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Having ordered that a mosque should be built on the site of the temple of Solomon, the khalif returned to the tomb of the Prophet at Medina. Heraclius saw plainly that the disasters which were fast settling on Christianity were due to the dissensions of its conflicting sects; and hence, while he endeavored to defend the empire with his armies, he sedulously tried to compose those differences.
So he despatched all these things to Welid ben Abdulmelik, and the Arabs spread all over the cities of Spain, which is one of the finest of lands. This is the end of the story of the City of Lebtait. The Khalif Hisham ben Abdulmelik ben Merwan was hunting one day, when he sighted an antelope and pursued it with his dogs.
None killed the damsel but I; so God on thee, make haste to hang me, or there is no living for me after her! The Vizier marvelled at all this and taking the youth and the old man, carried them before the Khalif and said to him, 'O Commander of the Faithful, I bring thee the murderer of the damsel. 'Where is he? asked the Khalif, and Jaafer answered, 'This youth says he killed her, but this old man gives him the lie and affirms that he himself killed her: and behold, they are both in thy hands. The Khalif looked at them and said, 'Which of you killed the damsel? The youth replied, 'It was I. And the old man, 'Indeed, none killed her but myself. Then the Khalif said to Jaafer, 'Take them and hang them both. But the Vizier replied, 'If one of them be the murderer, to hang the other were unjust. 'By Him who vaulted the heavens and spread out the earth like a carpet, cried the youth, 'it was I killed her! And he set forth the circumstance of her death and how they had found her body, so that the Khalif was certified that he was the murderer, whereat he wondered and said to him, 'Why didst thou slay the damsel wrongfully and what made thee come and accuse thyself thus and confess thy crime without being beaten? 'Know, O Commander of the Faithful, answered the young man, 'that this damsel was my wife and the daughter of this old man, who is my father's brother, and she was a virgin when I married her.
The Khalif marvelled at the merchant's generosity and said, 'Gifted of God is he! Never heard I of his like. And he bade Ibrahim bring him to court, that he might see him. So he brought him and the Khalif conversed with him; and his wit and good breeding so pleased him, that he made him one of his chief officers.
The Abbaside army of invasion was utterly annihilated; and the qualities slumbering in this son of the Khalifs may be judged when we relate that the heads of the Abbaside leaders were put into a bag with descriptive labels attached to their ears, and sent to the reigning Khalif as a present.
Then he threw off the clothes he had on and dressed himself in those which the gardener had brought, to the great amazement of Gaffer Ibrahim, who bit his nails in bewilderment and exclaimed, 'Am I asleep or awake? 'O Gaffer Ibrahim, said the Khalif, 'what state is this in which I see thee? With this, he recovered from his drunkenness and throwing himself on the ground, repeated the following verses: Forgive the error into which my straying feet did fall, For the slave sues for clemency from him to whom he's thrall!
Quoth the Khalif, 'Who art thou? And she answered, 'I am she whom thou hadst as a present from Noureddin Ali ben Khacan, and I crave the fulfilment of thy promise to send me to him with the dress of honour; for I have now been here thirty days, without tasting sleep. Thereupon the Khalif sent for Jaafer and said to him, 'O Jaafer, it is thirty days since we had news of Noureddin Ali ben Khacan, and I doubt me the Sultan has killed him; but by the life of my head and the tombs of my forefathers, if aught of ill have befallen him, I will make an end of him who was the cause of it, though he be the dearest of all men to myself!
Wherefore with camphor white and rose-water and musk It e'en behoveth us our dwelling to perfume. At this the Khalif was agitated and so overcome with emotion that he was not master of himself for excess of delight, and he exclaimed, 'By Allah, it is good! By Allah, it is good! By Allah, it is good! Quoth Noureddin, 'O fisherman, doth this damsel please thee? 'Ay, by Allah! replied he.
This little incident does not seem to have injured him in the estimation of Mansur, the new Khalif, who said of him: "Wonderful is this man! Such daring, wisdom, prudence!
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