A Literary History of the Arabs Part 4

The eldest came with many a brew-- In some was blood, blood-dark their hue.

'Give me the cup!' he shouted bold; 'Hold, hold!' cried she, but he would not hold.

She gave him the cup, nor he did shrink Tho' he reeled as he drained the magic drink.

Then the second yelled at him. Her he faced Like a lion with anger in his breast.

'These be our steeds, come mount,' she cried, 'For a.s.ses are worst of steeds to ride.'

"Tis sooth,' he answered, and slipped his flank O'er a hyena lean and lank, But the brute so fiercely flung him away, With deep, deep wounds on the earth he lay.

Then came the youngest and tended him On a soft bed, while her eyes did swim In tears; but he averted his face And sought a rougher resting-place: Such paramour he deemed too base.

And him thought, in anguish lying there, That needles underneath him were.[60]

Now when they had marked his mien so bold, Victory in all things they foretold.

'The wars, O As'ad, waged by thee Shall heal mankind of misery.

Thy sword and spear the foe shall rue When his gashes let the daylight through; And blood shall flow on every hand What time thou marchest from land to land.

By us be counselled: stay not within Khamir, but go to ?afar and win!

To thee shall dalliance ne'er be dear, Thy foes shall see thee before they hear.

Desire moved to encounter thee, n.o.ble prince, us witches three.

Not jest, but earnest on thee we tried, And well didst thou the proof abide.'

As'ad went home and told his folk What he had seen, but no heed they took.

On the tenth day he set out again And fared to ?afar with thoughts in his brain.

There fortune raised him to high renown: None swifter to strike ever wore a crown.[61]

Thus found we the tale in memory stored, And Almighty is the Lord.

Praise be to G.o.d who liveth aye, The Glorious to whom all men pray!"

Legend makes As'ad the hero of a brilliant expedition to Persia, where he defeated the general sent against him by the Arsacids, and penetrated to the Caspian Sea. On his way home he marched through the ?ijaz, and having learned that his son, whom he left behind in Medina, had been treacherously murdered, he resolved to take a terrible vengeance on the people of that city.

[Sidenote: As'ad Kamil and the two Rabbins of Medina.]

[Sidenote: As'ad Kamil at Mecca.]

[Sidenote: He seeks to establish Judaism in Yemen.]

[Sidenote: The ordeal of fire.]

"Now while the Tubba' was carrying on war against them, there came to him two Jewish Rabbins of the Banu Quray?a, men deep in knowledge, who when they heard that he wished to destroy the city and its people, said to him: 'O King, forbear! Verily, if thou wilt accept nothing save that which thou desirest, an intervention will be made betwixt thee and the city, and we are not sure but that sudden chastis.e.m.e.nt may befall thee.' 'Why so?' he asked. They answered: "Tis the place of refuge of a prophet who in the after time shall go forth from the sacred territory of Quraysh: it shall be his abode and his home.' So the king refrained himself, for he saw that those two had a particular knowledge, and he was pleased with what they told him. On departing from Medina he followed them in their religion.[62]... And he turned his face towards Mecca, that being his way to Yemen, and when he was between 'Usfan and Amaj some Hudhalites came to him and said: 'O King, shall we not guide thee to a house of ancient treasure which the kings before thee neglected, wherein are pearls and emeralds and chrysolites and gold and silver?' He said, 'Yea.' They said: 'It is a temple at Mecca which those who belong to it worship and in which they pray.'

Now the Hudhalites wished to destroy him thereby, knowing that destruction awaited the king who should seek to violate its precinct.

So on comprehending what they proposed, he sent to the two Rabbins to ask them about the affair. They replied: 'These folk intend naught but to destroy thee and thine army; we wot not of any house in the world that G.o.d hath chosen for Himself, save this. If thou do that to which they invite thee, thou and those with thee will surely perish together.' He said: 'What then is it ye bid me do when I come there?'

They said: 'Thou wilt do as its people do--make the circuit thereof, and magnify and honour it, and shave thy head, and humble thyself before it, until thou go forth from its precinct.' He said: 'And what hinders you from doing that yourselves?' 'By G.o.d,' said they, 'it is the temple of our father Abraham, and verily it is even as we told thee, but we are debarred therefrom by the idols which its people have set up around it and by the blood-offerings which they make beside it; for they are vile polytheists,' or words to the same effect. The king perceived that their advice was good and their tale true. He ordered the Hudhalites to approach, and cut off their hands and feet. Then he continued his march to Mecca, where he made the circuit of the temple, sacrificed camels, and shaved his head. According to what is told, he stayed six days at Mecca, feasting the inhabitants with the flesh of camels and letting them drink honey.[63]... Then he moved out with his troops in the direction of Yemen, the two Rabbins accompanying him; and on entering Yemen he called on his subjects to adopt the religion which he himself had embraced, but they refused unless the question were submitted to the ordeal of fire which at that time existed in Yemen; for as the Yemenites say, there was in their country a fire that gave judgment between them in their disputes: it devoured the wrong-doer but left the injured person unscathed. The Yemenites therefore came forward with their idols and whatever else they used as a means of drawing nigh unto G.o.d, and the two Rabbins came forward with their scriptures hung on their necks like necklaces, and both parties seated themselves at the place from which the fire was wont to issue. And the fire blazed up, and the Yemenites shrank back from it as it approached them, and were afraid, but the bystanders urged them on and bade them take courage. So they held out until the fire enveloped them and consumed the idols and images and the men of ?imyar, the bearers thereof; but the Rabbins came forth safe and sound, their brows moist with sweat, and the scriptures were still hanging on their necks. Thereupon the ?imyarites consented to adopt the king's religion, and this was the cause of Judaism being established in Yemen."[64]

[Sidenote: As'ad's farewell to his son.]

The poem addressed to his son and successor, ?a.s.san, which tradition has put into his mouth, is a sort of last will and testament, of which the greater part is taken up with an account of his conquests and with glorification of his family and himself.[65] Nearly all that we find in the way of maxims or injunctions suitable to the solemn occasion is contained in the following verses:--

"O ?a.s.san, the hour of thy father's death has arrived at last: Look to thyself ere yet the time for looking is past.

Oft indeed are the mighty abased, and often likewise Are the base exalted: such is Man who is born and dies.

Bid ye ?imyar know that standing erect would I buried be, And have my wine-skins and Yemen robes in the tomb with me.[66]

And hearken thou to my Sibyl, for surely can she foresay The truth, and safe in her keeping is castle Ghayman aye.[67]

[Sidenote: The castles of Yemen.]

[Sidenote: Ghumdan.]

In connection with Ghayman a few words may be added respecting the castles in Yemen, of which the ruined skeletons rising from solitary heights seem still to frown defiance upon the pa.s.sing traveller. Two thousand years ago, and probably long before, they were occupied by powerful barons, more or less independent, who in later times, when the ?imyarite Empire had begun to decline, always elected, and occasionally deposed, their royal master. Of these castles the geographer Hamdani has given a detailed account in the eighth book of his great work on the history and antiquities of Yemen ent.i.tled the _Iklil_, or 'Crown.'[68]

The oldest and most celebrated was Ghumdan, the citadel of ?an'a. It is described as a huge edifice of twenty stories, each story ten cubits high. The four facades were built with stone of different colours, white, black, green, and red. On the top story was a chamber which had windows of marble framed with ebony and planewood. Its roof was a slab of pellucid marble, so that when the lord of Ghumdan lay on his couch he saw the birds fly overhead, and could distinguish a raven from a kite.

At each corner stood a brazen lion, and when the wind blew it entered the hollow interior of the effigies and made a sound like the roaring of lions.

[Sidenote: Zarqa'u 'l-Yamama.]

The adventure of As'ad Kamil with the three witches must have recalled to every reader certain scenes in _Macbeth_. Curiously enough, in the history of his son ?a.s.san an incident is related which offers a striking parallel to the march of Birnam Wood. ?asm and Jadis have already been mentioned. On the ma.s.sacre of the former tribe by the latter, a single ?asmite named Riba? b. Murra made his escape and took refuge with the Tubba' ?a.s.san, whom he persuaded to lead an expedition against the murderers. Now Riba?'s sister had married a man of Jadis. Her name was Zarqa'u 'l-Yamama--_i.e._, the Blue-eyed Woman of Yamama--and she had such piercing sight that she was able to descry an army thirty miles away. ?a.s.san therefore bade his hors.e.m.e.n hold in front of them leafy branches which they tore down from the trees. They advanced thus hidden, and towards evening, when they had come within a day's journey, Zarqa said to her people: "I see trees marching." No one believed her until it was too late. Next morning ?a.s.san fell upon them and put the whole tribe to the sword.

[Sidenote: ?a.s.san murdered by his brother.]

[Sidenote: Dhu Ru'ayn.]

The warlike expeditions to which ?a.s.san devoted all his energy were felt as an intolerable burden by the chiefs of ?imyar, who formed a plot to slay him and set his brother 'Amr on the throne. 'Amr was at first unwilling to lend himself to their designs, but ultimately his scruples were overcome, and he stabbed the Tubba' with his own hand. The a.s.sa.s.sin suffered a terrible punishment. Sleep deserted him, and in his remorse he began to execute the conspirators one after another. There was, however, a single chief called Dhu Ru'ayn, who had remained loyal and had done his best to save 'Amr from the guilt of fratricide. Finding his efforts fruitless, he requested 'Amr to take charge of a sealed paper which he brought with him, and to keep it in a safe place until he should ask for it. 'Amr consented and thought no more of the matter.

Afterwards, imagining that Dhu Ru'ayn had joined in the fatal plot, he gave orders for his execution. "How!" exclaimed Dhu Ru'ayn, "did not I tell thee what the crime involved?" and he asked for the sealed writing, which was found to contain these verses--

"O fool to barter sleep for waking! Blest Is he alone whose eyelids close in rest.

Hath ?imyar practised treason, yet 'tis plain That G.o.d forgiveness owes to Dhu Ru'ayn.[69]"

On reading this, 'Amr recognised that Dhu Ru'ayn had spoken the truth, and he spared his life.

[Sidenote: Dhu Nuwas.]

[Sidenote: Ma.s.sacre of the Christians in Najran (523 A.D.).]

[Sidenote: Death of Dhu Nuwas.]

With 'Amr the Tubba' dynasty comes to an end. The succeeding kings were elected by eight of the most powerful barons, who in reality were independent princes, each ruling in his strong castle over as many va.s.sals and retainers as he could bring into subjection. During this period the Abyssinians conquered at least some part of the country, and Christian viceroys were sent by the Najashi (Negus) to govern it in his name. At last Dhu Nuwas, a descendant of the Tubba' As'ad Kamil, crushed the rebellious barons and made himself unquestioned monarch of Yemen. A fanatical adherent of Judaism, he resolved to stamp out Christianity in Najran, where it is said to have been introduced from Syria by a holy man called Faymiyun (Phemion). The ?imyarites flocked to his standard, not so much from religious motives as from hatred of the Abyssinians.

The pretended murder of two Jewish children gave Dhu Nuwas a plausible _casus belli_. He marched against Najran with an overwhelming force, entered the city, and bade the inhabitants choose between Judaism and death. Many perished by the sword; the rest were thrown into a trench which the king ordered to be dug and filled with blazing fire. Nearly a hundred years later, when Mu?ammad was being sorely persecuted, he consoled and encouraged his followers by the example of the Christians of Najran, who suffered "_for no other reason but that they believed in the mighty, the glorious G.o.d_."[70] Dhu Nuwas paid dearly for his triumph. Daws Dhu Tha'laban, one of those who escaped from the ma.s.sacre, fled to the Byzantine emperor and implored him, as the head of Christendom, to a.s.sist them in obtaining vengeance. Justinus accordingly wrote a letter to the Najashi, desiring him to take action, and ere long an Abyssinian army, 70,000 strong, under the command of Arya?, disembarked in Yemen. Dhu Nuwas could not count on the loyalty of the ?imyarite n.o.bles; his troops melted away. "When he saw the fate that had befallen himself and his people, he turned to the sea and setting spurs to his horse, rode through the shallows until he reached the deep water.

