Marids had taken up Gharib and Jamrkan, Sa’adan the Ghul and Ra’ad Shah,
they flew on with them from sundown till the last of the night, when
they set them down on the terrace of King Tarkanan’s palace at Cashmere.
Now news was brought to Tarkanan by the remnants of his host of what had
befallen his son, whereat he slept not neither took delight in aught,
and he was troubled with sore trouble. As he sat in his Harim, pondering
his case, behold, Gharib and his company descended the stairways of the
palace and came in to him; and when he saw his son and those who were
with him, he was confused and fear took him of the Marids. Then Ra’ad
Shah turned to him and said, “How long wilt thou persist in thy
frowardness, O traitor and worshipper of the Fire? Woe to thee! Leave
worshipping the Fire and serve the Magnanimous Sire, Creator of day and
night, whom attaineth no sight.” When Tarkanan heard his son’s speech,
he cast at him an iron club he had by him; but it missed him and fell
upon a buttress of the palace and smote out three stones. Then cried the
King, “O dog, thou hast destroyed mine army and hast forsaken thy faith
and comest now to make me do likewise!” With this Gharib went up to him
and dealt him a cuff on the neck which knocked him down; whereupon the
Marids bound him fast and all the Harim-women fled. Then Gharib sat down
on the throne of kingship and said to Ra’ad Shah, “Do thou justice upon
thy father.” So Ra’ad Shah turned to him and said, “O perverse old man,
become one of the saved and thou shalt be saved from the fire and the
wrath of the All-powerful.” But Tarkanan cried, “I will not die save in
my own faith.” Whereupon Gharib drew Al-Mahik and smote him therewith,
and he fell to the earth in two pieces, and Allah hurried his soul to
the fire and abiding-place dire.[62] Then Gharib bade hang his body over
the palace gate and they hung one-half on the right hand and the other
on the left and waited till day, when Gharib caused Ra’ad Shah don the
royal habit and sit down on his father’s throne, with himself on his
dexter hand and Jamrkan and Sa’adan and the Marids standing right and
left; and he said to Kaylajan and Kurajan, “Whoso entereth of the
Princes and Officers, seize him and bind him, and let not a single
Captain escape you.” And they answered, “Hearkening and obedience!”
Presently, the Officers made for the palace, to do their service to the
King, and the first to appear was the Chief Captain who, seeing King
Tarkanan’s dead body cut in half and hanging on either side of the gate,
was seized with terror and amazement. Then Kaylajan laid hold of him by
the collar and threw him and pinioned him; after which he dragged him
into the palace and before sunrise they had bound three hundred and
fifty Captains and set them before Gharib, who said to them, “O folk,
have you seen your King hanging at the palace-gate?” Asked they, “Who
hath done this deed?”; and he answered, “I did it, by the help of Allah
Almighty; and whoso opposeth me, I will do with him likewise.” Then
quoth they, “What is thy will with us?”; and quoth he, “I am Gharib,
King of Al-Irak, he who slew your warriors; and now Ra’ad Shah hath
embraced the Faith of Salvation and is become a mighty King and ruler
over you. So do ye become True Believers and all shall be well with you;
but, if ye refuse, you shall repent it.” So they pronounced the
profession of the Faith and were enrolled among the people of felicity.
Then said Gharib, “Are your hearts indeed stablished in the sweetness of
the Belief?”; and they replied, “Yes”; whereupon he bade release them
and clad them in robes of honour, saying, “Go to your people and expound
Al-Islam to them. Whoso accepteth the Faith, spare him; but if he refuse
slay him.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Sixty-sixth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Gharib
said to the troops of Ra’ad Shah, “Go to your people and offer Al-Islam
to them. Whoso accepteth the Faith spare him; but if he refuse, slay
him.” So they went out and, assembling the men under their command,
explained what had taken place and expounded Al-Islam to them, and they
all professed, except a few, whom they put to death; after which they
returned and told Gharib, who blessed Allah and glorified Him, saying,
“Praised be the Almighty who hath made this thing easy to us without
strife!” Then he abode in Cashmere of India forty days, till he had
ordered the affairs of the country and cast down the shrines and temples
of the Fire and built in their stead mosques and cathedrals, whilst
Ra’ad Shah made ready for him rarities and treasures beyond count and
despatched them to Al-Irak in ships. Then Gharib mounted on Kaylajan’s
back and Jamrkan and Sa’adan on that of Kurajan, after they had taken
leave of Ra’ad Shah; and journeyed through the night till break of day,
when they reached Oman city where their troops met them and saluted them
and rejoiced in them. Then they set out for Cufa where Gharib called for
his brother Ajib and commanded to hang him. So Sahim brought hooks of
iron and driving them into the tendons of Ajib’s heels, hung him over
the gate; and Gharib bade them shoot him; so they riddled him with
arrows, till he was like unto a porcupine. Then Gharib entered his
palace and sitting down on the throne of his kingship, passed the day in
ordering the affairs of the state. At nightfall he went in to his Harim,
where Star o’ Morn came to meet him and embraced him and gave him joy,
she and her women, of his safety. He spent that day and lay that night
with her and on the morrow, after he had made the Ghusl-ablution and
prayed the dawn-prayer, he sat down on his throne and commanded
preparation to be made for his marriage with Mahdiyah. Accordingly they
slaughtered three thousand head of sheep and two thousand oxen and a
thousand he-goats and five hundred camels and the like number of horses,
beside four thousand fowls and great store of geese; never was such
wedding in Al-Islam to that day. Then he went in to Mahdiyah and took
her maidenhead and abode with her ten days; after which he committed the
kingdom to his uncle Al-Damigh, charging him to rule the lieges justly,
and journeyed with his women and warriors, till he came to the ships
laden with the treasures and rarities which Ra’ad Shah had sent him, and
divided the monies among his men who from poor became rich. Then they
fared on till they reached the city of Babel, where he bestowed on Sahim
Al-Layl a robe of honour and appointed him Sultan of the city.——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Gharib, after
robing his brother Sahim and appointing him Sultan, abode with him ten
days, after which he set out again and journeyed nor stinted travel till
he reached the castle of Sa’adan the Ghul, where they rested five days.
Then quoth Gharib to Kaylajan and Kurajan, “Pass over to Isbánír
al-Madáin, to the palace of the Chosroe, and find what is come of Fakhr
Taj and bring me one of the King’s kinsmen, who shall acquaint me with
what hath passed.” Quoth they, “We hear and we obey,” and set out
forthright for Isbanir. As they flew between heaven and earth, behold,
they caught sight of a mighty army, as it were the surging sea, and
Kaylajan said to Kurajan, “Let us descend and determine what be this
host.” So they alighted and walking among the troops, found them
Persians and questioned the soldiers whose men they were and whither
they were bound; whereto they made answer, “We are _en route_ for
Al-Irak, to slay Gharib and all who company him.” When the Marids heard
these words, they repaired to the pavilion of the Persian general, whose
name was Rustam, and waited till the soldiers slept, when they took up
Rustam, bed and all, and made for the castle where Gharib lay. They
arrived there by midnight and going to the door of the King’s pavilion,
cried, “Permission!” which when he heard, he sat up and said, “Come in.”
So they entered and set down the couch with Rustam asleep thereon.
Gharib asked, “Who be this?” and they answered, “This be a Persian
Prince, whom we met coming with a great host, thinking to slay thee and
thine, and we have brought him to thee, that he may tell thee what thou
hast a mind to know.” “Fetch me an hundred braves!” cried Gharib, and
they fetched them; whereupon he bade them, “Draw your swords and stand
at the head of this Persian carle!” Then they awoke him and he opened
his eyes; and, finding an arch of steel over his head, shut them again,
crying, “What be this foul dream?” But Kaylajan pricked him with his
sword-point and he sat up and said, “Where am I?” Quoth Sahim, “Thou art
in the presence of King Gharib, son-in-law of the King of the Persians.
What is thy name and whither goest thou?” When Rustam heard Gharib’s
name, he bethought himself and said in his mind, “Am I asleep or awake?”
Whereupon Sahim dealt him a buffet, saying, “Why dost thou not answer?”
And he raised his head and asked, “Who brought me from my tent out of
the midst of my men?” Gharib answered, “These two Marids brought thee.”
So he looked at Kaylajan and Kurajan and skited in his bag-trousers.
Then the Marids fell upon him, baring their tusks and brandishing their
blades, and said to him, “Wilt thou not rise and kiss ground before King
Gharib?” And he trembled at them and was assured that he was not asleep;
so he stood up and kissed the ground between the hands of Gharib,
saying, “The blessing of the Fire be on thee, and long life be thy life,
O King!” Gharib cried, “O dog of the Persians, fire is not worshipful,
for that it is harmful and profiteth not save in cooking food.” Asked
Rustam, “Who then is worshipful?”; and Gharib answered, “Alone
worship-worth is God, who formed thee and fashioned thee and created the
heavens and the earth.” Quoth the Ajami, “What shall I say that I may
become of the party of this Lord and enter thy Faith?”; and quoth
Gharib, “Say:—There is no god but _the_ God, and Abraham is the Friend
of God.” So Rustam pronounced the profession of the Faith and was
enrolled among the people of felicity. Then said he to Gharib, “Know, O
my lord, that thy father-in-law, King Sabúr, seeketh to slay thee; and
indeed he hath sent me with an hundred thousand men, charging me to
spare none of you.” Gharib rejoined, “Is this my reward for having
delivered his daughter from death and dishonour? Allah will requite him
his ill intent. But what is thy name?” The Persian answered, “My name is
Rustam, general of Sabur;” and Gharib, “Thou shalt have the like rank in
my army,” adding, “But tell me, O Rustam, how is it with the Princess
Fakhr Taj?” “May thy head live, O King of the age!” “What was the cause
of her death?” Rustam replied, “O my lord, no sooner hadst thou left us
than one of the Princess’s women went in to King Sabur and said to
him:—O my master, didst thou give Gharib leave to lie with the Princess
my mistress? whereto he answered:—No, by the virtue of the fire! and
drawing his sword, went in to his daughter and said to her:—O foul
baggage, why didst thou suffer yonder Badawi to sleep with thee, without
dower or even wedding? She replied:—O my papa, ’twas thou gavest him
leave to sleep with me. Then he asked:—Did the fellow have thee? but she
was silent and hung down her head. Hereupon he cried out to the midwives
and slave-girls, saying:—Pinion me this harlot’s elbows behind her and
look at her privy parts. So they did as he bade them and after
inspecting her slit said to him:—O King, she hath lost her maidenhead.
Whereupon he ran at her and would have slain her, but her mother rose up
and threw herself between them crying:—O King, slay her not, lest thou
be for ever dishonoured; but shut her in a cell till she die. So he cast
her into prison till nightfall, when he called two of his courtiers and
said to them:—Carry her afar off and throw her into the river Jayhun and
tell none. They did his commandment, and indeed her memory is forgotten
and her time is past.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Sixty-eighth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Gharib
asked news of Fakhr Taj, Rustam informed him that she had been drowned
in the river by her sire’s command. And when Gharib heard this, the
world waxed wan before his eyes and he cried, “By the virtue of Abraham
the Friend, I will assuredly go to yonder dog and overwhelm him and lay
waste his realm!” Then he sent letters to Jamrkan and to the governors
of Mosul and Mayyáfárikín; and, turning to Rustam, said to him, “How
many men hadst thou in thine army?” He replied, “An hundred thousand
Persian horse;” and Gharib rejoined, “Take ten thousand horse and go to
thy people and occupy them with war; I will follow on thy trail.” So
Rustam mounted and taking ten thousand Arab horse made for his tribe,
saying in himself, “I will do a deed shall whiten my face with King
Gharib.” So he fared on seven days, till there remained but half a day’s
journey between him and the Persian camp; when, dividing his host into
four divisions he said to his men, “Surround the Persians on all sides
and fall upon them with the sword.” They rode on from eventide till
midnight, when they had compassed the camp of the Ajamis, who were
asleep in security, and fell upon them, shouting, “God is Most Great!”
Whereupon the Persians started up from sleep and their feet slipped and
the sabre went round amongst them; for the All-knowing King was wroth
with them, and Rustam wrought amongst them as fire in dry fuel; till, by
the end of the night, the whole of the Persian host was slain or wounded
or fled, and the Moslems made prize of their tents and baggage, horses,
camels and treasure-chests. Then they alighted and rested in the tents
of the Ajamis till King Gharib came up and, seeing what Rustam had done
and how he had gained by stratagem a great and complete victory, he
invested him with a robe of honour and said to him, “O Rustam, it was
thou didst put the Persians to the rout; wherefore all the spoil is
thine.” So he kissed Gharib’s hand and thanked him, and they rested till
the end of the day, when they set out for King Sabur’s capital.
Meanwhile, the fugitives of the defeated force reached Isbanir and went
in to Sabur, crying out and saying, “Alas!” and “Well-away!” and “Woe
worth the day!” Quoth he, “What hath befallen you and who with his
mischief hath smitten you?” So they told him all that had passed and
said, “Naught befel us except that thy general Rustam fell upon us in
the darkness of the night because he had turned Moslem; nor did Gharib
come near us.” When the King heard this, he cast his crown to the ground
and said, “There is no worth left us!” Then he turned to his son Ward
Shah[63] and said to him, “O my son, there is none for this affair save
thou.” Answered Ward Shah, “By thy life, O my father, I will assuredly
bring Gharib and his chiefs of the people in chains and slay all who are
with him.” Then he numbered his army and found it two hundred and twenty
thousand men. So they slept, intending to set forth on the morrow; but,
next morning, as they were about to march, behold, a cloud of dust arose
and spread till it walled the world and baffled the sight of the
farthest-seeing wight. Now Sabur had mounted to farewell his son, and
when he saw this mighty great dust, he let call a runner and said to
him, “Go find me out the cause of this dust-cloud.” The scout went and
returned, saying, “O my lord, Gharib and his braves are upon you;”
whereupon they unloaded their bât-beasts and drew out in line of battle.
When Gharib came up and saw the Persians ranged in row, he cried out to
his men, saying, “Charge with the blessing of Allah!” So they waved the
flags, and the Arabs and the Ajamis drave one at other and folk were
heaped upon folk. Blood ran like water and all souls saw death face to
face; the brave advanced and pressed forward to assail and the coward
hung back and turned tail and they ceased not from fight and fray till
ended day, when the kettle-drums beat the retreat and the two hosts drew
apart. Then Sabur commanded to pitch his camp hard over the city-gate,
and Gharib set up his pavilions in front of theirs; and every one went
to his tent.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Sixty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the two hosts
drew apart, every one went to his tent until the morning. As soon as it
was day, the two hosts mounted their strong steeds and levelled their
lances and wore their harness of war; then they raised their
slogan-cries and drew out in battle-array, whilst came forth all the
lordly knights and the lions of fights. Now the first to open the gate
of battle was Rustam, who urged his charger into mid-field and cried
out, “God is most Great! I am Rustam champion-in-chief of the Arabs and
Ajams. Who is for tilting, who is for fighting? Let no sluggard come out
to me this day or weakling!” Then there rushed forth to him a champion
of the Persians; the two charged each other and there befel between them
a sore fight, till Rustam sprang upon his adversary and smote him with a
mace he had with him, seventy pounds in weight, and beat his head down
upon his breast, and he fell to the earth, dead and in his blood
drowned. This was no light matter to Sabur and he commanded his men to
charge; so they drave at the Moslems, invoking the aid of the
light-giving Sun, whilst the True Believers called for help upon the
Magnanimous King. But the Ajams, the Miscreants, outnumbered the Arabs,
the Moslems, and made them drain the cup of death; which when Gharib saw
he drew his sword Al-Mahik and crying out his war-cry, fell upon the
Persians, with Kaylajan and Kurajan at either stirrup; nor did he leave
playing upon them with blade till he hewed his way to the
standard-bearer and smote him on the head with the flat of his sword,
whereupon he fell down in a fainting-fit and the two Marids bore him off
to their camp. When the Persians saw the standard fall, they turned and
fled and for the city-gates made; but the Moslems followed them with the
blade and they crowded together to enter the city, so that they could
not shut the gates and there died of them much people. Then Rustam and
Sa’adan, Jamrkan and Sahim, Al-Damigh, Kaylajan and Kurajan and all the
braves Mohammedan and the champions of Faith Unitarian fell upon the
misbelieving Persians in the gates, and the blood of the Kafirs ran in
the streets like a torrent till they threw down their arms and harness
and called out for quarter; whereupon the Moslems stayed their swords
from the slaughter and drove them to their tents, as one driveth a flock
of sheep. Meanwhile Gharib returned to his pavilion, where he doffed his
gear and washed himself of the blood of the Infidels; after which he
donned his royal robes and sat down on his chair of estate. Then he
called for the King of the Persians and said to him, “O dog of the
Ajams, what moved thee to deal thus with thy daughter? How seest thou me
unworthy to be her baron?” And Sabur answered, saying, “O King, punish
me not because of that deed which I did; for I repent me and confronted
thee not in fight but in my fear of thee.”[64] When Gharib heard these
words he bade throw him flat and beat him. So they bastinadoed him, till
he could no longer groan, and cast him among the prisoners. Then Gharib
expounded Al-Islam to the Persians and one hundred and twenty thousand
of them embraced The Faith, and the rest he put to the sword. Moreover
all the citizens professed Al-Islam and Gharib mounted and entered in
great state the city Isbanir al-Madain. Then he went into the King’s
palace and sitting down on Sabur’s throne, gave robes and largesse and
distributed the booty and treasure among the Arabs and Persians,
wherefore they loved him and wished him victory and honour and endurance
of days. But Fakhr Taj’s mother remembered her daughter and raised the
voice of mourning for her, and the palace was filled with wails and
cries. Gharib heard this and entering the Harim, asked the women what
ailed them, whereupon the Princess’s mother came forward and said, “O my
lord, thy presence put me in mind of my daughter and how she would have
joyed in thy coming, had she been alive and well.” Gharib wept for her
and sitting down on his throne, called for Sabur, and they brought him
stumbling in his shackles. Quoth Gharib to him, “O dog of the Persians,
what didst thou do with thy daughter?” “I gave her to such an one and
such an one,” quoth the King, “saying:—Drown her in the river Jayhún.”
