Finally, Ibrahim Chan set forth on an expedition against the enemies of Moscow, and thus was afforded a rare opportunity for the enamored Mirza to present himself and his songs to the fair one’s notice.  One dark evening, when the ladies had failed to appear on the housetop, as Mirza-Schaffy was turning disappointed away he was accosted by a closely-veiled female, who, bidding him follow her, led the way to a secluded spot where interruption would be improbable, and thus addressed him:  “I am Fatima, the confidential attendant of Zuleikha.  My mistress hath gazed on thee with the eye of satisfaction.  The resonance of thy voice hath delighted her ear, the purport of thy songs touched her heart.  I am come of my own accord, without my lady’s bidding, to let thee drink hope from the fountain of my words, because I wish thee well.”

“Has, then, Zuleikha not closed her ear to the poorest of her slaves?” exclaimed the overjoyed Mirza.  “And will my heart not be lacerated by the thorn of her displeasure?  Allah min!  Allah bir!  The God of thousands is one only God!  Great is His goodness and wonderful are His ways!  What have I done that He hath guided the stream of my songs to the sea of beauty?”

Fatima told him he did well to prize the merciful goodness of Allah and the loveliness of her mistress, who was a “jewel in the ring of beauty, a pearl in the shell of fortune.”  Her noble lady, she said, would have given token of her favor before had not her virtuous modesty exceeded her beauty, and had she not feared the displeasure of her father, who tenderly loved her and would never consent to her stooping to a poor mirza.  Then she proceeded to tell how Achmed Chan of Avaria, who was at the war with Ibrahim Chan, was suing for Zuleikha’s hand, which was promised by the father should he return triumphant from the campaign.  This would render prompt action desirable, and Fatima suggested that Mirza-Schaffy should appear on the following evening, when the call to prayer resounded from the minaret, before the garden with his choicest offering of song, to which, the messenger was ready to wager, would be accorded a rosebud.  Intoxicated with joy, Mirza-Schaffy bestowed on the friendly Fatima his purse, his watch and all the valuables about him, also promising a talisman to cure a black spot on her left cheek; and they parted with the understanding that they should meet, again for further communication.

And here, in exemplification of the learned scribe’s rejoinders to his pupil’s queries concerning the significance of the thorn of displeasure and the rosebud, is introduced the song: 

  The thorn is token of rejection,
    Of disapproval and of scorn: 
  If she to union hath objection,
    She giveth me as sign a thorn.

  Yet if, instead, the maiden throws me
    A tender rosebud as a token,
  That fate propitious is it shows me,
    And bids me wait with faith unbroken.