[FN#57]
Out on it for a pious piece of work! God shall exalt it to the
deeps below.[FN#58]
When Kemerezzeman heard these verses and was certified that there
was no escaping compliance with her will, he said, 'O King, if
thou must needs have it so, swear to me that thou wilt use me
thus but once, though it avail not to stay thy debauched
appetite; and that thou wilt never again require me of this to
the end of time; so it may be God will purge me of the sin.' 'I
promise thee that,' replied she, 'hoping that God of His favour
will relent towards us and blot out our mortal sins; for the
compass of the Divine forgiveness is not indeed so strait, but it
may altogether embrace us and absolve us of the excess of our
transgressions and bring us to the light of righteousness out of
the darkness of error. As most excellent well saith the poet:
The folk imagine of us twain an evil thing, I ween, And with
their hearts and souls, indeed, they do persist therein.
Come, let us justify their thought and free them thus from guilt,
This once, 'gainst us; and then will we repent us of our
sin.'
Then she swore to him a solemn oath, by Him whose existence is
unconditioned, that this thing should befall betwixt them but
once and never again for all time, and vowed to him that the
desire of him was driving her to death and perdition.
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