n Abdullah, (whom
disappointment at being postponed to his younger brother in the
succession, had led to conspire against his father's life,) were
almost the only clouds which dimmed the continual sunshine of his
prosperity--and his grandeur was enhanced in the eyes of his subjects,
by the assumption of the highest prerogatives of Islam. Hitherto the
princes of his line had contented themselves with the style of _Amirs
of the Moslems,_ and _Beni-Kholaifah_ or "sons of the Khalifs;" but in
929, "seeing the state of weakness and degradation to which the
khalifate of the Beni-Abbas at Bagdad had been reduced," he no longer
hesitated to adopt the titles of Imam and Khalif, with the appellation
of An-nasir Ledinillah, (defender of the religion of God,) under which
he is generally mentioned by historians.

The writers from whom Al-Makkari has drawn his materials, exhaust
their powers of language in panegyrics on the unrivaled magnificence
of the court of Abdurrahman; which was thronged both by men of letters
whom the distracted state of the East had driven thither for refuge,
and by ambassadors, not only from the princes of Islam, but from "Hoto
the king of the Alaman," (Otho the Great of Germany,) the king of
France, and numerous other Christian potentates. The reception of
these missions was usually signalized by a gorgeous display of the
pomp of the court--and the ceremonial on the arrival in 949 of the
envoys of Constantine VII. of Constantinople, is described at length
from Ibn Hayyan. "The vaulted hall in his palace of Az-zahra, which he
had fixed upon as the place where he would receive their credentials,
was beautifully decorated, and a throne glittering with gold and
sparkling with gems raised in the midst. To the right of the throne
stood five of the khalif's sons, to the left three others, one being
absent from illness. Next to them were the vizirs, each at his post on
the right or left of the throne. Then came the hajibs or chamberlains,
the sons of the vizirs, the freed slaves of the khalif, and the wakils
or officers of his household. The court of the palace had been strewn
with the richest carpets; and silken awnings of the most gorgeous
description had every where been thrown over the doors and arches.
Presently the ambassadors entered the hall, and were struck with awe
at the magnificence displayed, and the power of the Sultan before whom
they stood. They advanced a few steps, and presented the letter of
the