'The girl said that now her only wish in the world was that they should put their hands round each other's waists, and eat sugar from the lips of each other. The youth replied: "My desire is the same, but what can I do? As God the Most High says: 'The intimate friends on that day shall be enemies unto one another, except the pious,' which means that on the day of resurrection friendship of friends will become enmity, except the friendship of the abstemious, which will increase the attachment. I do not wish that on the morn of resurrection the edifice of our love be impaired, and our friendship be turned into enmity." After saying these words, he departed, reciting the following:
O heart, abandon this love of two days,
Because a love of two days profits not;
Choose a love wherewith on the day of reckoning
Thou mayest abide in the eternal abode.
A KIND FRIEND
O heart, when a time of sorrow overtakes thee
There will be no sorrow if thou hast a kind friend;
For a day of trouble a friend is required,
Because in times of comfort, friends are not scarce.
A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN
A beautiful woman had many admirers, whose attentions were so assiduous that the very street in which she lived became thronged by her visitors, but when her attractions disappeared and she had become ugly, her lovers abandoned her. Then I said to one of them: "She is the same friend as before, with the same eyes, brows, lips, but perhaps her stature is more tall and her body more stout. It is faithless and treacherous on thy part to neglect her." He replied: "Alas for what thou sayest! That which ravished the heart, and enthralled the senses, was the spirit which resided in her form, in the gracefulness of her limbs, the smoothness of her skin, and in the pleasantness of her voice, but as that spirit has departed from the figure, how can I love a dead body, or fondle a withered rose?"
SIXTH GARDEN
JOCULARITY
If a contented man jokes, blame him not,
It is a trade licit by the laws of reason and religion;
The heart is a mirror, and vexation the rust on it:
That rust is best polished away by jocularity.
A WEAVER AND A LEARNED PROFESSOR
A weaver, who had left something in trust with a learned man, desired again to have it back some time afterwards, and going to ask for it, he saw the man sitting in front of his house on the professional couch, with a number of his disciples in front of him. He said: "Mullana, I am in need of my deposit." He replied: "Wait an hour till I finish my lecture." The weaver accordingly took a seat, and, as the lecture proceeded, he observed that the Mullana often shook his head; and thinking that the imparting of the lesson consisted in this, he said: "O professor, arise and let me take thy place till thy return, and wag my head till thou hast brought out my deposit, because I am in haste."
A WORD TO THE WISE
If the gentleman fails to use the hair clipper
Daily upon the hirsute countenance,
But few days will elapse when his face
Will, on account of the hair, pretend to be his head.
THE EXPLICIT BEGGAR
A mendicant begged at the door of a house, whereon the landlord apologised, saying that the people had gone out, and the beggar rejoined: "I want a morsel of bread, and net the people of the house."
PHANTOM RELATIONS
A man was visited by a stranger who began complaining, and said: "Is it possible that thou knowest me not, and dost not consider my claims upon thee?" The man was amazed, and replied: "I know nothing of what thou sayest." He continued: "My father desired to wed thy mother, and if he had married her we would be brothers." The man rejoined: "By Allah! This relationship will be the occasion for my becoming thy heir, and thou mine!"
AN OLD HAG WHO DESIRED ONLY PLEASURE
A man said his prayers and then began his supplications, desiring to enter Paradise and to be delivered from the fire of Hell. An old woman, who happened to be in his rear, and heard him, said: "O Lord, cause me to share in whatever he supplicates for." The man, who had listened, then said: "O Lord, hang me on a gibbet, and cause me to die of scourging." The hag continued: "O Lord, pardon me and preserve me from what he asked for." The man then turned to her and said: "What a wonderfully-unpleasant partner this is! She desires to share with me in all that gives rest and pleasure, but refuses to be my partner in distress and misery."
PLAGIARISM
A poet brought to a critic a composition, every distich of which he had plagiarised from a different collection of poems, and every rhetorical figure from another author. The critic said: "For a wonder thou hast brought a line of camels, but if the string were untied, every one of the herd would rush away in another direction."