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give Yezid peace, for among the other pretenders to the throne, Abdalla, that son of Zobeir, still remained at Medina; and though he had been an aspirant to the same power that Hosein had grasped at, and was therefore during his lifetime one of his rivals, he now dared to call loudly upon the faithful to revenge his death! He depicted in glowing words the marvellous character of the son of Ali, set him up as a martyr, called to mind his particular virtues, his watchings, his prayers, his fastings, his lofty heroism, all the frightful circumstances of his taking off; and denounced in unmeasured terms the perfidy of

COIN OF THE OMIADES. (ABOUT 725 A.D.)

the people of Irak, especially of the Kufans, the blackest villains, as he assumed to think them, on the face of the earth. "Never," he exclaimed, "did this holy martyr prefer the sound of music to the reading of the Koran; effeminate songs to the compunctions produced by the fear of Allah; bacchanalian orgies to abstemiousness; the pleasures of the chase to pious conversation"; and as he uttered the words doubtless his hearers made mental comparisons quite to the disadvantage of Yezid.*

*See "Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne," par R. P. A. Dozy, tom. i.,

P.

80.

Abdalla entered into this labor with all the spirit of one relieved of a rival, of one who had sought an opportunity to excite popular feeling against a ruler who had abandoned the sacred cities of olden time to make a luxurious capital at distant Damascus. Abdalla was of attractive manners and adroit policy, a sort of Marc Antony among the Arabians, and he so skilfully worked upon the feelings of the Hashimites that they incontinently proclaimed him kalif and gave him their willing allegiance.

Vain were the efforts of Yezid to put down the rebellion; Abdalla met his orders with insult, and the people cast off their allegiance boldly with suggestive gestures, throwing in piles their shoes and their turbans and crying: "I cast off Yezid as I cast away this shoe!" "I cast off Yezid as I cast off this turban!" the growing heaps showing the unanimity of their feelings.

The Omiades were chased from the city, and closely besieged; but they managed to convey to the kalif a petition for help, and he sent twelve thousand cavalry and five thousand foot-soldiers to them, under command of Meslim, son of that Akba who had founded Kairwan. These troops found Medina protected by a deep ditch; but after four days they successfully stormed the city, and a scene of slaughter and rapine ensued which was too dreadful for description (A.D. 683). The army

marched on to Mecca, where Abdalla was himself besieged for three-score days, though Meslim died before he reached the holy city. Showers of stones, darts, and burning naphtha were the meantime

poured down upon it, and upon the scarred Kaaba, by order of the Hasan, the new commander. Still the town held bravely out; the holy house was burned and became a heap of ruins, but even that disaster did not bring the sturdy Meccans to terms.

In the midst of the city's great distress a swift Arab of the desert brought to Abdalla the welcome intelligence that Yezid was no more. He had breathed his last at Hawarin, in Syria, at the early age of thirty-nine, after a reign of less than four years (A.D. 683). This event was, as usual, a signal for new commotions. The critical moment for Abdalla had arrived, and he knew it not. Hasan raised the siege immediately, and offered to support the claims of Abdalla, provided he would go with him to Damascus, for he said that Moawia, who he heard had been proclaimed kalif there, was entirely unworthy of the office. Abdalla feared to trust him, and the opportunity passed away.

THE death of Hosein proved to be the most important event in the history of the Saracens, excepting the mission of the prophet. It marks an outbreak of the long-threatened schism in Islam which continues to divide it to this day: the Persians whose watchword is "the murdered Hosein," being Shias (Sectaries), and the Turks, who hold to the rightfulness of the kalifs before Ali, being known as Sonnites (Traditionists)

The time had indeed changed since the days when the prophet lived with his faithful Kadija upon dates and water; since Omar satisfied himself with the same simple diet; since the times of simplicity when the humble and strong kalifs were patterns of abstemiousness and frugality in diet and dress. Moawia had lived in pomp at Damascus, and Yezid dressed in silks, surrounded himself with dogs and dancing women, neglected the sacred hours of worship, drank the forbidden wines, and emulated all the vices and the display of the other sovereigns whom he had seen or heard of. He was not the man to build up a religion or a kingdom, nor was his feeble and incompetent son better adapted to these ends. He ascended the throne as Moawia II., upon

ABDALLA THE ONLY KALIF.

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his father's death, but at the end of six months. renounced the power which he honestly but weakly confessed that his grandfather had wrested from a better man; which his father had not merited nor used as a great trust for the good of the people; and of which he was himself equally unworthy. He called to him the chief men of his court and said, with a singular plainness of speech: "I have decided to abdicate the throne, but less happy than Abu Bekr, I find no Omar whom I can name as my successor; less fortunate than Omar, even, I find about me no body of men upon whom I dare impose the task of choosing a ruler for the empire; I therefore call upon you to seek the proper person, and give him the crown!" Upon this Moawia II. returned to his palace and remained in his chamber until death. took him from the gloomy existence (A.D. 684).

Now Abdalla, son of Zobeir, at Mecca, was the only kalif, but the men of Damascus had not acknowledged him, and they determined to remain true to the family of Abu Sofian, the family of the Omiades. Looking for a candidate, they found none so promising as Merwan, son of Hakim, then at Mcdina, who though past the vigor of manhood was still strong and able. He had made his mark as secretary of Othman, and was well versed in the duties and traditions of the office, to which, indeed, he eagerly aspired. Meantime the governor of Bassora, he who had caused the massacre of Hosein, managed to have himself declared kalif for the interim; but his authority was not destined to endure. The Kufans opposed him and excited the people of