Now, after the event at Nishapúr, Fáík went to Tús, and began freely and unreservedly to confer with the Amír Násir-Addín, and having represented the inclination he felt for the service, and the rights of his Highness, he began to let down the thread of obedience and duty. And Nasír-Addín wrote an answer, which flattered his hypocrisy, his falsehood, and his deceit, and he measured out to him some coins (of compliment) in the same measure (Verse)

And the petty chieftan of Tús, in like manner, began to decline from Abú-Alí, and took his stand between hypocrisy and sincerity, and began to withdraw his side from his alliance, and to be undecided respecting his acquaintance and associa­tion; but Abú-Alí sent Abúl-Kasim, the priest, who was one of his privy counsellors, to them, and warned them of the consequences of dissension, and said, “At the present time there is no remedy against the force and insolence of your enemies, and against the disturbance of the times, and the confusion of all things, except in mutual alliance, and mutual efforts, and mutual support. And above all things, we should never break the chain of friendship, until we have found some means of getting out of present circumstances.” And Abú-Kásim, the priest, went and addressed himself to them, and urged upon them alliance and confidence. And he wrote to Abú-Alí thus: “It is necessary that, whatever happens, you should march and join yourselves to them.” Upon this Abú-Alí marched to the province of Tús, and Fáík and the Amír joined him, and entered into a sincere and friendly alliance, and they chose a wide plain at Anderah, and halted at that place.

And Abú-Kásim-’bn-Simjúr opposed Abú-Alí, and remained inactive at Nishapúr, on account of the grudge which had arisen between them* on account of the slaughter which had occurred when Abú-Alí had taken from him the province of Herát, and had given it to his servant Ilmangú, and Abú-Alí for some time remained heart-broken, on ac­count of the oppression of his brother, and the cessation of his support and power; and he per­ceived that his power was humiliated and ruined.

And Násir-Addín* made a movement towards overpowering their forces, and conquering their troops, and he came to Tús, and the regions of the earth were agitated by the march of his army (Verse)

And the young men on both sides, and the youths of both parties, were engaged from day to night in battle and combats. They began therefore to consult how to contrive a snare for him, and how to find a remedy for these circumstances. And the Amír of Tús, and several who were emi­nently judicious, and had experienced the vicissi­tudes of fortune, said “The following plan is the best; that we should take refuge in the great mountains, and should seek for help in the fortresses and castles of those provinces. And we will excite the men of Tús against them, that they may make night attacks upon the skirt of the army, and plunder their baggage and their horses, and make booty of their heavy baggage. And in this we will consume some time, until they begin to fear, and considerable bodies of their outermost troops are cut off; then we will draw up our ranks against them, with clearsightedness and effectual arrange­ment; we will engage them, and we will execute the business completely.” But the lower order of the soldiers, and the inferior ranks of the people, felt averse to this proposal, and said, “This would be a mark of weakness, and an evidence of insuffi­cient power and strength, and we will not give up our bodies to this imbecility, nor will concur in this humiliation (Verse)

And when the hand of the sword of the breeze of morning was drawn from the sheath of the horizon, the men of both armies and the warriors of both countries drew out mutually the sharp sword; and when the engagement came to its height and the flame of war arrived at its utmost point, then, at night, on the left of Abú-Alí, a great dust arose, and the Amir Saif-Addoulat came up with many troops and with innumerable soldiers, on that side, and Abú-Ali remained bold but perplexed between those two armies, and con­sidered that it would be a remedy for the difficulty if he took both his wings above his centre,* and charged in one body upon the centre of Nasir-Ad-din, so that he should not be able to escape from that difficulty, even by a small space. Nasir-Addin repulsed that attack with great steadiness and firmness, and Saif-Addoulat came up, and they attacked the army of Abú-Alí in the middle, and drops of blood flowed upon the field of battle, and the war-elephants seized the horsemen with their trunks, and broke their backs beneath their feet, until countless multitudes and innumerable people perished upon that plain. And Abú-Ali-’bn-Múíz, the Chamberlain, and Yaktegin-Fara­gáín, and Arslán-Beg, and Abú-Alí-’bn-Nawíshgín, and the army of *Ibn-Abi-Jafar-Addilami were taken prisoners, with several other eminent officers of the army of Abú-Alí, having obtained conditions of surrender, and the rest having acquired some support and protection, through the darkness of the night, gained an opportunity of escape from the disaster of that battle. And Saif Addoulat went after them, and, by means of the cutting arguments of the sword, obtained retribution and satisfaction from them, and, putting them to death, made a free gift of them to the beasts and birds (Verse)

And that day Saíf-Addoulat-Mahmúd exhibited the manifest signs of manliness, and the opening of the gates of bravery and valour, so that the record thereof remains in the volume of time, and in the books of nations; and if Rustaín and Isfandiyar had been witnesses of his deeds, they would have desired to be imitators of his way of handling the sword and the spear, and would have cried out “Wonderful,” at the sight of the exploits of his hand and of his arm, and would have clapped their hands when beholding his strength and his heroism.

