impost. He endeavoured above all to procure justice for all his
subjects. Complaints against oppression found in him a ready listener,
and many unlawfully acquired possessions were restored to the legal
owners, for instance, to the descendants of Ali and Talha. Even to the
Kharijites he contrived to give satisfaction, as far as possible. In all
these matters he followed the guidance of divines and devotees, in whose
congenial company he delighted. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at
that these men saw in Omar the ideal of a prince, and that in Moslem
history he has acquired the reputation of a saint.

After the failure of the siege of Constantinople, the advanced posts in
Asia Minor were withdrawn, but the raids were continued regularly. It
has been said that it was Omar's intention to give up his Spanish
conquests, but the facts argue the contrary. The governor, named by
Omar, Samh b. Abdallah, even crossed the Pyrenees and took possession of
Narbonne; but he was beaten and killed at Toulouse in July 720. But Omar
did all he could to prevent the degradation of the Holy War, which,
instead of being the ultimate expedient for the propagation of Islam, if
all other means had failed, had often degenerated into mere pillaging
expeditions against peaceful nations.

9. _Reign of Yazid II._--Omar's reign was as short as that of his
predecessor. He died on the 24th of Rajab 101 (A.D. 9th February 720).
Yazid II., son of Abdalmalik and, by his mother 'Atika, grandson of
Yazid I., ascended the throne without opposition. He had at once,
however, to put down a dangerous rebellion. Yazid b. Mohallab had
returned to Irak, after the conquest of Jorjan, when Suleiman was still
alive. Shortly after, Adi b. Artat, whom Omar II. had appointed
governor, arrived, arrested Yazid, and sent him to Omar, who called him
to account for the money he had mentioned in his letter to Suleiman, and
imprisoned him when he pretended not to be able to pay the amount. Yazid
II. had personal grounds for ill-will to Yazid b. Mohallab. One of the
wives of the new caliph, the same who gave birth to that son of Yazid
II. who afterwards reigned as Walid II., was niece to the celebrated
Hajjaj, whose family had been ill-treated by the son of Mohallab, when
he was governor of Irak under Suleiman. Aware that Yazid b. Abdalmalik,
on ascending the throne, would spare neither him nor his family, Yazid
b. Mohallab had succeeded in escaping to Basra, the home of hi