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carrying chairs encrusted with precious stones. And these they placed, ten on his right hand, and ten on his left. Then came slave-girls wearing coronets of gold. And they seated themselves upon the chairs on his right hand, and on his left. And they were followed by another slave-girl, like unto the sun for beauty. Upon her head was a coronet, and on the coronet a bird, than which I have never seen one more beautiful. And in one hand she had a vase of powdered musk, and in the other a vase of rose-water. And she made a sign, and whistled to the bird which was upon her coronet, and he flew down into the vase of musk and bestirred himself in it. Then she whistled to him a second time, and he flew into the vase of rose-water, and splashed about in it. And then she made a sign to him, and he flew up, and alighted upon the cross which surmounted Jábalah's crown, and did not cease fluttering his wings until he had scattered what was on his feathers over Jábalah, who laughed in the excess of his delight until his eye-teeth were visible.

Then he turned to the slave-girls who were upon his right hand, and said to them, "Make us laugh." So they broke forth into singing, and

began sounding their lutes, and sang the song which

begins

May God reward the companions with whom

I consorted in early days in Gillik

until it says:

*

Sons of Gáfnah around the grave of their father,

The grave of the generous, the excellent son of Marîyah ;
They gave to drink to their cup companions

Ice-cold drinks mixed with the sweetest wine.

And when Jábalah heard this, he laughed until his eye-teeth appeared, and asked me, "Do you know who composed that?" I replied, "No." He said, "Hásan-ibn-Thâbit,† the Prophet's poet."

Then he made a sign to the slave-girls upon his left hand, and said, “Make us weep." So they burst into song, striking their lutes, and recited this poetry : By whom were desolated the homes in Ma'aân,

Between the heights of Yermûk and Khimân ?

until the song runs :

'Twas a dwelling for the tribe of Gáfnah for a time,
But now a place for tales in future ages.

Verily they regarded me there as of authority awhile,
With the master of a crown was my resting and dwelling-
place.

* Damascus and surrounding villages. All this evidently alludes to some story (perhaps also poetry) well known to the hearers at the time.

+ See Prefatory Note, p. 64.

And Jábalah wept until the tears streamed down his beard. Then he asked me, "Do you know who was the composer of that?" And upon my answering that I did not, he said, "Hásan." And he then repeated to me the lines beginning—

A prince has apostatized by reason of a blow!

to the end. And presently he asked me about Hásan: "Is he alive?" And when I said "Yes," he ordered for him a robe of honour, and another like it for me. And he also ordered treasures for Hásan, and she-camels laden with wheat; and said to me, "If you find him still alive, make over the gift to him, and transmit to him my salutations. But if you find him dead, give the presents to his people, and slay the camels on his grave."

And when I returned to 'Omar, and gave him an account of Jábalah, and told him of the conditions which the latter had imposed upon me, and of the answer which I had given, 'Omar said, “And why did you not also promise him the succession to the government? For if the Most High chose to give the power into his hands, and to decree against me, it would be in His wisdom. Nothing would happen

except what He had willed."

And after this, 'Omar sent me a second time to Heraclius, and commanded me to agree to Jábalah's conditions. But even as I entered Constantinople, I met the people returning from his burial. And then I knew that his name had been written among the condemned, in the Almighty's Book of Reckoning.*

* Umm-el-Kitâb, The Mother of Books. On one page are inscribed the names of all good Muslims; on the other, the names of infidels, and of those Muslims who do not live up to their religion. My sheikh gravely and persistently asserted that, be as perfect as I might (according to my lights bien entendu), I could as a Christian never hope that my name would be written upon the former !

HOW EL-MUGHÎRAH THE SON OF SHU

'ABAH BECAME GOVERNOR OF ELKÛFAH.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFATORY NOTE.

The province of "Irâk, answering to the Babylonia of Ptolemy, had for its capital el-Hîrah, a city founded by Mâlik, one of the descendants of Kahlân. (See Note * , p. 26.) The

Persian Satraps resided at el-Hîrah; but after the reduction of 'Irâk by the Muslims, the latter people built el-Kûfah at about three miles' distance from el-Hîrah, and from thenceforth el-Kûfah became the capital of the province and the seat of government.

Såad-ibn-Abi-Wakkâs was one of the first who, following the example of Abu-Bekr, professed el-Islám. According to el-Jannâby, it was through Sảaď that 'Omar-ibn-elKhattab was diverted from a design, which before his conversion he entertained, of assassinating the Prophet; though Abu'l-Fedâ says it was through Naîm-ibn-'Abd Allâh, el-Khâm. Såad was one of the most successful and celebrated generals ever possessed by the Muslims. He fought valiantly for the Prophet at the battle of Ohod (A.H. 3), and was afterwards invested with a command under Osâma-ibn-Zeid, whom the Prophet just before his death appointed general of the army destined to act against the Greeks in Syria. In A.H. 14, Sảad was constituted Commander-in-Chief of the Muslim army which 'Omar, the reigning Khalîfah, desired to send into 'Irâk. In the year 15, he completely routed the Persian army at the famous

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