but I crave pardon of Allah Almighty for whatso I did，and if He reunite us，I will never again gainsay thee in aught，no；never！'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night； She pursued，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Hasan's wife besought pardon of him saying，'Blame me not for my sin；and indeed I crave mercy of Allah Almighty.'Quoth Hasan （and indeed his heart ached for her），''Twas not thou that wast in fault；
nay，the fault was mine and mine only，for I fared forth and left thee with one who knew not thy rank，neither thy worth nor thy degree.But know，O beloved of my heart and fruit of my vitals and light of mine eyes，that Allah （blessed be He！） hath ordained to me power of releasing thee；so，say me，wouldst thou have me carry thee to thy father's home，there to accomplish what Allah decreeth unto thee，or wilt thou forthright depart with me to mine own country，now that relief is come to thee？'Quoth she；'Who can deliver me save the Lord of the Heavens？ Go to thy motherland and put away from thee false hope；for thou knowest not the perils of these parts which，an thou obey me not，soon shalt thou sight.'And she improvised these couplets；'On me and with me bides thy volunty；* Why then such anger such despite to me？
Whate'er befel us Heaven forbid that love * Fade for long time or e'er forgotten be！
Ceased not the spy to haunt our sides，till seen * Our love estranged and then estranged was he：
In truth I trusted to fair thoughts of thine * Though spake the wicked spy maliciously.
We'll keep the secret'twixt us twain and bold * Although the brand of blame unsheathed we see.
The livelong day in longing love I spend * Hoping acceptance-message from my friend.'
Then wept she and her children，and the handmaidens heard them：
so they came in to them and found them weeping，but saw not Hasan with them；wherefore they wept for ruth of them and damned Queen Nur al-Huda.Then Hasan took patience till night came on and her guards had gone to their sleeping-places，when he arose and girded his waist；then went up to her and，loosing her，kissed her on the head and between the eyes and pressed her to his bosom，saying，'How long have we wearied for our mother-land and for reunion there！ Is this our meeting in sleep，or on wake？'