As Nur al-Din was in this case，weeping and crying out，'O Miriam！ O Miriam！'behold，an old man landed from a vessel and coming up to him，saw him shedding tears and heard him reciting these verses；'O Maryam of beauty[507] return，for these eyne * Are as densest clouds railing drops in line：
Ask amid mankind and my railers shall say * That mine eyelids are drowning these eyeballs of mine.'
Said the old man，'O my son，meseems thou weepest for the damsel who sailed yesterday with the Frank？'When Nur al-Din heard these words of the Shaykh he fell down in a swoon and lay for a long while without life；then，coming to himself，he wept with sore weeping and improvised these couplets；'Shall we e'er be unite after severance-tide * And return in the perfectest cheer to bide？
In my heart indeed is a lowe of love * And I'm pained by the spies who my pain deride：
My days I pass in amaze distraught，* And her image a-nights I would see by side：
By Allah，no hour brings me solace of love * And how can it when makebates vex me and chide？
A soft-sided damsel of slenderest waist * Her arrows of eyne on my heart hath plied？
Her form is like Ban[508]-tree branch in garth * Shame her charms the sun who his face most hide：
Did I not fear God （be He glorified！） *'My Fair be glorified！'
Had I cried.'
The old man looked at him and noting his beauty and grace and symmetry and the fluency of his tongue and the seductiveness of his charms，had ruth on him and his heart mourned for his case.
Now that Shaykh was the captain of a ship，bound to the damsel's city，and in this ship were a hundred Moslem merchants，men of the Saving Faith；so he said to Nur al-Din，'Have patience and all will yet be well；I will bring thee to her an it be the will of Allah，extolled and exalted be He！'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.