Amir Hamza was left alone and he began shedding tears and praying for his friends. He was near to giving up his life in grief for them when he was overtaken by sleep. In his dream he saw a throne descend from the heavens on which a holy man was seated who said to Amir, “Kill the white bird sitting on the dome with an arrow and you will conquer the tilism.”
Amir woke up and saw that indeed a white bird was perched on the dome. When Amir shot an arrow at the bird, she fell to the ground. The same instant she fell, the tilism was broken. Amir’s companions who had been caught in the enchantment returned to their senses and came out from under its spell. When Amir asked his companions their reason for jumping inside the enclosure, all of them replied that they had beheld a holy and luminous face whose sight made them oblivious to everything, and made them jump inside. Amir said to them, “Open the door of the dome so that we may see what is inside.” Although everyone tried, the door of the dome did not yield.
Finally, Amir broke down the door and went inside and saw a casket hanging from the ceiling. When Amir brought it down, he saw the corpse of Zardhasht the sorcerer laid carefully within, and it seemed that he had just fallen asleep. Amir said, “There must be something else in the casket with him as well. We must search it carefully.” When Amar Ayyar searched it, he found a book on magic. Amir burnt the sorcerer with the book, but Amar had first managed to remove several pages from it. Those pages helped spread the magic in the world that has continued to this day, and all those who practice it have learned it from the contents of those pages.
In short, after Amir had torched Zardhasht’s corpse along with the book and was assured of their destruction, he reached the end of the tilism and said to his friends, “This place is full of peril and we may lose our lives here. We must not all sleep at once but take turns keeping watch.” Amir appointed Aadi to do the first shift of the watch, Malik Ashtar to do the second, Landhoor the third, and himself the fourth and final watch.
When Aadi sat down to do vigil duty, he saw a deer. Aadi hunted him and started cleaning and cooking the meat. When the meat was ready, an old crone appeared like an unforeseen calamity and began grinding her teeth while looking at Aadi. He said to her, “O old woman, tell me who you are, why you have arrived here and why you grind your teeth when you look at me. You must truly tell me everything, or else I will punish you severely and murder you instantly.” The crone answered with great humility, “My son, I am the wife of a merchant who was killed by a lion in the forest. Now I wander around without help or succor in great distress. Today is the fourth day since I last saw a morsel to eat. If you will give me some meat, I will pray for your well-being and will be indebted to you forever.” Aadi felt pity for her and he reached out to serve her some meat from the pot. The old crone jumped up and slapped Aadi so hard that he fell unconscious to the ground. When he woke up after an hour and recovered from the shock, he found the pot empty. His watch having passed then, Aadi woke up Malik Ashtar and himself prepared to sleep.
Finding the pot empty, Malik Ashtar said, “O big-bellied fellow, you cooked the meat and ate it all by yourself.” Aadi answered, “I was hungry, therefore I ate it all. If you are hungry, you may as well hunt and eat something and not suffer the pangs of hunger.” After some time, Malik Ashtar also saw a deer and hunted and cooked him. When the meat was ready, the same crone appeared before him and sought some meat after reciting to Malik Ashtar her tale of woe. He, too, took pity on her and tried to ladle some from the pot when that crone jumped forward and slapped him hard. While he lay unconscious on the ground, she ate up the meat and disappeared.
When Malik Ashtar came to his senses, it was Landhoor’s turn to do vigil duty. Seeing the empty pot lying on the fire, he said, “Why, Malik Ashtar, you cooked and ate the meat but did not offer us even a small slice!” Malik Ashtar answered, “The place abounds in animals and you may hunt and cook one for yourself.”
Landhoor also hunted a deer and cooked the meat and the same crone slapped him unconscious and ate up all the meat and then disappeared. When Landhoor woke up and was restored to his senses, Aadi and Malik Ashtar said to him, “We, too, were treated in the same manner.” Landhoor said to them, “If you had told me, I would have taken caution and not been deceived!” Aadi and Malik Ashtar said, “What is past is past. Now hold your tongue and do not say a word of it to anyone. Let us wake up Amir and see how he fares with the crone.” Landhoor said, “I cannot bear to see Amir deceived or suffer any hardship.” Aadi said, “Amir will never be fooled or deceived by her.” After their conversation, they woke Amir up to do his round of watch duty.
