Cleveland Moffett - "The Conquest of America"

Anonymous - "Ring O' Roses"

Edith Nesbit - "All Round the Year"

Laura Lee Hope - "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home"

Editorial
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5

E >> Edward Gibbon >> The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5




[Footnote 35: The territory of Fergana is described by Abulfeda,
p. 76, 77.]

[Footnote 36: Eo redegit angustiarum eundem regem exsulem, ut
Turcici regis, et Sogdiani, et Sinensis, auxilia missis literis
imploraret, (Abulfed. Annal. p. 74) The connection of the Persian
and Chinese history is illustrated by Freret (Mem. de l'Academie,
tom. xvi. p. 245 - 255) and De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, tom. i.
p. 54 - 59,) and for the geography of the borders, tom. ii. p. 1
- 43.]

[Footnote 37: Hist. Sinica, p. 41 - 46, in the iiid part of the
Relations Curieuses of Thevenot.]

[Footnote 38: I have endeavored to harmonize the various
narratives of Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 37,) Abulpharagius,
(Dynast. p. 116,) Abulfeda, (Annal. p. 74, 79,) and D'Herbelot,
(p. 485.) The end of Yezdegerd, was not only unfortunate but
obscure.]

[Footnote *: The account of Yezdegerd's death in the Habeib
'usseyr and Rouzut uzzuffa (Price, p. 162) is much more probable.

On the demand of the few dhirems, he offered to the miller his
sword, and royal girdle, of inesturable value. This awoke the
cupidity of the miller, who murdered him, and threw the body into
the stream. - M.]

[Footnote !: Firouz died leaving a son called Ni-ni-cha by the
Chinese, probably Narses. Yezdegerd had two sons, Firouz and
Bahram St. Martin, vol. xi. p. 318. - M.]

[Footnote 39: The two daughters of Yezdegerd married Hassan, the
son of Ali, and Mohammed, the son of Abubeker; and the first of
these was the father of a numerous progeny. The daughter of
Phirouz became the wife of the caliph Walid, and their son Yezid
derived his genuine or fabulous descent from the Chosroes of
Persia, the Caesars of Rome, and the Chagans of the Turks or
Avars, (D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orientale, p. 96, 487.)]

After the fall of the Persian kingdom, the River Oxus
divided the territories of the Saracens and of the Turks. This
narrow boundary was soon overleaped by the spirit of the Arabs;
the governors of Chorasan extended their successive inroads; and
one of their triumphs was adorned with the buskin of a Turkish
queen, which she dropped in her precipitate flight beyond the
hills of Bochara. ^40 But the final conquest of Transoxiana, ^41
as well as of Spain, was reserved for the glorious reign of the
inactive Walid; and the name of Catibah, the camel driver,
declares the origin and merit of his successful lieutenant.
While one of his colleagues displayed the first Mahometan banner
on the banks of the Indus, the spacious regions between the Oxus,
the Jaxartes, and the Caspian Sea, were reduced by the arms of
Catibah to the obedience of the prophet and of the caliph. ^42 A
tribute of two millions of pieces of gold was imposed on the
infidels; their idols were burnt or broken; the Mussulman chief
pronounced a sermon in the new mosch of Carizme; after several
battles, the Turkish hordes were driven back to the desert; and
the emperors of China solicited the friendship of the victorious
Arabs. To their industry, the prosperity of the province, the
Sogdiana of the ancients, may in a great measure be ascribed; but
the advantages of the soil and climate had been understood and
cultivated since the reign of the Macedonian kings. Before the
invasion of the Saracens, Carizme, Bochara, and Samarcand were
rich and populous under the yoke of the shepherds of the north.
^* These cities were surrounded with a double wall; and the
exterior fortification, of a larger circumference, enclosed the
fields and gardens of the adjacent district. The mutual wants of
India and Europe were supplied by the diligence of the Sogdian
merchants; and the inestimable art of transforming linen into
paper has been diffused from the manufacture of Samarcand over
the western world. ^43

[Footnote 40: It was valued at 2000 pieces of gold, and was the
prize of Obeidollah, the son of Ziyad, a name afterwards infamous
by the murder of Hosein, (Ockley's History of the Saracens, vol.
ii. p. 142, 143,) His brother Salem was accompanied by his wife,
the first Arabian woman (A.D. 680) who passed the Oxus: she
borrowed, or rather stole, the crown and jewels of the princess
of the Sogdians, (p. 231, 232.)]

