case I should only have repaid him for having risked his
in Damascus to save mine, and after that he could depart.

'The lieutenant had taken the man away, and I made preparations for my
death, getting ready my winding-sheet in which my corpse was to be
shrouded, when an official on the part of Mamun arrived with this
message: "The Prince of the Faithful orders you to bring the man with
you." Accordingly I hastened to the palace, where I found the Khalif
sitting and expecting me. The first words he said to me were these: "I
want to see the man!" I remained silent, and on his uttering them more
emphatically, replied: "Will you please listen to me, O Commander of
the Believers?" He continued: "I am determined to strike your head off
if the man has fled." I said: "O Prince of the Faithful, the man has
not escaped, but listen to what I have to say about him, and then you
may act as you deem fit." He continued: "Speak!" Accordingly I
narrated everything, and said that I was anxious to requite the man in
some measure for all the good he had done to me, that I was desirous
to save his life even at the cost of my own, if need be, and finished
my explanation by showing the winding-sheet I had brought with me.
After the Khalif had patiently listened, he exclaimed: "His merit is
superior to yours, because he has treated you nobly without knowing
you; whereas you only do so after having enjoyed his beneficence. I
desire to reward him myself." "The man is here, and would not leave
until apprized of my fate; I can produce him at once." The Khalif
said: "This trait of his character is yet more noble; go, comfort the
man, and bring him here." Accordingly I departed, and when I
introduced the man to the Khalif, he received him kindly, offered him
a seat, conversed with him till dinner was brought in, of which he
made him partake in his own company. Lastly, the Khalif invested him
with a robe of honour, and wished to appoint him Governor of Damascus,
but this he humbly refused. Accordingly, Mamun presented him with ten
horses saddled and bridled, ten mules caparisoned, and ten bags, each
of which contained ten thousand dinars; he also gave him ten slaves,
with animals to ride upon, and a letter to the Governor of Damascus to
absolve him from the payment of taxes. This man afterwards
corresponded with Mamun, and when a courier arrived from Damascus the
Khalif used to say to me, "Abbas! a letter from your friend has
arrived."'

II.