gleaming light, and Sherkan rose and kissed her hand and caused
food to be set before her: but she refused it, saying, "I have
not broken my fast (till sunset) for fifteen years; and how
should I do so now, whenas my Lord hath been bountiful to me in
delivering me from the captivity of the infidels and doing away
from me that which was more grievous than the fiery torment? I
will wait till sun down." So at nightfall Sherkan and Zoulmekan
came to her with food and said, "Eat, O pious man." But she said,
"This is no time for eating; it is the hour for doing my service
to the Requiting King." Then she took up her station in the
prayer-niche and stood praying till the night was spent; and she
ceased not to do thus for three days and nights, sitting not but
at the time of salutation.[FN#108] When Zoulmekan saw this her
behaviour, belief in her took firm hold upon his heart and he
said to Sherkan, "Cause a tent of perfumed leather to be pitched
for this holy man and appoint a servant to wait upon him." On the
fourth day, she called for food; so they brought her all kinds of
meats that could allure the sense or delight the eye; but of all
this she ate but one cake of bread with salt. Then she turned
again to her fast, and when the night came, she rose anew to
pray: and Sherkan said to Zoulmekan, "Verily, this man carries
renunciation of the world to the utmost extreme, and were it not
for this holy war, I would join myself to him and worship God in
his service, till I came before His presence. And now I would
fain enter his tent and talk with him awhile." "And I also," said
Zoulmekan. "To-morrow we sally forth against Constantinople, and
we shall find no time like the present." "And I also," said the
Vizier Dendan, "desire to see this holy man; haply he will pray
for me that I may find my death in this holy war and come to the
presence of my Lord, for I am weary of the world." So as soon as
night had darkened on them, they repaired to the tent of the
witch Dhat et Dewahi and finding her standing praying, fell
a-weeping, for pity of her: but she paid no heed to them till the
night was half spent, when she ended her devotions by pronouncing
the salutation (to the guardian angels). Then she turned to them
and greeted them, saying, "Wherefore come ye?" "O holy man," said
they, "didst thou not hear us weeping round thee?" "To him who
stands before God," replied she, "there remains nor sight nor
hearing for the things of this world." Quoth they, "We would have
thee tell us the manner of thy captivity and offer up prayer for
us this night, for that will profit us more than the possession
of Constantinople." "By Allah," answered she, "were ye not the
leaders of the Muslims, I would not tell you aught of this; for I
complain not but to God alone. However, to you I will relate the
circumstance of my captivity. Know, then, that I was in Jerusalem
with certain saints and ecstatics, and did not magnify myself
among them, for that God had endowed me with humility and
abnegation, till one night I chanced to go down to the lake and
walked upon the water. There withal there entered into me pride,
whence I know not, and I said to myself, 'Who can walk upon the
water, like unto me?' And from that time my heart became hardened
and God afflicted me with the love of travel. So I journeyed to
the land of the Greeks and visited it in every part during a
whole year, leaving no place but I worshipped God therein. When I
came to the place (where the Syrians found me) I ascended the
mountain and saw there a hermitage, inhabited by a monk called
Metrouhena. When he saw me, he came out to me and kissed my hands
and feet, saying, 'Verily, I have seen thee, since thou camest
into the land of the Greeks, and thou hast filled me with longing
for the land of Islam.' Then he took my hand and carrying me into
the hermitage, brought me to a dark place, where he took me
unawares and locking the door on me, left me there forty days,
without meat or drink; for it was his intent to kill me by
starvation. One day it chanced that a knight called Decianus came
to the hermitage, accompanied by ten squires and his daughter
Temathil, a girl of incomparable beauty. The monk told them of
me, and Decianus said, 'Bring him out, for surely there is not a
bird's meal of flesh left on him.' So they opened the door of the
dungeon and found me standing erect in the niche, praying and
reciting the Koran and glorifying God and humbling myself to Him.
