ABSTRACT
IT is related in the annals of the people and the books of old time-but Allah alone knows the past and the future!—that the Khalifah Harun al-Rashid, of the orthodox line of the sons of Abbas, rose in his bed one night with a heavy heart and sent for Masrur the swordbearer. When Masrur came, he said to him: 'This night is a heavy weight upon my heart which I require you to lift, O Masrur.' 'Then rise up, O Commander of the Faithful,' answered the eunuch, 'and let us go out on to the terrace to see the tent of the sky pierced with stars, to watch the bright walking of the moon, to hear the music of the rippling water and the plaint of the water-wheels, of which the poet has said:
The water-wheels, which weep from either eye Yet make a merry chanting as they spin,
Are like young lovers who will groan and cry When all their heart is ecstasy within.
