_ 474 _ discretion, standard-bearer of the honour of battle and conquest. May you be Captain of Ormuz forever, may you advance and prosper and possess strength and honour, for friendship is my intention and purpose. I give you tidings as for a long time there has been friendship and harmony between us, and I have always rejoiced to know and hear good news of you; I have always been ready to act as our friendship obliges me to, and I have the same desire regarding any service you perform for me. I am your friend, you are the friend of our friends and the enemy of our enemies. Your heart will be witness that I am your friend, all the more as you are men of truth and justice, and to appear beside you is better for me than to do so with any other. This is because we are neighbours and friends, and trade is general and common to navigators. It is better for us to be beside you than anyone else. I have agreed and I believe that when something is permitted by God no one can gainsay Him, and that when evil befalls the friendly neighbour, it should appear to the friendly neighbour that it has befallen him; and therefore the matter of friends and neighbours is all one and the same thing. As matters are thus, it appears right to me that
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