tion of his treasures in this and other delight- | friends or foes. He used to attend funerals ful dwellings, he was meditating a work far and recite prayers over the dead; he often more meritorious in the eyes of the Almighty, prayed with the people when he attended and which would insure him a place in Para- the mosque on Fridays and other festivals, dise; we mean the erection of a magnificent on which occasions he was in the habit of place of worship, that which existed being ascending the pulpit and addressing his in a ruinous state, and being, besides, insuf- subjects therefrom. He visited the sick ficient to hold the great concourse of people and mixed with the people, attending their who flocked to prayers. rejoicings and recreations. Abdu-rrahman, moreover, issued orders that all those who came to him with petitions should be admitted to his audience-room without CHARACTER OF ABDU-R-RAHMAN. FROM THE ARABIAN HISTORIAN IBNU HAYYAN. This historian was born at Cordova about A. D. 1006. Information Respecting the History of Andalus." He also He wrote, in ten volumes, "The Book of the Seeker of was the author of other works. He died A. D. 1076. Abdu-r-rahman was kind-hearted and well disposed to mercy. He was eloquent in his He was eloquent in his speech, and was endowed with a quick perception; he was very slow in his determinations, but constant and persevering in carrying them into effect; he was exempt from all weakness, and prompt in his movements; he was active and stirring; he would never lie in repose or abandon himself to indulgence; he never intrusted the affairs of the government to any one, but administered them himself, yet he never failed to consult, on such difficult cases as occurred, with people of wisdom and experience; he was a brave and intrepid warrior, always the first in the field; he was terrible in his anger, and could bear no opposition to his will; he could speak with much fluency and elegance; he was likewise a good poet, and composed verses extempore; he was, in short, a beneficent, generous, and munificent prince. He always dressed in white, and wore a turban of the same color, which he preferred to any other; his countenance inspired with awe all those who approached him, whether In this man delay, that he might attend to their cases ABDU-L-MALEK IBN OMAR, A FAVORITE OF SULTAN ABDU-R-RAHMAN. This Abdu-l-malek Ibn Omar was an excellent poet. Seeing one day at Seville a solitary palm tree, which brought to his recollection the place of his birth in Syria and the friends he had left there, he exclaimed, in a fit of irrepressible sorrow : A SOLITARY PALM TREE. O palm tree! like myself, thou art alone in this land; thou also art away from thy kindred. Thou weepest, and closest the calix of thy flowers Why? Dost thou lament the generating seed scattered on the mountain? Yes, I do; for, although they all may take root in a congenial soil [like that] watered by the Euphrates, Yet orphans are they all, since Beni Abbas has driven me away from my family. SULTAN HISHAM, SURNAMED ABU-L-WALID. On the death of Abdu-r-rahman, his son Hisham, surnamed Abu-l-walid, who had been previously appointed his successor, ascended the throne. His mother's name was Halal. He was born on the 4th of Shawwal, A. H. 139 (February 18, A. D. 757); that is, one year after his father's arrival in Andalus. Hisham was not Abdu-r-rahman's eldest son, but that monarch, who always showed a great predilection for him and knew his excellent qualities, preferred him to his other sons and named him his successor. They say that whenever Abdu-r-rahman inquired how his two sons Suleyman and Hisham spent their time, the answer he received was invariably this: "If thy son Hisham receives company, his hall is thronged with learned men, poets, or historians, who discuss the exploits of the brave and converse about military affairs and so forth; whereas the hall of thy son Suleyman is always filled with sycophants, fools, and cowards." By means of this and other similar reports Hisham rose high in his father's esteem, in proportion as his brother Suleyman descended, until that monarch decided upon naming him his successor to the empire, to the prejudice of his elder brother. One day, as Abdu-rrahman was sitting in his hall surrounded by his courtiers, he repeated the following verses, and asked Hisham whether he knew where they were to be found: PROVERBS OF KING AMRU-L-KAYS. If thou consider his brilliant qualities, thou wilt easily find out who his father was, and who his ancestors,-who is Yezid and who is Hajr. Observe his generosity, his piety, his good faith, his logical acuteness, whether he is sober or intoxicated [after a banquet]. No sooner had he uttered them than Hisham exclaimed, “O Hisham exclaimed, "O my lord! those verses are the composition of Amru-l-kays, king of Kindah, and it seems as if they had been written on thy account." So pleased was his father with this answer that he ordered many bounteous gifts to Hisham, who from that moment rose high in his estimation. Soon after his accession to power Hisham sent for a celebrated astrologer who