the slave-women saying, “Who may be yonder maid,” they replied, “This is
Star o’ Morn, daughter to the Blue King.” Then Gharib turned to Mura’ash
and said to him, “O King of the Jinn, I have a mind to take yonder
damsel to wife.” Replied Mura’ash, “The palace and all that therein is,
live stock and dead, are the prize of thy right hand; for, hadst thou
not devised a stratagem to destroy the Blue King and Barkan, they had
cut us off to the last one: wherefore the treasure is thy treasure and
the folk thy thralls.” Gharib thanked him for his fair speech and going
up to the girl, gazed steadfastly upon her and loved her with exceeding
love, forgetting Fakhr Taj the Princess and even Mahdiyah. Now her
mother was the Chinese King’s daughter whom the Blue King had carried
off from her palace and perforce deflowered, and she conceived by him
and bare this girl, whom he named Star o’ Morn, by reason of her beauty
and loveliness; for she was the very Princess of the Fair. Her mother
died when she was a babe of forty days, and the nurses and eunuchs
reared her, till she reached the age of seventeen; but she hated her
sire and rejoiced in his slaughter. So Gharib put his palm to hers[44]
and went in unto her that night and found her a virgin. Then he bade
pull down the Pied Palace and divided the spoil with the true-believing
Jinn, and there fell to his share one-and-twenty thousand bricks of gold
and silver and money and treasure beyond speech and count. Then Mura’ash
took Gharib and showed him the Mountain Kaf and all its marvels; after
which they returned to Barkan’s fortress and dismantled it and shared
the spoil thereof. Then they repaired to Mura’ash’s capital, where they
tarried five days, when Gharib sought to revisit his native country and
Mura’ash said, “O King of mankind, I will ride at thy stirrup and bring
thee to thine own land.” Replied Gharib, “No, by the virtue of Abraham
the Friend, I will not suffer thee to weary thyself thus, nor will I
take any of the Jinn save Kaylajan and Kurajan.” Quoth the King, “Take
with thee ten thousand horsemen of the Jinn, to serve thee;” but quoth
Gharib, “I will take only as I said to thee.” So Mura’ash bade a
thousand Marids carry him to his native land, with his share of the
spoil; and he commanded Kaylajan and Kurajan to follow him and obey him;
and they answered, “Hearkening and obedience.” Then said Gharib to the
Marids, “Do ye carry the treasure and Star o’ Morn;” for he himself
thought to ride his flying steed. But Mura’ash said to him, “This horse,
O my brother, will live only in our region, and, if it come upon man’s
earth, ’twill die: but I have in my stables a sea-horse, whose fellow is
not found in Al-Irak, no, nor in all the world is its like.” So he
caused bring forth the horse, and when Gharib saw it, it interposed
between him and his wits.[45] Then they bound it and Kaylajan bore it on
his shoulders and Kurajan took what he could carry. And Mura’ash
embraced Gharib and wept for parting from him, saying, “O my brother, if
aught befal thee wherein thou art powerless, send for me and I will come
to thine aid with an army able to lay waste the whole earth and what is
thereon.” Gharib thanked him for his kindness and zeal for the True
Faith and took leave of him; whereupon the Marids set out with Gharib
and his goods; and, after traversing fifty years’ journey in two days
and a night, alighted near the city of Oman and halted to take rest.
Then Gharib sent out Kaylajan, to learn news of his people, and he
returned and said, “O King, the city is beleaguered by a host of
Infidels, as they were the surging sea, and thy people are fighting
them. The drums beat to battle and Jamrkan goeth forth as champion in
the field.” When Gharib heard this, he cried aloud, “God is Most Great!”
and said to Kaylajan, “Saddle me the steed and bring me my arms and
spear; for to-day the valiant shall be known from the coward in the
place of war and battle-stead.” So Kaylajan brought him all he sought
and Gharib armed and belting in baldrick Al-Mahik, mounted the sea-horse
and made toward the hosts. Quoth Kaylajan and Kurajan to him, “Set thy
heart at rest and let us go to the Kafirs and scatter them abroad in the
wastes and wilds till, by the help of Allah, the All-powerful, we leave
not a soul alive, no, not a blower of the fire.” But Gharib said, “By
the virtue of Abraham the Friend, I will not let you fight them without
me and behold, I mount!” Now the cause of the coming of that great host
was right marvellous.[46]——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Sixtieth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Gharib
had bidden Kaylajan go and learn news of his people, the Jinn fared
forth and presently returning said, “Verily around thy city is a mighty
host!” Now the cause of its coming was that Ajib, having fled the field
after Ya’arub’s army had been put to the rout, said to his people, “O
folk, if we return to Ya’arub bin Kahtan, he will say to us:—But for
you, my son and my people had not been slain; and he will put us to
death, even to the last man. Wherefore, methinks we were better go to
Tarkanán, King of Hind, and beseech him to avenge us.” Replied they,
“Come, let us go thither; and the blessing of the Fire be upon thee!” So
they fared days and nights till they reached King Tarkanan’s capital
city and, after asking and obtaining permission to present himself, Ajib
went in to him and kissed ground before him. Then he wished him what men
use to wish to monarchy and said to him, “O King, protect me, so may
protect thee the sparkling Fire and the Night with its thick darkness!”
