So he proceeded to bind
the latter's eyes; whilst the people cried out against the Vizier
and there befell a great tumult and dispute amongst them. At this
moment there arose a great cloud of dust and filled the air and
the plain; and when the Sultan, who was sitting in the palace,
saw this, he said to his attendants, 'Go and see what is the
meaning of that cloud of dust.' 'When we have cut off this
fellow's head,' replied Muin; but the Sultan said, 'Wait till we
see what this means.'
Now the cloud of dust in question was raised by Jaafer the
Barmecide, Vizier to the Khalif, and his retinue; and the reason
of his coming was as follows. The Khalif passed thirty days
without calling to mind the affair of Noureddin Ali ben Khacan,
and none reminded him of it, till one night, as he passed by the
apartment of Enis el Jelis, he heard her weeping and reciting the
following verse, in a low and sweet voice:
Thine image is ever before me, though thou art far away, Nor doth
my tongue give over the naming of thee aye!
And her weeping redoubled; when lo, the Khalif opened the door
and entering the chamber, found her in tears. When she saw him,
she fell to the earth and kissing his feet three times, repeated
the following verses:
O thou pure of royal lineage and exalted in thy birth! O thou
tree of fruitful branches, thou the all unstained of race!
I recall to thee the promise that thy noble bounty made: God
forbid thou shouldst forget it or withhold the gifted grace!
Quoth the Khalif, 'Who art thou?' And she answered, 'I am she
whom thou hadst as a present from Noureddin Ali ben Khacan, and I
crave the fulfilment of thy promise to send me to him with the
dress of honour; for I have now been here thirty days, without
tasting sleep.
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