories of thee, The tears adown my wasted cheeks would not in torrents rain.
My soul to patience I exhort forever, day and night, Whilst still my body is consumed with fires of love in vain.
So saying, he fell at Sheikh Nesr’s feet and kissed them and wept sore. ‘Have compassion on me,’ exclaimed he, ‘so God take pity on thee!’ ‘By Allah, O my son,’ replied the old man, ‘I know nothing of the maidens nor of their country; but, if thy heart be indeed set on one of them, abide with me till this time next year, and when the day
- ↑ El kheyal, the word commonly used by Arab poets to denote the vision of the beloved one in sleep.
