[31] In the annals of Islâm the pre-Islâmite period is called by this name.
[32] See Short History of the Saracens, pp. 27-34.
[33] Jews and Christians.
[34] Koran, sura cx.
[35] The Mishkât.
[36] 1 Sam. xv. 3. Neither the lapse of ages nor the influence of Christianity in the West has made much difference in the nature of the ordinary man, since the Prophet of Israel gave this ferocious command to his people. The passion for vengeance, the desire to strike fear, are as strong as ever. The demands of rage, the dictates of expediency still stifle the voice of pity, the claims of justice. Rapine and slaughter, havoc and destruction, are still the gospel of the strong.
[37] Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. vi. chap. i. p. 298.
[38] Short History of the Saracens, p. 39.
[39] Nöldeke, Sketches from Eastern History, p. 76.
[40] At the battle of Yermuk the army of Heraclius numbered 240,000, whilst the Saracens were only 40,000 all told. At Kâdessia 30,000 Arabs were opposed to 100,000 Persians. At the battle of Medîna Sidonia, which won Spain to the Caliphate, Târik had only 12,000 men against Roderick’s host, at least five times as large.