“ King, take off thy shoes from off they feet; for the place whereon thou standest is a holy place. God— Powerful and Mighty— says unto thee; O Yush'a, look before thee, behold I am about to place in thy hand this disobedient city, even Yariha, with its king and its people; now therefore choose for thyself, from among every tribe a thousand men. ”

“ Signs were shown for thy sake, Misr was devastated for thee, the Divine power appeared in thy behalf, the sea was divided that thou mightest cross, Fir'aum and his people perished that thou mightest be preserved, manna descended for thy sustenance, bitter water became sweet to satisfy thy thirst, the voice of the Creator was heard for thy instruction, the rock brought forth water to test thee, `Amlaq was put to route at thy desire, the Creator let the Divine power dwell round about thee for thy protection, and His name alighted upon thee that thy enemies might have fear of thee. ”

“ He struck with terror the kings of `Amman and Mab and Midyan, that thou mightest plunder their cattle. He stopped the water of the Urdun, that He might display thy power and make prominent thy glory and exalt thy fame. He killed the seven tyrant kings, that He might give to thee their land and their cities, and their kingdoms. He gave over to destruction those who assembled together for thy slaughter. He extirpated Shaubak the son of Hamam, and those kings who were assembled with him to slay thee. He commanded the heavens and the earth to guard thee and protect thee. ”

“ Where is one who has brought to life the dead and caused the living to die, through the permission of his Lord, besides thee? Unto what prophet do the infidels bear testimony as to his prophetic office, except thee? What prophet, in the ages past or yet to come, did cause his congregation to hear the voice of the Creator from the regions of the heavens, except thee? Where is one who shall arise, and his words ascend on high and ward off the Divine anger, and bring down Divine mercy, except thee? ”

“ I WRITE onto thee, O my cousin- may God protect thee and take care of thee, while I am sad of heart, weak in strength, with weeping eyes, humbled in soul, on the very verge of destruction, and three hundred thousand men along with me; for the stratagem of the magicians has been accomplished upon us, and I and my people are imprisoned and perplexed inside seven walls of iron, and in front of us are thirty six kings in complete joy and universal exultation, while we are in sadness and weeping and fear thereby. ”

“ We are people from a far distance, we have heard of your fame, and what signs and wonders God- Powerful and Mighty- has revealed to the children of Israil, even in the sea, and in the desert, and in Wady el-Mujib, and what has happened unto the kings through you. And now, O king, we have repaired unto thee that we might be in the company of those who beg protection with thee; for we believe in thy Lord, and we will not resist whatever thou shalt prescribe unto us, be it small or great. ”

“ 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. ”

“ For the character and manner of this army is, that it is not restrained by a feeling of shame from an old man, nor does it accord protection to a woman, or have pity on a child, or show compassion toward an animal; for they do nothing else but murder with the sword, and stone to death with stones, and crucify, and burn with fire: yea, this is its custom, and it does not allow any mercy to be shown, or protection to be granted, unto any and it spares not even a leafless palm branch in its annihilating and destroying. ”

“ Where is the one who has pity on our infants? Where is the one who hears our voices? Where is the one who makes atonement for our sins and transgressions? Where is the one who makes manifest our power? Where is the one who renders our glory conspicuous here?"And they now felt remorse where remorse profited them nothing, while their weeping became great and their lamentations violent. Thereupon they took vows upon themselves that they would commemorate this sorrow, on the second and fifth days (of the week) always, until the favor of God- glorious be His might- should return unto them. ”

“ And when one shall hear of the decline of the kingdom of the children of Israil, and what calamities and misfortunes and exiles and dispersions overtook them by reason of their disobedient doings and their rebellious actions, his fear will be increased for Him from Whom nothing escapes and of Whose kingdom nothing is destroyed—Blessed be he and exalted! And now of Him do we implore complete right-guidance and all-embracing favor in His mercy. ”

“ O our master and our lord, we hear and will obey the command of God- Mighty and Powerful- and of His true and faithful Prophet, and also thy command, O king, and the command of our imam and our rulers, and there will be no opposition to what ye order, and no deviation from what ye say either to the right or to the left, nor from whatever our master Musa, the Prophet- peace be upon him- has ordained, and there shall be no rejection of a single part of it ”

