" So they brought me a lute and I tuned it and sang the
following verses:
This is thy lover distraught, absorbed in his passion and pain;
Thy lover, the tears of whose eyes run down on his body
like rain.
One hand to his heart ever pressed, whilst the other the
Merciful One Imploreth, so He of His grace may grant him
his hope to attain.
O thou, that beholdest a youth for passion that's perished,
thine eye And thy hand are the cause of his death and yet
might restore him again.
When the damsel heard this, she sprang up and throwing herself
at my feet, kissed them and said, "It is thine to excuse, O my
lord! By Allah, I knew not thy quality nor heard I ever the
like of this fashion!" And they all extolled me and made much
of me, being beyond measure delighted, and besought me to sing
again. So I sang a lively air, whereupon they all became as
drunken men, and their wits left them. Then the guests departed
to their homes and I abode alone with the host and the girl.
The former drank some cups with me, then said to me, "O my
lord, my life hath been wasted, in that I have not known the
like of thee till now.
Pages:
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200