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how they were sold, till the sale came to an end, when some of the folk went away and other some sat. Then said the slave-dealer, ‘Let none sit with us except him who buyeth by the thousand [dinars] and upwards.’ So those who were present withdrew and there remained none but Er Reshid and his company; whereupon the slave-dealer called the damsel, after he had caused set her a chair of fawwak,[1] furnished with Greek brocade, and it was as she were the sun shining in the clear sky. When she entered, she saluted and sitting down, took the lute and smote upon it, after she had touched its strings and tuned it, so that all present were amazed. Then she sang thereto the following verses:
Wind of the East, if thou pass by the land where my loved ones dwell, I pray, The fullest of greetings bear to them from me, their lover, and say
That I am the pledge of passion still and that my longing love And eke my yearning do overpass all longing that was aye.
O ye who have withered my heart and marred my hearing and my sight, Desire and transport for your sake wax on me night and day.
My heart with yearning is ever torn and tortured without cease, Nor can my lids lay hold on sleep, that flees from them away.
‘Well done, O damsel!’ cried Ishac. ‘By Allah, this is a fair hour!’ Whereupon she rose and kissed his hand, saying, ‘O my lord, the hands stand still in thy
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