Thousand & One Nights: 191st Night: The Wealthy Man & The Slave Girl -21

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O the happy King, the Jeweler said:

Shams al-Nahar took the lute, tuned it, played and sang with consummate skill the following verses:

If you are a true messenger, 
Deliver and be copy no more.
Say nothing, but love is my news
And let the truth my joy restore 
And if he did deign to reply
Even without him I will live,
For with coymess he gains charm
That I will his coyness forgive.

Then she sang these verses:

I lay sleepless, as if in love with sleeplessness, 
And pined as if pining was for me,
My tears coursed over my burning cheeks, 
Who can at once in water and fire be?

Her singing was so lovely that I had never heard anything like it before.  But suddenly we heard  terrifying noises and screams and felt as if the house was going to cave in under us.  Then a servant, whom I had ordered to stand at the door of the house, rushed in and said, "Some unknown men have broken the door and are raiding the house," while a maid servant screamed from the rooftop, ten masked men, wearing swords and holding daggers, followed by ten more, attacked us. 
When I saw them I ran out of the house and sought refuge in the house of one of my neighbours, and when I heard an uproar in my house, I concluded that the two lovers were found out and that they were being seized by the chief of police, and I remained in hiding till midnight.

When the master of the house came, he saw someone he did not recognise, hiding in a corner of the hallway.  Frightened, he retreated.  Later, he returned with a sword, and asked, "Who are you?"
I replied, "I am your friend, the Jeweler." He threw away the sword, and said, "I am sorry for what had happened to you.  May the God restore your substance."
I said, "O my lord, tell me who were the men, who raided my house."
He replied, "They are the same men who robbed so and so and killed so and so.  Yesterday they saw you bring in many fine and valuable utensils, and they plotted to rob you. I think that they have either kidnapped your guest or killed him."

Then he accompanied me to my house.  We found it is stripped of everything and completely devastated with broken doors and torn-out windows.  I was stunned and broken hearted.  What I have done to myself, and how I am going to break the news to my friends from whom I had borrowed all the gold and silver utensils and what excuses I shall make to them.  What happened to Ali ibn Bakkar and Shams al-Nahar and her maids. I opened my heart to my neighbour and explained everything to him.  The news might reach the Caliph. I sought an advice from my neighbour, "My friend, what shall I do, what do you advise?"
He replied, "Be patient, keep calm and trust in God.  These same robbers had murdered some members of the household of the Prefect of the police as well as Caliph's own guard.  The police are looking for them and patrolling the streets, but no one has yet found them." I prayed to God to protect me from harm and went home.

Morning overtook and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.




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