Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: Now, when I had gathered what passed between them, I longed to know them in person. And when the sun shone forth, and robed the sky with light, I went forth before the camels had risen, and with an earliness beyond the earliness of the crow, and began to follow the direction of that night-voice, and to examine the faces with a searching glance: until I caught sight of Abu Zayd and his son talking together, and upon them were two worn mantles. Then I knew that they were my two talkers of the night, the authors of my recitation. So I approached them as one enamored of their refinement, pitying their shabbiness; and offered them a removal to my lodging, and the disposal of my much and my little; and began to tell abroad their worth among the travelers, and to shake for them the fruited branches; until they were whelmed with gifts, and taken as friends. Now we were in a night-camp, whence we could discern the build of the villages, and spy the fires of hospitality. And when Abu Zayd saw that his purse was full, and his distress removed, he said to me, "Truly my body is dirty, and my filth has caked: Wilt thou permit me to go to a village, and bathe, and fulfil this urgent need?" I said, "If thou wilt; but quick! return!" He said, "Thou shalt find me appear again to thee, quicker than the glancing of thine eye." Then he coursed away, as courses the good steed in the training-ground, and said to his son, "Haste! haste!" And we imagined not that he was deceiving, or seeking to escape. So we stayed and watched for him as men watch for the new moons of feasts, and made search for him by spies and scouts, until the sunlight was weak with age, and the wasted bank of the day had nigh crumbled in. Then, when the term of waiting had been prolonged, and the sun showed in faded garb, I said to my companions, "We have gone to the extreme in delay, and have been long in the setting forth; so that we have lost time, and it is plain that the man was lying. Now, therefore, prepare for the journey, and turn not aside to the greenness of dung-heaps." Then I rose to equip my camel and lade for the departure; and found that Abu Zayd had written on the pack-saddle: Oh thou, who wast to me an arm and a helper, above all mankind! Reckon not that I have left thee through impatience or ingratitude: For since I was born I have been of those who "when they have eaten separate." Said Al Harith: Then I made the company read the words of the Koran that were on the pack-saddle, so that he who had blamed him might excuse him. And they admired his witticism, but commanded themselves from his mischief. Then we set forth, nor could we learn whose company he had gotten in our place. THE FIFTH ASSEMBLY (CALLED "OF KUFA")[19]