A literary history of Persia

CHARACTER OF 'ABBASID RULE 253all faculty of energy and courage, and relied solely on tricksand stratagems. To this effect speaks the poet Ibn Kushajim, 1alluding to the truce observed by the people of the sword andthe hostility and enmity of the people of the pen one to another :'Pleasant to the people of the sword be that idlenessWhereby their days are passed in self-indulgence fHow many a man is there amongst them who lives a tranquillife,and has never stirred forthTo any war, nor ever attacked a resoluteand equal adversaryIEvening and morning he struts about, girding to his sword-beltA sword secure from serious work, which has never riskedfracture.But as for the people of the pen,Are their swords dry of blood'at no moment" In the same strain sang a certain poet when al-Mutawakkilslew his minister Muhammad b. 'Abdu'l-Malik az-Zayyat:'The heart was like to leave me for distressWhen it was said," The Wazir is slain !"O Commander of the Faithful, thou hast slain oneWho was the axle on which your mill revolved/Gently, O sons of al-'Abbds, gently fFor in truth men's hearts- burn at your treachery t" Yet withal it was a dynasty abounding in good qualities,richly endowed with generous attributes, wherein the wares ofScience found a ready sale, the merchandise of Culture was ingreat demand, the observances of Religion were respected,charitable bequests flowed freely, the world was prosperous,the Holy Shrines were well cared for, and the frontiers werebravely kept. Nor did this state of things cease until its lastdays were at hand, and violence became general, governmentwas disturbed, and empire passed from them, all of which willbe set forth in its proper place, God if please."As it is not my intention to discuss in detail the reignsor characters of the Caliphs of this House, or to repeatanecdotes of Harunu'r-Rashid's nocturnal rambles through1Abu'1-Fath Mahmud b. al-Husayn b. Shahaq, called as-Sindi,because of his Indian descent, died 961 or 971. See Brockelmann'sArab. Literatnrgesch., p. 85, and p. 371 infra.