Thou com'st, like theright evil fiend that thou art, With a lie
on thy lips and a fraud at thy heart;
This day shalt thou taste of a death-dealing dart And a spear
that shall rid thee of life with its smart.
Then he smote him on the breast, that the spear-point issued from his back, and cried out, saying, 'Will another come out?' So a fourth came out and the youth asked him his name. He replied, 'My name is Hilal.'[FN#162] And the youth repeated these verses:
Thou err'st, that wouldst plunge in my sea of affray And thinkest
to daunt me with lies and dismay.
Lo, I, to whose chant thou hast hearkened this day, Thy soul, ere
thou know'st it, will ravish away!
Then they drove at one another and exchanged blows; but the youth's stroke forewent that of his adversary and slew him: and thus he went on to kill all who sallied out against him. When I saw my comrades slain, I said in myself, 'If I fight with him, I shall not be able to withstand him, and if I flee, I shall become a byword among the Arabs.' However, the youth gave me no time to think, but ran at me and laying hold of me, dragged me from my saddle. I swooned away and he raised his sword to cut off my head; but I clung to his skirts and he lifted me in his hand, as I were a sparrow [in the clutches of a hawk]. When the maiden saw this, she rejoiced in her brother's prowess and coming up to him, kissed him between the eyes. Then he delivered me to her, saying, 'Take him and entreat him well, for he is come under our rule.' So she took hold of the collars of my coat-of-arms and led me away by them as one would lead a dog. Then she did off her brother's armour and clad him in a robe, after which she brought him a stool of ivory, on which he sat down, and said to him, 'May God whiten thine honour and make thee to be as a provision against the shifts of fortune!' And he answered her with the following verses:
My sister said, (who saw my lustrous forehead blaze Midmost the
war, as shine the sun's meridian rays)
"God bless thee for a brave, to whom, when he falls on, The
desert lions bow in terror and amaze!"
"Question the men of war," I answered her, "of me, Whenas the
champions flee before my flashing gaze.
I am the world-renowned for fortune and for might, Whose prowess
I uplift to what a height of praise!
O Hemmad, thou hast roused a lion, who shall show Thee death that
comes as swift as vipers in the ways."
When I heard what he said, I was perplexed about my affair, and considering my condition and how I was become a captive, I was lessened in my own esteem. Then I looked at the damsel and said to myself, 'It is she who is the cause of all this trouble;' and I fell a-marvelling at her beauty and grace, till the tears streamed from my eyes and I recited the following verses:
Reproach me not, O friend, nor chide me for the past, For I will
pay no heed to chiding and dispraise.
Lo, I am clean distraught for one, whom when I saw, Fate in my
breast forthright the love of her did raise.
Her brother was my foe and rival in her love, A man of mickle
might and dreadful in affrays.
Then the maiden set food before her brother, and he bade me eat with him, whereat I rejoiced and felt assured of my life. When he had made an end of eating, she brought him a flagon of wine and he drank, till the fumes of the wine mounted to his head and his face flushed. Then he turned to me and said, 'Harkye, Hemmad, dost thou know me?' 'By thy life,' answered I, 'I am rich in nought but ignorance!' Said he, 'I am Ibad ben Temim ben Thaalebeh, and indeed God giveth thee thy liberty and spareth thee confusion.' Then he drank to my health and gave me a cup of wine and I drank it off. Then he filled me a second and a third and a fourth, and I drank them all; and he made merry with me and took an oath of me that I would never betray him. So I swore to him a thousand oaths that I would never deal perfidiously with him, but would be a friend and a helper to him.
Then he bade his sister bring me ten dresses of silk; so she brought them and laid them on me, and this gown I have on my body is one of them. Moreover, he made her bring one of the best of the riding camels, laden with stuffs and victual, and a sorrel horse, and gave the whole to me. I abode with them three days, eating and drinking, and what he gave me is with me to this day. At the end of this time, he said to me, 'O Hemmad, O my brother, I would fain sleep awhile and rest myself. I trust myself to thee; but if thou see horsemen making hither, fear not, for they are of the Beni Thaalebeh, seeking to wage war on me.' Then he laid his sword under his head and slept; and when he was drowned in slumber, the devil prompted me to kill him; so I rose, and drawing the sword from under his head, dealt him a blow that severed his head from his body. His sister heard what I had done, and rushing out from within the tent, threw herself on his body, tearing her clothes and repeating the following verses:
Carry the tidings to the folk, the saddest news can be; But man
from God His ordinance no whither hath to flee.
Now art thou slaughtered, brother mine, laid prostrate on the
earth, Thou whose bright face was as the round of the full
moon to see.
Indeed, an evil day it was, the day thou mettest them, And after
many a fight, thy spear is shivered, woe is me!
No rider, now that thou art dead, in horses shall delight Nor
evermore shall woman bear a male to match with thee.
Hemmad this day hath played thee false and foully done to death;
Unto his oath and plighted faith a traitor base is he.
He deemeth thus to have his will and compass his desire; But
Satan lieth to his dupes in all he doth decree.