Vis and Ramin

389 | CHAPTEE
LXI
RAMIN'S LETTER TO vis
AT the top of the letter he wrote the name of "Vis, the
sun-like, more fair than the moon, full of roses, the
column 1 of crystal, the adorner of the crown, the en-
lightener of the court, the water of immortality, the perfume
of Paradise, the precious gem, herself sovereign and
2
the light of royalty, the sun of Eran and Khuarasan ;"
"
and said : May God not grant me even a moment of life
without thee, and may He make it (life) to thee unending
as thy desire. I fear to see thy sun-like face ; longing and
reason are unattainable to me because I cannot forget this
fear. I fear thy immortal-like discourse ; I am sinful. I
am afraid thou mayst do to me that which I deserve, and
mayst cause my foes to rejoice. If the fault for this deed
was not mine, neither does thy blame befit me. Thou
wast the first to invoke the devil of enmity. When thou
didst drive me out thou weariedst me soon, and thou couldst
not endure my presence. Thou didst incite me to plunge
into sin.
"I had no suspicion of such a thing as this from thy
heart and love. My mind was heaven, thou madest it
how I raised of thy love a palace
840 earth. Thou knowest |
to dwell in, but thou from the first didst begin to pull it
down. As much as thou hast grieved me even so much
am I deprived of the power of venturing (? to speak).
Thou art the mistress. Do to me what thou wilt, take
thy revenge. I had a heart, and I gave it to thee as thy
property. I have not spared myself in hearkening to thy
1 Sueti. 2 Mnat'hobi, 343.
302