Accordingly， one of them， an old man named Dendan， arose and kissing the earth before King Omar， said， "O King， thou wouldst do well to equip numerous army and set over it thy son Sherkan，with us as his lieutenants； and to my mind it behoves thee to do thus， for two reasons： first， that the King of the Greeks hath appealed to thee for aid and hath sent thee presents， and thou hast accepted them； and secondly， that no enemy dares attack our country， and that if thy host succour the King of the Greeks and his foe be put to the rout， the glory will fall to thee and the news of it will be noised abroad in all cities and countries； and especially， when the tidings reach the islands of the ocean and the people of Western Africa， they will send thee presents and tribute." When the King heard the Vizier"s speech， it pleased him and he approved his counsel： so he bestowed on him dress of honour and said to him， "It is with such as thee that kings take counsel and it befits that thou command the van of the army and my son Sherkan the main battle." Then he sent for Sherkan and expounded the matter to him， telling him what the ambassadors and the Vizier had said， and enjoined him to take arms and prepare to set out， charging him not to cross the Vizier Dendan in aught that he should do. Then he bade him choose from among his troops ten thousand horsemen armed cap-a-pie and inured to war and hardship. Accordingly， Sherkan rose at once and chose out ten thousand horsemen， in obedience to his father"s commandment，after which he entered his palace and mustered his troops and distributed money to them， saying， "Ye have three days to make ready." They kissed the earth before him and proceeded at once to make their preparations for the campaign； whilst Sherkan repaired to the armouries and provided himself with all the arms and armour that he needed， and thence to the stables， whence he took horses of choice breeds and others. When the three days were ended， the troops marched out of Baghdad， and King Omar came forth to take leave of his son， who kissed the earth before him，and he gave him seven thousand purses.[FN#6] Then he turned to the Vizier Dendan and commended to his care his son Sherkan"s army and charged the latter to consult the Vizier in all things，to which they both promised obedience. After this， the King returned to Baghdad and Sherkan commanded the officers to draw out the troops in battle array. So they mustered them and the number of the army was ten thousand horsemen， besides footmen and followers. Then they loaded the beasts and beat the drums and blew the clarions and unfurled the banners and the standards，whilst Sherkan mounted， with the Vizier Dendan by his side and the standards waving over them， and the army set out and fared on， with the ambassadors in the van， till the day departed and the night came， when they halted and encamped for the night. On the morrow， as soon as God brought in the day， they took horse and continued their march， nor did they cease to press onward，guided by the ambassadors， for the space of twenty days. On the twenty-first day， at nightfall， they came to a wide and fertile valley， whose sides were thickly wooded and covered with grass，and there Sherkan called a three days" halt. So they dismounted and pitched their tents， dispersing right and left in the valley，whilst the Vizier Dendan and the ambassadors alighted in the midst. As for Sherkan， when he had seen the tents pitched and the troops dispersed on either side and had commanded his officers and attendants to camp beside the Vizier Dendan， he gave reins to his horse， being minded to explore the valley and himself mount guard over the army， having regard to his father"s injunctions and to the fact that they had reached the frontier of the land of Roum and were now in the enemy"s country. So he rode on alone along the valley， till a fourth part of the night was passed，when he grew weary and sleep overcame him， so that he could no longer spur his horse. Now he was used to sleep on horseback； so when drowsiness got the better of him， he fell asleep and the horse paced on with him half the night and entered a forest； but Sherkan awoke not， till the steed smote the earth with his hoof.
Then he started from sleep and found himself among trees； and the moon arose and lighted up the two horizons. He was troubled at finding himself alone in this place and spoke the words， which whoso says shall never be confounded， that is to say， "There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High， the Supreme！"
But as he rode on， in fear of the wild beasts， behold， the trees thinned and the moon shone out upon a meadow as it were one of the meads of Paradise and he heard therein a noise of talk and pleasant laughter such as ravishes the wit of men. So King Sherkan dismounted and tying his horse to a tree， fared on a little way， till he espied a stream of running water and heard a woman talking and saying in Arabic， "By the virtue of the Messiah， this is not handsome of you！ But whoso speaks a word， I will throw her down and bind her with her girdle." He followed in the direction of the voice and saw gazelles frisking and wild cattle pasturing and birds in their various voices expressing joy and gladness： and the earth was embroidered with all manner of flowers and green herbs， even as says of it the poet in the following verses：
Earth has no fairer sight to show than this its blossom-time，With all the gently running streams that wander o"er its face.
It is indeed the handiwork of God Omnipotent， The Lord of every noble gift and Giver of all grace！
Midmost the meadow stood a monastery， and within the enclosure was a citadel that rose high into the air in the light of the moon. The stream passed through the midst of the monastery and therenigh sat ten damsels like moons， high-bosomed maids， clad in dresses and ornaments that dazzled the eyes， as says of them the poet：
The meadow glitters with the troops Of lovely ones that wander there.
Its grace and beauty doubled are By these that are so passing fair.
