At that they waved their fearsome banner and both sides clashed; blood flowed on to the ground in streams; the arbiter of war gave his judgements in which there is no injustice; the brave stood firm-footed on the battlefield; while the cowards were routed and fled, not believing that the day would ever end or that night would bring its darkness. The battle continued until evening, when the light faded, but although the infidels then sounded their drums to break off the fight, Gharib was not prepared to stop and charged them, followed by the Muslim monotheists. How many heads were severed and throats cut; how many hands and spines were slashed through; how many knees and sinews were crushed; and how many men, old and young alike, were slaughtered!
By the time morning had come, the infidels had made up their minds to turn and flee and, as the light spread, they were routed. The Muslims pursued them until noon, capturing more than twenty thousand of them, and these were brought back with their hands tied. Gharib himself halted at the gate of Kufa and ordered a herald to proclaim throughout the city that he would give quarter to all who were willing to abandon idolatry and acknowledge the unity of the Omniscient God, the Creator of mankind and of light and darkness. When this proclamation was made, everyone, young and old alike, accepted Islam, before going out to renew their professions of faith in front of Gharib, who was filled with happiness and delight.
After that, Gharib asked about Mirdas and his daughter Mahdiya, and was told that Mirdas had camped behind the Red Mountain. He sent for his brother Sahim and, when he had come, he despatched him to find news of his father. Without delay Sahim mounted and, armed with a brown lance, he pressed on towards the Red Mountain, but his investigation brought him no news of Mirdas and no trace of his people. Instead of them he came across an old Bedouin, broken by the burden of years, whom he asked about them and where they had gone. ‘My son,’ the old man replied, ‘when Mirdas heard that Gharib had attacked Kufa, he was terrified and he took his daughter and his clan, together with all his slaves, both male and female, and set off across the desert, but where he was making for, I don’t know.’ After hearing this, Sahim went back to tell his brother the news. Gharib was distressed by it, but he took his seat on the royal throne of his father, opened his treasuries and distributed money to all his paladins, sending out scouts to track down Mirdas while he himself stayed in Kufa. There he summoned his ministers of state, who came obediently, followed by the citizens, and he distributed splendid robes of honour among them, instructing them to look after the interests of his subjects.
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the six hundred and forty-second night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that Gharib distributed robes of honour to the Kufans and instructed them to look after the interests of his subjects. One day, he went out to hunt with a hundred riders. He rode on until he reached a wooded valley, with many fruits and streams as well as birds, a grazing ground for antelopes and gazelles, a restful place with scents to revive the flagging spirit. It was a bright day and he and his party halted there and stayed until the following morning. Gharib then carried out the ritual ablution and performed two rak‘as, giving praise and thanks to Almighty God. All of a sudden there came a sound of noise and shouting from the neighbouring countryside and Gharib sent Sahim to investigate. Sahim set off at once and rode on until he could hear cries and see plundered goods, spare horses being led and captured women and children. He asked a shepherd there what had happened and was told: ‘This is the harem of Mirdas, the Qahtanid chief, and his goods, together with those of his clan. Mirdas was killed yesterday by al-Jamraqan, who plundered his goods, took his women and children as captives, and seized the property of his whole clan. He is a headstrong tyrant who is in the habit of coming out to raid and rob on the roads, and neither the Bedouin nor the kings can do anything about him, for he is a plague.’
When Sahim heard that his father had been killed, the women captured and the goods plundered, he went back to his brother to tell him what had happened. This inflamed Gharib’s anger and excited his indignation, making him eager to remove this disgrace and to take his revenge. He rode out with his men, looking for an opportunity to attack, until he came up with the raiders. Then he shouted: ‘God is greater! Have at the infidel robbers!’ In a single charge he killed twenty-one champions and then halted on the battlefield, calling out boldly: ‘Where is al-Jamraqan? Let him come out to meet me, so that I may pour him a cup of humiliation and free the lands of him.’ Before he had finished speaking, out came al-Jamraqan like a cannonball or a rock falling from a mountain, mail-clad and huge, dashing against Gharib like the headstrong giant he was, with no word of greeting, while Gharib for his part came to meet him like a ravening lion.
Al-Jamraqan was carrying in his hand a heavy mace of Chinese iron, one blow from which would have crushed a mountain. He struck at Gharib’s head, but Gharib swerved aside and the mace struck the ground, burying itself half a cubit deep. Gharib then took his own club and crushed al-Jamraqan’s fingers with a blow on his hand. As al-Jamraqan dropped the mace, Gharib leaned from his saddle and snatched it faster than a bolt of lightning, before using it to strike him on the ribcage so that he fell to the ground like a lofty palm tree. Sahim seized him, tied him up and dragged him away at the end of a rope. Gharib’s riders then attacked al-Jamraqan’s men and killed fifty of them before the rest turned in flight and continued to ride off until they had got back to their tribe, alerting them with their shouts. The garrison of their castle rode out to meet them and asked them what had happened. When they were told by the fugitives that their chieftain had been captured, they hurried out to rescue him, making for the valley.
