my
means, through the will of God, whose name be exalted! And thereupon all
the people agreed to his ascending.

Then the sheykh 'Abd-Es-Samad arose, and encouraged himself, and having
said, In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!--he ascended
the ladder, repeating the praises of God (whose name be exalted!) and
reciting the Verses of Safety, until he reached the top of the wall;
when he clapped his hands, and fixed his eyes. The people therefore all
called out to him, and said, O sheykh 'Abd-Es-Samad, do it not, and cast
not thyself down! And they said, Verily to God we belong, and verily
unto him we return! If the sheykh 'Abd-Es-Samad fall, we all
perish!--Then the sheykh 'Abd-Es-Samad laughed immoderately, and sat a
long time repeating the praises of God, (whose name be exalted!) and
reciting the Verses of Safety; after which he rose with energy, and
called out with his loudest voice, O Emeer, no harm shall befall you;
for God (to whom be ascribed might and glory!) hath averted from me the
effect of the artifice and fraudulence of the Devil, through the
blessing resulting from the utterance of the words, In the name of God,
the Compassionate, the Merciful.--So the Emeer said to him, What hast
thou seen, O sheykh? He answered, When I reached the top of the wall, I
beheld ten damsels, like moons, who made a sign with their hands, as
though they would say, Come to us. And it seemed to me that beneath me
was a sea (or great river) of water; whereupon I desired to cast myself
down, as our companions did: but I beheld them dead; so I withheld
myself from them, and recited some words of the Book of God, (whose name
be exalted!) whereupon God averted from me the influence of those
damsels' artifice, and they departed from me; therefore I cast not
myself down, and God repelled from me the effect of their artifice and
enchantment. There is no doubt that this is an enchantment and an
artifice which the people of this city contrived in order to repel from
it every one who should desire to look down upon it, and wish to obtain
access to it; and these our companions are laid dead.

He then walked along the wall till he came to the two towers of brass,
when he saw that they had two gates of gold, without locks upon them, or
any sign of the means of opening them. Therefore the sheykh paused as
long as God willed, and looking attentively, he saw in the middle of one
of the gates a figure of a horseman of brass, having