write that I may see.'So the Caliph took ink-case and reed-pen and wrote as follows，--'In the name of Allah，the Compassionating，the Compassionate！But after.[62] This letter is written by Harun al-Rashid，son of Al-Mahdi，to his highness Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni，whom I have encompassed about with my favour and made my viceroy in certain of my dominions.The bearer of these presents is Nur al-Din Ali，son of Fazl bin Khakan the Wazir. As soon as they come to thy hand divest thyself forthright of the kingly dignity and invest him therewith； so oppose not my commandment and peace be with thee.'
He gave the letter to Nur al-Din，who took it and kissed it，then put it in his turband and set out at once on his journey. So far concerning him； but as regards the Caliph，Shaykh Ibrahim stared to him （and he still in fisher garb） and said，'O vilest of fishermen，thou hast brought us a couple of fish worth a score of half-dirhams，[63] and hast gotten three dinars for them； and thinkest thou to take the damsel to boot？' When the Caliph heard this，he cried out at him，and signed to Masrur who discovered himself and rushed in upon him. Now Ja'afar had sent one of the gardener-lads to the doorkeeper of the palace to fetch a suit of royal raiment for the Prince of the Faithful； so the man went and，returning with the suit，kissed the ground before the Caliph and gave it him.Then he threw of the clothes he had on[64]and donned kingly apparel.Shaykh Ibrahim was still sitting upon his chair and the Caliph tarried to behold what would come next.
But seeing the Fisherman become the Caliph，Shaykh Ibrahim was utterly confounded and he could do nothing but bite his finger-ends[65] and say，'Would I knew whether am I asleep or am I awake！' At last the Caliph looked at him and cried，'O Shaykh Ibrahim，what state is this in which I see thee？'Thereupon he recovered from his drunkenness and，throwing himself upon the ground，repeated these verses，'Pardon the sinful ways I did pursue；Ruth from his lord to every slave is due：
Confession pays the fine that sin demands；Where，then，is that which grace and mercy sue？'[66]
The Caliph forgave him and bade carry the damsel to the city-palace，where he set apart for her an apartment and appointed slaves to serve her，saying to her，'Know that we have sent thy lord to be Sultan in Bassorah and，Almighty Allah willing，we will dispatch him the dress of investiture and thee with it.'
Meanwhile，Nur al-Din Ali ceased not travelling till he reached Bassorah，where he repaired to the Sultan's palace and he shouted a long shout.[67]The Sultan heard him and sent for him； and when he came into his presence，he kissed the ground between his hands and，producing the letter，presented it to him.Seeing the superion in the writing of the Commander of the Faithful，the Sultan rose to his feet and kissed it three times； and after reading it said，'I hear and I obey Allah Almighty and the Commander of the Faithful！'Then he summoned the four Kazis[68] and the Emirs and was about to divest himself of the rule royal，when behold，in came Al Mu'in bin Sawi.The Sultan gave him the Caliph's letter and he read it，then tore it to pieces and putting it into his mouth，chewed it[69] and spat it out.'Woe to thee，'quoth the Sultan （and indeed he was sore angered）； 'what induced thee to do this deed？''Now by thy life！
O our lord the Sultan，'replied Mu'in，'this man hath never foregathered with the Caliph nor with his Wazir； but he is a gallows-bird，a limb of Satan，a knave who，having come upon a written paper in the Caliph's hand，some idle scroll，hath made it serve his own end.The Caliph would surely not send him to take the Sultanate from thee without the imperial autograph[70] and the diploma of investiture，and he certainly would have despatched with him a Chamberlain or a Minister.But he hath come alone and he never came from the Caliph，no，never！
never！ never！' 'What is to be done？'asked the Sultan，and the Minister answered，'Leave him to me and I will take him and keep him away from thee，and send him in charge of a Chamberlain to Baghdad-city.Then，if what he says be sooth，they will bring us back autograph and investiture； and if not，I will take my due out of this debtor.' When the Sultan heard the Minister's words he said，'Hence with thee and him too.'Al Mu'in took trust of him from the King and，carrying him to his own house，cried out to his pages who laid him flat and beat him till he fainted.
Then he let put upon his feet heavy shackles and carried him to the jail，where he called the jailor，one Kutayt，[71] who came and kissed the ground before him.Quoth the Wazir，'O Kutayt，I wish thee to take this fellow and throw him into one of the underground cells[72] in the prison and torture him night and day.'
