When it was the Eight Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night； She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the cause of Miriam the Girdle-girl leaving her father and mother was a wondrous and thereby hangeth a marvellous tale.She was reared with her father and mother in honour and indulgence and learnt rhetoric and penmanship and arithmetic and cavalarice and all manner crafts，such as broidery and sewing and weaving and girdle-making and silk-cord making and damascening gold on silver and silver on gold，brief all the arts both of men and women；till she became the union-pearl of her time and the unique gem of her age and day.Moreover，Allah （to whom belong Might and Majesty！） had endowed her with such beauty and loveliness and elegance and perfection of grace that she excelled therein all the folk of her time，and the Kings of the isles sought her in marriage of her sire，but he refused to give her to wife to any of her suitors，for that he loved her with passing love and could not bear to be parted from her a single hour.Moreover，he had no other daughter than herself，albeit he had many sons，but she was dearer to him than all of them.It fortuned one year that she fell sick of an exceeding sickness and came nigh upon death；werefore she made a vow that，if she recovered from her malady；she would make the pilgrimage to a certain monastery，situate in such an island，which was high in repute among the Franks，who used to make vows to it and look for a blessing therefrom.When Miriam recovered from her sickness，she wished to accomplish her vow anent the monastery and her sire despatched her to the convent in a little ship，with sundry daughters of the city-notables to wait upon her and patrician Knights to protect them all.As they drew near the island，there came out upon them a ship of the ships of the Moslems，champions of The Faith；warring in Allah's way，who boarded the vessel and making prize of all therein，knights and maidens，gifts and monies，sold their booty in the city of Kayrawan.[499] Miriam herself fell into the hands of a Persian merchant，who was born impotent[500]and for whom no woman had ever discovered her nakedness；so he set her to serve him.Presently，he fell ill and sickened well nigh unto death，and the sickness abode with him two months；during which she tended him after the goodliest fashion，till Allah made him whole of his malady，when he recalled her tenderness and loving-kindness to him and the persistent zeal with which she had nurst him and being minded to requite her the good offices she had done him，said to her，'Ask a boon of me？'
She said，'O my lord，I ask of thee that thou sell me not but to the man of my choice.'He answered，'So be it.I guarantee thee.
By Allah，O Miriam，I will not sell thee but to him of whom thou shalt approve，and I put thy sale in thine own hand.'And she rejoiced herein with joy exceeding.Now the Persian had expounded to her Al-Islam and she became a Moslemah and learnt of him the rules of worship.Furthermore during that period the Perisan had taught her the tenets of The Faith and the observances incumbent upon her： he had made her learn the Koran by heart and master somewhat of the theological sciences and the traditions of the Prophet；after which，he brought her to Alexandria-city and sold her to Nur al-Din，as we have before set out.Meanwhile，when her father，the King of France，heard what had befallen his daughter and her company，he saw Doomsday break and sent after her ships full of knights and champions，horsemen and footsmen；but they fell not in any trace of her whom they sought in the Islands[501] of the Moslems；so all returned to him，crying out and saying，'Well-away！'and'Ruin！'and'Well worth the day！'The King grieved for her with exceeding grief and sent after her that one-eyed lameter，blind of the left，[502] for that he was his chief Wazir，a stubborn tyrant and a froward devil，[503] full of craft and guile，bidding him make search for her in all the lands of the Moslems and buy her，though with a ship-load of gold.So the accursed sought her，in all the islands of the Arabs and all the cities of the Moslems，but found no sign of her till he came to Alexandria-city where he made quest for her and presently discovered that she was with Nur al-Din Ali the Cairene，being directed to the trace of her by the kerchief aforesaid，for that none could have wrought it in such goodly guise but she.Then he bribed the merchants to help him in getting her from Nur al-Din and beguiled her lord into selling her，as hath been already related.When he had her in his possession，she ceased not to weep and wail： so he said to her；'O my lady Miriam，put away from thee this mourning and grieving and return with me to the city of thy sire，the seat of thy kingship and the place of thy power and thy home，so thou mayst be among thy servants and attendants and be quit of this abasement and this strangerhood.Enough hath betided me of travail，of travel and of disbursing monies on thine account，for thy father bade me buy thee back，though with a shipload of gold；