After having captured al-Jamraqan and routed his men, Gharib dismounted and ordered al-Jamraqan to be brought before him. When he came, he said humbly to Gharib: ‘I am under your protection, champion of the age.’ ‘Arab dog,’ Gharib replied, ‘do you dare to intercept the servants of Almighty God on the roads with no fear of the Lord of creation?’ ‘Master,’ said al-Jamraqan, ‘what is this Lord of creation?’ ‘What ill-omened thing do you worship?’ asked Gharib. ‘I worship a date pastry made with butter and honey,’ al-Jamraqan told him. ‘Sometimes I eat it and then I make another.’ Gharib collapsed with laughter, but then said: ‘Miserable man, the only object of worship is Almighty God, Who created you and Who sustains all life. Nothing is hidden from Him and He has power over all things.’ ‘Where then is this mighty God so that I may worship him?’ asked al-Jamraqan, and Gharib told him: ‘You must know that the name of this god is God and it is He Who created the heavens and the earth; He caused the trees to grow and the streams to flow; He made the beasts and the birds, Paradise and hellfire, but He is veiled from our sight and sees but cannot be seen. He sits looking out from on high; it is He Who created us and Who gives us our daily bread; praise be to Him, for there is no god but He!’ When al-Jamraqan heard what Gharib had to say, his inner ear was opened and he said, trembling: ‘Master, what do I have to say to become one of you and to win the favour of this mighty Lord?’ ‘Say: “There is no god but the God of Abraham, the Friend, the messenger of God,” ’ Gharib told him, and al-Jamraqan recited this confession of faith and was numbered among God’s elect. ‘Have you tasted the sweetness of Islam?’ Gharib asked him, and when he answered yes, Gharib ordered him to be set free. When this had been done, he kissed Gharib’s foot and the ground before him.
While this was happening, a dust cloud suddenly began to fill the whole sky…
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the six hundred and forty-third night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that when al-Jamraqan accepted Islam, he kissed the ground before Gharib, but while this was happening, a dust cloud suddenly began to fill the whole sky, and Gharib sent Sahim out to investigate. He left like a bird in flight, and after an hour’s absence he came back and told Ghar
ib that this was the dust of the Banu ‘Amir, the companions of al-Jamraqan. Gharib said to al-Jamraqan: ‘Ride out to meet your people and to offer them conversion to Islam. If they obey you, they will be safe, but if not we shall put them to the sword.’ At this al-Jamraqan rode off, and when he approached with his men and called out to them, they recognized him and dismounted, coming to meet him on foot and saying: ‘Master, we are glad that you are safe.’ He replied: ‘My people, whoever obeys me will be safe, but if anyone disobeys me I shall cut him down with this sword.’ ‘Give us what orders you want,’ they told him, ‘for we shall not disobey them.’ He then told them to recite: ‘There is no god but the God of Abraham, the Friend of God.’ They asked him where he had heard this and he told them of his encounter with Gharib, adding: ‘You know that I am your leader on the battlefield and in the thick of the fight, and yet one single man captured me and made me taste humiliation and degradation.’ When they heard what he had to say, they all repeated the proclamation of God’s unity, after which al-Jamraqan led them to Gharib. They renewed their profession of faith in front of him, calling down on him the blessings of victory and glory, and kissing the ground before him. He received them gladly and told them to go back to their tribe and to offer them conversion to Islam. Al-Jamraqan and his men said: ‘Master, we shall never leave you but we shall go and fetch our children and bring them to you,’ at which Gharib told them to go off and then to join him in Kufa.
Al-Jamraqan rode off with his men, and when they came to their tribe they invited their wives and children to accept Islam, which they all did, and after that they dismantled their houses and tents and drove off their horses, camels, sheep and goats, making for Kufa. When Gharib himself reached Kufa, his riders came out to meet him in a procession. He entered his palace and took his seat on his father’s throne, with his paladins standing on his right and his left. Then his scouts came in and told him that his brother ‘Ajib had gone to al-Jaland ibn Karkar, ruler of the city of Oman and the land of Yemen. When Gharib heard this news, he told his men to prepare to move out in three days’ time and he offered the thirty thousand whom he had captured in the first battle conversion to Islam and the chance of accompanying him. Twenty thousand accepted, and the ten thousand who refused were put to death. Al-Jamraqan arrived with his men, and after they had kissed the ground before Gharib, he presented them with splendid robes of honour. Al-Jamraqan himself was appointed army commander and told to ride out ahead of the army with the chiefs of his clan and twenty thousand horses, making for al-Jaland’s lands. ‘To hear is to obey,’ he said, and he and his force left their women and children in Kufa and set off.
Gharib now inspected Mirdas’s harem and his eye fell on Mahdiya, who was among the women there, as a result of which he fell down unconscious and had rosewater sprinkled on his face. When he had recovered his senses, he embraced her and took her to his sitting room where he sat with her, and the two later slept together without committing fornication. The next morning he went out and took his seat on his royal throne, after which he presented his uncle, al-Damigh, with a robe of honour and appointed him as his regent over the whole of Iraq, instructing him to take care of Mahdiya until he returned from his expedition against his brother ‘Ajib. Al-Damigh agreed to this and Gharib left with twenty thousand horse and ten thousand foot on his way to Oman and Yemen.