[Footnote 41: A part of Abulfeda's geography is translated by
Greaves, inserted in Hudson's collection of the minor
geographers, (tom. iii.,) and entitled Descriptio Chorasmiae et
Mawaralnahroe, id est, regionum extra fluvium, Oxum, p. 80. The
name of Transoxiana, softer in sound, equivalent in sense, is
aptly used by Petit de la Croix, (Hist. de Gengiscan, &c.,) and
some modern Orientalists, but they are mistaken in ascribing it
to the writers of antiquity.]

[Footnote 42: The conquests of Catibah are faintly marked by
Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 84,) D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient.
Catbah, Samarcand Valid.,) and De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, tom.
i. p. 58, 59.)]

[Footnote *: The manuscripts Arabian and Persian writers in the
royal library contain very circumstantial details on the contest
between the Persians and Arabians. M. St. Martin declined this
addition to the work of Le Beau, as extending to too great a
length. St. Martin vol. xi. p. 320. - M.]

[Footnote 43: A curious description of Samarcand is inserted in
the Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana, tom. i. p. 208, &c. The
librarian Casiri (tom. ii. 9) relates, from credible testimony,
that paper was first imported from China to Samarcand, A. H. 30,
and invented, or rather introduced, at Mecca, A. H. 88. The
Escurial library contains paper Mss. as old as the ivth or vth
century of the Hegira.]

II. No sooner had Abubeker restored the unity of faith and
government, than he despatched a circular letter to the Arabian
tribes. "In the name of the most merciful God, to the rest of the
true believers. Health and happiness, and the mercy and blessing
of God, be upon you. I praise the most high God, and I pray for
his prophet Mahomet. This is to acquaint you, that I intend to
send the true believers into Syria ^44 to take it out of the
hands of the infidels. And I would have you know, that the
fighting for religion is an act of obedience to God." His
messengers returned with the tidings of pious and martial ardor
which they had kindled in every province; and the camp of Medina
was successively filled with the intrepid bands of the Saracens,
who panted for action, complained of the heat of the season and
the scarcity of provisions, and accused with impatient murmurs
the delays of the caliph. As soon as their numbers were
complete, Abubeker ascended the hill, reviewed the men, the
horses, and the arms, and poured forth a fervent prayer for the
success of their undertaking. In person, and on foot, he
accompanied the first day's march; and when the blushing leaders
attempted to dismount, the caliph removed their scruples by a
declaration, that those who rode, and those who walked, in the
service of religion, were equally meritorious. His instructions
^45 to the chiefs of the Syrian army were inspired by the warlike
fanaticism which advances to seize, and affects to despise, the
objects of earthly ambition. "Remember," said the successor of
the prophet, "that you are always in the presence of God, on the
verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of
paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression; consult with your
brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your
troops. When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit
yourselves like men, without turning your backs; but let not your
victory be stained with the blood of women or children. Destroy
no palm-trees, nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no
fruit-trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill
to eat. When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and
be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some
religious persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose to
themselves to serve God that way: let them alone, and neither
kill them nor destroy their monasteries: ^46 And you will find
another sort of people, that belong to the synagogue of Satan,
who have shaven crowns; ^47 be sure you cleave their skulls, and
give them no quarter till they either turn Mahometans or pay
"tribute." All profane or frivolous conversation, all dangerous
recollection of ancient quarrels, was severely prohibited among
the Arabs: in the tumult of a camp, the exercises of religion
were assiduously practised; and the intervals of action were
employed in prayer, meditation, and the study of the Koran. The
abuse, or even the use, of wine was chastised by fourscore
strokes on the soles of the feet, and in the fervor of their
primitive zeal, many secret sinners revealed their fault, and
solicited their punishment. After some hesitation, the command
of the Syrian army was delegated to Abu Obeidah, one of the
fugitives of Mecca, and companions of Mahomet; whose zeal and
devotion was assuaged, without being abated, by the singular
mildness and benevolence of his temper. But in all the
emergencies of war, the soldiers demanded the superior genius of
Caled; and whoever might be the choice of the prince, the Sword
of God was both in fact and fame the foremost leader of the
Saracens. He obeyed without reluctance; ^* he was consulted
without jealousy; and such was the spirit of the man, or rather
of the times, that Caled professed his readiness to serve under
the banner of the faith, though it were in the hands of a child
or an enemy. Glory, and riches, and dominion, were indeed
promised to the victorious Mussulman; but he was carefully
instructed, that if the goods of this life were his only
incitement, they likewise would be his only reward.

