Him of the curling locks and rose-red cheeks and enchanting
glances, of whom saith the poet:
A slender loveling promised me his favours fair and free; So my
heart's restless and my eye looks still his sight to see.
His eyelids warranted me the keeping of his troth; But how shall
they, that bankrupt[FN#16] are, fulfil their warranty?
And as saith another:
"The script of whiskers on his cheek," quoth they, "is plain to
see: How canst thou then enamoured be of him, and whiskered
he?"
Quoth I, "Have done with blame and leave your censuring, I pray.
As if it be a very script, it is a forgery.
Lo, in the gathering of his cheeks the meads of Eden be, And more
by token that his lips are Kauther,[FN#17], verily."
When the broker heard the verses she repeated on the charms of
Ali Shar, he marvelled at her eloquence, no less than at the
brightness of her beauty; but her owner said to him, 'Marvel not
at her beauty, that shames the sun of day, nor that her mind is
stored with the choicest verses of the poets; for, besides this,
she can repeat the glorious Koran, according to the seven
readings, and the august Traditions, after the authentic text;
and she writes the seven hands and is versed in more branches of
knowledge than the most learned doctor.
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