Tarkanan looked at Ajib and asked, “Who art thou and what dost thou
want?”; to which the other answered, “I am Ajib King of Al-Irak; my
brother hath wronged me and gotten the mastery of the land and the
subjects have submitted themselves to him. Moreover, he hath embraced
the faith of Al-Islam and he ceaseth not to chase me from country to
country; and behold, I am come to seek protection of thee and thy
power.” When Tarkanan heard Ajib’s words, he rose and sat down and
cried, “By the virtue of the Fire, I will assuredly avenge thee and will
let none serve other than my goddess the Fire!” And he called aloud to
his son, saying, “O my son, make ready to go to Al-Irak and lay it waste
and bind all who serve aught but the Fire and torment them and make
example of them; yet slay them not, but bring them to me, that I may ply
them with various tortures and make them taste the bitterness of
humiliation and leave them a warning to whoso will be warned in this our
while.” Then he chose out to accompany him eighty thousand fighting men
on horseback and the like number on giraffes,[47] besides ten thousand
elephants, bearing on their backs seats[48] of sandal-wood, latticed
with golden rods, plated and studded with gold and silver and shielded
with pavises of gold and emerald; moreover he sent good store of
war-chariots, in each eight men fighting with all kinds of weapons. Now
the Prince’s name was Ra’ad Sháh,[49] and he was the champion of his
time, for prowess having no peer. So he and his army equipped them in
ten day’s time, then set out, as they were a bank of clouds, and fared
on two months’ journey, till they came upon Oman city and encompassed
it, to the joy of Ajib, who thought himself assured of victory. Jamrkan
and Sa’adan and all their fighting-men sallied forth into the field of
fight whilst the kettle-drums beat to battle and the horses neighed. At
this moment up came King Gharib, who, as we have said, had been warned
by Kaylajan; and he urged on his destrier and entered among the Infidels
waiting to see who should come forth and open the chapter of war. Then
out rushed Sa’adan the Ghul and offered combat, whereupon there issued
forth to him one of the champions of Hind; but Sa’adan scarce let him
take stand in front ere he smote him with his mace and crushed his bones
and stretched him on the ground; and so did he with a second and a
third, till he had slain thirty fighting men. Then there dashed out at
him an Indian cavalier, by name Battásh al-Akrán,[50] uncle to King
Tarkanan and of his day the doughtiest man, reckoned worth five thousand
horse in battle-plain and cried out to Sa’adan, saying, “O thief of the
Arabs, hath thy daring reached that degree that thou shouldst slay the
Kings of Hind and their champions and capture their horsemen? But this
day is the last of thy worldly days.” When Sa’adan heard these words,
his eyes waxed blood-red and he drave at Battash and aimed a stroke at
him with his club; but he evaded it and the force of the blow bore
Sa’adan to the ground; and before he could recover himself, the Indians
pinioned him and haled him off to their tents. Now when Jamrkan saw his
comrade a prisoner, he cried out, saying, “Ho for the Faith of Abraham
the Friend!” and clapping heel to his horse, ran at Battash. They
wheeled about awhile, till Battash charged Jamrkan and catching him by
his jerkin[51] tare him from his saddle and cast him to the ground;
whereupon the Indians bound him and dragged him away to their tents. And
Battash ceased not to overcome all who came out to him, Captain after
Captain till he had made prisoners of four-and-twenty Chiefs of the
Moslems, whereat the True Believers were sore dismayed. When Gharib saw
what had befallen his braves, he drew from beneath his knee[52] a mace
of gold weighing six-score pounds which had belonged to Barkan King of
the Jann——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Sixty-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Gharib beheld
what had befallen his braves he drew forth a golden mace which had
belonged to Barkan King of the Jann and clapped heel to his sea-horse,
which bore him like the wind-gust into mid-field. Then he let drive at
Battash, crying out, “God is Most Great! He giveth aid and victory and
He abaseth whoso reject the Faith of Abraham the Friend!” and smote him
with the mace, whereupon he fell to the ground and Gharib, turning to
the Moslems, saw his brother Sahim and said to him, “Pinion me this
hound.” When Sahim heard his brother’s words, he ran to Battash and
bound him hard and fast and bore him off, whilst the Moslem braves
wondered who this knight could be and the Indians said one to other,
“Who is this horseman which came out from among them and hath taken our
Chief prisoner?” Meanwhile Gharib continued to offer battle and there
issued forth to him a captain of the Hindís whom he felled to earth with
his mace, and Kaylajan and Kurajan pinioned him and delivered him over
to Sahim; nor did Gharib leave to do thus, till he had taken prisoner
two-and-fifty of the doughtiest Captains of the army of Hind. Then the
day came to an end and the kettle-drums beat the retreat; whereupon
