doom devised for Attaf and having visited him in prison said to him, "Verily the Governor is determined to slay thee for he was not satisfied with the intercession made for thee by the folk or even with taking the legal blood-wite." Hereat Attaf wept and cried, "Allah (be He magnified and glorified!) hath assigned unto every death a cause. I desired but to do good amongst the garden folk and prevent their being fined; and now this benevolence hath become the reason of my ruin." Then, after much 'say and said,' the gaoler spoke as follows, "Why talk after such fashion? I am resolved to set thee free and to ransom thee with my life; and at this very moment I will strike off thy chains and deliver thee from him. But do thou arise and tear my face and pluck out my beard and rend my raiment; then, after thrusting a gag[FN#357] into my mouth wend thy ways and save thy life and leave me to bear all blame."[FN#358] Quoth Attaf, "Allah requite thee for me with every weal!" Accordingly the gaoler did as he had undertaken and his prisoner went forth unhurt and at once followed the road to Baghdad. So far concerning him; but now hear thou what befell the Governor of Syria, Abd al-Malik bin Marwan. He took patience till midnight, when he arose and fared accompanied by the headsman to the gaol that he might witness the strangling of Attaf; but lo and behold! he found the prison door wide open and the keeper in sore sorrow with his raiment all rent to rags and his beard plucked out and his face scratched and the blood trickling from his four sides and his case was the miserablest of cases. So they removed the gag from his mouth and the Governor asked him, "Who did with thee on this wise?" and the man answered, "O my lord, yesternight, about the middle thereof, a gang of vagabonds and ne'er-do-wells as they were 'Ifrits of our lord Sulayman (upon whom be The Peace!), not one of whom I recognized, came upon me and ere I was ware of them they broke down the prison door and killed me;[FN#359] and when I would have cried aloud and shouted for aid they placed yonder gag in my mouth, then they wounded me and shredded my dress and left me in the state thou seest. Moreover they took Attaf after breaking his chains and said to him, 'Go and lay thy complaint before the Sultan.'" Now those who accompanied the Governor said, "This be a gaoler and the son of a gaoler, nor during all his days hath anyone charged him with letting a prisoner out of hand." Quoth Abd al-Malik to the wounded man, "Hie thee to thy house and stay there;" whereat he straightway arose and went his ways. After this the Governor took horse, he and his escort; and all rode off to search for Attaf during a term of four days and some of them dug and dug deep down while the others returned after a bootless errand, and reported that they had failed to find him. Such was the case with the Governor of Syria; and now give ear to the adventure of Attaf. He left not wayfaring until but a single