Jalālu ʾd-dīn gives a copy of the treaty which the Muslims compelled the people of Jerusalem to sign. It reads as follows:—

“In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate! This is the writing from the Christians of the Holy City to ʿUmar ibn al-K͟hat̤t̤āb, the Commander of the Faithful. When you came down upon us, we asked of you a capitulation for ourselves and our possessions, and our children, and the people of our religion; and we have stipulated with you, that we shall not be polluted by interruption in our places of worship, or whatever chapels, or churches, or cells, or monasteries of monks, may be therein; and that no one shall live therein who may have the impress of Muslims (by long residence), and that we will not prohibit the Muslims from entering them, by night or by day; and that we will open the gates wide to passengers and to travellers; and if any Muslim passing by shall take up his lodging with us three nights, we shall give him food, and not entertain in our churches a spy, nor conceal him unknown to the Muslims; and not teach our children the Qurʾān; and not publicly exhibit the Associating or Christian religion, and not beg any one to embrace it; and not hinder anyone of our relations from entering the Muslim religion, if he will, and that we should honour the Muslims and make much of them, and place them in our assemblies, if anyone of them will, and give them the chief seats, and not imitate them in our dress, neither in girdles, nor in the turban, nor the slipper, nor the parting of the hair, and never write in their language, nor call ourselves by their surnames; and that we should never ride upon great saddles, nor suspend our swords by belts, and never accept arms (the bow, sword, and club), nor carry them with us; and that we should never engrave upon our signet-rings in the Arabic language; and that we should not sell wine, and that we should shave the front of our heads, and tie up our dress, wherever we may be, and not wear wide girdles at our waist; and that we should never publicly exhibit the cross upon our churches, nor expose our crosses, nor ever inscribe them in the path of the Muslims, nor in their market places, and never strike our bells the (quick) stroke, nor raise our voices over the dead, nor publicly expose the lights, or anything else, in the roads and markets of the Muslims, and never come near them with our dead, and never receive any slave who has drawn upon himself familiarity with Muslims, and never look upon them in their houses.”

We learn moreover, from the same authority, as follows:—

“When ʿUmar ratified the treaty, he added thereto,—‘And that we will not strike anyone of the Muslims. We stipulate this with you for ourselves and the people of our religion; and we accept these terms of capitulation: and if we subsequently violate a point of that which we have stipulated, upon our lives be it, and let there be no faith with us and may it be allowed you to do to us whatever is lawful against rebellious and revolting subjects.’ ” (Hist. of Jerusalem, by Jalālu ʾd-dīn, Reynolds’ Translation.)

There were within the city 12,000 Greeks and 50,000 natives, and the K͟halīfah ʿUmar insisted that all the Greeks depart within three days, and that the natives should pay tribute. Five dīnārs were imposed upon the rich, four upon the middle classes, and three upon the lower classes; very old and very young persons paid nothing.

When ʿUmar entered the Holy City, his first object was to find the Sacred Rock (aṣ-Ṣak͟hrah), the site of the Masjidu ʾl-Aqṣā, to which Muḥammad said he was carried on Burāq on the night of the Miʿrāj [MIʿRAJ], and he therefore requested the Patriarch to direct him to the spot. They first went to the Church of the Resurrection, and the Patriarch said, “This is the Mosque of David.” But ʿUmar said, “Thou hast spoken falsely, for the Apostle of God (Muḥammad) described the place to me, and it was not like this.” They then went to the church on Zion, and the Patriarch said, “This is the Mosque of David.” But ʿUmar said, “Thou hast spoken falsely.” And in this manner the Patriarch took ʿUmar to every church in the city. At last they came to a gate, which is now called Bābu ʾl-Muḥammad, or the Gate of Muḥammad, and clearing away the filth on the steps, they came to a narrow passage, and the K͟halīfah, creeping on his knees, came to the central sewer. Here, standing up, ʿUmar looked at the rock (aṣ-Ṣak͟hrah), and then exclaimed, “By Him in whose hand is my life, this is the place which the Apostle of God (upon whom be peace and blessing) described to us.” ʿUmar then ordered a mosque to be built thereon. And ʿAbdu ʾl-Malik ibn Marwān built the mosque of the Baitu ʾl-Muqaddas (now known as the Mosque of ʿUmar). He spent upon it the produce of seven years’ tax upon Egypt. He began it in A.H. 69 and finished it in A.H. 72.

