When it was the Eight Hundred and Seventieth Night； She resumed，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when Nur al-Din entered Alexandria he found it a city goodly of pleasaunces，delightful to its inhabitants and inviting to inhabit therein.Winter had fared from it with his cold and Prime was come to it with his roses： its flowers were kindly ripe and welled forth its rills.Indeed，it was a city goodly of ordinance and disposition；its folk were of the best of men，and when the gates thereof were shut，its folk were safe.[443] And it was even as is said of it in these couplets；'Quoth I to a comrade one day，* A man of good speech and rare；'Describe Alexandria.'* Quoth he，'Tis a march-town fair.'
Quoth I，'Is there living therein？'* And he，'An the wind blow there.'
Or as saith one of the poets；'Alexandria's a frontier；[444] Whose dews of lips are sweet and clear；
How fair the coming to it is，* So one therein no raven speer！'
Nur al-Din walked about the city and ceased not walking till her came to the merchants'bazar，whence he passed on to the mart of the money-changers and so on in turn to the markets of the confectioners and fruiterers and druggists，marvelling，as he went，at the city，for that the nature of its qualities accorded with its name.[445] As he walked in the druggists'bazar；behold，an old man came down from his shop and saluting him，took him by the hand and carried him to his home.And Nur al-Din saw a fair bystreet，swept and sprinkled，whereon the zephyr blew and made pleasantness pervade it and the leaves of the trees overshaded it.Therein stood three houses and at the upper end a mansion，whose foundations were firm sunk in the water and its walls towered to the confines of the sky.They had swept the space before it and they had sprinkled it freshly；so it exhaled the fragrance of flowers，borne on the zephyr which breathed upon the place；and the scent met there who approached it on such wise as it were one of the gardens of Paradise.And，as they had cleaned and cooed the by-street's head，so was the end of it with marble spread.The Shaykh carried Nur al-Din into the house and setting somewhat of food before him ate with his guest.When they had made an end of eating，the druggist said to him，'When camest thou hither from Cairo？'；and Nur al-Din replied，'This very night，O my father.'Quoth the old man，'What is thy name？'；and quoth he，'Ali Nur al-Din.'Said the druggist，'O my son，O Nur al-Din，be the triple divorce incumbent on me，an thou leave me so long as thou abidest in this city；and I will set thee apart a place wherein thou mayst dwell.'Nur al-Din asked，'O my lord the Shaykh，let me know more of thee'；and the other answered，'Know；O my son，that some years ago I went to Cairo with merchandise；which I sold there and bought other，and I had occasion for a thousand dinars.So thy sire Taj al-Din weighed them out[446]for me，all unknowing me，and would take no written word of me；but had patience with me till I returned hither and sent him the amount by one of my servants，together with a gift.I saw thee；whilst thou wast little；and，if it please Allah the Most High，I will repay thee somewhat of the kindness thy father did me.'When Nur al-Din heard the old man's story，he showed joy and pulling out with a smile the purse of a thousand dinars，gave it to his host the Shaykh and said to him，'Take charge of this deposit for me，against I buy me somewhat of merchandise whereon to trade.'