I feel them too
deeply. In the days of our common ignorance, we fought with the weapons
of the flesh, and my nation was superior. God was then neuter: since he
has espoused your quarrel, you have subverted our kingdom and
religion." Oppressed by this painful dialogue, the Persian complained of
intolerable thirst, but discovered some apprehension lest he should be
killed whilst he was drinking a cup of water. "Be of good courage,"
said the caliph; "your life is safe till you have drunk this water:"
the crafty satrap accepted the assurance, and instantly dashed the
vase against the ground. Omar would have avenged the deceit, but
his companions represented the sanctity of an oath; and the speedy
conversion of Harmozan entitled him not only to a free pardon, but
even to a stipend of two thousand pieces of gold. The administration of
Persia was regulated by an actual survey of the people, the cattle, and
the fruits of the earth; and this monument, which attests the vigilance
of the caliphs, might have instructed the philosophers of every age.

The flight of Yezdegerd had carried him beyond the Oxus, and as far as
the Jaxartes, two rivers of ancient and modern renown, which descend
from the mountains of India towards the Caspian Sea. He was hospitably
entertained by Tarkhan, prince of Fargana, a fertile province on the
Jaxartes: the king of Samarcand, with the Turkish tribes of Sogdiana
and Scythia, were moved by the lamentations and promises of the fallen
monarch; and he solicited, by a suppliant embassy, the more solid and
powerful friendship of the emperor of China. The virtuous Taitsong,
the first of the dynasty of the Tang may be justly compared with the
Antonines of Rome: his people enjoyed the blessings of prosperity and
peace; and his dominion was acknowledged by forty-four hordes of
the Barbarians of Tartary. His last garrisons of Cashgar and Khoten
maintained a frequent intercourse with their neighbors of the Jaxartes
and Oxus; a recent colony of Persians had introduced into China the
astronomy of the Magi; and Taitsong might be alarmed by the rapid
progress and dangerous vicinity of the Arabs. The influence, and perhaps
the supplies, of China revived the hopes of Yezdegerd and the zeal
of the worshippers of fire; and he returned with an army of Turks to
conquer the inheritance of his fathers. The fortunate Moslems, without
unsheathing their swords, were the spectators of his ruin and death.
The grandson of Chosroes