"The historians of the age of Justinian represent the state of
the independent Arabs, who were divided by interest or
affection in the long quarrel of the East [between the Romans
and Persians—3rd to 7th century]: the tribe of Gassan was
allowed to encamp on the Syrian territory; the princes of Hira
were permitted to form a city about 40 miles to the southward
of the ruins of Babylon. Their service in the field was speedy
and vigorous; but their friendship was venal, their faith
inconstant, their enmity capricious: it was an easier task to
excite than to disarm these roving barbarians; and, in the
familiar intercourse of war, they learned to see and to
despise the splendid weakness both of Rome and of Persia."
_E. Gibbon,
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
chapter 50 (volume 5)._
"The dynasty of Palmyra and the western tribes embraced
Christianity in the time of Constantine; to the east of the
desert the religion was later of gaining ground, and indeed
was not adopted by the court of Hira till near the end of the
6th century. Early in the 7th, Hira fell from its dignity as
an independent power, and became a satrapy of Persia."
_Sir William Muir,
Life of Mahomet,
introduction, chapter 1._
In 633 Hira was overwhelmed by the Mahometan conquest, and the
greater city of Kufa was built only 3 miles distant from it.
See MAHOMETAN CONQUEST: A. D. 632-651;
also, BUSSORAH AND KUFA.