Chapter XXIII: Famine and Plague

A.H. XVIII. A.D. 639.

[Sidenote: The _Year of Ashes_. A.H. XVIII. A.D. 639.]

The fifth year of Omar’s Caliphate was darkened by the double calamity of pestilence and famine. It is called ‘The Year of Ashes;’ for the dry air of the Hejâz was so charged with the unslaked dust of the parched and sandy soil as to obscure the light by a thick and sultry haze.[356]

[Sidenote: Famine in the Hejâz.]

In the northern half of the Peninsula the drought was so severe that all nature languished. Wild and timid creatures of the desert, tamed by want, came seeking food at the hand of man. Flocks and herds died of starvation, or were so attenuated as to become unfit for human food. Markets were empty and deserted. The people suffered extremities like those of a garrison long besieged. Crowds of Bedouins, driven by hunger, flocked to Medîna and aggravated the distress. Omar, with characteristic self-denial, refused any indulgence which could not be shared with those around him. He took an oath that he would taste neither meat nor butter, nor even milk, until the people at large had food enough and to spare. On one occasion his servant obtained at a great price a skin filled with milk, and another with butter. Omar sent both away in alms. ‘I will not eat,’ he said, ‘of that which costeth much; for how then should I know the trouble of my people, if I suffer not even as they?’ From coarse fare and the use of oil-olive instead of milk and butter, the Caliph’s countenance, naturally fresh and bright, became sallow and haggard.[357]

[Sidenote: Grain imported from Syria and other lands.]

Every effort was made to alleviate distress, and as the famine was limited to Arabia, or at any rate was sorest there, Omar sent letters to the various governors abroad, who promptly aided him in this extremity. Abu Obeida came himself with four thousand beasts of burden laden with corn from Syria, which he distributed with his own hand amongst the famished people. Amru despatched food from Palestine, both by camels and by shipping from the port of Ayla.[358] Supplies came also from Irâc. The beasts of burden were slain by twenties daily, and served, together with their freight, to feed the citizens of Medîna. After nine months of sore trial, the heavens were overcast, in answer (we are told) to a solemn service, in which Abbâs, the Prophet’s aged uncle, took a part; the rain descended in heavy showers and drenched the land.[359] The grass sprang rapidly, the Bedouins were sent back to their pasture lands, and plenty again prevailed. Benefit accrued from the calamity, for a permanent traffic was established with the north; and the markets of the Hejâz continued long to be supplied from Syria, and eventually by sea from Egypt.[360]

[Sidenote: Plague breaks out in Syria.]

The famine was followed, but in a different region, by a still worse calamity. The plague broke out in Syria; and, attacking with special virulence the head-quarters of the Arabs at Hims and Damascus, devastated the whole province. Crossing the desert, it spread to Irâc, and even as far as Bussorah. Consternation pervaded all ranks. High and low fell equally before the scourge. Men were struck down as by a sudden blow, and death followed rapidly. Omar’s first impulse was to summon Abu Obeida to his presence for a time, lest he too should fall a victim to the fell disease. Knowing the chivalrous spirit of his friend, the Caliph veiled his purpose, and simply ordered him to visit Medîna ‘on an urgent affair.’ But Abu Obeida divined the cause, and, choosing rather to share the danger with his people, begged to be excused. Omar, as he read the answer, burst into tears. ‘Is Abu Obeida dead?’ they asked. ‘No, he is not dead,’ said Omar; ‘but it is as if he were.’ The Caliph then set out himself on a journey towards Syria, but was met on the confines at Tebûk by Abu Obeida and other chief men from the scene of the disaster. [Sidenote: Omar holds a council on the borders of Syria.]A council was called, and Omar yielded to the wish of the majority that he should return home again. ‘What,’ cried some of his courtiers, ‘and flee from the decree of God?’ ‘Yea,’ replied the Caliph, wiser than they, ‘we flee, but it is from the decree of God, unto the decree of God.’ He then commanded Abu Obeida to carry the Arab population in a body from the infected cities into the high lands of the desert, and himself with his followers wended his way back to Medîna.[361]

[Sidenote: Arabs of Syria moved to high lands of Haurân.]

Acting on the Caliph’s wish, Abu Obeida lost no time in leading forth the people to the high lands of the Haurân. He had reached as far as Jâbia, when just as he put his foot into the camel’s stirrup to start again upon his onward journey, he too was struck, and together with his son fell a victim to the pestilence. [Sidenote: Death of Abu Obeida.]Moâdz, whom he had designated to occupy his place, died almost immediately after; and it was left for Amru to conduct the panic-stricken multitude to the hill country, where the pestilence abated. Not less than five-and-twenty thousand perished in this visitation. Of a single family which migrated seventy in number from Medîna, but four were left. Such was the deadly virulence of the plague.

