Here they reclined, and Abu-l-Hasan summoned a slave girl, lissom as the willow tendril, and bade her sing to the music of her lute. Sweetly then she sang these verses, inspired by the soft languor of the night:—
Oh! Love, thy footsteps stray in lands afar,
But here within my heart thou dost abide.
E’en though thou dwelt in yonder distant star
No depths of space our spirits could divide.
Thou art my Love! Thro’ all eternity
Thou art my soul, and nothing is but thee.
Er-Rashid marvelled greatly at the singer and her song, and wondered in his heart what manner of man was Abu-l-Hasan that he could entertain on so magnificent a scale.
“Tell me, young man,” he said, “what is thy name, that on a future occasion I may return thy hospitality?”