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would fain have gone up to one of the dogs and eaten with him; but fear of them withheld him. Presently, one of the dogs looked at him and God the Most High inspired him with a knowledge of his case; so he drew back from the platter and beckoned to the man, who came and ate, till he was satisfied. Then he would have withdrawn, but the dog pushed the dish towards him with his paw, signing to him to take it and what was left in it for himself. So the man took the dish and leaving the house, went his way, and none followed him. Then he journeyed to another city, where he sold the dish and buying goods with the price, returned to his own town. There he sold his stock and paid his debts; and he prospered and became rich and at his ease.
After some years had passed, he said to himself, ‘Needs must I repair to the city of the owner of the dish, which the dog bestowed on me, and carry him its price, together with a fit and handsome present.’ So he took the price of the dish and a suitable present and setting out, journeyed night and day, till he came to the city and entering, went straight to the place where the man’s house had been; but lo, he found there nothing but mouldering ruins and dwelling-places laid waste, over which the raven croaked; for the place was desert and the environs changed out of knowledge. At this, his heart and soul were troubled and he repeated the words of him who saith:
The privy chambers are void of all their hidden store, As hearts of the fear of God and the virtues all of yore.
Changed is the vale and strange to me are its gazelles, And those I knew of old its sandhills are no more.
And those of another:
The phantom of Saada came to me by night, near the break of day, And roused me, whenas my comrades all in the desert sleeping lay.
But, when I awoke to the dream of the night, that came to visit me, I found the air void and the wonted place of our rendezvous far away.