And Abú-Alí and Fáík went from that route to the fortress Kalát,* and this fortress is a fortress which is joined to the girdle of the sky, and is so lofty that no bird would be able by flight to take refuge in this heavenly eminence, from the vicissi­tudes of fortune, and so high that the fancy could never reach the sublimity of its threshold.*

And the Amír of Tús hospitably entertained them some days, until they became acquainted with the exact state of the army, and the number of those who were living or dead, and the remnant which had escaped in safety from that massacre joined them. And Abú-Alí had consigned to the Amír of Tús some elephants which had been taken at the battle of Nishapúr, and he possessed them. And Abu-Al-’bn-Bagrar and other chieftans, who had been imprisoned by Nasír-Addín, wrote a letter to the Amír and represented as follows: “Nasír-Addín hath admitted us to pay our respects to him, and hath caressed us, and given us some sure hope that he would release us all, on condition that thou wouldst restore unto his service some elephants which are in thy possession.” They therefore supplicated that he would return a favourable answer to their request, and by means of this gratification procure their release. And Abú-Alí earnestly exerted himself to offer this gate of reconciliation, and to procure the accomplish­ment of this request. And he and Fáík marched forward on the road to Abiward, and quickly changed their position from those narrow passes unto the open space of the desert. And the Amír sent those elephants to Nasír-Addin, and for that service requested him to be propitious, and suc­ceeded so well, that by means of so novel a service, and so remarkable an offering, he was favourably accepted by Nasír-Addín, and his dignity for this reason was confirmed. And Abúl-Tath-Basti, in commemorating this, says thus (Verse)

And when Abú-Alí and Fáík arrived at Abi­ward, Fáík marched away by the way of Sirkhas, without the advice and without the knowledge of Abú-Alí, and Abú-Alí sent, and said “Even if you have become weary of my society I will by no means separate from you, and I will continue my friendship with you, with my usual liberality, zeal, and generosity; so that every measure which takes place may conduce to the concord of both parties, and to the satisfaction of one and the other; and if you think it proper, or regard it as convenient, I will be a follower of your standard, and a com­rade of your army; and I will obtain the light of knowledge from your brilliant guidance and direc­tion; and behold! I am proceeding in thy rear.” And Fáík halted until Abú-Alí came up to him, and they proceeded to Sirkhas,* and from that time set forward to Meru.

And when Nasír-Addín heard the news of them he dismissed the Amír-Saíf-Addoulat to go to Nishapúr, and took upon himself the charge of settling their affairs and healing their differences.* And he went in their track, and they took the way of the desert unto Amil-Shatt,* in the confident expectation that Nasír-Addín, on account of the number of his troops and the super­abundance of his army, would not be able to pass over vallies which were without any fruits, and would find no possible means of transporting his troops through a place where neither water or fodder were to be obtained. And when they arrived at Amíl-Shatt they took the method of apology, and of humility, and of supplication, before his Highness Málík-Núh, and Abú-Alí named Abul-Hazán-Kasír for this journey, and Fáík named the priest Abd-Arrahmán, and both went, and earnestly exerted themselves to avoid the blame, and to obtain the approbation of the prince, and they said, “No amiable person can ever com­pare any excellence with the peculiar generosity and beneficence of the King; and the King, with respect to the brilliancy of his kindness, imitates God himself, who through the perfection of his greatness, and power, and majesty lets fall the veil of concealment over the faults of his disobedient servants, and with respect to their punishment deals gently and mildly, until they perceive what is the right way, and become convinced of the hatefulness of their deeds and their actions; and when they enter into the gate of repentance, and religion, and stand on the foot of acknowledg­ment and confession, He accepts their repentance, and looks upon their deeds and their words with an eye of compassion and forgiveness; and, accord­ing to that text (of the Koran), ‘He who among you commits folly, and then repents, and does well, will be pardoned, for God is forgiving and merci­ful.’ Let him (the Prince) give unto them the royal sash and diploma of God’s forgiveness for all that has passed. And it is not concealed that Abú-Alí and Fáík are two servants of his High­ness, and although they may have the stigma of rebellion, and have acted treacherously in belying former favours, yet the enlightened mind of the Prince hath seen their distressed condition, and hath found means fitly to requite, and to punish them, so that they now know the value of the favour of the good-will of his Highness. And old servants and hereditary attendants are like tame pigeons, which, although they may fly into the distant atmosphere, and make the circuit of the world, end their flight by returning to their accus­tomed home, and place their heads upon their own nests. And thus these men have placed their hope of hopes upon the generosity and the compassion of his Highness, and through death and the sword have learned caution, and now say, ‘Although our offence is great, the generosity of our Prince is greater; and although the field of our apology is narrow, the plain of his Majesty’s beneficence and kindness is extensive; so that he will act in this respect according to his extreme generosity and liberal disposition, and will pardon with a munifi­cence (which can only be described in the words of the text), ‘There shall be no deficiency or want amongst you now.’ (And we trust) that if he will turn away his head from our errors and misdeeds, and turn upon us the head of reconciliation and mercy, that his slaves will, on their part, take hold of the thread of duty again, and their deficiencies being forgiven, will fulfil the usual course of ser­vice.’”

When this letter arrived they seized the courier of Fáík, and detained him in a dungeon, and they greatly caressed the messenger of Abú-Alí, and protracted his stay by every fair means; and they commanded that for the present he should proceed to the country about Jurján, and in that place take up his residence, until the illustrious decision, and the settlement of his allowances should be com­pleted. And they wrote a letter to Mamur-Ibn-Mahmúd, and to the governor of Jurján, that he should grant him a generous rank; and should settle upon a firm foundation his needful allow­ances and payments, until the arrangements should be settled respecting his attendants and troops.