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Updated: June 21, 2025
And while they were in this condition, lo! the knight their captain said to those who counselled their slaughter, "It is not for any save for King Afridun to kill them, that he may gratify his wrath; therefore it behoveth us to keep them in durance by us till the morrow, when we will journey with them to Constantinople and deliver them to our King, who shall deal with them as he please."
But when King Afridun heard the tidings he arose and betook himself to Zat al-Dawahi, the same who had contrived the stratagem, and had travelled to Baghdad and had slain King Omar bin Al-Nu'uman; and who after carrying off her slaves and Queen Sophia, had returned with them all to her native land.
After which the old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, came to Afridun and said to him, "O King, verily the Moslem hosts are many, and we shall never overcome them save by wile: wherefore I purpose to work upon them by guile and repair to this army of Al-Islam, haply I may win my wish of their leader and slay their champion, even as I slew his father. Replied the King, "Be it so whenever thou wilt."
By the Messiah and the true Faith, said he, 'I will not desist till I have taken my blood vengeance for this and have wiped out my shame; and indeed I will do a deed which the chroniclers shall chronicle after me! So he bided his time till he devised a device and laid notable toils and snares, when he sent an embassy to thy father, King Omar, to tell him that which thou hast heard: accordingly thy father equipped thee and an army with thee and sent thee to King Afridun, whose object is to seize thee and thine army to boot.
And behold, I have taken the King's wife, Sophia, and have carried her to her father, Afridun King of Constantinople.
So King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, met them on the sea shore, and they told him all that had befallen them from the Moslem, and they wept sore and groaned and moaned; and rejoicing at weal was turned into dismay for unheal; and they informed him concerning Luka son of Shamlut, how calamity had betided him and how Death had shot him with his shaft.
So when we pondered that truth, we knew that this letter was none other than a grievous calamity; and my father found nothing for it but to write an answer to King Afridun, making his excuses and swearing to him by strong oaths that he knew not his daughter to be among the bevy of damsels in the ship and setting forth how he had sent her to King Omar bin al Nu'uman, who had gotten the blessing of issue by her.
So now let us go to the King of Constantinople and carry to him his daughter and acquaint him with what hath happened, that all of us be on guard and prepare our forces; and I will fare with thee to King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, for I opine that the Moslems will not await our attack."
He crave his charger between the two hosts in line whilst the horsemen all fixed on him their eyne, and he cried out to Afridun, "Woe to thee, O accursed! dost thou deem me one of the horsemen thou hast overta'en who cannot stand against thee on battle plain?"
Moreover, she donned over her clothes a long gaberdine with an embroidered border and took in her hand a rosary, and afterwards went in to King Afridun, who knew her not, nor did any of his companions know her, till she discovered herself to them: and there was none in the assembly but who thanked and praised her for her cunning; and her son rejoiced and said, "May the Messiah never fail thee!"
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