And as for her saying, ’Indeed, thou hast done justice and wrought equitably, ’tis from the saying of the Almighty, ’If ye swerve[FN#128] or lag behind or turn aside, verily, Allah of that which ye do is well aware;’ and ’As for the swervers[FN#129] they are fuel for Hell.’” Then he turned to the woman and asked her, “Is it not thus?” answered she, “Yes, O Commander of the Faithful,” and quoth he, “What prompted thee to this?” Quoth she, “Thou slewest my parents and my kinsfolk and despoiledst their good.”  Enquired the Caliph, “Whom meanest thou?” and she replied, “I am of the House of Barmak.”  Then said he to her, “As for the dead, they are of those who are past away, and it booteth not to speak of them; but, as for that which I took of wealth, it shall forthright be restored to thee, yea, and more than it.”  And he was bountiful to her to the uttermost of his bounties.

The ten Wazirs:  Or the history of king
Azadbakht and his son.[FN#130]

There was once, of old days, a king of the kings, whose name was Azadbakht; his capital was hight Kunaym Madud[FN#131] and his kingdom extended to the confines of Sistan[FN#132] and from the confines of Hindostan to the Indian Ocean.  He had ten Wazirs, who ordered his kingship and his dominion, and he was possessed of judgment and exceeding wisdom.  One day he went forth with certain of his guards to the chase and fell in with an Eunuch riding a mare and hending in hand the halter of a she-mule, which he led along.  On the mule’s back was a domed litter of brocade purfled with gold and girded with an embroidered band set with pearls and gems, and about it was a company of Knights.  When King Azadbakht saw this, he separated himself from his suite and, making for the horsemen and that mule, questioned them, saying, “To whom belongeth this litter and what is therein?” The Eunuch answered (for he knew not that the speaker was King Azadbakht), saying, “This litter belongeth to Isfahand, Wazir to King Azadbakht, and therein is his daughter, whom he is minded to marry to the King hight Zad Shah.”

As the Eunuch was speaking with the king, behold, the maiden raised a corner of the curtain that shut in the litter, so she might look upon the speaker, and saw the king.  When Azadbakht beheld her and noted her fashion and her loveliness (and indeed never did seer[FN#133] espy her like), his soul inclined to her and she took hold upon his heart and he was ravished by her sight.  So he said to the Eunuch, “Turn the mule’s head and return, for I am King Azadbakht and in very sooth I will marry her myself, inasmuch as Isfahand her sire is my Wazir and he will accept of this affair and it will not be hard to him.”  Answered the Eunuch, “O king, Allah prolong thy continuance, have patience till I acquaint my lord her parent, and thou shalt wed her in the way of consent, for it befitteth thee not, neither is it seemly for thee, to seize her on