The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Vol. 1

His name was King Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, and he had two Viziers: one named Al-Mu’ín, son of Sáwí, and the other Al-Fazl, son of Khákán. Al-Fazl was the most generous man of his age and lived an upright life, so that everyone loved him and the wise flocked to him for counsel. His subjects used to pray for his long life because he embodied the very best qualities—encouraging goodness and kindness while preventing evil and mischief. But the Vizier Mu’in bin Sawi, on the contrary, hated people 1 and did not love what was good. He was made of nothing but ill-will, just as was said of him:—

Stick with the noble, sons of the noble! It is always Nature's test *
That nobles born of nobles shall excel in noble deeds.
Avoid the small-souled and meanly bred, for it is the law *
That mean deeds come from men of mean blood and breeding.

As much as the people loved and adored Al-Fazl bin Khakan, they utterly hated the mean and miserly Mu’in bin Sawi. It happened one day, by the decree of Fate, that King Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni sat on his throne with his officers of state around him. He summoned his Vizier Al-Fazl and said to him, “I wish to have a slave-girl of extraordinary beauty—perfect in her charms, exquisite in her proportions, and gifted with every virtue.” The courtiers said, “Such a girl cannot be bought for less than ten thousand gold pieces.” Upon hearing this, the Sultan called for his treasurer and said, “Take ten thousand dinars gold coins to the house of Al-Fazl bin Khakan.” The treasurer did the King’s bidding. The Minister then departed, having received the royal command to visit the slave market every day and hire brokers for this task. Moreover, the King issued orders that no girls worth more than a thousand gold pieces should be bought or sold without first being shown to the Vizier. Consequently, no broker purchased a slave-girl before she had been presented to the Minister; but none pleased him, until one day a

...wife of one Samhár, who was as famous for lances as the city of Ferrara was for swords Ferrara, Italy, was renowned for its high-quality sword blades; others claim she was the wife of Al-Ka'azab and believe Samhár to be a town in Abyssinia where the best weapons were manufactured. The pen is the Calamus original: "Calamus," Latin for reed/pen or Kalam (a reed cut for a pen), of which the finest and hardest are brought from Java; they require the least sharpening. The rhetorical device in the text is called Husn al-Ta'alíl, or etiology assigning a poetic cause to a natural fact; it is as admirable to the Arabs as it seems trivial to us.
1 “He loves people” is high praise, meaning something more than just kindness and generosity. Like charity, it makes up for a multitude of sins.