A Literary History of the Arabs Part 6

They reigned, they prospered; yet, their glory past, In yonder tombs they lie this many a year.

At last they were like unto withered leaves Whirled by the winds away in wild career."[86]

The opinion of most Arabian authors, that Nu'man embraced Christianity, is probably unfounded, but there is reason to believe that he was well disposed towards it, and that his Christian subjects--a Bishop of ?ira is mentioned as early as 410 A.D.--enjoyed complete religious liberty.

[Sidenote: Mundhir I.]

[Sidenote: Mundhir III, b. Ma' al-sama.]

[Sidenote: Rise of Kinda.]

[Sidenote: Mazdak.]

[Sidenote: Mundhir expelled from ?ira by ?arith of Kinda.]

[Sidenote: Death of Mundhir III.]

[Sidenote: Mundhir's "Good Day and Evil Day."]

[Sidenote: ?an?ala and Sharik.]

Nu'man's place was filled by his son Mundhir, an able and energetic prince. The power of the Lakhmites at this time may be inferred from the fact that on the death of Yazdigird I Mundhir forcibly intervened in the dispute as to the Persian succession and procured the election of Bahram Gor, whose claims had previously been rejected by the priesthood.[87] In the war which broke out shortly afterwards between Persia and Rome, Mundhir proved himself a loyal va.s.sal, but was defeated by the Romans with great loss (421 A.D.). Pa.s.sing over several obscure reigns, we arrive at the beginning of the sixth century, when another Mundhir, the third and most ill.u.s.trious of his name, ascended the throne. This is he whom the Arabs called Mundhir b. Ma' al-sama.[88] He had a long and brilliant reign, which, however, was temporarily clouded by an event that cannot be understood without some reference to the general history of the period. About 480 A.D. the powerful tribe of Kinda, whose princes appear to have held much the same position under the Tubba's of Yemen as the Lakhmites under the Persian monarchs, had extended their sway over the greater part of Central and Northern Arabia. The moving spirit in this conquest was ?ujr, surnamed Akilu 'l-Murar, an ancestor of the poet Imru'u 'l-Qays. On his death the Kindite confederacy was broken up, but towards the year 500 it was re-established for a brief s.p.a.ce by his grandson, ?arith b. 'Amr, and became a formidable rival to the kingdoms of Gha.s.san and ?ira. Meanwhile, in Persia, the communistic doctrines of Mazdak had obtained wide popularity among the lower cla.s.ses, and were finally adopted by King Kawadh himself.[89] Now, it is certain that at some date between 505 and 529 ?arith b. 'Amr, the Kindite, invaded 'Iraq, and drove Mundhir out of his kingdom; and it seems not impossible that, as many historians a.s.sert, the latter's downfall was due to his anti-Mazdakite opinions, which would naturally excite the displeasure of his suzerain. At any rate, whatever the causes may have been, Mundhir was temporarily supplanted by ?arith, and although he was restored after a short interval, before the accession of a.n.u.shirwan, who, as Crown Prince, carried out a wholesale ma.s.sacre of the followers of Mazdak (528 A.D.), the humiliation which he had suffered and cruelly avenged was not soon forgotten;[90] the life and poems of Imru'u 'l-Qays bear witness to the hereditary hatred subsisting between Lakhm and Kinda. Mundhir's operations against the Romans were conducted with extraordinary vigour; he devastated Syria as far as Antioch, and Justinian saw himself obliged to entrust the defence of these provinces to the Gha.s.sanid ?arith b. Jabala (?arith al-A'raj), in whom Mundhir at last found more than his match. From this time onward the kings of ?ira and Gha.s.san are continually raiding and plundering each other's territory. In one of his expeditions Mundhir captured a son of ?arith, and "immediately sacrificed him to Aphrodite"--_i.e._, to the Arabian G.o.ddess al-'Uzza;[91]--but on taking the field again in 554 he was surprised and slain by stratagem in a battle which is known proverbially as 'The Day of ?alima.'[92] On the whole, the Lakhmites were a heathen and barbarous race, and these epithets are richly deserved by Mundhir III. It is related in the _Aghani_ that he had two boon-companions, Khalid b. al-Mu?allil and 'Amr b. Mas'ud, with whom he used to carouse; and once, being irritated by words spoken in wine, he gave orders that they should be buried alive. Next morning he did not recollect what had pa.s.sed and inquired as usual for his friends. On learning the truth he was filled with remorse.

