And now the Kizlar-Aga admitted the two dignitaries who had been waiting
outside. The Chief Mufti entered first, and after him came the Grand
Vizier, Damad Ibrahim. Both of them had long, flowing, snow-white beards
and grave venerable faces.
They bowed low before the Sultan, kissed the hem of his garment, and lay
prostrate before him till he raised them up again.
"What brings you to the Seraglio, my worthy counsellors?" inquired the
Sultan.
As was meet and right, the Chief Mufti was the first to speak.
"Most gracious, most puissant master! Be merciful towards us if with our
words we disturb the tranquil joys of thy existence! For though slumber
is a blessing, wary wakefulness is better than slumber, and he who will
not recognise the coming of danger is like unto him who would rob his
own house. It will be known unto thee, most glorious Padishah, that a
few years ago it pleased Allah, in his inscrutable wisdom, to permit the
Persian rebel, Esref, to drive his lawful sovereign, Tamasip, from his
capital. The prince became a fugitive, and the mother of the prince,
dressed in rags, was reduced to the wretched expedient of doing menial
service in the streets of Ispahan for a livelihood. The glory of the
Ottoman arms could not permit that a usurper should sit at his ease on
the stolen throne, and thy triumphant host, led by the Vizier Ibrahim
and the virtuous Kueprili, the descendant of the illustrious Nuuman
Kueprili, wrested Kermandzasahan from Persia and incorporated it with thy
dominions.
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