When they saw this, the monk exclaimed, 'This man is indeed a
sorcerer of the sorcerers!' Then they all came in on me, and
Decianus and his company beat me grievously, till I desired death
and reproached myself, saying, 'This is the reward of him who
glorifies himself and takes credit for that which God hath
bestowed upon him, beyond his own competence! For, indeed, my
soul, pride and arrogance have crept into thee. Dost thou not
know that pride angers the Lord and hardens the heart and brings
men to the fire?' Then they laid me in fetters and returned me to
my place, which was a dungeon under the earth. Every three days,
they threw me down a cake of barley-bread and a draught of water;
and every month or two, came Decianus to the hermitage, with his
daughter Temathil, who is now grown up, for when I first saw her,
she was nine years old, and I abode fifteen years in the dungeon,
so that she must be now four-and twenty years of age. There is
not in our land nor in the land of the Greeks a fairer than she,
and her father feared lest the King (of Constantinople) should
take her from him; for she had vowed herself to the service of
the Messiah and rode with Decianus in the habit of a cavalier, so
that none who saw her knew her for a woman. In this hermitage her
father had laid up his treasures, for all who had aught of price
were wont to deposit it there, and I saw there all manner of gold
and silver and jewels and precious vessels and rarities, none may
keep count of them save God the Most High. Ye are more worthy of
these riches than the infidels; so do ye lay hands on that which
is in the hermitage and divide it among the Muslims, and
especially among those who wage the holy war. When these
merchants came to Constantinople and sold their merchandise, the
image on the wall spoke to them, by God's special grace to me; so
they made for the hermitage and tortured Metrouhena, after the
most grievous fashion, and dragged him by the beard, till he
showed them where I was, when they took me and fled for fear of
death. To-morrow, Temathil will visit the hermitage as of wont,
and her father and his squires will come after her, to protect
her: so, an ye would be witness of these things, take me with you
and I will deliver to you the treasure and the riches of the
knight Decianus, that are stored up in that mountain; for I saw
them bring out vessels of gold and silver to drink in and heard a
damsel of their company sing to them in Arabic. Alas, that so
sweet a voice should not be busied in reciting the Koran! So, an
ye will, I will bring you to the hermitage and ye shall hide
there, against the coming of Decianus and his daughter. Then take
her, for she is only fit for the king of the age, Sherkan, or for
King Zoulmekan." When they heard her words, they all rejoiced,
with the exception of the Vizier Dendan, who put no faith in her
story, for her words took no hold on his reason and he was
confounded at her discourse and signs of doubt and disbelief
appeared in his face; but he feared to speak with her, for awe of
the King. Then she said, "I fear lest Decianus come and seeing
the troops encamped here, be afraid to enter the hermitage." So
Zoulmekan resolved to despatch the army towards Constantinople
and said, "I mean to take a hundred horse and many mules and make
for the mountain, where we will load the mules with the
treasure." Then he sent for the Chamberlain and for the captains
of the Turks and Medes and said to them, 'As soon as it is day,
do ye strike camp and set out for Constantinople. Thou, O
Chamberlain, shall fill my place in council and command, and
thou, O Rustem, shalt be my brother's deputy in battle. Let none
know that we are not with you, and after three days we will
rejoin you." Then he chose out a hundred of the stoutest
cavaliers, and he and Sherkan and Dendan set out for the
hermitage, with mules and chests for the transport of the
treasure. As soon as it was morning, the Chamberlain gave the
signal for departure, and the troops set out, thinking that the
two Kings and the Vizier were with them. Now the Syrians that
were with Dhat ed Dewahi had taken their departure privily, after
they had gone in to her and kissed her hands and feet and gotten
her leave and taken her orders. Then she waited till it was dark
night and going in to Zoulmekan and his companions, said to them,
"Come, let us set out for the mountain, and take with you a few
men." They obeyed her and left five horsemen at the foot of the
mountain, whilst the rest rode on before Dhat ed Dewahi, to whom
new strength seemed given for excess of joy, so that Zoulmekan
said to his companions, "Glory be to God who sustains this holy
man, whose like we never saw!" Now she had written a letter to
