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So the Caliph was certified that the young man was the murderer;

whereat he wondered and asked him, 'What was the cause of thy

wrongfully doing this damsel to die and what made thee confess

the murder without the bastinado, and what brought thee here to

yield up thy life, and what made thee say Do her wreak upon me?"

The youth answered, "Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that this

woman was my wife and the mother of my children; also my first

cousin and the daughter of my paternal uncle, this old man who is

my father's own brother. When I married her she was a maid

[FN#358] and Allah blessed me with three male children by her;

she loved me and served me and I saw no evil in her, for I also

loved her with fondest love. Now on the first day of this month

she fell ill with grievous sickness and I fetched in physicians

to her; but recovery came to her little by little.