Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/186

 639] upon the Umeiyad race for ancient misdeeds and enmity towards the Prophet, and political capital made of them. The accession, therefore, of Muʿāwiya at the present time to the chief command in Syria excited no jealousy or opposition. It passed, indeed, as a thing of course, without remark.

As ʿOmar prepared to take final leave of Syria, a scene occurred which stirred to their depths the hearts of the Faithful. It was the voice of Bilāl, the Muëzzin of the Prophet, proclaiming the hour of prayer. The stentorian call of the aged African had not been heard since the death of Moḥammad; for he refused to perform the duty for any other. He followed the army to Syria, and there, honoured for the office he had so long discharged at Medīna, lived in retirement. The Chief citizens of Damascus now petitioned ʿOmar that on this last occasion, Bilāl should be asked once more to perform the Call to Prayer. The aged man consented, and as from the top of the Great Mosque the well-known voice arose clear and loud with the accustomed cry, the whole assembly, recalling vividly the Prophet at daily prayers, was melted into tears, and strong warriors, with ʿOmar at their head, lifted up their voices and sobbed aloud. Bilāl died two years after.

On returning to Medīna, ʿOmar set out on the annual Pilgrimage to Mecca, at which he presided every year of his Caliphate. But this was the last journey which he made beyond the limits of Arabia.