might depart in safety, with as much as they could carry away of their effects; and that the tributary subjects of the caliph should enjoy their lands and houses, with the use and possession of seven churches. On these terms, the most respectable hostages, and the gate nearest to his camp, were delivered into his hands: his soldiers imitated the moderation of their chief; and he enjoyed the submissive gratitude of a people whom he had rescued from destruction. But the success of the treaty had relaxed their vigilance, and in the same moment the opposite quarter of the city was betrayed and taken by assault. A party of a hundred Arabs had opened the eastern gate to a more inexorable foe. "No quarter,” cried the rapacious and sanguinary Caled, "no quarter to the enemies of the Lord:" his trumpets sounded, and a torrent of christian blood was poured down the streets of Damascus. When he reached the church of St. Mary, he was astonished and provoked by the peaceful aspect of his companions; their swords were in the scabbard, and they were surrounded by a multitude of priests and monks. Abu Obeidah saluted the general: "God," said he, "has delivered the city into my hands by way of surrender, and has saved the believers the trouble of fighting." “And am I not," replied the indignant Caled, 66 am I not the lieutenant of the commander of the faithful? Have I not taken the city by storm? The unbelievers shall perish by the sword. Fall on." The hungry and cruel Arabs would have obeyed the welcome command; and Damascus was lost, if the benevolence of Abu Obeidah had not been supported by a decent and dignified firmness. Throwing himself between the trembling citizens and the most eager of the barbarians, he adjured them by the holy name of God, to respect his promise, to suspend their fury, and to wait the determination of their chiefs. The chiefs retired into the church of St. Mary; and after a vehement debate, Caled submitted in some measure to the reason and authority of his colleague; who urged the sanctity of a covenant, the advantage as well as the honour which the Moslems would derive from the punctual performance of their word, and the obstinate resistance which they must encounter from the distrust and despair of the rest of the Syrian cities. It was agreed that the sword should be sheathed, that the part of Damascus which had surrendered to Abu Obeidah, should be immediately entitled to the benefit of his capitulation, and that the final decision should be referred to the justice and wisdom of the caliph. A large majority of the people accepted the terms of toleration and tribute; and Damascus is still peopled by twenty thousand christians. But the valiant Thomas, and the free P It appears from Abulfeda (p. 125.) and Elmacin, (p. 32.) that this distinction of the two parts of Damascus was long remembered, though not always respected, by the Mahometan sovereigns. See likewise Eutychius. (Annal. tom. ii. p. 379, 380. 383.) On the fate of these lovers, whom he names Phocyas and Eudocia, Mr. Hughes has built the siege of Damascus, one of our most popular tragedies, and which possesses the rare merit of blending nature and history, the manners of the times and the feelings of the heart. The born patriots who had fought under his banner, embraced the alternative of poverty and exile. In the adjacent meadow, a numerous encampment was formed of priests and laymen, of soldiers and citizens, of women and children: they collected, with haste and terror, their most precious movables; and abandoned, with loud lamentations, or silent anguish, their native homes, and the pleasant banks of the Pharphar. The inflexible soul of Caled was not touched by the spectacle of their distress : he disputed with the Damascenes the property of a magazine of corn; endeavoured to exclude the garrison from the benefit of the treaty; consented, with reluctance, that each of the fugitives should arm himself with a sword, or a lance, or a bow; and sternly declared, that, after a respite of three days, they might be pursued and treated as the enemies of the Moslems. Damascenes. The passion of a Syrian youth com- Pursuit of the pleted the ruin of the exiles of Damascus. A nobleman of the city, of the name of Jonas," was betrothed to a wealthy maiden; but her parents delayed the consummation of his nuptials, and their daughter was persuaded to escape with the man whom she had chosen. They corrupted the nightly watchmen of the gate Keisan: the lover, who led the way, was encompassed by a squadron of Arabs ; but his exclamation in the Greek tongue, "the bird is taken," admonished his mistress to hasten her return. In the presence of Caled, and of death, the unfortunate Jonas professed his belief in one God and his apostle Mahomet; and continued, till the season of his martyrdom, to discharge the duties of a brave and sincere mussulman. When the city was taken, he flew to the monastery, where Eudocia had taken refuge; but the lover was forgotten; the apostate was scorned; she preferred her religion to her country; and the justice of Caled, though deaf to mercy, refused to detain by force a male or female inhabitant of Damascus. Four days was the general confined to the city by the obligation of the treaty, and the urgent cares of his new conquest. His appetite for blood and rapine would have been extinguished by the hopeless computation of time and distance; but he listened to the importunities of Jonas, who assured him that the weary fugitives might yet be overtaken. At the head of four thousand horse, in the disguise of christian Arabs, Caled undertook the pursuit. They halted only for the moments of prayer; and the guide had a perfect knowledge of the country. For a long way the footsteps of the Damascenes were plain and conspicuous: they vanished on a sudden; but the Saracens were comforted by the assurance that the caravan had turned aside into the mountains, and must speedily fall into their hands. In traversing foolish delicacy of the players compelled him to soften the guilt of the hero and the despair of the heroine. Instead of a base renegado, Pho. cyas serves the Arabs as an honourable ally; instead of prompting their pursuit, he flies to the succour of his countrymen, and after killing Caled and Derar, is himself mortally wounded, and expires in the presence of Eudocia, who professes her resolution to take the veil at Constantinople. A frigid catastrophe! 946 nually collected in the fair of Abyla, about thirty the ridges of the Libanus, they endured intolerable | produce and manufactures of the country were anhardships, and the sinking spirits of the veteran fanatics were supported and cheered by the unconquerable ardour of a lover. From a peasant of the country, they were informed that the emperor had sent orders to the colony of exiles, to pursue without delay the road of the sea-coast and of Constantinople, apprehensive, perhaps, that the soldiers and people of Antioch might be discouraged by the sight and the story of their sufferings. The Saracens were conducted through the territories of Gabala' and Laodicea, at a cautious distance from the walls of the cities; the rain was incessant, the night was dark, a single mountain separated them from the Roman army; and Caled, ever anxious for the safety of his brethren, whispered an ominous dream in the ear of his companion. With the dawn of day the prospect again cleared, and they saw before them, in a pleasant valley, the tents of Damascus. After a short interval of repose and prayer, Caled divided his cavalry into four squadrons, committing the first to his faithful Derar, and reserving the last for himself. They successively rushed on the promiscuous multitude, insufficiently provided with arms, and already vanquished by sorrow and fatigue. Except a captive who was pardoned and dismissed, the Arabs enjoyed the satisfaction of believing that not a christian of either sex escaped the edge of their scymitars. The gold and silver of Damascus was scattered over the camp, and a royal wardrobe of three hundred load of silk might clothe an army of naked barbarians. In the tumult of the battle, Jonas sought and found the object of his pursuit; but her resentment was inflamed by the last act of his perfidy; and as Eudocia struggled in his hateful embraces, she struck a dagger to her heart. Another female, the widow of Thomas, and the real or supposed daughter of Heraclius, was spared and released without a ransom: but the generosity of Caled was the effect of his contempt; and the haughty Saracen insulted, by a message of defiance, the throne of the Cæsars. Caled had penetrated above a hundred and fifty miles into the heart of the Roman province: he returned to Damascus with the same secrecy and speed. On the accession of Omar, the sword of God was removed from the command; but the caliph, who blamed the rashness, was compelled to applaud the vigour and conduct, of the enterprise. Another expedition of the conquerFair of Abyla. ors of Damascus will equally display their avidity and their contempt for the riches of the present world. They were informed that the The towns of Gabala and Laodicea, which the Arabs passed, still exist in a state of decay. (Maundrell, p. 11, 12. Pocock, vol. ii. p. 13.) Had not the christians been overtaken, they must have crossed the Orontes on some bridge in the sixteen miles between Antioch and the sea, and might have rejoined the high road of Constantinople at Alexandria. The Itineraries will represent the directions and distances, (p. 146. 