Page:Baladhuri-Hitti1916.djvu/407

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The Conquest of as-Sawâd
391

to thee! Where dost thou stand now?"—"On the ground."—"Dost thou have reason [Ar. taʿḳul]?"—"Yes, I can bind [aʿḳul] and tie up [a camel]."[1]—"Woe to thee! I am speaking to thee like a man!"—"And I am answering thee like a man."—"Art thou for peace or for war?"—"For peace."—"What are these forts then?"—"We built them for the rogue until the meek comes."[2] The two then discussed the question of peace and it was agreed that 100,000 [dirhams] be offered the Moslems every year. The money taken from these people was the first sum carried to al-Madînah from al-ʿIrâḳ. It was also stipulated that they seek no evil for the Moslems and that they act as spies against the Persians. All that took place in the year 12.

Al-Ḥusain ibn-al-Aswad from Yaḥya ibn-Âdam:—The latter said: "I heard it said that the people of al-Ḥîrah were 6,000 men, on each one of whom 14 dirhams, each having the weight of 5 ḳîrâṭs, were assessed, making 84,000 dirhams in all, of 5 ḳîrâṭs each, or 60,000 of 7 each. To that end, he [Khâlid] wrote them a statement which I myself have read."

It is reported that Yazîd ibn-Nubaishah-l-ʿÂmiri said, "We came to al-ʿIrâḳ with Khâlid and went as far as the frontier fort of al-ʿʿUdhaib. We then came to al-Ḥîrah whose people had fortified themselves in al-Ḳaṣr al-Abyaḍ [white citadel], Ḳaṣr ibn-Buḳailah and Ḳaṣr al-ʿAdasîyîn. We went around on horseback in the open spaces among their buildings, after which they made terms with us." (According to ibn-al-Kalbi al-ʿAdasîyîn were a branch of the Kalb, and were named after their mother who was also of the Kalb tribe.)

  1. Pun on words. Caetani, vol. iv, p. 657 takes it to mean, "I am rich enough to pay the blood-wit [ʿaḳl] and to retaliate by killing [ḳawad]".
  2. Cf. Masʿûdi, vol. i, p. 218; Ṭabari, vol. i, p. 2019; Caetani, vol. iv.