thy safety, O our lord!" Said he, "O folk, whoso obeyeth me shall
be saved; but whoso gainsayeth me, I will cut him in twain with
this scymitar." And they made answer, saying, "Command us what
thou wilt, for we will not oppose thy commandment." Quoth he,
"Then say with me, 'There is no god but the God and Abraham is
the Friend of God!' " They asked, "O our lord, whence haddest
thou these words?" And he told them what had befallen him with
Gharib, adding, "O folk, know ye not that I am your chief in
battle-plain and where men of cut and thrust are fain; and yet a
man single-handed me to prisoner hath ta'en and made me the cup
of shame and disgrace to drain?" When they heard his speech, they
spoke the word of Unity and Jamrkan led them to Gharib, at whose
hands they renewed their profession of Al-Islam and wished him
glory and victory, after they had kissed the earth before him.
Gharib rejoiced in them and said to them, "O folk, return to your
people and expound Al-Islam to them;" but all replied, "O our
lord, we will never leave thee, whilst; we live; but we will go
and fetch our families and return to thee." And Gharib said, "Go,
and join me at the city of Cufa." So Jamrkan and his comrades
returned to their tribal camp and offered Al-Islam to their women
and children, who all to a soul embraced the True Faith, after
which they dismantled their abodes and struck their tents and set
out for Cufa, driving before them their steeds, camels and sheep.
During this time Gharib returned to Cufa, where the horsemen met
him in state. He entered his palace and sat down on his sire's
throne with his champions ranged on either hand. Then the spies
came forwards, and informed him that his brother Ajib had made
his escape and had taken refuge with Jaland[FN#12] bin Karkar,
lord of the city of Oman and land of Al-Yaman; whereupon Gharib
cried aloud to his host, "O men, make you ready to march in three