التاريخ اليميني 35.1

35.1

It had been reported to the Sultan Yamīn al-Dawla wa-Amīn al-Milla that in the region of Tānīshar there were elephants of the Ṣaylamān breed, renowned in war, and that their owner was extreme in infidelity and denial, sparing no effort in tyranny and obstinacy, and that he needed a taste of his cup and a burn from the embers of his might, so that he would know that the glory of Islam is universal, and that he too had a share of God's assault, just as the other elephant-[lords] of Hind had shares. So the Sultan resolved on a raid against him, by which he would raise the banner of Islam, abolish the rule of idols, and leave infidelity there with its withers and hump cut off. He marched with God's champions, who had grown up on combat as infants grow up on suckling, and who had become as eager for the blood of infidels as falcons are for small birds. To reach him he crossed valleys that none had crossed but a bird or a stray beast, and pierced deserts untrodden by the sandal of a walker or the hoof of a beast.