Or was thy talk a deceit to her, O Abu Mukheymer?
Wert thou false and untrue, O beautiful one, O hero?
If that thy speech were truth, then come thou to her succour."
And I called to her with a sign, " Nay, be not wrath in thy anger;
Only the foolish are wrath." And she answered with a gesture,
"Victory be to thee, O Prince, and a life of glory;
Mayest thou still of thy foes the snares outwit, the deceptions.
Lo, my soul is a ransom for thine, and love I this anguish
So but I know thee true, and minded not to betrayal."
And I called to her with a sign, for we needed not more language:
"Traitors and evil men shall have their payment of evil.
Fear not, for I am here, and, not though the fire be kindled,
Be thou disturbed in mind, for lo, I stand at thy right hand;
And when the flames shall rise, then look for thy deliverance."
Thus did I comfort her grief. ct God make thee," she said, "victorious."
Said the Narrator:
And when Alia perceived the Emir Abu Zeyd, and when he had made himself known to her, and they had
