and new from
the hand of the Maker! And in the innermost chamber of marble a white
silence; and the Lady, the Mirror of Goodness, lying in the Compassion
of Allah, and a broken man stretched on the ground beside her. For all
flesh, from the camel-driver to the Shah-in-Shah, is as one in the Day
of the Smiting.

II

For weeks the Emperor lay before the door of death; and had it opened
to him, he had been blessed. So the months went by, and very slowly the
strength returned to him; but his eyes were withered and the bones stood
out in his cheeks. But he resumed his throne, and sat upon it kingly,
black-bearded, eagle-eyed, terribly apart in his grief and his royalty;
and so seated among his Usbegs, he declared his will.

"For this Lady (upon whom be peace), departed to the mercy of the Giver
and Taker, shall a tomb-palace be made, the Like of which is not found
in the four corners of the world. Send forth therefore for craftsmen
like the builders of the Temple of Solomon the Wise; for I will build."

So, taking counsel, they sent in haste into Agra for Ustad Isa, the
Master-Builder, a man of Shiraz; and he, being presented before the
Padishah, received his instructions in these words:--

"I will that all the world shall remember the Flower of the World,
that all hearts shall give thanks for her beauty, which was indeed the
perfect Mirror of the Creator. And since it is abhorrent of Islam that
any image be made in the likeness of anything that has life, make for me
a palace-tomb, gracious as she was gracious, lovely as she was lovely.
Not such as the tombs of the Kings and the Conquerors, but of a divine
sweetness. Make me a garden on the banks of Jumna, and build it there,
where, sitting in my Pavilion of Marble, I may see it rise."

And Ustad Isa, having heard, said, "Upon my head and eyes!" and went out
from the Presence.

So, musing upon the words of the Padishah, he went to his house in Agra,
and there pondered the matter long and deeply; and for a whole day and
night he refused all food and secluded himself from the society of all
men; for he said:--

"This is a weighty thing, for this Lady (upon whom be peace) must
visibly dwell in her tomb-palace on the shore of the river; and how
shall I, who have never seen her, imagine the grace that was in her, and
restore it to the world? Oh, had I but the memory of her face! Could I
but see it as the Shah-in-Shah sees it, remembering the past! Prophet
of God, int