[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Islamic world](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl) › [Arabic](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar) › [History](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh) › [التاريخ اليميني](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh.yamini) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh.yamini~en-mt) › 35 # التاريخ اليميني 35 English (machine translation) 35 - **Language:** English ### [35.1](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh.yamini~en-mt.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. ### [35.2](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh.yamini~en-mt.35.2) In those wastes they lacked even moisture \[191a\] for the lips and wetting for the mouths, let alone other provisions, until God favoured them by bringing them out of it onto open ground leading to the region they sought. Before it lay a roaring river, its bed jagged stones and slabs sharp as sword-edges, and on its bank opened a mountain ravine against which the infidel had positioned himself, relying on his elephants and multiplying himself with throngs of his foot and horse. The Sultan devised a way for the bold men of his army to cross the river to God's enemies, the wicked infidels, until they crossed it by two routes and engaged them with despair on both sides. When the fighting between the two parties grew fierce, the Sultan ordered a charge against the infidels across the fords of the fearsome river and the roaring, surging water, to drive them from the edge of the bank and thrust them into the jaws of those ravines and defiles. ### [35.3](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh.yamini~en-mt.35.3) The battle grew fierce, with daggers striking throats and sharp blades striking shoulders; God's champions prevailing in every circumstance and the infidels abased, until, when the youth of the day had nearly grown old, the Muslims charged from every side a charge that forced them into the gullets of those mountain paths, and they left behind the elephants in which they had trusted. God's champions pursued them, driving the largest \[191b\] and then the next largest of them to the Sultan's station; none escaped them except what fled hard or what was beyond the range of the chase to capture. So much of the blood of those vile ones was poured out that the intervening river, for all its purity, was defiled by it, and for all its abundance became undrinkable. Had night not covered their tracks, slaughter would have consumed most of them: a deed of God for the religion with which He sent His chosen Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, and his family whom He approved, making it prevail over all religion though the idolaters dislike it; and it is ever increasing until the Day of Summoning. ### [35.4](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh.yamini~en-mt.35.4) The Sultan departed with God's champions, laden with spoils and abundance, victorious and triumphant, praised like his name and rewarded, having taken spoils that the fingers of writing tire of recording and the rolls of registers are too narrow to set down. ### [35.5](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh.yamini~en-mt.35.5) The glad tidings of it flew to the horizons, and the wings of sunset and sunrise beat with them. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, for the glory of Islam and the Muslims. ## Linked texts (1) - [التاريخ اليميني](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh.yamini.35.1) — Abū Naṣr Muḥammad al-ʿUtbī, Arabic --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh.yamini~en-mt.35](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.ar.tarikh.yamini~en-mt.35) · Pramāṇa