[303] We are constantly reminded, in the tradition of this period, of Omar’s nervous apprehension lest his armies should be tempted beyond the reach of succour in case of any disaster befalling them.
[304] Reeds, wattle, and mud. (Belâdzori.)
[305] The square was set out thus. A powerful archer, from the centre, shot arrows on all four sides; where the arrows reached was the limit, and the square was measured out accordingly. The main streets were 40 cubits wide, the cross ones 20, and the lanes 7.
[306] In Kûfa the southern tribes, with the Beni Morâd at their head, greatly outnumbered the northern, which latter belonged to the Beni Nizâr. The two nationalities inhabited separate divisions of the city, and prayed each in its own Mosque. Bussorah, on the contrary, was almost entirely peopled from the north; and the five chief clans—Azd, Temîm, Bekr, Abd al Cays, and the Natives of Medîna (Ansâr)—occupied each a separate quarter of its own.
In the time of Ziâd (A.H. 50), Belâdzori tells us that in Bussorah the register (Dewân or civil list) numbered 80,000 warriors, and their wives and children 120,000, all drawing pensions from the State. Kûfa is rated at 60,000 fighting men on the roll, with families numbering 80,000 souls. The proportion of families to fighting men must surely have been much greater, as the harems of all of them swarmed with children; and the Arab population of each city was probably considerably greater than I have ventured (on the authority of Belâdzori) to note in the text. There also must have been a great multitude other than Arabs—dependants, clients, slaves, &c., Moslem and non-Moslem; so that, as the cities grew, it is not improbable that they numbered, of all classes, over 300,000 each. The population would fluctuate according to the numbers engaged in the field.
[307] At Marj Rum, to the N.W. of Damascus.
[308] Edessa.
[309] The Twelve ‘Leaders’ chosen by Mahomet at the Pledge of Acaba. (Life of Mahomet, p. 134.)
[310] The church of Hâma (Epiphania) was turned into a mosque. Arrestân (Arethusa) on the Orontes, Shaizar (Larissa), Maára, and other places of less importance, are mentioned as taken possession of on this march.
[311] Kinnisrîn or Chalcis. According to some, the inhabitants were forced to retire to Antioch, from whence they returned on peace being restored. Others say that the city with its churches was, like Damascus, divided. But the received tradition is that the people were treated with moderation, and that only one plot of ground was taken possession of for a mosque.