第52章

When it was the Eight Hundred and Twenty-eighth Night； She continued，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Hasan with his wife，his children and the ancient dame ascended the mountain-flank after they had dismissed the coursers.Presently；up came Queen Nur al-Huda，with the troops right and left，and the captains went round about among the host and ranged them rank by rank in battle array.Then the hosts charged down upon each other and clashed together the twain with a mighty strain，the brave pressed on amain and the coward to fly was fain and the Jinn cast flames of fire from their mouths，whilst the smoke of them rose up to the confines of the sky and the two armies appeared and disappeared.The champions fought and heads flew from trunks and the blood ran in rills；nor did brand leave to play and blood to flow and battle fire to flow，till the murk o'night came，when the two hosts drew apart and，alighting from their steeds rested upon the field by the fires they had kindled.

Therewith the Seven Kings went up to Hasan and kissed the earth before him.He pressed forwards to meet them and thanked them and prayed Allah to give them the victory and asked them how they had fared with the Queen's troops.Quoth they，'They will not withstand us more than three days，for we had the better of them to-day，taking some two thousand of them prisoners and slaying of them much folk whose compt may not be told.So be of good cheer and broad of breast.'Then they farewelled him and went down to look after the safety of their troops；and they ceased not to keep up the fires till the morning rose with its sheen and shone；when the fighting-men mounted their horses of noble strain and smote one another with thin-edged skean and with brawn of bill they thrust amain nor did they cease that day battle to darraign.

Moreover，they passed the night on horseback clashing together like dashing seas；raged among them the fires of war and they stinted not from battle and jar，till the armies of Wak were defeated and their power broken and their courage quelled；their feet slipped and whither they fled soever defeat was before them；

wherefore they turned tail and of flight began to avail： but the most part of them were slain and their Queen and her chief officers and the grandees of her realm were captive ta'en.When the morning morrowed，the Seven Kings presented themselves before Hasan and set for him a throne of alabaster inlaid with pearls and jewels，and he sat down thereon.They also set thereby a throne of ivory，plated with glittering gold，for the Princess Manar al-Sana and another for the ancient dame Shawahi Zat al-Dawahi.Then they brought before them the prisoners and among the rest，Queen Nur al-Huda with elbows pinioned and feet fettered，whom when Shawahi saw，she said to her，'Thy recompense，O harlot，O tyrant，shall be that two bitches be starved and two mares stinted of water，till they be athirst：

then shalt thou be bound to the mares'tails and these driven to the river，with the bitches following thee that they may rend thy skin；and after，thy flesh shall be cut off and given them to eat.How couldst thou do with thy sister such deed，O strumpet；seeing that she was lawfully married，after the ordinance of Allah and of His Apostle？ For there is no monkery in Al-Islam and marriage is one of the institutions of the Apostles （on whom be the Peace！）[177] nor were women created but for men.'Then Hasan commanded to put all the captives to the sword and the old woman cried out，saying，'Slay them all and spare none[178]！'

But，when Princess Manar al-Sana saw her sister in this plight，a bondswoman and in fetters，she wept over her and said，'O my sister，who is this hath conquered us and made us captives in our own country？'Quoth Nur al-Huda，'Verily，this is a mighty matter.Indeed this man Hasan hath gotten the mastery over us and Allah hath given him dominion over us and over all our realm and he hath overcome us，us and the Kings of the Jinn.'And quoth her sister，'Indeed，Allah aided him not against you nor did he overcome you nor capture you save by means of this cap and rod.'

So Nur al-Huda was certified and assured that he had conquered her by means thereof and humbled herself to her sister，till she was moved to ruth for her and said to her husband，'What wilt thou do with my sister？ Behold，she is in thy hands and she hath done thee no misdeed that thou shouldest punish her.'Replied Hasan，'Her torturing of thee was misdeed enow.'But she answered，saying，'She hath excuse for all she did with me.As for thee，thou hast set my father's heart on fire for the loss of me，and what will be his case，if he lose my sister also？'And he said to her，''Tis thine to decide；do whatso thou wilt.'So she bade loose her sister and the rest of the captives，and they did her bidding.Then she went up to Queen Nur al-Huda and embraced her，and they wept together a long while；after which quoth the Queen，'O my sister，bear me not malice for that I did with thee；'and quoth Manar al-Sana，'O my sister，this was foreordained to me by Fate.'Then they sat on the couch talking and Manar al-Sana made peace between the old woman and her sister，after the goodliest fashion，and their hearts were set at ease.Thereupon Hasan dismissed the servants of the rod thanking them for the succour which they had afforded him against his foes，and Manar al-Sana related to her sister all that had befallen her with Hasan her husband and every thing he had suffered for her sake，saying，'O my sister，since he hath done these deeds and is possessed of this might and Allah Almighty hath gifted him with such exceeding prowess，that he hath entered our country and beaten thine army and taken thee prisoner and defied our father，the Supreme King，who hath dominion over all the Princes of the Jinn，it behoveth us to fail not of what is due to him.'Replied Nur al-Huda，'By Allah，O my sister，thou sayest sooth in whatso thou tellest me of the marvels which this man hath seen and suffered；and none may fail of respect to him.