Chapter II: The History and Legends of the Pagan Arabs (2)

Thus began the War of Basús between Taghlib on the one side and the clan of Shaybán, to which Murra belonged, on the other; for at first the remaining divisions of Bakr held aloof from the struggle, considering Shaybán to be clearly in the wrong. The latter were reduced to dire straits, when an event occurred which caused the Bakrites to rise as one man on behalf of their fellows. Ḥárith b.‘Ubád, a famous knight of Bakr, had refused to take part in the contest, saying in words which became proverbial, "I have neither camel nor she-camel in it," _i.e._, "it is no affair of mine." One day his nephew, Bujayr, encountered Kulayb's brother, Muhalhil, on whom the mantle of the murdered chief had fallen; and Muhalhil, struck with admiration for the youth's comeliness, asked him who he was. "Bujayr," said he, "the son of ‘Amr, the son of ‘Ubád." "And who is thy uncle on the mother's side?" "My mother is a captive" (for he would not name an uncle of whom he had no honour). Then Muhalhil slew him, crying, "Pay for Kulayb's shoe-latchet!" On hearing this, Ḥárith sent a message to Muhalhil in which he declared that if vengeance were satisfied by the death of Bujayr, he for his part would gladly acquiesce. But Muhalhil replied, "I have taken satisfaction only for Kulayb's shoe-latchet." Thereupon Ḥárith sprang up in wrath and cried:--

"_God knows, I kindled not this fire, altho'
I am burned in it to-day.
A lord for a shoe-latchet is too dear:
To horse! To horse! Away!_"[122]

And al-Find, of the Banú Bakr, said on this occasion:--

[Sidenote: Verses by al-Find.]

"_We spared the Banú Hind[123] and said, 'Our brothers they remain:
It may be Time will make of us one people yet again.'_"
_But when the wrong grew manifest, and naked Ill stood plain,
And naught was left but ruthless hate, we paid them bane with bane!
As lions marched we forth to war in wrath and high disdain:
Our swords brought widowhood and tears and wailing in their train,
Our spears dealt gashes wide whence blood like water spilled amain.
No way but Force to weaken Force and mastery obtain;
'Tis wooing contumely to meet wild actions with humane:
By evil thou may'st win to peace when good is tried in vain._"[124]

[Sidenote: The Day of Shearing.]

The Banú Bakr now prepared for a decisive battle. As their enemy had the advantage in numbers, they adopted a stratagem devised by Ḥárith. "Fight them," said he, "with your women. Equip every woman with a small waterskin and give her a club. Place the whole body of them behind you--this will make you more resolved in battle--and wear some distinguishing mark which they will recognise, so that when a woman passes by one of your wounded she may know him by his mark and give him water to drink, and raise him from the ground; but when she passes by one of your foes she will smite him with her club and slay him." So the Bakrites shaved their heads, devoting themselves to death, and made this a mark of recognition between themselves and their women, and this day was called the Day of Shearing. Now Jaḥdar b. Ḑubay‘a was an ill-favoured, dwarfish man, with fair flowing love-locks, and he said, "O my people, if ye shave my head ye will disfigure me, so leave my locks for the first horseman of Taghlib that shall emerge from the hill-pass on the morrow" (meaning "I will answer for him, if my locks are spared"). On his request being granted, he exclaimed:--

[Sidenote: The vow of Jaḥdar b. Ḑubay‘a.]

"_To wife and daughter
Henceforth I am dead:
Dust for ointment
On my hair is shed._

_Let me close with the horsemen
Who hither ride,
Cut my locks from me
If I stand aside!_

_Well wots a mother
If the son she bore
And swaddled on her bosom
And smelt him o'er,_

_Whenever warriors
In the mellay meet,
Is a puny weakling
Or a man complete!_"[125]

He kept his promise but in the course of the fight he fell, severely wounded. When the women came to him, they saw his love-locks and imagining that he was an enemy despatched him with their clubs.

[Sidenote: Women as combatants.]

The presence of women on the field and the active share they took in the combat naturally provoked the bitterest feelings. If they were not engaged in finishing the bloody work of the men, their tongues were busy inciting them. We are told that a daughter of al-Find bared herself recklessly and chanted:--

"_War! War! War! War!
It has blazed up and scorched us sore.
The highlands are filled with its roar.
Well done, the morning when your heads ye shore!_"[126]

The mothers were accompanied by their children, whose tender age did not always protect them from an exasperated foe. It is related that a horseman of the Banú Taghlib transfixed a young boy and lifted him up on the point of his spear. He is said to have been urged to this act of savagery by one al-Bazbáz, who was riding behind him on the crupper. Their triumph was short; al-Find saw them, and with a single spear-thrust pinned them to each other--an exploit which his own verses record.

