slaves followed after her, in all fair ordinance and disposition,
whilst the folk stood to gaze on the beauty of the slave-girls
and extolled the perfection of the Almighty Creator, till she
reached the palace and entered it with them.

When the eunuchs and chamberlains and captains of the guard saw
them, wonder took them and they were breathless for amaze at this
sight, the like whereof they had never in their lives seen, and
especially at the slave girls, each one of whom would ravish the
wit of an anchorite. Withal, the chamberlains and captains of the
Sultan's guards were all of them sons of grandees and Amirs; and
they marvelled yet more at the damsels' costly raiment and the
dishes which they bore on their heads and on which they might not
open their eyes, [FN#433] for the excess of their flashing and
radiance. Then the guards [FN#434] entered and told the Sultan,
who bade bring them before him forthright into the Divan. So
Alaeddin's mother entered with them and when they came before the
Sultan, they all did obeisance to him with the utmost courtliness
and gravity and invoked on him glory and prosperity; then,
raising the dishes from their heads, they set them down before
him and stood with their hands clasped behind them, after they
had removed the covers.

The Sultan wondered with an exceeding wonderment and was
confounded at the beauty of the girls and their loveliness, which
overpassed description; his wit was bewildered, when he saw the
golden dishes, full of jewels that dazzled the sight, and he was
amazed at this marvel, so that he became as one dumb, unable to
speak aught, of the excess of his wonderment; nay, his wit was
the more perplexed, forasmuch as this had all been accomplished