resided at Algesiras and whose name was Adh-dhobi. He was a man of great reputation for his knowledge of astrology and of the influence of the stars upon mundane affairs, which he had studied in the writings of Ptolemy. In compliance with Hisham's orders the astrologer repaired to Cordova, where, immediately on his arrival, that monarch closeted himself up with him and addressed him thus: "I doubt not thou hast already divined the reason for thy being sent for; I need not, therefore, give thee any further explanation. Tell me now, with God's permission, what thy science discloses to thee respecting my future destiny." The astrologer hesitated to give answer, and said, "Pardon me, O Amir, I am but a novice in that science, and it is beyond my power to execute thy commands, as I am not at all deserving of the honor of observing a subject so superior to myself in rank and dignity." "Heed not that," replied Hisham; "I raise thee to my own station, and thou wilt thereby become competent to the task.” Some days after this interview the astrol- | oger was again summoned to the presence of Hisham, who said to him, "What I asked thee the other day has kept me since in a state of great agitation, although God knows I place no confidence in things which are amongst the impenetrable secrets, and the knowledge of which he has reserved to himself. Yet I ardently desire to hear what thou hast to predict to me: man is naturally fond of inquiry, and he is bound by the hope of reward as well as by the fear of punishment." Adh-dhobi then said, "Thy reign, O Amir, will be glorious and fortunate; it will be marked by victories over thy enemies; its duration, however, if my calculations be right, will only be eight years or thereabout." After a moment's reflection Hisham lifted up his head and said, "O Adh-dhobi, I am not in the least alarmed at thy prediction, though may be the unerring admonisher who informs me by thy tongue; for if the time of life alloted to me be spent in adoration of the Almighty, when the hour comes I will say with resignation, 'May his will be done!' Hisham then dismissed the astrologer after rewarding him munificently, and from that day abstained from the pleasures of this world and made justice and benevolence the sole guide of his actions. it Hisham followed the maxim of sending men of probity and virtue, and on whom he could rely, to the various provinces of his empire, to inquire into the condition of his subjects and ascertain the opinions of the inhabitants respecting the conduct of their governors and magistrates; and if in this manner any one of his public officers was convicted of having committed injustice, he would deprive him of his situation, oblige him to make due amends, and for ever afterward exclude him from his service. After a prosperous reign of seven years and nine months, some historians say eight [months], Hisham died in the year 180 A. H. (A. D. 796). He is counted among the good and virtuous monarchs, full of military ardor and zeal for the promotion of the faith. Among the commendable acts of his administration, one was his continuing and completing the construction of the great mosque of Cordova, which his father Abdu-r-rahman had begun, and left intrusted to his care. He had also the merit of not exacting from his Moslem subjects more taxes than the zeka'h or tithe prescribed by the Koran and the Sunna (traditionary law). May God have mercy on him! His age, when he died, was forty years and four months, having been born, as above stated, in the month of Shawwal of the year 139. His mild temper, his generosity, and his love of justice were such that his subjects gave him the surnames of Ar-rodah (the amiable) and Al-'adil (the just). Among the laudable practices introduced by him, THE HISTORIAN SAKEN IBN IBRAHIM records the following: He instituted a nightwatch composed of honest citizens, who went their rounds, and if any disturber of the public peace was apprehended, he was fined according to his offence: the produce of the fines was then sent to such poor people as were found in the mosques on dark and rainy nights. SULTAN ABDU-R-RAHMAN II. Soon after his accession to the throne, Abdu-r-rahman invaded Galicia, where he remained for a considerable time, wasting the country and annihilating its Christian inhab itants. Owing to these and other victories | exhaustible store, only to be compared in extent which Abdu-r-rahman had gained over the Christians and others during his father's lifetime, his subjects bestowed upon him the surname of Al-modhaffer (the victorious). ALI IBN NAPI, SURNAMED ZARYAB, A CELEBRATED MUSICIAN AND SINGER OF BAGHDAD. During the reign of this sultan several illustrious men left the East to settle in Andalus. Among the rest was Ali Ibn Nafi, surnamed Zaryab, a celebrated musician and singer, who had been a mauli of the Khalif Mahdi and a pupil of Ibrahim Al-maussili. He came from Irsk in the year 206 (beginning June 5, A. D. 821), and was so well received by the Amir Abdu-r-rahman that, according to Ibnu Khaldun, that sultan rode out to meet him on the day of his entrance into Cordova, and