Then he went out and ceased not to weep till he came to her house and looking on it, saw it empty and void. Presently, it seemed to him he beheld her form before him, whereupon fires flamed in him and his griefs redoubled and he fell down aswoon;—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Fifty-sixth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Masrur saw the vision of Zayn al-Mawasif and felt her embrace, he joyed with passing joy. As soon as he awoke he sought her house, but finding it empty and void he fell down a-swoon; and when he came to himself, he recited these couplets,
"Fro' them inhale I scent of Ottar and of Bán; * So fare with
heart which ecstasies of love unman:
I'd heal thy longings (love-sick lover!) by return * To site of
beauty void sans friend or mate to scan:
But still it sickeneth me with parting's ban and bane * Minding
mine olden plight with friend and partisan."
When he had made an end of these verses, he heard a raven croak beside the house and wept, saying, "Glory be to God! The raven croaketh not save over a ruined homestead." Then he moaned and groaned and recited these couplets,
"What ails the Raven that he croaks my lover's house hard by, *
And in my vitals lights a fire that flameth fierce and high?
For times now past and gone I spent in joyance of their love *
With love my heart hath gone to waste and I sore pain aby:
I die of longing love and lowe still in my liver raging * And
wrote to her but none there is who with the writ may hie:
Ah well-away for wasted frame! Hath farčd forth my friend * And
if she will o' nights return Oh would that thing wot I!
Then, Ho thou Breeze of East, and thou by morn e'er visit her; *
Greet her from me and stand where doth her tribe encampčd
lie!"
Now Zayn al-Mawasif had a sister, by name Nasím—the Zephyr—who stood espying him from a high place; and when she saw him in this plight, she wept and sighed and recited these couplets,
"How oft bewailing the place shall be this coming and going, *
While the House bemoaneth its builder with tear-flood ever
a-flowing?
Here was bestest joy ere fared my friend with the caravan hieing
* And its dwellers and brightest-suns[FN#358] ne'er ceased
in its walls a-glowing:
Where be those fullest moons that here were always arising? *
Bedimmed them the Shafts of Days their charms of spirit
unknowing:
Leave then what is past of the Fair thou wast ever with love
espying * And look; for haply the days may restore them
without foreshowing:
For hadst thou not been, its dwellers had never departed flying *
Nor haddest thou seen the Crow with ill-omened croak
a-crying."
Masrur wept sore hearing these verses and apprehending their significance. Now Nasim knew that which was between him and her sister of love and longing, ecstasy and passion; so she said to him, "Allah upon thee, O Masrur, away from this house, lest any see thee and deem thou comest on my account! Indeed thou hast caused my sister quit it and now thou wouldst drive me also away. Thou knowest that, but for thee, the house would not now be void of its dwellers: so be consoled for her loss and leave her: what is past is past." When he heard this, he wept bitterly and said to her, "O Nasim, if I could, I should fly for longing after her; so how can I be comforted for her?" Quoth she, "Thou hast no device save patience;" and quoth he, "I beseech thee, for Allah's sake, write me a writ to her, as from thyself, and get me an answer from her, to comfort my heart and quench the fire in my vitals." She replied, "With love and gladness," and took inkcase and paper, whilst Masrur began to set out to her the violence of his longing and what tortures he suffered for the anguish of severance, saying, "This letter is from the lover despairing and sorrowful * the bereaved, the woeful * with whom no peace can stay * nor by night nor by day * but he weepeth copious tears alway. * Indeed, tears his eyelids have ulcerated and his sorrows have kindled in his liver a fire unsated. His lamentation is lengthened and restlessness is strengthened and he is as he were a bird unmated * While for sudden death he awaiteth * Alas, my desolation for the loss of thee * and alas, my yearning affliction for the companionship of thee! * Indeed, emaciation hath wasted my frame * and my tears a torrent became * mountains and plains are straitened upon me for grame * and of the excess of my distress, I go saying,
"Still cleaves to this homestead mine ecstasy, * And redoubled
pine for its dwellers I dree;
And I send to your quarters the tale of my love * And the cup of
your love gave the Cup-boy to me.
And for faring of you and your farness from home * My wounded
lids are from tears ne'er free:
O thou leader of litters, turn back with my love * For my heart
redoubleth its ardency:
Greet my love and say him that naught except * Those brown-red
lips deals me remedy:
They bore him away and our union rent * And my vitals with
Severance-shaft shot he:
My love, my lowe and my longing to him * Convey, for of parting
no cure I see:
I swear an oath by your love that I * Will keep pact and covenant
faithfully,
To none I'll incline or forget your love * How shall love-sick
lover forgetful be?
So with you be the peace and my greeting fair * In letters that
perfume of musk-pod bear."