[354] It is explained that ‘Umar prohibited lamps because rats used to take the lighted wick and set fire to the house-roofs, which at that time were made of palm-branches.

[355] Ṭabarí, i, 2742, 13 sqq.

[356] Ibid., i, 2745, 15 sqq.

[357] Ibid., i, 2747, 7 sqq.

[358] Ibid., i, 2740, last line and foll.

[359] Al-Fakhrí, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 116, l. 1 to p. 117, l. 3.

[360] Ṭabarí, i, 2751, 9 sqq.

[361] Ibn Khallikán (ed. by Wüstenfeld), No. 68, p. 96, l. 3; De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 152.

[362] Mu‘áwiya himself said: "I am the first of the kings" (Ya‘qúbí, ed. by Houtsma, vol. ii, p. 276, l. 14).

[363] Al-Fakhrí, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 145.