CHAPTER XXVII. STATEMENT OF A COPY OF THE LETTER WHICH THE GIANTS SENT UNTO YUSH'A THE SON OF NUN, THE KING. THE letter began: "From the assembly of the giants, the confederated, well-known, far-famed, victorious, triumphant, mighty in courage, protected with armor, and the foremost of all mortals; to Yûsh'â the shepherd, the son of Nûn, and to his people. Peace from us unto you. We know, O murdering wolf,1 what thou hast done in the cities of our associates, and that thou hast in murder destroyed all of their leaders and sent them down to the bottom of the lowest depths, and hast demolished the places in which there was for us aid, and hast put down the provinces which were our supports and from which our helpers were ever providing themselves with food, and hast destroyed for us thirty cities,2 besides residences and small towns, and that thou didst not reverence old men, nor have compassion upon little infants, nor didst thou give ear unto them and grant them protection, nor leave a place unto those begging safety of thee, nor grant time for good action. And the reason of this (thy success) was, that then we were distracted by discords and dissensions, and a lack of unity in our counsels; but now understand, O murdering wolf, that we are coming unto you with all the kings in harmonious agreement, with spirits in concord, and tongues that have pledged mutual covenants, and hands that have been struck together. With conditions allperfected, and souls full (of wrath) and accumulated complaints, and livers, as it were, cut asunder, whom no stampede can ever overcome, nor a great fire put to fright.3 And now after thirty days we will bring on the battle between us and thee in Merj Balâtâ,1 in front of the mountain upon which thou worshipest thy Lord, which is referred to as the Mount of Blessing. And there will be no delay on our part, or on the part of any one of us; so be prepared for those whom thou shall meet, and make no excuse for thyself by saying that thou art taken by surprise, or that a stratagem has been employed against thee, or that the enemy came against thee by night. And, moreover, know that in our company there are thirty-six kings, and in the army of each king sixty thousand knights, besides foot-soldiers innumerable and countless, who make sport of devices (employed); and there is also with us the son of Yâfet the giant, who has with him a thunderbolt of steel, and when he hurls it, and it is granted full success, it kills a thousand men, and when full success is not granted, it kills five hundred men; and they who are with him are kings, and with them are instruments and implements of war, which they have inherited from their grandfather Nûh (Noah)-peace be upon him. Therefore take knowledge of this and act in accordance therewith, and look out for thyself, for thou art about to be brought to account for what thou hast done. And now peace.' And the messenger took the letter, and proceeded on his journey at once. And they began to draw up the army and arrange it in order, and set out upon the journey to el-Qaimûn, that they See Chap. xxl, might unite with their confederates whom they had summoned by letter to be present. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE HISTORY OF THE MESSENGER, AND WHAT CAME OF HIM. THE messenger executed his orders on the tenth day of the second month of the twenty first year of the reign of the children of Isrâîl, after their entrance into this territory and he arrived on the fifth day (of the week), the morrow being the day of el-Miqra (the Convocation), that is the festival of weeks. And he handed his letter unto the king, as he was sitting upon his royal throne pronouncing sentences upon such of them as were worthy of death, and such of them as deserved to be burned, and such of them as deserved to be stoned, and such of them as deserved to be imprisoned; for important cases were referred up to him at the time of the feasts, and then judgment was passed upon these in accordance with the light of God and the command of His saint. And he (Yûsh'â) did not turn towards the messenger until he had concluded his judgments, and had finished rendering his judicial decisions at the end of the day, then he took the letter, and read it at his home, and not a single person knew about it until his feast had passed by, and so the people did rejoice during their feast; but he himself was distracted in mind. Meanwhile the messenger was beholding the greatness of the army, and its good qualities, and the circumstances of the king and his prudent management, and the affairs of the Creator and His power, and the descending column of fire with its majesty, and he likewise saw the saint of God and the terror which hedged him about, the like of which had never been beheld, or the like of it heard of in preceding ages. And when the children of Isrâîl had celebrated the feast, the king gathered together his assembly, and had proclamation made throughout his army, and sent word to his chief commanders to assemble their comrades. Thereupon he brought the messenger into their presence; but placed him in confinement in a certain place so that he might not witness their agitation or change of countenance. And when the leaders of the people were assembled, he read unto them the letter of the giants, and said to them : "Verily, never have I been overtaken by anything similar to this letter; and though I have waged wars for sixty years, yet never have I heard its like, nor anything approaching unto it." And when they had heard the letter, their color changed and their heads hung down, and they said: "Never have we heard the like of this performance, nor have we ever encountered anything similar to it, or waged war with an army such as this is; but this war is one for God, and for us and for our children, and for thee, O king, overseer and master; and now manage us in accordance with the guidance and grace of God, and we will be obedient to thy supreme authority." Then he brought out to them a reply which he had dictated, and he had dictated that which he had composed in accordance with the light of God-may His name be mighty-and he said to them: "This I lay before you as a reply that I have written, and as an address that I have drawn up, and if it seem to you to be the proper thing, I will send it; but if your opinion be that it should be abandoned, I will discard it.” CHAPTER XXIX. AN ACCOUNT OF THE REPLY SENT TO THE It began, saying: "In the name of God, the Supreme King, the God of worlds, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the God of gods and Lord of lords, the King of kings, the Knower of secrets, the One resolute in wars, the God of Ibrahîm and Ishaq and Yâqûb, the Destroyer of infidels, the Annihilator of tyrants, the Destroyer of the obstinate, the Extirpator of intriguers, the Collector of the dispersed, the Scatterer of the confederates, the One who brings the dead to life, the One who puts to death the living: His hand is above the highest of the highest, and under His outstretched arms is eternity, the heavens and the earth are in His grasp, the holy angels in all their numbers and the whole creation He did create by His omnipotent power, and the spheres and the heavenly bodies moved under His guardian care, their rapid course He stopped by His mere word, and put in motion moving bodies by His divine authority. Of this Lord do I ask assistance, and upon Him do I place my trust, and in Him do I grow strong, and Him do I fear, and His mercy is a shield unto me and unto my children, and He is my sufficiency and excellent Protector. But now to proceed to what follows: I am Yûsh'â, the son of Nûn, the mortal and spiritual,1 the disciple of Kalîmu'l-lâh2 (Moses), a child of Khalilu'l-lâh3 (Abraham); upon me and upon my 1 Note. 11 2 Note 34. 8 Note 61. |