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Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that in times of yore the land

of Egypt was ruled by a Sultan endowed with justice and

generosity, one who loved the pious poor and companied with the

Olema and learned men; and he had a Wazir, a wise and an

experienced, well versed in affairs and in the art of government.

This Minister, who was a very old man, had two sons, as they were

two moons; never man saw the like of them for beauty and grace,

the elder called Shams al-Din Mohammed and the younger Nur al-Din

Ali; but the younger excelled the elder in seemliness and

pleasing semblance, so that folk heard his fame in far countries

and men flocked to Egypt for the purpose of seeing him.