Gharib left the field and rode towards the Moslem camp. The first to
meet him was Sahim, who kissed his feet in the stirrups and said, “May
thy hand never wither, O champion of the age! Tell us who thou art among
the braves.” So Gharib raised his vizor of mail and Sahim knew him and
cried out, saying, “This is your King and your lord Gharib, who is come
back from the land of the Jann!” When the Moslems heard Gharib’s name,
they threw themselves off their horses’ backs, and, crowding about him,
kissed his feet in the stirrups and saluted him, rejoicing in his safe
return. Then they carried him into the city of Oman, where he entered
his palace and sat down on the throne of his kingship, whilst his
officers stood around him in the utmost joy. Food was set on and they
ate, after which Gharib related to them all that had betided him with
the Jinn in Mount Kaf, and they marvelled thereat with exceeding marvel
and praised Allah for his safety. Then he dismissed them to their
sleeping-places; so they withdrew to their several lodgings, and when
none abode with him but Kaylajan and Kurajan, who never left him, he
said to them, “Can ye carry me to Cufa that I may take my pleasure in my
Harim, and bring me back before the end of the night?” They replied, “O
our lord, this thou askest is easy.” Now the distance between Cufa and
Oman is sixty days’ journey for a diligent horseman, and Kaylajan said
to Kurajan, “I will carry him going and thou coming back.” So he took up
Gharib and flew off with him, in company with Kurajan; nor was an hour
past before they set him down at the gate of his palace, in Cufa. He
went in to his uncle Al-Damigh, who rose to him and saluted him; after
which quoth Gharib, “How is it with my wives Fakhr Taj[53] and
Mahdiyah?” Al-Damigh answered, “They are both well and in good case.”
Then the eunuch went in and acquainted the women of the Harim with
Gharib’s coming, whereat they rejoiced and raised the trill of joy and
gave him the reward for good news. Presently in came King Gharib, and
they rose and saluting him, conversed with him, till Al-Damigh entered,
when Gharib related to them all that had befallen him in the land of the
Jinn, whereat they all marvelled. Then he lay with Fakhr Taj till near
daybreak, when he took leave of his wives and his uncle and mounted
Kurajan’s back, nor was the darkness dispelled before the two Marids set
him down in the city of Oman. Then he and his men armed and he bade open
the gates when, behold, up came a horseman from the host of the Indians,
with Jamrkan and Sa’adan and the rest of the captive captains whom he
had delivered, and committed them to Gharib. The Moslems, rejoicing in
their safety, donned their mails and took horse, while the kettle drums
beat a point of war; and the Miscreants also drew up in line.——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Sixty-second Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Moslem host mounted and rode to the plain of cut and thrust, the first
to open the door of war was King Gharib who, drawing his sword Al-Mahik,
drove his charger between the two ranks and cried out, saying, “Whoso
knoweth me hath enough of my mischief and whoso unknoweth me, to him I
will make myself known. I am Gharib, King of Al-Irak and Al-Yaman,
brother of Ajib.” When Ra’ad Shah, son of the King of Hind, heard this,
he shouted to his captains, “Bring me Ajib.” So they brought him and
Ra’ad Shah said to him, “Thou wottest that this quarrel is thy quarrel
and thou art the cause of all this slaughter. Now yonder standeth thy
brother Gharib middle-most the fight-field and stead where sword and
spear we shall wield; go thou to him and bring him to me a prisoner,
that I may set him on a camel arsy-versy, and make a show of him and
carry him to the land of Hind.” Answered Ajib, “O King, send out to him
other than I, for I am in ill-health this morning.” But Ra’ad Shah
snarked and snorted and cried, “By the virtue of the sparkling Fire and
the light and the shade and the heat, unless thou fare forth to thy
brother and bring him to me in haste, I will cut off thy head and make
an end of thee.” So Ajib took heart and urging his horse up to his
brother in mid-field, said to him, “O dog of the Arabs and vilest of all
who hammer down tent-pegs, wilt thou contend with Kings? Take what to
thee cometh and receive the glad tidings of thy death.” When Gharib
heard this, he said to him, “Who art thou among the Kings?” And Ajib
answered, saying, “I am thy brother, and this day is the last of thy
worldly days.” Now when Gharib was assured that he was indeed his
brother Ajib, he cried out and said, “Ho, to avenge my father and
mother!” Then giving his sword to Kaylajan,[54] he drave at Ajib and
smote him with his mace a smashing blow and a swashing, that went nigh
to beat in his ribs, and seizing him by the mail-gorget tore him from
the saddle and cast him to the ground; whereupon the two Marids pounced
upon him and binding him fast, dragged him off dejected and abject;
whilst Gharib rejoiced in the capture of his enemy and repeated these
couplets of the poet:—
I have won my wish and my need have scored ✿ Unto Thee be the praise and
the thanks, O our Lord!
