THE ALLEGED BURNING OF THE LIBRARY

[1Sidenote: [641 A.D.]]

2We should deceive the expectation of the reader if we passed in silence the fate of the Alexandrian library, as it is described by the learned Abul-Faraj. The spirit of Amru was more curious and liberal than that of his brethren, and in his leisure hours the Arabian chief was pleased with the conversation of John, the last disciple of Ammonius, and who derived the surname of Philoponus from his laborious studies of grammar and philosophy. Emboldened by this familiar intercourse, Philoponus presumed to solicit a gift, inestimable in his opinion, contemptible in that of the barbarians--the royal library, which alone among the spoils of Alexandria had not been appropriated by the visit and the seal of the conqueror.

3Amru was inclined to gratify the wish of the grammarian, but his rigid integrity refused to alienate the minutest object without the consent of the caliph; and the well-known answer of Omar was inspired by the ignorance of a fanatic: “If these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God, they are useless and need not be preserved; if they disagree, they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed.” The sentence was executed with blind obedience; the volumes of paper or parchment were distributed to the four thousand baths of the city; and such was their incredible multitude, that six months was barely sufficient for the consumption of this precious fuel.

4Since the _Dynasties_ of Abul-Faraj have been given to the world in a Latin version, the tale has been repeatedly transcribed; and every scholar, with pious indignation, has deplored the irreparable shipwreck of the learning, the arts, and the genius of antiquity.

5For our own part, we are strongly tempted to deny both the fact and the consequences. The fact is indeed marvellous. “Read and wonder!” says the historian himself; and the solitary report of a stranger, who wrote at the end of six hundred years on the confines of Media, is overbalanced by the silence of two annalists of a more early date, both Christians, both natives of Egypt, and the most ancient of whom, the patriarch Eutychius, has amply described the conquest of Alexandria.

6The rigid sentence of Omar is repugnant to the sound and orthodox precept of the Mohammedan casuists: they expressly declare that the religious books of the Jews and Christians, which are acquired by the right of war, should never be committed to the flames; and that the works of profane science, historians or poets, physicians or philosophers, may be lawfully applied to the use of the faithful. A more destructive zeal may perhaps be attributed to the first successors of Mohammed; yet, in this instance, the conflagration would have speedily expired in the deficiency of materials.

7We shall not recapitulate the disasters of the Alexandrian library, the involuntary flame that was kindled by Cæsar in his own defence, or the mischievous bigotry of the Christians, who studied to destroy the monuments of idolatry.[37] But if we gradually descend from the age of the Antonines to that of Theodosius, we shall learn from a chain of contemporary witnesses that the royal palace and the temple of Serapis no longer contained the four, or the seven, hundred thousand volumes, which had been assembled by the curiosity and magnificence of the Ptolemies.

8Perhaps the church and seat of the patriarchs might be enriched with a repository of books; but if the ponderous mass of Arian and monophysite controversy were indeed consumed in the public baths, a philosopher may allow, with a smile, that it was ultimately devoted to the benefit of mankind. We sincerely regret the more valuable libraries which have been involved in the ruin of the Roman Empire; but when we seriously compute the lapse of ages, the waste of ignorance, and the calamities of war, our treasures, rather than our losses, are the object of our surprise.

9Many curious and interesting facts are buried in oblivion; the three great historians of Rome have been transmitted to our hands in a mutilated state, and we are deprived of many pleasing compositions of the lyric, iambic, and dramatic poetry of the Greeks. Yet we should gratefully remember that the mischances of time and accident have spared the classic works to which the suffrage of antiquity had adjudged the first place of genius and glory; the teachers of ancient knowledge who are still extant had perused and compared the writings of their predecessors; nor can it fairly be presumed that any important truth, any useful discovery in art or nature, has been snatched away from the curiosity of modern ages.

10[Illustration: ARABIC WEAPONS]

11In the administration of Egypt, Amru balanced the demands of justice and policy. In the management of the revenue he disapproved the simple but oppressive mode of a capitation, and preferred with reason a proportion of taxes, deducted on every branch from the clear profits of agriculture and commerce. A third part of the tribute was appropriated to the annual repairs of the dikes and canals, so essential to the public welfare. Under this administration the fertility of Egypt supplied the dearth of Arabia; and a string of camels, laden with corn and provisions, covered almost without an interval the long road from Memphis to Medina. But the genius of Amru soon renewed the maritime communication which had been attempted or achieved by the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, or the Cæsars; and a canal, at least eighty miles in length, was opened from the Nile to the Red Sea. This inland navigation, which would have joined the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, was soon discontinued as useless and dangerous: the throne was removed from Medina to Damascus; and the Grecian fleets might have explored a passage to the holy cities of Arabia.[g]

12[Sidenote: [637-644 A.D.]]

