As for the woman, whenas the man went out from her, she resolved to depart; so she went forth, saying in herself, ’There is no journeying for me in woman’s attire.’  Then she donned men’s apparel, such as is worn of the pious, and set out and wandered over the earth; nor did she leave going till she entered a certain city.  Now the king of that city had an only daughter in whom he gloried and whom he loved, and she saw the devotee and deeming her a pilgrim youth, said to her father, ’I would fain have this youth take up his abode with me, so I may learn of him wisdom and renunciation and religion.’  Her father rejoiced in this and commanded the [supposed] pilgrim to take up his sojourn with his daughter in his palace.  Now they were in one place and the king’s daughter was strenuous to the utterest in continence and chastity and nobility of mind and magnanimity and devotion to the worship of God; but the ignorant slandered her[FN#5] and the folk of the realm said, ’The king’s daughter loveth the pilgrim youth and he loveth her.’

Now the king was a very old man and destiny decreed the ending of his term of life; so he died and when he was buried, the folk assembled and many were the sayings of the people and of the king’s kinsfolk and officers, and they took counsel together to slay the princess and the young pilgrim, saying, ’This fellow dishonoureth us with yonder strumpet and none accepteth dishonour but the base.’  So they fell upon them and slew the princess, without questioning her of aught; whereupon the pious woman (whom they deemed a boy) said to them, ’Out on ye, O misbelievers I Ye have slain the pious lady.’  Quoth they, ’Lewd fellow that thou art, dost thou bespeak us thus?  Thou lovedst her and she loved thee, and we will slay thee without mercy.’  ‘God forbid!’ answered she, ‘Indeed, the affair is the contrary of this.’  ’What proof hast thou of that?’ asked they, and she said, ’Bring me women.’  So they brought her women, and when they looked on her, they found her a woman.

When the townsfolk saw this, they repented of that which they had done and the affair was grievous to them; so they sought pardon [of God] and said to her, ’ By the virtue of Him whom thou servest, do thou seek pardon for us [of God!]’ Quoth she, ’As for me, I may no longer abide with you and I am about to depart from you.’  Then they humbled themselves in supplication to her and wept and said to her, ’We conjure thee, by the virtue of God the Most High, that thou take upon thyself the governance of the kingdom and of the subjects.’  But she refused; whereupon they came up to her and wept and gave not over supplicating her, till she consented and abode in the kingship.  Her first commandment was that they should bury the princess and build over her a dome[FN#6] and she abode in that palace, worshipping God the Most High and ruling the people with justice, and God (extolled be His perfection and exalted be He!) vouchsafed her, by reason of the excellence of her piety and her patience and continence, the acceptance of her prayers, so that she sought not aught of Him to whom belong might and majesty, but He granted her prayer; and her report was noised abroad in all countries.