When Shamikh read the letter and saw the name of Uns el Wujoud，he burst into tears and said to the Vizier'And where is Uns el Wujoud？ He went awayand we know not his place of abiding.
Bring him to meand I will give thee the sum of the presents thou hast brought metwice told.'And he wept and sighed and groanedreciting the following verses：
Him whom I loved to me restore；By gold and gifts I set no store.
Nor do I crave largesseindeedOf pearls and gems and precious ore.
As 'twere a moon at fullfor usIn beauty's heaven he did soar.
Passing in wit and gracegazelles With him comparison gave o'er.
His shape was as a willow-wandFor fruits that sweet seductions bore；But in the willowto enslave The hearts of menthere is no lore.
I reared him from a child upon The bed of fondness evermore；And now I am at heart distraught For him and sorrow passing sore.
Then said he to the Vizier'Go back to thy master and tell him that Uns el Wujoud has been missing this year pastand his lord knoweth not whither he is gone nor hath any news of him.'
'O my lord，'answered King Dirbas's Vizier'my master said to me'An thou come back without himthou shalt be ousted from the Vizierate and shall not enter my city.'How then can I return without him？'So King Shamikh said to his Vizier Ibrahim'Take a company and go with him and make search for Uns el Wujoud everywhere.'I hear and obey，'answered Ibrahim，and taking a company of his own retainersset out in quest of Uns el Wujoudaccompanied by King Dirbas's Vizier；and as often as they fell in with Bedouins or othersthey enquired at them of Uns el Wujoudsaying'Have ye seen a manwhose name is so and so and his favour thus and thus？'But they answered，'We know him not.'
So they fared onenquiring in city and hamlet and seeking in hill and plain and desert and woldtill they came to the sea-shorewhere they took ship and sailedtill they came to the Mountain of the Bereaved Mother；and King Dirbas's Vizier said to Ibrahim'Why is this mountain thus called？'There was once of old time，'answered the other Vizier'a Jinniychof the Jinn of Chinawho fell passionately in love with a man and being in fear of her own peoplesearched all the earth for a placewhere she might hide him from themtill she happened on this mountain and finding it inaccessible both to men and Jinn，carried off her beloved and lodged him therein. There she used to visit him privilytill she had borne him a number of childrenand the merchantssailing by the mountainin their voyages over the seaheard the weeping of the childrenas it were the wailing of a woman who had lost her youngand said，'Is there here a mother bereaved of her children？'For which reason the place was named the Mountain of the Bereaved Mother.'And King Dirbas's Vizier marvelled at this.
Then they landed and making for the castleknocked at the gate，which was opened to them by an eunuchwho knew the Vizier Ibrahim and kissed his hands. Ibrahim entered and finding in the courtyardamong the serving mena man in the habit of a fakirsaid. 'Whence comes yonder fellow？'Quoth they，'He is a merchantwho hath lost his goods by shipwreckbut saved himself on a plank；and he is an ecstatic.'Now this was none other than Uns el Wujoud[but the Vizier knew him not]；so he left him and went on into the castle. He found there no trace of his daughter and questioned her womenwho answered'She abode with us but a little while and went away，how and whither we know not.'Whereupon he wept sore and repeated the following verses：
O housewhose birds warbled for joyance whilere And whose sills were resplendent with glory and pride，Till the lover came to theebemooning himself For his passion，and found thy doors open and wide，Would I knew where my soul ismy soul that was late In a housewhere its masters no longer abide！
Therein were all things that are costly and rich And with suits of brocade it was deckedlike a bride.
Yeahappy and honoured its doorkeeper were. Would God I knew whither its mistress hath tried！
Then he wept and sighed and bemoaned himselfexclaiming，'There is no resource against the ordinance of God neither is there any escape from that which He hath decreed！'Then he went up to the roof and finding the strips of Baalbek stuff tied to the battlements and hanging down to the groundknew that she had descended thence and had fled forthas one distracted and mad with passion. Presentlyhe turned and seeing there two birdsan owl and a ravendeemed this an ill omen；so he groaned and recited these verses：
Unto the loved ones'stead I cameas hopingby their sight，To quench the fire that burnt in me of love-longing and woe；
But no beloved found I therenor aughtindeedI foundSave two ill-omened onesan owl And eke a corby-crow.
And quoth the tongue o'the case to me'Thou hast been tyrannous And hast two longing lovers tornthe one the other fro！
Taste of the anguishthenof love what thou hast made them taste And live'twixt agony and tearsin sorrow evermo.'
Then he descendedweepingand bade the servants go forth and search the island for their mistress；so they sought for her，but found her not. As for Uns el Wujoudwhen he was certified that Rose-in-bud was indeed gonehe gave a great cry and fell down in a swoonnor came to himself for a long timewhilst the folk deemed that a ravishment from the Merciful One had taken him and that he was absorbed in contemplation of the splendour of the majesty of the Requiter of good and evil.
Thendespairing of finding Uns el Wujoud and seeing that Ibrahim was distracted for the loss of his daughterKing Dirbas's Vizier addressed himself to return to his own country，for all he had not attained the object of his journeyand said to Ibrahim？ 'I have a mind to take yonder fakir with me；it may be Godfor his sakewill incline the King's heart to mefor that he is a holy man；and afterI will send him to Ispahan，which is near our country.'Do ＆as thou wilt，'answered Ibrahim.