[Footnote 44: A separate history of the conquest of Syria has
been composed by Al Wakidi, cadi of Bagdad, who was born A.D.
748, and died A.D. 822; he likewise wrote the conquest of Egypt,
of Diarbekir, &c. Above the meagre and recent chronicles of the
Arabians, Al Wakidi has the double merit of antiquity and
copiousness. His tales and traditions afford an artless picture
of the men and the times. Yet his narrative is too often
defective, trifling, and improbable. Till something better shall
be found, his learned and spiritual interpreter (Ockley, in his
History of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 21 - 342) will not deserve
the petulant animadversion of Reiske, (Prodidagmata ad Magji
Chalifae Tabulas, p. 236.) I am sorry to think that the labors of
Ockley were consummated in a jail, (see his two prefaces to the
1st A.D. 1708, to the 2d, 1718, with the list of authors at the
end.)

Note: M. Hamaker has clearly shown that neither of these
works can be inscribed to Al Wakidi: they are not older than the
end of the xith century or later than the middle of the xivth.
Praefat. in Inc. Auct. LIb. de Expugnatione Memphidis, c. ix. x.
- M.]

[Footnote 45: The instructions, &c., of the Syrian war are
described by Al Wakidi and Ockley, tom. i. p. 22 - 27, &c. In
the sequel it is necessary to contract, and needless to quote,
their circumstantial narrative. My obligations to others shall
be noticed.]

[Footnote 46: Notwithstanding this precept, M. Pauw (Recherches
sur les Egyptiens, tom. ii. p. 192, edit. Lausanne) represents
the Bedoweens as the implacable enemies of the Christian monks.
For my own part, I am more inclined to suspect the avarice of the
Arabian robbers, and the prejudices of the German philosopher.

Note: Several modern travellers (Mr. Fazakerley, in
Walpole's Travels in the East, vol. xi. 371) give very amusing
accounts of the terms on which the monks of Mount Sinai live with
the neighboring Bedoweens. Such, probably, was their relative
state in older times, wherever the Arab retained his Bedoween
habits. - M.]

[Footnote 47: Even in the seventh century, the monks were
generally laymen: 'hey wore their hair long and dishevelled, and
shaved their heads when they were ordained priests. The circular
tonsure was sacred and mysterious; it was the crown of thorns;
but it was likewise a royal diadem, and every priest was a king,
&c., (Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 721 - 758,
especially p. 737, 738.)]

[Footnote *: Compare Price, p. 90. - M.]



Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.

Part IV.

Another expedition of the conquerors of Damascus will
equally display their avidity and their contempt for the riches
of the present world. They were informed that the produce and
manufactures of the country were annually collected in the fair
of Abyla, ^64 about thirty miles from the city; that the cell of
a devout hermit was visited at the same time by a multitude of
pilgrims; and that the festival of trade and superstition would
be ennobled by the nuptials of the daughter of the governor of
Tripoli. Abdallah, the son of Jaafar, a glorious and holy
martyr, undertook, with a banner of five hundred horse, the pious
and profitable commission of despoiling the infidels. As he
approached the fair of Abyla, he was astonished by the report of
this mighty concourse of Jews and Christians, Greeks, and
Armenians, of natives of Syria and of strangers of Egypt, to the
number of ten thousand, besides a guard of five thousand horse
that attended the person of the bride. The Saracens paused: "For
my own part," said Abdallah, "I dare not go back: our foes are
many, our danger is great, but our reward is splendid and secure,
either in this life or in the life to come. Let every man,
according to his inclination, advance or retire." Not a Mussulman
deserted his standard. "Lead the way," said Abdallah to his
Christian guide, "and you shall see what the companions of the
prophet can perform." They charged in five squadrons; but after
the first advantage of the surprise, they were encompassed and
almost overwhelmed by the multitude of their enemies; and their
valiant band is fancifully compared to a white spot in the skin
of a black camel. ^65 About the hour of sunset, when their
weapons dropped from their hands, when they panted on the verge
of eternity, they discovered an approaching cloud of dust; they
heard the welcome sound of the tecbir, ^66 and they soon
perceived the standard of Caled, who flew to their relief with
the utmost speed of his cavalry. The Christians were broken by
his attack, and slaughtered in their flight, as far as the river
of Tripoli. They left behind them the various riches of the
fair; the merchandises that were exposed for sale, the money that
was brought for purchase, the gay decorations of the nuptials,
and the governor's daughter, with forty of her female attendants.

The fruits, provisions, and furniture, the money, plate, and
jewels, were diligently laden on the backs of horses, asses, and
mules; and the holy robbers returned in triumph to Damascus. The
hermit, after a short and angry controversy with Caled, declined
the crown of martyrdom, and was left alive in the solitary scene
of blood and devastation.

[Footnote 64: Dair Abil Kodos. After retrenching the last word,
the epithet, holy, I discover the Abila of Lysanias between
Damascus and Heliopolis: the name (Abil signifies a vineyard)
concurs with the situation to justify my conjecture, (Reland,
Palestin. tom. i. p 317, tom. ii. p. 526, 527.)]

[Footnote 65: I am bolder than Mr. Ockley, (vol. i. p. 164,) who
dares not insert this figurative expression in the text, though
he observes in a marginal note, that the Arabians often borrow
their similes from that useful and familiar animal. The reindeer
may be equally famous in the songs of the Laplanders.]

[Footnote 66: We hear the tecbir; so the Arabs call

Their shout of onset, when with loud appeal
They challenge heaven, as if demanding conquest.

This word, so formidable in their holy wars, is a verb active,
(says Ockley in his index,) of the second conjugation, from
Kabbara, which signifies saying Alla Acbar, God is most mighty!]



Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.

Part V.

Syria, ^67 one of the countries that have been improved by
the most early cultivation, is not unworthy of the preference.
^68 The heat of the climate is tempered by the vicinity of the
sea and mountains, by the plenty of wood and water; and the
produce of a fertile soil affords the subsistence, and encourages
the propagation, of men and animals. From the age of David to
that of Heraclius, the country was overspread with ancient and
flourishing cities: the inhabitants were numerous and wealthy;
and, after the slow ravage of despotism and superstition, after
the recent calamities of the Persian war, Syria could still
attract and reward the rapacious tribes of the desert. A plain,
of ten days' journey, from Damascus to Aleppo and Antioch, is
watered, on the western side, by the winding course of the
Orontes. The hills of Libanus and Anti-Libanus are planted from
north to south, between the Orontes and the Mediterranean; and
the epithet of hollow (Coelesyria) was applied to a long and
fruitful valley, which is confined in the same direction, by the
two ridges of snowy mountains. ^69 Among the cities, which are
enumerated by Greek and Oriental names in the geography and
conquest of Syria, we may distinguish Emesa or Hems, Heliopolis
or Baalbec, the former as the metropolis of the plain, the latter
as the capital of the valley. Under the last of the Caesars,
they were strong and populous; the turrets glittered from afar:
an ample space was covered with public and private buildings; and
the citizens were illustrious by their spirit, or at least by
their pride; by their riches, or at least by their luxury. In
the days of Paganism, both Emesa and Heliopolis were addicted to
the worship of Baal, or the sun; but the decline of their
superstition and splendor has been marked by a singular variety
of fortune. Not a vestige remains of the temple of Emesa, which
was equalled in poetic style to the summits of Mount Libanus, ^70
while the ruins of Baalbec, invisible to the writers of
antiquity, excite the curiosity and wonder of the European
traveller. ^71 The measure of the temple is two hundred feet in
length, and one hundred in breadth: the front is adorned with a
double portico of eight columns; fourteen may be counted on
either side; and each column, forty-five feet in height, is
composed of three massy blocks of stone or marble. The
proportions and ornaments of the Corinthian order express the
architecture of the Greeks: but as Baalbec has never been the
seat of a monarch, we are at a loss to conceive how the expense
of these magnificent structures could be supplied by private or
municipal liberality. ^72 From the conquest of Damascus the
Saracens proceeded to Heliopolis and Emesa: but I shall decline
the repetition of the sallies and combats which have been already
shown on a larger scale. In the prosecution of the war, their
policy was not less effectual than their sword. By short and
separate truces they dissolved the union of the enemy; accustomed
the Syrians to compare their friendship with their enmity;
familiarized the idea of their language, religion, and manners;
and exhausted, by clandestine purchase, the magazines and
arsenals of the cities which they returned to besiege. They
aggravated the ransom of the more wealthy, or the more obstinate;
and Chalcis alone was taxed at five thousand ounces of gold, five
thousand ounces of silver, two thousand robes of silk, and as
many figs and olives as would load five thousand asses. But the
terms of truce or capitulation were faithfully observed; and the
lieutenant of the caliph, who had promised not to enter the walls
of the captive Baalbec, remained tranquil and immovable in his
tent till the jarring factions solicited the interposition of a
foreign master. The conquest of the plain and valley of Syria
was achieved in less than two years. Yet the commander of the
faithful reproved the slowness of their progress; and the
Saracens, bewailing their fault with tears of rage and
repentance, called aloud on their chiefs to lead them forth to
fight the battles of the Lord. In a recent action, under the
walls of Emesa, an Arabian youth, the cousin of Caled, was heard
aloud to exclaim, "Methinks I see the black-eyed girls looking
upon me; one of whom, should she appear in this world, all
mankind would die for love of her. And I see in the hand of one
of them a handkerchief of green silk, and a cap of precious
stones, and she beckons me, and calls out, Come hither quickly,
for I love thee." With these words, charging the Christians, he
made havoc wherever he went, till, observed at length by the
governor of Hems, he was struck through with a javelin.

[Footnote 67: In the Geography of Abulfeda, the description of
Syria, his native country, is the most interesting and authentic
portion. It was published in Arabic and Latin, Lipsiae, 1766, in
quarto, with the learned notes of Kochler and Reiske, and some
extracts of geography and natural history from Ibn Ol Wardii.
Among the modern travels, Pocock's Description of the East (of
Syria and Mesopotamia, vol. ii. p. 88 - 209) is a work of
superior learning and dignity; but the author too often confounds
what he had seen and what he had read.]

[Footnote 68: The praises of Dionysius are just and lively.
Syria, (in Periegesi, v. 902, in tom. iv. Geograph. Minor.
Hudson.) In another place he styles the country differently, (v.
898.)

This poetical geographer lived in the age of Augustus, and
his description of the world is illustrated by the Greek
commentary of Eustathius, who paid the same compliment to Homer
and Dionysius, (Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. l. iv. c. 2, tom. iii. p.
21, &c.)]

[Footnote 69: The topography of the Libanus and Anti-Libanus is
excellently described by the learning and sense of Reland,
(Palestin. tom. i. p. 311 - 326)]

[Footnote 70: - Emesae fastigia celsa renident.
Nam diffusa solo latus explicat; ac subit auras
Turribus in coelum nitentibus: incola claris
Cor studiis acuit ...
Denique flammicomo devoti pectora soli
Vitam agitant. Libanus frondosa cacumina turget.
Et tamen his certant celsi fastigia templi.

These verses of the Latin version of Rufus Avienus are wanting in
the Greek original of Dionysius; and since they are likewise
unnoticed by Eustathius, I must, with Fabricius, (Bibliot. Latin.
tom. iii. p. 153, edit. Ernesti,) and against Salmasius, (ad
Vopiscum, p. 366, 367, in Hist. August.,) ascribed them to the
fancy, rather than the Mss., of Avienus.]

[Footnote 71: I am much better satisfied with Maundrell's slight
octavo, (Journey, p. 134 - 139), than with the pompous folio of
Dr. Pocock, (Description of the East, vol. ii. p. 106 - 113;) but
every preceding account is eclipsed by the magnificent
description and drawings of Mm. Dawkins and Wood, who have
transported into England the ruins of Pamyra and Baalbec.]

[Footnote 72: The Orientals explain the prodigy by a
never-failing expedient. The edifices of Baalbec were constructed
by the fairies or the genii, Hist. de Timour Bec, tom. iii. l. v.
c. 23, p. 311, 312. Voyage d'Otter, tom. i. p. 83.) With less
absurdity, but with equal ignorance, Abulfeda and Ibn Chaukel
ascribe them to the Sabaeans or Aadites Non sunt in omni Syria
aedificia magnificentiora his, (Tabula Syria p. 108.)]

