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Vizier Dendan also congratulated them and said to them, “Know, O Kings, that God hath given us the victory, for that we have devoted ourselves to Him (to whom belong might and majesty) and have left our homes and families: and it is my counsel that we follow up the foe and press upon them and harass them; it may be God shall bring us to our desire and we shall destroy our enemies. If it please you, do ye embark in the ships and sail upon the sea, whilst we fare forward by land and bear the brunt of the battle.” And he ceased not to urge them to action, repeating the following verses:
The goodliest of delights it is one’s foes to slay And on the backs of steeds the spoil to bear away.
Oft comes a messenger with promise of a friend, And the friend comes himself without a trysting-day.
And these also:
As I live, I will make of war my mother and the spear My brother and the sword my father, and for fere
I will take each shag-haired warrior that meets death with a smile, As if to die in battle were e’en his wish most dear!
“Glory be to God,” continued he, “Who hath vouchsafed us His almighty aid and hath given us spoil of silver and fine gold!” Then Zoulmekan commanded to depart; and the army set out and fared on, by forced marches, towards Constantinople, till they came to a wide and blooming champaign, full of all things fair, with wild cattle frisking and gazelles passing to and fro. Now they had traversed great deserts and had been six days cut off from water, when they drew near this meadow and saw therein waters welling and trees laden with ripe fruits and the land as it were Paradise; it had donned its adornments and decked itself.[1] The branches of its trees swayed gently to and fro, drunken with the new wine of the dew, and therein were conjoined the fresh sweetness of the fountains of
- ↑ Koran, x. 25.
