[FN#99] i.e.  “The overflowing,” with benefits; on account of his generosity.

[FN#100] The seventh Ommiade A. H. 96-99 (715-719).  He died of his fine appetite after eating at a sitting a lamb, six fowls, seventy pomegranates, and 11 1/4 lbs. of currants.  He was also proud of his youth and beauty and was wont to say, “Mohammed was the Apostle and Abu Bakr witness to the Truth; Omar the Discriminator and Othman the Bashful, Mu’awiyah the Mild and Yazid the Patient; Abd al-Malik the Administrator and Walid the Tyrant; but I am the Young King!”

[FN#101] Arab.  Al-Jazirah, “the Island;” name of the region and the capital.

[FN#102] i.e.  “Repairer of the Slips of the Generous,” an evasive reply, which of course did not deceive the questioner.

[FN#103] Arab.  “Falastin,” now obsolete.  The word has echoed far west and the name of the noble race has been degraded to “Philister,” a bourgeois, a greasy burgher.

[FN#104] Saying, “The Peace be with thee, O Prince of True Believers!”

[FN#105] Arab.  “Mutanakkir,” which may also mean proud or in disguise.

[FN#106] On appointment as viceroy.  See vol. iii 307.

[FN#107] The custom with outgoing Governors.  It was adopted by the Spaniards and Portuguese especially in America.  The generosity of Ikrimah without the slightest regard to justice or common honesty is characteristic of the Arab in story-books.

[FN#108] The celebrated half-way house between Jaffa and Jerusalem.

[FN#109] Alias the Kohistan or mountain region, Susiana (Khuzistan) whose capital was Susa; and the head-quarters of fire-worship.  Azar (fire) was the name of Abraham’s father whom Eusebius calls “Athar.” (Pilgrimage iii. 336.)

[FN#110] Tenth Ommiade A.H. 105-125 (=724-743), a wise and discreet ruler with an inclination to avarice and asceticism.  According to some, the Ommiades produced only three statesmen, Mu’awayah, Abd al-Malik and Hisham; and the reign of the latter was the end of sage government and wise administration.

[FN#111] About œ1,250, which seems a long price; but in those days Damascus had been enriched with the spoils of the world adjacent.

[FN#112] Eleventh Ommiade dynasty, A.H. 125-126 (=743-744).  Ibn Sahl (son of ease, i.e. free and easy) was a nickname; he was the son of Yazid ii. and brother of Hisham.  He scandalised the lieges by his profligacy, wishing to make the pilgrimage in order to drink upon the Ka’abah-roof; so they attacked the palace and lynched him.  His death is supposed to have been brought about (27th of Jamada al-Akhirah = April 16, 744) by his cousin and successor Yazid (No. iii.) surnamed the Retrencher.  The tale in the text speaks well for him; but generosity amongst the Arabs covers a multitude of sins, and people say, “Better a liberal sinner than a stingy saint.”