Part 4 (1/2)

The eldest came with many a brew-- In some was blood, blood-dark their hue.

'Give me the cup!' he shouted bold; 'Hold, hold!' cried she, but he would not hold.

She gave him the cup, nor he did shrink Tho' he reeled as he drained the magic drink.

Then the second yelled at him. Her he faced Like a lion with anger in his breast.

'These be our steeds, come mount,' she cried, 'For a.s.ses are worst of steeds to ride.'

”Tis sooth,' he answered, and slipped his flank O'er a hyena lean and lank, But the brute so fiercely flung him away, With deep, deep wounds on the earth he lay.

Then came the youngest and tended him On a soft bed, while her eyes did swim In tears; but he averted his face And sought a rougher resting-place: Such paramour he deemed too base.

And him thought, in anguish lying there, That needles underneath him were.[60]

Now when they had marked his mien so bold, Victory in all things they foretold.

'The wars, O As'ad, waged by thee Shall heal mankind of misery.

Thy sword and spear the foe shall rue When his gashes let the daylight through; And blood shall flow on every hand What time thou marchest from land to land.

By us be counselled: stay not within Khamir, but go to ?afar and win!

To thee shall dalliance ne'er be dear, Thy foes shall see thee before they hear.

Desire moved to encounter thee, n.o.ble prince, us witches three.

Not jest, but earnest on thee we tried, And well didst thou the proof abide.'

As'ad went home and told his folk What he had seen, but no heed they took.

On the tenth day he set out again And fared to ?afar with thoughts in his brain.

There fortune raised him to high renown: None swifter to strike ever wore a crown.[61]

Thus found we the tale in memory stored, And Almighty is the Lord.

Praise be to G.o.d who liveth aye, The Glorious to whom all men pray!”

Legend makes As'ad the hero of a brilliant expedition to Persia, where he defeated the general sent against him by the Arsacids, and penetrated to the Caspian Sea. On his way home he marched through the ?ijaz, and having learned that his son, whom he left behind in Medina, had been treacherously murdered, he resolved to take a terrible vengeance on the people of that city.

[Sidenote: As'ad Kamil and the two Rabbins of Medina.]

[Sidenote: As'ad Kamil at Mecca.]

[Sidenote: He seeks to establish Judaism in Yemen.]

[Sidenote: The ordeal of fire.]

”Now while the Tubba' was carrying on war against them, there came to him two Jewish Rabbins of the Banu Quray?a, men deep in knowledge, who when they heard that he wished to destroy the city and its people, said to him: 'O King, forbear! Verily, if thou wilt accept nothing save that which thou desirest, an intervention will be made betwixt thee and the city, and we are not sure but that sudden chastis.e.m.e.nt may befall thee.' 'Why so?' he asked. They answered: ”Tis the place of refuge of a prophet who in the after time shall go forth from the sacred territory of Quraysh: it shall be his abode and his home.' So the king refrained himself, for he saw that those two had a particular knowledge, and he was pleased with what they told him. On departing from Medina he followed them in their religion.[62]... And he turned his face towards Mecca, that being his way to Yemen, and when he was between 'Usfan and Amaj some Hudhalites came to him and said: 'O King, shall we not guide thee to a house of ancient treasure which the kings before thee neglected, wherein are pearls and emeralds and chrysolites and gold and silver?' He said, 'Yea.' They said: 'It is a temple at Mecca which those who belong to it wors.h.i.+p and in which they pray.'

Now the Hudhalites wished to destroy him thereby, knowing that destruction awaited the king who should seek to violate its precinct.

So on comprehending what they proposed, he sent to the two Rabbins to ask them about the affair. They replied: 'These folk intend naught but to destroy thee and thine army; we wot not of any house in the world that G.o.d hath chosen for Himself, save this. If thou do that to which they invite thee, thou and those with thee will surely perish together.' He said: 'What then is it ye bid me do when I come there?'

They said: 'Thou wilt do as its people do--make the circuit thereof, and magnify and honour it, and shave thy head, and humble thyself before it, until thou go forth from its precinct.' He said: 'And what hinders you from doing that yourselves?' 'By G.o.d,' said they, 'it is the temple of our father Abraham, and verily it is even as we told thee, but we are debarred therefrom by the idols which its people have set up around it and by the blood-offerings which they make beside it; for they are vile polytheists,' or words to the same effect. The king perceived that their advice was good and their tale true. He ordered the Hudhalites to approach, and cut off their hands and feet. Then he continued his march to Mecca, where he made the circuit of the temple, sacrificed camels, and shaved his head. According to what is told, he stayed six days at Mecca, feasting the inhabitants with the flesh of camels and letting them drink honey.[63]... Then he moved out with his troops in the direction of Yemen, the two Rabbins accompanying him; and on entering Yemen he called on his subjects to adopt the religion which he himself had embraced, but they refused unless the question were submitted to the ordeal of fire which at that time existed in Yemen; for as the Yemenites say, there was in their country a fire that gave judgment between them in their disputes: it devoured the wrong-doer but left the injured person unscathed. The Yemenites therefore came forward with their idols and whatever else they used as a means of drawing nigh unto G.o.d, and the two Rabbins came forward with their scriptures hung on their necks like necklaces, and both parties seated themselves at the place from which the fire was wont to issue. And the fire blazed up, and the Yemenites shrank back from it as it approached them, and were afraid, but the bystanders urged them on and bade them take courage. So they held out until the fire enveloped them and consumed the idols and images and the men of ?imyar, the bearers thereof; but the Rabbins came forth safe and sound, their brows moist with sweat, and the scriptures were still hanging on their necks. Thereupon the ?imyarites consented to adopt the king's religion, and this was the cause of Judaism being established in Yemen.”[64]

[Sidenote: As'ad's farewell to his son.]

The poem addressed to his son and successor, ?a.s.san, which tradition has put into his mouth, is a sort of last will and testament, of which the greater part is taken up with an account of his conquests and with glorification of his family and himself.[65] Nearly all that we find in the way of maxims or injunctions suitable to the solemn occasion is contained in the following verses:--

”O ?a.s.san, the hour of thy father's death has arrived at last: Look to thyself ere yet the time for looking is past.