Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/241

 212 the natural recoil of a strict and fervid believer from the graceless and licentious luxury of the day: but it was seized by the discontented classes as a weapon against the Government. Visiting Syria, the ascetic, whose spirit was stirred at the pomps and vanities around him, preached repentance. "This gold and silver of yours," he cried, "shall one day be heated red-hot in the fire of hell; and therewith shall ye be seared in your foreheads, sides, and backs, ye ungodly spendthrifts! Wherefore, spend now the same in alms, leaving yourselves enough but for your daily bread; else woe be unto you in that day!" Crowds flocked round him at Damascus, some trembling under his rebuke; others rejoicing at the contempt poured on the rich and noble; while the people at large were dazzled by the vision of sharing in the treasures of the classes thus denounced. Uneasy at the disturbing effect of these diatribes, Muʿāwiya resolved to test the spirit of the preacher. He sent him a purse of 1000 pieces, and in the morning, affecting to have made a mistake, demanded its return; but during the night Abu Dharr had distributed the whole in charity. On this, Muʿāwiya, convinced of his sincerity, and apprehensive of the spread of his socialistic doctrines, despatched the preacher to Medīna, telling ʿOthmān that he was an honest but misguided enthusiast. Before the Caliph, Abu Dharr persisted in fearlessly denouncing the great and wealthy, and urged that they should be forced to disgorge their riches. ʿOthmān condescended to reason with him. "When once men have fulfilled their obligations," he asked, "what power remaineth with me to compel any further sacrifice?" and he turned to Kaʿb, a learned Jewish convert, to confirm what he had said. "Out upon thee, son of a