lauded Him and glorified Him and hallowed Him and attested His unity and disputed with the miscreant and overcame him and silenced him; nor did he cease from him till he compelled him to make confession of repentance from that which he had misbelieved.  Therewith King Shah Bakht rejoiced with exceeding great joy and cried, “Praise be to the Lord who hath saved me from this man and hath preserved me from the loss of my kingship and my prosperity!” So the affair of the Wazir returned to order and stablishment and the king restored him to his place and raised him to higher rank.  Lastly, he assembled the folk who had striven against him and destroyed them all, to the last man.  “And how like” (continued the Wazir), “is this story to that of myself and King Shah Bakht, with regard to that which befel me of the changing of the King and his crediting others against me; but now is the fairness of my fashion fulfilled in thine eyes, for that Allah Almighty hath inspired thee with wisdom and endowed thee with longanimity and patience to hear from me whatso He allotted to those who forewent us, till He hath shown forth my innocence and made manifest unto thee the truth.  For lo and behold! the days are now past, wherein it was declared to the king that I should labour for the loss of my soul,[FN#561] that is within the month; and lookye, the probation-time is gone by, and past is the season of evil and it hath ceased by the protection of the King and his good fortune.”  Then he bowed his head and was silent.  When King Shah Bakht heard his Wazir’s speech, he was abashed before him and confounded, and he marvelled at the gravity of his intellect and his long-suffering.  So he sprang up to him and embraced him and the Minister kissed his feet.  Then the King called for a costly robe of honour and cast it over Al-Rahwan and honoured him with the highmost honour and showed him especial favour and restored him to his degree and Wazirate.  Furthermore he imprisoned those who had devised his destruction with lies and leasing and gave him full leave and license to pass judgment upon the Interpreter who had expounded to him the dream.  So the Wazir abode in the ordering of the realm until Death came to them; “And this” (added Shahrazad) “is all, O king of the age, that hath come down to us of King Shah Bakht and his Wazir.”

SHAHRAZAD AND SHAHRYAR.

As for King Shahryar, he wondered at Shahrazad with the utmost wonder and drew her near to his heart of his abounding affection for her; and she was magnified in his eyes and he said within himself, “By Allah, the like of this is not deserving of slaughter, for indeed the time favoureth us not with her equal.  By the Almighty, I have been reckless of mine affair, and had not the Lord overcome me with His ruth and put his one at my service so she might recount to me instances manifest and cases truthful and admonitions goodly and traits edifying, such as should restore