the King of Constantinople and despatched it by a carrier-pigeon,
acquainting him with what had passed and adding, "Do thou send me
ten thousand horsemen of the stoutest of the Greeks and let them
come stealthily along the foot of the mountains, lest the Muslim
host get sight of them, to the hermitage and hide themselves
there, till I come to them with the Muslim King and his brother,
for I have inveigled them and will bring them thither, together
with the Vizier Dendan and a hundred horse, no more, that I may
deliver to them the crosses that are in the hermitage. I am
resolved to slay the monk Metrouhena, since my scheme cannot be
carried out but at the cost of his life. If my plot work well,
not one of the Muslims shall return to his own country, no, not a
living soul nor a blower of the fire; and Metrouhena shall be a
sacrifice for the followers of the Christian faith and the
servants of the Cross, and praise be to the Messiah, first and
last!" When this letter reached Constantinople, the keeper of the
pigeons carried it to King Afridoun, who read it and forthwith
equipped ten thousand cavaliers with horses and dromedaries and
mules and victual and bade them repair to the hermitage and hide
there; and they did as he commanded them. Meanwhile. when
Zoulmekan and his companions reached the hermitage, they entered
and met the monk Metrouhena, who came out to see who they were;
whereupon quoth Dhat ed Dewahi, "Slay this accursed fellow.' So
they fell on him with their swords and made him drink the cup of
death. Then the accursed old woman carried them to the place of
offerings[FN#109] and brought out to them treasures and precious
things, more than she had promised them, which they laid in
chests and loaded the mules therewith. As for Temathil and her
father, they came not, for fear of the Muslims, and Zoulmekan
tarried there, awaiting her, the whole of that day and two more,
till Sherkan said to him, "By Allah, I am troubled at heart for
the army of Islam, for I know not what is come of them." "And I
also am concerned for them," replied Zoulmekan. "We have come by
a great treasure and I do not believe that Temathil or any one
else will come to the hermitage, after that which has befallen
the host of the Christians. So we should do well to content
ourselves with what God has given us and depart; and haply He
will help us break open Constantinople." So they came down from
the mountain, for Dhat ed Dewahi dared not gainsay them, for fear
of betraying herself, and rode on till they reached the head of a
defile, in which the old woman had laid an ambush for them with
the ten thousand horse. As soon as the latter saw them, they made
at them from all sides, couching their lances and baring their
sabres, whilst they shouted the watchword of their infidel faith
and set the arrows of their mischief to the strings.
When Zoulmekan saw them, he was ware that they were a mighty host
and said, "Who can have given these troops advice of us?" "O my
brother," replied Sherkan, "this is no time for talking, but for
smiting with swords and shooting with arrows; so gird up your
courage and strengthen your hearts, for this pass is like a
street with two gates: though, by the virtue of the Lord of the
Arabs and the Persians, were not the place so strait, I would
bring them to nought, though they were a hundred thousand men!"
"Had we known this," said Zoulmekan, "we would have brought with
us five thousand horse." "If we had ten thousand," rejoined the
Vizier, "they would avail ail us nothing in this narrow place:
but God will succour us against them. I know this defile and its
straitness, and there are many places of refuge in it; for I have
been here on an expedition with King Omar ben Ennuman, what while
we laid siege to Constantinople. We camped in this place, and
there is here water colder than snow. So come, let us win? out of
this pass ere the infidels increase on us and get the start of us
to the mountain-top, that they may hurl down rocks upon us and we
be powerless to come at them." So they hurried on, to get out of
the defile: but Dhat ed Dewahi looked at them and said, "What is
it ye fear, ye who have vowed yourselves to God the Most High, to
work His will? By Allah, I was imprisoned underground for fifteen
years, yet never gainsaid I God in aught He did with me! Fight ye
in the way of God; whoso of ye is killed, Paradise shall be his
abode, and whoso kills, his endeavour shall be for his glory."
When they heard her words, their concern and anxiety ceased from
them and they stood firm, awaiting the onset of the infidels, who
fell on them from all sides, whilst the swords played upon their
necks and the cup of death went round amongst them.
The Muslims fought right valiantly for the service of God and
wrought upon His enemies with stroke of sword and push of pike;
whilst Zoulmekan smote upon the men and made the champions bite
the dust and their heads fly from their bodies, five by five and
ten by ten, till he had done to death a number of them past
count. Presently, he looked at the old woman and saw her waving
her sword and heartening them, and all who feared fled to her for
shelter; but (in secret) she was beckoning to the infidels to
kill Sherkan. So troop after troop rushed on him to slay him: but
each troop he charged and drove back, with the sword in their
loins; and indeed he thought it was the holy man's blessing that
gave him the victory over them and said in himself, "Verily God
looks on this holy man with eyes of favour and strengthens my
prowess against the infidels with the purity of his intent: for I
see that they fear me and cannot stand against me, but every one
who attacks me turns tail and flees." So they battled the rest of
the day, and when the night fell, the Muslims took refuge in a
cave, being hard pressed and weary with stress of battle; and
five-and-forty of them were slain that day by rocks that the
infidels rolled down on them. When they were gathered together,
they sought the devotee, but could find no trace of him. This was
grievous to them and they said, "Belike, he hath died a martyr."
Quoth Sherkan "I saw him heartening the men with divine instances
and sacring them with verses of the Koran." Whilst they were
talking, behold, the accursed old woman stood before them, with
the head of the captain of the ten thousand horse, a noble
knight, a fierce champion and an obstinate devil, in her hand.
Now one of the Turks had slain him with an arrow, and God hurried
his soul to the fire: and when the infidels saw what the Muslim
had done with their leader, they all fell on him and hewed him in
pieces with their swords, and God hastened with his soul to
Paradise. Then the old woman cut off the knight's head and
carrying it to Sherkan and Zoulmekan and the Vizier, threw it at
their feet; whereupon Sherkan exclaimed, "Praised be God that we
see thee in safety, O holy man and devout champion of the Faith!"
"O my son," replied she, "I have sought a martyr's death this
day, throwing myself midmost the host of the infidels, but they
feared me. When ye separated, a holy jealousy seized me for you;
so I rushed on the knight their captain, though he was reckoned a
match for a thousand horse, and smote him and severed his head
from his body. Not one of the infidels could come near me, so I
took his head and have brought it to you, that you may be
heartened in the holy strife and work out the will of the Lord of
the Faithful with your swords. And now I will leave you to strive
against the infidels, whilst I go to your army, though they be at
the gates of Constantinople, and return with twenty thousand
horse to destroy these unbelievers." Quoth Sherkan, "How wilt
thou win to them, O holy man, seeing that the valley is blocked
up by the infidels on all sides?" "God will veil me from their
eyes," replied she, "and they shall not see me; nor if any saw
me, would he dare to attack me, for I shall be absorbed in God
and He will fend off His enemies from me." "Thou sayst sooth, O
holy man," rejoined Sherkan, "for indeed I have been witness of
this; so, if thou canst set out at the first of the night, it
will be the better for us." "I will set out forthright," replied
she; "and, an thou wilt, thou shalt go with me, and none shall
see thee. If thy brother also have a mind to go, we will take
him, but none else; for the shadow of a saint can cover but two."
