Hamza received and welcomed him and seated him on his own bejeweled seat. Landhoor became greatly enamored of Hamza’s manners and, thanking him profusely for his kindnesses, he said, “Where is Amar? Please send for him! But do ask him to appear in his own person.”
Upon these orders, Amar immediately presented himself and took a seat after making obeisance to Landhoor. Fair-bodied cupbearers, clad in gold finery, arrived carrying goblets and ewers. With his own hand, Hamza offered the first cup to Landhoor, and then drank one himself. Landhoor requested Amar to sing and asked him to send for musical instruments. Amar sent for the do-tara and after tuning it, sang a song of such subtlety and elegance that the whole assembly sat enraptured, and Landhoor involuntarily called out “Bravo!” and “What excellence!”
The Sahibqiran and Landhoor next conferred together privately. Landhooor said to Hamza, “I wish that you would renounce your plans for war, and take me along with you. I shall kill Naushervan and seat you on his throne.”
Amir answered, “I gave my pledge to Naushervan to efface your existence from this world. How could I go back on my word and break my pledge?” Then Landhoor drew his sword and, presenting it to Hamza, lowered his neck before him, and said, “If this is your pleasure, go ahead and behead this unworthy one, and take my head and present it to Naushervan without subjecting yourself to the least labor or toil on my account!” The Sahibqiran embraced Landhoor and greatly extolled his manliness and courage.
Then Amir said to him, “Such an act is suited either to a coward or an executioner! Sound the war drums and let us descend tomorrow into the arena, and let the course of events be determined by the results in the battlefield!” Landhoor answered, “Adieu, then! If this is what you desire, you must sound the clarion of war today from your camp!”
Amir replied, “You may sound the drums in your camp and take precedence! Then I shall also give orders to that effect and answer your call!” The Khusrau was obliged to sound the war drums. While the courageous and valiant warriors busied themselves in supplications to the Almighty God to safeguard their honor in the field of combat, many a coward slipped away, taking advantage of the dark night, and others suffered bouts of diarrhea from fear.
In the morning none had yet come forward from either side to seek combat when the horizon was darkened by a great cloud of dust that arose in the sky. When scissors of wind cut the skirts of this dark cloud and blew away the dust from the face of the land, forty new standards came into view. It was soon revealed that this approaching host numbered forty thousand troops.
When this unannounced army came to a halt, the Sahibqiran saw Gustham bin Ashk Zarrin Kafsh standing in the front row under his swine-headed standard, busily arranging his troops. Hamza brought this scene to Amar’s attention, who thought of a stratagem. Separating from his army, he headed toward Gustham’s camp. Having arrived there he made a profusely humble salutation to Gustham, who said, “How are you, Khvaja Amar?” Amar replied, “What is there to be said about the existence of such a one as I! It was an evil day when I entered the service of that Arab.” Gustham asked, “What is the matter?”
Amar replied, “Since you ask me, everything is falling apart! Thinking that he is already Naushervan’s son-in-law, Hamza is riding such a high horse these days that he cares not a whit for anybody else! Gone are the days when he would beg me to sit on the throne by his side. Things have come to such a pass now that he begrudges me even a seat in his court! If I cannot find myself an equally illustrious service, I will willingly settle for one half as august, in order to save myself my present degradation.”
When he heard this, Gustham replied, “If you would condescend to enter my service, I would hold you dear as my own life, and ensure that you are accorded all due care and comfort!”
Then Amar said, “Indeed this was the reason for my leaving behind that camp and approaching you! But you must first ensure that Hamza does not engage in combat with Landhoor. You would do well to be the first to seek combat with Landhoor, in order that Hamza will seem a fool and his army put to shame. Landhoor has absolutely no might or power. I inspected his mace and found it to be nothing more than a lump of wood covered in iron shell for appearances! As to Landhoor himself, he is the worst coward in the whole world. Thus, if Hamza were to kill him, he would become Naushervan’s son-in-law. And then any excesses that he might commit will be too little!”
