Then he forsook his friends and intimates, and denying himself to
his women and his family, shut himself up in the House of
Lamentations, where he passed his time in weeping for his sons.
Meanwhile, Amjed and Asaad fared on into the desert a whole
month's journey, eating of the fruits of the earth and drinking
of the rain-pools, till their travel brought them to a mountain
of black stone, where the road divided in two, one skirting the
foot of the mountain and the other leading to its summit. They
took the former way, for fear of thirst, and followed it five
days, but saw no end to it and were overcome with weariness,
being unused to walking in mountains or elsewhere. At last,
despairing of coming to the end of the road, they retraced their
steps and taking the other, that led over the mountain, followed
it all that day, till nightfall, when Asaad, weary with much
travel, said to Amjed, 'O my brother, I can go no farther, for I
am exceeding weak.' 'Courage,' replied Amjed; 'may be God will
send us relief.' So they walked on part of the night, till the
darkness closed in upon them, when Asaad became beyond measure
weary and saying, 'O my brother, I am worn out and spent with
walking,' threw himself on the ground and wept.
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