When ‘Ajib had reached Oman with his beaten army, its inhabitants, together with their king, al-Jaland, had seen their dust and scouts had been ordered to find out what it meant. After some time they came back to tell him that under the dust cloud was a king named ‘Ajib, the lord of Iraq. Al-Jaland was surprised that he had come to Oman, but told his people to go out and meet him. They did this and pitched tents for him by the gate of the city, after which ‘Ajib went sorrowfully and in tears to al-Jaland, the husband of his cousin, who had borne him sons. When the king saw the state that ‘Ajib was in, he said: ‘Tell me your news,’ and ‘Ajib then told him from beginning to end everything that had happened to him in his dealings with Gharib. ‘O king,’ he explained, ‘this man orders people to worship the Lord of heaven and forbids them to serve idols and other gods.’ This aroused al-Jaland’s worst passions and he exclaimed: ‘I swear by the truth of the radiant sun that I shall leave no single place for your brother’s people to hold. Where did you leave them and how many of them are there?’ ‘When I left them they were in Kufa,’ answered ‘Ajib, ‘and there were fifty thousand of them.’ Al-Jaland then summoned his men and ordered his vizier, Juwamard, to take seventy thousand riders to meet the Muslims in Kufa and bring them back alive so that he might torture them.
Juwamard set out for Kufa with his army, and after a week on the march they came to a wooded valley with streams and fruits, where he ordered a halt…
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the six hundred and forty-fourth night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that when al-Jaland sent Juwamard with his army to Kufa, they came to a wooded valley with streams and fruits, where Juwamard ordered a halt and where they rested until midnight. At that point he told them to move on and he himself mounted his horse and rode ahead of them until daybreak. He then went down into another tree-lined valley, filled with the scent of flowers, where birds were singing and branches bending. Satan puffed him up with pride, and he recited these lines:
I plunge with my army into seas of battle dust,
Leading off those I capture through my strength and my exertions.
Throughout the lands the riders know
That I am the man they fear, the defender of my clan.
I shall put Gharib in chains and fetters,
And ride back joyfully, my happiness complete.
I shall put on my mail and take up arms,
Riding into the thick of every fight.
He had scarcely finished his poem before a haughty mail-clad rider came out from among the trees, shouting at him: ‘Halt, you Arab robber! Strip off your clothes, your arms and armour and dismount in order to save your life.’ The rider was al-Jamraqan, and when Juwamard heard what he said, light turned to darkness in his face and, drawing his sword, he attacked, crying out: ‘Arab thief, do you dare try to hold me up? I am the commander of the army of al-Jaland ibn Karkar coming to fetch Gharib and his men in chains.’
When al-Jamraqan heard this, he exclaimed: ‘What pleasant news this is for me,’ and he charged at Juwamard, reciting these lines:
I am the rider famed in the press of battle,
Whose sword and spear the foeman fears.
I am al-Jamraqan, whose help is sought in war,
And whose thrusts are known to every rider.
Gharib is my emir, my imam and my lord –
A hero in battle on the day that two sides meet,
An imam of piety, asceticism and power,
Annihilating foes upon the battlefield.
He summons us to the religion of God’s Friend,
Reciting divine verses in despite of false idols.
Al-Jamraqan had marched with his men for ten days from Kufa and then, on the eleventh, they had halted and stayed until midnight before he had ordered them to set off again. He had ridden ahead on their line of march and had gone down into the valley, where he heard Juwamard reciting the lines that have been quoted, and then attacked him like a savage lion, cutting him in two with a blow from his sword. He waited for his commanders to come up and, after telling them what had happened, he ordered them to split up into groups of five, with each five taking five thousand men and encircling the valley, while he himself stayed there with the Banu ‘Amir. ‘When the enemy’s vanguard arrives,’ he went on, ‘I shall charge them, calling out: “God is greater!” and when you hear this shout, launch your own charge, raising the same cry and striking with your swords.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ they said, and when they had made the rounds of their men, passing on Gharib’s orders, everyone dispersed around the valle
y as dawn was breaking.
The enemy arrived like a flock of sheep, filling the high ground and the low, and at that moment al-Jamraqan and the Banu ‘Amir charged with a shout of ‘God is greater!’ which was heard by both Muslims and infidels alike. On all sides the Muslims cried: ‘God is greater! Victory and triumph! May God abandon the infidels!’ The mountains and hills, and all the surrounding countryside echoed the cry and, as the dismayed infidels struck at each other with their sharp swords, the pious Muslims attacked like fiery sparks. All that could be seen were heads severed and struck off, streams of blood and distracted cowards. By the time that faces could be made out again through the dust, two-thirds of the infidels had been killed and God had hurried their souls to hellfire, an evil resting place. The survivors turned in flight, scattering through the deserts and pursued by the Muslims, who went on capturing and killing them until midday. By the time the Muslims returned, they had taken seven thousand prisoners, while only twenty-six thousand of the infidels, most of them wounded, got back home. The Muslims, aided to victory by God, retired, having collected the horses, the arms and armour, the baggage and the tents, which they sent off to Kufa escorted by a thousand riders.
The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights Page 88