en the world dawned to him a third time in those regions the
damsel was no longer there, but in her place the Lily of Light. He
thought, 'It was a vision, that damsel! a terrible one; one to terrify
and bewilder! a bitter sweetness! Oh, the heart, the heart!' Reflecting
on the heart brought to his lids an overcharging of tears, and he wept
violently awhile. Then was he warned by the thought of his betrothed to
take the Lily and speed with it from the realms of Rabesqurat; and he
stole along the halls of the palace, and by the plashing fountains, and
across the magic courts, passing chambers of sleepers, fair dreamers, and
through ante-rooms crowded with thick-lipped slaves. Lo, as he held the
Lily to light him on, and the light of the Lily fell on them that were
asleep, they paled and shrank, and were such as the death-chill maketh of
us. So he called upon his head the protection of Allah, and went swifter,
to chase from his limbs the shudder of awe; and there were some that
slept not, but stared at him with fixed eyes, eyes frozen by the light of
the Lily, and he shunned those, for they were like spectres, haunting
spirits. After he had coursed the length of the palace, he came to a
steep place outside it, a rock with steps cut in stairs, and up these he
went till he came to a small door in the rock, and lying by it a bar; so
he seized the bar and smote the door, and the door shivered, for on his
right wrist were the hairs of Garraveen. Bending his body, he slipped
through the opening, and behold, an orchard dropping blossoms and ripe
golden fruits, streams flowing through it over sands, and brooks bounding
above glittering gems, and long dewy grasses, profusion of scented
flowers, shade and sweetness. So he let himself down to the ground, which
was an easy leap from the aperture, and walked through the garden,
holding the Lily behind him, for here it darkened all, and the glowing
orchard was a desert by its light. Presently, his eye fell on a couch
swinging between two almond trees, and advancing to it he beheld the
black-eyed Queen gathered up, folded temptingly, like a swaying fruit;
she with the gold circlet on her head, and she was fair as blossom of the
almond in a breeze of the wafted rose-leaf. Sweetly was she gathered up,
folded temptingly, and Shibli Bagarag refrained from using the Lily,
thinking, ''Tis like the great things foretold of me, this having of
Queens within the very grasp, swinging to and fro as if