'tis thirteen years ago since I have done such a thing！'''By Allah，'quoth the Shaykh （and indeed he was abashed），'no sin of mine this， she forced me to do it.'Nur al-Din laughed and they sat down again to wine and wassail， but the damsel turned to her master and said in a whisper，'O my lord， drink and do not press him， that I may show thee some sport with him.'Then she began to fill her master's cup and he hers and so they did time after time， till at last Shaykh Ibrahim looked at them and said，'What fashion of good fellowship is this？ Allah curse the glutton who keepeth the cup to himself！ Why dost thou not give me to drink， O my brother？ What manners are these， O blessed one？'At this the two laughed until they fell on their backs； then they drank and gave him to drink and ceased not their carousal till a third part of the night was past.Then said the damsel，'O Shaykh Ibrahim， with thy leave I will get up and light one of these candles.''Do so，'he replied，'but light no more than one.'So she sprang to her feet and， beginning with one candle， lighted all the eighty and sat down again.Presently Nur al-Din said，'O Shaykh Ibrahim， in what favour am I with thee？ May I not light one of these lamps？''Light one，'replied he，'and bother me no more in thy turn！'So he rose and lighted one lamp after another， till he had lighted the whole eight and the palace seemed to dance with brilliancy.Quoth the Shaykh （and indeed intoxication had overcome him），'Ye two are bolder than I am.'
Then he rose to his feet and opened all the lattices and sat down again； and they fell to carousing and reciting verses till the place rang with their noisy mirth.Now Allah， the Decreer who decreeth all things and who for every effect appointeth a cause， had so disposed that the Caliph was at that moment sitting in the light of the moon at one of the windows of his palace overlooking the Tigris.He saw the blaze of the lamps and wax candles reflected in the river and， lifting his eyes， perceived that it came from the Garden Palace which was all ablaze with brilliancy.
So he cried，'Here to me with Ja'afar the Barmaki！' and the last word was hardly spoken ere the Wazir was present before the Commander of the Faithful， who cried at him，'O dog of a Minister， hast thou taken from me this city of Baghdad without saying aught to me？''What words are these words？'asked Ja'afar； and the Caliph answered，'If Baghdad city were not taken from me， the Palace of Pictures would not be illuminated with lamps and candles， nor would its windows be thrown open.Woe to thee！ who durst do a deed like this except the Caliphate had been taken from me？'Quoth Ja'afar （and indeed his side-muscles trembled as he spoke），'Who told thee that the Palace of Pictures was illuminated and the windows thrown open？''Come hither and see，'replied the Caliph.Then Ja'afar came close to the Caliph and， looking towards the garden， saw the palace blazing with illumination that rayed through the gloom of the night； and， thinking that this might have been permitted by the keeper for some reason of his own， he wished to make an excuse for him； so quoth he，'O Commander of the Faithful， Shaykh Ibrahim said to me last week，'O my lord Ja'afar， I much wish to circumcise my sons during the life of the Commander of the Faithful and thy life.'
I asked，'What dost thou want？'； and he answered，'Get me leave from the Caliph to hold the festival in the Garden Palace.'So said I to him，'Go circumcise them and I will see the Caliph and tell him.'Thereupon he went away and I forgot to let thee know.''O Ja'afar，'said the Caliph，'thou hast committed two offences against me； first in that thou didst no report to me， secondly， thou didst not give him what he sought； for he came and told thee this only as excuse to ask for some small matter of money， to help him with the outlay； and thou gavest him nothing nor toldest me.''O Commander of the Faithful，'said Ja'afar，'I forgot.''Now by the rights of my forefathers and the tombs of my forbears，'quoth the Caliph，'I will not pass the rest of this night save in company with him； for truly he is a pious man who frequenteth the Elders of the Faith and the Fakirs and other religious mendicants and entertaineth them； doubtless they are not assembled together and it may be that the prayer of one of them will work us weal both in this world and in the next.
Besides， my presence may profit and at any rate be pleasing to Shaykh Ibrahim.'O Commander of the Faithful，'quoth Ja'afar，'the greater part of the night is passed， and at this time they will be breaking up.'Quoth the Caliph，'It matters not： I needs must go to them.'So Ja'afar held his peace， being bewildered and knowing not what to do.Then the Caliph rose to his feet and， taking with him Ja'afar and Masrur the eunuch sworder， the three disguised themselves in merchants'gear and leaving the City-palace， kept threading the streets till they reached the garden. The Caliph went up to the gate and finding it wide open， was surprised and said，'See， O Ja'afar， how Shaykh Ibrahim hath left the gate open at this hour contrary to his custom！'They went in and walked on till they came under the pavilion， when the Caliph said，'O Ja'afar， I wish to look in upon them unawares before I show myself， that I may see what they are about and get sight of the elders； for hitherto I have heard no sound from them， nor even a Fakir calling upon the name of Allah.[52]'