Amir also hunted and began cooking. The crone had now become well accustomed to stealing the cooked meat. When it was ready, she appeared before Amir to sing her usual song and narrate her old story. Amir got a whiff of rotten meat from her mouth and said to himself, This is a tilism. There is no knowing what new calamity awaits me in the guise of this crone. Indeed she must be a witch, and it would be justifiable to take caution. Amir held his sword in one hand and began serving the meat with the other. When the crone tried to slap Amir, he dealt her a blow of his sword and severed her head. Immediately upon hitting the ground, the head rolled away. Amir pursued it and saw that the head had rolled into a well. Amir was standing at the edge of the well when his companions reached his side. Amir said, “Tie a rope to my shield so that I may lower myself into the well.” Amar Ayyar said, “I will undertake the mission.” Amar Ayyar lowered himself into the well and beheld that the severed head lay on a golden platter before a fourteen-year-old beauty. The girl was crying and saying, “I told you not to go near Hamza, but you did not follow my advice and imperiled your life and put me in trouble as well.”
Amar snared the girl with his rope and secured her with alacrity and cunning. He brought her out of the well and produced her before Amir, along with the head of the crone, and told him all that the beauty had said. Amir asked her, “Who are you, and who was that crone?” She replied, “I am Zardhasht’s daughter, and the old woman was his mother.” Amir asked her, “Are you alone or are there others besides you?” She answered, “I have two sisters who live in the tilisms with their armies. Upon hearing of our grandmother’s murder, they will descend here and battle with you.”
Amir Hamza gave her into Amar’s custody and said to him, “Keep a strict watch on her and incarcerate her somewhere secure.” They passed that night in peace, but the following morning sorcerers emerged from the well in waves and arranged themselves in battle formation. The armies were led by Zardhasht’s daughters Gul-Rukh and Farrukh. They ordered their nanny, who was a renowned sorceress, to prepare her magic and to create a spell for them.
Amir sent for Zardhasht’s daughter and asked her, “How do you think your sisters will fight me?” She answered, “They will employ magic and prevail over you with its power. Amir said to Amar, “Interrogate her yourself and ask her gently what that magic is and how it is created.” Amar took her to his place and tried to extract the information from her by gentle persuasion but she would not reveal a thing. In the end, Amar tired of her and put her to death by smashing her skull. Then he presented himself before Amir who said to him, “Perhaps you could have extracted the secret and obtained the information from her by subterfuge.” Amar answered, “O Amir, she was most cunning. As to obtaining information, I shall bring it for you from her companions.” Amar then headed for the sorcerers’ camp. On the way Amar encountered a sorcerer whom he killed and put on his disguise.
That night Amar went with several others to stand guard at the sorceress Farrukh’s bed. A wizard arrived there in a state of great agitation and said to Farrukh, “Many days have passed since your nanny set out to prepare some magic against Hamza’s camp. To date, we have seen no results.” Farrukh answered, “The magic will be ready by evening the day after tomorrow. Then you will see what terrible destruction engulfs Hamza’s camp. Not a soul will survive and none will find reprieve.”
In the morning Amar retu
rned with this information to Amir, who responded, “I wish we could find some way to turn the magic back on their own camp and use its destructive powers on their own forces.” Amar replied, “That harridan is preparing her magic behind your encampment. I will go then to capture her and turn her magic against her own camp.”
That day came to its culmination and the next day, late in the afternoon, Amar disguised himself as a wizard. Carrying a flagon of drugged wine, he went to the nanny and said, “Farrukh has sent me with the message that three days have passed since you started preparing your magic, and yet Hamza’s camp shows no sign of its effects and are none the worse for it. She has also sent this flagon of wine for you.” She answered, “The magic egg is now ready. It will show its marvels when the sun sets. Then everyone will see what terrors are let loose on Hamza’s camp and how everyone is engulfed in calamity, and witness their end.” She then put her mouth to the spout of the flagon and drank it all in big gulps, swallowing the wine in large swigs. As soon as the wine passed down her throat, she fell unconscious. Amar buried her alive in a hole and dispatched her to Hell. He took the magic egg and the bottle to Amir and said, “She has filled this egg and bottle with her magic, and now I am taking them to throw at Farrukh and Gul-Rukh’s army and use it against their own camp.”
Amar went into the sorcerers’ camp and destroyed all their pavilions and supplies by releasing the contents of the magic egg, burning everything to cinders in just the flash of an eye. Then Amar poured out the contents of the bottle. This caused such a heavy rainfall that the entire camp of Gul-Rukh and Farrukh sank underwater and all the goods and provisions left in their camp were destroyed. Not a single one of them survived.
Amir occupied himself with hunting in the environs for a few days. One day he said to Gaolangi, “Let me know if some other menace remains and give me news of any new scourge.” He answered, “All the evil that had manifested itself from Bakhtar to Zulmat has been put down.” They set out for Rakham and arrived in that grand metropolis, where Gaolangi prepared festivities in Amir’s honor on a most lavish scale and ordered his attendants and workers to provide all the apparatus for revelry.
When the festivities were over, they headed out of the city for hunting. Suddenly, Badiuz Zaman sighted a deer. He tried to make it his prey, but the deer galloped away with Badiuz Zaman in hot pursuit on horseback, and at last he took out his gun21 to kill the animal. After running for some distance, the deer jumped into a pond. Badiuz Zaman followed him into the pond on horseback and Amir and his companions also rode into the water after them. The next moment, when they blinked their eyes they found themselves in a vast field surrounded by a strange forest. They searched for Badiuz Zaman in every direction but found no trace of him. Amir Hamza’s eyes filled up with tears and he said to his companions with a voice full of sorrow and grief, “Finally, we are seventy. The seventy-first person was Badiuz Zaman, whom I was destined to lose.” Amir’s companions offered him words of consolation. Amir uttered not a word then except to express his compliance and cheerful submission to God’s will.
OF AMIR’S DEPARTURE FOR MECCA, AND OF HIS ATTAINING MARTYRDOM IN THE VICTORIOUS SERVICE OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD; AND THE CULMINATION OF THE DASTAN
The master narrators thus tell this wondrous tale that after Amir had found a measure of fortitude and his restive heart had attained a modicum of peace, Gaolangi said to him, “You had mentioned that you would take me to kiss the feet of the Last Prophet of the Times and allow me an opportunity to regard his holy aspect. Thus we should head for Mecca!”
Amir, Gaolangi, and the rest of their companions now headed toward Mecca. As they passed Qaza-va-Qadar, Saryal greeted them and took Amir to his dwelling and satisfied all the duties of a host. After many days, Saryal’s father departed from this world. Amir performed his last rites and, offering words of consolation to Saryal, seated him on the throne. Then they continued toward Mecca. After traveling for a few days, they arrived in its precincts. Gaolangi along with all the companions of Amir Hamza kissed the feet of the Holy Prophet and renewed their Faith and earned great glory in the world.
One day the Holy Prophet was present in the mosque when a desert Arab arrived with the news that infidels from Egypt, Greece, and Syria had banded together to advance on them with evil intent, and were bringing a vast army. The Holy Prophet first sent Amir Hamza with some men to Abu Qubais, then he headed there himself. When the infidels arrayed themselves, Amir gave Gaolangi leave to fight them. His challenge was answered by a massively built warrior from the infidel camp who made many great claims to his power and might upon entering the arena. Gaolangi lifted him above his head and spun him around for so long that he very nearly died from it; he was soon rendered completely powerless and helpless.
Gaolangi then slammed him to the ground, and the little life remaining to the infidel was flushed out of him. A second infidel warrior faced Gaolangi and fared the same. A few more infidels died at Gaolangi’s hands, and then their companions were so terrified of him that none among them would come out to answer his challenge. Finally, the prince of India, Pur-Hindi, rode into the arena. He hurled his lance so powerfully at Gaolangi’s chest that it exited from his back, causing him to give up his life to his Maker.
Amir suffered terrible grief at Gaolangi’s death, and in his dismay he went and faced Pur-Hindi himself. Pur-Hindi said, “You dotard! Why do you volunteer your life? What idle thought stirs your fancy when even warriors in the prime of their youth avoid confronting me? But now that you are here, tell me who you are so that you do not die without anyone knowing your name and station and your corpse is not left exposed in the arena.”