148. 581, 582. edit. Wesseling.) s Dair Abil Kodos. After retrenching the last word, the epithet holy, I discover the Abila of Lysanias between Damascus and Heliopolis; the name (Abil signifies a vineyard) concurs with the situation to justify my conjecture. (Reland, Palestin. tom. i. p. 317. tom. ii. p. 525. 527.) I am bolder than Mr. Ockley, (vol. i. p. 164.) who dares not insert this figurative expression in the text, though he observes in a marginal Syria, one of the countries that have been improved by the most early cultivation, is not unworthy of the pre Sieges of Heliopolis and Emesa, A. D. 635. note, that the Arabians often borrow their similes from that useful and familiar animal. The reiu-deer may be equally famous in the songs of the Laplanders. u We heard the tecbir; so the Arabs call Their shout of onset, when with loud appeal They challenge heaven, as if demanding conquest. This word, so formidable in their holy wars, is a verb active (says Ockley in his index) of the second conjugation, from Kabbara, which signifies saying Alla Acbur, God is most mighty! x In the geography of Abulfeda, the description of Syria, his native country, is the most interesting and authentic portion. It was pub lished in Arabic and Latin, Lipsiæ, 1766, in quarto, with the learned notes of Kochler and Reiske, and some extracts of geography and natu ference. The heat of the climate is tempered by the vicinity of the sea and mountains, by the plenty of wood and water; and the produce of a fertile soil affords the subsistence, and encourages the propagation, of men and animals. From the age of David to that of Heraclius, the country was overspread with ancient and flourishing cities: the inhabitants were numerous and wealthy; and, after the slow ravage of despotism and superstition, after the recent calamities of the Persian war, Syria could still attract and reward the rapacious tribes of the desert. A plain of ten days' journey, from Damascus to Aleppo and Antioch, is watered on the western side by the winding course of the Orontes. The hills of Libanus and Anti-Libanus are planted from north to south, between the Orontes and the Mediterranean; and the epithet of hollow (Coelesyria) was applied to a long and fruitful valley, which is confined in the same direction by the two ridges of snowy mountains. Among the cities, which are enumerated by Greek and oriental names in the geography and conquest of Syria, we may distinguish Emesa or Hems, Heliopolis or Baalbec, the former as the metropolis of the plain, the latter as the capital of the valley. Under the last of the Cæsars, they were strong and populous: the turrets glittered from afar: an ample space was covered with public and private buildings; and the citizens were illustrious by their spirit, or at least by their pride; by their riches, or at least by their luxury. In the days of paganism, both Emesa and Heliopolis were addicted to the worship of Baal, or the sun; but the decline of their superstition and splendour has been marked by a singular variety of fortune. Not a vestige remains of the temple of Emesa, which was equalled in poetic style to the summits of mount Libanus, while the ruins of Baalbec, invisible to the writers of antiquity, excite the curiosity and wonder of the European traveller.b The measure of the temple is two hundred feet in length, and one hundred in breadth: the front is adorned with a double portico of eight columns; fourteen may be counted on either side; and each column, forty-five feet in height, is composed of three massy blocks of stone or marble. The proportions and ornaments of the Corinthian order express the architecture of the Greeks; but as Baalbec has never been the seat of a monarch, we are at a loss ral history from Ibn Ol Wardii. Among the modern travels, Pocock's Description of the East (of Syria and Mesopotamia, vol. ii. p. 88-209.) is a work of superior learning and dignity; but the author too often confounds what he had seen and what he had read. The praises of Dionysius are just and lively. Kai Tηv μev (Syria) πολλοί τε και