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 436 THE DECLINE AND FALL 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 royal pageants of vanity and oppres- sion. 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. Wher- ever 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 poly- gamy 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 dis- coursed with the patriarch concerning its religious antiquities.^^ 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 in- fringed 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 9' The singular journey and equipage of Omar are described (besides Ockley, vol. i. p. 250) by Murtadi (Merveilles de I'Egypte, p. 200-202). 9* 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. 1. xi. c. i, 8, p. 547, 579-582). °' To 35e'Avy/xa TTJs e prixw (7 (ui<; to p-qOiv Bia Aavir)K tov TTporbrJTOv earo)? [leg. e(TTO^] iv TOTTO) ayCw. Theophan. Chronograph, p. 281 [a.m. 6127]. This prediction, which had already served for .'Vntiochus and the Romans, was again refitted for the present occasion, by the oeconomy of Sophronius, one of the deepest theologians of the Monothelite controversy. ''s According to the accurate survey of D'.Xnville (Dissertation sur I'ancienne Jerusalem, p. 42-54), the mosch of Omar, enlarged and embellished by succeeding