"As for me," said Sherkan, "I will not leave my comrades; but, if
my brother please, he will do well to go with thee and win free
of this strait; for he is the stronghold of the Muslims and the
sword of the Lord of the two worlds; and if it be his pleasure,
let him take with him the Vizier Dendan, or whom else he may
choose, and send us ten thousand horse to succour us against
these villains." So they agreed to this and Dhat ed Dewahi said,
"Wait till I go on before you and look if the infidels be asleep
or awake." Quoth they, "We will go with thee and trust our affair
to God." "If I do your bidding," replied she, "do not blame me,
but blame yourselves; for it is my counsel that you wait till I
have spied you out the state of the case." Then said Sherkan, "Go
and return quickly, for we shall be awaiting thee." So she went
out and Sherkan turned to his brother and said, "Were not this
holy man a miracle-worker, he had never slain yonder doughty
knight. This is a sufficient measure of his power, and indeed the
strength of the infidels is broken by the slaying of their
leader, for he was a fierce warrior and a stubborn devil." Whilst
they were thus devising of the power of the devotee, behold, the
cursed old woman returned and promised them victory over the
unbelievers; whereupon they thanked her, and she said, "Where is
the king of the age Zoulmekan?" "Here am I," replied he. "Take
thy Vizier," said she, "and follow me, that we may win out to
Constantinople." Now she had acquainted the infidels with the
cheat she had put on the Muslims, and they rejoiced mightily and
said, "We shall not be content till we have slain their king in
return for the death of our general; for we had no stouter
cavalier than he; but when thou bringest him to us, we will carry
him to King Afridoun." Then she went out with Zoulmekan and
Dendan and walked on before them, saying, "Fare on with the
blessing of the Most High God!" They did as she bade them, for
the arrow of fate and destiny had fallen on them, and she led
them on, through the midst of the Christian camp, till they came
to the narrow pass aforesaid. Whilst the enemy watched them, but
did them no hindrance; for the old woman had enjoined this on
them. When Zoulmekan and Dendan saw that the infidels did them no
hindrance, the Vizier exclaimed, "By Allah, this is one of the
holy man's miracles! Without doubt he is of the elect." "By
Allah," said Zoulmekan, "I think the infidels must be blind, for
we see them, and they see us not." Whilst they were thus praising
the holy man and recounting his virtues, behold, the infidels
fell upon them from all sides and seized them, saying, "Is there
any one else with you, that we may seize upon him?" Quoth Dendan,
"See ye not yon other man that is before us?" "By the Messiah and
the Monks and the Primate and the Metropolitan," replied they,
"we see none but you!" And Zoulmekan said, "By Allah, this is a
chastisement decreed to us by God!" Then the Christians laid
shackles on their feet and set men to guard them during the
night, whilst Dhat ed Dewahi fared on and disappeared from their
sight. So they fell to lamenting and said, "Verily, the
gainsaying of pious men leads to greater stress than this, and we
are punished by the strait into which we have fallen."
Meanwhile, Sherkan passed the night in the cavern with his
companions, and when the day broke, he arose and prayed the
morning-prayer. Then he and his men made ready to do battle with
the infidels, and he encouraged them and promised them all good.
Then they sallied out against the Christians, who cried out to
them from afar as soon as they saw them, saying, "O Muslims, we
have taken your Sultan and your Vizier that has the ordering of
your affairs; and except ye leave fighting us, we will slay you
to the last man, but if ye yield to us, we will take you to our
king, who will make peace with you, on condition that you leave
our country and return to your own land and do us no harm, and we
will do you no harm. If you accept, it will be well for you; but
if you refuse, you have nothing to hope for but death. So now we
have told you, and this is our last word to you." When Sherkan
heard this and was certified of the captivity of his brother and
the Vizier Dendan, he was greatly troubled and wept; his strength
failed him and he made sure of death, saying inwardly, "I wonder
what was the cause of their capture? Did they fail of respect to
the holy man or disobey him, or what?" Then they rushed upon the
unbelievers and slew great plenty of them. The valiant, that day,
was known from the faint-hearted, and the swords and spears were
dyed with blood; for the infidels flocked on them from all sides,
as flies flock to wine; but Sherkan and his men ceased not to
wage the fight of those who fear not death nor let it hinder them
from the pursuit of victory, till the valley ran with blood and
the earth was full of the slain. So fought they on till
nightfall, when the two parties separated, each to his own place,
and the Muslims returned to the grotto, where both victory and
loss were manifest to them, and there was no dependence for them
but on God and the sword. That day there had been slain of them
five-and-thirty men of the chief amirs, and they had put to the
sword thousands of the infidels, both horse and foot. When
Sherkan saw this, the case was grievous to him, and he said to
his comrades, "What shall we do?" "That which God wills," replied
they. On the morning of the second day, Sherkan said to the
remnant of his troop, "If ye go forth to fight, not one of you
will remain alive and we have but little food and water left; so
meseems ye would do better to draw your swords and stand at the
door of the cavern, to hinder any from entering. Peradventure the
holy man may have traversed the Christian host, without being
seen of the unbelievers, and may win to Constantinople and return
with ten thousand horse, to succour us against the infidels."
