We
entered after our host, who called for a parcel of clothes and
muslin for turbans, and gave us each a suit of clothes and a
piece of muslin; so we made us turbans and sat down. Presently,
in came a damsel with a tray of food and set it before us,
saying, 'Eat.' We ate a little and she took away the tray; after
which we abode with our host till nightfall, when Ali ben Bekkar
sighed and said to me, 'Know, O my brother, that I am a dead man
and I have a charge to give thee: it is that, when thou seest me
dead, thou go to my mother and tell her and bid her come hither,
that she may be present at the washing of my body and take order
for my funeral; and do thou exhort her to bear my loss with
patience.' Then he fell down in a swoon and when he revived, he
heard a damsel singing afar off and addressed himself to give ear
to her and hearken to her voice; and now he was absent from the
world and now came to himself, and anon he wept for grief and
mourning at what had befallen him. Presently, he heard the damsel
sing the following verses:
Parting hath wrought in haste our union to undo After the
straitest loves and concord 'twixt us two.
The shifts of night and day have torn our lives apart. When shall
we meet again? Ah, would to God I knew!
After conjoined delight, how bitter sev'rance is! Would God it
had no power to baffle lovers true!
Death's anguish hath its hour, then endeth; but the pain Of
sev'rance from the loved at heart is ever new.
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