On this day the Banú Bakr gained a great victory, and broke the power of Taghlib. It was the last battle of note in the Forty Years' War, which was carried on, by raiding and plundering, until the exhaustion of both tribes and the influence of King Mundhir III of Ḥíra brought it to an end.

[Sidenote: The War of Dáḥis and Ghabrá.]

Not many years after the conclusion of peace between Bakr and Taghlib, another war, hardly less famous in tradition than the War of Basús, broke out in Central Arabia. The combatants were the tribes of ‘Abs and Dhubyán, the principal stocks of the Banú Ghaṭafán, and the occasion of their coming to blows is related as follows:--

Qays, son of Zuhayr, was chieftain of ‘Abs. He had a horse called
Dáḥis, renowned for its speed, which he matched against Ghabrá, a
mare belonging to Ḥudhayfa b. Badr, the chief of Dhubyán. It was
agreed that the course should be a hundred bow-shots in length, and
that the victor should receive a hundred camels. When the race began
Ghabrá took the lead, but as they left the firm ground and entered
upon the sand, where the 'going' was heavy, Dáḥis gradually drew
level and passed his antagonist. He was nearing the goal when some
Dhubyánites sprang from an ambuscade prepared beforehand, and drove
him out of his course, thus enabling Ghabrá to defeat him. On being
informed of this foul play Qays naturally claimed that he had won
the wager, but the men of Dhubyán refused to pay even a single
camel. Bitterly resenting their treachery, he waylaid and slew one
of Ḥudhayfa's brothers. Ḥudhayfa sought vengeance, and the
murder of Málik, a brother of Qays, by his horsemen gave the signal
for war. In the fighting which ensued Dhubyán more than held their
own, but neither party could obtain a decisive advantage. Qays slew
the brothers Ḥudhayfa and Ḥamal--

"_Ḥamal I slew and eased my heart thereby,
Ḥudhayfa glutted my avenging brand;
But though I slaked my thirst by slaying them,
I would as lief have lost my own right hand._"[127]

After a long period--forty years according to the traditional
computation--‘Abs and Dhubyán were reconciled by the exertions of
two chieftains of the latter tribe, Ḥárith b. ‘Awf and Harim b.
Sinán, whose generous and patriotic intervention the poet Zuhayr has
celebrated. Qays went into exile. "I will not look," he said, "on
the face of any woman of Dhubyán whose father or brother or husband
or son I have killed." If we may believe the legend, he became a
Christian monk and ended his days in ‘Umán.

[Sidenote: The Hijáz.]

Descending westward from the highlands of Najd the traveller gradually approaches the Red Sea, which is separated from the mountains running parallel to it by a narrow strip of coast-land, called the Tiháma (Netherland). The rugged plateau between Najd and the coast forms the Ḥijáz (Barrier), through which in ancient times the Sabæan caravans laden with costly merchandise passed on their way to the Mediterranean ports. Long before the beginning of our era two considerable trading settlements had sprung up in this region, viz., Macoraba (Mecca) and, some distance farther north, Yathrippa (Yathrib, the Pre-islamic name of Medína). Of their early inhabitants and history we know nothing except what is related by Muḥammadan writers, whose information reaches back to the days of Adam and Abraham. Mecca was the cradle of Islam, and Islam, according to Muḥammad, is the religion of Abraham, which was corrupted by succeeding generations until he himself was sent to purify it and to preach it anew. Consequently the Pre-islamic history of Mecca has all been, so to speak, 'Islamised.' The Holy City of Islam is made to appear in the same light thousands of years before the Prophet's time: here, it is said, the Arabs were united in worship of Allah, hence they scattered and fell into idolatry, hither they return annually as pilgrims to a shrine which had been originally dedicated to the One Supreme Being, but which afterwards became a Pantheon of tribal deities. This theory lies at the root of the Muḥammadan legend which I shall now recount as briefly as possible, only touching on the salient points of interest.

[Sidenote: Foundation of the Ka‘ba.]

