O wand，which broken，ne'er with bend and wave Shall fascinate the ravisht gazer's eye；
These eyne for jealousy I 'reft of thee，
Nor shall they till next life thy sight descry：
I'm drowned in sea of tears for insomny
Wherefore，indeed in Sahirahstead[374] I lie.'
Then he threw himself on As'ad's tomb，groaning and weeping and lamenting and versifying with these couplets，'Indeed I longed to share unweal with thee，But Allah than my will willed otherwise：
My grief all blackens 'twixt mine eyes and space，
Yet whitens all the blackness from mine eyes：[375]
Of tears they weep these eyne run never dry，
And ulcerous flow in vitals never dries：
Right sore it irks me seeing thee in stead[376]
Where slave with sovran for once levelled lies.'
And his weeping and wailing redoubled；and，after he had ended his lamentations and his verse，he forsook his friends and intimates，and denying himself to his women and his family，cut himself off from the world in the House of Lamentations，where he passed his time in weeping for his sons. Such was his case；but as regards Amjad and As'ad they fared on into the desert eating of the fruits of the earth and drinking of the remnants of the rain for a full month，till their travel brought them to a mountain of black flint[377] whose further end was unknown；and here the road forked，one line lying along the midway height and the other leading to its head. They took the way trending to the top and gave not over following it five days，but saw no end to it and were overcome with weariness，being unused to walking upon the mountains or elsewhere.[378] At last，despairing of coming to the last of the road，they retraced their steps and，taking the other，that led over the midway heights，And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.