throne of Damascus, the caliph was advised to extirpate the enmity of
a popular and hostile race, whom he had injured beyond the hope of
reconciliation. But Yezid preferred the councils of mercy; and the
mourning family was honorably dismissed to mingle their tears with
their kindred at Medina. The glory of martyrdom superseded the right of
primogeniture; and the twelve imams, or pontiffs, of the Persian creed,
are Ali, Hassan, Hosein, and the lineal descendants of Hosein to
the ninth generation. Without arms, or treasures, or subjects, they
successively enjoyed the veneration of the people, and provoked the
jealousy of the reigning caliphs: their tombs, at Mecca or Medina, on
the banks of the Euphrates, or in the province of Chorasan, are still
visited by the devotion of their sect. Their names were often the
pretence of sedition and civil war; but these royal saints despised the
pomp of the world: submitted to the will of God and the injustice of
man; and devoted their innocent lives to the study and practice of
religion. The twelfth and last of the Imams, conspicuous by the title
of _Mahadi_, or the Guide, surpassed the solitude and sanctity of his
predecessors. He concealed himself in a cavern near Bagdad: the time and
place of his death are unknown; and his votaries pretend that he still
lives, and will appear before the day of judgment to overthrow the
tyranny of Dejal, or the Antichrist. In the lapse of two or three
centuries, the posterity of Abbas, the uncle of Mahomet, had multiplied
to the number of thirty-three thousand: the race of Ali might be equally
prolific: the meanest individual was above the first and greatest of
princes; and the most eminent were supposed to excel the perfection of
angels. But their adverse fortune, and the wide extent of the Mussulman
empire, allowed an ample scope for every bold and artful imposture, who
claimed affinity with the holy seed: the sceptre of the Almohades, in
Spain and Africa; of the Fatimites, in Egypt and Syria; of the Sultans
of Yemen; and of the Sophis of Persia; has been consecrated by this
vague and ambiguous title. Under their reigns it might be dangerous to
dispute the legitimacy of their birth; and one of the Fatimite caliphs
silenced an indiscreet question by drawing his cimeter: "This," said
Moez, "is my pedigree; and these," casting a handful of gold to his
soldiers,--"and these are my kindred and my children." In the various
conditions of princes, or doctors, or nobles, or merchants, or beggars,
a swarm of the genuine or fictitious descendants of Mahomet and Ali is
honored with the appellation of sheiks, or sherifs, or emirs. In the
Ottoman empire they are distinguished by a green turban; receive a
stipend from the treasury; are judged only by their chief; and, however
debased by fortune or character, still assert the proud preÎminence of
their birth. A family of three hundred persons, the pure and orthodox
branch of the caliph Hassan, is preserved without taint or suspicion
in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and still retains, after the
revolutions of twelve centuries, the custody of the temple, and the
sovereignty of their native land. The fame and merit of Mahomet would
ennoble a plebeian race, and the ancient blood of the Koreish transcends
the recent majesty of the kings of the earth.
The talents of Mahomet are entitled to our applause; but his success
has, perhaps, too strongly attracted our admiration. Are we surprised
that a multitude of proselytes should embrace the doctrine and the
passions of an eloquent fanatic? In the heresies of the church, the same
seduction has been tried and repeated from the time of the apostles to
that of the reformers. Does it seem incredible that a private citizen
should grasp the sword and the sceptre, subdue his native country, and
erect a monarchy by his victorious arms? In the moving picture of the
dynasties of the East, a hundred fortunate usurpers have arisen from a
baser origin, surmounted more formidable obstacles, and filled a larger
scope of empire and conquest. Mahomet was alike instructed to preach and
to fight; and the union of these opposite qualities, while it enhanced
his merit, contributed to his success: the operation of force and
persuasion, of enthusiasm and fear, continually acted on each other,
till every barrier yielded to their irresistible power. His voice
invited the Arabs to freedom and victory, to arms and rapine, to the
indulgence of their darling passions in this world and the other: the
restraints which he imposed were requisite to establish the credit of
the prophet, and to exercise the obedience of the people; and the
only objection to his success was his rational creed of the unity and
perfections of God. It is not the propagation, but the permanency,
of his religion, that deserves our wonder: the same pure and perfect
impression which he engraved at Mecca and Medina, is preserved, after
the revolutions of twelve centuries, by the Indian, the African, and the
Turkish proselytes of the Koran. If the Christian apostles, St. Peter or
St. Paul, could return to the Vatican, they might possibly inquire the
name of the Deity who is worshipped with such mysterious rites in that
magnificent temple: at Oxford or Geneva, they would experience less
surprise; but it might still be incumbent on them to peruse the
catechism of the church, and to study the orthodox commentators on their
own writings and the words of their Master. But the Turkish dome of St.
