Of my sight I am jealous for thee, of me, ✿ Of thyself, of thy stead, of thy destiny:
Though I shrined thee in eyes by the craze of me ✿ In such nearness irk I should never see:
Though thou wert by my side all the days of me ✿ Till Doomsday I ne’er had enough of thee.
Said his wife, “Put thy trust in Allah, for no harm betideth him whom He protecteth, and carry him with thee this very day to the shop.” Then she clad the boy in the costliest clothes and he became a seduction to all who on him cast sight and an affliction to the heart of each lover wight. His father took him and carried him to the market, whilst all who saw him were ravished with him and accosted him, kissing his hand and saluting him with the salam. Quoth one, “Indeed the sun hath risen in such a place and blazeth in the bazar,” and another, “The rising-place of the full moon is in such a quarter;” and a third, “The new moon of the Festival[[378]] hath appeared to the creatures of Allah.” And they went on to allude to the boy in talk and call down blessings upon him. But his father scolded the folk for following his son to gaze upon him, because he was abashed at their talk, but he could not hinder one of them from talking; so he fell to abusing the boy’s mother and cursing her because she had been the cause of his bringing him out. And as he gazed about he still saw the folk crowding upon him behind and before. Then he walked on till he reached his shop and opening it, sat down and seated his son before him: after which he again looked out and found the thoroughfare blocked with people for all the passers-by, going and coming, stopped before the shop to stare at that beautiful face and could not leave him; and all the men and women crowded in knots about him, applying to themselves the words of him who said:—
Thou madest Beauty to spoil man’s sprite ✿ And saidst, “O my servants, fear My reprove:”
But lovely Thou lovest all loveliness ✿ How, then, shall thy servants refrain from Love?
When the merchant Abd al-Rahman saw the folk thus crowding about him and standing in rows, both women and men, to fix eyes upon his son, he was sore ashamed and confounded and knew not what to do; but presently there came up from the end of the bazar a man of the wandering Dervishes, clad in haircloth, the garb of the pious servants of Allah and seeing Kamar al-Zaman sitting there as he were a branch of Bán springing from a mound of saffron, poured forth copious tears and recited these two couplets:—
A wand uprising from a sandy knoll, ✿ Like full moon shining brightest sheen, I saw;
And said, “What is thy name?” Replied he “Lúlú” ✿ “What (asked I) Lily?” and he answered “Lá, lá!”[[379]]
Then the Dervish fell to walking, now drawing near and now moving away,[[380]] and wiping his gray hairs with his right hand, whilst the heart of the crowd was cloven asunder for awe of him. When he looked upon the boy, his eyes were dazzled and his wit confounded, and exemplified in him was the saying of the poet:—