his mule and stayed not till he reached the Wazir's palace. There he
dismounted and went in to the Minister and kissed his hands, and the

Wazir bade him welcome, saying: "Arise and go in to thy wife this
night, and on the morrow I will carry thee to the Sultan, and pray

Allah bless thee with all manner of weal." So Nur al-Din left him
and went in to his wife the Wazir's daughter.

Thus far concerning him, but as regards his elder brother, Shams
al-Din, he was absent with the Sultan a long time, and when he

returned from his journey he found not his brother, and he asked of
his servants and slaves, who answered: "On the day of thy departure

with the Sultan, thy brother mounted his mule fully caparisoned as for
state processionsaying, 'I am going towards Kalyub town, and I

shall be absent one day or at most two days, for my breast is
straitened, and let none of you follow me.' Then he fared forth, and

from that time to this we have heard no tidings of him." Shams
al-Din was greatly troubled at the sudden disappearance of his brother

and grieved with exceeding grief at the loss, and said to himself:
"This is only because I chided and upbraided him the night before my

departure with the Sultan. Haply his feelings were hurt, and he
fared forth a-traveling, but I must send after him." Then he went in

to the Sultan and acquainted him with what had happened and wrote
letters and dispatches, which he sent by running footmen to his

deputies in every province. But during the twenty days of his
brother's absence Nur al-Din had traveled far and had reached

Bassorah, so after diligent search the messengers failed to come at
any news of him and returned. Thereupon Shams al-Din despaired of

finding his brother and said: "Indeed I went beyond all bounds in what
I said to him with reference to the marriage of our children. Would

that I had not done so! This all cometh of my lack of wit and want
of caution."

Soon after this he sought in marriage the daughter of a Cairene
merchant, and drew up the marriage contract, and went in to her. And

it so chanced that on the very same night when Shams al-Din went in to
his wife, Nur al-Din also went in to his wife, the daughter of the

Wazir of Bassorah, this being in accordance with the will of
Almighty Allah, that He might deal the decrees of Destiny to His

creatures. Furthermore, it was as the two brothers had said, for their
two wives became pregnant by them on the same night and both were

brought to bed on the same day, the wife of Shams al-Din, Wazir of
Egypt, of a daughter, never in Cairo was seen a fairer, and the wife

of Nur al-Din of a son, none more beautiful was ever seen in his time,
as one of the poets said concerning the like of him:

That jetty hair, that glossy brow,
My slender waisted youth, of thine,

Can darkness round creation throw,
Or make it brightly shine.

The dusky mole that faintly shows
Upon his cheek, ah! blame it not.

The tulip flower never blows
Undarkened by its spot.

They named the boy Badr al-Din Hasan and his grandfather, the
Wazir of Bassorah, rejoiced in him, and on the seventh day after his

birth made entertainments and spread banquets which would befit the
birth of kings' sons and heirs. Then he took Nur al-Din and went up

with him to the Sultan, and his son-in-law, when he came before the
presence of the King, kissed the ground between his hands and repeated

these verses, for he was ready of speech, firm of sprite and good in
heart, as he was goodly in form:

"The world's best joys long be thy lot, my lord!
And last while darkness and the dawn o'erlap.

O thou who makest, when we greet thy gifts,
The world to dance and Time his palms to clap."

Then the Sultan rose up to honor them and, thanking Nur al-Din for
his fine compliment, asked the Wazir, "Who may be this young man?" And

the Minister answered, "This is my brother's son," and related his
tale from first to last. Quoth the Sultan, "And how comes he to be thy

nephew and we have never heard speak of him?" Quoth the Minister: "O
our lord the Sultan, I had a brother who was Wazir in the land of

Egypt and he died, leaving two sons, whereof the elder hath taken
his father's place and the younger, whom thou seest, came to me. I had

sworn I would not marry my daughter to any but him, so when he came
I married him to her. Now he is young and I am old, my hearing is

dulled and my judgment is easily fooled, wherefore I would solicit our
lord the Sultan to set him in my stead, for he is my brother's son and

my daughter's husband, and he is fit for the wazirate, being a man
of good counsel and ready contrivance."

The Sultan looked at Nur al-Din and liked him, so he stablished
him in office as the Wazir had requested and formally appointed him,

presenting him with a splendid dress of honor and a she-mule from
his private stud, and assigning to him solde, stipends, and

supplies. Nur al-Din kissed the Sultan's hand and went home, he and
his father-in-law, joying with exceeding joy and saying, "All this

followeth on the heels of the boy Hasan's birth!" Next day he
presented himself before the King and, kissing the ground, began

repeating:
"Grow thy weal and thy welfare day by day,

And thy luck prevail o'er the envier's spite,
And ne'er cease thy days to be white as day,

And thy foeman's day to be black as night!"
The Sultan bade him be seated on the Wazir's seat, so he sat down

and applied himself to the business of his office and went into the
cases of the lieges and their suits, as is the wont of Ministers,

while the Sultan watched him and wondered at his wit and good sense,
judgment and insight. Wherefor he loved him and took him into

intimacy. When the Divan was dismissed, Nur al-Din returned to his
house and related what had passed to his father-in-law, who

rejoiced. And thenceforward Nur al-Din ceased not so to administer the
wazirate that the Sultan would not be parted from him night or day,

and increased his stipends and supplies till his means were ample
and he became the owner of ships that made trading voyages at his

command, as well as of Mamelukes and blackamoor slaves. And he laid
out many estates and set up Persian wheels and planted gardens.

When his son Hasan was four years of age, the old Wazir deceased,
and he made for his father-in-law a sumptuousfuneralceremony ere

he was laid in the dust. Then he occupied himself with the education
of this son, and when the boy waxed strong and came to the age of

seven, he brought him a fakir, a doctor of law and religion, to
teach him in his own house, and charged him to give him a good

education and instruct him in politeness and good manners. So the
tutor made the boy read and retain all varieties of useful

knowledge, after he had spent some years in learning the Koran by
heart, and he ceased not to grow in beauty and stature and symmetry.

The professor brought him up in his father's palace, teaching him
reading, writing and ciphering, theology, and belles lettres. His

grandfather, the old Wazir, had bequeathed to him the whole of his
property when he was but four years of age.

Now during all the time of his earliest youth he had never left
the house till on a certain day his father, the Wazir Nur al-Din, clad

him in his best clothes and, mounting him on a she-mule of the finest,
went up with him to the Sultan. The King gazed at Badr al-Din Hasan

and marveled at his comeliness and loved him. As for the city folk,
when he first passed before them with his father, they marveled at his

exceeding beauty and sat down on the road expecting his return, that
they might look their fill on his beauty and loveliness and symmetry

and perfect grace. And they blessed him aloud as he passed and
called upon Almighty Allah to bless him. The Sultan entreated the

lad with especial favor and said to his father, "O Wazir, thou must
needs bring him daily to my presence." Whereupon he replied, "I hear

and I obey."
Then the Wazir returned home with his son and ceased not to carry

him to court till he reached the age of twenty. At that time the
Minister sickened and, sending for Badr al-Din Hasan, said to him: