abstained, saying to the messenger: "Return to the King and inform him that I am not capable of what he requested of me. If he has another need, let him make it known to me, that I may fulfill for him and his brothers what he desires. And let him not return to me again asking me to go to him."

When the King learned what he said, he turned to us and asked: "What do you two say regarding this matter we heard?"

We said: "We say nothing but good; the matter is for the King in what he chooses and sees as correct."

He said to us: "I have shared the opinion with you both, so say what you see."

My Master said: "I have chosen that the messenger return to him and order him to make a choice of time (ikhtiyār) in which our journey shall be."

He said to us: "Have you both made your souls covet something of that talk, and returned to what you were upon of the heart’s attachment to a matter you cannot reach?"

My Master said: "By Allah, it is so. He has stirred what was still within us and kindled fires in our hearts. We await this matter in its clarity. If we reach what we hope for, it is by the grace of Allah, His Will, the blessing of the King, his favor, and his justice."

The King said: "By Allah, I choose that you both reach your purpose and attain your desire. Since you have chosen to travel, place Allah before you so He may ease for you what you desire—not by my strength or my help. If this matter were completed by such means, I would have been the first to seek it, as would the kings before me. But I hope from Allah to complete for you what you desire by His favor and power."

Then he ordered his chamberlains to return to him and order him to make a choice of time for our journey. He made a choice for us, decreeing that we should travel after a period of ten days. He judged