down.' The nurse made me a sign to sit down;
I accordingly sat down. The princess drank another cup of wine, and
said to the nurse, 'Give this wretch also a cup, then he will take
his killing with more ease.' The nurse presented me a cup of wine;
I drank it without hesitation, and made my _salam_ [to the princess;]
she never looked at me directly, but continued all along to give me
furtive side glances. When I became elevated [with the effects of
the wine,] I began to repeat some pieces of poetry; among others,
I recited the following couplet:

'I am in thy power, and if alive yet, what then?
Under the dagger, if one breathes awhile, what then?'

On hearing this verse, she smiled, and turning towards the nurse,
she said, 'What art thou sleepy?' The nurse, guessing her motive,
replied, 'Yes, sleep over-comes me.' She then took her leave, and
went away. [329] After a short pause, the princess asked me for a cup
of wine; I quickly filled it, and presented it to her; she took it
gracefully from my hand and drank it off; I then fell at her feet; she
passed her hand kindly over me, and said, 'O ignorant man! what hast
thou seen bad in our great idol that thou hast betaken thyself to the
worship of an unseen God?' I answered, 'Pray, be just, and reflect a
little, whether that God [and He only,] is worthy of adoration, who,
out of a drop of water, hath created a lovely creature like thee,
and hath given such beauty and perfection, that in one instant thou
canst drive into distraction the hearts of thousands of men. What a
[contemptible] thing is an idol that any one should worship it? The
stone-cutters have shaped a block of stone into a figure, and have
spread it as a net to entangle fools. Those whom the devil beguiles,
confound the Creator with the created; and they prostrate themselves
before that which their own hands have formed. We are _Musalmans_, and
we worship him who hath created us. For those [misguided idolaters], He
hath created hell; for us [true believers], He hath destined paradise;
if you will place your faith in God, you will experience the delights
[of heaven], and distinguish truth from error, and you will find that
your [present] devotion is false.'

"At length, on hearing these pious admonitions, the heart of that
stony-hearted one became softened, and through the favour and mercy of
God she began to weep, and said, 'Well, teach me thy faith,' I taught
her the _kalima_, which she repeated