Note 246 — THE PORTER AND THE THREE LADIES OF BAGHDAD. (continued 2)
Richard Francis Burton translation · Edition 2
The Caliph Al-Maamún, who was a bad player, used to say, "I have the administration of the world and am equal to it, whereas I am straitened in the ordering of a space of two spans by two spans." The "board" was then "a square field of well-dressed leather."