North, east, south, and west throughout the peninsula, the circle of victory was now complete. It began, we might say, with the avenging expedition of Osâma, directed by the Prophet against the Syrian border. This was followed up, more leisurely, by the arms of Amru, who restored the prestige of Islam amongst the Codhâa and other tribes on the Roman frontier. During Osâma’s absence the brave Caliph, with but a scanty following, beat back the rebel tribes which, hovering around Medîna, threatened the heart of Islam. Then followed Khâlid’s brilliant achievements, which, beginning with the Beni Tay on the north-east, and reclaiming the apostate tribes as he moved south, ended with the bloody and decisive field of Yemâma in the centre of Arabia. The flower of the Moslem troops was engaged in this great struggle, which decided the fate of Islam, then trembling in the balance; and while it was in progress, operations languished elsewhere. Subsequently, the campaign throughout the peninsula was carried on vigorously, but in many quarters with limited resources and varying fortune; till Ikrima, sweeping down the eastern coast, joined Mohâjir in the south, and stamped out the last embers of apostasy. The rebellion was totally suppressed, but the people remained still backward and sullen. [Sidenote: Arabia sullen, till roused by the war-cry from without.]The wild and turbulent tribes were brought back unwillingly. They chafed at the demand of tithe and obedience to Medîna. It was simply force and fear that as yet attached them to the Caliph. The question occurs, what would have been the fortune of Islam had no grand impulse arisen from without? It may be difficult to say, but the prospect certainly was not encouraging. Convictions so shallow and aspirations so low as those of the Bedouin would soon have disappeared; and force and fear could not long have availed to hold together the repellent atoms which go to form the Arab nation. The South was jealous of the North; the Bedouins of the desert scorned the population settled in towns and villages; every tribe had some cause of rivalry with its neighbour; new feuds were ever arising out of the law of blood. Even in Medîna, the cradle of the faith, the Beni Aus were impatient of the Beni Khazraj, and both were jealous of the Refugees from Mecca. The only authority recognised by a Bedouin is the authority of his tribal chief, and even that sits lightly. To him freedom is life; and dependence on a central power most hateful. The yoke of Islam (had nothing external supervened) would soon have been shaken off, and Arabia returned again to its former state. But fortunately for Islam (sadly for the interests of humanity) a new idea electrified the nation. No sooner was apostasy put down than, first in Chaldæa and then in Syria, collision with the Christian tribes kindled the fire of foreign war; and forthwith the Arabs, both town and Bedouin, were