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But his mother, who is the daughter of my former Minister, is

still among us." When the Wazir Shams al-Din heard that his

nephew's mother was alive and well, he rejoiced and said, "O King

I much desire to meet her." The King on the instant gave him

leave to visit her; so he betook himself to the mansion of his

brother, Nur al-Din, and cast sorrowful glances on all things in

and around it and kissed the threshold. Then he bethought him of

his brother, Nur al-Din Ali, and how he had died in a strange

land far from kith and kin and friends; and he wept and repeated

these lines:-

"I wander 'mid these walls, my Layla's walls, * And kissing this

and other wall I roam: 'Tis not the walls or roof my heart so

loves, * But those who in this house had made their home."