“The nurse answered, ’What is the princess’s guilt? you did not in the least know him to be an enemy when you kept him [in your house;] you took compassion upon him, and you will receive good for the good you have done; and this man will receive from the great idol the reward of the evil which he has done.’  On hearing these words, the princess said, ‘Nurse, tell him to sit down.’  The nurse made me a sign to sit down; I accordingly sat down.  The princess drank another cup of wine, and said to the nurse, ’Give this wretch also a cup, then he will take his killing with more ease.’  The nurse presented me a cup of wine; I drank it without hesitation, and made my salam [to the princess;] she never looked at me directly, but continued all along to give me furtive side glances.  When I became elevated [with the effects of the wine,] I began to repeat some pieces of poetry; among others, I recited the following couplet: 

    ’I am in thy power, and if alive yet, what then? 
    Under the dagger, if one breathes awhile, what then?’

On hearing this verse, she smiled, and turning towards the nurse, she said, ‘What art thou sleepy?’ The nurse, guessing her motive, replied, ‘Yes, sleep over-comes me.’  She then took her leave, and went away. [329] After a short pause, the princess asked me for a cup of wine; I quickly filled it, and presented it to her; she took it gracefully from my hand and drank it off; I then fell at her feet; she passed her hand kindly over me, and said, ’O ignorant man! what hast thou seen bad in our great idol that thou hast betaken thyself to the worship of an unseen God?’ I answered, ’Pray, be just, and reflect a little, whether that God [and He only,] is worthy of adoration, who, out of a drop of water, hath created a lovely creature like thee, and hath given such beauty and perfection, that in one instant thou canst drive into distraction the hearts of thousands of men.  What a [contemptible] thing is an idol that any one should worship it?  The stone-cutters have shaped a block of stone into a figure, and have spread it as a net to entangle fools.  Those whom the devil beguiles, confound the Creator with the created; and they prostrate themselves before that which their own hands have formed.  We are Musalmans, and we worship him who hath created us.  For those [misguided idolaters], He hath created hell; for us [true believers], He hath destined paradise; if you will place your faith in God, you will experience the delights [of heaven], and distinguish truth from error, and you will find that your [present] devotion is false.’