Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/374

 692–705] lasting impression on him. He was early employed in the affairs of Mecca, and accompanied his father Merwān thither in the negotiations held with Ibn az-Zubeir. During the first half of his reign the throne was often in jeopardy, and a coalition of his adversaries would probably have overthrown it. Yet, with but one exception, we never hear of his being betrayed into acts of bitterness and retaliation: on the contrary, before resorting to extremities, he repeatedly made offers of pardon and reconciliation. Like ʿOthmān, most of his stadtholders were relatives of his own, but they were able men, and there was none left to oppose. He seemed to like to give iniquitous governors to Medīna, like Hishām ibn Ismāʿīl. In the end, having triumphed over all his enemies, he left to his sons a splendid inheritance, and with it the ample and ready means for extending the kingdom on every side.