Amir answered, “O babbler, my name is Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib!” The prince said, “I had heard that Hamza had gone toward Bakhtar.” Amir replied, “What you heard was right. I returned from Bakhtar not too long ago. Now deal me the blow you take pride in.” Pur-Hindi aimed his lance at Amir, who caught hold of it at the handle and snatched it from his hands, rendering him defenseless. Amir threw the same lance at the prince’s breast, and it shot through his heart and came out the other side of his body. Pur-Hindi fell from his horse and died that instant. Amir let out his war cry and fell upon his army, killing many an infidel and thousands of villains. Recognizing Amir, the infidels turned tail and fled en masse. The Holy Prophet returned triumphant and victorious to Mecca, and expressed his gratitude to God Almighty for his victory.
The narrator records that when Pur-Hindi’s mother, a woman called Hinda, heard of his death, she gathered the kings and armies of India, Greece, Syria, China, Ethiopia, Zanzibar, and Turkistan, and amassed a mighty army to avenge her son’s death, and headed to Ctesiphon. She sought redress from Hurmuz, who then accompanied her with his army. When these armies approached Mecca, and the Holy Prophet received the news, he said, “My uncle Hamza is capable of routing these armies all by himself.” As the Holy Prophet had not uttered the words “God willing” with his claim, the Almighty God was not pleased. When the Holy Prophet faced the infidels with Amir Hamza and his companions, Hurmuz said to his men, “Do not fight these Arabs in single combat but fall upon them as a body and kill them at the same time. Otherwise, you will not defeat them.” Hurmuz’s entire force assaulted the followers of the True Faith as one, and Landhoor, Sa’ad bin Amar Hamza, and Aadi Madi-Karib—all Amir’s dear companions—were martyred. Ali bin Abu Talib was showered by the infidels with arrows from all sides. One infidel threw a stone and broke a tooth of the Holy Prophet. Amar brought these tidings to Amir Hamza and communicated this heartrending news to his ears.
Amir put on his armor and mounted his steed and prepared to slaughter the infidels. While cutting through them, Amir Hamza drew near Hurmuz, who jumped from his throne and ran away. His army also stampeded off then, and none showed the wherewithal to put up a determined stand against Amir Hamza. He followed them for a distance of four kos, slaying infidel warriors along the way. Everywhere one looked the corpses of the infidels killed by Amir’s
lustrous sword lay piled in heaps. After killing them by the thousands, Amir returned to Mecca with the garlands of success adorning his neck.
Hinda had laid an ambush along Hamza’s route to Mecca and was hiding with her army. She attacked him from behind and dealt a powerful thrust of her sword, which severed all four of Ashqar’s legs. As Amir Hamza was taken by surprise, he fell to the ground when his steed collapsed. That accursed woman dealt a blow of her poison-laced sanguinary sword to Amir’s immaculate head and decapitated him. She cut open his abdomen and plucked out and chewed up his heart, and then cut up his body into seventy pieces. Afterward, when her terrible folly became apparent to her, she feared the retribution Amir Hamza’s daughter Quraisha would visit on her with the help of the devs and jinns of Qaf. That fear drove her to take refuge with the Holy Prophet. She shed bitter tears before him and repented her actions and converted to the True Faith.
The Holy Prophet said to her, “Take me to the corpse of my dear uncle so that I can see where that Lion of God lies.” Hinda took him to see Amir Hamza’s corpse and showed him to the place where he was martyred. The Holy Prophet gathered the pieces of Amir Hamza’s body and said the funeral prayer separately for each part. It is said that Prophet Muhammad stood on his toes as he said the prayers. After the burial, people asked him why he had stood on his toes and Prophet Muhammad replied, “I stood in that manner because a great crowd of angels had inundated the prayer grounds and they all said the prayers seventy times for each part of his body.” Thus the Holy Prophet informed everyone of Amir Hamza’s holiness and lofty status.
When Prophet Muhammad turned back after burying Amir Hamza, Hinda presented herself before him. Prophet Muhammad turned his face away from her and showed her not the least favor. At that moment His Holiness received this divine message: “Dear friend! Hamza has indeed been martyred, but do look up to the heavens!” When His Holiness looked up, he saw Amir Hamza seated on a bejeweled throne in Heaven with houris and pages standing around him with folded arms. Then His Holiness smiled and said prayers of gratitude.
The Adventures of Amir Hamza Page 57