Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/93

73 long life. Quoth he to them, ‘What made you leave fighting?’ ‘O my lord,’ answered they, ‘thou didst affright us with the words thou shoutedst out at us.’ Then said Gherib, ‘What calamity do ye worship?’ ‘We worship Wedd and Souwaa and Yeghouth,’ answered they, ‘lords of the tribe of Noah;’ and Gherib, ‘We serve none but God the Most High, Maker of all things and Provider of every living creature. He it is who created the heavens and the earth and stablished the mountains, who maketh water to well from the rocks and the trees to grow and feedeth the wild beasts in the deserts; for He is God, the One, the All-powerful.’

When they heard this, their bosoms expanded to the words of the faith of Unity and they said, ‘Verily, this God is a great lord, compassionate and merciful. What shall we say, to become of those that submit themselves to Him?’ Quoth Gherib, ‘Say, “There is no god but God and Abraham is the Friend of God.”’ So the ten made sincere profession of the true faith and Gherib said to them, ‘If the sweetness of Islam be indeed stablished in your hearts, go to your people and expound the faith to them; and if they profess, they shall be saved, but if they refuse, we will burn them with fire.’ So they returned and expounded Islam to their people and set forth to them the way of truth and righteousness, and they embraced the faith of submission with heart and tongue.

Then they repaired on foot to Gherib’s tent and kissing the earth before him, wished him power and advancement, saying, ‘O our lord, we are become thy slaves; command us what thou wilt, for we hearken to thee and obey thee and will never leave thee, for God hath guided us into the right way at thy hands.’ ‘May God abundantly requite you!’ answered he. ‘Return to your dwellings and take your goods and your children and forego me to the Valley of Flowers and the castle of Sasa ben Shith, whilst I carry