One Thousand and One Nights original: "Alf Laylah wa Laylah"

And he continued, "Listen, Steward, it is my wish that as long as you have enough money for my breakfast, you do not trouble me with worrying about my supper." Thereupon the Steward asked, "Must it be so?" and he answered, "It must." So the honest man went on his way, and Nur al-Din Ali devoted himself to extravagance. If any of his drinking companions happened to say, "This is a beautiful thing," he would reply, "It is a gift to you!" Or if another said, "O my lord, such a house is handsome," he would answer, "Take it; it is yours!" He continued to live in this reckless fashion for a whole year, giving his friends a banquet in the morning, a banquet in the evening, and a banquet at midnight, until one day, as the company was sitting together, the young woman Anis al-Jalis recited these lines:

You thought well of Time when days went well, ❁ and did not fear the evils Fate might deal you:
Your nights, so fair and restful, deceived you, ❁ for peaceful nights often bring heavy sorrows.

When she had ended her verse, suddenly someone knocked at the door. Nur al-Din rose to open it, and one of his drinking companions followed him without being noticed. At the door, he found his Steward and asked him, "What is the matter?" The Steward answered, "O my lord, exactly what I feared for you has come to pass!" "How so?" "Know that there remains not a single silver coin's original: "dirham" worth left in my hands, whether more or less. Here are my ledgers original: "Daftars" and account books showing both income and expenses, and the registers of your original inheritance." When Nur al-Din heard these words, he bowed his head and said, "There is no majesty and there is no might except in God original: "Allah"!" When the man who had followed him secretly to spy on him heard the Steward's words, he returned to his friends and warned them, saying, "Look carefully at what you do; Nur al-Din is penniless." As the young host came back to his guests, distress showed itself on his face. Thereupon one of his close friends rose and, looking at the entertainer, said to him, "O my lord, perhaps you will give me leave to depart?" "And why such an early departure today?" he asked, and the other answered him, "My wife is in labor, and I must not be absent from her; indeed, I must return and see how she is doing." So he gave him leave to go, whereupon another rose and said, "O my lord Nur al-Din, I wish now to..."