Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 24, 2025
'In ruth and mildness surety lies and mercy wins respect, * And Truth is best asylum for the man of soothfast soul: Whoso for wealth of gold would win and wear the world's good word, * On glory's course must ever be the first to gain the goal." And Nazhat al-Zaman discoursed upon the policy of Kings till the bystanders said, "Never have we seen one reason of rule and government like this damsel!
They furnished it for Kamar al-Zaman with splendid upholstery, embroidered rugs and carpets of the richest silk; and they clothed the walls with choice brocades and hung curtains bespangled with gems of price.
Rejoined Kamar al-Zaman, "It shall not come to that; but how is thy master called in Ajam land?" Answered the envoy, "He is called King Shahriman, lord of the Khalidan Islands; and he hath levied these troops in the lands traversed by him, whilst seeking his son."
Then she sat down and seated him by her side; but when he had taken his place she saw rage in his face and questioned him, whereupon he told her that Allah had blessed his father with two children by Sophia, a boy and a girl, and that he had named the boy Zau al-Makan and the girl Nuzhat al-Zaman; adding, "He hath kept the other two jewels for them and hath given me one of thine, so I left it behind; I knew naught of Zau al-Makan's birth till this day, and the twain are now six years old.
Still Kamar al-Zaman made her no reply but breathed hard in his sleep. Continued she, "Alas! Alas! thou art insolent in thy beauty and comeliness and grace and loving looks! But if thou art handsome, so am I handsome; what then is this thou dost? But Kamar al-Zaman opened not his mouth neither awoke, whereat her passion for him redoubled and Allah inflamed her heart with love of him.
Presently, he looked up at a tree and saw two birds quarrelling thereon, and one of them rose up and smote the other with its beak on the neck and severed from its body its head, wherewith it flew away, whilst the slain bird fell to the ground before Kamar al-Zaman.
Exclaimed the Prince, "Thou liest, O pestilent slave!: is it of thy competence also to hoodwink me and refuse to tell me what is become of the young lady who lay with me last night and decline to inform me who took her away?" His words only angered Kamar al-Zaman the more and he said to him, "O accursed one, my father hath indeed taught thee deceit! Come hither."
Then he took the missive and went in with it to Nuzhat al-Zaman who knew not that he was her brother, nor he that she was his sister, albeit he often visited her both by night and by day till the months were accomplished and she sat down on the stool of delivery.
Moreover, she told him their tale and the cause of their separation, and how his daughter was a virgin, pure as when she was born. He marvelled at their story with exceeding marvel and bade them chronicle it in letters of gold. Then he turned to Kamar al-Zaman and said, "O King's son, art thou minded to become my son-in-law by marrying my daughter?"
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that she gave her missive to the eunuch in waiting and bade him bear it to Prince Amjad. On receiving the kerchief he opened it and, reading the epistle and recognizing its gist he was ware that his father's wife was essentially an adulteress and a traitress at heart to her husband, King Kamar al-Zaman.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking