Whenas a friend against me doth grievously offend And maketh me with anger to choke，yet in the end，I pardon his offending and take him back again Into my favour，fearing to live without a friend.
When I heard this，I scented the odour of mercy，knowing his disposition to clemency.Then he turned to his son El Abbas and his brother Abou Ishac and other his chief officers there present and said to them，'What deem ye of his case！'They all counselled him to slay me，but differed as to the manner of my death.Then said he to Ahmed ibn Ali Khalid，[134]'And what sayst thou，O Ahmed？'O Commander of the Faithful，'answered he，'if thou put him to death，we find thy like who hath slain the like of him；but，if thou pardon him，we find not the like of thee that hath pardoned the like of him.'At this Mamoun bowed his head and repeated the following verse：
The people of my tribe，they have my brother slain；But，an I shoot，my shaft reverts to me again.
And also these：
Use not thy brother with despite，Although he mingle wrong with right，And still be kind to him，all be With thanklessness he thee requite；
And if he go astray and err One day，revile thou not the wight.
Seest not that loved and loathed at once In every way of life unite？
That by the annoy of hoary hairs Embittered is long lifes delight，And that the bristling thorns beset The branch with pleasant fruits bedight？
Who is it doth good deeds alone And who hath never wrought unright？
Prove but the ages sons，thoult find The most have fallen from the light.
When I heard this，I uncovered my head and cried out，saying，'God is most great！By Allah，the Commander of the Faithful pardons me！'Quoth he，'No harm shall come to thee，O uncle.'
And I，'O Commander of the Faithful，my offence is too great for me to attempt to extenuate it and thy pardon is too great for me to speak a word of thanks for it.'And I chanted the following verses：
Sure，He，who made the virtues all，stored them in Adams loins For His high-priest，the seventh prince of Abbas royal seed！
The hearts of all the folk are filled with reverence for thee，And thou，with meek and humble heart，dost keep them all and lead.
Error-deluded as I was，against thee I rebelled，Intent on covetise alone and base ambitious greed；
Yet hast thou pardon givn to one，the like of whom before Was never pardoned，though for him no one with thee did plead，And on a mothers bleeding heart hadst ruth and little ones，Like to the desert-grouses young，didst pity in their need.
Quoth Mamoun，'I say，like our lord Joseph （on whom and on our Prophet be peace and blessing），There shall be no reproach on thee this day.God will forgive thee，for He is the Most Merciful of the Merciful ones.'[135] Indeed，I pardon thee，O uncle，and restore thee thy goods and lands，and no harm shall befall thee.'So I offered up devout prayers for him and repeated the following verses：
My wealth thou hast given me again and hast not begrudged it to me；Yea，and to boot，before this，my life and my blood thou didst spare.
So if，thine approval to win，I lavish my blood and my wealth And een to the shoe off my foot，in thy service，I strip myself bare，Twere but the restoring to thee of the loans that I owe to thy grace Which none might reproach thee nor blame，I trow，hadst thou chosn to forbear.
Ungrateful henceforth if I prove for the favours vouchsafed me by thee，Still worthier of blame than thyself of honour and reverence I were.
Then Mamoun showed me honour and favour and said to me，'O uncle，Abou Ishac and Abbas counselled me to put thee to death.'And they counselled thee right loyally，O Commander of the Faithful，'
answered I；'but thou hast done after thine own nature and hast put away what I feared with what I hoped.'O uncle，'rejoined he，'thou didst extinguish my rancour with the humbleness of thine excuse，and I pardon thee without making thee drink the bitterness of obligation to intercessors.'Then he prostrated himself in prayer a long while，after which he raised his head and said to me，'O uncle，knowest thou why I prostrated myself？'
'Haply，'answered I，'thou didst this in thanksgiving to God，for that He hath given thee the mastery over thine enemy.'Not so，'
rejoined he，'but to thank Him for having inspired me to pardon thee and purified my mind towards thee.Now tell me thy story.'
So I told him all that had befallen me and he sent for the freed-woman，who was in her house，expecting the reward.When she came，he said to her，'What moved thee to deal thus with thy lord？'And she answered，'Lust of money.'Hast thou a child or a husband？'asked the Khalif；and she said，'No.'So he bade give her a hundred blows with a whip and imprisoned her for life.
Then he sent for the soldier and his wife and the barber-surgeon and asked the former what had moved him to do thus.'Lust of money，'answered he；whereupon quoth the Khalif，'It befits that thou be abarber-surgeon，'[136] and committed him to one whom he charged to place him in a barbers shop，where he might learn the craft.But his wife he entreated with honour and lodged in his palace，saying，'This is a woman of sense and apt for matters of moment.'Then said he to the barber-surgeon，'Verily，what has come to light of thy worth and generosity calls for extraordinary honour.'So he commanded the troopers house and all that was therein to be given him and bestowed on him a dress of honour and fifteen thousand dinars.'