ολβιοι άνδρες έχουσιν, (in Periegesi, v. 902, in tom. iv. Geograph. Minor Hudson.) In another place he styles the country πολυπτολιν αιαν. (ν. 898.) He proceeds to say, Πασα δε τοι λιπαρή τε και εύβοτος επλετο χωρη Μηλα τε φερβεμέναι και δενδρεσι καρπον αύξειν. v. 921, 922. This poetical geographer lived in the age of Augustus, and his descrip. tion of the world is illustrated by the Greek commentary of Eustathius, who paid the same compliment to Homer and Dionysius. (Fabric, Bibliot. Græc. I. iv. c. ii. tom. iii. p. 21, &c.) The topography of the Libanus and Anti-Libanus is excellently described by the learning and sense of Reland. (Palestin. tom. i. p. 311 -326.) -Emesæ fastigia eelsa renident. Nam diffusa solo latus explicat; ac subit auras Turribus in cœlum nitentibus: incola claris Cor studiis acuit to conceive how the expense of these magnificent structures could be supplied by private or municipal liberality. From the conquest of Damascus the Saracens proceeded to Heliopolis and Emesa : but I shall decline the repetition of the sallies and combats which have been already shown on a large scale. In the prosecution of the war, their policy was not less effectual than their sword. By short and separate truces they dissolved the union of the enemy; accustomed the Syrians to compare their friendship with their enmity; familiarized the idea of their language, religion, and manners; and exhausted, by clandestine purchase, the magazines and arsenals of the cities which they returned to besiege. They aggravated the ransom of the more wealthy, or the more obstinate; and Chalcis alone was taxed at five thousand ounces of gold, five thousand ounces of silver, two thousand robes of silk, and as many figs and olives as would load five thousand asses. But the terms of truce or capitulation were faithfully observed; and the lieutenant of the caliph, who had promised not to enter the walls of the captive Baalbec, remained tranquil and immovable in his tent till the jarring factions solicited the interposition of a foreign master. The conquest of the plain and valley of Syria was achieved in less than two years. Yet the commander of the faithful reproved the slowness of their progress; and the Saracens, bewailing their fault with tears of rage and repentance, called aloud on their chiefs to lead them forth to fight the battles of the Lord. In a recent action, under the walls of Emesa, an Arabian youth, the cousin of Caled, was heard aloud to exclaim, "Methinks I see the blackeyed girls looking upon me; one of whom, should she appear in this world, all mankind would die for love of her. And I see in the hand of one of them, a handkerchief of green silk, and a cap of precious stones, and she beckons me, and calls out, Come hither quickly, for I love thee." With these words, charging the christians, he made havoc wherever he went, till, observed at length by the governor of Hems, he was struck through with a javelin. It was incumbent on the Saracens to Battle of Yerexert the full powers of their valour A. D. 636, Noand enthusiasm against the forces of vember. the emperor, who was taught by repeated losses, that the rovers of the desert had undertaken, and Denique flammicomo devoti pectora soli Vitam agitant. Libanus frondosa cacumina turget. Et tamen bis certant celsi fastigia templi. muk, These verses of the Latin version of Rufus Avienus are wanting in the Greek original of Dionysius; and since they are likewise unnoticed by Eustathius, I must, with Fabricius, (Bibliot. Latin. tom. iii. p. 153. edit. Ernesti) and against Salmasius, (ad Vopiscum, p. 366, 367. in Hist. August.) ascribe them to the fancy, rather than to the MSS., of Avienus. b I am much better satisfied with Maundrell's slight octavo, (Journey, p. 134-139.) than with the pompous folio of Dr. Pocock; (Description of the East, vol. ii. p. 106-113.) but every preceding account is eclipsed by the magnificent description and drawings of M. M. Dawkins and Wood, who have transported into England the ruins of Pal. myra and Baalbec, The orientals explain the prodigy by a never-failing expedient. The edifices of Baalbec were constructed by the fairies or the genii. (Hist. de Timour Bec, tom. iii. l. v. c. 23. p. 311, 312. Voyage d'Otter, tom i. p. 83.) With less absurdity, but with equal ignorance, Abulfeda and Ibn Chaukel ascribe them to the Sabæans or Aadites. Non sunt in omni Syriâ ædificia magnificentiora his. (Tabula Syriæ, p. 103.) would speedily achieve, a regular and permanent | of Derar, with the Arabian women who