But he looked to the future with anxiety. The experiment of nominating Yezîd his successor was sure to meet with opposition when he was gone. So from his death-bed he sent a message to Yezîd, who was absent at his huntingquarters, warning him of those against whom he must be on his guard. There were only four, he said, of whom, as former recusants, he need specially beware; Abdallah son of Omar, Hosein son of Aly, Abdallah son of Zobeir, and Abd al Rahmân son of Abu Bekr. The first, a pious devotee, would surely succumb. The last might be persuaded by his fellows to set up his claim; but he was too much engrossed with the pleasures of the harem to be the cause of much anxiety.[587] ‘As for Hosein,’ he continued, ‘the factious people of Irâc will not leave him alone till he shall attempt the empire; when thou hast gotten the victory, then deal gently with him, for verily the Prophet’s blood runneth in his veins. It is the Son of Zobeir that I fear the most for thee. Fierce as the lion, and crafty as the fox;--when within thy grasp, destroy him root and branch, leaving not a vestige behind.’ [Sidenote: Hosein and the Son of Zobeir escape to Mecca.] The first care of Yezîd on ascending the throne was to require the recusants who had objected to his nomination as Heir Apparent, to swear allegiance to him now as Caliph. These resided at Medîna, and on the summons of the governor, two of them, the sons of Omar and Abbâs (the latter, progenitor of the Abbassides), at once complied with the command. But Abdallah son of Zobeir, and Hosein son of Aly, hesitated; and, under cover of delay for considering the matter, both of them escaped to Mecca. [Sidenote: Ibn Zobeir dissembles.] Since its capture by Mahomet, fifty years before, no enemy dared to go up against the Holy City; and there, in like security with the doves fluttering around the temple, whom no man might molest, conspirators, abusing the privilege of asylum, were able to hatch their plots against the empire. The ambition of Abdallah ibn Zobeir, as Muâvia foresaw, aimed at the Caliphate; but so long as Hosein remained at Mecca, he dissembled his intentions, and professed to yield to the superior claims of the Prophet’s grandson.