Emperor Shahpal replied, “O Sahibqiran, it was our agreement that you would leave Qaf after slaying Ifrit. Once this task has been fulfilled, you will be given leave to return. As you know, Ifrit is still at large. It would be far better for you to return to the realm of men after putting an end to his menace.”
Amir lowered his head and, after a moment’s silence, said to Shahpal, “I am willing to oblige. However, I would like to find out where Ifrit Dev is now hiding so that I may go there myself, kill him, and bring you his head.” Shahpal replied, “His present abode will not be revealed until we have reached Qasr-e Bilour.” Amir said, “Then we must not delay in starting for Qasr-e Bilour.”
Shahpal sent his advance camp at once to Qasr-e Bilour and the next day departed for Qasr-e Bilour in Amir Hamza’s company. When they arrived, the nobles of Qasr-e Bilour reported, “Ifrit along with his mother, Maloona Jadu, is hiding in Tilism-e Shehristan-e Zarrin.”
At this, Amir said to Shahpal, “As he is hiding at the tilism by himself, I shall also confront him alone.” Shahpal looked toward Abdur Rahman who replied, “I have discovered by the calculations of jafar and astrology that Amir will triumph over Ifrit and defeat him immediately upon his arrival.”
Shahpal seated Amir on a throne and ordered four swift perizads to carry him to Shehristan-e Zarrin. The perizads immediately flew off with the throne, and after three nights and three days alighted atop a green mountain known by the name of Zehr Mohra, and said, “O Sahibqiran! We have come across an impediment! Magical tilisms created by Maloona Jadu are strewn all along the path from this slope to the boundaries of Shehristan-e Zarrin. If we were to take a single step farther, we would be combusted by magical devices. Behold that radiance in the distance: It is the same Shehristan-e Zarrin where that reprobate dev has made his abode!”
The Sahibqiran camped for the night on the mountain. After saying his prayers in the morning, he said to the perizads, “Pray stay here without anxiety or fear and remain alert to my call. I am now headed toward Shehristan-e Zarrin. I forewarn you that I shall make three war cries: the first one when I encounter Ifrit; the second during combat; and a third cry upon my victory. If you do not hear the third war cry, you should understand that I have been beheaded and have died at the hands of Ifrit. You may then take the news of my death to Emperor Shahpal.”
Amir Hamza girded himself and descended the mountain. However, when he suddenly could not take a step forward for the darkness, he was forced again to climb the mountain. From there he saw light all around as before, and wondered why it had disappeared when he descended.
When the same thing happened five or six times and he had to climb up again the perizads said, “These wonders are due to the tilisms created by Ifrit’s mother, Maloona Jadu, which are spread from here to the castle where she lives.” Amir said, “Come what may, I shall now head into this darkness with God as my guide!” He climbed down the mountain and had gone some distance when someone invisible called out to him, “O Sahibqiran! Pray do not advance! Have patience until I come!” Amir stopped and saw Salasal Perizad appear there who handed him an emerald tablet inscribed with the names of God and said, “Abdur Rahman has sent this tablet for you and instructed you not to take a single step without first consulting it or else you will fall into great error and suffer terribly!” After handing him the tablet, Salasal Perizad disappeared whence he had come. As Amir looked at the tablet, he saw written there:
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH
O Destroyer of Tilisms, the Exalted and Illustrious God showed you unique favor that you have come into possession of this tablet and secured the key to victory and triumph. Read the word written on the margin and blow at the sky. Then the darkness will part, and the path will become illuminated.
The Sahibqiran recited that word and blew at the sky. His yearning was fulfilled and the darkness was completely cast away. Amir made a prostration of gratitude before God and stepped onward, carrying that tablet.
When he arrived close to the castle, he saw a dragon whose lower jaw touched the foundation of the gate and whose upper jaw sat atop the portals, as if he held the door to the castle in his mouth. As Amir was looking upon that sight in wonder, the dragon called out to him, “O Destroyer of Tilisms, walk into my mouth and entertain not the least fear or anxiety in your heart!” When the Sahibqiran consulted the tablet, it read:
Recite this word and breathe on yourself and jump into the dragon’s mouth without fear of it. It is neither a real dragon nor is it a ghost.
