Aristotle, being asked about the cause of the passionate lover's falling into a swoon when he looks at his beloved and the cause of his sudden death, replied: ‘‘The reason for this is the intense joy of the spirit. By this we mean that the lover may look at his beloved suddenly and his spirit may become agitated inside him out of joy. As a result, his spirit flees and disappears for twenty-four hours. It is when his spirit disappears [242] that he faints. At this point he may even be taken for dead and be buried alive. Or perhaps when he looks at his beloved he may heave a deep sigh, and his lifeblood may become throttled inside his pericardium. When the blood collects thus, the heart closes [over it] and does not open until the one afflicted dies. Or perhaps passionate love and thought may wear him down, and he may imagine that were he to see his beloved he would be relieved. But when he sees his beloved suddenly, his soul departs.”

Among the stories we have heard about the deaths of natural lovers is the following we heard from Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al- Raḥmān b. Muḥammadal-Hāshimī, who said that he heard Jaʿfar al- Khuldīsay: “One day as I was passing by the door of the bathhouse of a certain estate, I saw two young men remonstrating with each other. As their voices rose, one said to the other, ‘What is it you want from me?’ ‘Your spirit,’ the other replied. Then the first young man let out [243] a shriek and fell down dead. The other young man fled. The people gathered round and, recognizing the dead youth, carried him back to his house.

“Six years later I went on the pilgrimage, and while I was performing the circumambulation I saw the second young man and realized who he was. I drew him to me and asked him, ‘Are you not the one to whom such and such happened?’ ‘Yes,’ he answered. Then, taking me by the hand, he brought me out of the circle of pilgrims and asked, ‘Did you see me on that day?’