He caused two obelisks to be erected over their graves, and two days in every year he would come and sit beside these obelisks, which were called _al-Ghariyyan_--_i.e._, the Blood-smeared. One day was the Day of Good (_yawmu na'imin_), and whoever first encountered him on that day received a hundred black camels. The other day was the Day of Evil (_yawmu bu'sin_), on which he would present the first-comer with the head of a black polecat (_?ariban_), then sacrifice him and smear the obelisks with his blood.[93] The poet 'Abid b. al-Abra? is said to have fallen a victim to this horrible rite. It continued until the doom fell upon a certain ?an?ala of ?ayyi', who was granted a year's grace in order to regulate his affairs, on condition that he should find a surety. He appealed to one of Mundhir's suite, Sharik b. 'Amr, who straightway rose and said to the king, "My hand for his and my blood for his if he fail to return at the time appointed." When the day came ?an?ala did not appear, and Mundhir was about to sacrifice Sharik, whose mourning-woman had already begun to chant the dirge. Suddenly a rider was seen approaching, wrapped in a shroud and perfumed for burial.

A mourning-woman accompanied him. It was ?an?ala. Mundhir marvelled at their loyalty, dismissed them with marks of honour, and abolished the custom which he had inst.i.tuted.[94]

[Sidenote: 'Amr B. Hind (554-569 A.D.).]

He was succeeded by his son 'Amr, who is known to contemporary poets and later historians as 'Amr, son of Hind.[95] During his reign ?ira became an important literary centre. Most of the famous poets then living visited his court; we shall see in the next chapter what relations he had with ?arafa, 'Amr b. Kulthum, and ?arith b.

?illiza. He was a morose, pa.s.sionate, and tyrannical man. The Arabs stood in great awe of him, but vented their spite none the less. "At ?ira," said Dahab al-'Ijli, "there are mosquitoes and fever and lions and 'Amr b. Hind, who acts unjustly and wrongfully."[96] He was slain by the chief of Taghlib, 'Amr b. Kulthum, in vengeance for an insult offered to his mother, Layla.

[Sidenote: Nu'man Abu Qabus.]

[Sidenote: 'Adi b. Zayd.]

It is sufficient to mention the names of Qabus and Mundhir IV, both of whom were sons of Hind, and occupied the throne for short periods. We now come to the last Lakhmite king of ?ira, and by far the most celebrated in tradition, Nu'man III, son of Mundhir IV, with the _kunya_ (name of honour) Abu Qabus, who reigned from 580 to 602 or from 585 to 607. He was brought up and educated by a n.o.ble Christian family in ?ira, the head of which was Zayd b. ?ammad, father of the poet 'Adi b. Zayd. 'Adi is such an interesting figure, and his fortunes were so closely and tragically linked with those of Nu'man, that some account of his life and character will be acceptable. Both his father and grandfather were men of unusual culture, who held high posts in the civil administration under Mundhir III and his successors. Zayd, moreover, through the good offices of a _dihqan_, or Persian landed proprietor, Farrukh-mahan by name, obtained from Khusraw a.n.u.shirwan an important and confidential appointment--that of Postmaster--ordinarily reserved for the sons of satraps.[97] When 'Adi grew up, his father sent him to be educated with the son of the _dihqan_. He learned to write and speak Persian with complete facility and Arabic with the utmost elegance; he versified, and his accomplishments included archery, horsemanship, and polo. At the Persian court his personal beauty, wit, and readiness in reply so impressed a.n.u.shirwan that he took him into his service as secretary and interpreter--Arabic had never before been written in the Imperial Chancery--and accorded him all the privileges of a favourite. He was entrusted with a mission to Constantinople, where he was honourably received; and on his departure the Qay?ar,[98]

following an excellent custom, instructed the officials in charge of the post-routes to provide horses and every convenience in order that the amba.s.sador might see for himself the extent and resources of the Byzantine Empire. 'Adi pa.s.sed some time in Syria, especially at Damascus, where his first poem is said to have appeared. On his father's death, which happened about this time, he renounced the splendid position at ?ira which he might have had for the asking, and gave himself up to hunting and to all kinds of amus.e.m.e.nt and pleasure, only visiting Mada'in (Ctesiphon) at intervals to perform his secretarial duties. While staying at ?ira he fell in love with Nu'man's daughter Hind, who was then eleven years old. The story as told in the _Book of Songs_ is too curious to be entirely omitted, though want of s.p.a.ce prevents me from giving it in full.[99]

[Sidenote: 'Adi meets the Princess Hind in church.]