In the Meccan valley--the primitive home of that portion of the Arab race which claims descent from Ismá‘íl (Ishmael), the son of Ibráhím (Abraham) by Hájar (Hagar)--stands an irregular, cube-shaped building of small dimensions--the Ka‘ba. Legend attributes its foundation to Adam, who built it by Divine command after a celestial archetype. At the Deluge it was taken up into heaven, but was rebuilt on its former site by Abraham and Ishmael. While they were occupied in this work Gabriel brought the celebrated Black Stone, which is set in the southeast corner of the building, and he also instructed them in the ceremonies of the Pilgrimage. When all was finished Abraham stood on a rock known to later ages as the _Maqámu Ibráhím_, and, turning to the four quarters of the sky, made proclamation: "O ye people! The Pilgrimage to the Ancient House is prescribed unto you. Hearken to your Lord!" And from every part of the world came the answer: "_Labbayka ’lláhumma, labbayka_"--_i.e._, "We obey, O God, we obey."

[Sidenote: Idolatry introduced at Mecca.]

The descendants of Ishmael multiplied exceedingly, so that the barren valley could no longer support them, and a great number wandered forth to other lands. They were succeeded as rulers of the sacred territory by the tribe of Jurhum, who waxed in pride and evil-doing until the vengeance of God fell upon them. Mention has frequently been made of the Bursting of the Dyke of Ma’rib, which caused an extensive movement of Yemenite stocks to the north. The invaders halted in the Ḥijáz, and, having almost exterminated the Jurhumites, resumed their journey. One group, however--the Banú Khuzá‘a, led by their chief Luḥayy--settled in the neighbourhood of Mecca. ‘Amr, son of Luḥayy, was renowned among the Arabs for his wealth and generosity. Ibn Hishám says: 'I have been told by a learned man that ‘Amr b. Luḥayy went from Mecca to Syria on some business and when he arrived at Má’ab, in the land of al-Balqá, he found the inhabitants, who were ‘Amálíq, worshipping idols. "What are these idols?" he inquired. "They are idols that send us rain when we ask them for rain, and help us when we ask them for help." "Will ye not give me one of them," said ‘Amr, "that I may take it to Arabia to be worshipped there?" So they gave him an idol called Hubal, which he brought to Mecca and set it up and bade the people worship and venerate it.'[128] Following his example, the Arabs brought their idols and installed them round the sanctuary. The triumph of Paganism was complete. We are told that hundreds of idols were destroyed by Muḥammad when he entered Mecca at the head of a Moslem army in 8 A.H. = 629 A.D.

[Sidenote: The Quraysh.]

To return to the posterity of Ismá‘íl through ‘Adnán: the principal of their descendants who remained in the Ḥijáz were the Hudhayl, the Kinána, and the Quraysh. The last-named tribe must now engage our attention almost exclusively. During the century before Muḥammad we find them in undisputed possession of Mecca and acknowledged guardians of the Ka‘ba--an office which they administered with a shrewd appreciation of its commercial value. Their rise to power is related as follows:--

[Sidenote: The story of Quṣayy.]

[Sidenote: Quṣayy master of Mecca.]

Kiláb b. Murra, a man of Quraysh, had two sons, Zuhra and Zayd. The
latter was still a young child when his father died, and soon
afterwards his mother, Fáṭima, who had married again, left Mecca,
taking Zayd with her, and went to live in her new husband's home
beside the Syrian borders. Zayd grew up far from his native land,
and for this reason he got the name of Quṣayy--_i.e._, 'Little
Far-away.' When he reached man's estate and discovered his true
origin he returned to Mecca, where the hegemony was wholly in the
hands of the Khuzá‘ites under their chieftain, Ḥulayl b.
Ḥubshiyya, with the determination to procure the superintendence
of the Ka‘ba for his own people, the Quraysh, who as pure-blooded
descendants of Ismá‘íl had the best right to that honour. By his
marriage with Ḥubbá, the daughter of Ḥulayl, he hoped to
inherit the privileges vested in his father-in-law, but Ḥulayl on
his deathbed committed the keys of the Ka‘ba to a kinsman named Abú
Ghubshán. Not to be baffled, Quṣayy made the keeper drunk and
persuaded him to sell the keys for a skin of wine--hence the
proverbs "A greater fool than Abú Ghubshán" and "Abú Ghubshán's
bargain," denoting a miserable fraud. Naturally the Khuza‘ites did
not acquiesce in the results of this transaction; they took up arms,
but Quṣayy was prepared for the struggle and won a decisive
victory. He was now master of Temple and Town and could proceed to
the work of organisation. His first step was to bring together the
Quraysh, who had previously been dispersed over a wide area, into
the Meccan valley--this earned for him the title of _al-Mujammi‘_
(the Congregator)--so that each family had its allotted quarter. He
built a House of Assembly (_Dáru ’l-Nadwa_), where matters affecting
the common weal were discussed by the Elders of the tribe. He also
instituted and centred in himself a number of dignities in
connection with the government of the Ka‘ba and the administration
of the Pilgrimage, besides others of a political and military
character. Such was his authority that after his death, no less than
during his life, all these ordinances were regarded by the Quraysh
as sacred and inviolable.

