第534页 / 共1116页

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir

stood up to him and welcoming him said, "Arise and go in to thy

wife this night, and on the morrow I will carry thee to the

Sultan, and pray Allah bless thee with all manner of weal." So

Nur al-Din left him and went in to his wife the Wazir's daughter.

Thus far concerning him, but as regards his elder brother, Shams

al-Din, he was absent with the Sultan a long time and when he

returned from his journey he found not his brother; and he asked

of his servants and slaves who answered, "On the day of thy

departure with the Sultan, thy brother mounted his mule fully

caparisoned as for state procession saying, 'I am going towards

Kalyub-town and I shall be absent one day or at most two days;

for my breast is straitened, and let none of you follow me.' Then

he fared forth and from that time to this we have heard no

tidings of him." Shams al-Din was greatly troubled at the sudden

disappearance of his brother and grieved with exceeding grief at

the loss and said to himself, "This is only because I chided and

upbraided him the night before my departure with the Sultan;

haply his feelings were hurt and he fared forth a-travelling; but

I must send after him." Then he went in to the Sultan and

acquainted him with what had happened and wrote letters and

dispatches, which he sent by running footmen to his deputies in

every province.