Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/84

 633] With this view he advanced rapidly up the western channel of the Euphrates, and surprised Amghīsīyā, a town the rival of Al-Ḥīra in size and wealth. The inhabitants fled, and the booty was so rich that each horseman's share reached 1500 pieces. When the fifth reached Medīna, Abu Bekr was overwhelmed at the sight; "Oh ye Ḳoreish," he exclaimed in ecstasy, "verily your lion, the lion of Islām, hath leapt upon the lion of Persia, and spoiled him of his prey. Surely the womb is exhausted. Woman shall no more bear a second Khālid!"

Finding boats at Amghīsīyā, Khālid embarked his infantry and baggage, and was tracking up the stream to Al-Ḥīra when, the Satrap having opened some irrigating escapes above, the flotilla grounded suddenly. Apprised of the cause, Khālid hastened with a flying squadron to the canal-head, closed the sluices and enabled the boats again to ascend. Then the army, having disembarked and taken possession of the beautiful palaces of the Princes of Al-Ḥīra, encamped before the city walls. The Satrap fled across the river; but the city, defended as it was by four citadels, refused to surrender. The ramparts were manned, and the besiegers kept at bay by the discharge of missiles. A monastery and cloisters lay without; and at length the monks and clergy, exposed to the fury of the besiegers, induced the citizens to capitulate on easy terms embodied in a treaty. Then they brought gifts, which Khalid accepted and despatched to Medīna. Abu Bekr ratified the treaty and accepted the presents, but desired that their value should be deducted from the tribute.

The men of Al-Ḥīra bound themselves to pay a yearly tribute, for which all classes, saving religious mendicants, were assessed. The Muslims, on their part, engaged to protect the city from attack. The treaty, though shortly set aside by the rising which swept over the land, is interesting as the first concluded with a principality lying without the Peninsula. One strange condition may be mentioned. The beauty of Kerāma had been long proverbial, and a soldier laid claim to her on the ground that Moḥammad, hearing him extol her charms, had promised (so the story