I grew up dejected and abject; poor, ✿ But Allah vouchsafed me all boons
implored:
I have conquered countries and mastered men ✿ But for Thee were I
naught, O thou Lord adored!
When Ra’ad Shah saw how evilly Ajib fared with his brother, he called
for his charger and donning his harness and habergeon, mounted and
dashed out a-field. As soon as he drew near King Gharib, he cried out at
him, saying, “O basest of Arabs and bearer of scrubs,[55] who art thou,
that thou shouldest capture Kings and braves? Down from thy horse and
put elbows behind back and kiss my feet and set my warriors free and go
with me in bond of chains to my reign that I may pardon thee and make
thee a Shaykh in our own land, so mayst thou eat there a bittock of
bread.” When Gharib heard these words he laughed till he fell backwards
and answered, saying, “O mad hound and mangy wolf, soon shalt thou see
against whom the shifts of Fortune will turn!” Then he cried out to
Sahim, saying, “Bring me the prisoners;” so he brought them, and Gharib
smote off their heads; whereupon Ra’ad Shah drave at him, with the
driving of a lordly champion and the onslaught of a fierce slaughterer
and they falsed and feinted and fought till nightfall, when the
kettle-drums beat the retreat.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Sixty-third Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
kettle-drums beat the retreat, the two Kings parted and returned, each
to his own place where his people gave him joy of his safety. And the
Moslems said to Gharib, “’Tis not thy wont, O King, to prolong a fight;”
and he replied, “O folk, I have done battle with many royalties[56] and
champions; but never saw I a harder hitter than this one. Had I chosen
to draw Al-Mahik upon him, I had mashed his bones and made an end of his
days: but I delayed with him, thinking to take him prisoner and give him
part enjoyment in Al-Islam.” Thus far concerning Gharib; but as regards
Ra’ad Shah, he returned to his marquee and sat upon his throne, when his
Chiefs came in to him and asked him of his adversary, and he answered,
“By the truth of the sparkling Fire, never in my life saw I the like of
yonder brave! But to-morrow I will take him prisoner and lead him away
dejected and abject.” Then they slept till daybreak, when the
battle-drums beat to fight and the swords in baldric were dight; and
war-cries were cried amain and all mounted their horses of generous
strain and drew out into the field, filling every wide place and hill
and plain. The first to open the door of war was the rider outrageous
and the lion rageous, King Gharib, who drave his steed between the two
hosts and wheeled and careered over the field, crying, “Who is for fray,
who is for fight? Let no sluggard come out to me this day nor dullard!”
Before he had made an end of speaking, out rushed Ra’ad Shah, riding on
an elephant, as he were a vast tower, in a seat girthed with silken
bands; and between the elephant’s ears sat the driver, bearing in hand a
hook, wherewith he goaded the beast and directed him right and left.
When the elephant drew near Gharib’s horse, and the steed saw a creature
it had never before set eyes on, it took fright;[57] wherefore Gharib
dismounted and gave the horse to Kaylajan. Then he drew Al-Mahik and
advanced to meet Ra’ad Shah afoot, walking on till he faced the
elephant. Now it was Ra’ad Shah’s wont, when he found himself
overmatched by any brave, to mount an elephant, taking with him an
implement called the lasso,[58] which was in the shape of a net, wide at
base and narrow at top with a running cord of silk passed through rings
along its edges. With this he would attack horsemen and casting the
meshes over them, draw the running noose and drag the rider off his
horse and make him prisoner; and thus had he conquered many cavaliers.
