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city and rode into the open country, till near midday, when he halted in a waste and desert spot and dismounting, set down the two chests. He opened them and took out Amjed and Asaad; whom when he saw, he wept sore for their beauty and grace; then drawing his sword, he said to them, ‘O my lords, indeed it irks me to deal so foully by you; but I am to be excused in this, being but a slave commanded, for that your father King Kemerezzeman hath bidden me strike off your heads.’ ‘O Amir,’ answered they, ‘do the King’s bidding, for we submit with patience to that which God (to whom be ascribed might and majesty) hath decreed to us; and thou art quit of our blood.’ Then they embraced and bade each other farewell, and Asaad said to the treasurer, ‘God on thee, O uncle, spare me the sight of my brother’s agony and make me not drink of his anguish, but kill me first, that it may be the easier for me.’ Amjed said the like and entreated the treasurer to kill him before Asaad, saying, ‘My brother is younger than I; so make me not taste of his anguish.’ Night ccxxi.And they both wept sore, whilst the treasurer wept for their weeping, and they said to each other, ‘All this comes of the malice of those traitresses, our mothers; and this is the reward of our forbearance towards them. But there is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High, the Supreme! Verily, we are His and unto Him we return.’ And Asaad embraced his brother, sobbing and repeating the following verses:
O Thou to whom the sad complain, to whom the fearful flee, Thou that art evermore prepared for all that is to be,
Lord, there is left me no resource but at Thy door to knock; Yea, at whose portal shall I knock, if Thou be deaf to me?
O Thou, the treasures of whose grace are in the one word “Be,” Be favourable, I beseech, for all good is with Thee!
When Amjed heard his brother’s weeping, he wept also and pressed him to his bosom, repeating the following verses:
