night in joy and he said to his men, "Mount ye on the morrow and
fall upon the Moslems so shall not one of them be left alive."
And they replied, "Hearkening and obedience!" This is how it
fared with them but as regards the Moslems, they passed the
Night, dejected and weeping for their King and Sa'adan; but Sahim
said to them, "O folk, be not concerned, for the aidance of
Almighty Allah is nigh." Then he waited till midnight, when he
assumed the garb of a tent-pitcher; and, repairing to Ajib's
camp, made his way between the tents and pavilions till he came
to the King's marquee, where he saw him seated on his throne
surrounded by his Princes. So he entered and going up to the
candles which burnt in the tent snuffed them and sprinkled
levigated henbane on the wicks; after which he withdrew and
waited without the marquee, till the smoke of the burning henbane
reached Ajib and his Princes and they fell to the ground like
dead men. Then he left them and went to the prison tent, where he
found Gharib and Sa'adan, guarded by a thousand braves, who were
overcome with sleep. So he cried out at the guards, saying, "Woe
to you! Sleep not; but watch your prisoners and light the
cressets." Presently he filled a cresses with firewood, on which
he strewed henbane, and lighting it, went round about the tent
with it, till the smoke entered the nostrils of the guards, and
they all fell asleep drowned by the drug; when he entered the
tent and finding Gharib and Sa'adan also insensible he aroused
them by making them smell and sniff at a sponge full of vinegar
he had with him. Thereupon he loosed their bonds and collars, and
when they saw him, they blessed him and rejoiced In him. After
this they went forth and took all the arms of the guards and
Sahim said to them, "Go to your own camp;" while he re entered
Ajib's pavilion and, wrapping him in his cloak, lifted him up and