Then she gave the lute to Nimeh, saying, "Sing thou to us." So he took it and playing a lively measure, sang these verses:
The moon were like thee at its full, were it of freckles free, And did it never brook eclipse, the sun would favour thee. Indeed, I marvel, (but in love how many a marvel is! Therein are passion and desire and cares and ecstasy,) Short seems the distance, when I fare towards my love's abode; But when I journey from her sight, the way is long to me.
When he had made an end of his song, Num filled the cup and gave it to him, and he drank it off; then she filled again and gave the cup to the princess, who took it and emptied it; after which she in her turn took the lute and sang as follows:
Mourning and grief possess my heart and in my breast The ardour of desire abideth as a guest. The wasting of my frame, alas! is manifest And all my soul is sick with passion and unrest.
Then she filled the cup and gave it to Num, who drank it off and taking the lute, sang the following verses:
O thou, upon whom I bestowed my soul and thou rack'dst it to death And I would have ta'en it again, but could not release it i' faith, Relent to a lover forlorn; vouchsafe him, I pray, ere he die, What may from perdition redeem, for this is the last of his breath.
They ceased not to sing and make merry and drink to the sweet sound of the strings, full of mirth and joyance and good cheer, till, behold, in came the Commander of the Faithful. When they saw him, they rose and kissed the ground before him; and he, seeing Num with the lute in her hand, said to her, "O Num, praised be God who hath done away from thee pain and affliction!" Then he looked at Nimeh (who was still disguised as a woman) and said to the princess, "O my sister, what damsel is this by Num's side?" "O Commander of the Faithful," answered she, "she is one of thy slave-girls and the bosom friend of Num, who will neither eat nor drink without her." And she repeated the words of the poet:
Two opposites, dissevered still in charms and straitly knit, And each one's beauty brightlier shows against its opposite.
"By the Great God," said the Khalif, "she is as handsome as Num, and to-morrow, I will appoint her a separate chamber beside that of Num and send her furniture and linen and all that befits her, in honour of Num." Then, the princess called for food and set it before her brother, who ate and filling a cup, signed to Num to sing. So she took the lute, after drinking two cups, and sang the following verses: