Then he commanded one of the slave-girls to take the lute and
strike it at Aboulhusn's head, whilst the rest smote upon their
instruments. [So they played and sang,] till Aboulhusn awoke at
the last of the night and heard the noise of lutes and tabrets
and the sound of the pipes and the singing of the slave-girls,
whereupon he opened his eyes and finding himself in the palace,
with the slave-girls and eunuchs about him, exclaimed, 'There is
no power and no virtue but in God the Most High, the Supreme!
Verily, I am fearful of the hospital and of that which I suffered
therein aforetime, and I doubt not but the Devil is come to me
again, as before. O my God, put thou Satan to shame!" Then he
shut his eyes and laid his head in his sleeve and fell to
laughing softly and raising his head [bytimes], but [still] found
the apartment lighted and the girls singing.

Presently, one of the eunuchs sat down at his head and said to
him, "Sit up, O Commander of the Faithful, and look on thy palace
and thy slave-girls." Quoth Aboulhusn, "By the protection of God,
am I in truth Commander of the Faithful and dost thou not lie?
Yesterday, I went not forth neither ruled, but drank and slept,
and this eunuch cometh to rouse me up." Then he sat up and
bethought himself of that which had betided him with his mother
and how he had beaten her and entered the hospital, and he saw
the marks of the beating, wherewithal the superintendant of the
hospital had beaten him, and was perplexed concerning his affair
and pondered in himself, saying, "By Allah, I know not how my
case is nor what is this that betideth me!"

Then he turned to a damsel of the damsels and said to her, "Who