ABSTRACT
IT is related, O auspicious King, that the wazir of the victorious Salah al-Din had a young Christian boy among the number of his favourite slaves, who was so beautiful and tender that the eyes of all men loved him. One day, as the wazir was walking with this child, he was seen by Salah al-Din and commanded to approach. The Sultan, casting a delighted glance upon the boy, asked the wazir whence he came. ‘From Allah, my lord,’ answered the wazir a little uncomfortably. As Salah alDin went on his way, he smiled and said: ‘Now, O our wazir, you have found a way to control us by the beauty of a star and prison us in the enchantment of a moon.’
