Marjanah to fight them, they will take the town from us and slay
us. There is no resource for us but to go out to them and see who
they are." So Amjad arose and took horse and passed through the
city gate to Queen Marjanah's camp; but when he reached the
approaching army he found it to be that of his grand sire, King
Ghayur, father of his mother Queen Budur.--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Forty-eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Amjad
reached the approaching host, he found it to be that of his
grandsire, Lord of the Isles and the Seas and the Seven Castles;
and when he went into the presence, he kissed the ground between
his hands and delivered to him the message. Quoth the King, "My
name is King Ghayur and I come wayfaring in quest of my daughter
Budur whom fortune hath taken from me, for she left me and
returned not to me, nor have I heard any tidings of her or of her
husband Kamar al-Zaman. Have ye any news of them?" When Amjad
heard this, he hung his head towards the ground for a while in
thought till he felt assured that this King was none other than
his grandfather, his mother's father; where upon he raised his
head and, kissing ground before him, told him that he was the son
of his daughter Budur; on hearing which Ghayur threw himself upon
him and they both fell a weeping.[FN#22] Then said Ghayur,
"Praised be Allah, O my son, for safety, since I have
foregathered with thee," and Amjad told him that his daughter
Budur was safe and sound, and her husband Kamar al-Zaman
likewise, and acquainted him that both abode in a city called the
City of Ebony. Moreover, he related to him how his father, being