Part 12

Moslim then proceeded towards Mecca. He was already ill, and died about midway between the two cities, after having given the command, according to the orders of the caliph, to Hosain b. Nomair. It is quite natural that the man who delivered up the city of the Prophet to plunder, and at whose hands so many prominent Moslems fell, should have been an object of detestation to the devout. Even some European scholars have drawn a false picture of his personality, as has been clearly shown by Wellhausen. About Medina also false statements have been made. The city recovered very soon from the disaster, and remained the seat not only of holy tradition and jurisdiction, but also of the Arabic aristocracy. In no city of the empire, during the reign of the Omayyads, lived more singers and musicians than in Medina.

Hosain b. Nomair arrived before Mecca in September 683 and found Ibn Zobair ready to defend it. A number of the citizens of Medina had come to the aid of the Holy City, as well as many Kharijites from Yamama under Najda b. 'Ämir. The siege had lasted 65--others say 40--days, when the news came of the death of Yazid, which took place presumably on the 14th of Rabia I, 64 (12th November 683). Eleven days before a fire, caused by imprudence, had consumed all the woodwork of the Ka'ba and burst the black stone in three places. The evidence is quite conclusive; yet the fire has been imputed to the Syrians, and a tale was invented about ballistas which hurled against the House of God enormous stones and vessels full of bitumen. In fact, the siege had been confined to enclosure and skirmishes. It is said that on the news of the death of Yazid a conference took place between Hosain and Ibn Zobair, and that the former offered to proclaim the latter as caliph provided he would accompany him to Syria and proclaim a general amnesty. Ibn Zobair refused haughtily, and Hosain, with a contemptuous criticism of his folly, ordered his army to break up for Syria.

Hitherto Ibn Zobair had confined himself to an appeal to the Moslems to renounce Yazid and to have a caliph elected by the council (_shura_) of the principal leading men. He now openly assumed the title of caliph and invited men to take the oath of allegiance. He was soon acknowledged throughout Arabia, in Egypt and in Irak. The Omayyads, who had returned to Medina, were again expelled.

Yazid is described in the _Continuatio Isidori Byz._§27, as "iucundissimus et cunctis nationibus regni eius subditis vir gratissime habitus, qui nullam unquam, ut omnibus moris est, sibi regalis fastigii causa gloriam appetivit, sed communis[17] cum omnibus civiliter vixit." This is confirmed by the fact that Moawiya II. is said to have been a mild ruler, like his father, and goes far to outweigh the prejudiced account given by his opponents and coloured still further by tradition. Against the accusation of being a drinker of wine he himself protested in verses which he recited when he sent the army against Ibn Zobair. Decisive is also the testimony of Ibn al-Hanafiya, who declared that all the accusations brought by the Medinians were false. It may be true that he was fond of hunting, but he was a peace-loving, generous prince. It is uncertain at what age he died. Accounts vary between 33 and 39. The latter finds confirmation in the statement that he was born in A.H. 25, though another account places his birth in 22. As his son Moawiya who succeeded him was certainly adult (the accounts vary between 17 and 23), the latter date seems to be preferable.

3. Moawiya II. had reigned a very short time--how long is again wholly uncertain--when he fell sick and died. Then commenced a period of the greatest confusion. The mother of Yazid, Maisun, belonged to the most powerful tribe in Syria, the Kalb, and it seems that this and the cognate tribes of Qoda'a (Yemenites) had enjoyed certain prerogatives, which had aroused the jealousy of the Qais and the cognate tribes of Modar. Immediately after the death of Yazid, Zofar b. Harith, who had already fought with Ibn Zobair against Yazid, had induced northern Syria and Mesopotamia to declare for Ibn Zobair. In Homs (Emesa) the governor No'man b. Bashir had pledged himself to the same cause. The prefect of Damascus, Dahhak b. Qais, seemed to be wavering in his loyalty. Khalid, the brother of Moawiya II., was still a youth and appears to have had no strength of character. There was, however, a much more dangerous candidate, viz. Merwan b. Hakam, of another branch of the Omayyads, who had been Othman's right-hand man. He had pledged himself after some hesitation to Yazid, but now his turn had come. The amir of the Kalb, Ibn Bahdal, persuaded probably by Obaidallah b. Ziyad, conceived that only a man of distinction could win the contest, and proclaimed Merwan caliph, on condition that his successor should be Khalid b. Yazid, and after him 'Amr b. Sa'id al-Ashdaq, who belonged to the third branch of the Omayyads. Meanwhile Dahhak had declared himself openly for Ibn Zobair. A furious battle (A.D. 684) ensued at Merj Rahit, near Damascus, in which Dahhak and Zofar, though they had the majority of troops, were utterly defeated. This battle became the subject of a great many poems and had pernicious consequences, especially as regards the antagonism between the Qais-Modar and Kalb-Yemenite tribes.

4. _Reign of Merwan I._--Merwan strengthened his position according to the old oriental fashion by marrying the widow of Yazid, and soon felt himself strong enough to substitute his own son Abdalmalik for Khalid b. Yazid as successor-designate. Khalid contented himself with protesting; he was neither a politician nor a soldier, but a student of alchemy and astronomy; translations of Greek books have been ascribed to him (Jahiz, _Bayan_, i. p. 126). In the year A.H. 435 there was still in Egypt a brazen globe attributed to Ptolemy which had belonged to Khalid (Ibn Qifti, p. 440, 1.15). He was also consulted about future events. There were, however, not a few who deplored the fact that the throne had passed from the descendants of Abu Sofian. This feeling gave rise to the prophecy that there should appear later a Sofiani on the throne, who would reign with might and wisdom. 'Amr Ashdaq made no opposition till the death of Merwan. After the victory at Merj Rahit, Merwan conquered Egypt, and installed as governor his second son Abdalaziz. An army sent to the rescue by Ibn Zobair under the command of his brother Mus'ab was beaten in Palestine by 'Amr Ashdaq. But a division sent by Merwan to the Hejaz was cut to pieces. Obaidallah b. Ziyad set out with the purpose of subduing Mesopotamia and marching thence against Irak. But he was detained a whole year in the former country, by a rising of the Shi'ites in Kufa, who were still in mourning for Hosain and had formed an army which called itself "the army of the penitent." They were routed at Ras 'Ain, but Obaidallah had still to fight Zofar.

Meanwhile Mokhtar (son of that Abu 'Obaid the Thaqifite who had commanded the Arabs against the Persians in the unfortunate battle of the Bridge), a man of great talents and still greater ambition, after having supported Ibn Zobair in the siege of Mecca, had gone to Kufa, where he joined the Shi'ites, mostly Persians, and acquired great power. He claimed that he was commissioned by Ali's son, Mahommed ibn al-Hanafiya, who after the death of Hosain was recognized by the Shi'ites as their Mahdi. A vague message from Mahommed, that it was the duty of every good Moslem to take part with the family of the Prophet, was interpreted in favour of Mokhtar, and thenceforward all the Shi'ites, among them the powerful Ibrahim, son of Ali's right hand Malik Ashtar, followed him blindly as their chief. Afterwards Ibn al-Hanafiya seems to have acknowledged him distinctly as his vicegerent. Ibn Zobair's representative in Kufa was compelled to flee, and all those who had participated in the battle of Kerbela were put to death. An army despatched against Obaidallah under Ibrahim routed the Syrians near Mosul (battle of Khazir); Obaidallah and Hosain b. Nomair were slain. Mokhtar was now at the zenith of power, but Ibn Zobair, determined to get rid at all costs of so dangerous an enemy, named his brother Mus'ab governor of Basra and ordered him to march against Kufa. Basra was at that time full of fugitives from Kufa, Arabian chiefs who resented the arrogance of Mokhtar's adherents, and desired eagerly to regain their former position in Kufa. The troops of Basra had been, since the death of Yazid, at war with the Kharijites, who had supported Ibn Zobair during the siege of Mecca, but had deserted him later. Their caliph, Nafi' b. Azraq, after whom they were called also Azraqites, threatened even the city itself, when Mohallab b. Abi Sofra, a very able general, compelled them to retire. Mohallab then marched with Mus'ab against Kufa. Mokhtar fell, and with him the ephemeral dominion of the Persian Shi'ites. This had been their first attempt to dispute the authority of their Arabian conquerors, but it was not to be the last. Ibrahim b. Ashtar, Mokhtar's governor of Mesopotamia, submitted and acknowledged the Caliphate of Ibn Zobair.

5. Reign of Abdalmalik.--Merwan died on the 27th of Ramadan 65 (7th May 685); according to tradition, he was suffocated by his wife, because he had insulted her son Khalid and herself. The accession of Abdalmalik was attended with no difficulty, but the first years of his reign were occupied by troubles in northern Syria, where, instigated by the Greeks, the Mardaites of the Amanus, called Jarajima by the Arabs, penetrated into the Lebanon. He was obliged to conclude an unfavourable treaty first with them, later with the emperor of Constantinople. Moreover, in the year 68 (A.D. 687-688) Syria was afflicted by a serious famine. Ibn Zobair, however, was occupied at Mecca with the rebuilding of the Ka'ba, and Mus'ab was harassed not only by the Kharijites, but also by a noble freebooter, Obaidallah b. Horr, who had created for himself a principality in the vicinity of Madain (Ctesiphon).

The period of the pilgrimage caused a momentary truce to all these struggles, and in Dhu 'l-hijja, A.H. 68 (January 688), was seen the curious spectacle of four different standards planted near Mecca, belonging respectively to four chiefs, each of whom was a pretender to the empire; the standard of Abdallah b. Zobair, caliph of Mecca; that of the caliph of Damascus, Abdalmalik; that of Ali's son Mahommed b. al-Hanafiya, Mahdi of the Shi'ites; and that of the Kharijites, who were at that time under the command of Najda b. 'Amir. Such, however, was the respect inspired by the holy places, that no disorders resulted.

When, in the year (69 A.H.) 689 Abdalmalik had at last encamped at Botan Habib in the vicinity of Kinnesrin (Qinnasrin),[18] with the purpose of marching against Mus'ab, his cousin 'Amr Ashdaq, to whom by the treaty of Jabia, before the battle of Merj Rahit, the succession to Merwan had been promised, took advantage of his absence to lay claim to the supreme power, and to have himself proclaimed caliph by his partisans. Abdalmalik was obliged to retrace his steps and to lay siege to his own capital. The garrison of Damascus took fright, and deserted their posts, so that 'Amr Ashdaq was compelled to surrender. The caliph Abdalmalik summoned him to his palace and slew him with his own hand. Abdalmalik has every claim to our esteem as one of the ablest monarchs that ever reigned, but this murder remains a lasting blot on his career.

Abdalmalik could now give his whole attention to the projected expedition against Irak. Mus'ab was encamped at Bajomaira in the neighbourhood of Takrit. But Abdalmalik's first task was to subdue Zofar and his Qaisites at Kerkesia (Qarqisia), and the rest of the partisans of Mokhtar at Nisibis. Meanwhile, Mus'ab had to curb a violent revolt in Basra, brought about by agents of Abdalmalik, and called after a place in the city the revolt of the Jofrites. About the middle of A.D. 691 Abdalmalik at last encamped at Dair al-Jathaliq (the monastery of the Catholicus) between Maskin, not far from the site of Bagdad, and Bajomaira. Mus'ab's best troops were fighting under Mohallab against the Kharijites; many Basrians were secretly favourable to the Omayyads, nor were the Kufian soldiers to be trusted. The people of Irak had never been accustomed to discipline, and no improvement had taken place during the troubles of the last years. Abdalmalik, therefore, wrote secretly to the chiefs of Mus'ab's army, and persuaded them to desert to him, with the exception of Ibrahim b. Ashtar, the brave son of a brave father, who, after the fall of Mokhtar, had become a faithful supporter of Ibn Zobair. His death, in the beginning of the battle, decided the fate of Mus'ab, who was slain sword in hand by a Shi'ite of Kufa.

