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not asleep; so he stood up and kissed the earth before Gherib, saying, ‘The blessing of the Fire be on thee, O King, and long be thy life!’ ‘O dog of the Persians,’ answered Gherib, ‘fire is not worshipful, for that it is harmful and profiteth not save for [cooking] food.’ ‘Who then is worshipful?’ asked Rustem; and Gherib replied, saying, ‘God alone is worshipworth, who made thee and formed thee and created the heavens and the earth.’ Quoth the Persian, ‘What shall I say, that I may become of the party of this Lord and enter thy faith?’ ‘Say,’ rejoined Gherib, ‘“There is no god but God, and Abraham is the friend of God.”’ So Rustem pronounced the profession of the faith and was written of the people of felicity.
Then said he to Gherib, ‘Know, O my lord, that thy father-in-law, King Sabour, seeks to kill thee and hath sent me with a hundred thousand men, charging me to spare none of you.’ Quoth Gherib, ‘Is this my reward for having delivered his daughter from death and dishonour? God will requite him his evil intent. But what is thy name?’ And the Persian answered, saying, ‘My name is Rustem, general of Sabour.’ Quoth Gherib, ‘Thou shalt have the like rank in my army. But tell me, O Rustem, how is it with the princess Fekhr Taj?’ ‘May thy head live, O King of the age!’ answered Rustem. ‘What was the cause of her death?’ asked Gherib; and Rustem said, ‘O my lord, no sooner hadst thou left us, than one of the princess’s women went in to King Sabour and said to him, “O my lord, didst thou give Gherib leave to lie with the princess my mistress?” “No, by the virtue of the fire!” answered he, and drawing his sword, went in to his daughter and said to her, “O filthy baggage, why didst thou suffer yonder Bedouin to lie with thee, without wedding or dower?” “O my father,” answered she, “thou gavest him leave to lie with me.” “Did he have to do with thee?” asked he. But she was
