Allah ease thee in this world and the next, even as thou hast
eased me of this vile woman! Her attempt led only to her own
destruction, and Allah-gifted is he who said:--

When forwards Allah's aid a man's intent, * His wish in every
case shall find consent:
But an that aid of Allah be refused, * His first attempt shall do
him damagement."

Then King Ma'aruf called aloud to some of his attendants, who
came in haste, and he told them what his wife Fatimah the Dung
had done and bade them to take her and lay her in a place till
the morning. They did his bidding, and next day he gave her in
charge to a number of eunuchs, who washed her and shrouded her
and made her a tomb[FN#106] and buried her. Thus her coming from
Cairo was but to her grave, and Allah-gifted is he who
said[FN#107]:--

We trod the steps appointed for us: and he whose steps are
appointed must tread them.
He whose death is decreed to take place in our land shall not die
in any land but that.

And how excellent is the saying of the poet:--

I wot not, whenas to a land I fare, * Good luck pursuing, what my
lot shall be.
Whether the fortune I perforce pursue * Or the misfortune which
pursueth me.