1874.] 
E. C. Boss —Annals of 1 Oman.—Book IV. 
189 
instance of desertion and rebellion on the part of the subjects against their 
Sovereign. But God is merciful and beneficent, and He provides for His 
servants an escape from every difficulty in matters of religion, and grants 
an excuse for all who are helpless. The Imam and his people alike suffered 
in accordance with the decrees of Fate. He accordingly returned to his 
home and made his submission, hoping to remain in unmolested retirement. 
A messenger came to him from the Sultan with an assurance of safety, hut 
he seems to have given the promise verbally and not on oath. The Imam 
abstained from frequenting the Sultan’s levees until the latter came to him 
and forcibly insisted on his doing so. By this act of submission his Imam- 
ate, in our opinion, terminated forthwith ; and this furnished an evident 
excuse for the establishment of the rule of his rival. We have not heard 
that, during his administration of the Imamate and the vicissitudes which 
befel, any reproach or blame attached to Bashid-bin el-Walfd. He lived 
for a short time after these events, admired by all, and was much regretted 
when he died. In his time, Bashid-bin el-Walid was humble in spirit, and 
none of the pious found fault with him on account of any of his actions. 
May God requite el-Islam and its people for the loss of one who acted just¬ 
ly and uprightly ! and may He recompense us all and all who knew his 
excellence, as a people is recompensed for their Imam, a brother for a bro¬ 
ther ! 
We have recounted only a portion of the virtues of Bashid-bin el- 
Walid, which we trust will not be questioned, but much more might have 
been added on this subject. For he was endowed with every virtue, so 
much so in fact, that his good qualities are proverbial, and such as to 
baffle all attempts to recount them. His fall dated from the battle of 
Nezwa, after which, deserted by his own subjects, he was obliged to 
dissimulate and seek the favour of the Sultan ; for there was no refuge 
for him from the confines of Julfar to the borders of Ba‘wan; neither 
in the hills of ‘Ataleh, nor in the land of el-Haddan, nor el-Bostak. 
Everywhere was bitterness and vileness, and every foe treated him with 
obloquy. 13 
The Ima'm el-Khali'l-eih Sha'tha'n. Amongst the Imams elected 
in ‘Oman was el-Khalil-bin Shathan, who probably reigned in the begin¬ 
ning of the 5th century of the Hijrah. 
The Ima'm Ba'shid-bin SaT'd. Next was Basliid-bin Sahd, who died 
in the month of Moharram, A. H. 445. [A. D. 1053.] 
Verse. 
“We mourn not for the loss of goats or sheep or camels ; but when one 
dies whose loss brings death to many, then is real woe.” 
The Ima'm Mohammed-bin Habi's, On the day of his death, Moham- 
med-bin Habis was invested as Imam by Nijad-bin Musa, the Kadhi of the 
s 
