She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the old hag
fell to visiting daily Ni'amah's house and frequenting his slave
wife, Naomi; and both ceased not to honour her, and she used to
go in to them morning and evening and all in the house respected
her till, one day, being alone with Naomi, she said to her, "O my
lady! by Allah, when I go to the Holy Places, I will pray for
thee; and I only wish thou wert with me, that thou mightest look
on the Elders of the Faith who resort thither, and they should
pray for thee, according to thy desire." Naomi cried, "I conjure
thee by Allah take me with thee!"; and she replied, "Ask leave of
thy mother in law, and I will take thee." So Naomi said to her
husband's mother, "O my lady, ask my master to let us go forth,
me and thee, one day with this my old mother, to prayer and
worship with the Fakirs in the Holy Places." Now when Ni'amah
came in and sat down, the old woman went up to him and would have
kissed his hand, but he forbade her; so she invoked
blessings[FN#9] on him and left the house. Next day she came
again, in the absence of Ni'amah, and she addressed Naomi,
saying, "We prayed for thee yesterday; but arise now and divert
thyself and return ere thy lord come home." So Naomi said to her
mother-in-law, "I beseech thee, for Allah's sake, give me leave
to go with this pious woman, that I may sight the saints of Allah
in the Holy Places, and return speedily ere my lord come back."
Quoth Ni'amah's mother, "I fear lest thy lord know;" but said the
old woman, "By Allah, I will not let her take seat on the floor;
no, she shall look, standing on her feet, and not tarry." So she
took the damsel by guile and, carrying her to Al-Hajjaj's palace,
told him of her coming, after placing her in a lonely chamber;
whereupon he went in to her and, looking upon her, saw her to be
the loveliest of the people of the day, never had he beheld her