had enlisted conquest. From the provinces of Europe and Asia, in this holy war, who were accustomed to wield the fourscore thousand soldiers were transported by sea bow and the lance, and who in a moment of captiand land to Antioch and Cæsarea: the light troops vity had defended, against the uncircumcised of the army consisted of sixty thousand christian ravishers, their chastity and religion. The exhorArabs of the tribe of Gassan. Under the banner of tation of the general was brief and forcible: Jabalah, the last of their princes, they marched in "Paradise is before you, the devil and hell-fire in the van; and it was a maxim of the Greeks, that, your rear." Yet such was the weight of the Roman for the purpose of cutting diamond, a diamond was cavalry, that the right wing of the Arabs was broken the most effectual. Heraclius withheld his person and separated from the main body. Thrice did from the dangers of the field; but his presumption, they retreat in disorder, and thrice were they driven or perhaps his despondency, suggested a peremptory back to the charge by the reproaches and blows of order, that the fate of the province and the war the women. In the intervals of action, Abu Obeidah should be decided by a single battle.. The Syrians visited the tents of his brethren, prolonged their rewere attached to the standard of Rome and of the pose by repeating at once the prayers of two different cross; but the noble, the citizen, the peasant, were hours; bound up their wounds with his own hands, exasperated by the injustice and cruelty of a licen- and administered the comfortable reflection, that tious host, who oppressed them as subjects, and the infidels partook of their sufferings without pardespised them as strangers and aliens.d A report taking of their reward. Four thousand and thirty of these mighty preparations was conveyed to the of the Moslems were buried in the field of battle; Saracens in their camp of Emesa; and the chiefs, and the skill of the Armenian archers enabled seven though resolved to fight, assembled a council: the hundred to boast that they had lost an eye in that faith of Abu Obeidah would have expected on the meritorious service. The veterans of the Syrian war same spot the glory of martyrdom; the wisdom of acknowledged that it was the hardest and most Caled advised an honourable retreat to the skirts of doubtful of the days which they had seen. But it Palestine and Arabia, where they might await the was likewise the most decisive: many thousands of succours of their friends, and the attack of the un- the Greeks and Syrians fell by the swords of the believers. A speedy messenger soon returned from Arabs; many were slaughtered, after the defeat, in the throne of Medina, with the blessings of Omar the woods and mountains; many, by mistaking the and Ali, the prayers of the widows of the prophet, ford, were drowned in the waters of the Yermuk; and a reinforcement of eight thousand Moslems. and however the loss may be magnified, the chrisIn their way they overturned a detachment of tian writers confess and bewail the bloody punishGreeks, and when they joined at Yermuk the camp ment of their sins.h Manuel, the Roman general, of their brethren, they found the pleasing intelli- was either killed at Damascus, or took refuge in gence, that Caled had already defeated and scat- the monastery of mount Sinai. An exile in the tered the christian Arabs of the tribe of Gassan. In Byzantine court, Jabalah lamented the manners of the neighbourhood of Bosra, the springs of mount Arabia, and his unlucky preference of the christian Hermon descend in a torrent to the plain of Deca- cause.i polis, or ten cities; and the Hieromax, a name which has been corrupted to Yermuk, is lost after a short course in the lake of Tiberias. The banks of this obscure stream were illustrated by a long and bloody encounter. On this momentous occasion, the public voice, and the modesty of Abu Obeidah, restored the command to the most deserving of the Moslems. Caled assumed his station in the front, his colleague was posted in the rear, that the disorder of the fugitives might be checked by his venerable aspect, and the sight of the yellow banner which Mahomet had displayed before the walls of Chaibar. The last line was occupied by the sister d I have read somewhere in Tacitus, or Grotius, Subjectos habent tamquam suos, viles tamquam alienos. Some Greek officers ravished the wife, and murdered the child, of their Syrian landlord; and Manuel smiled at his undutiful compliment. e See Reland, Palestin. tom. i. p. 272. 