Fáík, upon receiving the news of the rejection of his apology and of the conduct exhibited towards his messenger, was in a rage, and he placed his heart upon this proceeding, namely, that he should pass over the Jihún, and take refuge with Ilik-Khán, and should be protected by the number of his troops and his servants. And he said to Abú-Alí, “The object of that message to thee from Jurján, and of the kindness displayed to you, was to infuse hesitation into the distinguished nature, and to remove the links of our unity and friendship. And if you make but a single glance of your eye upon the deceptions which we have committed in this kingdom, and the crimes which in former days we have excited, it can never be concealed from your discernment that to desire safety, or to seek for pardon, or connivance, is to hammer cold iron, and to cast yourself through the blandishments of art into the snare of ruin. I am convinced that it would be better for thee not to relinquish your connexion with me, and not to bring yourself into a serious contingency, or to turn your head from the strait path of good counsel and firmness, and be thus beguiled by a crafty truce, and incline to the flattery and blandishment of the enemy, (con­trary to that verse of the Korán), ‘Let not that which thou seest in the face deceive thee, the real truth lies beneath the ribs.’”

The Lord, however, bound up the sight of the eyes of Abú-Alí, and made his ears deaf and incapable of hearing good counsel and advice, so that he neglected Fáík’s proposal of mutual assistance, and determined upon the plan of separating himself from him, and, like a person who causes his own death, threw himself, by his own means, into the trap of misfortune (Verse)

From that residence, then, they separated from each other, and Fáík passed the Jihún, with a design of gaining Ilik-Khán. Then they sent forward the Chamberlain Yaktuzún,* from Buk­hárá, to follow him, and they encountered, near Nasaf,* but each evaded one another, without engaging or attacking. And Fáík met with a most favourable reception from Ilik-Khán, and he was kindly looked upon, receiving honourable rank and distinguished station; and the Khán caressed him with various distinctions and marks of generosity, and was highly satisfied and contented with his arrangement of affairs, and his settlement of business.

Thus Abú-Alí lost the right road and remained excluded from the aid of grace, and fate sewed up his eyesight, so that he remained careless with regard to the weighty affairs and the unfortunate businesses (which demanded his attention) and, in escaping from the burning forge of fortune, cast himself into the burning forge of injustice and sorrow. And these verses aptly describe his con­dition (Verse)

And Abú-Alí, when he had gone a thousand marches, on the road to Jurján, came to Saf, which is a village near Khwarizm, on the western side. Upon his arrival Abu-Abd-Allah, King of Khwa­rizm, sent messengers, and begged to be excused for his remissness in not dispatching an Istakbál, and promised thus, namely, “To-morrow I will myself personally present my respects, and offer my apology, and will be forward in the fulfilment of my duty.” And when the night came on he sent two thousand cavalry and infantry, that they, coming upon the army whilst encamped, in the darkest hour of the night, might attack them and might clear the face of the earth from his filthiness. And Abú-Alí Khali, who was one of the officers of Abu-Ali-Simjur, tells this story: “At the time when I went with a letter to the King of Khwa­rizm, before the dispute which took place between them, Abu-Abd-Allah, amongst other good advice which he had sent to Abú-Alí, said, ‘Convey to him this verse, which is one of the verses of Ibn-Almúíz, in order that it may be the model of his affairs and the tendency of his actions (Verse)

“And Abú-Alí received favourably that advice from him, and accepted the proposition contained in his question, but forgot the time of the descent of misfortune and of the occurrence of distress, and did not consider that we ought not to support ourselves upon a wall whose foundation has been injured, and we ought to avoid the friendship of one who has a scar from a wound given by thee.