Gustham said, “It was a happy moment when you came to me! I shall put to sword both Landhoor and Hamza and dispatch them to Hell! Gustham rode his rhinoceros forward, and called out, “Let Landhoor bin Saadan emerge from hiding and present himself here! The day of reckoning is come!” Landhoor spurred his she-elephant Maimoona forward, and said to Gustham, “What rot do you speak, O wretch? Give your blow, and deal what you have to present!” Then Gustham drew his sword from his scabbard and aimed a blow to Landhoor’s head, but Landhoor blocked it with his mace. Then Landhoor dealt him a strike with his mace. As Gustham was destined to live yet some more days, the mace did not come down squarely on him, but the shaft brushed his side, breaking his ribs and mixing all his courage and valor into dust. He fell face forward from his rhinoceros and lost the power of his senses. His comrades rushed in and carried him away by stealth, and soon sounded the drums of retreat.
Then Landhoor turned toward Hamza with a smile, and said, “Come tomorrow, we two shall settle our account, and witness how your sword shall fare and what it has to offer!”
After the drums of retreat were sounded, the two armies withdrew from the battlefield.
OF LANDHOOR DOING BATTLE WITH THE SAHIBQIRAN, AND HIS SURRENDERING TO THE WORLD CONQUEROR
The might of the reed is tested by the narrative’s power, and the vigor of the swashbucklers of colorful accounts is now manifested in the arena of the page. Hear now this history of the war of the clime of India, and an account of the combat between two lions of the forest of courage and valor.
When the seraph of the morning routed the night’s foe in the arena of ascendancy and raised the standard of light in the clime of the heavens, the Sahibqiran mounted his steed Siyah Qitas. The Khusrau of India, King Landhoor bin Saadan, came forth from the other side, armed to the teeth and mounted on his she-elephant Maimoona. The two armies descended into the arena and arranged their forces for battle.
The Sahibqiran spurred his steed and stood face to face with Landhoor and delivered these words with his graceful tongue: “O King Landhoor! I have issue with you, and you with me! Nothing shall be gained from the carnage of God’s creatures, and therefore we must needs abstain from it! Deal me a blow with your greatest claim, and thus fulfill your heart’s desire!” Landhoor replied, “O Sahibqiran! If I were the first to deal the blow, you would perish with all the desires of your heart unrequited! I ask that you deal the first blow yourself!” The Sahibqiran replied: “I would not give you a blow myself until you have given me three blows first!”
As Landhoor was much taken with Amir, he did not touch his mace but attacked Sahibqiran with his lance instead. The Sahibqiran blocked the point of Landhoor’s lance with the point of his own lance, and they sparred this way for a while. After a hundred thrusts of the spear had been made and foiled on each side, the Sahibqiran locked Landhoor’s spear with his own, and gave a blow with its shaft which sent the lance flying out of Landhoor’s hands into the air. Landhoor’s face turned deathly pale from mortification, but he quickly regained self-possession and said to Hamza, “O Sahibqiran! The cloak of spearsmanship sewn by the Seamstress of Death befits you alone! If I were to deem myself a champion in the arena of valor, never ever would I touch a lance again.”
Thus having spoken, he weighed his mace in his hands, and said, “O Sahibqiran, the opportunity for making peace is not yet lost. I request that you spare me the grief of having to kill you!” Amir replied, “This is a time for seeking combat and dying, not a time for making exhortations and establishing bonds of love! Come, I would like to see what your mace has to deliver.”
Then Landhoor sat back on his haunches and, weighing his mace in both his hands, brought it down with great force on the Sahibqiran’s head. Amir received Landhoor’s blow on the shield. Even though sweat broke from every pore on Hamza’s body, still his arm did not flinch from the grace of Prophet Aadam’s armlet.
Then Landhoor dealt a second blow with greater might, and even though the Sahibqiran remained steadfast as Sikander’s rampart,63 he was suddenly reminded of the taste of the milk on the day he was born. Irritated, Landhoor now brought down his mace with such force that had it landed on the Koh-e Besutoon,64 it would have caused water to flow from it. The Sahibqiran blocked this blow on his shield again, but from the impact of the blow the legs of his steed Siyah Qitas were driven into the ground to the shanks, and Amir himself was enveloped in a cloud of dust.