[Sidenote: His marriage to Hind.]

It is related that Hind, who was one of the fairest women of her time, went to church on Thursday of Holy Week, three days after Palm Sunday, to receive the sacrament. 'Adi had entered the church for the same purpose. He espied her--she was a big, tall girl--while she was off her guard, and fixed his gaze upon her before she became aware of him. Her maidens, who had seen him approaching, said nothing to their mistress, because one of them called Mariya was enamoured of 'Adi and knew no other way of making his acquaintance.

When Hind saw him looking at herself, she was highly displeased and scolded her handmaidens and beat some of them. 'Adi had fallen in love with her, but he kept the matter secret for a whole year. At the end of that time Mariya, thinking that Hind had forgotten what pa.s.sed, described the church of Thoma (St. Thomas) and the nuns there and the girls who frequented it, and the beauty of the building and of the lamps, and said to her, "Ask thy mother's leave to go." As soon as leave was granted, Mariya conveyed the intelligence to 'Adi, who immediately dressed himself in a magnificent gold-embroidered Persian tunic (_yalmaq_) and hastened to the rendezvous, accompanied by several young men of ?ira. When Mariya perceived him, she cried to Hind, "Look at this youth: by G.o.d, he is fairer than the lamps and all things else that thou seest." "Who is he?" she asked. "'Adi, son of Zayd." "Do you think,"

said Hind, "that he will recognise me if I come nearer?" Then she advanced and watched him as he conversed with his friends, outshining them all by the beauty of his person, the elegance of his language, and the splendour of his dress. "Speak to him," said Mariya to her young mistress, whose countenance betrayed her feelings. After exchanging a few words the lovers parted. Mariya went to 'Adi and promised, if he would first gratify her wishes, to bring about his union with Hind. She lost no time in warning Nu'man that his daughter was desperately in love with 'Adi and would either disgrace herself or die of grief unless he gave her to him. Nu'man, however, was too proud to make overtures to 'Adi, who on his part feared to anger the prince by proposing an alliance. The ingenious Mariya found a way out of the difficulty. She suggested that 'Adi should invite Nu'man and his suite to a banquet, and having well plied him with wine should ask for the hand of his daughter, which would not then be refused. So it came to pa.s.s. Nu'man gave his consent to the marriage, and after three days Hind was brought home to her husband.[100]

[Sidenote: 'Adi secures the election of Nu'man as King of ?ira.]

[Sidenote: He is imprisoned and put to death by Nu'man.]

On the death of Mundhir IV 'Adi warmly supported the claims of Nu'man, who had formerly been his pupil and was now his father-in-law, to the throne of ?ira. The ruse which he employed on this occasion was completely successful, but it cost him his life.[101] The partisans of Aswad b. Mundhir, one of the defeated candidates, resolved on vengeance.

Their intrigues awakened the suspicions of Nu'man against the 'King-maker.' 'Adi was cast into prison, where he languished for a long time and was finally murdered by Nu'man when the Chosroes (Parwez, son of Hurmuz) had already intervened to procure his release.[102]

[Sidenote: The vengeance of Zayd b. 'Adi.]

[Sidenote: Death of Nu'man III.]

'Adi left a son named Zayd, who, on the recommendation of Nu'man, was appointed by Khusraw Parwez to succeed his father as Secretary for Arabian Affairs at the court of Ctesiphon. Apparently reconciled to Nu'man, he was none the less bent on vengeance, and only waited for an opportunity. The kings of Persia were connoisseurs in female beauty, and when they desired to replenish their harems they used to circulate an advertis.e.m.e.nt describing with extreme particularity the physical and moral qualities which were to be sought after;[103] but hitherto they had neglected Arabia, which, as they supposed, could not furnish any woman possessed of these perfections. Zayd therefore approached the Chosroes and said: "I know that Nu'man has in his family a number of women answering to the description. Let me go to him, and send with me one of thy guardsmen who understands Arabic." The Chosroes complied, and Zayd set out for ?ira. On learning the object of his mission, Nu'man exclaimed with indignation: "What! are not the gazelles of Persia sufficient for your needs?" The comparison of a beautiful woman to a gazelle is a commonplace in Arabian poetry, but the officer accompanying Zayd was ill acquainted with Arabic, and asked the meaning of the word (_'in_ or _maha_) which Nu'man had employed. "Cows," said Zayd. When Parwez heard from his guardsman that Nu'man had said, "Do not the cows of Persia content him?" he could scarcely suppress his rage. Soon afterwards he sent for Nu'man, threw him into chains, and caused him to be trampled to pieces by elephants.[104]

[Sidenote: Character of Nu'man III.]

