BATTLE WITH JAIPAL NEAR PESHAWAR 43 he selected from among his troops fifteen thousand cav- alry and strictly prohibited those who were rejected and not fit or disposed for war, from joining those who had been chosen, and who were like dragons of the desert and lions of the forest. ,With them he advanced against the wicked and accursed enemy, whose hearts were firm as hills, and were as twigs of patience on the boughs of affection. The villainous infidel came for- ward, proud in his strength of head and arm, with twelve thousand horsemen, thirty thousand foot-sol- diers, and three hundred elephants, at whose ponderous weight the lighter earth groaned, little reflecting that, under the dispensation of God, a small army can over- turn a host, as the ignorant man would have learnt, if he could have read the word of God, which says: " Oftentimes a small army overcomes a large one by the order of God." That infidel remained where he was, avoiding action for a long time, and craftily awaiting the arrival of reinforcements; but Sultan Mahmud would not allow him to postpone the conflict, and the Mussulmans com- menced the action, assailing the enemy with sword, arrow, and spear plundering, seizing, and destroying; at all which the Hindus, being greatly alarmed, began to kindle the flame of fight. Jaipal now set his cavalry in and beat his drums. The elephants moved on from their posts, and line advanced against line, shooting their arrows at one another, while swords flashed like lightning amid the blackness of clouds, and fountains of blood flowed like the fall of setting stars. The Mus-
