"What of the seal?" asked the Shareef.
Humayd drew from a small pouch suspended at his throat a leaden seal.
"The seal of Suleiman Baalshem," admitted the Shareef. "And then, Ishtitad!" he commanded. "Testify!"
"La illaha illa allah," intoned Humayd. "Wa Muhammad er-rasul allahi."
"At least we have a true believer this time," reflected the Shareef. Then, to his son: "Was I not right in imprisoning the infidel you brought before me?"
"Not entirely," protested Sayyid Absál. "The kaffir is a great swordsman, even as the prophecy said. And one of these men is a liar, for one of the leaden seals must be false."
"My lord," interposed Zantut, "is it not more likely that a true believer should have the seal of Suleiman Baalshem than an unbeliever?"
"That goes without saying," agreed the Shareef.
"But," protested Sayyid Absál, "who are we to know what is acceptable to Allah, and to whom he would entrust the seal of Suleiman? Is this fellow Humayd a fighting man? Let him meet my six best retainers in a side street," challenged Sayyid Absál, "and if he can prove himself in that way, I will agree."
"Son," reproved the Shareef, "it seems to me that you have no more to agree than to disagree."