The Tale of Ghanim bin Ayyub. 63 thee my condition in the excess of my eager love for thee ; so come now near me, and forget the past and have thy will of me." But he interrupted her crying, " I seek refuge with Allah ! This thing may never be. How shall the dog sit in the lion's stead ? What is the lord's is unlawful to the slave ! " So he with- drew from her, and sat down on a corner of the mat. Her passion for him increased with his forbearance ; so she seated herself by his side and caroused and played with him, till the two were flushed with wine, and she was mad for her own dishonour., Then she sang these verses : The lover's heart is like to break in twain : o Till when these coy denials ah I till when ? O thou who fliest me sans fault of mine, o Gazelles are wont at times prove tame to men : Absence, aversion, distance and disdain, o How shall young lover all these ills sustain ? Thereupon Ghanim wept and she wept at his weeping, and they ceased not drinking till nightfall, when he rose and spread two beds, each in its place. " For whom is this second bed ? " asked she, and he answered her, " One is for me and the other is for thee : from this night forth we must not sleep save thus, for that which is the lord's is unlawful to the thrall" " O my master ! " cried she, "let us have done with this, for all things come to pass by Fate and Fortune." But he refused, and the fire was lighted in her heart and, as her longing waxed fiercer, she clung to him and cried, " By Allah, we will not sleep save side by side ! " "Allah forefendl" he replied and prevailed against her and lay apart till the morning, when love and longing redoubled on her and distraction and eager thirst of passion. They abode after this fashion three full-told months, which were long and longsome indeed, and every time she made advances to him, he would refuse himself and say, " Whatever belongeth to the master is unlawful to the man." Now when time waxed tiresome and tedious to her and anguish and distress grew on her, she burst out from her oppressed heart with these verses : How long, rare beauty! wilt do wrong to me? o Who was it bade thee not belong to me ? With outer charms thou weddest inner grace o Comprising every point of piquancy : Passion thou hast infused in every heart, o From eyelids driven sleep by deputy :