Sophia, with an increase of splendor and size, represents the humble
tabernacle erected at Medina by the hands of Mahomet. The Mahometans
have uniformly withstood the temptation of reducing the object of their
faith and devotion to a level with the senses and imagination of man. "I
believe in one God, and Mahomet the apostle of God," is the simple and
invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity has
never been degraded by any visible idol; the honors of the prophet have
never transgressed the measure of human virtue; and his living precepts
have restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of
reason and religion. The votaries of Ali have, indeed, consecrated
the memory of their hero, his wife, and his children; and some of the
Persian doctors pretend that the divine essence was incarnate in the
person of the Imams; but their superstition is universally condemned
by the Sonnites; and their impiety has afforded a seasonable warning
against the worship of saints and martyrs. The metaphysical questions on
the attributes of God, and the liberty of man, have been agitated in the
schools of the Mahometans, as well as in those of the Christians; but
among the former they have never engaged the passions of the people,
or disturbed the tranquillity of the state. The cause of this important
difference may be found in the separation or union of the regal
and sacerdotal characters. It was the interest of the caliphs, the
successors of the prophet and commanders of the faithful, to repress
and discourage all religious innovations: the order, the discipline,
the temporal and spiritual ambition of the clergy, are unknown to the
Moslems; and the sages of the law are the guides of their conscience and
the oracles of their faith. From the Atlantic to the Ganges, the Koran
is acknowledged as the fundamental code, not only of theology, but
of civil and criminal jurisprudence; and the laws which regulate the
actions and the property of mankind are guarded by the infallible and
immutable sanction of the will of God. This religious servitude is
attended with some practical disadvantage; the illiterate legislator had
been often misled by his own prejudices and those of his country; and
the institutions of the Arabian desert may be ill adapted to the wealth
and numbers of Ispahan and Constantinople. On these occasions, the
Cadhi respectfully places on his head the holy volume, and substitutes a
dexterous interpretation more apposite to the principles of equity, and
the manners and policy of the times.
His beneficial or pernicious influence on the public happiness is the
last consideration in the character of Mahomet. The most bitter or
most bigoted of his Christian or Jewish foes will surely allow that
he assumed a false commission to inculcate a salutary doctrine, less
perfect only than their own. He piously supposed, as the basis of his
religion, the truth and sanctity of _their_ prior revolutions, the
virtues and miracles of their founders. The idols of Arabia were broken
before the throne of God; the blood of human victims was expiated
by prayer, and fasting, and alms, the laudable or innocent arts of
devotion; and his rewards and punishments of a future life were painted
by the images most congenial to an ignorant and carnal generation.
