but I must fear you all the more.

CALIPH
But why? I am but a kindly man. I love single-heartedness in men
as I love simplicity in my palace. There you have seen floors with but
one carpet--but that carpet like a meadow. You have seen walls with but
one curtain--but that curtain a sunset on the sea. You have seen white rooms
all naked marble: but they await my courtiers, all dressed like flowers.
If, therefore, I avoid complexity in the matter of walls and floors,
shall I not be simple in the things of heart and soul?
Shall I not, Hassan, be just your friend?

HASSAN
Master, I find thy friendship like thy palace, endowed with all
the charm of beauty and the magic of surprise. As thou knowest,
I am but a man of the streets of Bagdad, and there men say,
"The Caliph's Palace, Mashallah! The walls are stiff with gold
and the ceilings plated with silver, and the urinals thereof
are lined with turquoise blue." And hearing men say this,
many a time hath Hassan the Confectioner stroked the chin
of Hassan the Confectioner saying, "O, Hassan, thy back parlour
is less ugly than that, with its tub for boiling sugar,
and its one good Bokhara carpet hanging on the wall.
And twelve months did I work at the tub, boiling sugar to buy that carpet."

CALIPH
What a man you are for poetry and carpets! When you tread on a carpet,
you drop your eyes to earth to catch the pattern
and when you hear a poem, you raise your eyes to heaven to hear the tune.
Whoever saw a confectioner like this? When did you learn poetry,