None is the cause of all this
trouble save the Vizier; but I conjure thee, O my son, to take
patience, so haply God may do away this affliction from thee and
bring thee complete relief: as quoth one of the poets:
It may be Fate at last shall draw its bridle-rein And bring us
happy chance; for Fortune changes still;
And things shall happen yet, despite the things fordone, To
further forth my hopes and bring me to my will.
And now, O my son,' added he, 'I am certified that thou art not
mad; but thy case is a strange one, none can unravel it for thee
but God the Most High.' 'By Allah, O my father,' cried the
prince, 'deal kindly with me and seek out this damsel and hasten
her coming to me; else I shall die of grief.' And he repeated
the following verses, in a voice that betrayed the ardour of his
passion:
An if thy very promise of union prove untrue, Let but in sleep
thy favours the longing lover cheer.
"How can the phantom visit a lover's eyes," quoth they, "From
which the grace of slumber is banned and banished sheer?"
And he sighed and wept and groaned aloud from a wounded heart,
whilst the tears streamed from his eyes. Then turning to his
father, with submission and despondency, he said to him, 'By
Allah, O my father, I cannot endure to be parted from her even
for an hour.
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