and concluded our affair with him upon a firm covenant, a strong bond, and a solid contract. It is not fitting for kings to break a covenant they made or to undo a contract they concluded. This man has fulfilled for us what we covenanted with him, and it is not permissible in the judgment of kings for the King to break his covenant."

The King remained silent and lowered his gaze.

The Burning of the Monotheists (al-Muwaḥḥidīn)

At that point, the 'devil' of the people stood up and said: "O King, the Ancient of Days, the One Powerful over every state, did not conduct his worship in his manifestations to those who preceded us except from atop the mountain. If we obey this man, incline to him, follow his Sunnah, and act by his Sharia, we are not safe from punishment and an evil destination from the Ancient of Days. This man who spoke these words (the sage) is among his followers and helpers. He claimed that fire does not burn and that burning is from the Powerful One; let the King order his seizure and the seizure of his peers who followed him, and order their burning to see the truth of what they said."

While they were in such talk, the boy, son of the King of India, arrived with a group of those following the Ancient Pre-eternal (al-Azal al-Qadīm). The King ordered his seizure and theirs, and they complied with what he ordered; they were a great group.

Then the King went out with his companions, men, followers, and all the people of his kingdom; their number was great. No one of his retinue and followers remained but that he went out to the place designated as the House of Wisdom. Then he ordered that the people be bound, and that mats be thrown and coated with pitch and its like—everything in which fire works. Then he ordered that fire be released upon them.

The fire did not work on them; instead, it turned back from them toward the King and his companions. They began to flee from it on their horses, with the fire pursuing them. Their horses ran with them with the utmost