turned his horse's head towards his sister and made this answer to her poetry,
"Stand by and see the derring-do which I to-day will show, * When meet we and I deal them blows that rend and cleave and split; E'en though rush out to seek a bout the lion of the war, * The stoutest hearted brave of all and eke the best in wit; To him I'll deal without delay a Sa'alabiyan blow, [1] * And dye my cane-spear's joint in blood by wound of foe bespit: If all I beat not off from thee, O sister, may this frame * Be slain, and cast my corpse to birds, for so it would befit: Yes, for thy dearest sake I'll strike my blows with might and main, * And when we're gone shall this event in many a book be writ."
And when he had ended his verse, he said, "O my sister, give ear to what I shall enjoin on thee"; whereto she replied, "Hearkening and obedience." Quoth he, "If I fall, let none possess thy person;" and thereupon she buffeted her face and said, "Allah forbid, O my brother, that I should see thee laid low and yield myself to thy foe!" With this the youth put out his hand to her and withdrew her veil from her face, whereupon it shone forth as the sun shineth out from the white clouds. Then he kissed her between the eyes and bade her farewell; after which he turned to us and said, "Holla, Knights! Come ye as guests or crave ye cuts and thrusts? If ye come to us as your hosts, rejoice ye in the guest rite; and, if ye covet the shining moon, come ye out against me, knight by knight, into this plain and place of fight." There upon rushed out to him a doughty rider and the young man said to him, "Tell me thy name and thy father's name, for I am under an oath not to slay any whose name tallies with mine and whose father's name is that of my father; and if this be the case with thee, I will give thee up the maid." Quoth the horseman, "My name is Bilál;" [2] and the young man answered him, saying,
- ↑ A blow worthy of the Sa'alabah tribe to which he belonged.
- ↑ i.e. "benefits"; also the name of Mohammed's Mu'ezzin, or crier to prayer, who is buried outside the Jábiah gate of Damascus. Hence amongst Moslems, Abyssinians were preferred as mosque-criers in the early ages of Al-Islam. Egypt chose blind men because they were abundant and cheap; moreover they cannot take note of what is doing on the adjoining roof terraces where women and children love to pass the cool hours that begin and end the day. Stories are told of men who counterfeited blindness for years in order to keep the employment. In Moslem cities the stranger required to be careful how he appeared at a window or on the gallery of a minaret: the people hate to be overlooked and the whizzing of a bullet was the warning to be off. (Pilgrimage iii. 185.)