Some authority quoted by Jalālu ʾd-dīn says the Holy City did not cease to be in the hands of the Muslims from its surrender to ʿUmar until the year A.H. 491, when it was taken by the Franks, who killed therein a vast number of Muslims in the space of seven days. In the Masjidu ʾl-Aqṣā alone, they killed 70,000, and they took from aṣ-Ṣak͟hrah the vessels of gold and silver and the wealth which was preserved in strong boxes. “But,” he adds, “Ṣalāḥu ʾd-dīn (Saladin) was raised up for the complete deliverance of the Holy City; for he was the most renowned of Lions, and the very brightness of Fire.”

(For a further account of the taking of the city by Saladin, see Reynolds’ translation of Jalālu ʾd-dīn’s History of the Temple of Jerusalem, p. 199.)

A brief outline of the History of Jerusalem from the Time of Christ.

A.D.
33. The crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ at Jerusalem.
43. St. Paul’s first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion to Christianity.
69. Taken by Titus.
136. The Emperor Hadrian bestows on the city the name of Aelia Capitolina. (This name is used by Jalālu ʾd-dīn is his book, A.D. 1444.)
336. Jerusalem under Christian rule, the Martyrion and the Church of the Resurrection built.
614. The city invested and taken by the Persians under Chosroes II. (See Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxx].)
621. The era of the flight of Muḥammad.
628. The Emperor Heraclius enters Jerusalem in triumph.
637. The patriarch Sophronius surrenders the Holy City to the K͟halīfah ʿUmar. Liberty of worship secured to the Christians in churches which already existed, but they are prohibited the erection of new churches. A mosque built on the reputed site of Jacob’s vision, now known as the mosque of ʿUmar. Said to be on the site of the temple called by Muslims Masjidu ʾl-Aqṣā, the Remote Mosque, or aṣ-Ṣak͟hrah, the Rock.
800. Ambassadors sent by the Emperor Charlemagne to distribute alms in the Holy City. The K͟halīfah Harūn ar-Rashīd sends back as a present to the Emperor the keys of Calvary and the Holy Sepulchre.
820. Held for a time by the rebel chief Tamum Abū Ḥarab.
969. Falls into the hands of the Fāt̤imate K͟halīfah Muʿizz. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre burnt.
1035. The pilgrimage of Robert of Normandy.
1054. The pilgrimage of Lietbert of Cambray.
1065. The pilgrimage of the German bishops.
1077. Jerusalem pillaged by the army of Malik Shah.
1084. The Turkoman chief Urtok becomes ruler the Holy City. The Christians suffer.
1098. The city retaken by the Fāt̤imate K͟halīfah.
1099. 40,000 Crusaders appear before its walls. The city taken by the Crusaders. 10,000 Muslims slain. Godfrey of Bouillon made King. (For eighty years the city remained in the hands of the Christians.)
1187. Retaken by Saladin (Ṣalāḥu ʾd-dīn), the Muslim general.
1219. Ceded to the Christians by virtue of a treaty with the Emperor Frederick II.
1239. Taken by the Muslims.
1243. Again ceded to the Christians.
1244. The Christians defeated at Gaza, and Jerusalem occupied by the Muslims.
1277. Nominally annexed to the kingdom of Sicily.
1517. Becomes part of the Empire of the Ottoman Sultān Selim I.
1542. Sultān Sulaiman I. builds the present walls.
1832. Muḥammad ʿAlī Pasha of Egypt takes the city.
1840. Restored to the Sultān of Turkey.