THE BIRTH OF ABU-ZAID.
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| May it be defended to me, to enter thy tent | ويحرم عليي بيتكي ان عيد اخشه |
| And should the wealth be with pearls thick as the thumb. | ولا في المال عقد الخناست |
She takes her son and the slave Keied to Mecca to her relatives, but on the way she changes her mind, and goes to Za'hlan, زحلان, the greatest enemy of Beni-Helal.
| I'll go and bring up this child by him. | تمني اربي هل ولد احدا |
| If I go to my parents and say I am offended, they say I left angry. | وان رحت على اهلي وان قلت حردانه بتقول حردتي |
| And if I say I was beaten, I tell a lie. | وان ولت مقتوله بزل معه |
She remains 15 years with Za'hlan, and her son is brought up in the art of war. The Beni-Helal, after one of their wars, ask the tenth of the goods, and Abu-l-Jud, ابوالجود, sends a letter, in which he says:—
| Oh thou that goest abroad on horseback, | آلايا غادي مني على دهر غامر |
| Kiss the ground, be it far or near, | وقبل الاراضي قربها وبعيد |
| And if thou comest to Za'hlan read well my missive | ومن جيت على الزحلان بلغ ارسالتي |
| Prepare for us a tenth of all the girls, | وحدر لنا عشر البنات جميعها |
| And a tenth of the slave-girls, and the black slaves, | وعشر الجواري والعبيد السود |
| Prepare for us a tenth of all the camels, | وحدر لنا عشر الجمال جميعها |
| And of every ten a red one, one picked out. | وكل عشره احمر مفرود |
| Prepare for us the tenth of all goods, | وحدر لنا عشر المال جميعها |
| From every ten pieces one piece of gold. | وكل عشره من الذهب منقود |
| But Barakat (the black son) takes it and reads it, | وبركات بمسكهُ وبقرا |
| And tears it and throws it away, | وكدده ورما |
| And curses the father of the Sheikh who sent it. | ونعل ابو الشيخ الى كزا |
