Then Mamoun showed me honour and favour and said to me, "O uncle,
Abou Ishac and Abbas counselled me to put thee to death." "And
they counselled thee right loyally, O Commander of the Faithful,"
answered I; "but thou hast done after thine own nature and hast
put away what I feared with what I hoped." "O uncle," rejoined
he, "thou didst extinguish my rancour with the humbleness of
thine excuse, and I pardon thee without making thee drink the
bitterness of obligation to intercessors." Then he prostrated
himself in prayer a long while, after which he raised his head
and said to me, "O uncle, knowest thou why I prostrated myself?"
"Haply," answered I, "thou didst this in thanksgiving to God, for
that He hath given thee the mastery over thine enemy." "Not so,"
rejoined he, "but to thank Him for having inspired me to pardon
thee and purified my mind towards thee. Now tell me thy story."
So I told him all that had befallen me and he sent for the
freed-woman, who was in her house, expecting the reward. When
she came, he said to her, "What moved thee to deal thus with thy
lord?" And she answered, "Lust of money." "Hast thou a child or
a husband?" asked the Khalif; and she said, "No." So he bade
give her a hundred blows with a whip and imprisoned her for life.
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