Then consider attentively thy case, O man, before thou shalt drink the cup of death;
For after a little while shall the dust be poured upon thee, and thou wilt be lifeless.
And the Emir Musa, and those who were with him, wept. Then he drew near to the dome-crowned chamber, and, lo, it had eight doors of sandal-wood, with nails of gold, ornamented with stars of silver set with various jewels. And over the first door were inscribed these verses:
What I have left, I left not from generosity; but through the sentence and decree operating upon man.
Long time I lived, happy and enraged, defending my asylum like a fierce lion.
I was never quiet, nor would I bestow a mustard-seed, by reason of my avarice, though I were cast into the fire.
Thus did I until I was smitten by the decree of the glorious Deity, the Creator, the Maker.
When my death was appointed soon to take place, I could not prevent it by my numerous stratagems;
My troops that I had collected availed not, and none of my friends aided me, nor my neighbour.
Throughout my whole life was I wearied in my journey to the grave, now in ease, and now in difficulty.
So, when the purses have become laden, shouldst thou accumulate dinar upon dinar,
It will all pass before the morning to another, and they will have brought thee a camel-driver and a grave-digger;
And on the day of thy judgment, lone shalt thou meet God, laden with sin and crimes and heavy burdens.
Then let not the world deceive thee with its beauty; but see what it hath done to thy family and neighbour.
And when the Emir Musa heard these verses, he wept again so violently that he became insensible; and after he had recovered, he entered the chamber covered with the dome, and beheld in it a long tomb, of terrible appearance, whereon was a tablet of iron of China; and the sheykh 'Abd-Es-Samad drew near to it, and read its inscription; and, lo, on it was written,
In the name of God, the Eternal, the Everlasting throughout all ages: in the name of God, who begetteth not, and who is not begotten, and unto whom there is none like: in the name of God, the Mighty and
