"the sweat He had two nicknames given him, the one was of a stone,' "because of his extreme covetousness; the other was father of flies," upon the account of his stinking breath, which was so nauseous that it killed all the flies that 'ighted upon his lips. The inscription of his seal was, "I believe in God our Saviour." Abulfeda says, "that he was a man of foresight, and of very good capacity and understanding; he was courageous, learned, and wise; but his being made caliph quite turned him, and spoiled all his good qualities." Arab. Rafhhol Hejer. + Abdalmelik, who was himself a poet, assembled around him at his court, the most distinguished poets of his time, whom he rewarded in a most princely manner, and upon some settled handsome salaries. The poet Djerir received, for a single panegyrical ode, one hundred camels, eighteen slaves, and a silver jug. A Bedouin poet of some eminence once recited to the caliph a poem with which he was very much pleased. At the conclusion of it, the caliph asked him which he considered to be the best verse in any panegyrical ode; upon which the Bedouin selected and recited the following verse, which had been addressed by Djerir to Abdalmelik: “Art thou not the noblest among all who ride on camels? Is not thy hand the most generous in the whole world?" The caliph then inquired what he considered the best lyrical and satirical verses, when he again quoted from the compositions of Djerir. The latter, who was present, but unknown to the Bedouin, was so delighted with his opinions, that he immediately kissed and embraced him, and begged the caliph to present bim with the whole of his own running salary, amounting to 15,000 dirhems. "Good!" said the prince of the Faithful," That he shall have, and I myself will add to it another sum of the same amount." On one occasion Abdalmelik caused a camel to be laden with gold, and then summoned the three lyrical poets, Omar the son of Abdallah, Djamil Ebn Mimar, and Kutheir Azza, and said, "Whichever of you three improvise the most tender verses upon his beloved, shall receive the camel." Omar commenced thus: "Oh might I but venture to kiss thy cheeks when my last moment approaches might I, when dead, be moistened with the dew of thy lips, and embalmed with thy blood and with the dust of thy feet! Oh would that Suleima (this was the name of his beloved) might rest beside me in the grave, and be my companion whether in paradise or in hell.” Djamil next began : "O Butheima! I swear-and be sure my oath is sincere, for let me become blind if I swear falsely!-I swear by the consecrated animals which are sacrificed with the knife, that love has broken my heart, and I can no longer endure my life. But, if after I am dead, an exorciser will seek to resuscitate me with one single word from the lips of my beloved, I will instantly return to life." He died in the sixtieth year of his age. He was much more powerful than any of his predecessors. He subdued Abdallah the son of Zobeir, and added Arabia to his dominions; quelled all the revolts of the Sectaries. In his reign India was conquered in the east, while in the west his victorious arms penetrated as far as Spain.* Kutheir in his turn repeated : "By the life of my father and that of my mother! My beloved Azza puts all her enemies to the blush. Beautiful women visit me to prejudice me against Azza, but their cheeks are not to be compared to the beauty of the soles of my Azza's feet. Verily, should my Azza dispute with the morning star for the prize of beauty, impartial judges must inevitably award it to her." Abdalmelik then said: "Friend of hell! (Omar) take the camel with all it bears upon its back." Even the Christian poet, Achtal, experienced a kind reception from this caliph, and took his place in the first rank amongst the royal poets; for he had praised Yezid the son of Moawiyah, and derided the companions of the prophet who had opposed him. He was a contemporary and rival of Djerir and Ferasdak, and together with them formed the poetical triumvirate of the