When she had finished，I took the lute and playing a quaint prelude，sang the following verses：
Glory to Him who gave thee all beauty in earth and skies So Im become of thy bondsmen for ever and thy prize.
Thou that art gifted with glances that make mankind thy slaves，Pray we may come off scathless from the sorcery of thine eyes.
Two opposites，fire，incarnate in shining splendour of flame，And water，thy cheek uniteth，conjoined in wondrous wise.
How dulcet and yet how bitter thou art to my heart，alack！To which thou at once and ever art Hell and Paradise！
When she heard this，she rejoiced with an exceeding joy；then，dismissing her women，she brought me to a most goodly place，where they had spread us a bed of various colours. She did off her clothes and I had a lovers privacy of her and found her an unpierced pearl and a filly no man had ridden. So I rejoiced in her and repeated the following verses：
Stay with us，Night，I prithee！I want no morning white；The face of my beloved sufficeth me for light.
I gave my love，for chin-band，my palm spread open wide And eke for ringdoves collar，my arms about him dight.
This is indeed th attainment of fortunes topmost height！We clip and clip and care not to stir from our delight.
Never in my life knew I a more delightful night than this，and I abode with her a whole month，forsaking shop and home and family，till one day she said to me，'O light of my eyes，O my lord Mohammed，I have a mind to go to the bath to-day；so sit thou on this couch and budge not from thy place，till I return to thee.'
'I hear and obey，'answered I，and she made me swear to this；
after which she took her women and went off to the bath. But，by Allah，O my brothers，she had not reached the end of the street，when the door opened and in came an old woman，who said to me，'O my lord Mohammed，the lady Zubeideh bids thee to her，for she hath heard of thine elegance and accomplishments and skill in singing.'By Allah，'answered I，'I will not rise from my place，till the lady Dunya come back.'O my lord，'rejoined the old woman，'do not anger the lady Zubeideh with thee and make an enemy of her. Come，speak with her and return to thy place.'So I rose and followed her into the presence of the princess，who said to me，'O light of the eye，art thou the lady Dunyas beloved？'
'At thy service，'answered I. Quoth she，'He spoke sooth who reported thee possessed of grace and beauty and good breeding and all good qualities；indeed，thou surpassest report；but now sing to me，that I may hear thee.'I hear and obey， answered I. So she brought me a lute，and I sang the following verses：
The heart of the lover is weary with loving and striving in vain，And even as a spoil is his body in the hands of sickness and pain.
Who should there be，mongst the riders on camels with haltered head，Save a lover whose dear-beloved the camel-litters contain！
A moon，in your tents that rises，to Allah I commend，One my heart loves and tenders，shut in from the sight of her swain.
Anon she is kind，anon angry： how goodly her coquetry is！For all that is done of a loved one must needs to her lover be fain.
When I had finished，she said to me，'God assain thy body and sweeten thy voice！Verily，thou art perfect in beauty and good breeding and singing. But now rise and return to thy place，ere the lady Dunya come back，lest she find thee not and he wroth with thee.'So I kissed the earth before her and the old woman forewent me to the door whence I came. I entered and going up to the couch，found that my wife had come back and was lying asleep there. So I sat down at her feet and rubbed them；whereupon she opened her eyes and seeing me，drew up her feet and gave me a kick that threw me off the couch，saying，'O traitor，thou hast been false to thine oath and hast perjured thyself. Thou sworest to me that thou wouldst not stir from thy place；yet didst thou break thy promise and go to the lady Zubeideh. By Allah，but that I fear scandal，I would pull down the palace over her head！'Then said she to her black slave，'Harkye，Sewab，arise and strike off this lying traitors head，for we have no further need of him.'
So the slave came up to me and tearing a strip from his skirt，bound my eyes with it and would have cut off my head；but all her women，great and small，came up to her and said to her，'O our lady，this is not the first who hath erred： indeed，he knew not thy humour and hath done nothing deserving of death.'By Allah，'replied she，'I must needs set my mark on him.'And she bade beat me；so they beat me on my sides，and the marks ye saw are the scars of that beating. Then she bade them put me out，and they carried me to a distance from the house and cast me down. I rose and dragged myself little by little to my own house，where I sent for a surgeon，who dressed my wounds and comforted me. As soon as I was recovered and my pains and sickness had left me，I went to the bath and thence betaking myself to my shop，sold all that was therein. With the proceeds，I bought four hundred white slaves，such as no king ever got together，and caused two hundred of them ride out with me every day. Then I made me yonder barge，on which I spent five thousand dinars，and styled myself Khalif and appointed each of my servants to the charge and clad him in the habit of some one of the Khalifs officers. Moreover，I let cry abroad，'Whoso goeth a-pleasuring on the Tigris [by night]，I will strike off his head without mercy；'and on this wise have I done this whole year past，during which time I have heard no news of the lady neither happened upon any trace of her.'And he wept copiously and repeated the following verses：
By Allah，I will never all my life long forget her，my dear；And those only will I tender，who shall bring her to me to draw near.
Now glory to her Maker and Creator be given evermore！As the full moon in the heavens，in her aspect and her gait she doth appear.
She，indeed，hath made me weariful and wakeful，full of sorrow，sick for love；Yea，my heart is all confounded at her beauty，dazed for trouble and for fear.
