shall become valiant as ye avouch, the toil and travail which
will befall him are nought, for that tribulations teach the sons
of kings."

Accordingly, after a few days, the queen gave birth to a male
child, extolled be the perfection of Him who created him
surpassing in grace and goodliness! His father named him Zein ul
Asnam, and he was as say of him certain of his praisers [FN#29] in
verse: [FN#30]

He shows and "Now Allah be blessed!" men say: "Extol we his Maker
and Fashioner aye!
The king of the fair [FN#31] this is, sure, one and all; Ay, his
thralls, every one, and his liegemen are they."

The boy grew and flourished till he came to the age of
five [FN#32] years, when his father the Sultan assigned him a
governor skilled and versed in all sciences and philosophies, and
he proceeded to teach him till he excelled in all manner of
knowledge and became a young man. [FN#33] Then the Sultan bade
bring him before himself, and assembling all the grandees of his
realm and the chiefs of his subjects, proceeded to admonish him
before them, saying to him, "O my son Zein ul Asnam, behold, I am
grown stricken in years and am presently sick; and belike this
sickness will be the last of my life in this world and thou shalt
sit in my stead; [wherefore I desire to admonish thee]. Beware, O
my son, lest thou oppress any or turn a deaf ear to the
complaining of the poor; but do thou justify the oppressed after
the measure of thy might. And look thou believe not all that
shall be said to thee by the great ones of the people, but trust