Strona 551 z 1116

"Escape with thy life, if oppression betide thee, * And let the

house of its builder's fate! Country for country thou'lt find, if

thou seek it; * Life for life never, early or late. It is strange

men should dwell in the house of abjection, * When the plain of

God's earth is so wide and so great!" [FN#395]

At these words of the Mameluke, Badr al-Din covered his head with

the skirt of his garment and went forth on foot till he stood

outside of the city, where he heard folk saying, "The Sultan hath

sent his new Wazir to the house of the old Wazir, now no more, to

seal his property and seize his son Badr al-Din Hasan and take

him before the presence, that he may put him to death; " and all

cried, "Alas for his beauty and his loveliness!" When he heard

this he fled forth at hazard, knowing not whither he was going,

and gave not over hurrying onwards till Destiny drove him to his

father's tomb. So he entered the cemetery and, threading his way

through the graves, at last he reached the sepulchre where he sat

down and let fall from his head the skirt of his long robe

[FN#396] which was made of brocade with a gold-embroidered hem

whereon were worked these couplets:-