“We have not seen her this year.” So the courier returned to the city of Isbánír[FN#346] and told the Wazir, who went in to the King and acquainted him with the message. Now when Sabur heard this, he cast his crown on the ground, tore his beard and fell down in a trance. They sprinkled water upon him, and presently he came to himself, tearful-eyed and heavy-hearted, and repeated the words of the poet, “When I far-parted patience call and tears, * Tears came to call but Patience never hears: What, then, if Fortune parted us so far? * Fortune and Perfidy are peers Then he called ten of his captains and bade them mount with a thousand horse and ride in different directions, in quest of his daughter. So they mounted forthright and departed each with his thousand; whilst Fakhr Taj’s mother clad herself and her women in black and strewed ashes on her head and sat weeping and lamenting. Such was their case;—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. When it was the Six Hundred and Thirty-first Night, She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Sabur sent his troops in quest of his daughter, whose mother clad herself and her women in black. Such was their case; but as regards the strange adventures of Gharib and the Princess, they journeyed on ten days, and on the eleventh day, appeared a dust cloud which rose to the confines of the sky; whereupon Gharib called the Emir of the Persians and said to him, “Go learn the cause thereof.” “I hear and obey,” replied he and crave his charger, till he came under the cloud of dust, where he saw folk and enquired of them. Quoth one of them, “We are of the Banu Hattál and are questing for plunder; our Emir is Samsam bin Al-Jiráh and we are five thousand horse.” The Persians returned in haste and told their saying to Gharib, who cried out to his men of the Banu Kahtan and to the Persians, saying, “Don your arms!” They did as he bade them and presently up came the Arabs who were shouting, “A plunder! a plunder!” Quoth Gharib, “Allah confound you, O dogs of Arabs!” Then he loosed his horse and drove at them with the career of a right valiant knight, shouting, “Allaho Akbar! Ho for the faith of Abraham the Friend, on whom be peace!” And there befel between them great fight and sore fray and the sword went round in sway and there was much said and say; nor did they leave fighting till fled the day and gloom came, when they drew from one another away. Then Gharib numbered his tribesmen and found that five of the Banu Kahtan had fallen and three-and-seventy of the Persians; but of the Banu Hattal they had slain more than five hundred horse. As for Samsam, he alighted and sought nor meat nor sleep, but said, “In all my life I never saw such a fighter as this youth! Anon he fighteth with the sword and anon with the mace; but, to-morrow I will go forth on champion wise and defy him to combat of twain in battle plain where edge and point are fain