more humane Abu Obeidah in his place, so that the unhappy Damascenes got the full benefit of their capitulation with the latter chieftain. The Caliph in his letter giving Abu Obeidah the command, characterises the pursuit of the Damascene fugitives as a rash undertaking, "and," says the Caliph, "if God had not been most merciful, you would not have come off so well." The Saracens, very shortly after the capture of Damascus, overran the whole of Syria. Abu Obeidah leaving a garrison at Damascus, marched upon Baalbec, then a populous and wealthy place, and on their march they intercepted 400 loads of silk and sugar on its way to the town. Baalbec made a most valiant defence, and at last obtained an honourable capitulation. When before Hems, Alwakidi relates an anecdote curiously illustrative of the religious enthusiasm which bore the Saracens onwards in their. irresistible progress. Caled's cousin, in the midst of the encounter, shouted out, "Methinks I see the black-eyed girls looking upon me, one of which, if she should appear in this world, all mankind would die for the love of her, and I see in the hand of one of them a handkerchief of green silk and a cap made of precious stones, and she beckons me, and calls out, 'Come hither quickly, for I love thee."" With these words he charged with fury, making havoc wherever he went, until he was at last struck down with a javelin. CHAPTER XV. THE CALIPHS OF DAMASCUS.-THE OMMIADES.-THEIR CON- DESTRUCTION THE most brilliant period in the history of Damascus is the century during which it became the seat of the Caliphate, and the capital of the whole Mussulman world. Under the sway of the Caliphs of Damascus, the Mussulmen extended their empire to the banks of the Ganges in the east, to the shores of the Black Sea in the north, to Spain and France in the west, to the confines of Nubia in the south, and over nearly the whole Mediterranean sea, possessing themselves of an empire almost as extensive as that of antient Rome. The Caliphs of the family of the Ommiades reigned at Damascus as "commanders of the faithful" for ninety-one years, or according to some Oriental writers from the year 32 to 132 of the Hegira*, there were fourteen Caliphs of this family. The first Caliph of Damascus was Moawyah Ben Abi Sophyan, a person of high reputation among the Arabians; he was made governor of the province of Syria after its entire conquest from the Saracens by the Greeks, during the Caliphate of Othman, the successor of Omar, and the third after Mahomet. On the murder of Othman by a sudden revolt of some Arab and Egyptian troops at Medina, a long war ensued which ended in the establishment of Moawyah in the Caliphate in the forty-first year of the Hegira, who fixed the seat of government at Damascus. In the reign of this Caliph the Saracens, under the command of the Caliph's son Yezid, formed the first siege of Constantinople. After a reign of nineteen years Moawyah died in the city of Damascus, and was magnificently interred in one of the mosques. He was succeeded by his son Yezid, who is always cursed by the Persian writers, and his name is never mentioned by them but with the "The following malediction,-Lâana hu Allah, curse of God be upon him," because he killed Hosein, the son of Ali, who refused to recognize * D'Herbelot, Bibliothêque Orientale. THE CALIPHS OF DAMASCUS. 431 his title to the Caliphate. The Arabic historians relate, that the inhabitants of Cufah took part with the family of Ali; and revolting, proclaimed Hosein on the death of Moawyah. The caliph of Damascus hearing the news, despatched Obeidallah with a party of troops against them; and this Arab captain encountering Hosein on the plain of Kerbela on his way to Cufah, with a guard of seventy-two persons only, slew him after a desperate encounter with his whole band of followers, in the year of the Hegira 61. On the morning of that fatal day, Hosein mounted on horseback, with his sword in one hand and the Koran in the other; and after a fierce encounter, the battle ceased on the death of the last of the companions of the son of Ali. Alone, weary and wounded, the venerable chief seated himself at the door of his tent. "As he tasted a drop of water he was pierced in the mouth with a dart; and his son and nephew, two beautiful youths, were killed in his arms. He lifted his hands to heaven, they were full of blood, and he uttered a funeral prayer for the living and for the dead. In a transport of despair, his sister issued from the tent, and adjured the leader of the Cufians, that he would not suffer Hosein to be murdered before her eyes. A tear trickled down |