period. Djamil died in an. Hej. 82. In Egypt he was once asked why he loved Butheima, who was so lean that birds might be cut to pieces with her bones. He replied, "Thou seest her only with thine eyes, otherwise thou wouldst not hesitate to appear before God as an adulterer in order to possess her." Butheima was inconsolable at the tidings of Djamil's death. On one occasion she appeared before Abdalmelik, but her presence prepossessed him so little in her favour, that he cbserved to her, "Tell me what is it that excited Djamil to compose and dedicate to thee such tender verses." To which she replied, "What is it that the people found in thee, that they should have created thee caliph ?" Abdalmelik smiled and granted her what she desired.-Weil. The following anecdotes of Abdalmelik are extracted from Lane's notes to the Arabian Knights : "Al Walid, the son of this prince, spoke so corrupt a dialect that he often could not make himself understood by the Arabs of the desert. Abdalmelik was greatly grieved at this deficiency in his son, which he considered would incapacitate him from being a future ruler of the Arabs, as they were great admirers of purity of speech, although a large proportion of them spoke very corruptly. To remove this defect he sent him to be instructed by a grammarian, but after the youth had remained there a long time, he returned to his father more ignorant than before. Vulgarisms, however, would sometimes escape from the mouth of Abdalmelik himself; yet, so fully did he appreciate eloquence, that when a learned man, with whom he was conversing, informed him in elegant language of an error of this kind, he crdered his mouth to be filled with jewels. "These," said his courteous admonisher, "are things to be treasured up; not to be expended:" and for this delicate hint, he was further rewarded with thirty thousand pieces of silver, and several costly articles of apparel. This caliph was, in the beginning of his reign, an unjust monarch; and is said to have been recalled to a sense of duty by the following hint :-Being one night unable to sleep, he called for a person to tell him a story for his amusement. "O prince of the faithful," said the man thus bidden, "there was an owl in El-Mosil, and an owl in El-Basrah; and the owl of El-Mosil demanded in marriage, for her son, the daughter of the owl of El-Basrah: but the latter said, 'I will not consent unless thou give me, as her dowry, a hundred desolate farms.' "That I cannot do,' said the owl of El-Mosil, at present; but if our Govereign, may God preserve him! live one year more, I will give thee what thou desirest."" This simple fable sufficed to rouse the prince from his apathy, and he thenceforward applied himself to fulfil the duties of his station. "Abdalmelik was the first who gave his lieutenant in Africa, (who at that time was Hassan the son of An Nooman), instructions to possess himself of the arsenal in Tunis, to build vessels, and to collect all kinds of maritime stores, so as to enable the Arabs to continue by sea their conquests and incursions. It was with these vessels that Sicily was conquered."-Don Pascual de Gayangos. HERE ОCKLEY'S HISTORY TERMINATES. It was his wish to complete the dynasty of the Ommiades, but this he was prevented from accomplishing, first, by "inexorable necessity," as he himself tells us in his preface (page xxvi.), and subsequently by his death, which took place soon after the publication of the second volume of his work. It is the intention of the publisher to give, in a future volume, not only a history of the remaining caliphs of the house of Ommiyah, in completion of the design of Ockley, but also a history of the long dynasty of the Abassides, down to the barbarous murder of Al Mostasem, the last caliph of that family, when Bagdad, the metropolis of Islamism, fell into the hands of Houlagou Khan, emperor of the Moguls and Tartars, and Saracenic history becomes merged in that of their conquerors. This period will comprise 538 years; and though the history of the Saracens becomes