"This is the better course," replied they, "and there is no doubt
of its expediency." So they went out and held the opening of the
grotto, standing in its sides; and every one of the infidels who
sought to come in, they slew. Thus did they fend off the enemy
from the door of the cavern and make head against all their
assaults, till the day departed and the night came with the
shadows, by which time King Sherkan had but five-and-twenty men
left. Then said the Christians to each other, "When shall these
battles have an end? We are weary of fighting the Muslims." And
one of them said, "Up and let us fall on them, for there be but
five-and-twenty and of them left. If we cannot prevail on them to
fight, let us light a fire upon them; and if they submit and
yield themselves up, we will take them prisoners: else we will
leave them to serve as fuel to the fire, so that they shall
become a warning to men of understanding. May the Messiah not
have mercy on their fathers and may the sojourn of the Christians
be no abiding-place for them!" So they repaired to the cavern and
heaping up faggots in the door-way, set fire to them. Thereupon,
Sherkan and his companions made sure of death and yielded
themselves up. The unbelievers thought to kill them, but the
knight their captain said to those who counselled this, "It is
for none but King Afridoun to kill them, that he may quench
thereby his thirst for vengeance; wherefore it behoves us to keep
them prisoners till the morrow, when we will journey with them to
Constantinople and deliver them to King Afridoun, who shall deal
with them as he pleases." "This is the right course," replied
they; and he commanded to pinion the prisoners and set guards
over them. Then, as soon as it was dark, the infidels gave
themselves up to feasting and merry-making and called for wine
and drank, till they all fell backward. Presently, Sherkan turned
to his brother Zoulmekan and said to him "My brother, how shall
we get free?" "By Allah," replied Zoulmekan, "I know not; for we
are here like birds in a cage." At this Sherkan was angry and
sighed for excess of wrath and stretched himself, till his bonds
broke; whereupon he went up to the captain of the guard and
taking from his bosom the keys of the fetters, freed Zoulmekan
and Dendan and the rest of the prisoners. Then said he, "Let us
slay three of these infidels and don their clothes, we three; so
shall we be disguised as Greeks and pass through them without
their knowing us, and win out to our army." "This is no safe
counsel," replied Zoulmekan "for if we kill them, I fear some of
their comrades may hear their groans and the enemy he roused upon
us and kill us. It were better to make our way out of the pass."
So they agreed upon this and set out. When they had left the head
of the defile a little way behind, they saw horses picketed and
their riders sleeping by them: and Sherkan said to his brother,
"Let us each take one of these steeds." So they took
five-and-twenty horses, one for each man, and mounted and rode on
till they were out of reach, whilst God sent sleep upon the
infidels for a secret purpose of His own. Meanwhile, Sherkan
gathered as many swords and spears as he could from the sleepers
and faring on after his comrades, found them awaiting him, on
coals of fire on his account, and said to them, "Have no fear,
since God protects us. I have that to propose, which meseems will
advantage us." "What is it?" asked they, and he said, "It is that
we all climb to the mountain-top and cry out with one voice, 'God
is most great! The army of Islam is upon you! God is most great!'
If we do this, their company will surely be dissolved, for they
are too drunken to find out the trick, but will think that the
Muslim troops have encompassed them on all sides and have become
mingled with them; so they will fall on one another with their
swords, in the confusion of drunkenness and sleep, and we will
cleave them asunder with their own brands and the sword will go
round amongst them till the morning." "This plan is not good,"
replied Zoulmekan. "We should do better to make our way to our
army and keep silence; for, if we cry out, 'God is most great!'
they will wake and fall on us, and not one of us will escape."
