A poet paid a visit to a doctor, and said: "Something
has become knotted in my heart which makes me
uncomfortable; it makes also my limbs wither, and
causes the hairs on my body to stand on end." The
physician, who was a shrewd man, asked: "Very likely
thou has not yet recited to any one thy latest
verses." The poet replied: "Just so." The doctor
continued: "Then recite them." He complied, was
requested to repeat them, and again to rehearse them
for the third time. After he had done so, the doctor
said: "Now arise, for thou art saved. This poetry
had become knotted in thy heart, and the dryness of
it took effect upon the outside; but, as thou hast
relieved thy heart, thou art cured."
[Footnote 1: There is a clever play on the author's name, which also
means a _goblet_.]
[Footnote 2: The seventh degree of the Súfís.]
[Footnote 3: The fifth degree of the Súfís.]
[Footnote 4: In the Persian, _without a shield_.]