[Sidenote: Mecca in the sixth century after Christ.]

The death of Quṣayy may be placed in the latter half of the fifth century. His descendant, the Prophet Muḥammad, was born about a hundred years afterwards, in 570 or 571 A.D. With one notable exception, to be mentioned immediately, the history of Mecca during the period thus defined is a record of petty factions unbroken by any event of importance. The Prophet's ancestors fill the stage and assume a commanding position, which in all likelihood they never possessed; the historical rivalry of the Umayyads and ‘Abbásids appears in the persons of their founders, Umayya and Háshim--and so forth. Meanwhile the influence of the Quraysh was steadily maintained and extended. The Ka‘ba had become a great national rendezvous, and the crowds of pilgrims which it attracted from almost every Arabian clan not only raised the credit of the Quraysh, but also materially contributed to their commercial prosperity. It has already been related how Abraha, the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen, resolved to march against Mecca with the avowed purpose of avenging upon the Ka‘ba a sacrilege committed by one of the Quraysh in the church at Ṣan‘á. Something of that kind may have served as a pretext, but no doubt his real aim was to conquer Mecca and to gain control of her trade.

[Sidenote: The Year of the Elephant.]

[Sidenote: The Abyssinians at Mecca.]

This memorable expedition[129] is said by Moslem historians to have taken place in the year of Muḥammad's birth (about 570 A.D.), usually known as the Year of the Elephant--a proof that the Arabs were deeply impressed by the extraordinary spectacle of these huge animals, one or more of which accompanied the Abyssinian force. The report of Abraha's preparations filled the tribesmen with dismay. At first they endeavoured to oppose his march, regarding the defence of the Ka‘ba as a sacred duty, but they soon lost heart, and Abraha, after defeating Dhú Nafar, a Ḥimyarite chieftain, encamped in the neighbourhood of Mecca without further resistance. He sent the following message to ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib, the Prophet's grandfather, who was at that time the most influential personage in Mecca: "I have not come to wage war on you, but only to destroy the Temple. Unless you take up arms in its defence, I have no wish to shed your blood." ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib replied: "By God, we seek not war, for which we are unable. This is God's holy House and the House of Abraham, His Friend; it is for Him to protect His House and Sanctuary; if He abandons it, we cannot defend it."

[Sidenote: ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib's interview with Abraha.]

Then ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib was conducted by the envoy to the
Abyssinian camp, as Abraha had ordered. There he inquired after Dhú
Nafar, who was his friend, and found him a prisoner. "O Dhú Nafar,"
said he, "can you do aught in that which has befallen us?" Dhú Nafar
answered, "What can a man do who is a captive in the hands of a
king, expecting day and night to be put to death? I can do nothing
at all in the matter, but Unays, the elephant-driver, is my friend;
I will send to him and press your claims on his consideration and
ask him to procure you an audience with the king. Tell Unays what
you wish: he will plead with the king in your favour if he can." So
Dhú Nafar sent for Unays and said to him, "O Unays, ‘Abdu
’l-Muṭṭalib is lord of Quraysh and master of the caravans of
Mecca. He feeds the people in the plain and the wild creatures on
the mountain-tops. The king has seized two hundred of his camels.
Now get him admitted to the king's presence and help him to the best
of your power." Unays consented, and soon ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib
stood before the king. When Abraha saw him he held him in too high
respect to let him sit in an inferior place, but was unwilling that
the Abyssinians should see the Arab chief, who was a large man and a
comely, seated on a level with himself; he therefore descended from
his throne and sat on his carpet and bade ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib
sit beside him. Then he said to his dragoman, "Ask him what he wants
of me." ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib replied, "I want the king to restore
to me two hundred camels of mine which he has taken away." Abraha
said to the dragoman, "Tell him: You pleased me when I first saw
you, but now that you have spoken to me I hold you cheap. What! do
you speak to me of two hundred camels which I have taken, and omit
to speak of a temple venerated by you and your fathers which I have
come to destroy?" Then said ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib: "The camels are
mine, but the Temple belongs to another, who will defend it," and on
the king exclaiming, "He cannot defend it from me," he said, "That
is your affair; only give me back my camels."

