him. Presently, he heard the damsel who was singing repeat these couplets,
'Parting ran up to part from lover-twain * Free converse, perfect concord, friendship fain: The Nights with shifting drifted us apart, * Would heaven I wot if we shall meet again: How bitter after meeting 'tis to part, * May lovers ne'er endure so bitter pain! Death-grip, death-choke, lasts for an hour and ends, * But parting-tortures aye in heart remain: Could we but trace where Parting's house is placed, * We would make Parting eke of parting taste!'
When Ali son of Bakkar heard the damsel's song, he sobbed one sob and his soul quitted his body. As soon as I saw that he was dead" (continued the jeweller), "I committed his corpse to the care of the house-master and said to him 'Know thou, that I am going to Baghdad, to tell his mother and kinsfolk, that they may come hither and conduct his burial.' So I betook myself to Baghdad and, going to my house, changed my clothes; after which I repaired to Ali bin Bakkar's lodging. Now when his servants saw me, they came to me and questioned me of him, and I bade them ask permission for me to go in to his mother. She gave me leave; so I entered and saluting her, said, 'Verily Allah ordereth the lives of all creatures by His commandment and when He decreeth aught, there is no escaping its fulfilment; nor can any soul depart but by leave of Allah, according to the Writ which affirmeth the appointed term.' [1] She guessed by these words that her son was dead and wept with sore weeping, then she said to me, 'Allah upon thee! tell me, is my son dead?' I could not answer her for tears and excess of grief, and when she saw me thus, she was choked with weeping and fell to the ground in a fit. As soon as she came to herself she said to me, 'Tell me how it was with my son.' I replied, 'May Allah abundantly compensate thee for his loss!' and I told her all that had befallen him from beginning to end. She then asked, 'Did he give thee any charge?'; and I answered, 'Yes,' and told her what he had said, adding, 'Hasten to perform his funeral.' When she heard these words, she swooned away again; and, when she recovered, she
- ↑ This is one of the many euphemistic formulæ for such occasions: they usually begin "May thy head live." etc.