13Amru, being now possessed of Egypt, began to look a little further towards the western part of Africa; and in a short time made himself master of all that country which lies between Barcah and Zeweilah. Shortly after this he took Tripolis. If we consider the extent of his success, it alone is great enough to command our admiration even though nothing else had been accomplished in any other part. But in the East, also, the victorious arms made no less progress, and the Mohammedan crescent now began to shed its malignant influence upon as large and considerable dominions as the Roman eagle ever soared over. About this time, Aderbaijan, Ainwerdah, Harran, Roha, Rakkah, Nisibin, Ehwaz, Siwas, and Khorasan were all brought under subjection to the Saracens.

14About two years after this, Omar, the caliph, was killed. The account of his death is as follows: One Firuz, a Persian, of the sect of the magi, or Parsees, as being of a different religion from the Mussulmans, had a daily tribute of two pieces of silver imposed upon him by his master, and made his complaint to Omar, demanding to have a part of it remitted. Omar told him he did not think it at all unreasonable, considering he could well afford it out of what he earned. With his answer Firuz was so provoked that he did as good as threaten the caliph to his face, who, however, took little notice of his passion. Firuz watched his opportunity; and not long after, whilst Omar was saying the morning prayer in the mosque, stabbed him thrice in the belly with a dagger.

15The Saracens in the mosque rushing upon him immediately, he made a desperate defence, and stabbed thirteen of them, of whom seven died. At last, one that stood by threw his vest over him, and seized him; when, perceiving himself caught, he stabbed himself. Omar lived three days after the wound, and then died, in the month of Dhul-haj, in the twenty-third year of the Hegira, 644 A.D., after he had reigned ten years, six months, and eight days, and was sixty-three years old; which is the same age at which, according to some authors, Mohammed, Abu Bekr, and Aisha, Mohammed’s wife, died.

16The conquests gained by the Saracens in his reign were so considerable that, though they had never been extended, the countries they had subdued would have made a very formidable empire. He drove all the Jews and Christians out of Arabia; subdued Syria, Egypt, and other territories in Africa, besides the greater part of Persia. And yet all this greatness, which would have been too weighty for an ordinary man to bear, especially if, as in Omar’s case, it did not descend to him as an hereditary possession, for which he had been prepared by a suitable education, but was gotten on a sudden by men who had been acquainted with, and used to, nothing great before, had no effect upon the caliph.[b]

17Neither splendid victories nor extensive dominions changed the stern character of Omar; he still preserved the rustic simplicity of his manners and his ancient contempt for luxurious ornament. When he departed from Medina to receive the submission of Jerusalem, he was mounted on a red camel, having for his entire equipage two sacks, one containing corn and the other fruit; before him was a leathern vessel of water, and behind him a large platter from which he used to take his meals. In this guise he travelled the entire road from Medina to Jerusalem, punishing the Mussulmans who led a scandalous life, and providing for a rigorous administration of justice.

18On his arrival, the inhabitants prepared a splendid palace for his reception; but he refused to enter the city, and had a tent erected outside the walls. In this tent the deputies found the master of their destinies sitting on the naked earth. The terms granted to the citizens of Jerusalem are remarkable for their moderation; the security of the persons and properties of the inhabitants was guaranteed, the free exercise of religion permitted, and the churches allowed to remain with their present possessors. Even when the caliph was anxious to erect a mosque, he requested the patriarch to point him out an appropriate situation; that prelate led him to the spot where Solomon’s temple once stood, which was then covered with filth, and the caliph readily accepted the ground as it was.

19He himself set the example of clearing the rubbish; the army followed with eager emulation, and the mosque of Omar, erected on this spot, is one of the most beautiful specimens of Arabian architecture. But though tolerant to the Christians, the caliph showed himself severe to those of his own followers who had departed from the rigour of the national manners. Having learned that some of his men wore flowing robes of silk, he ordered them to be extended on the earth, with their faces to the ground, and their silken robes to be torn from their shoulders.

