Thousand & One Nights: 182nd Night: The Wealthy Man & The Slave Girl - 12

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, when Shams al-Nahar's maid came to Abu al-Hasan al-Attar, he took her with him and returned to the house of Ali ibn-Bakkar, and leaving her standing at the door, went in to see him.

The young man inquired, "What is the news?"
Abu al-Hasan replied, "All is well.  A friend of yours has sent his maid with a letter.  Will you give her your permission to come in to see you?"
Ali ibn Bakkar replied, "Very well."  One of his servants went out and brought her in.  Ali ibn Bakkar recognised her, and moving towards her, gave her a wink and asked, "How is your master? May God grant him health and recovery."

She took out a letter and gave it to him, and he took it and kissing it, red it, and then gave it to Abu al-Hasan, with a trembling hand.

What Abu al-Hasan later related:

When I looked at the letter I found the following:

In the name of the Almighty God:
Answer the one who brings news of me.  And let his words suffice you for my sight. You left me a heart mad with desire.  And yes that sleepless stay throughout the night.  I bear with patience my unhappy lot, for who can avoid the cruel blows of fate? Be glad: you will be always in my heart and you will always my thoughts dominate. Look at your body wasting with desire, and you will know how mine burns with love's fire.

O my lord, were it not my desire to acquaint you with my suffering for your sake, with the torments of your absence and my longing for you, I would have wisely refrained from speaking with my tongue or writing with my hand to lay open my heart and reveal the anguish of my body and soul, for an eyewitness's account needs no further explanation.  In a word, I sit with sleepless eyes and anxious thoughts, with restless heart and confused mind, aware of nothing but my stricken body and my aching soul.  I feel as if I have never been well or free from distress, as if I have never seen a single lovely sight or lived a single happy day. O would that I were dead or forgotten, or would that I complained only to one who shares my plight or wept only before one who shares my tears saying:

Alas, with you I have not had my wish
Nor had the pleasure your favour to woo.  Parted we were by fate, and now alone I sit and shed my bitter tears for you.

May God reunite all the yearning lovers and unite us again.  Write me some words to keep me company. Bless me with your precious words.  Wait until God grants us a way to meet again. Peace with Abu al-Hasan.

What I read was so heartfelt it would have moved a mountain heart.  I told my friend, "This writer had written a moving letter.  Give her a prompt reply."

Ali ibn Bakkar replied, "With what hand shall I write and with what voice shall I lament?  She added sickness to my sickness and added death to my death."
Then he sat up, and taking a sheet of paper said....."

Morning overtook and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.



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