Ne'er grant my prayer！ For if I grudge thyself To thee，I grudge my me more jealously And cry so long as life belong to me，Rare beauty how，how long this wrong to me？'
They abode in this state a long time，and fear kept Ghanim aloof from her. So far concerning these two；but as regards the Lady Zubaydah，when，in the Caliph's absence she had done this deed by Kut al-Kulub she became perplexed，saying to herself，'What shall I tell my cousin when he comes back and asks for her？What possible answer can I make to him？'Then she called an old woman，who was about her and discovered her secret to her saying，'How shall I act seeing that Kut al-Kulub died by such untimely death？''O my lady，'quoth the old crone，'the time of the Caliph's return is near；so do thou send for a carpenter and bid him make thee a figure of wood in the form of a corpse. We will dig a grave for it midmost the palace and there bury it：then do thou build an oratory over it and set therein lighted candles and lamps，and order each and every in the palace to be clad in black.[116] Furthermore command thy handmaids and eunuchs as soon as they know of the Caliph's returning from his journey，to spread straw over the vestibule floors and，when the Commander of the Faithful enters and asks what is the matter，let them say：--Kut al-Kulub is dead，and may Allah abundantly compensate thee for the loss of her！[117]；and，for the high esteem in which she was held of our mistress，she hath buried her in her own palace. When he hears this he will weep and it shall be grievous to him；then will he cause perfections of the Koran to be made for her and he will watch by night at her tomb. Should he say to himself，'Verily Zubaydah，the daughter of my uncle，hath compassed in her jealousy the death of Kut al-Kulub'；or，if love longing overcome him and he bid her be taken out of her tomb，fear thou not；for when they dig down and come to the image in human shape he will see it shrouded in costly grave clothes；and，if he wish to take off the winding sheet that he may look upon her，do thou forbid him or let some other forbid him，saying，'The sight of her nakedness is unlawful.'The fear of the world to come will restrain him and he will believe that she is dead and will restore the figure to its place and thank thee for thy doings；and thus thou shalt escape，please Almighty Allah，from this slough of despond.'When the Lady Zubaydah heard her words，she commended the counsel and gave her a dress of honour and a large sum of money，ordering her to do all she had said. So the old woman set about the business forthright and bade the carpenter make her the afore said image；and，as soon as it was finished，she brought it to the Lady Zubaydah，who shrouded it and buried it and built a sepulchre over it，wherein they lighted candles and lamps，and laid down carpets about the tomb. Moreover she put on black and she spread abroad in the Harim that Kut al-Kulub was dead. After a time the Caliph returned from his journey and went up to the palace，thinking only of Kut al-Kulub.
He saw all the pages and eunuchs and handmaids habited in black，at which his heart fluttered with extreme fear；and，when he went in to the Lady Zubaydah，he found her also garbed in black. So he asked the cause of this and they gave him tidings of the death of Kut al-Kulub，whereon he fell a swooning. As soon as he came to himself，he asked for her tomb，and the Lady Zubaydah said to him，'Know，O Prince of the Faithful，that for especial honour I have buried her in my own palace.'Then he repaired in his travelling garb[118] to the tomb that he might wail over her，and found the carpets spread and the candles and lamps lighted.
When he saw this，he thanked Zubaydah for her good deed and abode perplexed，halting between belief and unbelief till at last suspicion overcame him and he gave order to open the grave and take out the body. When he saw the shroud and would have removed it to look upon her，the fear of Allah Almighty restrained him，and the old woman （taking advantage of the delay） said，'Restore her to her place.'Then he sent at once for Fakirs and Koran readers，and caused perfections to be made over her tomb and sat by the side of the grave，weeping till he fainted；and he continued to frequent the tomb and sit there for a whole month，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
