iS A R A 
to leave the city; and, immediately after his departure, 
the mob plundered his houfe, and purfued him, fo that he 
was forced to exchange his camel for an afs, and thus in 
difguil'e efcaped into Syria. 
In the mean time, Hofein Ebn Thamir, being returned 
into Syria, gave a faithful account of the fituation of affairs 
in Arabia, to Merwan Ebn A 1 Hakern. He alfo acquainted 
him of the offer he had made to Abdallah of the oath of 
allegiance, which the latter had refufed. On this account 
he advifed Merwan to take care of himfelf, and the reft 
of the houfe of Ommiyah, who had fled to Damafcus af¬ 
ter their expulfion from Medina. Merwan was now in¬ 
clined to fubmit to Abdallah; but was diverted from it 
by Obeidallah, who infifted that no fuperior ought to be 
acknow ledged by Merwan, who was at the head of the 
Koreifh. The people of Damafcus had conflituted Dahak 
Ebn Kais their protedor, w ho was in the intereft of Ab¬ 
dallah. The Bafrans were at this juncture entirely in tu¬ 
mult and confufion, not being able to agree about a pro¬ 
tedor after the expulfion of Obeidallah ; fo that at laft 
they wrote to Abdallah, offering him the government of 
their territory. 1 his he accepted, but. could not be pre¬ 
vailed upon to ftir from Mecca; nor could Merwan be 
perfuaded to fuffer any of the Syrians to perform the pil¬ 
grimage to Mecca, left they fhould join Abdallah, and 
thereby contribute to his exclufion from the throne. In 
the midft of this confufion, Abdallah might have eafily 
fecured the khalifate to himfelf, had he not, with the ut- 
moft imprudence as well as inhumanity, givenorders for the 
extermination of the houfe of Ommiyah. This ruined his 
affairs ; for, they being now,obliged to provide for their 
own fafety, Merwan was proclaimed khalifat Damafcus: 
<md thus the whole Modem empire was rent into two po¬ 
tent fadions; the one under Merwan, and the other un¬ 
der Abdallah. 
We have already obferved, that Dahak Ebn Kais in¬ 
clined to favour Abdallah. This he continued to do after 
Merwan was proclaimed khalif, infomuch that a battle 
enfiled between his followers and thofe of Merwan, in 
which Dahak was defeated and killed; and Merwan be¬ 
came mafter of all the province of Syria. Soon after this 
yidory, Merwan advanced with a confiderable body of 
troops towards Egypt;. but fent before him Amru Ebn 
Said with a detachment, in order to facilitate his paffage. 
That general having defeated Abdalrahman, Abdallah’s 
lieutenant, in feveral adions, he at laft furrendered the 
whole country to Merwan for a fum of money, and retired 
with the Arabs under his command to Hejaz. The Syrian 
troops, therefore, immediately took pofteflion of that coun¬ 
try, and obliged the inhabitants to take an oath of alle¬ 
giance to Merwan ; who, having appointed his fon Ab- 
dalazziz to prelide over Egypt, returned with the greateft 
part of his forces to Damafcus. I-Iere lie was informed 
that Abdallah had fent againft him his brother Mufab 
with a confiderable army, Merwan, therefore, difpatched 
Amru Ebn Said to attack him on his march ; who, when 
TTe came up with him, gave him a total-defeat, and dif- 
perfed his troops in fuch a manner, that Mufab found it 
impofiible to rally them again. 
In the 65th year of the Hegira, the inhabitants of Cufa, 
pretending to be feized w ith remorfe of confcience for their 
treachery to Hofein the fon of Ali, raifed an infurredion 
againft both the khalifs, and affembled a body of 16,000 
men, under the command of Soliman, who was to revenge 
the death of Hofein upon Obeidallah Ebn Ziyad and his 
adherents. But, while Soliman and his troops remained yet 
inadive, Al Mokhtar, who had fevved under Abdallah, 
*md w as i.ifgufted at not being promoted, arrived at Cufa ; 
and, reprelenting Soliman as totally unfit for fuch an en- 
terprize, offered to take the command upon himfelf. This, 
however, was refufed ; and, as Ai Mokhtar had no opi¬ 
nion of Solimair’s military capacity, he found means to 
draw off 2000 of his troops; while 10,000 more chofej 
rather to violate their oaths, than run the rifle of being cut 
fo pieces by a fuperior enemy. Soliman, neverthclefs, put 
B I A. 
