However , the king was not to be turned from his purpose , and he promised the fakeer always to provided him with food , if he , in return , would pray for him . To this the fakeer agreed , and so they parted . Time went on , and the king always sent the old fakeer his food according to his promise ; but , whenever he sent to ask him when he was going to show him Paradise , the fakeer always replied : ` Not yet , not yet ! ' After a year or two had passed by , the king heard one day that the fakeer was very ill -- indeed , he was believed to be dying . Instantly he hurried off himself , and found that it was really true , and that the fakeer was even then breathing his last . There and then the king besought him to remember his promise , and to show him a glimpse of Paradise . The dying fakeer replied that if the king would come to his funeral , and , when the grave was filled in , and everyone else was gone away , he would come and lay his hand upon the grave , he would keep his word , and show him a glimpse of Paradise . At the same time he implored the king not to do this thing , but to be content to see Paradise when God called him there . Still the king 's curiosity was so aroused that he would not give way . Accordingly , after the fakeer was dead , and had been buried , he stayed behind when all the rest went away ; and then , when he was quite alone , he stepped forward , and laid his hand upon the grave ! Instantly the ground opened , and the astonished king , peeping in , saw a flight of rough steps , and , at the bottom of them , the fakeer sitting , just as he used to sit , on his rickety bedstead , reading the Koran ! At first the king was so surprised and frightened that he could only stare ; but the fakeer beckoned to him to come down , so , mustering up his courage , he boldly stepped down into the grave . The fakeer rose , and , making a sign to the king to follow , walked a few paces along a dark passage . Then he stopped , turned solemnly to his companion , and , with a movement of his hand , drew aside as it were a heavy curtain , and revealed -- what ? No one knows what was there shown to the king , nor did he ever tell anyone ; but , when the fakeer at length dropped the curtain , and the king turned to leave the place , he had had his glimpse of Paradise ! Trembling in every limb , he staggered back along the passage , and stumbled up the steps out of the tomb into the fresh air again . The dawn was breaking . It seemed odd to the king that he had been so long in the grave . It appeared but a few minutes ago that he had descended , passed along a few steps to the place where he had peeped beyond the veil , and returned again after perhaps five minutes of that wonderful view ! And what WAS it he had seen ?
He racked his brains to XXXXX , but he could not call to mind a single thing !
making parted pray promised remember sitting stayed stepped stopped walked