When the day broke, he laid
her out and commanded to wash her and shroud her and bury her.
And he mourned very sore for her and questioned not of her case
nor what ailed her. And I beg thee in God's name,' continued the
damsel, 'to let me know the day of the coming of Ali ben Bekkar's
funeral train, that I may be present at his burial.' Quoth I,
'For myself, thou canst find me where thou wilt; but thou, who
can come at thee where thou art?' 'On the day of Shemsennehar's
death,' answered she, 'the Commander of the Faithful freed all
her women, myself among the rest; and we are now abiding at the
tomb in such a place.' So I accompanied her to the burial-ground
and visited Shemennehar's tomb;[FN#18] after which I went my way
and awaited the coming of Ali ben Bekkar's funeral. When it
arrived, the people of Baghdad went forth to meet it and I with
them; and I saw the damsel among the women and she the loudest of
them in lamentation, crying out and wailing with a voice that
rent the vitals and made the heart ache. Never was seen in
Baghdad a greater funeral than his and we ceased not to follow in
crowds, till we reached the cemetery and buried him to the mercy
of God the most High; nor from that time to this have I ceased to
visit his tomb and that of Shemsennehar.
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