The occupation of Hîra was the first definite step in the outward movement of Islam. Here Khâlid fixed his head-quarters, and remained for about a year. It was, in fact, the earliest Moslem capital beyond the limits of Arabia. The administration was left with the heads of the native municipality, who, together with the surrounding population, were, if not friendly, at the least neutral. Khâlid, indeed, expected that, being of Arab descent, and themselves long ruled by a native dynasty, the citizens of Hîra would actively have joined his cause. Adi, grandson of the poet of that name, was one of the deputation which concluded the peace. ‘Tell me,’ said Khâlid rallying him, ‘whether ye be of Persian blood?’ ‘Judge by our speech: doth that betray ignoble birth?’ ‘True,’ answered Khâlid; ‘then why do ye not join our faith, and cast in your lot with us?’ ‘Nay,’ answered the Christian, ‘that we shall never do; the faith of our fathers we shall not abjure, but shall pay tribute unto you.’ ‘Beshrew the fools!’ cried Khâlid; ‘Unbelief is as the trackless desert, and he that treadeth it the silliest of mankind. Here two guides are offered, an Arab and a Stranger; and of the two they choose the Stranger!’ The flux and reflux of Roman invasion had, no doubt, loosened their faith in Persia; but the court of Medâin was near at hand, and, though in the last stage of senility, sufficiently strong to command the allegiance of a small dependency like Hîra. The permanence of Arab conquest, too, was yet uncertain; the love of their ancestral faith was still predominant; and so the city chose to remain as tributary. And several centuries later we find the inhabitants of the neighbourhood in considerable numbers still attached to the Christian faith.[124] [Sidenote: Public prayer established. ‘The Service of Victory.’] Public prayer, outward symbol of the dominant faith, was now established; and the citizens might hear the cry of the Muedzzin, as, five times a day, beginning with the earliest dawn, the call to prayer resounded from the adjacent camp. Khâlid celebrated his success in a special _Service of victory_. The occasion was memorable. Clothed in a loose flowing robe girt about the neck, he turned, when the prayers were over, to the assembly, and thus extolled their bravery: ‘In the field of Mûta (where he had himself rallied the dispersed army) nine swords were broken in my hand.[125] But I met not there any foe to match those ye have encountered here; and of these none more valiant than the men of Allîs.’ It is, however, open to remark that the early campaign in Irâc is surrounded by tradition with a special halo; for the loss here on the Moslem side was not great, and, judged by this unerring test, the fighting could hardly compare with that of many a well-contested field in the Prophet’s time.[126] [Sidenote: Summary administration set up in the conquered province.]