Tho' such unbounded love you swear,
'Tis only art I see;
Can I believe that one so fair
Should ever dote on me?
Say that you hate, and freely show
That age displeases youth;
And I may love you when I know
That you can tell the truth.
_Caliph Almonklafi Laimrillah_.
[41] Almonklafi was the thirty-first Caliph of the house of Abbas, and
the only one who possessed any real authority since the reign of
Radhi. These lines were addressed to a lady who pretended a
passion for him in his old age.