"But," said he, "how is it possible for ʾOmar to know anything of your condition; and you living in such a place as this?"
"The Lord be praised!" she cried. "By Allâh! I could not have supposed that a ruler over men existed, who was in ignorance of anything that occurred between the east and the west of his dominions."
Then ʾOmar wept, and said inwardly, "O ʾOmar! every one is better acquainted with the Divine law than thou, even old women. Alas, O ʾOmar!" Then he said to her, "O handmaid of Allâh! for how much will you sell me the injustice you have received from ʾOmar? For I would redeem him from hell-fire."
"Do not mock me," she cried, "as God may have mercy upon you."
which the former name was applied in the Greek provinces." (See Castiglione, Monete Cufiche, lxi. seqq.)
In these pages I have not attempted to render the sums mentioned, in even approximate sums of English money; and for this reason: according to the period and the place, the worth of the dinâr varied between 9s. 6d. and 14s. 10d. And in like manner the dirhems were at different times and places valued at from ten to twenty-five to the dinâr. Those who are curious will, however, find an interesting note upon this subject in the second volume of Col. Yule's Cathay, and the Way thither, from which work I took the extract given above.
The oldest gold dinârs are of A.H. 91 and 92. The following is
