To John Payne, Esq.
My Dear Sir,
Allow me thus publicly to express my admiration of your magnum opus, "TheBook of the Thousand Nights and One Night;" and to offer you my cordialthanks for honouring me with the dedication of that scholar-like andadmirable version.
Ever yours sincerely,
Richard F. Burton.
Queen's College, Oxford,
August 1, 1885.
Quoth Shahrazad [FN#1]:—It hath reached me, O auspicious King of intelligencepenetrating, that there was, amongst the Kings of Bassorah[FN#2], a King wholoved the poor and needy and cherished his lieges, and gave of his wealth toall who believed in Mohammed (whom Allah bless and assain!), and he was even asone of the poets described him,
"A King who when hosts of the foe invade, * Receives them with lance-lunge and sabre-sway;
Writes his name on bosoms in thin red lines, * And scatters the horsemen in wild dismay."[FN#3]
His name was King Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, and he had two Wazirs, onecalled Al-Mu'ín, son of Sáwí and the other Al-Fazl son of Khákán. Now Al-Fazlwas the most generous of the people of his age, upright of life, so that allhearts united in loving him and the wise flocked to him for counsel; whilst thesubjects used to pray for his long life, because he was a compendium of thebest qualities, encouraging the good and lief, and preventing evil andmischief. But the Wazir Mu'ín bin Sáwí on the contrary hated folk [FN#4] andloved not the good and was a mere compound of ill; even as was said of him,
"Hold to nobles, sons of nobles! 'tis ever Nature's test * That nobles born of nobles shall excel in noble deed:
And shun the mean of soul, meanly bred, for 'tis the law, * Mean deeds come of men who are mean of blood and breed."
And as much as the people loved and fondly lo