第71章 KEMEREZZEMAN AND BUDOUR.(33)

O Thou to whom the sad complain，to whom the fearful flee，Thou that art evermore prepared for all that is to be，Lord，there is left me no resource but at Thy door to knock；Yea，at whose portal shall I knock，if Thou be deaf to me？

O Thou，the treasures of whose grace are in the one word'Be，'Be favourable，I beseech，for all good is with Thee！

When Amjed heard his brothers weeping，he wept also and pressed him to his bosom，repeating the following verses：

O Thou，whose bounties unto me are more than one，I trow，Whose favours lavished on my head are countless as the sand，No blow of all the blows of fate has ever falln on me，But I have found Thee ready still to take me by the hand.

Then said he to the treasurer，I conjure thee by the One God the Omnipotent King and Protector，kill me before my brother Asaad and allay the fire of my heart！'But Asaad wept and exclaimed，Not so： I will die first；whereupon said Amjed，It were best that we embrace each other，so the sword may fall upon us and kill us both at one stroke.'So they embraced，face to face，and clipped each other straitly，whilst the treasurer bound them fast with cords，weeping the while.Then he drew his sword and said to them，By Allah，O my lords，it is indeed hard to me to kill you！But have ye no last wishes or injunctions that I may fulfil or message that I may carry？We have no wish，'replied Amjed，and my only injunction to thee is that thou set my brother undermost，that the blow may fall on me first；and when thou hast slain us and returnest to the King and he asks thee，'What said they before their death？'do thou answer，'Thy sons salute thee and say to thee，Thou knewest not if we were innocent or guilty，yet hast thou put us to death and hast not certified thyself of our guilt nor looked into our case.'Then do thou repeat to him these verses：

Women are very devils，made to work us dole and death；Refuge I seek with God Most High from all their craft and scaith.

Prime source are they of all the ills that fall upon mankind，Both in the fortunes of this world and matters of the faith.

We desire of thee nought but this，'continued Amjed，except that thou have patience with us，whilst I repeat other two lines to my brother.'Then he wept sore and recited the following verses：

Examples many，thou and I，We have in kings of days gone by，How many，alack，have trod this road，Of great and small and low and high！

At this the treasurer wept，till his beard was wet，whilst Asaads eyes filled with tears and he in turn repeated these verses：

Fate，when the thing itself is past，afflicteth with the trace，And weeping is not，of a truth，for body or form or face.[60]

What ails the nights？[61] May God blot out our error from the nights And may the hand of change bewray and bring them to disgrace！

They wreaked their malice to the full on Ibn ez Zubeir[62]

erst，And on the House and Sacred Stone[63] his safeguard did embrace.

Would God，since Kharijeh[64] they took for Amrous sacrifice，Theyd ransomed Ali with whomeer they would of all our race！

Then，with cheeks stained with thick-coming tears，he recited these also：

The days and nights are fashioned for treachery and despite；Yea，they are full of perfidy and knavish craft and sleight.

The mirage is their lustre of teeth，and to their eyes The horror of all darkness the kohl that keeps them bright.

My crime against them （hateful their nature is！） is but The swords crime，when the sworder sets on into the fight.

Then he sobbed and said：

O thou that seeketh the worthless world，give ear to me and know The very net of ruin it is and quarry of dole and woe；

A stead，whom it maketh laugh to-day，to-morrow it maketh weep：

Out on it then for a dwelling-place，since it is even so！

Its raids and its onsets are never done，nor can its bondsman win To free himself from its iron clutch by dint of stress and throe.

How many an one in its vanities hath gloried and taken pride，Till froward and arrogant thus he grew and did all bounds oergo！

Then did she[65] turn him the bucklers back and give him to drink therein Full measure and set her to take her wreak of the favours she did show.

For know that her blows fall sudden and swift and unawares，though long The time of forbearance be and halt the coming of fate and slow.

So look to thyself，lest life in the world pass idle and profitless by，And see that thou fail not of taking thought to the end of all below.

Cast loose from the chains of the love and the wish of the world and thou shalt find Guidance and help unto righteousness and peace of heart，I trow.

When he had made an end of these verses，he clipped his brother in his arms，till they seemed as it were one body，and the treasurer，raising his sword，was about to strike them，when，behold，his horse took fright at the wind of his upraised hand and breaking its tether，fled into the desert.Now the horse was worth a thousand dinars and on his back was a splendid saddle，worth much money： so the treasurer threw down his sword，in great concern，and ran after him，to catch him.The horse galloped on，snorting and neighing and pawing the earth in his fright，till he raised a cloud of dust，and presently coming to a wood，fled into the midst of it，whither the treasurer followed him.Now there was in this wood a terrible lion，foul of face，with eyes that cast forth sparks；his look was grim and his aspect struck terror into mens souls.He heard the noise made by the horse and came out to see what was to do.Presently the treasurer turned and saw the lion making towards him；but found no way of escape，nor had he his sword with him.So he said in himself，There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High，the Supreme！This stress is come upon me because of Amjed and Asaad；and indeed this journey was unblest from the first！'