283. tom. ii. p. 773. 775. This learned professor was equal to the task of describing the Holy Land, since he was alike conversant with Greek and Latin, with Hebrew and Arabian literature. The Yermuk, or Hieromax, is noticed by Celarius (Geograph. Antiq. tom. ii. p. 392.) and D'Anville. (Geographie Anci. enne, tom. ii. p. 185.) The Arabs, and even Abulfeda himself, do not seem to recognize the scene of their victory. f These women were of the tribe of the Hamyarites, who derived their origin from the ancient Amalekites. Their females were accustomed to ride on horseback, and to fight like the Amazons of old. (Ockley, vol. i. p. 67.) g We killed of them, says Abu Obeidah to the caliph, one hundred and fifty thousand, and made prisoners forty thousand. (Ockley, vol. i. He had once inclined to the profession of Islam; but in the pilgrimage of Mecca, Jabalah was provoked to strike one of his brethren, and fled with amazement from the stern and equal justice of the caliph. The victorious Saracens enjoyed at Damascus a month of pleasure and repose: the spoil was divided by the discretion of Abu Obeidah : an equal share was allotted to a soldier and to his horse, and a double portion was reserved for the noble coursers of the Arabian breed. Conquest of After the battle of Yermuk, the Roman army no longer appeared in the field; and the Saracens might securely choose among the fortified towns of Syria, the first p. 241.) As I cannot doubt his veracity, nor believe his computation, must suspect that the Arabic historians indulged themselves in the practice of composing speeches and letters for their heroes. h After deploring the sins of the christians, Theophanes adds (Chronograph. p. 276.) ανέςη ὁ ερημικός Αμαληκ τυπτων ήμας τον λαόν του Χρίτου, και γίνεται πρώτη φορά πτώσις του Ρωμαϊκού κράτου ή κατα το Γαβιθαν λέγω (does he mean Aiznadin ?) και Ιερμουκαν, και την αθεσμού aluatoxvotar. His account is brief and obscure, but he accuses the numbers of the enemy, the adverse wind, and the cloud of dust: μη δυνηθέντες (the Romans) αντηπροσώπησαι εχθροις δια τον κονιορτου, ἧστωνται, καὶ ἑαυτους βάλλοντες εις τας ξενόδους του Ιερμοχθου ποταμού εκεί απώλοντο, άρδην. (Chronograph. p. 280.) i See Abulfeda, (Annal. Moslem. p. 70, 71.) who transcribes the poetical complaint of Jabalah himself, and some panegyrical strains of an Arabian poet, to whom the chief of Gassan sent from Constantinople a gift of five hundred pieces of gold by the hands of the ambassador of Omar. object of their attack. They consulted the caliph whether they should march to Cæsarea or Jerusalem; and the advice of Ali determined the immediate siege of the latter. To a profane eye, Jerusalem was the first or second capital of Palestine; but after Mecca and Medina, it was revered and visited by the devout Moslems, as the temple of the Holy Land which had been sanctified by the revelation of Moses, of Jesus, and of Mahomet himself. The son of Abu Sophian was sent with five thousand Arabs to try the first experiment of surprise or treaty; but on the eleventh day, the town was invested by the whole force of Abu Obeidah. He addressed the customary summons to the chief commanders and people of Ælia.* "Health and happiness to every one that follows the right way! We ⚫ require of you to testify that there is but one God, and that Mahomet is his apostle. If you refuse this, consent to pay tribute, and be under us forthwith. Otherwise I shall bring men against you who love death better than you do the drinking of wine or eating hog's flesh. Nor will I ever stir from you, if it please God, till I have destroyed those that fight for you, and made slaves of your children." But the city was defended on every side by deep valleys and steep ascents; since the invasion of Syria, the walls and towers had been anxiously restored; the bravest of the fugitives of Yermuk had stopped in the nearest place of refuge; and in the defence of the sepulchre of Christ, the natives and strangers might feel some sparks of the enthusiasm which so fiercely glowed in the bosoms of the Saracens. The siege of Jerusalem lasted four months; not a day was lost without some action of sally or assault; the military engines incessantly played from the ramparts; and the inclemency of the winter was still more painful and destructive to the Arabs. The christians yielded at length to the perseverance of the beseigers. The patriarch Sophronius appeared on the walls, and by the voice of an interpreter demanded a conference. After a vain