“And, through the heavenly decree, these verses were effaced from his mind, so that he went to the abode of lions and to the haunts of hyænas, in the sleep of carelessness, and relinquished all marks of self-possession and perseverance, so that when the grey streaks of dawn were drawn over the night, a rattling from the sound of fifes and drums fell like an earthquake upon the picket-guards of Abú-Alí, and they seized the outer rampart of the castle, which was his private residence.* And he, with certain of his domestic slaves, came forth to repulse that body of men, and he asked one of the party what was the cause of that violence and onset. And he said, ‘The King of Khuwarizm hath given a royal order to capture you. Now if you send a reply, with a friendly submission and mild obedience, he will be the better inclined and you will be able to extinguish the fury which you have lighted up within him, and to put an end to the sorrow which has disappointed your wishes, and then you will be nearer to the hope of safety and to the means of security; but, if not, we shall take you and your companions in the snare of violence, and will drag you disgracefully before the King of Khwarizm.’ Abú-Alí, in the extremity of his distress, drew the blanket of this disgrace over his head. and became obedient to this decision and submitted. And one of the captains and generals of that troop took him upon the crupper, and con­veyed him into the presence of the King of Khwarizm, on the morning of Sunday, the first day of the full moon, in the month of Ramadhan, in the year 386. And the King commanded that he should be imprisoned in one of his fortresses, and he seized the chief men of his army, and the most eminent of his followers, and put them all in chains and placed fetters upon them, and sent a crier into the city, to proclaim thus, ‘As to every one of the followers of Abú-Alí abiding in that place we have given you permission to shed their blood, and we command you not to leave one alive.’ Thus, as if they were victims and devoted sacrifices, they killed them separately from each other, like the letters of the alphabet, but some became dispersed, like fugitives, upon the hills and the plains and the mountains, and the Chamberlain Ilmangú escaped, with certain others, and came to the country of Jurján. And when Mamún-Mahmúd, Viceroy of Jurján, became aware of this state of things the fire of jealousy struck a spark in his mind, and confusion and vacillation of purpose obtained the mastery over him. But he assembled the regiments of the army and the bat­talions of his troops, and with great joy sent them, as well as a body of the residue of the servants of Abú-Alí, who had arranged themselves under the bridle of the obedience of Ilmangú, to the frontiers of Khwárismsháh, in order that they might be like a necklace around the city of Kát, which is the jewel* of Khwárismsháh, and enclose the army as it were in a snare, on every side. And they cut off the rear, and the soldiers and the followers of the King of Khwarizm, with the sword of punish­ment, and they killed some and compelled the others to disperse; and they took the King of Khwarizm prisoner, and they put the fetters which were upon the foot of Abú-Alí upon his heels, and, in a twinkling of an eye, the condition of these two individuals became mutually changed, the Amír became prisoner and the prisoner became Amír, according to the text, ‘With God it is easy.’

“And they conveyed Abú-Alí with great re­spect and veneration to Jurján, and they placed the King of Khwarizm, arrayed in the dress of humiliation and in the robe of misfortune, upon a horse, and proceeded to Jurján, and Mamún set forth to meet Abú-Alí, and with great honour and venera­tion, and every mark of respect he came from Bost, and they offered to him magnificent gifts and much honour, and many presents, so that his con­dition and that of the remnant of his people became secure, and all that is unpleasant was withdrawn. And they made for him an entertain­ment and a feast, such as was not usual in that or any other age; and they produced wine, and by wine all the causes of sorrow, and the effects of strife, were removed. And when Mamún arrived, and began to exhibit friendship and attachment by the service of the knee, and when some time had elapsed,* and the strength of the wine made some impression, they introduced the King of Khwarizm, upon the back of a slave, and addressed some words to him, and began to blame him extremely; he did not answer a word, but held down his head in confusion, and at last they cut off his head in the midst of the assembly, with one stroke of the scimitar, and made his white head, together with all his attendants, deeply black. Thus was accomplished the text, ‘God doeth all that he willeth and executeth all that he designeth.’

“And Khwarazm was quietly yielded up to Mamún, and was added to the roll-account of his divan, and annexed to his other provinces and countries. And he began to open the gate of intercession on behalf of Abú-Alí, with His High­ness of Bukhárá, and earnestly requested the acceptance of his repentance and conversion, and his relinquishment of his former bad conduct.

“And the Prince Núh, in order fully to accom­plish his wish, and to fulfil his object, and to for­ward his supplication to heaven, issued a royal letter, similar to the volume of prayers addressed to the Supreme Court (of Heaven). And he sum­moned Abú-Alí before him, and painted the secret determinations of the tablet of his mind, with various kinds of deceitful assurances of security, and made the volume of his brain a ground for imposing the colours of deceit and fiction, until like the moth he became destroyed by approaching the fire, and laid his face on the bed of his own ruin, and the wonderful text, ‘In the going forth to battle of those whose slaughter is written, even upon their couch,’ became accomplished in his affairs; for when he arrived at Bukhárá, the Vízír Abdallah-’bn-Azíz, and the various ranks of his chief officers and chamberlains came forth to meet him, with the usual congratulations, and when he arrived at the court before the palace, he descended and kissed the ground, the chief officers being be­hind him, and through conscious shame, and the knowledge that he had been ungrateful for the favours he had received, he held down his head; and Ilmangú, and the other generals, and his brothers and chiefs, brought him down and conveyed him to pay his respects to the throne; and the King* ordered that they should take them all, and bind them in chains as prisoners, and should lay the hand of plunder and rapine upon his followers and servants; and they plundered all their baggage, and their arms, and their cattle. And in this way was the volume of the life of Abú-Alí finally sealed, and his royal ambition, which had attempted to fly into the atmosphere of greatness, fell into the snare of misfortune and disgrace, and his wild-horse dis­position, which had twisted out its neck from the collar of good sense, became bound by the skilful­ness of the wise; and the tiger of pride who had challenged the lion of the sky, was taken prisoner by the hand of the fox of deceit, and by the fraud of fortune, and the eagle of the standard of his prosperity, which had boasted itself with the celes­tial eagle in the highest zenith, became turned through grief at the day of reverses towards the Nadir of misfortune, ‘But God is merciful who hath spoken, and his word is truly most excellent’ (Verse)