eit." "But not,"
interposed the by-standers, "until he drink the water up." "Strange,"
said Omar, "the fellow hath deceived me; and yet I cannot spare the life
of one who hath slain so many noble Moslems. I swear that thou shalt not
gain by thy deceit unless thou wilt forthwith embrace Islam." Upon
that, "_believing_, he made profession of the true faith upon the spot;"
and thenceforth, residing at Medina, he received a pension of the
highest grade.[49]

[Sidenote: Tribute and humiliation.
Disabilities imposed on Jews and Christians.]
On the other hand, for those who held to their ancestral faith there was
no escape from the second or the third alternative. If they would avoid
the sword, or, having wielded it, were beaten, they must become
tributary. Moreover, the payment of tribute is not the only condition
enjoined by the Koran. "Fight against them (the Jews and Christians)
until they pay tribute with the hand, _and are humbled_."[50] The
command fell on willing ears. An ample interpretation was given to it.
And so it came to pass that, though Jews and Christians were, on the
payment of tribute, tolerated in the profession of their ancestral
faith, they were yet subjected (and still are subjected) to severe
humiliation. The nature and extent of the degradation to which they were
brought down, and the strength of the inducement to purchase exemption
and the equality of civil rights, by surrendering their religion, may be
learned from the provisions which were embodied in the code named _The
Ordinance of Omar_, which has been more or less enforced from the
earliest times. Besides the tribute and various other imposts levied
from the "People of the Book,"[51] and the duty of receiving Moslem
travelers quartered upon them, the dress of both sexes must be
distinguished by broad stripes of yellow. They are forbidden to appear
on horseback, and if mounted on a mule or ass their stirrups must be of
wood, and their saddles known by knobs of the same material. Their
graves must not rise above the level of the soil, and the devil's mark
is placed upon the lintel of their doors. Their children must be taught
by Moslem masters, and the race, however able or well qualified,
proscribed from any office of high emolument or trust. Besides the
churches spared at the time of conquest no new buildings can be erected
for the purposes of worship; nor can free entrance into their holy
places at pleasure be refused to the Moslem. No cross m