Nu'man III appears in tradition as a tyrannical prince, devoted to wine, women, and song. He was the patron of many celebrated poets, and especially of Nabigha Dhubyani, who was driven from ?ira in consequence of a false accusation. This episode, as well as another in which the poet Munakhkhal was concerned, gives us a glimpse into the private life of Nu'man. He had married his step-mother, Mutajarrida, a great beauty in her time; but though he loved her pa.s.sionately, she bestowed her affections elsewhere. Nabigha was suspected on account of a poem in which he described the charms of the queen with the utmost minuteness, but Munakhkhal was the real culprit. The lovers were surprised by Nu'man, and from that day Munakhkhal was never seen again.

Hence the proverb, "Until Munakhkhal shall return," or, as we might say, "Until the coming of the Coqcigrues."

[Sidenote: Nu'man's conversion to Christianity.]

Although several of the kings of ?ira are said to have been Christians, it is very doubtful whether any except Nu'man III deserved even the name; the Lakhmites, unlike the majority of their subjects, were thoroughly pagan. Nu'man's education would naturally predispose him to Christianity, and his conversion may have been wrought, as the legend a.s.serts, by his mentor 'Adi b. Zayd.

[Sidenote: The Gha.s.sanids or Jafnites.]

According to Mu?ammadan genealogists, the Gha.s.sanids, both those settled in Medina and those to whom the name is consecrated by popular usage--the Gha.s.sanids of Syria--are descended from 'Amr b. 'amir al-Muzayqiya, who, as was related in the last chapter, sold his possessions in Yemen and quitted the country, taking with him a great number of its inhabitants, shortly before the Bursting of the d.y.k.e of Ma'rib. His son Jafna is generally regarded as the founder of the dynasty. Of their early history very few authentic facts have been preserved. At first, we are told, they paid tribute to the ?aja'ima, a family of the stock of Sali?, who ruled the Syrian borderlands under Roman protection. A struggle ensued, from which the Gha.s.sanids emerged victorious, and henceforth we find them established in these regions as the representatives of Roman authority with the official t.i.tles of Patricius and Phylarch, which they and the Arabs around them rendered after the simple Oriental fashion by 'King' (_malik_).

[Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba's account of the Gha.s.sanids.]

[Sidenote: ?arith the Lame.]

[Sidenote: Jabala b. al-Ayham.]

The first (says Ibn Qutayba) that reigned in Syria of the family of Jafna was ?arith b. 'Amr Mu?arriq, who was so called because he burnt (_?arraqa_) the Arabs in their houses. He is ?arith the Elder (al-Akbar), and his name of honour (_kunya_) is Abu Shamir. After him reigned ?arith b. Abi Shamir, known as ?arith the Lame (_al-A'raj_), whose mother was Mariya of the Ear-rings. He was the best of their kings, and the most fortunate, and the craftiest; and in his raids he went the farthest afield. He led an expedition against Khaybar[105] and carried off a number of prisoners, but set them free after his return to Syria. When Mundhir b. Ma' al-sama marched against him with an army 100,000 strong, ?arith sent a hundred men to meet him--among them the poet Labid, who was then a youth--ostensibly to make peace. They surrounded Mundhir's tent and slew the king and his companions; then they took horse, and some escaped, while others were slain. The Gha.s.sanid cavalry attacked the army of Mundhir and put them to flight.

?arith had a daughter named ?alima, who perfumed the hundred champions on that day and clad them in shrouds of white linen and coats of mail. She is the heroine of the proverb, "The day of ?alima is no secret."[106] ?arith was succeeded by his son, ?arith the Younger. Among his other sons were 'Amr b. ?arith (called Abu Shamir the Younger), to whom Nabigha came on leaving Nu'man b. Mundhir; Mundhir b. ?arith; and al-Ayham b. ?arith.

Jabala, the son of al-Ayham, was the last of the kings of Gha.s.san.