So Gharib sent for the two men and asked them, “Is what he saith true?”
Answered they, “Yes; but, O King, we did not drown her, nay we took pity
on her and left her on the banks of the Jayhun, saying:—Save thyself and
return not to the city, lest the King slay thee and slay us with thee.
This is all we know of her.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Seventieth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the two men
ended the tale of Fakhr Taj with these words, “And we left her upon the
bank of the river Jayhun!” Now, when Gharib heard this he bade bring the
astrologers and said to them, “Strike me a board of geomancy and find
out what is come of Fakhr Taj, and whether she is still in the bonds of
life or dead.” They did so and said, “O King of the age, it is manifest
to us that the Princess is alive and hath borne a male child; but she is
with a tribe of the Jinn, and will be parted from thee twenty years;
count, therefore, how many years thou hast been absent in travel.” So he
reckoned up the years of his absence and found them eight years and
said, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the
Glorious, the Great!”[65] Then he sent for all Sabur’s Governors of
towns and strongholds and they came and did him homage. Now one day
after this, as he sat in his palace, behold, a cloud of dust appeared in
the distance and spread till it walled the whole land and darkened the
horizon. So he summoned the two Marids and bade them reconnoitre, and
they went forth under the dust cloud and snatching up a horseman of the
advancing host, returned and set him down before Gharib, saying, “Ask
this fellow, for he is of the army.” Quoth Gharib, “Whose power is
this?” and the man answered, “O King, ’tis the army of Khirad Shah,[66]
King of Shiras, who is come forth to fight thee.” Now the cause of
Khirad Shah’s coming was this. When Gharib defeated Sabur’s army, as
hath been related, and took him prisoner, the King’s son fled, with a
handful of his father’s force and ceased not flying till he reached the
city of Shiras, where he went into King Khirad Shah and kissed ground
before him, whilst the tears ran down his cheeks. When the King saw him
in this case, he said to him, “Lift thy head, O youth, and tell me what
maketh thee weep.” He replied, “O King, a King of the Arabs, by name
Gharib, hath fallen on us and captured the King my sire and slain the
Persians making them drain the cup of death.” And he told him all that
had passed from first to last. Quoth Khirad Shah, “Is my wife[67] well?”
and quoth the Prince, “Gharib hath taken her.” Cried the King “As my
head liveth, I will not leave a Badawi or a Moslem on the face of the
earth!” So he wrote letters to his Viceroys, who levied their troops and
joined him with an army which when reviewed numbered eighty-five
thousand men. Then he opened his armouries and distributed arms and
armour to the troops, after which he set out with them and journeyed
till he came to Isbanir, and all encamped before the city-gate. Hereupon
Kaylajan and Kurajan came in to Gharib and kissing his knee, said to
him, “O our Lord, heal our hearts and give us this host to our share.”
And he said, “Up and at them!” So the two Marids flew aloft high in the
lift and lighting down in the pavilion of the King of Shiras, found him
seated on his chair of estate, with the Prince of Persia, Ward Shah son
of Sabur, sitting on his right hand, and about him his Captains, with
whom he was taking counsel for the slaughter of the Moslems. Kaylajan
came forward and caught up the Prince and Kurajan snatched up the King
and the twain flew back with them to Gharib, who caused beat them till
they fainted. Then the Marids returned to the Shirazian camp and,
drawing their swords, which no mortal man had strength to wield, fell
upon the Misbelievers and Allah hurried their souls to the Fire and
abiding-place dire, whilst they saw no one and nothing save two swords
flashing and reaping men, as a husbandman reaps corn. So they left their
tents and mounting their horses bare-backed, fled; and the Marids
pursued them two days and slew of them much people; after which they
returned and kissed Gharib’s hand. He thanked them for the deed they had
done and said to them, “The spoil of the Infidels is yours alone: none
shall share with you therein.” So they called down blessings on him and
going forth, gathered the booty together and abode in their own homes.
On this wise it fared with them; but as regards Gharib and his
lieges,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Seventy-first Night,