Abubeker, the father-in-law of Mohammed, became his successor, and assumed the title of _Caliph_, which simply signifies _vicar_. During his reign the Saracens penetrated into Syria, dispersed the armies of Heraclius, and took the {27} city of Damascus, the siege of which will be for ever celebrated in consequence of the almost superhuman exploits of the famous Kaled, surnamed the _Sword of God_.[8] Notwithstanding these successive victories, and the enormous amount of booty thus taken from the enemy and committed to his keeping, Abubeker appropriated to his own particular use a sum scarcely equivalent to forty cents a day. Omar, the successor of Abubeker, commanded Kaled to march against Jerusalem. That city soon became the prize of the Arabs; Syria and Palestine were subdued; the Turks and the Persians demanded peace; Heraclius fled from Antioch; and all Asia trembled before Omar and the terrible Mussulmans. Modest, in spite of the triumphs that everywhere attended them, and attributing their success to God alone, these Moslems preserved unaltered their austere manners, their frugality, their severe discipline, and their reverence for poverty, though surrounded by the most corrupt of the nations of the earth, and exposed to the seductive influences of the delicious climates and the luxurious pleasures of some of the richest and most {28} beautiful countries in the world. During the sacking of a city, the most eager and impetuous soldier would be instantly arrested in the work of pillage by the word of his chief, and would, with the strictest fidelity, deliver up the booty he had obtained, that it might be deposited in the general treasury. Even the most independent and magnificent of the heroic chiefs would hasten, in accordance with the directions of the caliph, to take the command of an army, and would become successively generals, private soldiers, or ambassadors, in obedience to his slightest wish. In fine, Omar himself--Omar, the richest, the greatest, the most puissant of the monarchs of Asia, set forward upon a journey to Jerusalem; mounted upon a red camel, which bore a sack of barley, one of rice, a well-filled water-skin, and a wooden vase. Thus equipped, the caliph travelled through the midst of conquered nations, who crowded around his path at every step, entreating his blessing and praying him to adjudge their quarrels. At last he joined his army, and, inculcating precepts of simplicity, valour, and humility upon the soldiers, he made his entrance into the Holy City, liberated such of its former Christian possessors as had become {29} the captives of his people, and commanded the preservation of the churches. Then remounting his camel, the representative of the Prophet returned to Medina, to perform the duties of the high-priest of his religion.