The caliph was still more exasperated at his repining, and stripped him of his commands; confiscated his effects; fined him two hundred thousand pesants of gold, and ordered that he should be scourged and exposed to the noontide sun, and afterwards thrown into prison.[51] The populace, also, reviled and scoffed at him in his misery; and as they beheld him led forth to the public gaze, and fainting in the sun, they pointed at him with derision, and exclaimed—“Behold the envious man and the impostor: this is he who pretended to have conquered the land of the unbelievers!” CHAPTER XV. CONDUCT OF ABDALASIS AS EMIR OF SPAIN. While these events were happening in Syria, the youthful Abdalasis, the son of Muza, remained as emir or governor of Spain. He was of a generous and benignant disposition, but he was open and confiding, and easily led away by the opinions of those he loved. Fortunately his father had left with him, as a bosom counsellor, the discreet Ayub, the nephew of Muza: aided by his advice, he for some time administered the public affairs prudently and prosperously. Not long after the departure of his father, he received a letter from him, written while on his journey to Syria; it was to the following purport:— “Beloved son; honour of thy lineage; Allah guard thee from all harm and peril! Listen to the words of thy father. Avoid all treachery, though it should promise great advantage; and trust not in him who counsels it, even though he should be a brother. The company of traitors put far from thee; for how canst thou be certain that he who has proved false to others will prove true to thee? Beware, O my son, of the seductions of love. It is an idle passion which enfeebles the heart, and blinds the judgment: it renders the mighty weak, and makes slaves of princes. If thou shouldst discover any foible of a vicious kind springing up in thy nature, pluck it forth, whatever pang it cost thee. Every error, while new, may easily be weeded out; but if suffered to take root, it flourishes, and bears seed, and produces fruit an hundred fold. Follow these counsels, O son of my affections, and thou shalt live secure.” Abdalasis meditated upon this letter; for some part of it seemed to contain a mystery which he could not comprehend. He called to him his cousin and counsellor, the discreet Ayub. “What means my father,” said he, “in cautioning me against treachery and treason? Does he think my nature so base that it could descend to such means?” Ayub read the letter attentively. “Thy father,” said he, “would put thee on thy guard against the traitors Julian and Oppas, and those of their party who surround thee. What love canst thou expect from men who have been unnatural to their kindred; and what loyalty from wretches who have betrayed their country?”