"For all their numbers, they are good for naught, My people, against harm however light: They pardon wrong by evildoers wrought, Malice with loving kindness they requite."[186] The last verse, which would have been high praise in the mouth of a Christian or Muḥammadan moralist, conveyed to those who heard it a shameful reproach. The approved method of dealing with an enemy is set forth plainly enough in the following lines:-- "Humble him who humbles thee, close tho' be your kindredship: If thou canst not humble him, wait till he is in thy grip. Friend him while thou must; strike hard when thou hast him on the hip."[187] [Sidenote: Blood-revenge.] Above all, blood called for blood. This obligation lay heavy on the conscience of the pagan Arabs. Vengeance, with them, was "almost a physical necessity, which if it be not obeyed will deprive its subject of sleep, of appetite, of health." It was a tormenting thirst which nothing would quench except blood, a disease of honour which might be described as madness, although it rarely prevented the sufferer from going to work with coolness and circumspection. Vengeance was taken upon the murderer, if possible, or else upon one of his fellow-tribesmen. Usually this ended the matter, but in some cases it was the beginning of a regular blood-feud in which the entire kin of both parties were involved; as, _e.g._, the murder of Kulayb led to the Forty Years' War between Bakr and Taghlib.[188] The slain man's next of kin might accept a blood-wit (_diya_), commonly paid in camels--the coin of the country--as atonement for him. If they did so, however, it was apt to be cast in their teeth that they preferred milk (_i.e._, she-camels) to blood.[189] The true Arab feeling is expressed in verses like these:-- "With the sword will I wash my shame away, Let God's doom bring on me what it may!"[190] It was believed that until vengeance had been taken for the dead man, his spirit appeared above his tomb in the shape of an owl (_háma_ or _ṣadá_), crying "_Isqúní_" ("Give me to drink"). But pagan ideas of vengeance were bound up with the Past far more than with the Future. The shadowy after-life counted for little or nothing beside the deeply-rooted memories of fatherly affection, filial piety, and brotherhood in arms. Though liable to abuse, the rough-and-ready justice of the vendetta had a salutary effect in restraining those who would otherwise have indulged their lawless instincts without fear of punishment. From our point of view, however, its interest is not so much that of a primitive institution as of a pervading element in old Arabian life and literature. Full, or even adequate, illustration of this topic would carry me far beyond the limits of my plan. I have therefore selected from the copious material preserved in the _Book of Songs_ a characteristic story which tells how Qays b. al-Khaṭím took vengeance on the murderers of his father and his grandfather.[191]