After this, the wicked Saracens, by direction of the kadi, made a fire twice as large as the former; and, having stripped James quite naked, they washed his body, and anointed him abundantly with oil, besides pouring a great quantity of oil upon the faggots which composed the fire; and when the fire was fully kindled, they threw friar James into the midst. Friars Thomas and Demetrius, retiring from among the people, remained on their knees praying to GOD, with many tears. Friar James, however, came a second time unhurt from the fire, and the people again cried out that it was sinful to injure these holy men. Upon this the Melich, or governor of the city, called friar James to his presence, and causing him to put on his garments, said to the friars, "We see, brothers, that by the Grace of God ye have suffered no harm from us: wherefore we are convinced that ye are holy men, and that your faith is good and true; we advise you to take yourselves away out of this land as quickly as possible, as the kadi will do his utmost to destroy you, because you have confounded his arguments". At this time, likewise, the people were full of astonishment and admiration of what they had seen, and were so filled with wonder at the miracle, that they knew not what to believe, or how to conduct themselves. The melich ordered the three friars to be carried across a small arm of the sea, into a village at a moderate distance from the city, where he ordered them to be lodged in the house of an idolater.

Afterwards the kadi went to the melich, and represented to him that the law of Mahomet would be overthrown if these people were allowed to live. He observed farther, that, by the precepts of Mahomet in the alcoran, it was declared, that any one who slew a Christian, acquired as much merit by that action as by the pilgrimage to Mecca. Then said the melich unto him, "Go thy way, and do what thou wilt." Whereupon the kadi took four armed men, whom he directed to go and slay the friars. These men crossed over the water while it was night, but were then unable to find the friars. In the meantime, the melich caused all the Christians in the city to be taken up and thrown into prison. In the middle of the night, the three friars rose up to say matins, and being then discovered by the four armed Saracens, they were dragged out of the village to a place beneath a certain tree, where they thus addressed our friars: "Know ye that we are ordered by the kadi and the melich to slay you, which we are very unwilling to do, as you are good and holy men; but we dare not refuse, as we and our wives and children would be put to death." Then answered the friars, "Do ye even as you have been commanded, that by a temporal death we may gain eternal life; since, for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified and died for us, and in honour of our faith in his holy gospel, we are prepared willingly to suffer every kind of torment, and even death itself." A Christian man, who had joined company with the friars, reasoned much with the four armed Saracens, declaring, if he had a sword, he would either defend these holy men from death, or would die along with them. Then the armed men caused the friars to take off their garments, and friar Thomas, on his knees, and with his arms folded in form of the cross, had his head smitten off. Friar James had his head divided to the eyes by the first blow, and by a second, his head was severed from his body. They wounded friar Demetrius at first in the breast, and then cut off his head. In the moment of the martyrdom of these holy men, the moon shone out with unusual splendour, and the night became so exceedingly light, that all admired greatly: After which, it suddenly became excessively dark, with great thunder and lightning, and violent coruscations, so that all expected to be destroyed; and the ship, which ought to have carried away the friars, was sunk, with all on board, so that no tidings of it were ever heard afterwards.

In the morning, the kadi sent to take possession of the goods belonging to the friars, and then friar Peter de Senlis, who had been left in charge of the goods, was found, and carried before the kadi; who, together with the other Saracens, promised him great things, if he would renounce the Christian faith, and conform to the law of Mahomet. But friar Peter scorned all their offers, and derided them: Whereupon they inflicted every species of torment upon him, from morning until mid-day, which he bore with patience and constancy in the faith, continually praising God and holding out the belief in Mahomet to scorn and contempt. The Saracens then hung him up on a tree; and, seeing that he bore this unhurt from the ninth hour till evening, they cut him in two. In the morning after, when they came to look for his body, no part of it was to be found. It was afterwards revealed to a person worthy of credit, that God had hidden his body for a season, until he should be pleased to manifest the bodies of his saints, and should shew the souls of the saints, rejoicing together with GOD and his angels and the saints, in bliss.

On the night following the martyrdom of these holy friars, they appeared to the melich in a vision, glorious and resplendent like the noon-day sun, each holding a sword on high, in a menacing posture, as if about to stab or cut him in pieces. In horror at the sight, he cried out aloud, to the great terror of his family, to whom he said, that these rabbis of the Franks, whom he had ordered to be slain, had come upon him with swords to slay him. The melich likewise sent for the kadi, to whom he communicated his vision, seeking advice and consolation, as he feared to be slain by the martyrs. And the kadi advised him to give large alms to their brethren, if he would escape from the hands of those whom he had slain. Then the melich sent for the Christians, whom he had thrown into prison, from whom he begged forgiveness for what he had done, promising henceforwards to be their companion and brother; and he ordained, that if any person in future should injure a Christian, he should suffer death; and sending away the Christians unhurt, each man to his home, the melich caused four mosques or chapels to be built in honour of the four martyrs, and appointed Saracen priests to officiate in them. When the Emperor Dodsi552 heard of the slaughter of the four friars, he ordered the melich to be brought bound before him, and questioned him why he had cruelly ordered these men to be slain. The melich endeavoured to justify himself, by representing that they had exerted themselves to subvert the laws of Mahomet, against whom they had spoken blasphemously. The emperor thus addressed him; "O! most cruel dog! when you had seen how the Almighty God had twice delivered them from the flames, how dared you thus cruelly to put them to death?" And the emperor ordered the melich, and all his family, to be cut in two; sentencing him to the same death which he had inflicted on the holy friars. On these things coming to the knowledge of the kadi, he fled out of the land, and even quitted the dominions of the emperor, and so escaped the punishment he had so justly merited.

It is not the custom in that country to commit the bodies of their dead to the grave, but they are exposed in the fields, that they may be consumed by the heat of the sun. But after the bodies of these martyrs had remained fourteen days exposed to the sun, they remained as fresh and uncorrupted as on the day of their martyrdom. On this being seen by the Christians who inhabited the land, they buried the bodies with great reverence. When I, Oderic, heard of the circumstances attending the death of these martyrs, I went to the place and dug up their bodies; and having collected all their bodies into beautiful towallias, I carried them with me into upper India to a certain place, assisted by a companion and a servant. While we were on our way, we rested in the house of a hospitable person, and placing the bones at my head, I went to sleep. And while I was asleep, the house was suddenly set on fire by the Saracens, that I might be burnt therein. My companion and servant made their escape, leaving me and the bones in the burning house. Seeing the fire above and all around me, I took up the bones, and withdrew, with them into one of the angles of the house; whence I saw all the other three corners on fire, while I remained safe along with the bones. So long as I remained there with the bones, the fire kept itself above my head, like lucid air; but the moment that I went out with the bones, the whole of that place where I had stood was enveloped in the flames, and many other surrounding buildings were likewise burnt to the ground.