He was twelve spans in height, and his feet brushed the ground when he rode on horseback. He reached the Islamic period and became a Moslem in the Caliphate of 'Umar b. al-Kha??ab, but afterwards he turned Christian and went to live in the Byzantine Empire. The occasion of his turning Christian was this: In pa.s.sing through the bazaar of Damascus he let his horse tread upon one of the bystanders, who sprang up and struck Jabala a blow on the face. The Gha.s.sanis seized the fellow and brought him before Abu 'Ubayda b.

al-Jarra?,[107] complaining that he had struck their master. Abu 'Ubayda demanded proof. "What use wilt thou make of the proof?" said Jabala. He answered: "If he has struck thee, thou wilt strike him a blow in return." "And shall not he be slain?" "No." "Shall not his hand be cut off?" "No," said Abu 'Ubayda; "G.o.d has ordained retaliation only--blow for blow." Then Jabala went forth and betook himself to Roman territory and became a Christian; and he stayed there all the rest of his life.[108]

[Sidenote: ?arith the Lame.]

The Arabian traditions respecting the dynasty of Gha.s.san are hopelessly confused and supply hardly any material even for the rough historical sketch which may be pieced together from the scattered notices in Byzantine authors.[109] It would seem that the first unquestionable Gha.s.sanid prince was ?arith b. Jabala (????a? t?? Ga??a), who figures in Arabian chronicles as '?arith the Lame,' and who was appointed by Justinian (about 529 A.D.) to balance, on the Roman side, the active and enterprising King of ?ira, Mundhir b. Ma' al-sama.

During the greater part of his long reign (529-569 A.D.) he was engaged in war with this dangerous rival, to whose defeat and death in the decisive battle of ?alima we have already referred. Like all his line, ?arith was a Christian of the Monophysite Church, which he defended with equal zeal and success at a time when its very existence was at stake. The following story ill.u.s.trates his formidable character.

Towards the end of his life he visited Constantinople to arrange with the Imperial Government which of his sons should succeed him, and made a powerful impression on the people of that city, especially on the Emperor's nephew, Justinus. Many years afterwards, when Justinus had fallen into dotage, the chamberlains would frighten him, when he began to rave, with "Hush! Arethas will come and take you."[110]

[Sidenote: Mundhir b. ?arith.]

?arith was succeeded by his son, Mundhir, who vanquished the new King of ?ira, Qabus b. Hind, on Ascension Day, 570 A.D., in a battle which is perhaps identical with that celebrated by the Arabs as the Battle of 'Ayn Ubagh. The refusal of the Emperor Justinus to furnish him with money may have prevented Mundhir from pursuing his advantage, and was the beginning of open hostility between them, which culminated about eleven years later in his being carried off to Constantinople and forced to reside in Sicily.

From this time to the Persian conquest of Palestine (614 A.D.) anarchy prevailed throughout the Gha.s.sanid kingdom. The various tribes elected their own princes, who sometimes, no doubt, were Jafnites; but the dynasty had virtually broken up. Possibly it was restored by Heraclius when he drove the Persians out of Syria (629 A.D.), as the Gha.s.sanians are repeatedly found fighting for Rome against the Moslems, and according to the unanimous testimony of Arabian writers, the Jafnite Jabala b. al-Ayham, who took an active part in the struggle, was the last king of Gha.s.san. His accession may be placed about 635 A.D. The poet ?a.s.san b. Thabit, who as a native of Medina could claim kinship with the Gha.s.sanids, and visited their court in his youth, gives a glowing description of its luxury and magnificence.

[Sidenote: ?a.s.san b. Thabit's picture of the Gha.s.sanid court.]

"I have seen ten singing-girls, five of them Greeks, singing Greek songs to the music of lutes, and five from ?ira who had been presented to King Jabala by Iyas b. Qabi?a,[111] chanting Babylonian airs. Arab singers used to come from Mecca and elsewhere for his delight; and when he would drink wine he sat on a couch of myrtle and jasmine and all sorts of sweet-smelling flowers, surrounded by gold and silver vessels full of ambergris and musk.

During winter aloes-wood was burned in his apartments, while in summer he cooled himself with snow. Both he and his courtiers wore light robes, arranged with more regard to comfort than ceremony,[112] in the hot weather, and white furs, called _fanak_,[113] or the like, in the cold season; and, by G.o.d, I was never in his company but he gave me the robe which he was wearing on that day, and many of his friends were thus honoured. He treated the rude with forbearance; he laughed without reserve and lavished his gifts before they were sought. He was handsome, and agreeable in conversation: I never knew him offend in speech or act."[114]