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And they blessed him aloud as he passed and called upon Almighty

Allah to bless him. [FN#389] The Sultan entreated the lad with

especial favour and said to his father, "O Wazir, thou must needs

bring him daily to my presence;" whereupon he replied, "I hear

and I obey." Then the Wazir returned home with his son and ceased

not to carry him to court till he reached the age of twenty. At

that time the Minister sickened and, sending for Badr al-Din

Hasan, said to him, "Know, O my son, that the world of the

Present is but a house of mortality, while that of the Future is

a house of eternity. I wish, before I die, to bequeath thee

certain charges and do thou take heed of what I say and incline

thy heart to my words." Then he gave him his last instructions as

to the properest way of dealing with his neighbours and the due

management of his affairs; after which he called to mind his

brother and his home and his native land and wept over his

separation from those he had first loved.