FAMINE AND PLAGUE.
A.H. XVIII. A.D. 639.
[Sidenote: The _Year of Ashes_. A.H. XVIII. A.D. 639.]
The fifth year of Omar’s Caliphate was darkened by the double calamity
of pestilence and famine. It is called ‘The Year of Ashes;’ for the dry
air of the Hejâz was so charged with the unslaked dust of the parched
and sandy soil as to obscure the light by a thick and sultry haze.[356]
[Sidenote: Famine in the Hejâz.]
In the northern half of the Peninsula the drought was so severe that
all nature languished. Wild and timid creatures of the desert, tamed
by want, came seeking food at the hand of man. Flocks and herds died
of starvation, or were so attenuated as to become unfit for human
food. Markets were empty and deserted. The people suffered extremities
like those of a garrison long besieged. Crowds of Bedouins, driven
by hunger, flocked to Medîna and aggravated the distress. Omar, with
characteristic self-denial, refused any indulgence which could not
be shared with those around him. He took an oath that he would taste
neither meat nor butter, nor even milk, until the people at large had
food enough and to spare. On one occasion his servant obtained at a
great price a skin filled with milk, and another with butter. Omar sent
both away in alms. ‘I will not eat,’ he said, ‘of that which costeth
much; for how then should I know the trouble of my people, if I suffer
not even as they?’ From coarse fare and the use of oil-olive instead
of milk and butter, the Caliph’s countenance, naturally fresh and
bright, became sallow and haggard.[357]
[Sidenote: Grain imported from Syria and other lands.]
Every effort was made to alleviate distress, and as the famine was
limited to Arabia, or at any rate was sorest there, Omar sent letters
to the various governors abroad, who promptly aided him in this
extremity. Abu Obeida came himself with four thousand beasts of burden
laden with corn from Syria, which he distributed with his own hand
amongst the famished people. Amru despatched food from Palestine, both
by camels and by shipping from the port of Ayla.[358] Supplies came
also from Irâc. The beasts of burden were slain by twenties daily, and
served, together with their freight, to feed the citizens of Medîna.
After nine months of sore trial, the heavens were overcast, in answer
(we are told) to a solemn service, in which Abbâs, the Prophet’s aged
uncle, took a part; the rain descended in heavy showers and drenched
the land.[359] The grass sprang rapidly, the Bedouins were sent back
to their pasture lands, and plenty again prevailed. Benefit accrued
from the calamity, for a permanent traffic was established with the
north; and the markets of the Hejâz continued long to be supplied from
Syria, and eventually by sea from Egypt.[360]
[Sidenote: Plague breaks out in Syria.]
The famine was followed, but in a different region, by a still worse
calamity. The plague broke out in Syria; and, attacking with special
virulence the head-quarters of the Arabs at Hims and Damascus,
devastated the whole province. Crossing the desert, it spread to Irâc,
and even as far as Bussorah. Consternation pervaded all ranks. High
and low fell equally before the scourge. Men were struck down as by
a sudden blow, and death followed rapidly. Omar’s first impulse was
to summon Abu Obeida to his presence for a time, lest he too should
fall a victim to the fell disease. Knowing the chivalrous spirit of
his friend, the Caliph veiled his purpose, and simply ordered him to
visit Medîna ‘on an urgent affair.’ But Abu Obeida divined the cause,
and, choosing rather to share the danger with his people, begged to be
excused. Omar, as he read the answer, burst into tears. ‘Is Abu Obeida
dead?’ they asked. ‘No, he is not dead,’ said Omar; ‘but it is as if
he were.’ The Caliph then set out himself on a journey towards Syria,
but was met on the confines at Tebûk by Abu Obeida and other chief men
from the scene of the disaster. [Sidenote: Omar holds a council on the
borders of Syria.]A council was called, and Omar yielded to the wish
of the majority that he should return home again. ‘What,’ cried some
of his courtiers, ‘and flee from the decree of God?’ ‘Yea,’ replied
the Caliph, wiser than they, ‘we flee, but it is from the decree of
God, unto the decree of God.’ He then commanded Abu Obeida to carry the
Arab population in a body from the infected cities into the high lands
of the desert, and himself with his followers wended his way back to
Medîna.[361]
[Sidenote: Arabs of Syria moved to high lands of Haurân.]
Acting on the Caliph’s wish, Abu Obeida lost no time in leading forth
the people to the high lands of the Haurân. He had reached as far
as Jâbia, when just as he put his foot into the camel’s stirrup to
start again upon his onward journey, he too was struck, and together
with his son fell a victim to the pestilence. [Sidenote: Death of
Abu Obeida.]Moâdz, whom he had designated to occupy his place, died
almost immediately after; and it was left for Amru to conduct the
panic-stricken multitude to the hill country, where the pestilence
abated. Not less than five-and-twenty thousand perished in this
visitation. Of a single family which migrated seventy in number from
Medîna, but four were left. Such was the deadly virulence of the plague.
