to be approached by other people, who tried to identify him [but did not recognize him] (1). Intensely afraid of them, he said, “Please, do me this kindness: you have taken my silver coins, so keep them. As for your food, I have no need of it.”
They said to him, “Who are you, young man, and what is your story? By Allah, you have found one of the treasures of the ancients and want to conceal it from us (2). Come with us, show it to us, and share it with us; we will keep what you have found secret. But if you do not, we will take you to the authorities and hand you over to them, and they will kill you.”
When he heard what they said, he said to himself (3), “I have fallen into everything I had feared.” They said, “Young man, by Allah, you cannot conceal what you have found.” Yamlīkhā did not know what to say or how to answer them. He was so frightened that he could not tell them anything [and found nothing] (4) to say to them.
When they saw that he would not speak, they took his cloak, threw it around his neck, and began leading him through the city’s streets, young and old alike (5), until everyone in the city heard about him [and asked, “What is the news?”] (6). It was said, “This is a man who has a treasure.” So the people of the city, young and old, gathered around him. They looked at him and said, “By Allah, this young man is not from this city. We have never seen him here, nor do we know him at all.”
Yamlīkhā did not know what to say to them. When the people of the city gathered around him, he was afraid and fell silent. Yet he was certain that his father and brothers were in the city, and that his family and lineage belonged to one of its most distinguished households. He thought that, once they heard of him, they would come to him. So he stood there, bewildered, waiting for one of his relatives to come and deliver him from their hands, when they suddenly seized him and took him to the city’s two chiefs and governors, who managed its affairs. They were two righteous men: one of them was named Arius, and the other Tontius (7).
When Yamlīkhā was taken to them, he thought that he was being taken to Decius the tyrant. He began looking to his right and left, while the people mocked him as they mock a madman. Yamlīkhā began to weep. Then he raised his head toward heaven and said to himself (8), “O Allah, Lord of heaven and Lord of earth, pour upon me patience this day, and send with me a spirit from Yourself to strengthen me before this tyrant.”
He wept and said to himself, “I have been separated from my brothers. If only they knew what I have suffered! If they knew, they would come to me, and we would stand together before this tyrant. For we had pledged ourselves to remain together and never disbelieve in Allah or associate anything with Him. I have been separated from them; they will never see me, nor will I ever see them again. We had pledged never to part, whether in life or in death.” Yamlīkhā was saying these things to himself—as he later related to his companions after returning to them—until he came before the two righteous men, Arius and Tontius (9).
When Yamlīkhā saw that he was not being taken to Decius—