The hue of Landhoor’s face underwent a sea change upon beholding this scene, and involuntarily these words escaped his mouth: “What a disgrace that a youth such as the Sahibqiran was killed!” Landhoor then dismounted his elephant and called out, “O august and illustrious lord! Answer me if you are alive so that I may rejoice; and if you are dead, we shall meet again on the Day of Reckoning!”
Having regained possession of his senses, the Sahibqiran struck Siyah Qitas with the whip of Prophet Daud, whereupon Siyah Qitas extricated his legs and jumped up from the pit and emerged clear of its depression. Amir said, “O Khusrau! I do not see the one whom you killed and laid low! Give another blow and satiate every last desire of your heart! Our combat has just begun.”
Landhoor was most astonished and, mounting a horse, he drew the steel blue Bardwani65 sword from his belt and dealt a blow to Amir’s head with it. Amir raised his bejeweled shield and blocked that devastating blow. Then he spoke thus: “O King Landhoor! I blocked all your five strikes, and indeed the best of all blows were arrayed in them! It is my turn, and now I shall return your blows.”
Amir now locked his stirrup with Landhoor’s and, drawing his sword Samsam, dealt a blow to Landhoor’s head. The Khusrau attempted to block the blow with his shield and lock Amir’s arm, but Amir’s sword cut through Landhoor’s shield as if it were made of fresh cheese. Landing on his horse’s neck, the sword severed his head from the neck and felled it. The Khusrau of India was obliged to empty his saddle and, flying into a fierce rage, he drew his sword and came charging furiously at Hamza. Amir, too, emptied his saddle and, wresting Landhoor’s hand and wrenching the sword from it, threw it toward his camp. Then Landhoor locked his arms around Amir’s neck in a tight clasp, and the two of them began to wrestle.
When the wrestler of the day retired for repose to its Westerly pavilion, and the night’s master began to take up his daily exercise rituals with his celestial novices, torches were lit in both camps. They burned continuously through the following nights, for Amir and Landhoor remained locked in combat for three nights and three days. On the fourth day Amir bellowed “God is Mighty!” and heaved Landhoor up, lifting him to the height of his breast, and maintained his stupendous weight above the ground but failed to hoist Landhoor over his head.
Hamza resolved to release Landhoor and plunge the dagger chivalrously into his own breast and put out the lamp of his precious life. But Landhoor stayed his hand and submitted to him thus with folded arms: “O Sahibqiran! It was not given to anyone besides yourself to lift me or even to heave me up from the ground! I declare my allegiance and fealty to you from the bottom of my heart!”
Amir embraced Landhoor and said, “O Khusrau! I pronounce you my right arm! I shall treat you like a brother, and hold you more dear than my life. But I desire that you accompany me before Naushervan, and help me fulfill my promise to him.” Landhoor replied, “I shall be obedient to your wishes and go anywhere that you command me to!”
Landhoor accompanied Amir to his pavilion, and the Sahibqiran ordered an assembly of merriment arranged. Then he set about filling his eyes’ goblets with tears of blood in remembrance of Princess Mehr-Nigar. Noticing this, Landhoor surmised that thoughts of the princess occupied him, and he wiped at Amir’s blood-red tears with a kerchief, saying, “The days of parting are coming to an end, and the day of meeting is approaching! Why cry now?” Then the Sahibqiran regained the control of his heart, and asked Amar to sing.
Landhoor presented the keys of his treasury to Amir, and conferred many choice objects from the lands of India on him as gifts. Landhoor then ennobled himself by converting to the True Faith.
Amir sat down for the meal with Landhoor by his side, and after they had finished the meal, Landhoor said to him, “I long to be blessed by a visit from you. And for a long time I have nursed this desire.”
Amir answered, “This proposition is most agreeable to me!” Landhoor then retired to his palace and ordered preparations for a royal feast. Then he escorted the Sahibqiran with all his renowned nobles and august champions to the feast, and the assembly began to warm up and the tabla to play.
