There is no trace whatever, in the history of those times, of the extravagant claims made in later days for Aly and his family. Clearly none of these were regarded during their lifetime with any respect or veneration beyond that which was due to their relationship with the Prophet.[568] On the contrary, we find that even in their own capital and provinces, there prevailed towards them an utter want of enthusiasm and loyalty, amounting at times to positive disaffection. The fiction of the Divine _Imâmship_ was a reaction from the tragedy at Kerbala (to be told below) and the cruel fate of the Prophet’s descendants. And the superstition, fostered by Alyite and Abbasside faction, soon formed a powerful lever which was skilfully and unscrupulously used in the busy canvass to overthrow the Omeyyad dynasty. CHAPTER XLVI. HASAN SUCCEEDS ALY.--ABDICATES IN FAVOUR OF MUAVIA. A.H. XL., XLI. A.D. 661. [Sidenote: Hasan succeeds his father Aly. Ramadhân, A.H. XL. Jan. A.D. 661.] When they had committed Aly, we know not where, to his last home, the people, following the example of Cays ibn Sád, whose influence at the Court of Baghdad continued undiminished, did homage, as it were by common consent, to Hasan, the departed Caliph’s eldest son. But Hasan was a poor-spirited creature, more intent on varying the charms of his ever-changing harem than on the business of public life, and altogether unworthy of his descent as the grandson of the Prophet.[569] [Sidenote: But, attacked by Muâvia, and mobbed by his own troops,]