that the inhabitants received the articles of their security and protection from the Caliph’s own hands, and not by proxy.  Accordingly, Abu Obeidah wrote to Omar to come, whereupon he advised with his friends.  Othman, who afterward succeeded him in the government, dissuaded him from going, in order that the Ierosolymites might see that they were despised and beneath his notice.  Ali was of a very different opinion, urging that the Mussulmans had endured great hardship in so long a siege, and suffered much from the extremity of the cold; that the presence of the Caliph would be a great refreshment and encouragement to them, and adding that the great respect which the Christians had for Jerusalem, as being the place to which they went on pilgrimage, ought to be considered; that it ought not to be supposed that they would easily part with it, but that it would soon be reinforced with fresh supplies.  This advice of Ali being preferred to Othman’s, the Caliph resolved upon his journey; which, according to his frugal style of living, required no great expense or equipage.  When he had said his prayers in the mosque and paid his respects at Mahomet’s tomb, he appointed Ali his substitute, and set forward with a small retinue, the greatest part of which, having kept him company a little way, returned back to Medina.

Omar, having all the way he went set things aright that were amiss, and distributed justice impartially, for which he was singularly eminent among the Saracens, came at last into the confines of Syria; and when he drew near Jerusalem he was met by Abu Obeidah, and conducted to the Saracen camp, where he was welcomed with the liveliest demonstrations of joy.

As soon as he came within sight of the city he cried out, “Allah acbar [O God], give us an easy conquest.”  Pitching his tent, which was made of hair, he sat down in it upon the ground.  The Christians hearing that Omar was come, from whose hands they were to receive their articles, desired to confer with him personally; upon which the Mussulmans would have persuaded him not to expose his person for fear of some treachery.  But Omar resolutely answered, in the words of the Koran:  “Say, ’There shall nothing befall us but what God hath decreed for us; he is our Lord, and in God let all the believers put their trust.’” After a brief parley the besieged capitulated, and those articles of agreement made by Omar with the Ierosolymites are, as it were, the pattern which the Mahometan princes have chiefly imitated.

The articles were these:  “1.  The Christians shall build no new churches, either in the city or the adjacent territory. 2.  They shall not refuse the Mussulmans entrance into their churches, either by night or day. 3.  They should set open the doors of them to all passengers and travellers. 4.  If any Mussulman should be upon a journey, they shall be obliged to entertain him gratis for the space of three days. 5.  They should not teach their children