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thee.” Quoth she, “O King of the Age, I wish thy pardon also.” And he said to her, “God pardon thee!”[1] Then said she to him, “O our lord the Sultan, I have a son, whose name is Alaeddin, and one day of the days he heard the crier proclaim that none should open his shop nor show himself in the thoroughfares of the city,[2] for that the Lady Bedrulbudour, the daughter of our lord the Sultan, was going to the bath. When my son heard this, he wished[3] to see her; so he hid himself in a place, whence he might see her well, and this was behind the door of the bath. Accordingly, when she came up, he saw her and viewed her well, beyond his wish; and from that time till now, O King of the Age, life hath not been pleasant to him[4] and he will e’en have me seek her of Thy Grace,[5] so thou mayst marry her with him, and I
- ↑ i.e. I pardon thee, under God, (“then I” being understood). The right of pardon residing with God, the pious Muslim can only say, “God pardon thee first and then I pardon thee.”
- ↑ Burton, “shun the streets.”
- ↑ Arad. Burton, “felt an uncontrollable longing.”
- ↑ Or “food (aish, bread) hath not been pleasant (or had any savour) for him.”
- ↑ Seadetuk, lit. “thy felicity;” this and jenabuk (lit. “thy side”), “thine excellence” or “thy highness,” and hhedsretuk “thy highness,” (lit. “thy presence”) are the titles commonly given to kings in Arabic-speaking countries, although hhedsretuk is strictly applicable only to