As it is related in a more credible version, the tribes settled
round Mecca sent ambassadors, of whom ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib was
one, offering to surrender a third part of their possessions to
Abraha on condition that he should spare the Temple, but he refused.
Having recovered his camels, ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib returned to the
Quraysh, told them what had happened, and bade them leave the city
and take shelter in the mountains. Then he went to the Ka‘ba,
accompanied by several of the Quraysh, to pray for help against
Abraha and his army. Grasping the ring of the door, he cried:--

"_O God, defend Thy neighbouring folk even as a man his gear[130]
defendeth!
Let not their Cross and guileful plans defeat the plans Thyself
intendeth!
But if Thou make it so, 'tis well: according to Thy will it
endeth._"[131]

[Sidenote: Rout of the Abyssinians.]

Next morning, when Abraha prepared to enter Mecca, his elephant
knelt down and would not budge, though they beat its head with an
axe and thrust sharp stakes into its flanks; but when they turned it
in the direction of Yemen, it rose up and trotted with alacrity.
Then God sent from the sea a flock of birds like swallows every one
of which carried three stones as large as a chick-pea or a lentil,
one in its bill and one in each claw, and all who were struck by
those stones perished.[132] The rest fled in disorder, dropping down
as they ran or wherever they halted to quench their thirst. Abraha
himself was smitten with a plague so that his limbs rotted off
piecemeal.[133]

These details are founded on the 105th chapter of the Koran, entitled 'The Súra of the Elephant,' which may be freely rendered as follows:--

"Hast not thou seen the people of the Elephant, how dealt
with them the Lord?
Did not He make their plot to end in ruin abhorred?--
When He sent against them birds, horde on horde,
And stones of baked clay upon them poured,
And made them as leaves of corn devoured."

The part played by ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib in the story is, of course, a pious fiction designed to glorify the Holy City and to claim for the Prophet's family fifty years before Islam a predominance which they did not obtain until long afterwards; but equally of course the legend reflects Muḥammadan belief, and may be studied with advantage as a characteristic specimen of its class.

"When God repulsed the Abyssinians from Mecca and smote them with His vengeance, the Arabs held the Quraysh in high respect and said, 'They are God's people: God hath fought for them and hath defended them against their enemy;' and made poems on this matter."[134] The following verses, according to Ibn Isḥáq, are by Abu ’l-Ṣalt b. Abí Rabí‘a of Thaqíf; others more reasonably ascribe them to his son Umayya, a well-known poet and monotheist (Ḥaníf) contemporary with Muḥammad:--

[Sidenote: Verses by Umayya b. Abi ’l-Ṣalt.]

"Lo, the signs of our Lord are everlasting,
None disputes them except the unbeliever.
He created Day and Night: unto all men
Is their Reckoning ordained, clear and certain.
Gracious Lord! He illumines the daytime
With a sun widely scattering radiance.
He the Elephant stayed at Mughammas
So that sore it limped as though it were hamstrung,
Cleaving close to its halter, and down dropped,
As one falls from the crag of a mountain.
Gathered round it were princes of Kinda,
Noble heroes, fierce hawks in the mellay.
There they left it: they all fled together,
Every man with his shank-bone broken.
Vain before God is every religion,
When the dead rise, except the Ḥanífite.[135]"

[Sidenote: Battle of Dhú Qár (circa 610 A.D.).]

The patriotic feelings aroused in the Arabs of the Ḥijáz by the Abyssinian invasion--feelings which must have been shared to some extent by the Bedouins generally--received a fresh stimulus through events which occurred about forty years after this time on the other side of the peninsula. It will be remembered that the Lakhmite dynasty at Ḥíra came to an end with Nu‘mán III, who was cruelly executed by Khusraw Parwéz (602 or 607 A.D.).[136] Before his death he had deposited his arms and other property with Háni’, a chieftain of the Banú Bakr. These were claimed by Khusraw, and as Háni’ refused to give them up, a Persian army was sent to Dhú Qár, a place near Kúfa abounding in water and consequently a favourite resort of the Bakrites during the dry season. A desperate conflict ensued, in which the Persians were completely routed.[137] Although the forces engaged were comparatively small,[138] this victory was justly regarded by the Arabs as marking the commencement of a new order of things; _e.g._, it is related that Muḥammad said when the tidings reached him: "This is the first day on which the Arabs have obtained satisfaction from the Persians." The desert tribes, hitherto overshadowed by the Sásánian Empire and held in check by the powerful dynasty of Ḥíra, were now confident and aggressive. They began to hate and despise the Colossus which they no longer feared, and which, before many years had elapsed, they trampled in the dust.