Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/207

 178 deposited in the treasury. The boundary pillars of the Ḥaram, or sacred precincts around the City, were renewed; and convenient halting-places constructed at the pilgrim stations, for custody of which and care of the adjoining springs, the local tribes were held responsible.

In the seventh year of ʿOmar's reign volcanic fires burst from a hill in the neighbourhood of Medīna. The Caliph gave command to distribute alms amongst the poor, a pious work in which the people joined; "and so the volcano stopped." In the same year a naval expedition was sent across the Red Sea, to check attacks upon the Muslims on the Abyssinian coast. The vessels were wrecked, and the expedition suffered great privation. The disaster led ʿOmar to vow that he would never again permit troops to embark upon an element so treacherous. It was not till some years after his death that the Muslims gathered courage to brave the risks of a naval encounter.

In the governors appointed to control the turbulent cities of Al-Kūfa and Al-Baṣra, ʿOmar was not altogether fortunate. ʿOtba, governor of Al-Baṣra, died, as we have seen, shortly after rescuing the unfortunate expedition to Persepolis. The choice of a successor in Al-Moghīra was ill-advised. Of rude and repulsive aspect, he had committed murder in his youth at Aṭ-Ṭāif, and Islām had not softened his nature or improved his morals. A ḥarīm of fourscore wives and concubines failed to satisfy his vagrant passion. At Al-Baṣra his movements were watched by enemies, who through an intervening window were witness to an intrigue with a Bedawi lady visiting his house. When he came forth to lead the public prayer, they shouted him down as an adulterer; and ʿOmar summoned him to answer the accusation. By any reasonable law of evidence, the crime had been established beyond a doubt; but, under the strange conditions promulgated by Moḥammad on the misadventure of his favourite wife, there was a flaw in the testimony of Ziyād, the fourth witness. The Caliph, with an ill-concealed groan at the