A day and a night of unceasing conflict were still before the combatants. The spirit of the Persians, whose dead troops lay unburied on the field, flagged at the disasters of the preceding day. But much was looked for from the elephants, which, now refitted, appeared anew upon the field, each protected by a company of horse and foot. The battle was about to open, when suddenly Hâshim came up with the main body of the Syrian troops. Sweeping across the plain, he charged right into the enemy, pierced their ranks, and having reached the river bank, turned and rode triumphantly back, amidst shouts of welcome. The fighting was again severe, and the day balanced by alternate victory and repulse. Yezdegird, alive to the crisis, sent his own body-guard into the field. The elephants were the terror of the Arabs, and again threatened to paralyse their efforts. The elephants put to flight.In this emergency, Sád had recourse to Cacâa, who was achieving marvels, and had already slain thirty Persians in single combat; so that the annalists gratefully acknowledge, ‘if it had not been for what the Lord put it into the heart of Cacâa to do, we had surely in that great battle been discomfited.’[273] Sád learned from some Persian refugees that the eye and trunk were the only vulnerable parts of the elephant: ‘Aim at these,’ he said, ‘and we shall be rid of this calamity.’ So Cacâa took his brother Asim, and a band of followers as a forlorn hope, and issued on the perilous undertaking. There were two great elephants, the leaders of the herd. Dismounting, they boldly advanced towards these, and into the eye of one, the ‘great White elephant,’ Cacâa succeeded in thrusting his lance. Smarting at the pain, it shook fearfully its head, threw the mahout, and swaying its trunk with great force, hurled Cacâa to a distance. The other fared still worse, for they pierced both its eyes, and slashed its trunk. Uttering a shrill scream of agony, blinded and maddened, it darted forward on the Arab ranks. Shouts and lances drove it back upon the Persians. And so they kept it rushing wildly to and fro between the armies. At last, followed by the other elephants, it charged right into the Persian line; and so the whole herd of huge animals,—their trunks raised aloft, trumpeting as they rushed by, and trampling all before them,—plunged into the river and disappeared on the farther shore. For the moment the din of war was hushed as both armies gazed transfixed at the portentous spectacle. But soon the battle was resumed, and they fought on till evening, when darkness again closed on the combatants with the issue still in doubt.
The Night of Clangour.
The third night brought rest to neither side. It was a struggle for life. At first there was a pause, as the light faded away; and Sád, fearing lest the vast host should overlap his rear, sent Amr and Toleiha with parties to watch the lower fords. There had as yet been hardly time for even momentary repose when, early in the night, it occurred to some of the Arab leaders to call out their tribes with the view of harassing the enemy. The movement, made at the first without Sád’s cognisance, drew on a general engagement in the dark. The screams of the combatants and din of arms made The Night of Clangour, as it is called, without parallel in the annals of Islam. It could only be compared to ‘the clang of a blacksmith’s forge.’ Sád betook himself to prayer, for no sure tidings reached him all night through.[274] Morning broke on the two hosts, weary but still engaged in equal combat. Then arose Cacâa and said that one more vigorous charge would surely bring the decisive turn, ‘for victory ever followeth him that persevereth to the end.’ For four-and-twenty hours the troops had maintained the struggle without closing an eye. Yet now the Moslems issued with freshness and alacrity to a new attack. The Persian wings began to waver. Then a fierce onslaught on their centre shook the host: it opened and uncovered the bank on which was pitched the throne of Rustem. The Persians discomfited and Rustem slain.A tempestuous wind arose; and the canopy, no longer guarded, was blown into the river. The wretched prince had barely time, before his enemies were upon him, to fly and crouch beneath a mule laden with treasure. The chance blow of a passer-by brought down the pack and crushed the prince’s back. He crawled to the bank and cast himself into the river; but not before he was recognised by a soldier, who drew him out and slew him, and then, mounting his throne, loudly proclaimed his end.[275]
Destruction of the Persian host.
No sooner was their leader slain, than the rout and slaughter of the Persian host began. Firuzân and Hormuzân succeeded in passing their columns over the dam, and making good their flight before their pursuers could cross the bridge. Jalenûs, standing by the mound, exhorted his men to follow; but the dam (perhaps to secure retreat) had been already cut, and was soon swept away, and with it a multitude into the stream.[276] To the right and to the left, up the river bank and down, the Mussulmans chased the fugitives relentlessly. Jalenûs, vainly endeavouring to rally his men, was slain, and his body rifled of its jewelled spoil. The plain, far and wide, was strewn with dead bodies. The fugitive multitude, hunted even into the fens and marshes, were everywhere put mercilessly to the sword. But the army was too exhausted to carry the pursuit to any great distance beyond the river.
Moslem loss.
The Mussulman loss far exceeded that of any previous Moslem engagement. In the final conflict 6,000 fell, besides 2,500 in the two days before. No sooner was the battle ended, than the women and children, carrying pitchers of water, and armed with clubs, on a double mission of mercy and of vengeance, spread themselves over the field. Every fallen Mussulman, still warm and breathing, they gently raised and wetted his lips with water. Wounded Persians despatched by women and children.But towards the wounded Persians they knew no mercy; for them they had another errand; raising their clubs they gave to them the coup de grâce. Thus had Islam extinguished the sentiment of pity, and, against nature, implanted in the breasts of the gentler sex, and even of little children, the spirit of fierce and cold-blooded cruelty.[277]
The vast booty.
Like the loss of life, so also the spoil for the survivors was great beyond all parallel, both in its amount and costliness. Each soldier had six thousand dirhems, besides special gifts for the veterans and for such as had shown extraordinary valour. The jewels stripped from Rustem’s body were worth 70,000 pieces, although the tiara, most costly portion of his dress, had been washed away. The great banner of the empire was captured on the field. It was made of panthers’ skins, but so richly garnished with gems as to be valued at 100,000 pieces.[278] The prize taken by Zohra from the person of Jalenûs was so costly, that Sád, doubting whether it might not be altogether too great for one person, applied to Omar for advice. The Caliph chided him in reply. ‘Dost thou grudge the spoil to such a one as Zohra,’ he wrote, ‘after all that he hath wrought, and in view of all the fighting yet to come? Thou wilt break his heart thus. Give him the whole, and over and above add a special gift of 500 pieces.’ Thus did the needy Arabs revel in the treasures of the East, the costliness of which almost exceeded their power to comprehend.
Decisive character of the victory.