The moment the Sahibqiran jumped into the dragon’s mouth, a loud and mournful cry rose to the heavens and a thunderous clamor was heard, as if doomsday itself had burst upon him.
When Amir opened his eyes after a moment, he saw no signs of the dragon or the castle but instead a garden in full bloom that was the very envy of the garden of Paradise. Birds made of jewels were chirping in the trees, creating a most angelic music with their caroling. Amir Hamza sat down beside a lake and suddenly heard a most doleful voice calling out from the summerhouse in the garden, “Alas, there is no man of God to release me from my dreadful prison and receive from the Almighty the reward for this deed!” He followed the voice to its source and beheld a nubile maiden of great beauty sitting prisoner on a throne.
Amir felt great pity for her and asked her with compassion, “O maiden, tell me who you are and who has imprisoned you here.” She answered, “I wish for you to take precedence in introductions and give me your particulars.” Amir replied, “I am the Quake of Qaf, the Latter-day Suleiman, Lord of the Auspicious Planetary Conjunction, World Conqueror, Slayer of Sly Ifrit, and a believer in God Almighty.”
She said, “And I am Susan Peri, the daughter of Saleem Kohi. Ifrit became enamored of me and asked my father for my hand in marriage. Upon my father’s refusal, Ifrit descended on us with his army. I said to my father, ‘Marry me to Ifrit and have not the least trepidation or anxiety regarding my welfare. I shall drug him with deceit and throw him in prison.’ My father then married me to Ifrit. One day the dev drank himself unconscious. I immediately tied up his hands and feet but before I could carry out my plans, someone took the news of these proceedings to Ifrit’s mother, Maloona Jadu, who arrived instantly. She released him and left me imprisoned here. If you were to liberate me from my prison now, I would conduct you very easily to where Ifrit is hiding.”
The Sahibqiran released her and gave her a new lease on life. She led the Sahibqiran into another garden and showed him Ifrit’s dwelling. The Sahibqiran saw that twelve hundred armed devs were standing guard there, alert in their vigil.
After reciting magical incantations Susan Peri suddenly rose before Amir’s eyes into the air, and called out loudly to the devs, “O devs! The Slayer of Ifrit and the Destroyer of Tilisms is standing within your sight. Put him to death in any manner you see fit.”
The devs surrounded Amir on all sides, brandishing their weapons to kill him. Amir drew the Aqrab-e Suleimani from its scabbard and any dev to whom he dealt a blow he cut in two and dispatched to Hell. The devs’ blood fell on the ground and quickly created new devs. Amir’s hands and arms became worn from the fatigue of fighting them. Amir then remembered the tablet, and therein he saw written:
O Destroyer of Tilisms, do not be duped by the chicanery of Susan Peri or release her from captivity. If by chance you commit this error and the devs attack you, read the Most Great Name on the point of your arrow and shoot at her so that the scourge of her existence vanishes!
Amir carried out the tablet’s instructions and directly a great hue and cry arose: “There he is! The Slayer of Ifrit has arrived at the tilism. Kill him without mercy!” After this clamor subsided, Amir looked around, and saw neither Susan Peri nor any devs.
From behind the garden wall he heard perizads’ voices and when he went to the other side to investigate, Amir saw another garden, and a fourteen-year-old comely beauty sitting in chains in the summerhouse. An ancient sat beside her with his head hanging down from grief. Som
e four hundred jinns and perizads were also imprisoned there. When she beheld Hamza, the girl called out, “O Sahibqiran! Release us from this confinement.” Amir Hamza reasoned that this was a case like the one he had encountered earlier. Drawing his sword, he advanced to kill her.
The old man accompanying her interceded with a thousand solicitations and said, “O dear friend! Have some fear of God and show mercy on our sorry plight. I am Junaid Shah Sabz-Posh, the elder brother of Emperor Shahpal, and this girl is my daughter, Rehan Peri. When Ifrit defeated Shahpal, he asked me to give him my daughter’s hand in marriage. I did not give in to his threats, but he defeated me in battle, and imprisoned me with my daughter and our four hundred companions. Now you know my story. Do as you wish!”
When Amir consulted the tablet it corroborated the old man’s account. That very instant he freed them and sent them to their home.