[Sidenote: Omar’s journey to Syria, Autumn, A.H. XVIII. A.D. 639.]

The country was disabled by the scourge, and at one time fears were entertained of an attack from the Roman armies. It was fortunate for the Caliphate that no such attempt was made, for the Arabs would have been ill able just then to resist it. But the terrible extent of the calamity was manifested in another way. A vast amount of property was left by the dead, and the gaps at every turn amongst the survivors caused much embarrassment in the administration and devolution of the same. The difficulty grew to such dimensions, that with the view of settling this and other matters Omar resolved on making a royal progress through his dominions. At first he thought of visiting Irâc, and passing through Mesopotamia, so to enter Syria from the north; but he abandoned the larger project, and confining his resolution to Syria, took the usual route.[362] His way lay through the Christian settlement of Ayla, at the head of the Gulf of Acaba. The reception met with here brings out well the simplicity of Omar, and his kindly feeling toward the Christians. He journeyed on a camel with small pomp or following; and as he was minded to enter the village unrecognised, he changed places with his servant. ‘Where is the Ameer?’ cried the eager crowds as they streamed forth from the village to witness the Caliph’s advent. ‘He is _before_ you,’ replied Omar, and he drove his camel on.[363] So they hurried forward, thinking that the great Caliph was beyond, and left Omar to alight unobserved at the house of the bishop, with whom he lodged during the heat of the day. His coat, which had been rent upon the journey, he gave to his host to mend. This the bishop not only did, but had a garment made for him of material lighter and more suited to the oppressive travel of the season. Omar, however, preferred to wear his own.

Proceeding onwards to Jâbia, the Caliph made a circuit from thence over the whole of Syria. [Sidenote: Muâvia appointed to the chief command in Syria.]He visited all the Moslem settlements, and gave instructions for the disposal of the estates of the multitudes swept away by the plague, himself deciding such claims as were laid before him. As both Yezîd, the governor of Damascus, and Abu Obeida had perished in the pestilence, Omar now appointed Muâvia, son of Abu Sofiân and brother of Yezîd, to the chief command in Syria, and thus laid the foundation of the Omeyyad dynasty. Muâvia was a man of unbounded ambition, but wise and able withal; and he turned to good account his new position. The factious spirit which built itself up on the divine claim of Aly and Abbâs, the cousin and uncle of the Prophet, and spurned the Omeyyad blood of Muâvia, was yet in embryo. Aly, as well as Abbâs, had hitherto remained inactive at Medîna. The latter, always weak and wavering, was now enfeebled by age; the former, honoured, indeed, as well for his wit and judgment as for his relationship to Mahomet, was amongst the trusted counsellors of the Caliph, but possessed of no special power or influence, nor any apparent ambition beyond a quiet life of indulgence in the charms of a harem varied constantly with fresh arrivals. Neither is there any reason to suppose that at this time the former opposition to Islam of Abu Sofiân or of Hind, the parents of Muâvia, was remembered against them. Sins preceding conversion, if followed by a consistent profession of the Faith, left no stain upon the believer. It was not till the fires of civil strife burst forth that the ancient misdeeds of the Omeyyad race and their early enmity to the Prophet were dragged into light, and political capital made of them. The accession, therefore, of Muâvia at the present time to the chief command in Syria excited no jealousy or opposition. It passed, indeed, as a thing of course, without remark.[364]

[Sidenote: Bilâl performs the office of Muedzzin.]

As Omar prepared to take final leave of Syria, a scene occurred which stirred to their depths the hearts of all the Moslems present. It was the voice of Bilâl, the Muedzzin of the Prophet, proclaiming the hour of prayer. The stentorian call of the now aged African had never been heard since the death of Mahomet; for he had refused to perform the duty in the service of any other. He followed the army to Syria, and there, honoured for his former position, had retired into private life. The chief men now petitioned Omar that on this last occasion, Bilâl should be asked once more to perform the office of Muedzzin. The old man consented, and as the well-known voice arose clear and loud with the accustomed cry, the people recalled so vividly the Prophet at the daily prayers to mind, that the whole assembly was melted to tears, and strong warriors, with Omar at their head, lifted up their voices and sobbed aloud. Bilâl died two years after, at Damascus.[365]

[Sidenote: Pilgrimage to Mecca, A.H. XVIII. November, A.D. 639.]

Omar returned to Medîna in time to set out on the annual Pilgrimage to Mecca, at which he presided every year of his Caliphate. But this was the last journey which he took beyond the limits of Arabia.