This victory opened the gates of Kufa to Abdalmalik, and all Irak received him with acclamation. Thence, a few days later, he sent Hajjaj b. Yusuf at the head of 2000 Syrians against Ibn Zobair in Mecca, and despatched a messenger to Tariq b.'Amr, who was encamped at Wadi 'l-Qora with 5000 men, to make himself master of Medina and thence to rejoin Hajjaj. Before the arrival of this reinforcement, Hajjaj confined himself to skirmishes, in which his soldiers always had the advantage. Then, in Dhu 'l Qa'da 72 (March 25th, 692) Mecca was invested. The blockade lasted more than six months, during which the city was a prey to all the horrors of siege and famine. Hajjaj had set up a balista on the hill of Abu Qobais, whence he poured on the city a hail of stones, which was suspended only in the days of the pilgrimage. Ibn Zobair employed against him Abyssinians armed with Greek-fire-tubes, who, however, quitted him soon under the pressure of famine. This at length triumphed over his last adherents. Ten thousand fighting men, and even two of the sons of the pretender (it is said, on his own advice), left the city and surrendered. Mecca being thus left without defenders, Ibn Zobair saw that ruin was inevitable. Hajjaj having promised him amnesty if he would surrender, he went to his mother Asma, the daughter of Abu Bekr, who had reached the age of a hundred years, and asked her counsel. She answered that, if he was confident in the justice of his cause, he must die sword in hand. In embracing him for the last time, she felt the cuirass he wore and exclaimed that such a precaution was unworthy of a man resolved to die. He, therefore, took off the cuirass, and, when the Omayyad troops made their way into the city, attacked them furiously, notwithstanding his advanced age, and was slain. His head was cut off, and sent by Hajjaj to Damascus.

With Ibn Zobair perished the influence which the early companions of Mahomet had exercised over Islam. Medina and Mecca, though they continued to be the holy cities, had no longer their old political importance, which had already been shaken to its foundations by the murder of Othman and the subsequent troubles. Henceforward we shall find temporal interests, represented by Damascus, predominating over those of religion, and the centre of Islam, now permanently removed beyond the limits of Arabia, more susceptible to foreign influence, and assimilating more readily their civilizing elements. Damascus, Kufa and Basra will attract the flower of all the Moslem provinces, and thus that great intellectual, literary and scientific movement, which reached its apogee under the first Abbasid Caliphs at Bagdad, steadily becomes more marked.

After the burning of the Ka'ba during the siege of Mecca by Hosain b. Nomair, Ibn Zobair had rebuilt and enlarged the house of God. It is said that he thus carried out a design of the Prophet, which he had not ventured to undertake for fear of offending the newly converted Koreishites. Hajjaj pulled down the enlargements and restored the Ka'ba to its old state. Meanwhile, the caliph committed to him the government of the Hejaz. The Medinians, whose loyalty was suspected, were treated by him with severity; not a few _maulas_ (clients) were obliged to wear a leaden badge on their neck (Tabari, ii. p. 854 seq.).

Thus the protracted war against Ibn Zobair was brought to an end; hence this year (71) also is called the "year of union" (_jama'a_). But the storms in Irak and Mesopotamia had not yet altogether subsided. The Qais could not leave unavenged the blood shed at Merj Rahit. For about ten years the Syrian and Mesopotamian deserts were the scene of a series of raids, often marked by great cruelty, and which have been the subject of a great many poems. Abdalmalik had need of all his tact and energy to pacify ultimately the zealous sectaries, but the antagonism between Yemenites (Kalb and Azd) and Modarites (Qais and Tamim) had been increased by these struggles, and even in the far east and the far west had fatal consequences.

When Abdalmalik, after a stay of forty days, returned from Irak to Syria, he left two Omayyad princes as his vicegerents in Kufa and Basra. Mohallab, who at the time of the battle of Bajomaira was in the field against the Azraqites (Kharijites), and had put himself at the disposal of the caliph, had orders to carry on the war. But the two princes proved unequal to their task and did not support Mohallab sufficiently, so that the Kharijites gained more than one victory. Abdalmalik in alarm made Hajjaj governor of Irak with the most extensive powers. The troops of Kufa, who accompanied Mohallab in an expedition against the Kharijites, had abandoned their general and dispersed to their homes, and nothing could induce them to return to their duty. Then, in the year 75 (A.D. 694), at the moment when the people were assembled in the mosque for morning prayers, an unknown young man of insignificant appearance, with a veil over his face, ascended the pulpit. It seemed at first that he could not find his words. One of the audience, with a contemptuous remark, took a handful of pebbles to pelt him with. But he let them fall when Hajjaj lifted his veil and began to speak.

"Men of Kufa," he said, "I see before me heads ripe for the sickle, and the reaper--I am he. It seems to me, as if I saw already the blood between your turbans and your shoulders. I am not one of those who can be frightened by inflated bags of skin, nor need any one think to squeeze me like a fig. The Prince of the Believers has spread before him the arrows of his quiver, and has tried every one of them by biting its wood. It is my wood that he has found the hardest and strongest, and I am the arrow which he shoots against you."