The Hero from the book.

Ann: Sirat Sayf ibn Dhi-Yazan (15th)

---------------------------------------------

Sirat Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan (the biography of Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan), is a popular Arab romance dating to the 15th and 16th century CE. This romance is a mixture of epic and pure fantasy, and is inspired on Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan who was a king of Yemen who reigned the Ḥimyarite Kingdom in the 6th century CE.  He struggled against the Aksumite invasions from Ethiopia. He called on the Persian Sassanid Empire to come to his help in 570. The principal enemy of the hero is Sayfa Ar’ed, the Ethiopian king from 1344 to 1372AD and a leading fighter against the Muslims of his days. The part that plays in East Africa is a mythical fantasy story.

Taken from: Sultan Saif-Zuliazan : traduit de l'arabe, par Ali Bey.

 

(I abbreviate the text)

Sayf is the son of a King of Yemen. Hi is carried away to Abyssinia. He receives the name Wash Al-Fala and grows up.

One day he meets Aquissa who needs his help.

The trip takes three days and three nights; finally at the beginning of the fourth day, they arrive at the Mountain of the Moon and the source of the Nil. From this high point, Aquissa shows the young man the castle of the giant Moukhtatif.


(Sayf goes to the castle, kills the Giant and releases his prisoners)

When leaving the castle Aquissa asks him: Would you like to see the sources of the Nil; and to figure out how they come out of paradise?

Saif answers: Yes I would like to see that;

Then go to that dome that you can see from here, and when you have seen come back here. I will wait here.

Sayf-Zuliazan walks full of thoughts to the antique dome, build in Egyptian tradition and said to belong to paradise, and he feels a certain emotion when approaching these well known springs; it is real that all things that have some grandeur in them, and that lead to big thoughts, work heavily on the imagination, even if these things are not completely in accordance with our religious and moral ideas.  So, even as Sayf Zuliazan had never heard about it in his youth, not about the sources of the Nile, neither about the traditions of Egypt, as being a Muslim, and the Egyptians were then idolaters, it was however with a respectful emotion that he admires the marble temple, of which the dome, carried by four pillars, goes up to an immense height, just like if it was build to hold up the heavens. The young Arab makes the tour of the dome, which was embellished with elegant sculptures; he sees a big spring coming out of a gigantic cup placed in the centre of the temple, was split in four and left through the spaces between the four pillars, and then run through the lands in four opposite directions; the names of these four rivers was inscribed above their spring; the names were: Sayahoun, Jayahoun, Alfarat, and the Nile. (1)

Sayf Zuliazan enters for a moment in the temple, and lift his soul up to God, and then after having saluted the noble monument with a last glance, leaves towards Aquissa, who brings him back to….

 

Because of killing the giant Mukhtatif, as a reward, the king would give him his daughter Shama to wife, but the Prime Minister opposes the plan, and insists that the young man shall first bring him the head of Sa'dun al-Zanji, the terror of Abyssinia.

The princess comes to tell Sayf: You engaged yourself to bring back the head of Sadoun Ezendje without knowing who he is. It is a savage and horrible being, and the vizier ask it because he wants you killed; that horrible zanji is a terrible gangster that brings terror to the whole of Habash, he is strong efficient and cruel, nobody can stand against him, several times the sultan has send his best men against him but non returned; the gangster is the head of more than 80 zanji each of them able to handle 100 men, and he lives in a fortress in the middle of the mountains so strong that nobody ever tried to attack it knowing it will be useless.

On the fourth day he reaches a mountain higher than all the others; it was where to find the castle of Sadoun Ezendje.  He sneaks inside with a group of zanji having raided a caravan bringing in captives and animals. He finds Sadoun and kills two of his men who were send to check on the prisoners.

He announces to Sadoun what he came for. They first fight then reconcile then leave together with all the men to see the king.

(1) Sayahoun, Jayahoun, Alfarat, and the Nile: these are the four rivers coming from paradise. By the different authors on this website different names are given:  Sihon, Gihon, Euphrates and the Nile: this is the most used combination. Other combinations are:

Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel, Phirat.

Tigris, Effraim, Euphrates Nile.

Seihan, Djeihan, Euphrates, Nile.