On like wise did his brother，Zau al-Makan，and the rest of the foot and horse troops；except the Wazir Dandan，who dismounted not but said，'By Allah，my heart flieth from this devotee，for I never knew show of devotion to religion that bred not bane.So leave him and rejoin your comrades the Moslems，for this man is of the outcasts from the gate of the mercy of the Lord of the Three Worlds！How often have I here made razzias with King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and trodden the earth of these lands！'Said Sharrkan，'Put away from thee such evil thought，hast thou not seen this Holy Man exciting the Faithful to fight，and holding spears and swords light？So slander him not，for backbiting is blameable and poisoned is the flesh of the pious.[443]Look how he inciteth us to fight the foe；and，did not Almighty Allah love him，He had cast him aforetime into fearful torment.'Then Sharrkan bade bring a Nubian mule for the ascetic to ride and said，'Mount，O pious man，devout and virtuous！'But the devotee refused to ride and feigned self denial，that he might attain his end；and they knew not that this holy personage was like him of whom the poet saith，'He prayeth and he fasteth for an end he doth espy；When once his end is safely won then fast and prayer good bye.'[444]
So the devotee ceased not to walk among the horsemen and the footmen，like a wily fox meditating guile，and began to uplift her voice，chanting the Koran and praising the Compassionate One.
And they continued pressing forward till they approached the camp of Al-Islam，where Sharrkan found the Moslem in conquered plight and the Chamberlain upon the brink of falling back in flight，whilst the sword of Greece havoc dight among the Faithful，the righteous and those who work upright，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Second Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when Sharrkan saw the Moslems in conquered plight and the Chamberlain upon the brink of retreat and flight and the sword havoc dight among the righteous and the workers of upright，the cause of this weakness among the Moslems was that the accursed old woman，Zat al- Dawahi，the foe of the Faith，after seeing that Bahram and Rustam had set forward with their troops to join Sharrkan and his brother Zau al-Makan，repaired to the camp of the Mahometans before Constantinople and caused the mission of the Emir Tarkash，as hath been before said.In this her purpose was to divide the Moslem forces the better to weaken them.Then she left them and entered Constantinople，and called with a loud voice on the knights of the Greeks，saying，'Let me down a cord that I may tie thereto this letter，and do ye bear it to your King Afridun，that he may read it and to my son King Hardub that they both do what is written therein of bidding and forbidding.'So they let down for her a string and she tied thereto a letter whose purport was the following： 'From the terriblest of tribulations[445] and the chiefest of all calamities，Zat al-Dawahi，to King Afridun greeting.But afterwards，of a truth I have contrived a device for destroying the Moslems；so bide ye quiet and content.I have cozened and captured their Sultan and the Wazir Dandan；and then I returned to their camp and acquainted them therewith，whereby their pride had a fall and their withers were wrung.And I have so wrought upon the host 'leaguering Constantinople that they have sent ten thousand men under the Emir Tarkash to succour the capitves，of whom there be now left but few；it is therefore my object that ye sally forth against them with all your power while this day endureth；and that ye fall on them in their tents and that ye leave them not till ye shall have slain them to the last man；for，verily the Messiah looketh down upon you and the Blessed Virgin favoureth you；and I hope of the Messiah that he forget not what deed I have done.'When her letter came to King Afridun，he rejoiced with great joyance；and，sending at once for King Hardub of Greece，son of Zat al-Dawahi，read the letter to him as soon as he came，whereathe was exceeding glad and said，'See my mother's craft；verily it dispenseth with swords，and her aspect standeth in stead of the terrors of the Day of Dread.'
Rejoined Afridun，'May the Messiah not bereave us of thy venerable parent nor deprive her of her wile and guile！'Then he bade the Knights give orders for sallying outside the city，and the news was noised abroad in Constantinople.So the Nazarenes and the cohorts of the Cross burst forth and unsheathed their keen sabres in their numbers，shouting out their professions of impiety and heresies，and blaspheming the Lord of all Creatures.
When the Chamberlain saw the sally，he said，'Behold，the Greek is upon us and they surely have learned that our Sultan is far away；and haply they have attacked us，for that the most part of our troops have marched to the succour of King Zau al-Makan！'
Therewith he waxed wroth and cried out，'Ho，soldiers of Al-Islam and favourers of the True Faith，an you flee you are lost，but if ye stand fast，ye win！Know ye that valiancy lieth in endurance of outrance and that no case is so strait but that the Almighty is able to make it straight；Allah assain you and look upon you with eyes of compassion fain！'Thereupon the Moslems cried out，'Allaho Akbar！'and the believer in the One God shouted his slogan，and whirled the mill wheels of fight with cutting and thrusting in main and might；scymitars and spears played sore and the plains and valleys were swamped with gore.The priests and monks priested it，tight girding their girdles and uplifting the Crucifixes，while the Moslem shouted out the professions of the Requiting King and verses of the Koran began to sing.The hosts of the Compassion are One fought against the legions of Satan；and head flew from body of man，while the good Angels hovered above the people of the Chosen Prophet，nor did the sword cease to smite till the day darkened and night came on and starkened.
