noon
Thereupon he advanced to a prominent part of the rocks above the meadows , and beheld the shadows of the moon thrown forward into dimness across a waste of sand . And he stepped downward to the level of sand , and went the way of the shadows till it was dawn . Then dropped he a drop of the waters of the phial on a spike of lavender , and there was a voice said to him in reply to what he questioned , ` The path of the shadows of the sun . ' The shadows of the sun were thrown forward across the same waste of sand , and he turned and pursued his way , resting at noon beneath a date-tree , and refreshing himself at a clear spring beside it . Surely he was joyful as he went , and elated with high prospects , singing : Sun and moon with their bright fingers Point the hero 's path ; If in his great work he lingers , Well may they be wroth . Now , the extent of the duration of his travel was four days and an equal number of nights ; and it was on the fifth morn that he entered the gates of a city by the sea , even at that hour when the inhabitants were rising from sleep : fair was the sea beyond it , and the harbour was crowded with vessels , ships stored with merchandise -- silks , dates , diamonds , Damascus steel , huge bales piled on the decks for the land of Roum and other lands . Shibli Bagarag thought , ` There 's scarce a doubt but that one of those sails will set for Oolb shortly .