“You do not think of me at all,” sobbed Barakah. “Here have I been insulted, scared to death by your vile people, and you scold me! I wish that I had never seen you. I am so unhappy! In England people would be punished for the things you do. Those horrible men and women who attacked me⁠—”

“May Allah burn them, every one!” cried Yûsuf in fierce Arabic. “Gladly would I pluck out all their tongues! They witnessed the dishonour of my name, and will relate it.”

The wrangle lasted far into the night. At last, however, Yûsuf’s tone relented; they embraced, and he demanded the whole history of her ill-starred visit. But when he heard that men had been in the same room with her, his wrath redoubled. He beat his breast, he gnashed his teeth, he slapped her face, he paced the room denouncing her depravity.