gave me." Said Sahim, "O my brother, wilt thou do battle with the Jinn?" Gharib replied, "Yes, I
will fight them with the sword of Japhet son of Noah, seeking help of the Lord of Abraham the
Friend (on whom be the Peace!); for He is the Lord of all things and sole Creator!" So Sahim
saddled him a sorrel horse of the horses of the Jinn, as he were a castle strong among castles, and
he armed and mounting, rode out with the legions of the Jinn, hauberk'd cap-a-pie. Then Barkan
and his host mounted also and the two hosts drew out in lines facing each other. The first to open
the gate of war was Gharib, who crave his steed into the mid-field and bared the enchanted
blade, whence issued a glittering light that dazzled the eyes of all the Jinn and struck terror to
their hearts. Then he played[FN#38] with the sword till their wits were wildered, and cried out,
saying, "Allaho Akbar! I am Gharib, King of Irak. There is no Faith save the Faith of Abraham
the Friend!" Now when Barkan heard Gharib's words, he said, "This is he who seduced my
cousin from his religion; so, by the virtue of my faith, I will not sit down on my throne till I have
decapitated this Gharib and suppressed his breath of life and forced my cousin and his people
back to their belief: and whoso baulketh me, him will I destroy." Then he mounted an elephant
paper-white as he were a tower plastered with gypsum, and goaded him with a spike of steel
which ran deep into his flesh, whereupon the elephant trumpeted and made for the battle-plain
where cut and thrust obtain; and, when he drew near Gharib, he cried out to him, saying, "O dog
of mankind, what made thee come into our land, to debauch my cousin and his folk and pervert
them from one faith to other faith. Know that this day is the last of thy worldly days." Gharib
replied, ''Avaunt,[FN#39] O vilest of the Jann!" Therewith Barkan drew a javelin and making it
quiver[FN#40] in his hand, cast it at Gharib; but it missed him. So he hurled a second javelin at
him; but Gharib caught it in mid air and after poising it launched it at the elephant. It smote him
on the flank and came out on the other side, whereupon the beast fell to the earth dead and
Barkan was thrown to the ground, like a great palm-tree. Before he could stir, Gharib smote him
with the flat of Japhet's blade on the nape of the neck, and he fell upon the earth in a fainting fit;
whereupon the Marids swooped down on him and surrounding him pinioned his elbows. When
Barkan's people saw their king a prisoner, they drove at the others, seeking to rescue him, but
Gharib and the Islamised Jinn fell upon them and gloriously done for Gharib! indeed that day he
pleased the Lord who answereth prayer and slaked his vengeance with the talisman-sword!
Whomsoever he smote, he clove him in sunder and before his soul could depart he became a