domestic cares of
religion and justice the most important duties of a sovereign.
Except the presence of Omar at the siege of Jerusalem, their longest
expeditions were the frequent pilgrimage from Medina to Mecca; and they
calmly received the tidings of victory as they prayed or preached before
the sepulchre of the prophet. The austere and frugal measure of
their lives was the effect of virtue or habit, and the pride of their
simplicity insulted the vain magnificence of the kings of the earth.
When Abubeker assumed the office of caliph, he enjoined his daughter
Ayesha to take a strict account of his private patrimony, that it might
be evident whether he were enriched or impoverished by the service of
the state. He thought himself entitled to a stipend of three pieces
of gold, with the sufficient maintenance of a single camel and a black
slave; but on the Friday of each week he distributed the residue of his
own and the public money, first to the most worthy, and then to the most
indigent, of the Moslems. The remains of his wealth, a coarse garment,
and five pieces of gold, were delivered to his successor, who lamented
with a modest sigh his own inability to equal such an admirable model.
Yet the abstinence and humility of Omar were not inferior to the virtues
of Abubeker: his food consisted of barley bread or dates; his drink was
water; he preached in a gown that was torn or tattered in twelve places;
and the Persian satrap, who paid his homage to the conqueror, found him
asleep among the beggars on the steps of the mosch of Medina. Oeeconomy
is the source of liberality, and the increase of the revenue enabled
Omar to establish a just and perpetual reward for the past and present
services of the faithful. Careless of his own emolument, he assigned to
Abbas, the uncle of the prophet, the first and most ample allowance of
twenty-five thousand drachms or pieces of silver. Five thousand were
allotted to each of the aged warriors, the relics of the field of Beder;
and the last and meanest of the companions of Mahomet was distinguished
by the annual reward of three thousand pieces. One thousand was the
stipend of the veterans who had fought in the first battles against the
Greeks and Persians; and the decreasing pay, as low as fifty pieces
of silver, was adapted to the respective merit and seniority of the
soldiers of Omar. Under his reign, and that of his predecessor, the
conquerors of the East were the trusty servants of God