CONQUESTS OF THE SARACENS. 311 



and the blessing of God go with us." The battle 

 grew hot ; shouts of Allah akbar ! Alhamlah, alham- 

 lah ! Aljamiah, aljannah ! (God is great ! Fight, fight'! 

 Paradise, paradise !) inflamed the enthusiasm of the 

 Saracens, and threw the ranks of the Christians into 

 disorder. With the loss of 230 men, the Arabs 

 remained masters of the field, and the renmant of 

 the enemy fled to their fortress. The capture of the 

 city was accelerated by the duplicity of Romanus 

 the governor, who, to secure his wealth, or save his 

 life, turned both traitor and INIussulman. The con- 

 quest of Bosra opened a way for the siege of Da- 

 mascus. The Grecian emperor was at this time at 

 Antioch, and, alarmed at the devastations of the Sara- 

 cens, he sent 5000 men to the defence of the place. 

 Amid the groves and fountains of this celebrated 

 capital " the hungry Arabs" for the first time pitched 

 their camp. In rude and superstitious ages, a hostile 

 defiance was frequently sent and accepted by the 

 generals themselves, as an omen of future fortune. 

 The personal valour of Khaled was twice displayed 

 in single combat before the two armies, and both the 

 Christian leaders in succession, Azrael and Caleus, 

 became his prisoners. Several actions more or less 

 sanguinary were fought ; but the Damascenes, find- 

 ing that every sally only exposed them to fresh 

 losses, resolved to reduce their city to a closer 

 defence. Six weeks of distress compelled them to 

 off'er the Moslem leader 1000 ounces of gold and 200 

 silken robes, on condition of his raising the siege ; 

 but Khaled was inexorable, and would listen to no 

 terms but amiual tribute or the Koran. They had 

 contrived to drop a messenger from the ramparts, 

 who found his way to Antioch, whence the emperor 

 despatched to their relief 100,000 men, with Werdan 

 at their head. The tumultuous joy of the besieged 

 at the prospect of this seasonable succour revealed 

 the secret to the vigilant enemy ; the reinforcement 

 was intercepted, and defeated by a detachment under 



