tty
story. Being once in the presence of Abd Al-Malik, this prince said to
Kuthaiyr: "I conjure thee by the rights of Ali Abi Ibn Talib to inform
me if thou ever sawest a truer lover than thyself."

To this Kuthaiyr replied: "Commander of the Faithful! conjure me by your
own rights, and I shall answer you."

"Well," said the prince, "I conjure thee by my own rights; wilt thou not
tell it to me now?"

"Certainly," said Kuthaiyr; "I will. As I was travelling in a certain
desert, I beheld a man who had just pitched his toils to catch game, and
I said to him: 'Why art thou sitting here?' And he replied: 'I and my
people are dying with hunger, and I have pitched these toils that I may
catch something which may sustain our lives till to morrow.' 'Tell me,'
said I, 'if I remain with thee and thou takest any game, wilt thou give
me a share?' He answered that he would; and whilst we were waiting,
behold, a gazelle got into the net. We both rushed forward; but he
outran me, and having disentangled the animal, he let it go. 'What,'
said I, 'could have induced thee to do so?' He replied: 'On seeing her
so like my beloved Laila in the eyes, I was touched with pity.'"

Little men who are disposed to envy the big on account of fair ladies
may take comfort from Kuthaiyr, for although so ardent and successful,
he was absurdly small: so short indeed that, when he went to visit Abd
Al-Aziz Ibn Marwan, that prince used to banter him and say: "Stoop your
head, lest you hurt it against the ceiling."

He was called Rabb Ad-Dubab (the king of the flies) for the same reason.
One of his contemporaries said: "I saw him making the circuits round the
Kaaba; and if anyone tell you that his stature exceeded three spans,
that person is a liar."

Abu Omar Az-Zahid Al-Mutarriz, although he "ranked among the most
eminent and the most learned of the philologers," and was famous for his
"mortified life," could write love poems too. Here is one: _Overcome
with grief, we stopped at As-Sarat one evening, to exchange adieus; and,
despite of envious foes, we stood unsealing the packets of every
passionate desire. On saying farewell, she saw me borne down by the
pains of love, and consented to grant me a kiss; but, impelled by
startled modesty, she drew her veil across her face. On this I said:
"The full moon has now become a crescent." I then kissed her through the
veil, and she observed: "My kisses are wine: to be tasted, they must be
passed through the