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named for that his mother bore two sons at one birth, one of whom died forthright and the other remained [alive], wherefore they named him Fazil.[1] His father brought him up and reared him well, till he grew up, when he married him to our mother and died. Our mother conceived a first time and bore this my first brother, whom my father named Mensour; then she conceived again and bore this my second brother, whom he named Nasir; after which she conceived a third time and bore me, whom he named Abdallah. My father reared us all three till we came to man’s estate, when he died, leaving us a house and a shop full of coloured stuffs of all kinds, Indian and Greek and Khurasani[2] and what not, besides threescore thousand dinars. We washed him and buried him to the mercy of his Lord, after which we builded him a splendid monument and let pray for him prayers for the deliverance of his soul from the fire and held recitations of the Koran and gave alms on his behalf, till the forty days[3] were past; at the end of which time I called together the merchants and nobles of the folk and made them a sumptuous entertainment.
When they had eaten, I said to them, “O merchants, verily this world is fleeting, but the world to come is eternal, and extolled be the perfection of Him who endureth after His creatures have passed away! Know ye why I have called you together this blessed day?” And they answered, “Extolled be the perfection of God, who [alone] knoweth the hidden things.”[4] Quoth I, “My father died, leaving much good, and I fear lest any have a claim against him for a debt or a pledge [left in his hands] or what not else, and I desire to discharge my father’s obligations towards the folk. So whoso hath any