Mahomet was, perhaps, incapable of dictating a moral and political
system for the use of his countrymen: but he breathed among the faithful
a spirit of charity and friendship; recommended the practice of the
social virtues; and checked, by his laws and precepts, the thirst of
revenge, and the oppression of widows and orphans. The hostile tribes
were united in faith and obedience, and the valor which had been idly
spent in domestic quarrels was vigorously directed against a foreign
enemy. Had the impulse been less powerful, Arabia, free at home and
formidable abroad, might have flourished under a succession of her
native monarchs. Her sovereignty was lost by the extent and rapidity of
conquest. The colonies of the nation were scattered over the East and
West, and their blood was mingled with the blood of their converts and
captives. After the reign of three caliphs, the throne was transported
from Medina to the valley of Damascus and the banks of the Tigris; the
holy cities were violated by impious war; Arabia was ruled by the rod
of a subject, perhaps of a stranger; and the Bedoweens of the desert,
awakening from their dream of dominion, resumed their old and solitary
independence.
Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part I.
The Conquest Of Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, And Spain, By
The Arabs Or Saracens.--Empire Of The Caliphs, Or Successors
Of Mahomet.--State Of The Christians, &c., Under Their
Government.
The revolution of Arabia had not changed the character of the Arabs: the
death of Mahomet was the signal of independence; and the hasty structure
of his power and religion tottered to its foundations. A small and
faithful band of his primitive disciples had listened to his eloquence,
and shared his distress; had fled with the apostle from the persecution
of Mecca, or had received the fugitive in the walls of Medina. The
increasing myriads, who acknowledged Mahomet as their king and prophet,
had been compelled by his arms, or allured by his prosperity. The
polytheists were confounded by the simple idea of a solitary and
invisible God; the pride of the Christians and Jews disdained the
yoke of a mortal and contemporary legislator. The habits of faith and
obedience were not sufficiently confirmed; and many of the new converts
regretted the venerable antiquity of the law of Moses, or the rites
and mysteries of the Catholic church; or the idols, the sacrifices, the
joyous festivals, of their Pagan ancestors. The jarring interests and
hereditary feuds of the Arabian tribes had not yet coalesced in a system
of union and subordination; and the Barbarians were impatient of the
mildest and most salutary laws that curbed their passions, or violated
their customs. They submitted with reluctance to the religious precepts
of the Koran, the abstinence from wine, the fast of the Ramadan, and the
daily repetition of five prayers; and the alms and tithes, which were
collected for the treasury of Medina, could be distinguished only by
a name from the payment of a perpetual and ignominious tribute. The
example of Mahomet had excited a spirit of fanaticism or imposture,
and several of his rivals presumed to imitate the conduct, and defy the
authority, of the living prophet. At the head of the _fugitives_ and
_auxiliaries_, the first caliph was reduced to the cities of Mecca,
Medina, and Tayef; and perhaps the Koreish would have restored the
idols of the Caaba, if their levity had not been checked by a seasonable
reproof. "Ye men of Mecca, will ye be the last to embrace, and the
first to abandon, the religion of Islam?" After exhorting the Moslems
to confide in the aid of God and his apostle, Abubeker resolved, by a
vigorous attack, to prevent the junction of the rebels. The women
and children were safely lodged in the cavities of the mountains: the
warriors, marching under eleven banners, diffused the terror of their
arms; and the appearance of a military force revived and confirmed the
loyalty of the faithful. The inconstant tribes accepted, with humble
repentance, the duties of prayer, and fasting, and alms; and, after
some examples of success and severity, the most daring apostates fell
prostrate before the sword of the Lord and of Caled. In the fertile
province of Yemanah, between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia, in
a city not inferior to Medina itself, a powerful chief (his name was
Moseilama) had assumed the character of a prophet, and the tribe of
Hanifa listened to his voice. A female prophetess was attracted by
his reputation; the decencies of words and actions were spurned by
these favorites of Heaven; and they employed several days in mystic
and amorous converse. An obscure sentence of his Koran, or book, is yet
extant; and in the pride of his mission, Moseilama condescended to offer
a partition of the earth. The proposal was answered by Mahomet with
contempt; but the rapid progress of the impostor awakened the fears of
his successor: forty thousand Moslems were assembled under the standard
of Caled; and the existence of their faith was resigned to the event of
a decisive battle. In the first action they were repulsed by the loss
of twelve hundred men; but the skill and perseverance of their general
prevailed; their defeat was avenged by the slaughter of ten thousand
infidels; and Moseilama himself was pierced by an ∆thiopian slave with
the same javelin which had mortally wounded the uncle of Mahomet. The
various rebels of Arabia without a chief or a cause, were speedily
suppressed by the power and discipline of the rising monarchy; and the
whole nation again professed, and more steadfastly held, the religion
of the Koran. The ambition of the caliphs provided an immediate exercise
for the restless spirit of the Saracens: their valor was united in the
prosecution of a holy war; and their enthusiasm was equally confirmed by
opposition and victory.
