" "Grieve not nor be concerned," replied the
Patriarch; "for it cannot be but that one of you has sinned
against the Messiah, and all have been punished for his sin; but
now we will read prayers for you in the churches, that the
Mohammedan hosts may be repelled from you." After this, Dhat ed
Dewahi came to Afridoun and said to him, "O King, verily the
Muslims are many, and we shall never prevail against them, save
by wile: wherefore I purpose to work upon them by stratagem and
repair to the army of Islam; haply I may be able to carry out my
intent against their leader and slay their champion, even as I
slew his father. If I succeed, not one of them shall return to
his native land, for all their strength lies in him; but I wish
to have some Christians of Syria, such as go out from time to
time to sell their goods, to help me in carrying out my plan."
"Be it so, whenas thou wilt," replied the King. So she bade fetch
a hundred men, natives of Nejran in Syria, and said to them, "Ye
have heard what has befallen the Christians with the Muslims?"
"Yes," replied they; and the King said, "This woman has devoted
herself to the Messiah and purposes to go forth with you,
disguised as Mohammedans, to work out a device, which shall
profit us and hinder the Muslim host from us: so if ye also are
willing to devote yourselves to Christ, I will give you a quintal
of gold.
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