] The urgency
of the moment, and the acquiescence of the people, might excuse this
illegal and precipitate measure; but Omar himself confessed from the
pulpit, that if any Mulsulman should hereafter presume to anticipate
the suffrage of his brethren, both the elector and the elected would be
worthy of death. [168] After the simple inauguration of Abubeker, he
was obeyed in Medina, Mecca, and the provinces of Arabia: the Hashemites
alone declined the oath of fidelity; and their chief, in his own house,
maintained, above six months, a sullen and independent reserve; without
listening to the threats of Omar, who attempted to consume with fire the
habitation of the daughter of the apostle. The death of Fatima, and
the decline of his party, subdued the indignant spirit of Ali: he
condescended to salute the commander of the faithful, accepted his
excuse of the necessity of preventing their common enemies, and wisely
rejected his courteous offer of abdicating the government of the
Arabians. After a reign of two years, the aged caliph was summoned by
the angel of death. In his testament, with the tacit approbation of his
companions, he bequeathed the sceptre to the firm and intrepid virtue of
Omar. "I have no occasion," said the modest candidate, "for the place."
"But the place has occasion for you," replied Abubeker; who expired with
a fervent prayer, that the God of Mahomet would ratify his choice, and
direct the Mussulmans in the way of concord and obedience. The prayer
was not ineffectual, since Ali himself, in a life of privacy and prayer,
professed to revere the superior worth and dignity of his rival; who
comforted him for the loss of empire, by the most flattering marks of
confidence and esteem. In the twelfth year of his reign, Omar received
a mortal wound from the hand of an assassin: he rejected with equal
impartiality the names of his son and of Ali, refused to load his
conscience with the sins of his successor, and devolved on six of the
most respectable companions the arduous task of electing a commander
of the faithful. On this occasion, Ali was again blamed by his friends
[169] for submitting his right to the judgment of men, for recognizing
their jurisdiction by accepting a place among the six electors. He might
have obtained their suffrage, had he deigned to promise a strict and
servile conformity, not only to the Koran and tradition, but likewise to
the determinations of two seniors. [170] With these limitation