Page:Muhammad Diyab al-Itlidi - Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalîfahs - Alice Frere - 1873.djvu/57

28

Would that I were herding camels in Káfrah,

Or were a slave to the Rabîa or Múdhar!

Would that I had in Syria the scantiest portion,

Dwelling among my people, tho' deaf and sightless.

And when Jábalah-ibn-el-Aiham had returned to Christianity, he became a follower of Heraclius, lord of Constantinople, who allotted to him lands and money; and so he remained according to the will of God. And some time after this, ʾOmar sent a messenger to Cæsar (Heraclius) to give him his choice of professing el-Islám, or of paying the capitation tax.