The vitals of the empire were thus wasted by civil contentions. The bravest fell, fighting against their countrymen ; and while the warriors were glutted with plunder, and gloried in their triumphs, the more mo derate Moslems sighed for the peace and unity of the reign of Omar, when every Moslem was a brother, and every infidel an enemy, and bewailed the miseries to which their country was exposed, by the infatuated am bition of their chiefs. Three Charejites devoted their lives to the service of their country. They recounted, in the temple of Mecca, the martial deeds of their sect, lamented the loss of their companions, and swore to free their country from impending ruin. The deaths of Ali, Moawiyah, and Amrn, they considered as the only means of restoring tranquillity to Arabia. They poisoned their swords, and each repaired to the victim he had chosen. Moawiyah was wounded in the reins, but recovered ; the captain of Amru's guard was stabbed by mistake ; and Ali received a mortal stroke, while officiating as Imam, in the mosque at Cufa. He expired in the 63d year of his age, after a troublesome reign of five years, and fell the bravest and most virtuous of the Mahometan caliphs. All was highly distinguished for his unaffect ed piety, his sweetness of temper, his humility, justice, and liberality. His bravery acquired him the glorious appellation of " the victorious lion of God :" and in his last moments, he mercifully recommended to his chil dren, not to torture his assassin, but to dispatch him at one blow.
Hassan succeeded to the throne of Medina. He in herited the piety, but not the martial genius, of his fa ther ; and his excessive mildness of disposition render ed him incapable of disputing the empire with the prince of Damascus. Having reigned six months, he resigned the government to Moawiyah. He left, without a sigh, the palace of Cufa, and retired to a life of piety and con templation, in the city of Medina, where he was soon af ter poisoned, at the instigation of his treacherous rival. The unassuming virtues of the son of Fatima entitled him to a better fate. Many instances of his moderation and generosity are recorded by the Moslems; but one in particular deserves to be remembered : A slave inad vertently dropt a dish of boiling broth upon him as he sat at table ; the trembling wretch fell prostrate at the feet of his master, and repeated the words of the Koran, " Paradise is for those who bridle their anger."—" I am not angry."—" and for those that forgive offences." " I forgive you ;" " for God loveth the beneficent." " Since it is so," said Hassan, " I give you your liberty, and four hundred pieces of silver !" Moawiyah being now securely seated upon the throne of Arabia, transferred the seat of empire from Medina to Damascus, whither he also to convey the pulpit and walking stick of the prophet. But an eclipse of the sun happening just as they were laying their hands upon these sacred relicks, the trembling Moslems, dread ing the divine displeasure, refused to obey the sacrile gious command of their sovereign.
The caliph having reduced the restless Charejites, sent a powerful army under his son Yezid, to besiege the capital of the Roman empire. The troops were animated by the tradition of their prophet, " That the sins of the first army which should take the city of Cxsar were forgiven." They braved the fatigues and dangers of a long and laborious march ; yet, notwithstanding their zeal, they returned to Syria, without performing any services of importance. The consequences of this expe dition were most disgraceful to the Moslems. A truce
of thirty years was concluded with the emperor ; in which the Arabs were allowed to retain the provinces they had seized, upon paying an annual tribute of 3000 pounds weight of gold, fifty slaves, and as many choice horses. Their arms, however, were more successful in Tartary and Africa.
Saad, the governor of Chorasan, crossed the Arnu, (the Oxus of the ancients,) and took Samareand, the capital of the Usbeek Tartars.
With 10,000 Arabs, Akbar over-ran Numidia, and founded the city of Cairoan, which, in after ages, became the seat of learning and of empire. He fearlessly tra versed the deserts of Mauritania, and penetrated to the shores of the Atlantic ocean. The intrepid warrior plunged his horse into the tide, and lamented, like the son of Philip, the boundary of his conquests. " Great God, were I not stopped by this sea, I would still go on to the unknown kingdoms of the west, preaching the unity of thy holy name, and extirpating the rebellious nations who refuse to worship thee." The valour of Akbar was unable to preserve the fruits of his triumphs. A general revolt exposed him to the fury of the faithless Africans. The victorious Moslems were surrounded and slain, and Akbar fell, fighting valiantly, amidst the dead bodies of his followers. His successor, Zuheir, avenged the death of his countrymen, but was also overthrown by the Greeks before the walls of Carthage.
Moawiyah now attempted to render the throne here ditary in his own family, and to exclude for ever the Fatimites from any share in the government, by indu cing the Arabs to swear allegiance to Yezid, as his col league and successor in the empire. The dissolute manners, however, of this prince, rendered him very unacceptable to the more serious Moslems ; and four of their principal chiefs, Hosein Ebn Ali, Abdallah Ebn Amer, Abd'alrahman Ebn Abu Bekr, and Abdallah Elm Zobeir, refused to acknowledge his title. The death of Moawiyah, therefore, was the signal for fresh divisions and contentions. The Cufans declared in favour of Hosein, and 18,000 troops were ready to take the field at the command of the grandson of the prophet. With fifty horse and 100 foot, Hosein, attended by his wives and children, traversed the deserts of Arabia, and has tened to join his adherents in Irak. His friends, how ever, had either been overawed, or seduced, by the crafty Obeidallah, the governor of Cufa ; and Hosein, with his little army, was surrounded by a detachment of 5000 horse in the plains of Kerbela. The nate son of Ali inherited the spirit of his father. He disdained submission to ,the haughty demand of his rival, and, after a desperate engagement, he was cut to pieces with his faithful followers. His head was carried in triumph to Cufa ; mid when presented to the governor, the savage Obeidallah struck it over the mouth with a cane. " Alas," exclaimed an aged companion of the prophet, " on these lips have I seen the lips of the apostle of God." The death of Hosein was far from restoring tranquillity to the empire. Abdallah Ebn Z6 beir was proclaimed caliph by the house of Hashem, and Yezid was formally deposed in the mosque at Medina. To resent this affront, the Syrian caliph took and plun dered the city of the prophet, and the holy city of Mecca escaped the same fate only by his death. He was succeeded by his son Moawiyah II., whose weakly constitution was unable to bear the fatigues of govern ment. He resigned his crown without naming a suc cessor; and Merwan Ebn Al Hakem was called to the throne of Damascus by the Syrians, who firmly adhered to the house of Ommiyah.