She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
two Marids, after snatching up Gharib and Sahim in their sleep,
carried them to Mura'ash, king of the Jann, whom they saw seated
on the throne of his kinship, as he were a huge mountain, with
four heads on his body,[FN#26] the first that of a lion, the
second that of an elephant, the third that of a panther, and the
fourth that of a lynx. The Marids set them down before Mura'ash
and said to him, "O King, these twain be they we found in the
Valley of Springs." Thereupon he looked at them with wrathful
eyes and sparked and snorted and shot sparks from his nostrils,
so that all who stood by feared him. Then said he, "O dogs of
mankind, ye have slain my son and lighted fire in my liver."
Quoth Gharib, "Who is thy son, and who hath seen him?" Quoth
Mura'ash "Were ye not in the Valley of Springs and did ye not see
my son there, in the guise of a bird, and did ye not shoot at him
with wooden bolts that he died?" Replied Gharib, "I know not who
slew him; and, by the virtue of the Great God, the One, the
Immemorial who knoweth things all, and of Abraham the Friend, we
saw no bird, neither slew we bird or beast!" Now when Mura'ash
heard Gharib swear by Allah and His greatness and by Abraham the
Friend, he knew him for a Moslem (he himself being a worshipper
of Fire, not of the All-powerful Sire), so he cried out to his
folk, "Bring me my Goddess.[FN#27]" Accordingly they brought a
brazier of gold and, setting it before him, kindled therein fire
and cast on drugs, whereupon there arose therefrom green and blue
and yellow flames and the King and all who were present
prostrated themselves before the brazier, whilst Gharib and Sahim
ceased not to attest the Unity of Allah Almighty, to cry out "God
is Most Great" and to bear witness to His Omnipotence. Presently,
Mura'ash raised his head and, seeing the two Princes standing in