and Nur al-Din, remembering his entertainments of time past,
cried, "By Allah, this is a pleasant place; it hath quenched in
me anguish which burned as a fire of Ghaza-wood.[FN#49]" Then
they sat down and Shaykh Ibrahim set food before them; and they
ate till they were satisfied and washed their hands: after which
Nur al-Din went up to one of the latticed windows, and, calling
to his handmaid fell to gazing on the trees laden with all manner
fruits. Presently he turned to the Gardener and said to him, "O
Shaykh Ibrahim hast thou no drink here, for folk are wont to
drink after eating?" The Shaykh brought him sweet water, cool
and pleasant, but he said, "This is not the kind of drink I
wanted." "Perchance thou wishest for wine?" "Indeed I do, O
Shaykh!" "I seek refuge from it with Allah: it is thirteen years
since I did this thing, for the Prophet (Abhak[FN#50]) cursed its
drinker, presser, seller and carrier!" "Hear two words of me."
"Say on." "If yon cursed ass[FN#51] which standeth there be
cursed, will aught of his curse alight upon thee?" "By no means!"
"Then take this dinar and these two dirhams and mount yonder ass
and, halting afar from the wine-shop, call the first man thou
seest buying liquor and say to him, 'Take these two dirhams for
thyself, and with this dinar buy me some wine and set it on the
ass.' So shalt thou be neither the presser, nor the buyer, nor
the carrier; and no part of the curse will fall upon thee." At
this Shaykh Ibrahim laughed and said, "By Allah, O my son, I
never saw one wilier of wit than thou art, nor heard aught
sweeter than thy speech." So he did as he was bidden by Nur al-
Din who thanked him and said, "We two are now dependent on thee,
and it is only meet that thou comply with our wishes; so bring us
here what we require." "O my son," replied he, "this is my
buttery before thee" (and it was the store-room provided for the