Quoth the Lady Zubaydah, “Well come, and welcome and fair cheer to thee, O Kut al-Kulub! Sit and divert us with thine art and the goodliness of thine accomplishments.” Quoth the damsel, “I hear and I obey”; and, putting out her hand, took the tambourine, whereof one of its praisers speaketh in the following verses:—
Ho thou o’ the tabret, my heart takes flight ✿ And love-smit cries while thy fingers smite!
Thou takest naught but a wounded heart, ✿ The while for acceptance longs the wight:
So say thou word or heavy or light; ✿ Play whate’er thou please it will charm the sprite.
Sois bonne, unveil thy cheek, ma belle ✿ Rise, deftly dance and all hearts delight.
Then she smote the tambourine briskly and so sang thereto, that she stopped the birds in the sky and the place danced with them blithely; after which she laid down the tambourine and took the pipe[[231]] whereof it is said:—
She hath eyes whose babes wi’ their fingers sign ✿ To sweet tunes without a discordant line.
And as the poet also said in this couplet:—
And, when she announceth the will to sing, ✿ For Union-joy ’tis a time divine!
Then she laid down the pipe, after she had charmed therewith all who were present, and took up the lute, whereof saith the poet:—