Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/128

106 Then the Muslims collected the arms and horses and tents and baggage of the enemy and despatched them to Cufa with an escort of a thousand horse; whilst Jemrcan and the rest of his force dismounted and expounded Islam to the prisoners, who made profession of the faith with heart and tongue; whereupon they released them and embraced them and rejoiced in them. Then Jemrcan made his troops rest a day and a night and set out with the dawn, intending for the city of Oman; whilst the thousand horse fared back to Cufa with the booty. When they reached the city, they went in to Gherib and told him what had passed, whereat he rejoiced and said to the Ghoul of the Mountain, ‘Take horse and follow Jemrcan with twenty thousand men.’ So Saadan and his sons mounted and set out for Oman with twenty thousand horse.

Meanwhile, the remains of the defeated army reached Oman and went in to Julned, weeping and crying, ‘Woe!’ and ‘Ruin!’ whereat he was amazed and said to them, ‘What hath befallen you?’ So they told him what had happened and he said, ‘Out on you! How many men were they?’ ‘O King,’ answered they, ‘there were twenty standards, under each a thousand men.’ When Julned heard this, he said, ‘May the sun pour no blessing on you! Out on you! Shall twenty thousand overcome you, and you seventy thousand horse and Jawamerd equal to three thousand in the open field!’ Then, in the excess of his rage and mortification, he drew his sword and cried out to those who were present, saying, ‘Fall on them!’ So the courtiers drew their swords upon the fugitives and slew them to the last man and cast them to the dogs. Then Julned cried out to his son (whose name was Courejan and than whom there was no doughtier cavalier in the army of his father, for he was wont to undertake three thousand horse, single-handed), saying, ‘Take a hundred thousand horse and go to Irak and lay it waste