Note 124 — Chapter X · CAMPAIGN OF KHALID IN IRAC. A.H. XII. A.D. 633.
Reading edition
Tradition gives with considerable zest a somewhat coarse and childish conversation between Khâlid and the aged Abd al Masîh (called Ibn Backîla, ‘son of the bean-stalk,’ from his green dress), who headed the deputation. ‘Whence comest thou?’ asked the conqueror. ‘From my mother’s womb.’ ‘And where art thou now?’ ‘In my clothes,’ and so on. Asked what was the most wonderful thing he had ever seen, he said, ‘The road from Hîra to Damascus, which was lined in my early days with villages all along, so that a woman could travel on it alone, taking with her a single cake; but that time hath long passed by.’ His attendant carried a little bag containing a quick poison, which his master was prepared to swallow if any indignity had been shown him. Khâlid took and swallowed it, saying that no soul could die before its time. As no ill effect followed, the chief was lost in amazement, and declared that Khâlid must be irresistible. Marvellous tales of this sort are, however, very rare now. Some touching verses are recorded as sung by Ibn Backîla on the fall of Hîra. Here is a specimen:—
Now that the Princes of the house of Mundzir are gone, shall I ever again behold the royal herd of camels returning at eve from the pastures of Khawarnac and Sedîr? Now that the horsemen of Nomân are passed away, shall I ever again feed the young she-camel on the pastures between Mecca and Hafîr? Like a flock of goats on a stormy day, we are scattered by the Beni Maád (the invading Moslems), even as pieces of camels slaughtered for the feast. Heretofore our homes were sacred, and we like the teats of a well-filled udder, Yielding tribute at the appointed times to the Chosroes, and imposts in cattle and gold. Alas! even so is the changeful wheel (bucket) of the well of fortune. Now the day brightens with joy and gladness, and now it is dark with sorrow and grief.
Masûdi speaks of the Ibâdites (the Christian aborigines of Hîra) as still in his time inhabiting this neighbourhood.