"By Allah," rejoined Sherkan, "though they be roused on us, I
desire urgently that ye fall in with my plan, for nothing but
good can come of it." So they agreed and ascending the mountain,
shouted out, "God is most great!" And the hills and trees and
stones cried out with them, "God is most great!" for the fear of
the Almighty. When the unbelievers heard this, they started up
from sleep and did on their armour, crying out to one another and
saying, "By the Messiah, the enemy is upon us." Then they fell
on each other and slew of their own men more than any knows save
God the Most High. As soon as it was day, they sought for the
captives, but found them not, and their captains said, "It
was the prisoners who did this; so up and hasten after them,
till ye overtake them, when we will make them quaff the cup of
punishment; and let not trouble nor panic possess you." So they
sprang to horse and rode after the fugitives, nor was it long
before they overtook them and surrounded them. Wheu Zoulmekan saw
this, he was seized with terror and said to his brother, "What I
feared is come upon us, and now it only remains for us to fight
for the faith." But Sherkan held his peace. Then Zoulmekan and
his companions rushed down from the hill-top, crying out, "God is
most great!" and addressed themselves to fight and sell their
lives in the service of the Lord of the Faithful, when, behold,
they heard many voices crying out, "There is no god but God! God
is most great! Peace and salvation upon the Bringer of Glad
Tidings, the Admonisher of Mankind!"[FN#110] So they turned
towards the sound and saw a company of Muslims pricking towards
them, whereupon their courage revived and Sherkan ran at the
Christians, crying out, "There is no god but God! God is most
great!" so that the earth shook as with an earthquake and the
unbelievers broke asunder and fled into the mountains, whither
the Muslims followed them with sword and spear and made their
heads fly from their bodies, till the day departed and the night
came with the darkness. Then the Muslims drew together and passed
the night rejoicing; and when the day broke and the morning arose
with its light and shone, they saw Behram, the captain of the
Medes, and Rustem, the captain of the Turks, advancing to join
them, with twenty thousand cavaliers, as they were fierce lions.
As soon as they saw Zoulmekan, the chiefs dismounted and saluting
him, kissed the earth before him; and he said to them, "Rejoice
ye in the glad news of the victory of the Muslims and the
discomfiture of the unbelievers!" Then they gave each other joy
of their deliverance and of the greatness of the reward that
awaited them in the world to come.
Now the manner of the coming of the succours was as follows.
When Behram and Rustem and the Chamberlain came in sight
of Constantinople, with the Muslim army, they saw that the
Christians had manned the walls and towers and set all their
strengths in order of defence, for that they knew of the approach
of the host of Islam, through the craft and perfidy of the old
woman Dhat ed Dewahi. So, when they heard the clash of arms and
tramp of horse-hoofs and saw the Mohammedan standards and the
ensigns of the Faith of the Unity of God emerging from the
dust-clouds and heard the voices of the Muslims chanting the
Koran aloud and glorifying the Compassionate One, and the army of
Islam drew near, as it were the swollen sea, for the multitude of
footmen and horsemen and women and children, they poured forth
like a flight of locusts or the streaming of water from the
rain-clouds; and the captain of the Turks said to the captain of
the Medes, "O Amir, of a truth, we are in jeopardy from the
multitude of the foe on the walls. Look at yonder forts and at
the folk like the tempestuous sea with its clashing billows.
Indeed the infidels out-number us a hundred times and we cannot
be sure but that some spy may inform them that we are without a
leader. Verily, we are in peril from these enemies, whose number
may not be told and whose extent is limitless, especially in the
absence of King Zoulmekan and his brother Sherkan and the
illustrious Vizier Dendan. If they know of this, they will be
emboldened to attack us in their absence and will cut off us to
the last man; not one of us will escape alive. So it is my
counsel that we each take ten thousand horse and repair to the
hermitage of Metrouhena and the Meadow of Meloukhna in quest of
our brothers and our chiefs. If thou follow my counsel, it may be
we shall be the cause of their deliverance, in case they be hard
pressed by the infidels; and if not, no blame will rest on me.
But, if we go, it were well that we return quickly, for suspicion
is part of prudence." The other fell in with his counsel; so they
chose twenty thousand horse and set out for the hermitage by
cross roads.