Accordingly they fell to levying their forces and preparing for war， so that by the time the news of the Muslims" advance reached them， they were ready for defence. Then King Herdoub and his mother set out for Constantinople， and King Afridoun， hearing of the arrival of the King of the Greeks， came forth to meet him and asked how it was with him and the cause of his visit. So Herdoub acquainted him with the doing； of his mother Dhat ed Dewahi， how she had slain the Muslim king and recovered the Princess Sufiyeh and that the Muslims had assembled their forces and were on their way to attack them， wherefore it behoved that they two should join powers and meet them. King Afridoun rejoiced in the recovery of his daughter and the death of King Omar and sent to all countries， to seek succour and acquaint the folk with the reason of the slaying of King Omar. So the Christian troops flocked to him from all quarters， and before three months were past， the army of the Greeks was complete， besides which there joined themselves to him the French and Germans and Ragusans and Genoese and Venetians and all the hosts of the Pale Faces and warriors from all the lands of the Franks， and the earth was straitened on them by reason of their multitude. Then Afridoun the Great King commanded to depart； so they set out from Constantinople and ceased not to defile through the city for the space of ten days.
They fared on till they reached a spacious valley， hard by the salt sea， where they halted three days； and on the fourth day，they were about to set out again， when news came to them of the approach of the army of Islam and the defenders of the faith of the Best of Men.[FN#94] So they halted other three days， and on the seventh day， they espied a great cloud of dust which spread till it covered the whole country； nor was an hour of the day past before the dust lifted and melted away into the air， and its darkness was pierced and dispersed by the starry sheen of lance-points and spear-heads and the flashing of sword-blades.
Presently， there appeared the banners of Islam and the Mohammedan ensigns and the mailed horsemen surged forward， like the letting loose of the billows of the sea， clad in cuirasses as they were clouds girdled about moons. Thereupon the Christian horsemen rode forward and the two hosts met， like two seas clashing together，and eyes fell upon eyes. The first to spur into the fight was the Vizier Dendan， with the army of Syria， thirty thousand cavaliers，followed by Rustem， the general of the Medes， and Behram， the general of the Turks， with other twenty thousand horse， behind whom came the men of the sea-coast， sheathed in glittering mail as they were full moons passing through a night of clouds. Then the Christian host called upon Jesus and Mary and the defiled Cross， and fell upon the Vizier Dendan and the army of Syria. Now this was in pursuance of a stratagem devised by Dhat ed Dewahi；
for， before his departure， King Afridoun had gone in to her and said， "It is thou hast brought this great stress on us； so do thou advise me how I shall do and what plan I shall follow." "O great King and mighty priest，" replied she， "I will teach thee a shift， which would baffle Iblis himself， though he should call to his aid against it all his grisly hosts. It is that you send fifty thousand men in ships to the Mountain of Smoke and there let them land and stir not till the standards of Islam come upon you， when do you up and at them. Then let the troops from the seaward sally out upon the Muslims and take them in rear， whilst you confront them from the landward. So not one of them shall escape， and our stress shall cease and abiding peace enure to us." Her counsel commended itself to King Afridoun and he replied， "It is well； thy counsel shall be followed， O princess of cunning old women and recourse of kings warring for their blood-revenge！" So when the army of Islam came upon them in that valley， of a sudden the flames began to run among the tents and the swords to play upon men"s bodies. Then came up the army of Baghdad and Khorassan， six score thousand horse， with Zoulmekan at their head. When the host of the infidels that lay by the sea saw them， they came out and followed in their steps， and Zoulmekan， seeing this， cried out to his men， saying， "Turn back to the infidels， O people of the Chosen Prophet， and fall upon those who deny and transgress the authority of the Compassionate，the Merciful！" So they turned and fought with the Christians， and Sherkan came up with another wing of the Muslim army， near six score thousand men， whilst the infidels numbered nigh upon sixteen hundred thousand. When the Muslims mingled in the mellay，their hearts were strengthened and they cried out， saying， "God hath promised to succour us and abandon the infidels！" And they clashed together with swords and spears. As for Sherkan， he made himself a passage through the ranks and raged among the masses of the foe， fighting so fierce a battle that it would have made children grow grey for fear； nor did he leave to tourney among the infidels and work havoc upon them with the keen-edged scimitar， shouting， "God is most great！" till he drove them back to the brink of the sea. Then the strength of the foe failed and God gave the victory to the faith of Submission，[FN#95] and they fought， drunken without wine， till they slew of the infidels forty and five thousand in that encounter， whilst of the Muslims but three thousand and five hundred fell. Moreover， the Lion of the Faith， King Sherkan， and his brother Zoulmekan slept not that night， but occupied themselves with looking to the wounded and heartening their men with assurance of victory and salvation and promise of a recompense in the world to come.
Meanwhile King Afridoun assembled the captains of his host and said to them， "Verily， we had accomplished our intent and had solaced our hearts， but for our over-confidence in our numbers：