Then he plunged into the waves and nothing more of him was seen."[71]

Thus died, or thus at any rate should have died, the last representative of the long line of ?imyarite kings. Henceforth Yemen appears in Pre-islamic history only as an Abyssinian dependency or as a Persian protectorate. The events now to be related form the prologue to a new drama in which South Arabia, so far from being the centre of interest, plays an almost insignificant role.[72]

[Sidenote: Yemen under Abyssinian rule.]

[Sidenote: Abraha and Arya?.]

[Sidenote: Abraha viceroy of Yemen.]

On the death of Dhu Nuwas, the Abyssinian general Arya? continued his march through Yemen. He slaughtered a third part of the males, laid waste a third part of the land, and sent a third part of the women and children to the Najashi as slaves. Having reduced the Yemenites to submission and re-established order, he held the position of viceroy for several years. Then mutiny broke out in the Abyssinian army of occupation, and his authority was disputed by an officer, named Abraha. When the rivals faced each other, Abraha said to Arya?: "What will it avail you to engage the Abyssinians in a civil war that will leave none of them alive? Fight it out with me, and let the troops follow the victor." His challenge being accepted, Abraha stepped forth. He was a short, fleshy man, compactly built, a devout Christian, while Arya? was big, tall, and handsome. When the duel began, Arya? thrust his spear with the intention of piercing Abraha's brain, but it glanced off his forehead, slitting his eyelid, nose, and lip--hence the name, _al-Ashram_, by which Abraha was afterwards known; and ere he could repeat the blow, a youth in Abraha's service, called 'Atwada, who was seated on a hillock behind his master, sprang forward and dealt him a mortal wound. Thus Abraha found himself commander-in-chief of the Abyssinian army, but the Najashi was enraged and swore not to rest until he set foot on the soil of Yemen and cut off the rebel's forelock. On hearing this, Abraha wrote to the Najashi: "O King, Arya? was thy servant even as I am. We quarrelled over thy command, both of us owing allegiance to thee, but I had more strength than he to command the Abyssinians and keep discipline and exert authority. When I heard of the king's oath, I sh.o.r.e my head, and now I send him a sack of the earth of Yemen that he may put it under his feet and fulfil his oath." The Najashi answered this act of submission by appointing Abraha to be his viceroy.... Then Abraha built the church (_al-Qalis_) at San'a, the like of which was not to be seen at that time in the whole world, and wrote to the Najashi that he would not be content until he had diverted thither every pilgrim in Arabia. This letter made much talk, and a man of the Banu Fuqaym, one of those who arranged the calendar, was angered by what he learned of Abraha's purpose; so he went into the church and defiled it. When Abraha heard that the author of the outrage belonged to the people of the Temple in Mecca, and that he meant to show thereby his scorn and contempt for the new foundation, he waxed wroth and swore that he would march against the Temple and lay it in ruins.

[Sidenote: Sayf b. Dhi Yazan.]

[Sidenote: The Persians in Yemen (_circa_ 572 A.D.).]

The disastrous failure of this expedition, which took place in the year of the Elephant (570 A.D.), did not at once free Yemen from the Abyssinian yoke. The sons of Abraha, Yaksum and Masruq, bore heavily on the Arabs. Seeing no help among his own people, a n.o.ble ?imyarite named Sayf b. Dhi Yazan resolved to seek foreign intervention. His choice lay between the Byzantine and Persian empires, and he first betook himself to Constantinople. Disappointed there, he induced the Arab king of ?ira, who was under Persian suzerainty, to present him at the court of Mada'in (Ctesiphon). How he won audience of the Sasanian monarch, Nushirwan, surnamed the Just, and tempted him by an ingenious trick to raise a force of eight hundred condemned felons, who were set free and shipped to Yemen under the command of an aged general; how they literally 'burned their boats' and, drawing courage from despair, routed the Abyssinian host and made Yemen a satrapy of Persia[73]--this forms an almost epic narrative, which I have omitted here (apart from considerations of s.p.a.ce) because it belongs to Persian rather than to Arabian literary history, being probably based, as Noldeke has suggested, on traditions handed down by the Persian conquerors who settled in Yemen to their aristocratic descendants whom the Arabs called _al-Abna_ (the Sons) or _Banu 'l-A?rar_ (Sons of the n.o.ble).