So, as Gharib came up to him, he raised his hand and, bespreading the
net over him, pulled him on to the back of the elephant and cried out to
the beast to return to the Indian camp. But Kaylajan and Kurajan had not
left Gharib and, when they beheld what had befallen their lord, they
laid hold of the elephant, whilst Gharib strove with the net, till he
rent it in sunder. Upon this the two Marids seized Ra’ad Shah and bound
him with a cord of palm-fibre. Then the two armies drove each at other
and met with a shock like two seas crashing or two mountains together
dashing, whilst the dust rose to the confines of the sky and blinded was
every eye. The battle waxed fierce and fell, the blood ran in rills, nor
did they cease to wage war with lunge of lance and sway of sword in
lustiest way, till the day darkened and the night starkened, when the
drums beat the retreat and the two hosts drew asunder.[59] Now the
Moslems were evilly entreated that day by reason of the riders on
elephants and giraffes,[60] and many of them were killed and most of the
rest were wounded. This was grievous to Gharib, who commanded the hurt
to be medicined and turning to his Chief Officers, asked them what they
counselled. Answered they, “O King, ’tis only the elephants and giraffes
that irk us; were we but quit of them, we should overcome the enemy.”
Quoth Kaylajan and Kurajan, “We twain will unsheath our swords and fall
on them and slay the most part of them.” But there came forward a man of
Oman, who had been privy counsellor to Jaland, and said, “O King, I will
be surety for the host, an thou wilt but hearken to me and follow my
counsel.” Gharib turned to his Captains and said to them, “Whatsoever
this wise man shall say to you that do.”——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Sixty-fourth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Gharib
said to his Captains, “Whatsoever this wise man shall say to you, that
do”; they replied, “Hearing and obeying!” So the Omani chose out ten
captains and asked them, “How many braves have ye under your hands?”;
and they answered, “Ten thousand fighting-men.” Then he carried them
into the armoury and armed five thousand of them with harquebuses and
other five thousand with cross-bows and taught them to shoot with these
new weapons.[61] Now as soon as it was day, the Indians came out to the
field, armed cap-à-pie, with the elephants, giraffes and champions in
their van; whereupon Gharib and his men mounted and both hosts drew out
and the big drums beat to battle. Then the man of Oman cried out to the
archers and harquebusiers to shoot, and they plied the elephants and
giraffes with shafts and leaden bullets, which entered the beasts’
flanks, whereat they roared out and turning upon their own ranks, trod
them down with their hoofs. Presently the Moslems charged the
Misbelievers and outflanked them right and left, whilst the elephants
and giraffes trampled them and drove them into the hills and wolds,
whither the Moslems followed hard upon them with the keen-edged sword
and but few of the giraffes and elephants escaped. Then King Gharib and
his folk returned, rejoicing in their victory; and on the morrow they
divided the loot and rested five days; after which King Gharib sat down
on the throne of his kingship and sending for his brother Ajib, said to
him, “O dog, why hast thou assembled the Kings against us? But He who
hath power over all things hath given us the victory over thee. So
embrace the Saving Faith and thou shalt be saved, and I will forbear to
avenge my father and mother on thee therefor, and I will make thee King
again as thou wast, placing myself under thy hand.” But Ajib said, “I
will not leave my faith.” So Gharib bade lay him in irons and appointed
an hundred stalwart slaves to guard him; after which he turned to Ra’ad
Shah and said to him, “How sayst thou of the faith of Al-Islam?” Replied
he, “O my lord, I will enter thy faith; for, were it not a true Faith
and a goodly, thou hadst not conquered us. Put forth thy hand and I will
testify that there is no god but _the_ God and that Abraham the Friend
is the Apostle of God.” At this Gharib rejoiced and said to him, “Is thy
heart indeed stablished in the sweetness of this Belief?” And he
answered, saying, “Yes, O my lord!” Then quoth Gharib, “O, Ra’ad Shah,
wilt thou go to thy country and thy kingdom?”; and quoth he, “O, my
lord, my father will put me to death, for that I have left his faith.”
Gharib rejoined, “I will go with thee and make thee king of the country
and constrain the folk to obey thee, by the help of Allah the Bountiful,
the Beneficent.” And Ra’ad Shah kissed his hands and feet. Then Gharib
rewarded the counsellor who had caused the rout of the foe and gave him
great wealth; after which he turned to Kaylajan and Kurajan, and said to
them, “Harkye, Chiefs of the Jinn, ’tis my will that ye carry me,
together with Ra’ad Shah and Jamrkan and Sa’adan to the land of Hind.”
“We hear and we obey,” answered they. So Kurajan took up Jamrkan and
Sa’adan, whilst Kaylajan took Gharib and Ra’ad Shah and made for the
land of Hind.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Sixty-fifth Night,