Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 2.djvu/216

183 shouting out their war-cries, till the stoutest champions were affrighted and the mountains were cloven by the noise. On the morrow, they foregathered with Zoulmekan, and each recognised the other as has been before set out. Then they kissed the earth before the King and his brother Sherkan, and the latter told them all that had befallen him and his men in the grotto, whereat they marvelled and said, “Hasten back with us to Constantinople, for we left our companions there, and our hearts are with them.” So they made haste to depart, commending themselves to the Subtle, the All-wise; and Zoulmekan exhorted the Muslims to steadfastness, reciting the following verses:

To thee be the praise, O Thou that meritest thanks and praise! And mayest Thou never cease to succour me all my days! I grew up in exile, but Thou, my God, wast ever my friend. ’Twas Thou didst decree me success and broughtest me forth of the maze. Thou hast given me lordship and wealth and fortune and girded my midst With the falchion of valour and wreathed my forehead with victory’s bays. Thou hast shadowed me under Thy wings and made me to prosper amain And hast graced me with favours untold, of Thy bounties abounding always: Thou hast saved me from all that I feared, by the counsel of him whom I trust, The Vizier and chief of the chiefs, the hero and pride of our days. By Thy favour we fell on the Greeks and smote them with sword and with spear; But again to the fight they returned, in garments blood-red for affrays. So I feigned to be routed and flee and give back from the fight; then I turned On the toe, as the fierce lion turns on the hunters, that find him at gaze. I left them laid low on the plain, as ’twere they were drunken with wine, Not the wine that is pressed from the grape, but that of death’s cup of amaze; Whilst their ships all fell under our hand and ours was the empery grown: From the East to the West, sea and shore, we were lords of the lands and the ways. Then there came to our camp the recluse, the saint, whose miraculous power Is blazoned in desert and town, wherever the sun sheds its rays.