The midwives took the new-born child and cut the cord of his navel, after which they anointed his eyes with kohl and named him Taj el Mulouk Kharan. He was suckled at the breast of delight and reared in the lap of favouring fortune, and the days ran on and the years passed by, till he reached the age of seven. Then the King his father summoned the doctors and learned men and bade them teach his son writing and science and polite letters. This they did for some years, till he had learnt all that was needful, when the King took him out of the professors' hands and committed him to a master, who taught him horsemanship and the use of arms, till the boy attained the age of fourteen and became proficient in martial exercises. Moreover, he outshone all the people of his time for the excess of his beauty; so that, whenever he went abroad on any occasion, all who saw him were ravished with him and made verses in his honour, and even the virtuous were seduced by his brilliant loveliness. Quoth the poet of him: A tender branch, that from the breeze hath ta'en its nourishment! I clipped him and straightway became drunk with his sweetest scent; Not drunken with the drunkenness of one who drinketh wine, But with the honey of his mouth fulfilled of languishment. All loveliness comprised is within his perfect form, So that o'er all the hearts of men he reigns omnipotent. By God, forgetfulness of him shall never cross my mind. What while I wear the chains of life, nor even when they're rent! Lo, if I live, in love of him I'll live; and, if I die Of love-longing for him, I'll say, "O rare! O excellent!" When he reached his eighteenth year, the tender down began to invade the table of his rosy cheeks, which were adorned by a black mole like a grain of ambergris, and he captivated the minds and eyes of all who looked on him, even as says of him the poet in the following verses: He is become the Khalif of beauty in Joseph's place; The hearts of all lovers dread him, whenas they see his grace. Pause thou with me and fasten thy gaze on him! thou'lt see The sign of the Khalifate set in sable[FN#120] on his face. And as says another: Thine eyes have never looked upon a fairer sight, Of all the things that are to see beneath the sky, Than yonder mole of brown, that nestles on his face, Midmost the rosy cheek, beneath the coal-black eye. And a third: I marvel at yon mole that serves the fire eternal, Upon his cheek, yet is not burned, all Kafir[FN#121] though it be; And eke I marvel that he's sent or God, with every glance To work true miracles; and yet a sorcerer is he! The many gall-bladders that burst for him it is that make The shining fringes of his cheek so black and bright to see. And yet a fourth: