A literary history of Persia

1 84 THE SASANIAN PERIOD"O weak man ! Verily God hath sent unto His people an Apostle,and hath revealed unto him a Scripture, therefore submit and believe,and He will vouchsafe to tliee the good of this world and the next. But ifthou wilt not do this, thou shall shortly perish, and thy kingdom shallperish, and thy power shall depart from thee " !The signs include the repeated bursting of a dam placed byorder of the King in the " blind " Tigris (a branch of thatriver which flowed by Basra) the; collapse of thevaulted arch from which depended the mightybarrel-like crown over his throne ;and the play of lightningsreaching towards the east over Hijaz.The historical event was the Battle of Dhu Qar (foughtbetween A.D. 604 and 610), an engagement which, comparativelyinsignificant in itself, yet served to teach(3) 6 fDh^Qa"the Arabs that, for all their higher civilisation, theirwealth, and their renown, the Persians were not"invincible. This," said the Prophet, when he heard of it," is the first daywhereon the Arabs have obtained satisfactionfrom the Persians j through me have they obtained help ! "