Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/185

 156 simplicity and kindly feeling which he evinced toward his Christian subjects. He rode on a camel with small pomp and following; and, minded to enter the village unrecognised, changed places with his servant, putting him in front. "Where is the Amīr?" cried the eager citizens, streaming forth to witness the Caliph's advent. "He is before you," replied ʿOmar with double meaning, as the camel moved slowly on. So the crowd hurried forward, thinking that the great Ruler was still beyond, and left ʿOmar to alight unobserved at the house of the Bishop, with whom he lodged during the heat of the day. His coat, rent upon the journey, was given to his host to mend. This the Bishop not only did, but had a lighter garment made for him, more suited to the oppressive travel of the season. ʿOmar, however, preferred to wear his own.

Proceeding onwards, the Caliph made the circuit of Syria. He visited the chief Muslim settlements, gave instructions for the disposal of the estates of the multitudes swept away by the plague, and himself decided doubtful claims. As both Abu ʿObeida and Yezīd had perished in the pestilence, ʿOmar now appointed Muʿāwiya, another son of Abu Sufyān, to the chief command in Syria, and thus laid the foundation of the Umeiyad dynasty. Muʿāwiya was a man of unbounded ambition, but wise and able withal; and he turned to good account his new position. The factions which glorified the claims of ʿAlī and Al-ʿAbbās, and spurned the Umeiyad blood of Muʿāwiya, were yet unknown. Both ʿAlī and Al-ʿAbbās had hitherto remained inactive at Medīna. The latter, always weak and wavering, was now enfeebled by old age. The former, honoured, indeed, as the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, and also for his wit and wisdom, was amongst the trusted counsellors of the Caliph, but possessed no special power or influence, or any apparent ambition beyond a life of quiet indulgence in the charms of a ḥarīm, varied ever and anon by fresh arrivals. Neither is there any reason to suppose that the bygone opposition to Islām of Abu Sufyān and Hind, parents of Muʿāwiya, was now remembered against them. Sins preceding conversion, if followed by a consistent profession, left no stain upon the Believer. It was not till the fires of civil strife burst forth that abuse was heaped