[37] Gibbon’s _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, vol. vi. chap. i. p. 298. [38] _Short History of the Saracens_, p. 39. [39] Nöldeke, _Sketches from Eastern History_, p. 76. [40] At the battle of Yermuk the army of Heraclius numbered 240,000, whilst the Saracens were only 40,000 all told. At Kâdessia 30,000 Arabs were opposed to 100,000 Persians. At the battle of Medîna Sidonia, which won Spain to the Caliphate, Târik had only 12,000 men against Roderick’s host, at least five times as large. [41] Nöldeke. [42] The family of Hâshim and the family of Ommeya, distantly connected with each other, were two of the most prominent in Mecca; and for a long time there had existed among the latter a bitter feeling of hatred and jealousy towards the Hâshimides on account of their pre-eminence and worth. Mohammed belonged to the family of Hâshim; and the bulk of the Ommeyades were amongst his foremost persecutors. Osmân was one of the few among them who had accepted Islâm before the Hegira. [43] For an account of this tragedy, see Gibbon, vol. vi. p. 279, and _Short History of the Saracens_, pp. 83-87. Hussain was married to a daughter of Yezdjard the last King of Persia. The life of the lad, saved by the indomitable Arab courage of Zainab, the sister of Hussain, gave to Islâm its nobility, for in him was united the blood of the Prophet with that of the Sassanide monarchs of Persia. [44] See _Short History of the Saracens_, chap. xxix. [45] Cairo (_al-Kâhira_) was founded by one of the generals of al-Muiz the contemporary and rival of an-Nâsir the Ommeyade Caliph of Cordova; see _Short History of the Saracens_. [46] See _The Spirit of Islâm_. [47] See _Short History of the Saracens_, p. 348. [48] See _Short History of the Saracens_. [49] See _The Spirit of Islâm_. [50] The Duo-decemian. So called as it recognises the spiritual headship of the twelve Apostles of the House of Mohammed. [51] For a full elucidation of their doctrines, see _The Spirit of Islâm_. SELECTED WORKS ON ISLÂM _Selections from the Koran_, by Stanley Lane-Poole. _Studies in a Mosque_, by Stanley Lane-Poole. _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, vol. vi., by Gibbon. _History of the Saracens_, by Simon Ockley. _Mahommed and Mahommedanism_, by Bosworth Smith. _The Spirit of Islâm_, by Ameer Ali (popular edition; Lahiri, Calcutta). _A Short History of the Saracens_, by Ameer Ali (Macmillan). _The Ethics of Islâm_, by Ameer Ali (Thacker, Calcutta and London). _Heroes and Hero-Worship_ (Hero as a Prophet), by T. Carlyle. _Mahomet_, by Barthelemy St. Hilaire. _Mahommed’s Place in the Church_, by Ernest de Bunsen. _The Future of Islâm_, by W. Scawen Blunt. _Histoire des Arabes_, by Louis Amélie Sédillot. _Histoire des Arabes_, by Caussin de Perceval. _The Moors in Spain_, by Stanley Lane-Poole. _The Preaching of Islâm_, by T. W. Arnold.