with thee and let us depart the tents of this tyrant.”  But he answered, “O my mother, I will not depart hence till I win my wish and foil my foe.”  Thereupon he slept till morning arose with its sheen and shone, and hardly had he mounted his charger when his friends, the young men, came up to him; two hundred stalwart knights armed cap-a-pie and cried out to him, saying, “Take us with thee; we will help thee and company thee by the way.”  And he rejoiced in them and cried, “Allah requite you for us with good!” adding, “Come, my friends, let us go.”  So they set out and fared on the first day and the second day till evening, when they halted at the foot of a towering mount and baited their horses.  As for Gharib, he left the rest and walked on into that mountain, till he came to a cave whence issued a light.  He entered and found, at the higher facing end of the cave a Shaykh, three hundred and forty years old, whose eyebrows overhung his eyes and whose moustachios hid his mouth.  Gharib at this sight was filled with awe and veneration, and the hermit said to him, “Methinks thou art of the idolaters, O my son, stone-worshipping[FN#330] in the stead of the All-powerful King, the Creator of Night and Day and of the sphere rolling on her way.”  When Gharib heard his words, his side muscles quivered and he said, “O Shaykh, where is this Lord of whom thou speakest, that I may worship him and take my fill of his sight?” Replied the Shaykh, “O my son, this is the Supreme Lord, upon whom none may look in this world.  He seeth and is not seen.  He is the Most High of aspect and is present everywhere in His works.  He it is who maketh all the made and ordereth time to vade and fade; He is the Creator of men and Jinn and sendeth the Prophets to guide His creatures into the way of right.  Whoso obeyeth Him, He bringeth into Heaven, and whoso gainsayeth Him, He casteth into Hell.”  Asked Gharib, “And how, O uncle, saith whoso worshippeth this puissant Lord who over all hath power?” “O my son,” answered the Shaykh, “I am of the tribe of Ad, which were transgressors in the land and believed not in Allah.  So He sent unto them a Prophet named Hud, but they called him liar and he destroyed them by means of a deadly wind; but I believed together with some of my tribe, and we were saved from destruction.[FN#331] Moreover, I was present with the tribe of Thamud and saw what befel them with their Prophet Salih.  After Salih, the Al-mighty sent a prophet, called Abraham the Friend,[FN#332] to Nimrod son of Canaan, and there befel what befel between them.  Then my companions died in the Saving Faith and I continued in this cave to serve Allah the Most High, who provideth my daily bread without my taking thought.”  Quoth Gharib, “O uncle, what shall I say, that I may become of the troop of this mighty Lord?” “Say,” replied the old man, ’There is no god but the God and Abraham is the Friend of God.’ " So Gharib embraced the Faith of Submission[FN#333] with heart and tongue and the Shaykh said to him, “May