46
time since the night of the bridal, she turned to Mubarek and said to him, “God upon thee, O Mubarek, tell me, I conjure thee by the life of thy lord the Amir, are we yet far from the dominions[1] of my bridegroom, the Amir Zein ul Asnam?” And he said to her, “Alack, O my lady, it irketh me for thee and I will discover to thee that which is hidden. To wit, thou deemest that Zein ul Asnam, King of Bassora, is thy bridegroom. Far be it![2] He is not thy bridegroom. The writing of the writ of his marriage with thee[3] was but a pretext before thy parents and the folk; and now thou art going for a bride to the King of the Jinn, who sought thee from the Amir Zein ul Asnam.” When the young lady heard these words, she fell a-weeping and Zein ul Asnam heard her and fell a-weeping also, a sore weeping, of the excess of his love for her. And she said to them, “Is there no pity in you and no clemency and have you
- ↑ [A] nehnu beüdna buad an hukm. The word hukm, which commonly signifies the exercise of government or judicial power, is here used metonymically in the sense of the place of dominion, the seat of government. Burton, “Have we fared this far distance by commandment of my bridegroom?”
- ↑ Or “God forbid!” (Hhasha), a common interjection, implying unconditional denial.
- ↑ Lit. “The writing of (or he wrote) his writ upon thee” (ketb kitabihi aleiki).
