112
ʿOMAR
[CHAP. XIV.
A.H. 14.
him on foot, and gleaned the outline of the great battle. Entering Medīna, the people crowded round the Caliph, and, saluting, wished him joy of the triumph. The courier, abashed, cried out, "O Commander of the Faithful, why didst thou not tell me?" "It is well, my brother," was the Caliph's simple answer. Such was the unpretending mien of one who at that moment was greater than either the Kaiser or the Chosroes.
