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How many a mirth-exciting joy amid The raiment of ill chances lies in wait!
How often, too, hath gladness come to light Whence nought but dole thou didst anticipate!
Then she turned and saw within the chamber an old man, comely of hoariness, venerable of aspect, who was dancing on apt and goodly wise, a dance the like whereof none might avail unto. So she sought refuge with God the Most High from Satan the Stoned[1] and said, ‘I will not give over what I am about, for that which God decreeth, He carrieth into execution.’ Accordingly, she went on singing till the old man came up to her and kissed the earth before her, saying, ‘Well done, O Queen of the East and the West! May the world be not bereaved of thee! By Allah, indeed thou art perfect of qualities and ingredients, O Tuhfet es Sudour![2] Dost thou know me?’ ‘Nay, by Allah,’ answered she; ‘but methinks thou art of the Jinn.’ Quoth he, ‘Thou sayst sooth; I am the Sheikh Aboultawaïf[3] Iblis, and I come to thee every night, and with me thy sister Kemeriyeh,
- ↑ So styled by the Muslims, because Abraham is fabled by them to have driven him away with stones, when he strove to prevent him from sacrificing Ishmael, whom they substitute for Isaac as the intended victim.
- ↑ i.e. Gift of Breasts. The word “breasts” here is, of course, used (metonymically) for “hearts.”
- ↑ i.e. “He (lit. father) of the hosts of tribes.”
