hemselves, (D'Herbelot, p. 690;) and there are
few among the Turks who presume to revile him as an infidel, (Voyages de
Chardin, tom. iv. p. 46.)]

[Footnote 1731: Compare Price, p. 180.--M.]

Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part VIII.

A life of prayer and contemplation had not chilled the martial activity
of Ali; but in a mature age, after a long experience of mankind, he
still betrayed in his conduct the rashness and indiscretion of youth.
[1732] In the first days of his reign, he neglected to secure, either
by gifts or fetters, the doubtful allegiance of Telha and Zobeir, two
of the most powerful of the Arabian chiefs. They escaped from Medina to
Mecca, and from thence to Bassora; erected the standard of revolt;
and usurped the government of Irak, or Assyria, which they had vainly
solicited as the reward of their services. The mask of patriotism is
allowed to cover the most glaring inconsistencies; and the enemies,
perhaps the assassins, of Othman now demanded vengeance for his blood.
They were accompanied in their flight by Ayesha, the widow of the
prophet, who cherished, to the last hour of her life, an implacable
hatred against the husband and the posterity of Fatima. The most
reasonable Moslems were scandalized, that the mother of the faithful
should expose in a camp her person and character; [1733] but the
superstitious crowd was confident that her presence would sanctify the
justice, and assure the success, of their cause. At the head of twenty
thousand of his loyal Arabs, and nine thousand valiant auxiliaries of
Cufa, the caliph encountered and defeated the superior numbers of the
rebels under the walls of Bassora. [1734] Their leaders, Telha and
Zobeir, [1735] were slain in the first battle that stained with civil
blood the arms of the Moslems. [1736] After passing through the ranks to
animate the troops, Ayesha had chosen her post amidst the dangers of the
field. In the heat of the action, seventy men, who held the bridle of
her camel, were successively killed or wounded; and the cage or litter,
in which she sat, was stuck with javelins and darts like the quills of a
porcupine. The venerable captive sustained with firmness the reproaches
of the conqueror, and was speedily dismissed to her proper station at
the tomb of Mahomet, with the respect and tenderness that was still due
to the widow of the apostle. [1737] After this victory, which was styled
the Day of the Camel, Ali ma