They bore him forth， whilst all who went behind him wept and cried Such cries as Moses gave， when God broke down the mountain side，Till to a tomb they came， whose grave seemed dug in all men"s hearts By whom the unity of God is held and glorified.
I had not thought， or ere they bore thee forth upon the bier， To see my joy upon the hands of men uplifted ride；
Nor， till they laid thee in the grave， could I have ever deemed That stars could leave their place in heaven and in the dark earth hide.
Is the indweller of the tomb the hostage of a pit， In which， for that his face is there， splendour and light abide？
Lo， praise has ta"en upon itself to bring him back to life； Now that his body"s hid， his fame"s shown forth and magnified.
When he had made an end of reciting these verses， he wept and all the troops wept with him； then he threw himself on the tomb， wild with grief， and the Vizier repeated the words of the poet：
That which fleets past thou hast left and won what endureth for aye， And even as thou are the folk， that were and have passed away；
And yet it was not of thy will that thou quittedst this house of the world； For here hadst thou joy and delight of all that befell in thy day.
How oft hast thou proven thyself a succour and shield from the foe， When the arrows and javelins of war flew thick in the midst of the fray！
I see that this world"s but a cheat and a vanity after all， And ever to seek out the Truth all creatures desire and essay！
The Lord of the Empyrean vouchsafe thee in heaven to dwell And the Guide assign thee therein a goodly sojourn， I pray！
I bid thee adieu with a sigh and I see， for the loss of thee， The East and the West o"ershadowed with mourning and dismay.
When the Vizier had finished， he wept sore， and the tears fell from his eyes， like a network of pearls. Then came forward one of Sherkan"s boon-companions， weeping till his eyes resembled rivers， and recalled the dead man"s noble qualities， reciting the following cinquains：
Where be thy giving， alas！ and the hand of thy bounty fled？ They lie in the earth， and my body is wasted for drearihead.
O guide of the camel-litters，[FN#118] （may God still gladden thy stead！） My tears on my cheeks have written， in characters of red，That which would both rejoice thee and fill thee with pain and dread！
By Allah， "twixt me and my heart， not a word of thee is said Nor doth the thought of thy grace and thy glory pass through my head，But that mine eyes are wounded by dint of the tears I shed！ Yea，if to rest on another my glance be ever led，May my lids be drawn in slumber by longing for the dead！
Then Zoulmekan and Dendan wept sore and the whole army lamented aloud； after which they all withdrew to their tents， and Zoulmekan turned to Dendan and took counsel with him concerning the conduct of the war. On this wise they passed days and nights，what while Zoulmekan was weighed down with grief and concern，till at last he said to the Vizier， "I have a mind to hear stories of adventures and chronicles of kings and tales of folk oppressed of love， so haply God may make this to solace the heavy anxiety that is on my heart and do away from me weeping and lamentation." "O King，" replied Dendan， "if nought but hearing pleasant tales of bygone kings and peoples and stories of folk oppressed of love and so forth can dispel thy trouble， the thing is easy， for I had no other business， in the lifetime of thy late father， than to tell him stories and repeat verses to him； so，this very night， I will tell thee a story of a lover and his beloved， which shall lighten thy heart." When Zoulmekan heard this， his heart yearned after that which the Vizier promised him and he did nothing but watch for the coming of the night， that he might hear what he had to tell. So， no sooner had the night closed in， than he bade light the lamps and the candles and bring all that was needful of meat and drink and perfumes and what not and sending for Dendan， Rustem， Behram， Terkash and the Grand Chamberlain， turned to the Vizier and said， "O Vizier， behold，the night is come and hath let down its veils over us， and we desire that thou tell us that which thou didst promise us." "With all my heart，" replied the Vizier "Know， O august King， that I have heard tell a story of a lover and a loved one and of the discourse between them and of the rare and pleasant things that befell them， a story such as does away care from the heart and dispels sorrow like unto that of the patriarch Jacob： and it is as follows：
Story of Taj El Mulouk and the Princess Dunya.