less stirring and romantic the farther it is removed from the time of Mohammed and his immediate successors, the first four caliphs, called "companions of the prophet," yet it records many memorable events, and some even of as great celebrity as any that have preceded; such as the conquest of Spain and the Crusades. Some indication of what is to follow is given in the accompanying Chronological Tables of the Caliphate, commencing with that of Walid 1., the son and successor of Abdalmelik, the last caliph recorded by Ockley. TABULAR VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE SARACENS, In continuation of Ockley. DYNASTY OF THE OMMIADES. (For Table of the previous Caliphs, see commencement of volume.) 6. WALID I. AN. HEJ. 86–96. a.d. 705–715. Musa reduces the Berbes in Africa, and subdues Mauritania and the whole northern coast. Victory of Catibah over the Turks. Conquest of Bokhara and Samarcand. Expedition into India. CONQUEST OF SPAIN. 7. SOLIMAN. AN. HEJ. 96-99. A.D. 715–717. Defeated before Constantinople, and died of grief. 8. OMAR II. AN. HEJ. 99-101. A.D. 717-720. Endeavoured to reconcile the sects of Omar and Ali, and died of poison. 9. YEZID II. AN. HEJ. 101-105. A.D. 720-724. His generals successful, but he gives up his life to pleasure. 10. HASHEM. AN. HEJ. 105–125. A.D. 724-743. Armenia, and the Khozens of the Caucasus, subdued. CHARLES MARTEL checks the conquests of the Arabs in the west. Rise of the Abassides. 11. WALID II. AN. HEJ. 125, 126. a.d. 743, 744. Of a voluptuous disposition, and slain in his palace by conspirators. 12. YEZID III. AN. HEJ. 126. A.D. 744. Reigned five months, and died of the plague. 13. IBRAHIM. AN. HEJ. 126. a.d. 744. Deposed by Merwan after a reign of three months. 14. MERWAN II. AN. HEJ. 127-132. a.d. 744–750. The Abassides make head in Khorassan, under the brothers Ibrahim and Abul-Abbas; and refuse to acknowledge Merwan. The latter, after being defeated on the banks of the Zab, flees into Egypt, whither he is followed by Abdallah, and, in another battle on the banks of the Nile, is defeated and slain. DYNASTY OF THE ABASSIDES. AN. HEJ. 132-656. a.d. 750—1258. THIRTY-SEVEN CALIPAL .. ABUL-ABBAS. AN. HEJ. 132–136. a.d. 750—754. in Destroys the cities of Ctesiphon and Seleucis, and founds Bagdad, which becomes the seat of the caliphs and the centre of commerce. these two reigns all the Ommiades are put to death except Abdarrhaman, who escapes, and founds the dynasty of the Ommiades in Spain, which is lost to the caliphate, A.D. 755. 3. AL MAHDI. AN. HEJ. 158-169. a.d. 775–785. Expends 666,000 gold crowns in a pilgrimage to Mecca. Haroun Al Rashid pushes as far as Nicomedia, on the sea of Marmora, and compels the Empress Irene to pay a yearly tribute of 70,000 dinars in gold. 4. AL HADI. AN. HEJ. 169, 170. A.D. 785, 786. 5. HAROUN AL RASHID (" Aaron the Sage," the celebrated hero of the Arabian Nights). AN. HEJ. 170-193. A.D. 786-809. He was the friend and patron of learning-was always surrounded by learned men, and never built a mosque without attaching a school to it. Haroun sends an embassy to Charlemagne : among the presents is an hydraulic clock. Defeats the Greeks, ravages Asia Minor, captures Cyprus, and compels Nicephorus to pay tribute. A FLOURISHING PERIOD OF ARABIAN ASTRONOMY, POETRY, PHILOSOPHY, ARCHITECTURE, AND GENERAL LITERATURE. Dynasty of the Aglabites founded at Kairwan and Tunis, A.D. 800— 941. Edrisites at Fez, A.D. 808-908. 6. AL AMIN. AN. HEJ. 193-198. A.D. 809-813. 7. AL MAMUN. AN. HEJ. 198-218. A.D. 813-833. Augustan period of Arabian literature. First dismemberment of the Arabian monarchy in the east. A band of Spanish Arabs take Crete. Euphemius invites the Saracens of Africa into Sicily-they take Palermo. Dynasty of the Taherites founded at Khorassan, A.D. 820—872. 8. AL MOTASSEM. AN. HEJ. 218-227. A.D. 833-841. Builds Saumara, which he makes the seat of government. Wars with Theophilus-their savage character. Turkish captives formed into the body guards of the caliphs. Gradual decline of the caliphate. |