absence a cause strange but true which we will set out in order
due. And it was thus. When Ajib returned to his camp on the
preceding Night, he called one of his guardsmen by name Sayyar
and said to him, "O Sayyar, I have not treasured thee save for a
day like this; and now I bid thee enter among Gharib s host and,
pushing into the marquee of their lord, bring him hither to me
and prove how wily thy cunning be." And Sayyar said, "I hear and
I obey." So he repaired to the enemy's camp and stealing into
Gharib's pavilion, under the darkness of the Night, when all the
men had gone to their places of rest, stood up as though he were
a slave to serve Gharib, who present! being athirst, called to
him for water. So he brought him a pitcher of water, drugged with
Bhang, and Gharib could not fulfill his need ere he fell down
with head distancing heels, whereupon Sayyar wrapped him in his
cloak and carrying him to Ajib's tent, threw him down at his
feet. Quoth Ajib, "O Sayyar, what is this?" Quoth he, "This be
thy brother Gharib;" whereat Ajib rejoiced and said, "The
blessings of the Idols light upon thee! Loose him and wake him."
So they made him sniff up vinegar and he came to himself and
opened his eyes; then, finding himself bound and in a tent other
than his own, exclaimed, "There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah, the Glorious the Great!" Thereupon Ajib
cried out at him, saying, "Dost thou draw on me, O dog, and seek
to slay me and take on me thy blood-wreak of thy father and thy
mother? I will send thee this very day to them and rid the world
of thee." Replied Gharib, Kafir hound! soon shalt thou see
against whom the wheels of fate shall revolve and who shall be
overthrown by the wrath of the Almighty King, Who wotteth what is
in hearts and Who shall leave thee in Gehenna tormented and
confounded! Have ruth on thyself and say with me, 'There is no