Chapter XL: Letter VIII

As a specimen of the lofty style of writing so much in use among
399 the Eastern authors, I shall add the summons which Hulacu the
Tartar conqueror of the East, (who took Bagdad, and entirely
subverted the government of the Saracens,) sent to Al Mâlek
Annâsar, sultan of Aleppo, in the year of the Hejra 657, (of Christ
1259.)

Let Al Mâlek Annâsar know, that we sat down before Bagdad in the
655th year (of the Hejra,) and took it by the sword of the most
high God: and we brought the master of it before us, and demanded
two things of him; to which he, not answering, brought deserved
punishment upon himself. As it is written in your Koran, "_God doth
not change the condition of a people, till their own minds are
changed_." He took care of his wealth, and fate brought him to what
he is come to. He chose to exchange precious lives for pieces of
money made of vile metal; which is plainly the same that God says
_They found_ [the reward of] _what they had done present with
them_.[225] For we have attained by the power of God, what we
desired; and by the help of the most high God we shall increase.
Nor is there any doubt of our being the army of God upon his earth.
He created us, and gave us power over every one upon whom his anger
rests. Wherefore, let what is past be to you an example, and what
we have mentioned a warning. Fortifications are nothing in our
400 hands, nor doth the joining of battle avail you any thing; nor will
your intreaties be heard or regarded. Take warning therefore by
others, and surrender entirely to us, before the veil be taken off,
and [_the punishment of_] sin light upon you. For we shall have no
mercy upon him that complains, nor be moved by him that weeps. We
have wasted countries, we have destroyed men, we have made children
orphans, and the land desolate. It is your business to run away;
ours to pursue; nor can you escape our swords, nor fly from our
arrows. Our horses are racers; our arrows strike home; our swords
pierce like lightning; our fortifications are like mountains, and
our numbers like the sand. Whosoever surrenders comes off safe:
whosoever is for war, repents it. If you will obey our command, and
come to our terms, your interest and ours shall be the same; but if
you be refractory and persist in your error, blame not us, but
yourselves. God is against you, ye wicked wretches: look out for
something to screen you under your miseries, and find somebody to
bear you company in your affliction. We have given you fair
warning, and fair warning is fair play. You have eaten things
forbidden[226], you have been perfidious in your treaties. You have
introduced new heresies, and thought it a gallant thing to commit
401 sodomy. Prepare yourselves therefore for scorn and contempt. Now
you will find what you have done; for they that have done amiss,
will now find their state changed. You take it for granted, that we
are infidels. We take it for granted, that you are _villains_; and
_He_ by whose hand all things are disposed and determined, hath
given us the dominion over you. The greatest man you have is
despicable among us; and what _you_ call rich, is a beggar. We
govern the world from east to west, and whosoever is worth any
thing is our prey; and we take every ship by force. Weigh therefore
what is fit to be done, and return us a speedy answer, before
_infidelity_[227] shall have kindled its fire, and scattered its
sparks among you, and destroy you all from off the face of the
earth. We have awakened you by sending to you: make haste with an
answer, lest punishment come upon you unawares.

[Footnote 225: A quotation from the Koran. The Tartar was a
deist, and quotes the Koran in derision.]

[Footnote 226: The Muhamedans, whose religion is a compound of
Judaism and Christianity, have borrowed many customs from
either, they abstain like the Jews from swine's flesh, &c.]

[Footnote 227: As the Muhamedans charge every nation that doth
not believe Muhamed to have been a prophet with infidelity, so
the Tartar (who was a Deist) returns it upon them.]
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