The Chaliphate - Muir - The Search For Mecca

—
A.H.25.
His death,
26 xii.
23 A.H.
Nov. 644 A.D.
Among the rest, 'Ali came U) iiicjuirc ; and
as he sat by
the Caliph's bedside, the son of A1-' Abbas too came up.
'Omar, who dreaded the factious s[)irit of the latter, said :
"O Ibn al-'Abbas, art thou with me in this matter?" He
signified assent, whereupon 'Omar added earnestly: "See
that thou deceive me not, thou and thy fellows. Now,
'Abdallah, my son, raise my head from the pillow, then lay
it gently down upon the ground peradventure the Lord
;
may in mercy take me thus, this night, for I fear the horrors
of the rising sun." A physician gave him to drink of datewater
; but it oozed through the wound unchanged ; and so
also with a draught of milk. Which when the physician saw,
he said "
: I perceive that the wound is mortal : make now
thy testament, O Commander of the P'aithful." " That,"
said 'Omar, " have I done already." As he lay, his head
resting on the bosom of his son, he recited this couplet
:
" It uould have gone hard with my soul, had I not been a Muslim
;
And fasted and prayed as the Lord hath commanded."
190 'OMAR [chap. XX.V1-
Achievements
of hi
Caliphate.
\'igorous,
wise, and
simple.
Charaeter.
And so, in a low voice, he kept repeating the name of
the Lord and the Muslim creed, until his spirit passed away.
It was a few days before the close of the 23rd year of the
Hijra. He had reigned for the space of ten years and a
half
So died 'Omar, next to the Prophet the greatest in the
kingdom of Islam ;
for it was all within these ten years that,
by his wisdom, patience, and vigour, the dominion was
achieved of Syria, Egypt, and Persia. Abu Bekr beat down
the Apostate tribes ; but at his death the armies of Islam
had but just crossed the Syrian frontier. 'Omar began his
reign master only of Arabia. He died the Caliph of an
Empire embracing some of the fairest provinces under
Byzantine rule, and with Persia to boot. Yet throughout
this marvellous fortune he never lost the balance of a wise
and sober judgment, nor exalted himself above the frugal
habit of an Arab chief. " Where is the Caliph ? " the visitor
would ask, as he looked around the court of the Medina
mosque ; and all the while the monarch might be sitting in
homely guise before him.
'Omar's life requires but few lines to sketch. Simplicity
and duty were his guiding principles, impartiality and