The Princess arose and salaamed to him,
then, seating him beside her, said: "O my Lady Fatimah, 'tis my desire
that thou abide with me alway, so might I be blessed through thee, and
also learn of thee the paths of worship and piety and follow thine
example making for salvation." Now all this was a foul deceit of the
accursed African, and he designed furthermore to complete his guile,
so he continued: "O my Lady, I am a poor woman and a religious that
dwelleth in the desert, and the like of me deserveth not to abide in
the palaces of the kings." But the Princess replied: "Have no care
whatever, O my Lady Fatimah. I will set apart for thee an apartment of
my pavilion that thou mayest worship therein, and none shall ever come
to trouble thee. Also thou shalt avail to worship Allah in my place
better than in thy cavern." The Moroccan rejoined: "Hearkening and
obedience, O my lady. I will not oppose thine order, for that the
commands of the children of the kings may not be gainsaid nor
renounced. Only I hope of thee that my eating and my drinking and
sitting may be within my own chamber, which shall be kept wholly
private.
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