who deny Him, worshipping Fire and not the Almighty King!” Presently quoth Mura’ash, “Thou art a sorcerer and hast bewitched my Goddess, so that this thing hath befallen her.” Gharib replied, “O madman, an the fire had soul or sense it would have warded off from self all that hurteth it.” When Mura’ash heard these words, he roared and bellowed and reviled the Fire, saying, “By my faith, I will not kill you save by the fire!” Then he bade cast them into gaol; and, calling an hundred Marids, made them bring much fuel and set fire thereto. So they brought great plenty of wood and made a huge blaze, which flamed up mightily till the morning, when Mura’ash mounted an elephant, bearing on its back a throne of gold dubbed with jewels, and the tribes of the Jinn gathered about him in their various kinds. Presently they brought in Gharib and Sahim who, seeing the flaming of the fire, sought help of the One, the All-conquering Creator of night and day, Him of All-might, whom no sight comprehendeth, but who comprehendeth all sights, for He is the Subtle, the All-knowing. And they ceased not humbly beseeching Him till, behold, a cloud arose from West to East and, pouring down showers of rain, like the swollen sea, quenched the fire. When the King saw this, he was affrighted, he and his troops, and entered the palace, where he turned to the Wazirs and Grandees and said to them, “How say ye of these two men?” They replied, “O King, had they not been in the right, this thing had not befallen the fire; wherefore we say that they be true men which speak sooth.” Rejoined Mura’ash, “Verily the Truth hath been displayed to me, ay, and the manifest way, and I am certified that the worship of the fire is false; for, were it goddess, it had warded off from itself the rain which quenched it and the stone which broke its brazier and beat it into ashes. Wherefore I believe in Him Who created the fire and the light and the shade and the heat. And ye, what say ye?” They answered, “O King, we also hear and follow and obey.” So the King called for Gharib and embraced him and kissed him between the eyes and then summoned Sahim; whereupon the bystanders all crowded to kiss their hands and heads.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. When it was the Six Hundred and Fifth-second Night,