had been awaiting for so long. God had honored her, granting her what she had yearned

for; what ambition in life could she have after that?

On this day the stage of misery, toil, and hardship would close, and a new stage would begin, of tranquility, calm, and settled peace.

On this day her mission in this existence was complete, and the duty the fates had laid upon her was accomplished.

And there blazed up in the woman's soul a vitality she had never known before; she felt a strength and a power unknown to her in all her bygone past — a total revolution overtaking that submissive, cower-ing soul that had taken refuge in silence and darkness.

She was a new creature, tied to her old self by no kinship, near or far.

Today she had chosen for herself a newly minted name to be known by: "Umm al-Bey" — the Bey's mother.

And she sent someone to spread word in her son's house that "Umm al-Bey" had come from the village in upper Sa'id to witness her dear only son at his happy wedding celebration.

Umm al-Bey spent her longest day passing between the bath attendant and the tirewoman at the bathhouse, and between the hands of women who oversaw her adornment and dress at the house of a seamstress renowned for skill and fine workmanship.

And when the day's sun withdrew to let the suns of the celebration — the electric lamps — blaze up in their many colors, Umm Sahloul appeared, sauntering in the midst of them all: now greeting the guests with gravity and loftiness, now exchanging talk with them in a friendliness tinged with hauteur; and suddenly she would turn to

issue orders with authority and pride, loud of voice, head held high, like the commander of a legion in a decisive battle.

Umm Sahloul appeared in a fresh, resplendent new robe. Her figure was made taller by the elegant high-heeled shoes she wore; her body was filled out by the assort-ment of garments she had padded herself with; and her bosom rose with the two swelling pads fitted into it, so that the woman looked like a budding young maiden.

And the tirewoman did her work superbly indeed, bringing forth out of the woman a beauty: eyelids lined with kohl, brows penciled, hair coated in glossy black, face painted with blends of perfume and powders, lips dyed a deep crimson — until she came to look like a gaily colored ornamental doll.

Umm Sahloul was seen letting gifts and largesse slip from her finger-tips, snatched up by the troupe of singers and dancers and gathered by the servants and retinue; and cheers for "Umm al-Bey" went up, tossed from mouth to mouth in welcome, honor, and admiration; and the eyes of the assembly turned to circle around "Umm al-Bey" as she walked in strutting vainglory, while they made way for her and bowed their heads in reverence and esteem.

Umm Sahloul presided over the celebration's buffet, and set about distributing with her own hands the choicest of food and the finest of drink, lavish in her giving and pressing in it, until she left no one to whom she had not handed something from the overflow of her abundant bounty.

Then she turned from the buffet toward the street, servants behind her carrying bowls of tharid and platters of sweets, and behold — she was feeding the needy crowding at the door of the house; and their

voices rose, praising "Umm al-Bey" and offering the most heartfelt prayers for her.

The hours of the night ran on, the celebration wakeful in merriment and revelry whose luster never dimmed, and Umm Sahloul seemed as though she herself were the bride, and her son's wife but one of the handmaidens at the wedding feast.

Just before dawn the lamps' lights faded away, the voices of the night-revelers sank low, and in no time deep stillness had settled over every corner of the house.

Umm Sahloul climbed up to a room made ready for her on the roof; her limbs gave way upon a soft bed, and dreams bore her off through skies of every kind.

At the noon hour, when the lun-cheon table was laid, a messenger went to the room to wake the woman from her sleep, that she might join the family at the meal — and the messenger found her a corpse, without motion.

And the most striking thing about her was the serenity, the rest, and the peace that shone upon her radiant face...

She had savored the cream of life in one night — and what a night! — and after it she was fit for life no longer.

There was no longer a place for Umm Sahloul in the former life she had lived before, for she had performed her duty in it to the very full, and her soul was at rest with what she had reached and finished.

Nor was there a place for Umm Sahloul in that new life which her dear son was entering in the shelter of his happy marriage.

Now she soars aloft, swimming through the celestial horizons, well pleased and well pleasing, freed at last of fetters and burdens!