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up, the blood running down upon his clothes and without his
horse. O so and so, said she, what hath befallen thee?
Quoth he, I made prize of the man [whom the Khalif seeks] and he
escaped from me. And told her the whole story. So she brought
out tinder and applying it to his head, bound it up with a piece
of rag; after which she spread him a bed and he lay sick. Then
she came up to me and said, Methinks thou art the man in
question? I am, answered I, and she said, Fear not: no harm
shall befall thee, and redoubled in kindness to me.
I abode with her three days, at the end of which time she said to
me, I am in fear for thee, lest yonder man happen upon thee and
betray thee to what thou dreadest; so save thyself by flight. I
besought her to let me tarry till nightfall, and she said, There
is no harm in that. So, when the night came, I put on my
woman s attire and taking leave of her, betook me to the house of
a freed woman, who had once been mine. When she saw me, she wept
and made a show of affliction and praised God the Most High for
my safety. Then she went forth, as if she would go to the
market, in the interests of hospitality, and I thought no harm;
but, ere long, I espied Ibrahim el Mausili[FN132] making for the
house, with his servants and troopers, led by a woman whom I
knew for the mistress of the house. She brought them to my
hiding-place and delivered me into their hands, and I saw death
face to face. They carried me, in my woman s attire, to Mamoun,
who called a general council and let bring me before him. When I
entered I saluted him by the title of Khalif, saying, Peace be
on thee, O Commander of the Faithful! and he replied, May God
neither give thee peace nor bless thee! At thy leisure, O
Commander of the Faithful! rejoined I. It is for him in whose
hand is revenge[FN133] to decree retaliation or forgiveness; but
forgiveness is nigher to the fear of God, and God hath set thy
forgiveness above all other, even as He hath made my sin to excel
all other sin. So, if thou punish, it is of thy right, and if
thou pardon, it is of thy bounty. And I repeated the following
verses:
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Great is my sin, in sooth, gainst thee, But thou art greater
still, perdie.
So take thy due of me, or else Remit it of thy clemency.
If of the noble I ve not been Indeed, yet do thou of them be.
At this he raised his head to me and I hastened to add these
verses:
Indeed, I ve offended full sore, But thou art disposed to
forgive.
Twere justice to punish my crime And grace to allow me to live.
Then he bowed his head and repeated the following verses:
Whenas a friend against me doth grievously offend And maketh me
with anger to choke, yet in the end,
I pardon his offending and take him back again Into my favour,
fearing to live without a friend.
When I heard this, I scented the odour of mercy, knowing his
disposition to clemency. Then he turned to his son El Abbas and
his brother Abou Ishac and other his chief officers there
present and said to them, What deem ye of his case! They all
counselled him to slay me, but differed as to the manner of my
death. Then said he to Ahmed ibn Ali Khalid,[FN134] And what
sayst thou, O Ahmed? O Commander of the Faithful, answered
he, if thou put him to death, we find thy like who hath slain
the like of him; but, if thou pardon him, we find not the like of
thee that hath pardoned the like of him. At this Mamoun bowed
his head and repeated the following verse:
The people of my tribe, they have my brother slain; But, an I
shoot, my shaft reverts to me again.
And also these:
Use not thy brother with despite, Although he mingle wrong with
right,
And still be kind to him, all be With thanklessness he thee
requite;
And if he go astray and err One day, revile thou not the wight.
Seest not that loved and loathed at once In every way of life
unite?
That by the annoy of hoary hairs Embittered is long life s
delight,
And that the bristling thorns beset The branch with pleasant
fruits bedight?
Who is it doth good deeds alone And who hath never wrought
unright?
Prove but the age s sons, thou lt find The most have fallen from
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the light.
When I heard this, I uncovered my head and cried out, saying,
God is most great! By Allah, the Commander of the Faithful
pardons me! Quoth he, No harm shall come to thee, O uncle.
And I, O Commander of the Faithful, my offence is too great for
me to attempt to extenuate it and thy pardon is too great for me
to speak a word of thanks for it. And I chanted the following
verses:
Sure, He, who made the virtues all, stored them in Adam s loins
For His high-priest, the seventh prince of Abbas royal
seed!
The hearts of all the folk are filled with reverence for thee,
And thou, with meek and humble heart, dost keep them all and
lead.
Error-deluded as I was, against thee I rebelled, Intent on
covetise alone and base ambitious greed;
Yet hast thou pardon giv n to one, the like of whom before Was
never pardoned, though for him no one with thee did plead,
And on a mother s bleeding heart hadst ruth and little ones, Like
to the desert-grouse s young, didst pity in their need.
Quoth Mamoun, I say, like our lord Joseph (on whom and on our
Prophet be peace and blessing), There shall be no reproach on
thee this day. God will forgive thee, for He is the Most
Merciful of the Merciful ones. [FN135] Indeed, I pardon thee, O
uncle, and restore thee thy goods and lands, and no harm shall
befall thee. So I offered up devout prayers for him and
repeated the following verses:
My wealth thou hast given me again and hast not begrudged it to
me; Yea, and to boot, before this, my life and my blood thou
didst spare.
So if, thine approval to win, I lavish my blood and my wealth And
e en to the shoe off my foot, in thy service, I strip myself
bare,
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