When the companions had rested from the weariness of travel, and the giddiness which from the heat of the sun and over exertion of their limbs, had confused their heads, was allayed by cooling sherbets, they felt themselves refreshed, and the vizier’s son addressed the domestics of the kitchen and con­ductors of the entertainment, saying, “What liberal personage is the founder of this charitable mansion? And who is it that rises so superior in bounty, and compassion for the stranger and distressed, above the most hospitably virtuous? We dirveshes, who are arrived here from our travels round the regions of the globe, have not elsewhere beheld any sovereign or wealthy personage of such tender­ness, and benevolence.” One of the domestics replied, “The founder of this charity is Mherbanou, queen of the world, the fame of whose bounty, like the celebrity of her beauty, extends from one extremity of the globe to the other, and by love of whose heavenly charms, the sovereigns of the earth have been vanquished.”

The prince, when he heard the name of his beloved, suddenly fainted, and fell like a shadow to the earth; but the vizier’s son, in order that the characters of secrecy, might not appear on the page of disclosure, exercising his presence of mind, diverted the attention of the spec­tators. Having called for rose-water, he sprinkled it upon the face of the prince, and cried out, “Is there any skilful physician in this city, who can remove from this young man the disorder of epilepsy?” He then continued to enquire, as if ignorant, “Who is Mher­banou, and why, devoting herself to severe pennance in this temple, does she involve in eclipse the moon of beauty?”

The artless domestic now related her adventure with Hoshung, from begin­ning to end; and the prince, on being assured that as yet the treasury of his honour, notwithstanding the attacks of adversity, was safe from the ravage of time, and the wealth of his glory unhurt by the disgraceful hand of mischance, gained new life. Delivered from wan­dering in the vale of despair, he fixed his hand on the cords of hope, and with humility bowing his head before the throne of the almighty restorer on the dust of thanksgiving, patiently waited for the crisis, when the divine mercy might effect its purpose, and the tidings of compassion be revealed.

The officers of the charity, when they had performed the duties of benevolence, according to custom, through the attendants on the sacred Haram, conveyed intelligence to Mherbanou of the arrival of the pilgrims; and that cypress of the grove of purity appointed an intelligent female to bring her an exact account of their conduct, appear­ance, and behaviour to each other, without exaggeration or omission. The damsel having made her observations, represented, that they were five persons, seemingly in agreement like the five senses, all habited in ashy-coloured vest­ments, as if devoted to mortification; that in public, all behaved to each other as if equals, but in private, one of them, who had superior dignity of manner and aspect, seemed to command the same respect as a sage from his disciples.

Mherbanou, when informed of the habits and manners of the strangers, was convinced who they were, and that the estranged from the path of repose had arrived. Having placed an assortment of confections in a tray, she covered it with the remnant of a veil which the prince had seen her wear, and sent it by a domestic to the pilgrims as a present. When the prince saw the part of the veil, as the patriarch of Canaan received sight from the smell of Joseph’s coat, so he found new life, and instantly burst into a flood of tears.

The vizier’s son having entwined a wreath of jasmine flowers in an elegant manner, placed the prince’s ring in the center of it, and without giving the dam­sel the trouble of waiting, delivered it to her, with many apologies for the smal­ness of the gift, saying, “As dirveshes have no other riches, agreeably to the proverb, that from the collinder a flower, and from the bear a hair, is acceptable; this wreath, which was formed at an auspicious instant, and on which we have breathed aspirations from the bosom worthy of acceptance, let thy mistress receive by way of happy token, and expect from the divine throne accomplishment of her desires.”

Mherbanou, at sight of the prince’s ring, wished to set it like a gem in the circle of her eye; but, notwithstanding her emotions, restraining her feelings before her attendants, she retired to her chamber and wept bitterly. Taking up the pen, she wrote an account of her situation from the beginning of separa­tion to the present time, of the approach­ing conclusion of her allowed indulgence from Hoshung, and the security of the jewels of her honour from the depreda­tions of the robbery of mischance, which she sent privately to the prince. When he received the letter of his beloved, he fainted with ecstacy; but on his recovery, drawing it over the pupils of his eyes,* he found new light, and breaking the seal, perused it. The contents of this love-renewing epistle were thus elegantly penned.