2 
[No. 1, 
C. J. Lyall —The Mo'allaqaii of Zulieyr. 
word more. Then Aus went in to his wife in anger. Now she was a 
woman of ‘Abs : and she said—“ Who was the man who stopped at thy 
door, with whom thon hadst such short speech ?” He answered—“ That 
was el-Harith son of ‘Auf son of Abu Haritheh the Murri, the lord of the 
Arabs.” “ What befell thee that thou didst not hid him alight ?” asked 
she. “ He dealt foolishly with me,” said he. “ How so ?” she asked. 
“He came a-wooing,” he answered. “Host thou wish to wed thy 
daughters ?” she asked. “ Yes,” said he. “ And if thou wilt not give one to 
the lord of the Arabs to wife, to whom then wilt thou wed her ?” “ Nay,” 
he answered, “ the thing is done.” “ Nay but,” said she, “ make amends 
for what thou hast done.” “ How ?” he asked. “Follow after him and 
bring him hack with thee.” “ How should I do so, when that has befallen 
which has befallen between me and him ?” She answered—“ Say to him 
—‘ Thou foundest me in anger because thou didst propound to me suddenly 
a matter whereof thou hadst not spoken to me before, and I was not able at 
the time to answer thee but as thou heardest: but now return, I pray thee, 
and thou shalt find with me all that thou desirest’: verily he will do as thou 
askest.” So Aus mounted and rode after those twain. “ Then,” (says 
Kharijeh son of Sinan, who was with el-Harith and tells the tale,) “ By 
God ! I was journeying on our way, when I chanced to raise mine eyes, 
and saw Aus riding after us. And I went forward to el-Harith, but he 
spoke nought to me by reason of the grief that was in him ; and I said to 
him—‘Here is Aus son of Haritheh following us.’ He answered—‘And 
what have we to do with him ? jDass on.’ And when Aus saw that we tar¬ 
ried not for him, he cried after us—‘ 0 Harith ! wait for me a moment.’ 
So we waited for him, and he spoke to us that speech which his wife had 
made for him ; and el-Harith returned with him in gladness. And I heard 
that Aus when he went into his house said to his wife—‘ Call to me such 
an one’—naming the eldest of his three daughters ; and she came forth to 
him. And he said to her—‘ O my daughter, this is el-Harith son of ‘Auf, 
a lord of the Arabs : he has come asking a boon, that I should wed to him 
one of my girls ; and I purposed to wed thee to him: what sayest thou 
thereto?’ She answered—‘Ho it not.’ ‘Why?’ he asked. She said—‘I 
am a woman uncomely in face, faulty in temper : I am not his uncle’s 
daughter, that he should regard my kinship with him, nor is he thy neigh¬ 
bour in the land, that he should he ashamed before thee; and I fear lest 
one day he see in me something which may displease him, and divorce me, 
and there befall me therein what is wont to befall.’ He said : ‘ Arise—God 
bless thee ! Call to me such an one’—naming his second daughter : and she 
called her. And he spoke to her as he had spoken to her sister, and she 
answered him after the same fashion, saying—‘ I am ignorant and awk¬ 
ward : there is no skill in my hand. I fear lest he see in me something to 
