and King Herdoub cried out， "Vengeance for Abrizeh！" With this，King Zoulmekan cried out to his men， saying， "Ho， servants of the Requiting King. up and smite the children of blasphemy and disobedience with the white of the sword and the brown of the spear！" So the Muslims turned upon the infidels and plied them with the keen-edged scimitar， whilst their herald cried aloud，"Up， ye lovers of the chosen prophet and at the enemies of the Faith！ Now is the time for those， who hope for salvation on the Day of Fear， to win the favour of the Bountiful， the Forgiving One， for verily Paradise is under the shadow of swords！" So Sherkan and his men fell upon the infidels and cut off their retreat and tourneyed among the ranks， when lo， a cavalier of goodly presence opened a passage through the army of the Greeks and circled hither and thither amongst them， cutting and thrusting and covering the ground with heads and bodies， so that the infidels feared him and their necks bent under his blows. He was girt with two swords， that of his glances and a scimitar， and armed with two lances， one of cane and the other the straightness of his shape； over his shoulders flowed down his hair， whose beauty might have stood him in stead of many warriors， even as says the poet：
Flowing hair， as I deem， is not fair to the sight， Except it be spread， on the day of the fight，O"er a youth with a spear that he giveth to drink Of the blood of full many a beard-bearing knight.
Or as says another：
I turned to him， what while he girt his faulchion on， and said，"Surely， the sabres of thy looks should stand thee in sword"s stead."
Quoth he， "The sabres of my looks I keep for those who love， My sword for those who have no wit of passion"s goodlihead."
When Sherkan. saw him， he said to him， "Ho， champion of the champions！ I conjure thee， by the Koran and the attributes of the Compassionate One， tell me who thou art： for verily by thy deeds this day thou hast pleased the Requiting King， whom one thing distracts not from another， in that thou hast discomfited the children of impiety and disbelief." Quoth the horseman， "Thou art he who sworest brotherhood to me but yesterday： how quickly thou hast forgotten me！" Then he uncovered his face， so that what was hidden of his beauty was disclosed， and lo， it was none other than Zoulmekan！ When Sherkan knew his brother， he rejoiced in him， except that he feared for him from the throng of adversaries and the onslaught of the champions； and this for two reasons， the first， his tender age and exposure to the evil eye， and the second， that his life was the mainstay of the empire. So he said to him， "O King， thou adventurest thy life， and indeed I am in fear for thee from the foe； so join thy horse to mine， and thou wouldst do well not to hazard thyself forth of these squadrons，that we may shoot at the enemy with thine unerring shaft." Quoth Zoulmekan， "I wish to equal thee in battle and I will not spare myself before thee in fight." Then the host of Islam rushed upon the infidels and encompassing them on all sides， waged a right holy war on them and broke the power of the children of impiety and pride and corruption. King Herdoub sighed when he saw the evil case that had fallen on the Greeks， and they turned their backs and addressed themselves to flight， ****** for the ships，when lo， there came out upon them from the sea shore a new army，led by the Vizier Dendan， him who was wont to make the champions bite the dust， and the Chamberlain of Syria， with twenty thousand doughty cavaliers， and fell upon their rear with sword and spear，whilst the army of Islam pressed them in front and flank. Then some of the Muslims turned against those that were in the ships and rained perditions on them， till they threw themselves into the sea， and they slew of them much people， more than a hundred thousand knights， nor did one of their champions escape， great or small. Moreover， they took their ships， with all the baggage and treasure therein， and the Muslims got that day booty， the like of which was never gotten of time past； nor did ever ear hear of such a battle. But twenty of the ships escaped， and amongst the booty were fifty thousand horses， besides treasure and spoil past count or reckoning， whereat the Muslims rejoiced with an exceeding joy and thanked God for the aid and protection He had vouchsafed them.