Now we leave Amir and Landhoor occupied in these revelries, and turn to Gustham. The ayyars brought him intelligence that Hamza had prevailed over Landhoor, and that for several days festivities had been celebrated in which Landhoor had supped with Hamza. The ayyars also informed Gustham that aside from Muqbil Vafadar there was no commander present in Hamza’s camp and no one left to defend the army, as all the champions and nobles were occupied along with Amir in the festivities.
Gustham had brought with him two attendants of Princess Mehr-Nigar, whom Amir knew by sight. He filled up two flagons with the choicest grape wine, and mixed it with four mithcals of such a potent poison that were a drop of it to fall into the Indian Ocean it would suffice to kill all marine life. After counterfeiting Mehr-Nigar’s signet, and sealing the flagons with it, Gustham dressed her attendants in travelers’ attire, and then forged an amorous missive from the princess. Handing the letter to the attendants, he explained in detail that they must first present themselves before Muqbil Vafadar and announce that Princess Mehr-Nigar had sent them in utmost confidence and at great risk of exposing herself. This would put Muqbil under obligation to take them to Amir whereupon the attendants were to convey to Amir a great deal of love talk from Mehr-Nigar, and present him the wine and the letter. Gustham made it known to them that if they succeeded, he would induct them into his harem and take them as his wives.
Then those two vixens garbed themselves in manly clothes and set out. When they entered Amir’s encampment and were announced by Muqbil, Hamza rose from his seat excitedly and said to the Khusrau, “I must needs attend to a matter of utmost importance, and shall soon return. In the meanwhile pray continue with the festivities!” Then he commanded Amar to regale Landhoor and keep him company in his stead.
Amir ordered privacy and sent for the attendants the moment he arrived in his pavilion. Upon hearing their account, Amir kissed the princess’s seal on the letter and pressed it to his eyes. Beside himself with joy, he threw all caution to the wind. Breaking open the seal of the flagon, he made a toast to Princess Mehr-Nigar’s name, and drained its contents.
No sooner had the wine traveled down his throat than Amir fell into a daze. He began to foam at the mouth, his limbs began to convulse, and he was taken unconscious.
Thinking that Amir was at death’s door, and that his life was only a matter of a few more breaths—and that their mission had been accomplished—those two strumpets pulled out a peg of the pavilion by some artifice to escape unseen, and happily made their way out of there to take these tidings to Gustham.
It so happened that at that moment, Landhoor mentioned to Amar that the absence of the guest of honor had deprived the assembly of all joy. He promised Amar a gift if he would bring back Hamza that instant. Once Amar heard of the reward, he immediately set out on his errand.
He found Muqbil guarding the entrance to Hamza’s pavilion, and asked him what Amir was occupied with. Muqbil said, “Two female attendants sent by Mehr-Nigar arrived, and Amir is conferring with them.” Amar’s heart skipped
a beat from some unknown foreboding, and exclaiming, “May God have mercy on us!” he entered Amir’s pavilion where he found all the tapers extinguished. Without loss of time Amar lit up one of his trickster’s flares and witnessed that Hamza’s whole body was covered with blisters, his coloration had turned dark, spume flowed from his mouth, and he was writhing in convulsions while unconscious on the floor. One flagon of wine stood upright while the other lay shattered on the floor. Where its contents had splashed, the earth had cracked. When Amar looked around, he found nobody there, but discovering that one peg of the pavilion had been pulled out from the ground, he immediately followed where the footprints nearby it led him.
Those slogging and plodding bawds were no match for Amar’s superior speed and reach. They were still on their way when Amar caught up and descended upon them. One of them was saying, “Come friend, let us go and receive the reward that Gustham had promised us!” when Amar called out from behind them, “O villainous witches! Behold here your Angel of Death! And I will send you to the House of Death as you deserve!” Thus speaking, Amar drew his dagger from his waist, and relieved their shoulders of the burden of their heads.
Then Amar retraced his steps and returned to his camp. He took Muqbil along to show him Hamza’s state, and said, “It all came about thanks to your negligence and lax guard! Now tell me what is to be done about it!”
The Adventures of Amir Hamza Page 19