From the rapid conquests of the Saracens a presumption will naturally
arise, that the caliphs commanded in person the armies of the faithful,
and sought the crown of martyrdom in the foremost ranks of the battle.
The courage of Abubeker, Omar, and Othman, had indeed been tried in
the persecution and wars of the prophet; and the personal assurance of
paradise must have taught them to despise the pleasures and dangers of
the present world. But they ascended the throne in a venerable or mature
age; and esteemed the domestic cares of religion and justice the most
important duties of a sovereign. Except the presence of Omar at
the siege of Jerusalem, their longest expeditions were the frequent
pilgrimage from Medina to Mecca; and they calmly received the tidings of
victory as they prayed or preached before the sepulchre of the prophet.
The austere and frugal measure of their lives was the effect of
virtue or habit, and the pride of their simplicity insulted the vain
magnificence of the kings of the earth. When Abubeker assumed the office
of caliph, he enjoined his daughter Ayesha to take a strict account of
his private patrimony, that it might be evident whether he were enriched
or impoverished by the service of the state. He thought himself entitled
to a stipend of three pieces of gold, with the sufficient maintenance
of a single camel and a black slave; but on the Friday of each week he
distributed the residue of his own and the public money, first to the
most worthy, and then to the most indigent, of the Moslems. The remains
of his wealth, a coarse garment, and five pieces of gold, were delivered
to his successor, who lamented with a modest sigh his own inability to
equal such an admirable model. Yet the abstinence and humility of Omar
were not inferior to the virtues of Abubeker: his food consisted of
barley bread or dates; his drink was water; he preached in a gown that
was torn or tattered in twelve places; and the Persian satrap, who paid
his homage to the conqueror, found him asleep among the beggars on the
steps of the mosch of Medina. Economy is the source of liberality,
and the increase of the revenue enabled Omar to establish a just and
perpetual reward for the past and present services of the faithful.
Careless of his own emolument, he assigned to Abbas, the uncle of the
prophet, the first and most ample allowance of twenty-five thousand
drachms or pieces of silver. Five thousand were allotted to each of
the aged warriors, the relics of the field of Beder; and the last and
meanest of the companions of Mahomet was distinguished by the annual
reward of three thousand pieces. One thousand was the stipend of the
veterans who had fought in the first battles against the Greeks and
Persians; and the decreasing pay, as low as fifty pieces of silver, was
adapted to the respective merit and seniority of the soldiers of Omar.
Under his reign, and that of his predecessor, the conquerors of the East
were the trusty servants of God and the people; the mass of the public
treasure was consecrated to the expenses of peace and war; a prudent
mixture of justice and bounty maintained the discipline of the Saracens,
and they united, by a rare felicity, the despatch and execution of
despotism with the equal and frugal maxims of a republican government.
