Shahrîrân did not long survive the defeat. His son, succeeding him, was killed in a rebellion caused by his attempt to give Azarmîdokht, a princess of the royal blood, in marriage to a favourite minister. The princess, saved by loyal hands from the dishonour, succeeded to the throne. From a court weakened thus by continual change and treachery, there was little, it might be thought, to fear. But Mothanna had to guard a frontier of great extent, and for the task his army was far too small. The Moslem conquests stretched from the lower Tigris to the desert, and from the Persian Gulf all up the banks of the Euphrates to Anbâr. The people were not with him, and the Bedouins of Mesopotamia were distinctly against him. Victories might be won, but they could not be followed up. The position, with so small a force, was clearly full of risk. Accordingly, Mothanna urged upon the Caliph the pressing need of reinforcements. He also pointed out how they might be met without stint of number. ‘Remove the embargo,’ he wrote, ‘from the apostate but now repentant tribes; they will flock to the war, and, in this crusade against the Persians, none will be more brave or eager.’ Answer being long delayed, Mothanna became anxious, and ventured to Medîna, there to urge his suit in person.[178] He found Abu Bekr on his death-bed. The aged Caliph knew that his end was near at hand; but his mind was clear, and, on hearing the statement of Mothanna, he at once perceived the urgency of the case. [Sidenote: Abu Bekr on his death-bed desires Omar to order a levy.]‘Call Omar to me,’ he said (for he had already declared him successor); and when Omar came, he addressed him thus in earnest tone:--‘Command a levy for Mothanna. Tarry not. If I die, as I think, this day, wait not till the evening; if I linger till night, wait not till the morning. Let not sorrow for me divert you from the service of Islam and the business of your Lord. Ye saw what I did myself when the Prophet died (and there could be no greater sorrow for mankind than that); truly if grief had stayed me then from girding my loins in the cause of the Lord and of his Prophet, the Faith had fared badly; the flame of rebellion had surely kindled in the city. And, list thee, Omar! when the Lord shall have given thee victory in Syria, then send back to Irâc its army; for they are the proper garrison thereof, and fittest to administer it.’ [Sidenote: Omar accepts the charge.] Omar was touched by the delicacy of his last words, and the allusion they contained without expressing it. ‘For,’ said he, ‘Abu Bekr knew that it grieved me when he gave the command to Khâlid; therefore he bade me to send back his army to Irâc, but forbore to name the name of Khâlid.’ He listened attentively to the dying Caliph’s words, and promised to fulfil them. CHAPTER XIII. SICKNESS AND DEATH OF ABU BEKR. Jumâd II., A.H. XIII. August, A.D. 634.