enjoined them to obey his son’s commandment, for
that he made him his heir-apparent,[139] so he should be the successor
of the King his sire; and he took an oath of all the people of his
empire, literates and braves and old men and boys, to mention none
other, that they would not oppose him in the succession nor transgress
against his commandment. Now when the Prince was seventeen years old,
the King sickened of a sore sickness and came nigh to die; so, being
certified that his decease was at hand, he said to the people of his
household, “This is disease of Death which is upon me; wherefore do ye
summon my son and kith and kin and gather together the Grandees and
Notables of my empire, so not one of them may remain except he be
present.” Accordingly they fared forth and made proclamation to those
who were near and published the summons to those who were afar off, and
they all assembled and went in to the King. Then said they to him, “How
is it with thee, O King, and how deemest thou for thyself of these thy
dolours?” Quoth Jali’ad, “Verily, this my malady is mortal and the shaft
of death hath executed that which Allah Almighty decreed against me:
this is the last of my days in the world here and the first of my days
in the world hereafter.” Then said he to his son, “Draw near unto me.”
So the youth drew near, weeping with weeping so sore, that he well nigh
drenched the bed, whilst the King’s eyes welled tears and all who were
present wept. Quoth Jali’ad, “Weep not, O my son; I am not the first
whom this Inevitable betideth; nay, it is common to all that Allah hath
created. But fear thou the Almighty and do good deeds which shall
precede thee to the place whither all creatures tend and wend. Obey not
thy lusts, but occupy thy soul with lauding the Lord in thy standing up
and thy sitting down, in thy waking and in thy sleeping. Make the Truth
the aim of thine eyes; this is the last of my speech with thee and—The
Peace.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her