attempt to dissuade the lieutenant of the caliph from his impious enterprise, he proposed, in the name of the people, a fair capitulation, with this extraordinary clause, that the articles of security should be ratified by the authority and presence of Omar himself. The question was debated in the council of Medina; the sanctity of the place, and the advice of Ali, persuaded the caliph to gratify the wishes of his soldiers and enemies; and the simplicity of his journey is more illustrious than the k In the name of the city, the profane prevailed over the sacred; Jerusalem was known to the devout christians; (Euseb. de Martyr. Palest. c. ix.) but the legal and popular appellation of Elia (the coJony of Elius Hadrianus) has passed from the Romans to the Arabs. (Reland, Palestin. tom. i. p. 207. tom. ii. p. 835. D'Herbelot, Biblio. theque Orientale, Cods, p. 269. Ilia, p. 420.) The epithet of Al Cods, the Holy, is used as the proper name of Jerusalem. 1 The singular journey and equipage of Omar are described (besides Ockley, vol. i. p. 250.) by Murtadi. (Merveilles de l'Egypte, p. 200202.) In The Arabs boast of an old prophecy preserved at Jerusalem, and describing the name, the religion, and the person of Omar, the future conqueror. By such arts the Jews are said to have soothed the pride of their foreign masters, Cyrus and Alexander. (Joseph. Ant. Jud.l. xi. c. 1. 8. p. 547. 579–582.) - Το βδέλυγμα της ερημώσεως το ρηθεν δια Δανιηλ του προφήτου royal pageants of vanity and oppression. The conqueror of Persia and Syria was mounted on a red camel, which carried, besides his person, a bag of corn, a bag of dates, a wooden dish, and a leathern bottle of water. Wherever he halted, the company, without distinction, was invited to partake of his homely fare, and the repast was consecrated by the prayer and exhortation of the commander of the faithful. But in this expedition or pilgrimage, his power was exercised in the administration of justice he reformed the licentious polygamy of the Arabs, relieved the tributaries from extortion and cruelty, and chastised the luxury of the Saracens, by despoiling them of their rich silks, and dragging them on their faces in the dirt. When he came within sight of Jerusalem, the caliph cried with a loud voice, “God is victorious. O Lord, give us an easy conquest;", and, pitching his tent of coarse hair, calmly seated himself on the ground. After signing the capitulation, he entered the city without fear or precaution; and courteously discoursed with the patriarch concerning its religious antiquities.m Sophronius bowed before his new master, and secretly muttered, in the words of Daniel, "The abomination of desolation is in the holy place." At the hour of prayer they stood together in the church of the resurrection; but the caliph refused to perform his devotions, and contented himself with praying on the steps of the church of Constantine. To the patriarch he disclosed his prudent and honourable motive. “Had I yielded," said Omar, "to your request, the Moslems of a future age would have infringed the treaty under colour of imitating my example." By his command the ground of the temple of Solomon was prepared for the foundation of a mosch; and, during a residence of ten days, he regulated the present and future state of his Syrian conquests. Medina might be jealous, lest the caliph should be detained by the sanctity of Jerusalem or the beauty of Damascus; her apprehensions were dispelled by his prompt and voluntary return to the tomb of the apostle.P This predic ESWS EV TOTY ȧy. Theophan. Chronograph. p. 281. tion, which had already served for Antiochus and the Romans, was again refitted for the present occasion, by the economy of Sophronius, one of the deepest theologians of the Monothelite controversy. o According to the accurate survey of D'Anville, (Dissertation sur l'ancienne Jerusalem, p. 42-54.) the mosch of Omar, enlarged and embellished by succeeding caliphs, covered the ground of the ancient temple, (παλαιον του μεγάλου ναου δαπεδον, says Phocas,) a length of 215, a breadth of 172, toises. The Nubian geographer declares, that this magnificent structure was second only in size and beauty to the great mosch of Cordova, (p. 113.) whose present state Mr. Swinburne has so elegantly represented. (Travels into Spain, p. 296-302.) p Of the many Arabic tarikhs or chronicles of Jerusalem, (D'Herbelot, p. 867.) Ockley found one among the Pocock MSS. of Oxford, (vol. i. p. 257.) which he has used to supply the defective narrative of Al Wakidi. |