eards. These were anchorites, who had lived all their days
concealed in caves. They never appeared in sight of the world,
but when they were to assist at the obsequies of the sultans of
Harran, and of the princes of their family. Each of these
venerable persons carried on his head a book, which he held with
one hand. They took three turns round the dome without uttering
a word; then stopping before the door, one of them said, "O
prince! what can we do for thee? If thou couldst be restored to
life by prayer or learning, we would rub our grey beards at thy
feet, and recite prayers; but the King of the universe has taken
thee away for ever."

This said, the old men moved to a distance from the dome, and
immediately fifty beautiful young maidens drew near to it; each
of them mounted on a little white horse; they wore no veils, and
carried gold baskets full of all sorts of precious stones. They
also rode thrice round the dome, and halting at the same place as
the others had done, the youngest of them spoke in the name of
all, as follows: "O prince! once so beautiful, what relief can
you expect from us? If we could restore you to life by our
charms, we would become your slaves. But you are no longer
sensible to beauty, and have no more occasion for us."

When the young maids were withdrawn, the sultan and his courtiers
arose, and having walked thrice around the tomb, the sultan spoke
as follows: "O my dear son, light of my eyes, I have then lost
thee for ever!" He accompanied these words with sighs, and
watered the tomb with his tears; his courtiers weeping with him.
The gate of the dome was then closed, and all the people returned
to the city. Next day there were public prayers in all the
mosques, and the same was continued for eight days successively.
On the ninth the king resolved to cause the princes his sons to
be beheaded. The people incensed at their cruelty towards
Codadad, impatiently expected to see them executed. The
scaffolds were erecting, but the execution was respited, because,
on a sudden, intelligence was brought that the neighbouring
princes, who had before made war on the sultan of Harran, were
advancing with more numerous forces than on the first invasion,
and were then not far from the city. It had been long known that
they were preparing for war, but their preparations caused no
alarm. This news occasioned general consternation, and gave new
cause to lament the loss of Codadad, who had