perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Six Hundred and Sixtieth Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Gharib had bidden Kaylajan go
and learn news of his people, the Jinn fared forth and presently returning said, "Verily around
thy city is a mighty host!" Now the cause of its coming was that Ajib, having fled the field after
Ya'arub's army had been put to the rout, said to his people, "O folk, if we return to Ya'arub bin
Kahtan, he will say to us, 'But for you, my son and my people had not been slain; and he will put
us to death, even to the last man.' Wherefore, methinks we were better go to Tarkanan, King of
Hind, and beseech him to avenge us." Replied they, "Come, let us go thither; and the blessing of
the Fire be upon thee!" So they fared days and nights till they reached King Tarkanan's capital
city and, after asking and obtaining permission to present himself, Ajib went in to him and
kissed ground before him. Then he wished him what men use to wish to monarchy and said to
him, "O King, protect me, so may protect thee the sparkling Fire and the Night with its thick
darkness!" Tarkanan looked at Ajib and asked, "Who art thou and what dost thou want?"; to
which the other answered, "I am Ajib King of Al-Irak; my brother hath wronged me and gotten
the mastery of the land and the subjects have submitted themselves to him. Moreover, he hath
embraced the faith of Al-Islam and he ceaseth not to chase me from country to country; and
behold, I am come to seek protection of thee and thy power." When Tarkanan heard Ajib's
words, he rose and sat down and cried, "By the virtue of the Fire, I will assuredly avenge thee
and will let none serve other than my goddess the Fire!" And he called aloud to his son, saying,
"O my son, make ready to go to Al-Irak and lay it waste and bind all who serve aught but the
Fire and torment them and make example of them; yet slay them not, but bring them to me, that I
may ply them with various tortures and make them taste the bitterness of humiliation and leave
them a warning to whoso will be warned in this our while." Then he chose out to accompany
him eighty-thousand fighting-men on horseback and the like number on giraffes,[FN#47]
besides ten thousand elephants, bearing on their backs seats[FN#48] of sandal-wood, latticed
with golden rods, plated and studded with gold and silver and shielded with pavoises of gold and
emerald; moreover he sent good store of war-chariots, in each eight men fighting with all kinds