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Abu-Jahal, or "the father of obstinacy," or "of brutality," was the name of an Arab. He was uncle to the prophet Muhammad, and an inveterate opposer of the latter's new religion. The forty figures of monkeys would give the possessor a power over the divs and jinns, and having them at his command, he could easily overset the usurper, alias his uncle. The Ismi A'zam, or great name of God.
In this land of Jinnestan there are many cities. The Peris have for their abode the kingdom of Shad-u-Kan, that is, of Pleasure and Delight, with its capital Juber-a-bad, or the Jewel City; and the Divs have for their dwelling Ahermambad, or Ahriman's city, in which there are enchanted castles and palaces, guarded by terrible monsters and powerful magicians.
"In short it was a very pleasant time, and I was just going to ask for Atossa's hand in marriage, when Phanes went off to Arabia, and everything was changed. "No sooner had he turned his back on the gates of Babylon than all the evil Divs seemed to have entered into the king.
"But don't you remember the legend of the Div, who took the beautiful form of a minstrel and appeared before king Kawus?" "Of course," cried Araspes. "Cyrus had this legend so often recited at the banquets, that I know it by heart. "Kai Kawus hearkened to the words of the disguised Div and went to Masenderan, and was beaten there by the Divs and deprived of his eyesight."
In outward form, in their natural shape, they resembled the Peris and the Divs of the ancient Persians, and they were divided into good and bad: the good ones very beautiful and shining; the bad ones deformed, black, and ugly, and sometimes as big as giants.
"In short it was a very pleasant time, and I was just going to ask for Atossa's hand in marriage, when Phanes went off to Arabia, and everything was changed. "No sooner had he turned his back on the gates of Babylon than all the evil Divs seemed to have entered into the king.
The second day, when the two kings met, Shah Bal asked Azad Bakht the reason for bringing the Darweshes with him. Receiving these written orders, the divs were dispatched in all directions.
He was a great king, whose help both sides wished to get. So the Peris sent a splendid embassy to him, and so did the Divs. Tamuras did not know what to do; so he went to consult a wonderful bird, called the Simurg, who speaks all tongues, and who knows everything that has happened, or that will happen. The Simurg told him to fight for the Peris.
Some of the most wonderful creatures of Fairyland are to be found in Eastern stories, the tales of India, and Arabia, and Persia. Here we have the Divs, and Jinns, and Peris, and Rakshas who were the originals of our own Ogres and terrible giants, and strange mis-shapen dwarfs, and vampires and monsters of various kinds.
Vendid. Fargard. "Then Bartja has deserved death. Lead him away, guards, and strangle him! Take him away! Be silent, wretch! never will I listen to that smooth, hypocritical tongue again, or look at those treacherous eyes. They come from the Divs and delude every one with their wanton glances. Off with him, guards!"
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