a good face upon the matter; and r telling his troops that 
they were to fight for another world, and not this, fet 
forward to invade Syria with only 4000 men. Being ad¬ 
vanced as far as Ekfas upon the Euphrates, he found that 
he had loft rooo men by defertion ; nor was he joined by 
the Separatifts of Bafra and Al Madayen, who had pro- 
mifed him a reinforcement. Firmly perfuaded, however, 
that his caufe was the caufe of heaven, Soliman continued 
his march all night, and next day arrived at the tomb of 
Hofein, where his men performed their devotions with 
great entluifiafm. Continuing ftill to advance, he received 
a friendly letter from Abdallah Ebn Yezid, governor of 
Cufa, advifing him to return, and reprefenting to him the 
folly of engaging fo powerful an army as would be fent 
againft him ; but Soliman, imagining that he was only re¬ 
called in order to fupport Abdallah Ebn Zobeir in his pre- 
tenfions to the khalifate, perlifted in his l’efolution of pe¬ 
netrating into Syria. He told his troops, that they would 
never be nearer the twoHofeins in heaven than they were 
at prefent; and that, fliould they at this time meet with 
death, they would be in a fiate of repentance, and confe- 
quently could never die in a better time. After this fpeech, 
continuing ftill to advance, he was at laft met by Obei¬ 
dallah at the head of 20,000 horfe, who, after an obftinate 
engagement, cut to pieces Soliman and all his troops. 
Soon after this adtion, the khalif Merwan died, having 
reigned only eleven months. He is faid to have been poi- 
foned by his wife Zeinab, Moawiyah’s widow. Her he 
had married, with a promife that her Ion Khaled ftiould 
fncceed him ; but, afterwards altering the fuccefiion in fa¬ 
vour of his own fon Abdalmalec, young Khaled reproach¬ 
ed him with his breach of promife : upon this Merwan 
calling him baflard, the child complained to his mother ; 
who, to be revenged for this affront, is faid to have poi- 
foned him, or fmothered him with a pillow. 
In the beginning of the khalifate of Abdalmalec, Al 
Mokhtar, who had been imprifoned by the governor of 
Cufa, was releafed at the interceffion of Abdallah Ebn 
Omar, who married his lifter. The year following, hav¬ 
ing put himfelf at the head of the Shiite fe diaries, he fent 
propofals of alliance to Abdallah Ebn Zobeir; but he, 
fufpediing his fincerity, cut off near 3000 of his men. Up¬ 
on this, Al Mokhtar, fearing the houfe of Ali might be 
intimidated, fent a letter to Mahomet Ebn Hanifyah, head 
of that family, in which he offered his aftiftance with a 
powerful army. This ofFer Mahomet declined, declaring 
himfelf only for pacific meafures ; yet, though he and all 
the reft of Ali’s family behaved in the molt peaceable 
manner, Abdallah did not think himfelf fecure till they 
owned his authority. He therefore imprifoned them, to¬ 
gether with feventeen of the principal citizens of Cufa, 
whom he threatened to burn, if they did not, within a li¬ 
mited time, take the oath of allegiance to him. Al Mokh¬ 
tar, being informed of the fituation they were in, fent a 
detachment of 750 horfe to Mecca, under Abu Abdallah, 
to releafe them. That general not only executed his or¬ 
ders with great bravery, but took Abdallah himfelf pri- 
foner, and would have cut him to pieces on the fpot, had 
he not been releafed at the interceffion of Mahomet, who 
adjuftedthe differences to the mutual fatisfadfion of all 
parties. After this reconciliation, Abu Abdallah diftri- 
buted among 4000 of All’s friends a fum of money brought 
for that purpofe, to indemnify them for the Ioffes they had 
fuftained. Thus the family of Ali were happily delivered, 
when only two days of the time granted them by Abdallah 
remained, and a quantity of wood and other combuflibles 
were collected to confume their bodies. 
The Cufans, having received advice that Merwan had 
fent Obeidallah with a powerful army to befiege their city, 
and even given him permiftion to plunder it in cafe it 
fhould be taken, appointed Yeztd Ebn Ares, a man of un¬ 
daunted courage, to oppofe him ; but, Merwan dying be¬ 
fore Obeidallah could execute his commilfion, an end was 
put to the expedition. The memory of it, however, ftilL 
remained; and Al Mokhtar, to whom Obeidallah v/as per, 
1 fondly 