The heroic courage of Ali, the consummate prudence of Moawiyah,
excited the emulation of their subjects; and the talents which had been
exercised in the school of civil discord were more usefully applied to
propagate the faith and dominion of the prophet. In the sloth and
vanity of the palace of Damascus, the succeeding princes of the house of
Ommiyah were alike destitute of the qualifications of statesmen and of
saints. Yet the spoils of unknown nations were continually laid at the
foot of their throne, and the uniform ascent of the Arabian greatness
must be ascribed to the spirit of the nation rather than the abilities
of their chiefs. A large deduction must be allowed for the weakness of
their enemies. The birth of Mahomet was fortunately placed in the most
degenerate and disorderly period of the Persians, the Romans, and the
Barbarians of Europe: the empires of Trajan, or even of Constantine or
Charlemagne, would have repelled the assault of the naked Saracens, and
the torrent of fanaticism might have been obscurely lost in the sands of
Arabia.
In the victorious days of the Roman republic, it had been the aim of
the senate to confine their councils and legions to a single war,
and completely to suppress a first enemy before they provoked the
hostilities of a second. These timid maxims of policy were disdained
by the magnanimity or enthusiasm of the Arabian caliphs. With the same
vigor and success they invaded the successors of Augustus and those of
Artaxerxes; and the rival monarchies at the same instant became the prey
of an enemy whom they had been so long accustomed to despise. In the
ten years of the administration of Omar, the Saracens reduced to his
obedience thirty-six thousand cities or castles, destroyed four thousand
churches or temples of the unbelievers, and edified fourteen hundred
moschs for the exercise of the religion of Mahomet. One hundred years
after his flight from Mecca, the arms and the reign of his successors
extended from India to the Atlantic Ocean, over the various and distant
provinces, which may be comprised under the names of, I. Persia;
II. Syria; III. Egypt; IV. Africa; and, V. Spain. Under this general
division, I shall proceed to unfold these memorable transactions;
despatching with brevity the remote and less interesting conquests of
the East, and reserving a fuller narrative for those domestic countries
which had been included within the pale of the Roman empire. Yet I
must excuse my own defects by a just complaint of the blindness and
insufficiency of my guides. The Greeks, so loquacious in controversy,
have not been anxious to celebrate the triumphs of their enemies.
After a century of ignorance, the first annals of the Mussulmans were
collected in a great measure from the voice of tradition. Among the
numerous productions of Arabic and Persian literature, our interpreters
have selected the imperfect sketches of a more recent age. The art
and genius of history have ever been unknown to the Asiatics; they are
ignorant of the laws of criticism; and our monkish chronicle of the
same period may be compared to their most popular works, which are never
vivified by the spirit of philosophy and freedom. The _Oriental library_
of a Frenchman would instruct the most learned mufti of the East; and
perhaps the Arabs might not find in a single historian so clear and
comprehensive a narrative of their own exploits as that which will be
deduced in the ensuing sheets.
I. In the first year of the first caliph, his lieutenant Caled, the
Sword of God, and the scourge of the infidels, advanced to the banks of
the Euphrates, and reduced the cities of Anbar and Hira. Westward of the
ruins of Babylon, a tribe of sedentary Arabs had fixed themselves on the
verge of the desert; and Hira was the seat of a race of kings who had
embraced the Christian religion, and reigned above six hundred years
under the shadow of the throne of Persia. The last of the Mondars was
defeated and slain by Caled; his son was sent a captive to Medina; his
nobles bowed before the successor of the prophet; the people was tempted
by the example and success of their countrymen; and the caliph accepted
as the first-fruits of foreign conquest an annual tribute of seventy
thousand pieces of gold. The conquerors, and even their historians, were
astonished by the dawn of their future greatness: "In the same year,"
says Elmacin, "Caled fought many signal battles: an immense multitude of
the infidels was slaughtered; and spoils infinite and innumerable were
acquired by the victorious Moslems." But the invincible Caled was soon
transferred to the Syrian war: the invasion of the Persian frontier was
conducted by less active or less prudent commanders: the Saracens were
repulsed with loss in the passage of the Euphrates; and, though they
chastised the insolent pursuit of the Magians, their remaining forces
still hovered in the desert of Babylon.