“ For whoever adopts these views, or any part of them, there shall fall upon him all the calamities which were written in the Holy Law, and God will blot out the remembrance of him under heaven, and will make him distinguished by reason of his calamities, apart from all the tribes of Israil. And so, be sincere with your souls and your conscience, that I may renew the covenant with you in accordance with what you may say; and God and His heavens and His earth, and His angels, shall bear witness against you in what happens between us and you; may the sentence be in your favor and not against you. ”

“ And ye shall destroy it and burn it, and shall not leave in it any, except the woman who is known as Rahab the innkeeper; her ye shall spare, and also those souls that are in her courtyard, according as the spies made covenant with her. O assemblies of Men! Be watchful of yourselves; do not take anything from the city; burn its gold and silver and brass and iron, and all its appurtenances, and do not meddle with anything that is devoted; for then would ye and the army perish."And the people did as he instructed them. ”

“ Then there came unto them the sheikh of the magicians, and with him was the mother of Shaubak, the son of Hamam, who was skilled in magic and who worshipped the great luminary and the seven stars, and along with her was a crowd of the magicians and wizards and conjurers, and these calmed them, saying unto them: "O ye who turn back! Ye have wrecked your army before ye have seen the enemy, and ye have killed yourselves before your time; not thus should the leaders of the army do among the flock, ye have unnerved the men with fear, ye have slaughtered them without a sword being used. ”

“ The earth was broad for you and not narrow for you, either in condition or riches, but now there is no place or locality for you; seeing ye have opposed the One to whom belongs the great and high dominion, and have become subservient unto a decaying image, and your intentions are bent upon the destruction of the holy, favorite people, who are the guardians of the children of the prophets of God, and of His apostles. ”

“ Assembled men, let there not be among you a disseminator of corrupt designs, spikes of corn and wormwood, (meaning by this, one who associates others with God and unites the worship of others with His worship) ; nor let there be among you one who cogitates in his heart wicked doctrines, or opposition to the command of God- Powerful and Mighty- lest there be a destruction of his mighty, holy nation and all its greatness, and separation from the Creator-may His name be holy- and your enemies attain unto their desires and plunder you of your cattle, and wives, and children. ”

“ And among the number of the hymns of praise which they offered up, they said: "Who is like unto Thee, O Thou who art perfect in holiness! O Thou who dost inspire terror! O Thou who dost reveal secret things! O Thou who dost perform new things! O Thou worker of miracles! O Thou displayer of wonders! How, O our Lord, shall we address Thee? ”

“ And God showed forth with them blessings and watchful care, so that calamities were removed away from them; and not a single one of the kings of the enemies did have power to do any violence unto them. So that there was a multitude of their own travelers journeying from every province unto the Blessed Mount three times a year, along with various kings, with wealth and joy and gladness; and not one of the enemies dared even to look towards them, or stand up in opposition to them. And the king and the leaders and the whole army continued in rest and tranquility for a period of twenty years. ”

“ Round about these people the holy angels keep guard, and the King of the heavens and the earth is with them, and it is not allowable to make use of sorcery against them, nor the science of astrology; nor will His heart repudiate them, except when they give themselves over to unbelief, or are led to do so by some stratagem, then the Creator will become angry with them and they will perish, and not a single one of them will survive. ”

“ Thou hast consoled our souls and hast strengthened our hearts; Thou has nerved our loins, Thou hast lifted up our heads, Thou hast exalted our renown, Thou hast spread abroad our glory, yea our friends do exalt, for Thou hast destroyed our enemies and hast annihilated their host. ”

“ He who has in His company thousands and myriads of thousands of angels similar unto these; what king then shall boast that he can stand before this King, whose rank and dignity is so great, whose position is so exalted, by whose mighty power the kings were destroyed and in obedience to whom the true believers believe? What army can stand before Him? What giant can march out against Him? What great commander can escape from Him? Unto what place can any flee from Him? Have ye not heard of our poems wherein we say: "There is no power or might except in God, the Exalted, the Great ”

“ AN ACCOUNT OF THE RETURN OF THE MESSENGER, AND WHAT HE DID WHEN HE REACHED THEM (I.E. THE ENEMIES) .
WHEN the messenger had heard the king, and his speech, and the reading of the letter and its words, and perceived the discipline of the army and its staunch condition, he took the letter and immediately started out on his journey, with head down-cast and heart rent asunder and color changed and eyes weeping. And when he arrived at the army of the enemy, he found them assembled together in el-Qaimun. ”