Amir went ahead in his mission and came upon a most magnificent building that was sumptuously furnished. He marveled, however, to see its courtyard inundated with water. In the nave of the courtyard he saw a chest lying with its lid open. When he put his foot in to judge the depth of the water, Amir Hamza discovered that it was not water but an illusion created by a crystalline surface. He wished to look into the chest but the moment he peered down to look, he found himself in the clutches of a dev who was hiding inside. With one hand Amir held on to the edge of the chest and used the other hand to consult the tablet, on which was written:
O Trampler of Tilisms, do not enter the chest. If you do, you will never find release from this tilism. There is a hair like a thick rope on the chest of the dev to which a tablet is attached. Pluck this along with the hair so that you find release from the hands of the dev. Afterward, recite the Most Great Name on this tablet, then strike it on the dev’s head and witness what transpires by the marvels of God.
Amir did as he was instructed and the dev was dispatched to Hell directly with a blazing flame rising from his head, and the wooden chest began to burn. Terrible cries rose to the heavens, echoing, “Kill him! Do not let the Slayer of Zaraq Jadu escape!”
When that pandemonium subsided, Amir saw only a desolate wasteland with a pool of blood with a pulley hanging above at its center. The blood was conducted by means of the pulley into a big pond. He proceeded forward and came upon a garden where a boy stood guard at the entrance. Amir asked him repeatedly to tell him his name, but the boy stood quiet without offering Amir any answer. However, the moment Amir stepped into the garden, the boy called out, “Beware, O dev, the Destroyer of Tilisms has turned all your marvelous devices to naught and gained entrance into the garden!” Amir turned and dealt him a powerful blow of his sword, which cut the boy’s head off like a corncob.
When Amir advanced he witnessed that the boy’s head flew back through the air and became fixed again to his torso at the neck. He came back to life immediately. Surprised, Amir consulted the tablet and found the following written there:
O Destroyer of Tilisms, beware not to attack Darban Jadu as he will not die until the end of time, and no weapon will prove successful against him. However, if you were to recite the Most Great Name on the point of your arrow and then successfully lodge it in his breast, he will die from it. Congratulations to you for closing in upon Ifrit and arriving at his lair.
When Amir followed the instructions, a dark dust storm bore down upon him. It was as if the entire world were plunged into darkness. Thunderbolts began falling and sparks of lightning started dancing all around. A clamor greater than thunder was heard. Amir huddled down with the tablet, covering his eyes.
After the clamor had subsided and the gale had blown away, Amir Hamza looked around and beheld beds of tulips stretching for miles on end and flowers and fragrant plants in full bloom. Some perizads were there singing harmonious notes and when the perizads spotted him, one of them came rushing toward him with a goblet of wine, cooing, “O Sahibqiran, you are all exhausted. Come, drink this and wash away all your woes and revive your spirits. You may spend a few hours listening to our music and songs, which will bring joy to your heart.”
Amir consulted the tablet and, following its instructions, took the goblet from her hand and reciting the Most Great Name poured it over her head. Directly, a flame rose from her body, and she thoroughly combusted in just a few moments. Even greater clamor was heard then, and voices called out, “The Destroyer of Tilisms has killed Asrar Jadu as well!”
After a moment, Amir’s eyes fell upon a mountain of unfathomable height and a riverbank, with the hill of Koh-e Besutoon12 between them. From its cave emanated the enchanting peal of kettledrums. Amir stepped into the cave and beheld Ifrit sleeping like a log, and saw that it was his snores that sounded like kettledrums. The Sahibqiran thought, It would be a heartless act and the worse kind of pusillanimity to kill someone in his sleep. He drew Rustam’s dagger and struck Ifrit Dev with such great force that the blade sunk up to its hilt into his foot. Ifrit thumped his foot irritably and grumbled, “What troublesome mosquitoes!” The Sahibqiran thought, If he considers that blow a mere mosquito bite, how shall I ever wake him up? Amir caught Ifrit’s neck and arms in a lock and bellowed “God is Great!” so mightily that mountains and deserts were thrown into turmoil.
