"Enough， O Fatimeh，" answered he； "indeed thou exceedest." Then he would have risen， but fell down， and Fatimeh strained him to her， saying， "Thou art to me as my father and my mother， O Commander of the Faithful！ We cannot speak to thee， all of us."[FN#55] Again （continued Nuzhet ez Zeman）， Omar ben Abdulaziz wrote to the people of the festival at Mecca， as follows， "I call God to witness， in the Holy Month， in the Holy City and on the day of the Great Pilgrimage， that I am innocent of your oppression and of the wickedness of him that doth you wrong， in that I have neither commanded this nor purposed it， neither hath any report of aught thereof reached me （till now） nor have I had knowledge of it； and I trust therefore that God will pardon it to me. None hath authority from me to do oppression， for I shall assuredly be questioned （at the Last Day） concerning every one who hath been wrongfully entreated. So if any one of my officers swerve from the right and act without law or authority，[FN#56] ye owe him no obedience， till he return to the right way." He said also （may God accept of him）， "I do not wish to be relieved from death， for that it is the supreme thing for which the true believer is rewarded." Quoth one of authority， "I went one day to the Commander of the Faithful， Omar ben Abdulaziz， who was then Khalif， and saw before him twelve dirhems， which he bade take to the treasury. So I said to him， "O Commander of the Faithful，thou impoverishest thy children and reducest them to beggary，leaving nothing for them. Thou wouldst do well to appoint somewhat by will to them and to those who are poor of the people of thy house." "Draw near to me，" answered he. So I drew near to him and he said， "As for thy saying， "Thou beggarest thy children； provide for them and for the poor of thy household，" it is without reason， for God will replace me to my children and to those who are poor of the people of my house， and He will be their guardian. Verily， they are like other men； he who fears God， God will provide him a happy issue， and he that is addicted to sin， I will not uphold him in his disobedience." Then he called his sons before him， and they were twelve in number. When he beheld them， his eyes filled with tears and he said to them，"Your father is between two things； either ye will be rich and he will enter the fire， or ye will be poor and he enter Paradise；
and your father"s entry into Paradise is liefer to him than that ye should be rich. So go， God be your helper， for to Him I commit your affair."" Quoth Khalid ben Sefwan，[FN#57] "Yusuf ben Omar[FN#58] accompanied me to Hisham ben Abdulmelik，[FN#59] and I met him as he came forth with his kinsmen and attendants. He alighted and a tent was pitched for him. When the people had taken their seats， I came up to the side of the carpet （on which the Khalif was reclining） and waiting till my eyes met his，bespoke him thus， "May God fulfil His bounty to thee， O Commander of the Faithful， and direct into the right way the affairs He hath committed to thy charge， and may no harm mingle with thy cheer！ O Commander of the Faithful， I have an admonition for thee， which I have gleaned from the history of the kings of time past！" At this， he sat up and said to me， "O son of Sefwan， say what is in thy mind." "O Commander of the Faithful，" quoth I，"one of the kings before thee went forth， in a time before thy time， to this very country and said to his companions， "Saw ye ever any in the like of my state or to whom hath been given even as it hath been given unto me？" Now there was with him one of those who survive to bear testimony to the Faith and are upholders of the Truth and walkers in its highway， and he said，"O King， thou askest of a grave matter. Wilt thou give me leave to answer？" "Yes，" replied the King， and the other said， "Dost thou judge thy present state to be temporary or enduring？" "It is a temporary thing，" replied the King. "Why then，" asked the man，"do I see thee exult in that which thou wilt enjoy but a little while and whereof thou wilt be questioned at length and for the rendering an account whereof thou wilt be as a pledge？" "Whither shall I flee，" asked the King， "and where is that I must seek？"
"Abide in thy kingship，" replied the other， "and apply thyself to obey the commandments of God the Most High； or else don thy worn-out clothes and devote thyself to the service of thy Lord，till thine appointed hour come to thee." Then he left him，saying， "I will come to thee again at daybreak." So he knocked at his door at dawn and found that the King had put off his crown and resolved to become an anchorite， for the stress of his exhortation." When Hisham heard this， he wept till his beard was drenched and putting off his rich apparel， shut himself up in his palace. Then the grandees and courtiers came to me and said，"What is this thou hast done with the Commander of the Faithful？
Thou hast marred his cheer and troubled his life！"" "But （continued Nuzhet ez Zeman， addressing herself to Sherkan） how many admonitory instances are there not that bear upon this branch of the subject！ Indeed， it is beyond my power to report all that pertains to this head in one sitting； but， with length of days， O King of the age， all will be well."
Then said the Cadis， "O King， of a truth this damsel is the wonder of the time and the unique pearl of the age！ Never in all our lives heard we the like." And they called down blessings on Sherkan and went away. Then said he to his attendants， "Prepare the wedding festivities and make ready food of all kinds." So they addressed themselves to do his bidding， and he bade the wives of the amirs and viziers and grandees depart not until the time of the wedding banquet and of the unveiling of the bride.