20He punished with the bastinado those convicted of drinking wine; he made proclamation that those who had transgressed, should accuse themselves, and such was the influence he possessed over his troops, that many voluntarily confessed their guilt, and submitted to the degrading punishment.

21In the history of Mohammedanism, Omar is a person second only in importance to the founder of Islam. His strict severity was useful at a time when unprecedented success seemed to excuse military violence; his impartiality greatly abated the calamities of the conquest. He did not spare the gallant Khalid, but it is probable that, in his conduct to that hero, he was actuated more by jealousy than by a love of justice; it must however be added, that in no instance did he permit high station to shelter oppressors. A curious circumstance, characteristic of the age, is recorded. Omar carried a cane with which he personally chastised officers even of the highest rank, whom he detected in any guilty action, and hence arose the proverb, “Omar’s cane is more terrible than the sword of the bravest warrior.”

22His strictness in enforcing religious ordinances was carried to the very extreme of fanaticism; by his orders the splendid library which the Ptolemies had collected in Alexandria, was said to have been burned to heat the public baths; and the invaluable records of Persia, assembled by the zeal of the Sassanides in Madain, were hurled into the waters of the Tigris. His early education had rendered him insensible to the charms of literature or art; when his generals sent him, from the palace of the Persian kings, an unrivalled piece of tapestry, representing a flower garden, worked with gold and precious stones, he ordered this elaborate piece of workmanship to be cut in pieces, and the fragments distributed to his soldiers.

23For his own use, he had neither palace, nor court, nor house; during the time of prayer, he publicly officiated in the mosque; the remainder of the day he spent in the streets and squares, and it was there he gave audience to the ambassadors of the most powerful cotemporary princes. His dress was not better than that of his meanest subjects; when reproached for the deficiencies of his appearance, he replied, “I would rather please the Lord by my conduct, than men by my dress.” He was more indiscriminate in his charity than Abu Bekr; the first caliph relieved none whose distress had been occasioned by vicious conduct, Omar gave to all who asked.

24When reproached for making no distinction, he replied, “Man is placed upon the earth, only to do good to his brethren; the judgment of man’s worthiness should be left to his Creator.” The temperance of Omar was as remarkable as his simplicity; his ordinary food was coarse barley bread seasoned with salt, and on days of abstinence the salt was laid aside; his only beverage was water. When at meals, he invited all who chanced to be present, to take a share.

25But the splendour of his public works was a strange contrast to the meanness of his private life. We have already mentioned the mosque he caused to be erected in Jerusalem; he also greatly enlarged and beautified that which Mohammed had built in Medina. By his orders, the foundations were laid of cities that rapidly grew to greatness, Old Cairo, Cufa, and Bassora. He caused the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea to be repaired and opened, in order to facilitate the importation of corn into Arabia, which the recent enlargement of the cities had rendered a matter of prime necessity.

26It was Omar, who first introduced the custom of dating from the Hegira; before his time the Arabians dated from the last great event which had interested the whole nation,--a war, a famine, or a plague,--and thus rendered their chronology a mass of inextricable confusion. To him also is owing the institution of a police force in Mecca and Medina, the establishment of a fund to provide for the pay of the army, and the preparation of an equitable scale of rewards for those who had distinguished themselves in the propagation of Islam. It is no wonder that, with such claims to admiration, the name of Omar should be so celebrated among the most rigid sects of the Mohammedans.

27But while the Sunnites labour to extend the fame of Omar, his memory is detested by the partisans of Ali; his name is the proverbial expression for all that is base in the countries where the Shiite principles prevail; no person that bears it, dare own it in public; and to such excess do the Persians carry their hatred, that they celebrate the day of Omar’s assassination as a public festival.

28[Sidenote: [644 A.D.]]

29Omar, finding death approaching, was at a loss whom to nominate his successor; and, to remedy the difficulty, devised the most extraordinary expedient that can be imagined. He directed that a council of six should be assembled after his death, that three days should be allowed them for deliberation, and that if, at the end of that time, they had not agreed on a new caliph, they should all be slain. The six who met to deliberate under these circumstances, were Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed, Othman, likewise his son-in-law, Zobair, the cousin of the prophet, and Abd ar-Rahman, Talha, and Saad, his favourite companions. After some deliberation, they elected Othman, and he was installed third caliph.