eke The givers,
     great and small, with flouting didst requite. 
Then came I after them, desiring thee, with me No second save my
     sword, my falchion keen and bright. 
No slaves with me have I nor camels swift of foot, Nor
     slave-girls have I brought in curtained litters dight. 
Yet, an thou wilt vouchsafe thy favours unto me, My sabre thou
     shalt see the foemen put to flight;
Ay, and around Baghdad the horsemen shalt behold, Like clouds
     that wall the world, full many a doughty knight,
All hearkening to my word, obeying my command, In whatsoever
     thing is pleasing to my sight. 
If slaves thou fain wouldst have by thousands every day Or,
     kneeling at thy feet, see kings of mickle might,
And horses eke wouldst have led to thee day by day And girls,
     high- breasted maids, and damsels black and white,
Lo under my command the land of Yemen is And trenchant is my
     sword against the foe in fight. 
Whenas the couriers came with news of thee, how fair Thou wast
     and sweet and how thy visage shone with light,
All, all, for thy sweet sake, I left; ay, I forsook Aziz, my
     sire, and those akin to me that hight
And unto Irak fared, my way to thee to make, And crossed the
     stony wastes i’ the darkness of the night. 
Then sent I speech to thee in verses such as burn The heart;
     reproach therein was none nor yet unright;
Yet with perfidiousness (sure Fortune’s self as thou Ne’er so
     perfidious was) my love thou didst requite
And deemedst me a waif, a homeless good-for-nought, A
     slave-begotten brat, a wanton, witless wight.

Then he folded the letter and committed it to the nurse and gave her five hundred dinars, saying, “Accept this from me, for that indeed thou hast wearied thyself between us.”  “By Allah, O my lord,” answered she, “my desire is to bring about union between you, though I lose that which my right hand possesseth.”  And he said, “May God the Most High requite thee with good!” Then she carried the letter to Mariyeh and said to her, “Take this letter; belike it may be the end of the correspondence.”  So she took it and breaking it open, read it, and when she had made an end of it, she turned to the nurse and said to her, “This fellow putteth off lies upon me and avoucheth unto me that he hath cities and horsemen and footmen at his command and submitting to his allegiance; and he seeketh of me that which he shall not obtain; for thou knowest, O nurse, that kings’ sons have sought me in marriage, with presents and rarities; but I have paid no heed unto aught of this; so how shall I accept of this fellow, who is the fool[FN#90] of his time and possesseth nought but two caskets of rubies, which he gave to my father, and indeed he hath taken up his abode in the house of El Ghitrif and abideth without silver or gold?  Wherefore, I conjure thee by Allah, O nurse, return to him and cut off his hope of me.”