A literary history of Persia

244 THE UMAYYAD PERIODof their chiefs.Amongst the Arabs, on the other hand, therewas an utter lack of enthusiasm, patriotism, or loyalty ;" chacun avait en vue ses interets personnels ou tout au plus1'interet de sa tribu : se deVouer pour lesOmayades personneles Ymnitesn'y pensait meme s'il faut en croire ; Ya'qoubi,de Merw taient tout a faitgagns aux sentiments chiitiques."Yet Abu Muslim proceeded with caution and deliberation.For seven months he maintained his army in the neighbourhoodof Merv without attempting any serious advance, andonly when assured of the support of the Yamanite Arabs didhe at length seize and occupy the capital of Khurdsan. Thenindeed the insurrection became general1 :" They poured in from all sides to join Abu Muslim, from Herat,Bushanj, Marwarudh, Talaqan, Merv, Nishapur, Sarakhs, Balkh,Saghaniyan, Tukharistan, the country of the Khuttal, Kashsh, and Nasaf(Nakhshab). 1 They came all clothed in black, and carrying clubshalf blackened which they called kdftr-kub (maces wherewith to beat3the unbelievers). They kept arriving on horse, on foot, on asses.They urged on their asses with cries of ' harra Marwdn ! ' becauseMarwan II was surnamed 'the Ass (al-Himdr). They numberedabout 100,000 men."From this moment till AbuVAbbas 'Abdu'llah as-Safdh(also entitled al-Mahdl\ first Caliph of the House of 'Abbis,inaugurated his reign on October 30, A.D. 749, by pronouncingthe khutba, or homily, customary on such occasions, the progressof Abu Muslim and the other 'Abbasid leaders was onecontinuous triumph. Nasr ibn Sayyar "le seul homme loyal,et qu'on est heureux de rencontrer dans ces temps des perfidieet d'e"goisme"died a fugitive at Sawa in November, A.D. 748 ;Kufa was occupied by Qahtaba in August, A.D. 749 ;in thesame month Marwan's son 'Abdu'llah was utterlyrouted on1Van Vloten, op. laud., p. 67 ; Dinawari, p. 360.3 It is noticeable that Dinawari reads kdfar-kubdt. Though kdfir is thfcorrect form, kdfar is the recognised Persian pronunciation, as is shown bythe words (sar, bar, &c.) with which it is made to rhyme in Persian verseseven of the earliest period.