And when the Wazir ended his verses，he said，'Praise be to Him who aided us dear victory to uphold and who hath given us spoil of silver and fine gold！'Then Zau al-Makan commanded the army to depart；and they fared on forcing their marches for Constantinople，till they came to a wide and spacious champaign，full of all things fair and fain，with wild cattle frisking and gazelles pacing to and fro across the plain.Now they had traversed great deserts and drink had been six days cut off from them，when they drew near this meadow and saw therein waters founting and ripe fruits daunting and that land as it were Paradise；for it had donned its adornments and decked itself.[417]Gently waved the branches of its trees drunken with the new wine of the dew，and combined with the nectar of Tasnim the soft breathings of the morning breeze.Mind and gazer were confounded by its beauty，even as saith the poet，'Behold this lovely garden！'tis as though Spring o'er its frame her greeny cloak had spread.
Looking with fleshly eyne，thou shalt but sight A lake whose waters balance in their bed，But look with spirit eyes and lo！shalt see Glory in every leaf o'erwaves thy head.'
And as another saith，'The stream's a cheek by sunlight rosy dyed，Whose down[418]is creeping shade of tamarisk stems Round legs of tree trunks waveless roll in rings Silvern，and blossoms are the diadems.'
When Zau al-Makan saw this champaign，with its trees bowing and its flowers blooming and its birds warbling，he called to his brother Sharrkan and said，'O my brother，verily in Damascus is naught the like of this place.We will not march from it save after three days，that we may take rest ourselves and that the army of Al-Islam may regain strength and their souls be fortified to encounter the blamed Infidels.'So they halted therein and while camping behold，they heard a noise of voices from afar，and Zau al-Makan asked the cause thereof，and was answered that a caravan of merchants from the Land of Syria had halted there to rest and that the Moslem troops had come on them and had haply seized something of the goods which they had brought from the country of the Infidels.After a while up came the merchants，crying out and appealing to the King for aidance.When Zau al-
Makan saw this，he bade them be brought before him and，when in presence they said to him，'O King，we have been in the country of the Infidels and they plundered us of nothing：why then do our brothers the Moslems despoil our goods，and we in their own land？
Of a truth when we saw your troops，we went up to them and they robbed us of what we had with us and we have now reported to thee all that hath befallen us.'Thereupon they brought out to him the letter of the King of Constantinople，and Sharrkan read it and said，'We will presently restore to you what hath been taken from you；but yet it behoveth you not to carry merchandise to the country of the Infidels.'Replied they，'O our Lord，in very sooth Allah despatched us thither that we might win what Ghazi[419] never won the like of，not even thou in all thy razzias.'Asked Sharrkan，'What was it ye won？''O King，'
answered they，'we will not tell thee save in private；for if this matter be noised among the folk，haply it may come to the ears of some，[420] and this will be the cause of our ruin and of the ruin of all Moslems who resort to the land of the Greeks.'
Now they had hidden the chest wherein was the damned Zat al-Dawahi.So Zau al-Makan and his brother brought them to a private place，where they laid bare to both of them the story of the devotee，and wept till they made the two Kings weep.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Ninety-fifth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the Nazarenes who wore merchants'weed，when brought to a private place by Zau al-Makan and his brother Sharrkan，laid bare to both of them the story of the devotee and wept till they made the two Kings weep and repeated to them all which had been taught by the old witch Zat al-Dawahi.Thereupon Sharrkan's heart yearned to the devotee and he was moved to ruth for him and was fired with zeal for the service of Almighty Allah.So quoth he to them，'Did ye rescue this holy man or is he still in the hermitage？'
Quoth they，'We delivered him and slew the hermit，fearing for our lives；after which we made haste to fly for dread of death；but a trusty man told us that in this hermitage are quintals of gold and silver and stones of price.'Then they fetched the chest and brought out the accursed old woman，as she were a cassia pod[421] for excess of blackness and leanness，and she was laden with the same fetters and shackles.When Zau al-Makan and the bystanders saw her，they took her for a man of the best of Allah's devotees and surpassing in pious qualities，more especially because of the shining of her forehead for the ointment wherewith she had anointed her face.So Zau al-Makan and Sharrkan wept sore；then they rose up in honour and kissed her hands and feet，sobbing aloud： but she signed to them and said，'Cease this weeping and hear my words. Hereat they dried their tears in obedience to her bidding，and she said，'Know ye both that I was content to accept what my Lord did unto me，for I
kenned that the affliction which befel me was a trial from Him （be He exalted and extolled！）；and whoso hath not patience under calamity and tribulation，for him there is no coming to the delights of Paradise.I had indeed supplicated Him that I might return to my native land，not as a compensation for the sufferings decreed to me，but that I might die under the horse hoofs of warriors fighting for the Faith who，being slain in fray，live again without suffering death.'[422] Then she repeated the following couplets，'Our Fort is Tor，[423] and flames the fire of fight：Moses art thou and this is time for aid：
Cast down thy rod，'twill swallow all they wrought，Nor dread for men their ropes be vipers made.[424]