Now the miscreants had encompassed the Moslems and made sure of escaping the pains that awaited them；and the Faithless greeded for victory over the Faithful until day dawned and dazzled.
There upon the Chamberlain mounted，he and his men，trusting thee Allah would help them to victory；and host was mingled with host and battle rose a foot and took post.And heads flew from trunks whilst the brave stood fast in stead；the craven turned tail and fled；and the Judge of death judged and sentence sped，so that the champions fell from their saddles slain and corpses cumbered meadow and plain.Then the Moslem began to give ground and rearwards bent；and the Greek took possession of some of their tents；whereupon the Moslems were about to break and retreat and take flight，when meanwhile behold，up came Sharrkan with the rest of the host of Al-Islam and the standards of the Believers in Unity.And having come up with them，he charged the Infidels；and followed him Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan and the Emirs Bahram and Rustam with his brother Tarkash.When the foe saw this，they lost head and their reason fled，and the dust clouds towered till they covered the country whilst the righteous Believers joined their pious comrades.Then Sharrkan accosted the Chamberlain and praised him for his steadfastness；and he in turn gave the Prince joy of his timely succour and his gaining the day.Thereat the Moslems were glad and their hearts were heartened；so they rushed upon their enemies and devoted themselves to Allah in their Fight for the Faith.But when the Idolaters beheld the standards Mohammedan and there on the profession of Faith Islamitan，proclaiming the Unity，they shrieked 'Woe！'and 'Ruin！'and besought succour of the Patriarchs of the Monasteries.Then fell they to calling upon John and Mary and the Cross abhorrent and stayed their hands from slaughter，whilst King Afridun went up to consult King Hardub of Greece，for the two Kings stood one at the head of each wing，right and left.Now there was with them also a famous cavalier，Lawiya highs，who commanded the centre；and they drew out in battle array，but indeed they were full of alarm and affray.
Meanwhile，the Moslems aligned their forces and thereupon Sharrkan came to his brother，Zau al-Makan，and said，'O King of the Age，doubtless they mean to champion it，and that is also the object of our desire；but it is my wish to push forward the stoutest hearted of our fighters，for by forethought is one half of life wrought.'Replied the Sultan，'As thou wilt，O companion of good counsel！''It is my wish，'added Sharrkan，'to stand in mid line opposite the Infidel，with the Wazir Dandan on my left and thee on my right，whilst the Emir Bahram leads the dexter wing and the Emir Rustam leads the wing sinistral；and thou，O mighty King，shalt be under the standards and the ensigns，for that thou art the pillar of our defence；upon thee，after Allah，is our dependence and we will all be thy ransom from aught that can harm thee.'Zau al-Makan thanked him therefor，and the slogan arose and the sabre was drawn；but，as things stood thus，behold，there came forth a cavalier from the ranks of Roum；and，as he drew near，they saw that he was mounted on a slow paced she mule，fleeing with her master from the shock of swords.Her housings were of white silk covered by a prayer-carpet of Cash mere stuff，and on her back sat a Shaykh，an old man of comely presence and reverend aspect，garbed in a gown of white wool.He stinted not pushing her and hurrying her on till he came near the Moslem and said，'I am an ambassador to you all，and an ambassador hath naught to do save to deliver；so give me safe conduct and permit of speech，that I communicate to you my message.'Replied Sharrkan，'Thou art in safety： fear neither sway of sword nor lunge of lance.'Thereupon the old man dismounted and，taking the Cross from his neck，placed it before the Sultan and humbled himself with much humility.Then quoth to him the Moslems，'What is with thee of news？'；and quoth he，'I am an ambassador from King Afridun，for I counselled him to avert the destruction of all these frames of men and temples of the Compassionate One；and to him it seemed righteous to stay the shedding of blood and limit it to the encounter of two knights in shock of fight singular；so he agreed to that and he saith to you，'Verily，I will ransom my army with my life；so let the Moslem King do as I do and with his life ransom his host.And if he kill me，there will be no stay left in the army of Roum，and if I kill him，there will be no stability with the Moslems.'When Sharrkan heard this he said，'O monk，I agree to that，for it is just nor may it be gainsaid；and behold，I will meet him in duello and do with him derring do，for I am Champion of the Faithful even as he is Champion of the Faithless；and if he slay me，he will have won the day and naught will remain for the Moslems forces save flight.So return to him，O thou monk，and say that the single combat shall take place to morrow，for this day we have come off our journey and are aweary；but after rest neither reproach nor blame fear ye.
