Quoth Ibrahim, "As I gazed upon her, she chanced to look up and caught sight of me whereupon her face changed and she said to her women, 'Sing ye till I come back to you.' Then, taking up a knife half a cubit long, she made towards me, crying, 'There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!' Now when I saw this, I well-nigh lost my wits; but, whenas she drew near me and face met face, the knife dropped from her hand, and she exclaimed, 'Glory to Him who changeth men's hearts!' Then said she to me, 'O youth, be of good cheer, for thou art safe from what thou dost fear!' Whereupon I fell to weeping, and she to wiping away my tears with her hand and saying, 'O youth, tell me who thou art, and what brought thee hither.' I kissed the ground before her and seized her skirt; and she said, 'No harm shall come to thee; for, by Allah, no male hath ever filled mine eyes[FN#329] but thyself! Tell me, then, who thou art.' So I recited to her my story from first to last, whereat she marvelled and said to me, 'O my lord, I conjure thee by Allah, tell me if thou be Ibrahim bin al-Khasib?' I replied, 'Yes!' and she threw herself upon me, saying, 'O my lord, 'twas thou madest me averse from men; for, when I heard that there was in the land of Egypt a youth than whom there was none more beautiful on earth's face, I fell in love with thee by report, and my heart became enamoured of thee, for that which reached me of thy passing comeliness, so that I was, in respect of thee, even as saith the poet, 'Mine ear forewent mine eye in loving him; * For ear shall love before the eye at times.' 'So praised be Allah who hath shown thy face! But, by the almighty, had it been other than thou, I had crucified the keeper of the garden and the porter of the Khan and the tailor and him who had recourse to them!' And presently she added, 'But how shall I contrive for somewhat thou mayst eat, without the knowledge of my women?' Quoth I, 'With me is somewhat we may eat and drink;' and I opened the bag before her. She took a fowl and began to morsel me and I to morsel her; which when I saw, it seemed to me that this was a dream. Then I brought out wine and we drank, what while the damsels sang on; nor did they leave to do thus from morn to noon, when she rose and said, 'Go now and get thee a boat and await me in such a place, till I come to thee: for I have no patience left to brook severance.' I replied, 'O my lady, I have with me a ship of my own, whose crew are in my hire, and they await me.' Rejoined she, 'This is as we would have it,' and returning to her women,"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-eighth Night,