' 'O
my brother,' answered the jeweller, 'I guessed as much from her
manner; but, if it please God the Most High, I will help thee to
thy desire.' 'Who can help me,' rejoined Ali, 'and how wilt thou
do with her, when she takes umbrage like a wilding of the
desert?' 'By Allah,' exclaimed the jeweller, 'needs must I
do my utmost endeavour to help thee and contrive to make her
acquaintance, without exposure or mischief!' Then he asked leave
to depart, and Ali said, 'O my brother, see thou keep my counsel'
And he looked at him and wept. The jeweller bade him farewell and
went away, knowing not what he should do to further his wishes;
but as he went along pondering the matter, he spied a letter
lying in the road, and taking it up, found that it bore the
following superscription, 'From the least worthy of lovers to the
most excellent of beloved ones.' He opened it and found these
words written therein:
'The messenger brought me a promise of union and delight; But yet
that he had mistaken 'twas constant in my spright.
Wherefore I joyed not: but sorrow was added unto me, For that I
knew my envoy had read thee not aright.
To proceed: Know, O my lord, that I am ignorant of the cause of
the breaking off of the correspondence between thee and me: but
if it arise from cruelty on thy part, I will meet it with
fidelity, and if love have departed from thee, I will remain
constant to my love in absence for I am with thee even as says
the poet:
Be haughty and I will be patient; capricious, I'll bear; turn
away, I'll draw near thee; be harsh, I'll be abject;
command, I'll give ear and obey.
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