Your me-wards coming I hail to sight; ✿ Your look is a joy driving woe from sprite: With you love is blest, pure and white of soul; ✿ Life’s sweet and my planet grows green and bright: By Allah, you-wards my pine ne’er ceased ✿ And your like is rare and right worthy hight. Ask my eyes an e’er since the day ye went ✿ They tasted sleep, looked on loverwight: My heart by the parting-day was broke ✿ And my wasted body betrays my plight: Could my blamers see in what grief am I, ✿ They had wept in wonder my loss, my blight! They had joined me in shedding torrential tears ✿ And like me a-morn had shown thin and slight: How long for your love shall your lover bear ✿ This weight o’er much for the hill’s strong height? By Allah what then for your sake was doomed ✿ To my heart, a heart by its woes turned white! An showed I the fires that aye flare in me, ✿ They had ’flamed Eastern world and earth’s Western site. But after this is my love fulfilled ✿ With joy and gladness and mere delight; And the Lord who scattered hath brought us back ✿ For who doeth good shall of good ne’er lack. When King Al-Aziz heard the damsel’s song, both words and verses pleased him and he said to Al-Abbas, “O my son, verily long versifying hath tired these damsels, and indeed they make us yearn after the houses and the homesteads with the beauty of their songs. These five have adorned our meeting with the charm of their melodies and have done well in that which they have said before those who are present; so we counsel thee to free them for the love of Allah Almighty.” Quoth Al-Abbas, “There is no command but thy command;” and he enfranchised the ten damsels in the assembly; whereupon they kissed the hands of the King and his son and prostrated themselves in thanksgiving to the Lord of All-might. Then they put off that which was upon them of ornaments and laying aside the lutes and other instruments of music, kept to their houses like modest women and veiled, and fared not forth.[442] As for King Al-Aziz, he lived after this seven years and was removed to the mercy of Almighty Allah; when his son Al-Abbas bore him forth to burial as beseemeth kings and let make for him perfections and professional recitations of the Koran. He kept up the mourning for his father during four successive weeks, and when a full-told month had elapsed he sat down on the throne of the kingship and judged and did justice and distributed silver and gold. He also loosed all who were in the jails and abolished grievances and customs dues and righted the oppressed of the oppressor; so the lieges prayed for him and loved him and invoked on him endurance of glory and continuance of kingship and length of life and eternity of prosperity and happiness. The troops submitted to him, and the hosts from all parts of the kingdom, and there came to him presents from each and every land: the kings obeyed him and many were his warriors and his