Pagina 628 di 1116

Said Ajib, "Sit thee down and eat with us, so haply shall Allah

dispel our sorrows." Hasan the Bassorite was joyful and sat down

and ate with them; but his eyes kept gazing fixedly on Ajib's

face, for his very heart and vitals clove to him; and at last the

boy said to him, "Did I not tell thee thou art a most noyous

dotard?; so do stint thy staring in my face!" But when Hasan of

Bassorah heard his son's words he repeated these lines:-

"Thou hast some art the hearts of men to clip; * Close-veiled,

far-hidden mystery dark and deep: O thou whose beauties shame the

lustrous moon, * Wherewith the saffron Morn fears rivalship! Thy

beauty is a shrine shall ne'er decay; * Whose signs shall grow

until they all outstrip; [FN#467] Must I be thirst-burnt by that

Eden-brow * And die of pine to taste that Kausar-lip?" [FN#468]