Keep this oath, too; save your life, in order to save mine. Then you
must know, my father, that Masa will not remain on the earth if you
leave it. Your child has naught upon this earth but you; early was
my mother taken, and it has become lonely in Sheik Alepp's harem. My
father said: 'I will not take in a strange woman: no second wife
shall ever fill the place in my heart that has been wholly
consecrated to my dear Masa. My only child shall not have to suffer
from the severity and caprice of a strange woman.' This was nobly
said and nobly done, my father, to devote your entire life to your
child, and to the duties of guardian of your people. But hear me,
father: what is to become of your daughter when she is left alone
upon the earth? Sorrow and want will be my portion, and I should
wither away unseen, and be trodden under foot upon the wayside,
without one sympathizing voice to bemoan my early death."
Mohammed still crouched within the shadow of the cliff, his eyes
sparkling like the stars in heaven, but the maiden saw them not, nor
could she know the exultation in his heart.
"You should not wither away unseen and unlamented upon the wayside.
I would draw you to my bosom, and there you should bloom in
fragrance, my heavenly blossom, and my whole life would lament over
you if you should leave the earth."
In the silence of the night the youth still listened to the
conversation between father and daughter--to the tender entreaties
of the maiden, to the father's stern and earnest words; he heard
also the whispering voices of the ulemas, who, awakened by the
conversation, betook themselves to repeating prayers, in order that
they might not hear what passed between father and daughter at this
solemn moment.
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