[Sidenote: Omar’s journey to Syria, Autumn, A.H. XVIII. A.D. 639.]
The country was disabled by the scourge, and at one time fears were
entertained of an attack from the Roman armies. It was fortunate for
the Caliphate that no such attempt was made, for the Arabs would have
been ill able just then to resist it. But the terrible extent of the
calamity was manifested in another way. A vast amount of property was
left by the dead, and the gaps at every turn amongst the survivors
caused much embarrassment in the administration and devolution of
the same. The difficulty grew to such dimensions, that with the view
of settling this and other matters Omar resolved on making a royal
progress through his dominions. At first he thought of visiting Irâc,
and passing through Mesopotamia, so to enter Syria from the north;
but he abandoned the larger project, and confining his resolution to
Syria, took the usual route.[362] His way lay through the Christian
settlement of Ayla, at the head of the Gulf of Acaba. The reception
met with here brings out well the simplicity of Omar, and his kindly
feeling toward the Christians. He journeyed on a camel with small pomp
or following; and as he was minded to enter the village unrecognised,
he changed places with his servant. ‘Where is the Ameer?’ cried the
eager crowds as they streamed forth from the village to witness the
Caliph’s advent. ‘He is _before_ you,’ replied Omar, and he drove
his camel on.[363] So they hurried forward, thinking that the great
Caliph was beyond, and left Omar to alight unobserved at the house of
the bishop, with whom he lodged during the heat of the day. His coat,
which had been rent upon the journey, he gave to his host to mend. This
the bishop not only did, but had a garment made for him of material
lighter and more suited to the oppressive travel of the season. Omar,
however, preferred to wear his own.
Proceeding onwards to Jâbia, the Caliph made a circuit from thence
over the whole of Syria. [Sidenote: Muâvia appointed to the chief
command in Syria.]He visited all the Moslem settlements, and gave
instructions for the disposal of the estates of the multitudes
swept away by the plague, himself deciding such claims as were laid
before him. As both Yezîd, the governor of Damascus, and Abu Obeida
had perished in the pestilence, Omar now appointed Muâvia, son of
Abu Sofiân and brother of Yezîd, to the chief command in Syria, and
thus laid the foundation of the Omeyyad dynasty. Muâvia was a man of
unbounded ambition, but wise and able withal; and he turned to good
account his new position. The factious spirit which built itself up
on the divine claim of Aly and Abbâs, the cousin and uncle of the
Prophet, and spurned the Omeyyad blood of Muâvia, was yet in embryo.
Aly, as well as Abbâs, had hitherto remained inactive at Medîna.
The latter, always weak and wavering, was now enfeebled by age; the
former, honoured, indeed, as well for his wit and judgment as for
his relationship to Mahomet, was amongst the trusted counsellors of
the Caliph, but possessed of no special power or influence, nor any
apparent ambition beyond a quiet life of indulgence in the charms of
a harem varied constantly with fresh arrivals. Neither is there any
reason to suppose that at this time the former opposition to Islam of
Abu Sofiân or of Hind, the parents of Muâvia, was remembered against
them. Sins preceding conversion, if followed by a consistent profession
of the Faith, left no stain upon the believer. It was not till the
fires of civil strife burst forth that the ancient misdeeds of the
Omeyyad race and their early enmity to the Prophet were dragged into
light, and political capital made of them. The accession, therefore,
of Muâvia at the present time to the chief command in Syria excited
no jealousy or opposition. It passed, indeed, as a thing of course,
without remark.[364]
[Sidenote: Bilâl performs the office of Muedzzin.]
As Omar prepared to take final leave of Syria, a scene occurred which
stirred to their depths the hearts of all the Moslems present. It was
the voice of Bilâl, the Muedzzin of the Prophet, proclaiming the hour
of prayer. The stentorian call of the now aged African had never been
heard since the death of Mahomet; for he had refused to perform the
duty in the service of any other. He followed the army to Syria, and
there, honoured for his former position, had retired into private life.
The chief men now petitioned Omar that on this last occasion, Bilâl
should be asked once more to perform the office of Muedzzin. The old
man consented, and as the well-known voice arose clear and loud with
the accustomed cry, the people recalled so vividly the Prophet at the
daily prayers to mind, that the whole assembly was melted to tears, and
strong warriors, with Omar at their head, lifted up their voices and
sobbed aloud. Bilâl died two years after, at Damascus.[365]
[Sidenote: Pilgrimage to Mecca, A.H. XVIII. November, A.D. 639.]
Omar returned to Medîna in time to set out on the annual Pilgrimage to
Mecca, at which he presided every year of his Caliphate. But this was
the last journey which he took beyond the limits of Arabia.