honored him extremely, distinguishing him above all his courtiers and granting him several favors. Zaryab settled in Andalus, and taught vocal music to the people of the country, founding a school of his own. So delighted was Abdur-rrahman with Zaryab's performances that he would listen to no other singer of the many who attended his court, and that he conceived an unbounded affection for him, going so far as to closet himself with him and make him sit by his side as if he were his equal, and allowing him to treat him with the greatest freedom. On such occasions, after listening to his songs for some time, Abdu-r-rahman would ask him to tell him stories; and Zaryab, who was deeply read and well informed, and who was, moreover, gifted with a prodigious memory, would entertain him with anecdotes of kings and khalifs, and the remarkable sayings of the wise, of which he possessed an in with a boundless sea. Every day the Amir became more attached to him, and more astonished at what he related, until he would have him at his meals, and honored him by allowing him to dine with him and with those among his sons who were then grown up. ZARYAB IMPROVES THE LUTE. Before Zaryab's time the lute was, according to the old fashion, composed of four strings only, which answered to the four elementary principles of the body and expressed the four natural sounds. Zaryab, however, added to it another red string, which he placed in the middle, by which addition the instrument was considerably improved and a more harmonious sound than before produced. The arrangement stood thus: the treble or first string, which was dyed of a bright yellow, supplied in the lute the place of the bile in the human body; the next string to it, which was red, supplied the place of the blood: it was twice as thick as the treble, on which account he called it muthanna, i. e. double; the third was left undyed, and was consequently white, being intended as a representative of the phlegm of the human body; in size it was double the muthanna, or second string, for which reason it was called muthallath, or triple; the fourth, which was black, was intended to occupy in the instrument the same place as the black humors in the body of man; it was also called bam, and was the largest of all; in thickness it was double the third string. These four strings answered completely to the four natural sounds, harmony resulting from the balance of their opposite properties. The bam, being hot and dry, was opposed to the some offence she had received at his hands, was never appeased until he caused the door of her apartment to be blocked up with bags of money. On another occasion he made her a present of a dress worth one hundred thousand dinars, and, on his being remonstrated with and told that such a jewel ought never to be taken out of the royal treasure, he replied with this verse: muthanna, which was hot and damp, and four notes of the lute. NUMBER OF SULTAN ABDU-R-RAHMAN'S Abdu-r-rahman is reported to have introduced some new regulations respecting royalty, one of which was that he always veiled himself whenever he appeared in public. He left two hundred children, one hundred and fifty of whom were males, and the rest females. He used a seal on which was engraved the following pious motto: "The servant of the merciful (Abdu-r-rhaman) rests contented on the decrees of God." Among his remarkable sayings the following is one: A PROVERB. "Authority and honor are eagerly sought by people who know not their worth; hence the first thing they meet with is disappointment.' He was very fond of women, and especially of a mistress of his named Tarub, to whom he was passionately attached. She it was who, being angry with him owing to She who wears it is still of a higher value and greater estimation, more adorned by jewels, and of a noble origin. The following two verses were also composed by Abdu-r-rahman in honor of this mistress: When the sun rises every day to give us light, it re I am the happiest of mortals, since I am successful in love and prosperous in war. Having once departed on an expedition to Galicia, and being a long time absent, he wrote to her the following lines: The enemy called me away from thy side, and I flew to the battle like the arrow shot from the bow. How many deserts did I cross! and yet one obstacle after another came to obstruct my path. Wherever I go I am tormented by the poison of absence; the stones even are melted through compassion [at my grief]. God is working [through me] the triumph of the true faith, which I am spreading in spite of the worshippers of the Crucified. Against the infidels I now march, and my invincible host covers the mountains and the plains. Abdu-r-rahman also loved tenderly two concubines of his, whose names were Mudathirah and Ashifa, both of whom he had liberated and married. As to his mistress Kalam, she was an excellent scholar, who wrote a very good hand, recited poetry, knew many historical facts by heart, and had considerable learning in various branches of literature. She was likewise proficient in music and music and singing, which Abdu-r-rahman |