The fall of Alexandria decided the fate of Egypt and likewise that of the emperor Heraclius.  He was already afflicted with a dropsy, and took the loss of his Syrian and now that of his Egyptian dominions so much to heart that he underwent a paroxysm, which ended in his death, about seven weeks after the loss of his Egyptian capital.  He was succeeded by his son Constantine.

While Amru was successfully extending his conquests, a great dearth and famine fell upon all Arabia, insomuch that the caliph Omar had to call upon him for supplies from the fertile plains of Egypt; whereupon Amru despatched such a train of camels laden with grain that it is said, when the first of the line had reached the city of Medina, the last had not yet left the land of Egypt.  But this mode of conveyance proving too tardy, at the command of the Caliph he dug a canal of communication from the Nile to the Red Sea, a distance of eighty miles, by which provisions might be conveyed to the Arabian shores.  This canal had been commenced by Trajan, the Roman emperor.

The able and indefatigable Amru went on in this manner, executing the commands and fulfilling the wishes of the Caliph, and governed the country he had conquered with such sagacity and justice that he rendered himself one of the most worthily renowned among the Moslem generals.

The life and reign of the caliph Omar, distinguished by such great and striking events, were at length brought to a sudden and sanguinary end.  Among the Persians who had been brought as slaves to Medina, was one named Firuz, of the sect of the Magi, or fire-worshippers.  Being taxed daily by his master two pieces of silver out of his earnings, he complained of it to Omar as an extortion.  The Caliph inquired into his condition, and, finding that he was a carpenter, and expert in the construction of windmills, replied that the man who excelled in such a handicraft could well afford to pay two dirhems a day.  “Then,” muttered Firuz, “I’ll construct a windmill for you that shall keep grinding until the day of judgment.”  Omar was struck with his menacing air.  “The slave threatens me,” said he, calmly.  “If I were disposed to punish anyone on suspicion, I should take off his head”; he suffered him, however, to depart without further notice.

Three days afterward, as he was praying in the mosque, Firuz entered suddenly and stabbed him thrice with a dagger.  The attendants rushed upon the assassin.  He made furious resistance, slew some and wounded others, until one of his assailants threw his vest over him and seized him, upon which he stabbed himself to the heart and expired.  Religion may have had some share in prompting this act of violence; perhaps revenge for the ruin brought upon his native country.  “God be thanked,” said Omar, “that he by whose hand it was decreed I should fall was not a Moslem!”