United States or Bulgaria ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Now when he saw the jewel hanging from his babe's neck he recognised it right well, his senses fled and wrath seized on him; his eyes rolled in rage and he looked at Nuzhat al- Zaman and said to her, "Whence hadst thou this jewel, O slave girl?" When she heard this from Sharrkan she replied, "I am thy lady, and the lady of all in thy palace! Art thou not ashamed to say to me Slave girl?
Thereupon Shah Zaman told him all he had seen, from commencement to con elusion, ending with these words, "When I beheld thy calamity and the treason of thy wife, O my brother, and I resected that thou art in years my senior and in sovereignty my superior, mine own sorrow was belittled by the comparison, and my mind recovered tone and temper: so throwing off melancholy and despondency, I was able to eat and drink and sleep, and thus I speedily regained health and strength.
But I am now Queen of all the Ebony Islands and they are under my rule, nor shall I ever again meet my Kamar al- Zaman save in this place; for there is no way for him to his native land but through the Ebony Islands. Verily, I know not what to do in my present case, but I commit my care to Allah who directeth all for the best, for I am no man that I should arise and open this virgin girl."
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al- Zaman said to himself, "By Allah, when I see dawn I will say to my sire, 'Marry me to her that I may enjoy her'; nor will I let half the day pass ere I possess her and take my fill of her beauty and loveliness."
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al- Zaman continued, "Know, O King, that Mu'aykib was intendant of the public treasury during the Caliphate of Omar bin al-Khattab; and it so befel him that he saw Omar's son and gave him a dirham out of the treasury.
So they asked leave of their husbands and repaired to the palace wherein was Nuzhat al- Zaman.
Kamar al- Zaman rejoiced in this plan with great joy and cried, "It is good." Then he stiffened his back and, going in to his father, sought his leave and spoke as he had been taught, and the King consented to his going forth a-hunting and said, "O my son, blessed be the day that restoreth thee to health!
This is how it fared with Queen Budur; but as regards Kamar al- Zaman, he abode with the gardener in the garden for no short time, weeping night and day and repeating verses bewailing the past time of enjoyment and delight; whilst the gardener kept comforting him and assuring him that the ship would set sail for the land of the Moslems at the end of the year.
Answered Kamar al- Zaman, "O King, verily this favour, if there be no reason for it, is indeed a wonder of wonders, more by token that thou hast advanced me to dignities such as befit men of age and experience, albeit I am as it were a young child."
Accordingly, he came in to his wife and finding Zau al-Makan with her, asked who he was. So she told him all that had befallen them both, first and last, and added, "Know, O Chamberlain, that thou hast married no slave girl; far from it, thou hast taken to wife the daughter of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman for I am Nuzhat al- Zaman, and this is my brother, Zau al-Makan."
Word Of The Day