66 
The Pangs of Repentance. 
 
 
 
XIII 
 
THE BLIND BEGGAR 
 
 
Thou hast come back to me, Habib !  but in 
sooth thou art a sorry sight !  Fifteen1 years since 
thy birth in Iran ;  yet thy flesh hangs on thee like 
his old clothes on Abdullah2 the blind beg-
gar.  Seven days did the barber and the druggist 
toil upon thee ;  but thy foulness clings like musk. 
Also I have been put to great charges for thee, 
having shut thee up to purge and salivate.3  But 
oh !  how that droopeth that was straighter than a 
young palm !  Furthermore thou poutest, bemoan-
ing thy Nubian that I have not his vigour.  Thou 
whose podex has become like the twat of one sixty 
years an whore !4 
Therefore, I will put thee in my harem for the fil-
thy slut thou art ;  the eunuchs shall beat thee 
soundly before the women ;  and this night I will go 
in to Laila,5 whom most thou hatest of all my con-
cubines. 
While thou wast away, I wooed thee with soft 
words and lamentations ;  now I have my will of 
thee, I will treat thee with great severity. 
So 
also 
doth 
Allah 
entreat 
kindly 
the 
wicked ;  and upon the just raineth plagues.  For 
thy desertion, Habib, and this thy ingratitude doth 
El Qahar give praise to the beloved One. 
 
 
 
1.  Again a long explanation from Mahbub.  The 
soul (he says) falls from 66 [Persian text] to 45 
([Persian text] Adam, man).  Then the twofold head