Terrified, Ifrit arose. As he rubbed his eyes and looked around, he saw the face of the Quake of Qaf. A great fear seized Ifrit then, he was all atremble and said, “O son of Aadam! I know and recognize only too well that you are my Angel of Death. I am determined that whether I live or die, I shall not turn away from the encounter, and you will meet your death at my hands.” Ifrit Dev came at Amir Hamza swinging a box tree tied with millstones and attacked Amir Hamza. Amir stopped the blow with the Aqrab-e Suleimani and cut the tree in two. Without wasting another moment Amir dealt Ifrit a blow of the sword that struck his back. It cut Ifrit in two, but the halves remained attached by a cord of flesh and kept his soul enchained.
Ifrit cried out, “O son of Aadam! Now that you have killed me, sever this last cord, too, with another blow so that my soul shall be released from this receptacle and be freed of its pain and misery.” The Sahibqiran did as requested. The moment the cord was severed, the two halves of Ifrit’s body flew toward the heavens and fell down before the Sahibqiran as two Ifrits, each fully alive as before. In short, within a few hours thousands of Ifrits were produced and devs surrounded the Sahibqiran. He was utterly confounded and marveled at this turn of events.
At that moment Amir received divine help. When Amir turned to look he found holy Khizr. Amir kissed his feet and pleaded with him: “Sire, my arms are numb from plying the sword. The situation I find myself in is a marvel to stupefy reason.”
The holy Khizr replied, “O Sahibqiran! You know well that this is a tilism. You act here as it pleases you, without consulting the tablet. Do as I tell you now, and recite the blessed word I instruct to you in the manner I suggest. Then bless an arrow with that word and aim for the head of the dev whose face glows like a ruby and on whose forehead you see a mole like a carnelian. Then this calamity would be dispelled.” The Sahibqiran acted upon Prophet Khizr’s directions and saw not one single dev and found Ifrit lying dead before him. Amir saw that Ifrit’s head was missing. When he could not find the head, holy Khizr said to him, “Ifrit’s mother, Maloona Jadu, is sitting in this cave holding Ifrit’s head. It was that harridan who set in motion this sorcery. Now go into the cave and kill her as well so that the tilism can be finally conquered.” The Sahibqiran went with holy Khizr into the cave, the two of them stepping into it together.
When Maloona saw Khizr along with the Sahibqiran, she began reciting some incantation. Prophet Khizr recited an incantation himself and blew it on her head. She was dispatched to Hell in the flash of an eye. All signs of the tilism then dissolved away.
Holy Khizr congratulated the Sahibqiran on the conquest of the tilism. Amir said, “I feel famished, O sire! Perform another miracle and provide me with something to eat!” Holy Khizr produced a small loaf from his l
eather bag and offered it to Amir. He had his fill of it and found relief from the pangs of hunger, but the loaf remained the same size as before. The holy Khizr also gave Amir a flask of water to satisfy his thirst.
After many days of hunger Amir had eaten his fill and became a little torpid. He stretched himself out to rest on the same rock where Ifrit lay in the sleep of death. Amir forgot to make the third war cry, and the perizads returned to Shahpal to give him the news of Amir’s death.
When Shahpal heard the news of Amir’s death from the perizads, he involuntarily broke into tears, and the pain of his grief threatened to endanger his life. He turned to Abdur Rahman and said, “Alas, the blood of one of Ibrahim’s descendants will now be on my neck, for it was I who sent him on the errand to search and kill Ifrit Dev!” That very moment Abdur Rahman made calculations by jafar and astrology and said, “The Sahibqiran has already slain Maloona Jadu and Ifrit Dev. He has severed their necks and relieved the land of their filthy burden! However, a little iniquitous influence of the stars yet prevails, which is the reason why he forgot to make his third signal. That evil influence shall be dispelled soon, too, and his heart’s desire fulfilled. Let us go, so that we may bring him back and everyone here can receive great bliss from the sight of him, and any misgivings regarding his welfare may be dispelled.”
Shahpal ordered his musicians to start playing festive tunes and made elaborate preparations for the journey. Then, along with the nobles of Qaf, he rode out to Shehristan-e Zarrin and the perizads’ hopes were revived.[?]
When Aasman Peri heard the auspicious tidings of Amir’s victory, she could not contain her joy and hastened there herself to indulge herself with the sight of the Sahibqiran.[?] She found him asleep in a cave with his face exposed to the sun. With her one wing Aasman Peri shaded Amir’s face from the sun, and with her other wing she began fanning him.
The Adventures of Amir Hamza Page 31