Khâlid had again the misfortune to incur the displeasure of Omar. He came back from the campaign of Iyâdh greatly enriched with the spoils of war. In expectation of his bounty, many of his old friends from Irâc flocked to him on his return to his government at Kinnisrîn; and amongst these was Asháth, chief of the Beni Kinda, to whom he gave the princely largess of one thousand pieces of gold. Again, at Amida in the east, Khâlid had indulged in the luxury of a bath mingled with wine, the odour whereof as he came forth still clung about him. On both charges he was now arraigned. About the second, there could be no question; the use of wine, even externally, was a forbidden thing, and Khâlid forswore the indulgence in it even thus. The other offence was graver in the Caliph’s eyes. Either the gift was booty of the army; or, if Khâlid’s own to give away, he was guilty, even on that supposition, of culpable extravagance. Whichever was the case, he deserved to be deposed from his command. In such terms a rescript was addressed to Abu Obeida, and sent by the hands of a courier charged to see that the command was fully carried out. Khâlid was to be accused publicly; his helmet[343] taken off; his hands bound with his head-kerchief; and so arraigned he was to declare the truth. [Sidenote: Khâlid arraigned at Hims for malversation;] With Abu Obeida this was an ungracious task; for to the now degraded warrior he was beholden for all his victories in Syria. But the Caliph’s word was law. And so he summoned Khâlid from his seat of government, proclaimed an assembly in the great Mosque of Hims, and, standing in the pulpit, placed Khâlid in the midst. Then the courier put his master’s question--From whence the money given to Asháth came? Khâlid, confounded at the unexpected charge, made no reply. Pressed by his friends, still he remained silent. Abu Obeida stood himself embarrassed, and a painful pause ensued. At last Bilâl, privileged as the Muedzzin of the Prophet, stepped forth, and with stentorian voice cried, ‘_Thus and thus hath the Commander of the Faithful said, and it is incumbent on us to obey_;’ so saying, he unwound the kerchief from the head of Khâlid, bound his hands therewith, and took off his helmet. The great warrior, to whom Islam owed its conquests, stood as a felon before the congregation. Bilâl repeated the question, and Khâlid at length replied, ‘The money was my own.’ At once Bilâl unbound his hands, and, replacing the helmet on his head, wound the kerchief around it as before, and said, ‘We honour thee still, even as we did honour thee before, one of our chiefest captains.’ But Abu Obeida was silent; and Khâlid, stunned by the disgrace, stood speechless and bewildered. Abu Obeida had not the heart to tell him of his deposition; but, without sending him back to his seat of government, spoke kindly to him as to one who still had his confidence. Omar understood the delicacy of Abu Obeida’s position, and himself summoned Khâlid to