heart longeth to cut off thy pate."[FN#49] Hereupon quoth the
youth, "An I knew thou couldst slay me I had not worshipped any
god save thyself," and quoth Al-Hajjaj, "Woe to thee and who
shall stay me from slaying thee?" "To thyself be the woe with
measure enow," cried the youth; "He shall hinder thee from
killing me who administereth between a man and his heart,[FN#50]
and who falseth not his promise." "'Tis He," rejoined Al-Hajjaj,
"who directeth me to thy death;" but the Youth retorted, "Allah
forfend that He appoint thee to my slaughter; nay rather art thou
commissioned by thy Devil, and I take refuge with the Lord form
Satan the stoned." "Whence then art thou, O young man?" "I am
from Yathrib."[FN#51] "And what be Yathrib?" "It is Tayyibah."
"And what be Tayyibah?" "Al-Madinah, the Luminate, the mine of
inspiration and explanation and prohibition and
licitation,[FN#52] and I am the seed of the Banu Ghalib[FN#53]
and the purest scion of the Imam 'Ali bin Abi Talib (Allah honour
his countenance and accept of him!), and all degree and
descent[FN#54] must fail save my descent and degree which shall
never be cut off until the Day of Doom." Hereupon Al-Hajjaj raged
with exceeding rage and ordered the Youth to execution; whereat
rose up against him the Lords of the realm and the headman of the
reign and sued him by was of intercession and stretched out to
him their necks, saying, "Here are our heads before his head and
our lives before his life. By Allah, ho thou the Emir, there is
naught but that thou accept our impenetration in the matter of
this Youth, for he is on no wise deserving of death." Quoth the
Governor, "Weary not yourselves for needs must I slay him; and
even were an Angel from Heaven cry out 'Kill him not,' I would
never hearken to his cry." Quoth the youth, "Thou shalt be
baffled[FN#55] O Hajjaj! Who art thou that an Angel from Heaven