' And she answered, 'I hear and obey.' Quoth he, 'If I fall,
let none possess thee;' and she buffeted her face and said, 'God
forbid, O my brother, that I should see thee laid low and yield
myself to thine enemies!' With this he put out his hand to her
and drew aside her veil, whereupon her face shone forth, like the
sun from out clouds. Then he kissed her between the eyes and bade
her farewell; after which he turned to us and said, 'Ho,
cavaliers! Come ye as guests or are you minded to cut and thrust?
If ye come as guests, rejoice in hospitality; and if ye covet the
shining moon,[FN#160] come out against me, one by one, and
fight.' Then came out to him a sturdy horseman, and the young man
said to him, 'Tell me thy name and thy father's name, for I have
sworn to fight with none whose name and whose father's name tally
with mine and my father's, and if it be thus with thee, I will
give thee up the girl.' 'My name is Bilal,'[FN#161] answered the
other; and the young man repeated the following verses:
Thou liest when thou talkest of "benefits"; for lo, Thou comest
with mischief and malice and woe!
So, an thou be doughty, heed well what I say: I'm he who the
braver in the battle lays low
With a keen-cutting sword, like the horn of the moon; So look
(and beware) for a hill-shaking blow!
Then they ran at one another, and the youth smote his adversary
in the breast, that the lance-head issued from his back.
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