It was incumbent on the Saracens to exert the full powers of
their valor and enthusiasm against the forces of the emperor, who
was taught, by repeated losses, that the rovers of the desert had
undertaken, and would speedily achieve, a regular and permanent
conquest. From the provinces of Europe and Asia, fourscore
thousand soldiers were transported by sea and land to Antioch and
Caesarea: the light troops of the army consisted of sixty
thousand Christian Arabs of the tribe of Gassan. Under the
banner of Jabalah, the last of their princes, they marched in the
van; and it was a maxim of the Greeks, that for the purpose of
cutting diamond, a diamond was the most effectual. Heraclius
withheld his person from the dangers of the field; but his
presumption, or perhaps his despondency, suggested a peremptory
order, that the fate of the province and the war should be
decided by a single battle. The Syrians were attached to the
standard of Rome and of the cross: but the noble, the citizen,
the peasant, were exasperated by the injustice and cruelty of a
licentious host, who oppressed them as subjects, and despised
them as strangers and aliens. ^73 A report of these mighty
preparations was conveyed to the Saracens in their camp of Emesa,
and the chiefs, though resolved to fight, assembled a council:
the faith of Abu Obeidah would have expected on the same spot the
glory of martyrdom; the wisdom of Caled advised an honorable
retreat to the skirts of Palestine and Arabia, where they might
await the succors of their friends, and the attack of the
unbelievers. A speedy messenger soon returned from the throne of
Medina, with the blessings of Omar and Ali, the prayers of the
widows of the prophet, and a reenforcement of eight thousand
Moslems. In their way they overturned a detachment of Greeks,
and when they joined at Yermuk the camp of their brethren, they
found the pleasing intelligence, that Caled had already defeated
and scattered the Christian Arabs of the tribe of Gassan. In the
neighborhood of Bosra, the springs of Mount Hermon descend in a
torrent to the plain of Decapolis, or ten cities; and the
Hieromax, a name which has been corrupted to Yermuk, is lost,
after a short course, in the Lake of Tiberias. ^74 The banks of
this obscure stream were illustrated by a long and bloody
encounter. ^* On this momentous occasion, the public voice, and
the modesty of Abu Obeidah, restored the command to the most
deserving of the Moslems. Caled assumed his station in the
front, his colleague was posted in the rear, that the disorder of
the fugitive might be checked by his venerable aspect, and the
sight of the yellow banner which Mahomet had displayed before the
walls of Chaibar. The last line was occupied by the sister of
Derar, with the Arabian women who had enlisted in this holy war,
who were accustomed to wield the bow and the lance, and who in a
moment of captivity had defended, against the uncircumcised
ravishers, their chastity and religion. ^75 The exhortation of
the generals was brief and forcible: "Paradise is before you, the
devil and hell-fire in your rear." Yet such was the weight of the
Roman cavalry, that the right wing of the Arabs was broken and
separated from the main body. Thrice did they retreat in
disorder, and thrice were they driven back to the charge by the
reproaches and blows of the women. In the intervals of action,
Abu Obeidah visited the tents of his brethren, prolonged their
repose by repeating at once the prayers of two different hours,
bound up their wounds with his own hands, and administered the
comfortable reflection, that the infidels partook of their
sufferings without partaking of their reward. Four thousand and
thirty of the Moslems were buried in the field of battle; and the
skill of the Armenian archers enabled seven hundred to boast that
they had lost an eye in that meritorious service. The veterans
of the Syrian war acknowledged that it was the hardest and most
doubtful of the days which they had seen. But it was likewise
the most decisive: many thousands of the Greeks and Syrians fell
by the swords of the Arabs; many were slaughtered, after the
defeat, in the woods and mountains; many, by mistaking the ford,
were drowned in the waters of the Yermuk; and however the loss
may be magnified, ^76 the Christian writers confess and bewail
the bloody punishment of their sins. ^77 Manuel, the Roman
general, was either killed at Damascus, or took refuge in the
monastery of Mount Sinai. An exile in the Byzantine court,
Jabalah lamented the manners of Arabia, and his unlucky
preference of the Christian cause. ^78 He had once inclined to
the profession of Islam; but in the pilgrimage of Mecca, Jabalah
was provoked to strike one of his brethren, and fled with
amazement from the stern and equal justice of the caliph These
victorious Saracens enjoyed at Damascus a month of pleasure and
repose: the spoil was divided by the discretion of Abu Obeidah:
an equal share was allotted to a soldier and to his horse, and a
double portion was reserved for the noble coursers of the Arabian
breed.

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