Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/392

 705–15] ʿOmar, in which Islām so spread abroad and was consolidated. We may safely accept the judgment of the impartial Weil, who tells us that, "although Muslim historians, because of his supporting Al-Ḥajjāj, call Al-Welīd a tyrant, he is in our eyes the greatest, and in every respect the most powerful and illustrious, ruler amongst all the Commanders of the Faithful." From the borders of China and the banks of the Indus to the Atlantic, his word was law. In his reign culture and the arts began to flourish. He enlarged the Mosque of Damascus by taking in the Church of St John from the Christians. From a church in Baalbek he took a gilded dome of brass and set it over the rock in ʿAbd al-Melik's Mosque in Jerusalem. He rebuilt and enlarged the Mosque of Medīna and the Aḳṣā Mosque in Jerusalem. He established schools and hospitals, and made provision for the aged, blind, and lame. He frequently visited the markets; and so encouraged manufacture and design, that people began to take an interest in their advancement. Roads, with wells at convenient stations, were made throughout the kingdom, and the comfort of travellers, notably of pilgrims to the Holy Places, specially cared for. More perhaps than any other Caliph, he knew how to hold the balance between the Arabian tribal rivalries, and ruled at large with a powerful hand. If Al-Ḥajjāj be an exception, Al-Welīd, at the least, held him in better check than did his predecessor. Looking at it from first to last, we shall not find in the annals of the Caliphate a more glorious reign than that of Al-Welīd.

As a proof of his mildness and consideration, it is told of him that when in 91 on pilgrimage, he visited Medīna and made large presents to the people, the court of the Mosque was cleared of worshippers, that in company with ʿOmar he might inspect at leisure the improvements he had made. One old man alone would neither rise up nor salute the Caliph. ʿOmar tried to divert the attention of his cousin from the uncourtly worshipper; but Al-Welīd saw, and at once recognised him, "How art thou, Saʿīd?" cried the Caliph. Without the slightest movement or salutation, the aged man replied:—Very well, I am thankful to say, and