the virtue of Hemzeh[FN#19] and Akil[FN#20] and Mohammed, Prince
of the Apostles, if thou name one other than I in my presence, I
will bid strike off thy head!" Then he bade return her to her
chamber, whilst she wept and recited the following verses:

If I must die, then welcome death to heal My woes; 'twere lighter
than the pangs I feel.
What if the sabre cut me limb from limb! No torment 'twere for
lovers true and leal.

Then the Khalif went in to the Lady Zubeideh, pale with anger,
and she noted this in him and said to him, "How cometh it that I
see the Commander of the Faithful changed of colour?" "O daughter
of my uncle," answered he, "I have a beautiful slave-girl, who
reciteth verses and telleth stories, and she hath taken my whole
heart; but she loveth other than I and avoucheth that she loveth
her [former] master; wherefore I have sworn a great oath that, if
she come again to my sitting-chamber and sing for other than I, I
will assuredly take a span from her highest part."[FN#21]Quoth
Zubeideh, "Let the Commander of the Faithful favour me with her
presence, so I may look on her and hear her singing." So he bade
fetch her and she came, whereupon the Lady Zubeideh withdrew
behind the curtain, whereas she saw her not, and Er Reshid said
to her, "Sing to us." So she took the lute and tuning it, sang
the following verses:

Lo, since the day I left you, O my masters, Life is not sweet, no
aye my heart is light.
Yea, in the night the thought of you still slays me; Hidden are
my traces from the wise men's sight,