as he accompanied the Syrian army a little way on its march, out of Medina.  “Nay,” replied the caliph, “I will not ride, but I will walk and soil my feet a little space in the ways of the Lord.  Verily, every footstep in the ways of the Lord is equal in merit to manifold good works, and wipeth away a multitude of sins."[42] And of the “martyrs,” those who fell in these crusading campaigns, Mohammed thus described the blessed state: 

Think not, in any wise, of those killed in the ways of the Lord, as if they were dead.  Yea, they are alive, and are nourished with their Lord, exulting in that which God hath given them of his favor, and rejoicing in behalf of those who have not yet joined them, but are following after.  No terror afflicteth them, neither are they grieved.—­Sura iii.

[Sidenote:  Material fruits of Moslem crusade.] The material fruits of their victories raised the Arabs at once from being the needy inhabitants of a stony, sterile soil, where, with difficulty, they eked out a hardy subsistence, to be the masters of rich and luxuriant lands flowing with milk and honey.  After one of his great victories on the plains of Chaldea, Khalid called together his troops, flushed with conquest, and lost in wonder at the exuberance around them, and thus addressed them:  “Ye see the riches of the land.  Its paths drop fatness and plenty, so that the fruits of the earth are scattered abroad even as stones are in Arabia.  If but as a provision for this present life, it were worth our while to fight for these fair fields and banish care and penury forever from us.”  Such were the aspirations dear to the heart of every Arab warrior.  Again, after the battle of Jalola, a few years later, the treasure and spoil of the Persian monarch, captured by the victors, was valued at thirty million of dirhems (about a million sterling).  The royal fifth (the crown share of the booty) was sent as usual to Medina under charge of Ziad, who, in the presence of the Caliph Omar, harangued the citizens in a glowing description of what had been won in Persia, fertile lands, rich cities, and endless spoil, besides captive maids and princesses.

[Sidenote:  Rich booty taken in the capital of Persia, A.D. 637.] In relating the capture of Medain (the ancient Ctesiphon) tradition revels in the untold wealth which fell into the hands of Sad, the conqueror, and his followers.  Besides millions of treasure, there was endless store of gold and silver vessels, rich vestments, and rare and precious things.  The Arabs gazed bewildered at the tiara, brocaded vestments, jeweled armor, and splendid surroundings of the throne.  They tell of a camel of silver, life-size, with a rider of gold, and of a golden horse with emeralds for teeth, the neck set with rubies, the trappings of gold.  And we may read in Gibbon of the marvelous banqueting carpet, representing a garden, the ground of wrought gold, the walks of silver, the meadows of emeralds, rivulets of pearls, and flowers and fruits of diamonds, rubies, and rare gems.  The precious metals lost their conventional value, gold was parted with for its weight in silver; and so on.[43]