تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 12.28.5

12.28.5

Then the amīr Sayf al-Dīn rode out with his companions and slaves, each of them holding a stick he had prepared. They had made something like a garland of jasmine, eglantine and rībūl, with a fringe that covers the face and chest of the one who wears it, and they brought it to the amīr for him to put on his head, but he refused, for he was one of the desert Arabs, with no acquaintance with the ways of kingship and settled life! I pressed him and adjured him until he put it on his head. He came to the Bāb al-Ṣarf, which they call the Bāb al-Ḥaram, where the bride's party was; he charged at them with his companions in Arab fashion, and they threw down everyone who opposed them and overcame them, the bride's party being unable to hold firm! This reached the Sultan and pleased him. He entered the audience hall, where the bride had been placed on a high dais decked with brocade and studded with jewels; the hall was full of women and female musicians who had brought all kinds of musical instruments, and all of them were standing up out of respect and honour for him. He rode in on his horse until he came near the dais, then dismounted and made obeisance at its first step. The bride rose to her feet until he had ascended, and she gave him betel with her own hand; he took it and sat below the step on which she was standing. Gold dinars were scattered over the heads of those of his companions who were present, and the women picked them up, while the singing girls sang and the drums, trumpets and horns were played outside the door.