And all this time the enemy was thundering at the gates of the doomed empire with ever-increasing insistence. Three Warnings of disaster. presages of disaster, in particular, are enumerated by Ṭabarí,* the Muslim historian, as Divine warnings to Khusraw Parwíz of the consequences which his rejection of the message of the Arabian Prophet would entail. The letter in which this message was embodied is said to have been couched in the following words:—

*

“In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. From Muḥammad the Apostle of God to Khusraw son of Hurmazd. But to The Prophet's etter to Parwíz. proceed. Verily I extol unto thee God, beside whom there is no other God; He it is who guarded me when I was an orphan, and made me rich when I was destitute, and guided me when I was straying in error. Only he who is bereft of understanding, and over whom calamity triumphs, rejects the message which I am sent to announce. O Khusraw! Submit and thou shalt be safe, or else prepare to wage with God and with His apostle a war which shall not find them helpless! Farewell!”

Khusraw Parwíz, according to one story, tore the letter in pieces, whereupon the Muslim envoy exclaimed, “Thus, O impious King, shall God rend asunder thine empire and scatter thy hosts!” In another account, the Persian King is said to have written to Bádhán, satrap of Yaman (see p. 181 supra) bidding him march on Medína, seize the Prophet Muḥammad, and bring him captive to Ctesiphon.

*

The portents described as warning Khusraw Parwíz of the swiftly approaching doom of the Persian Empire fall into three categories—visions, signs, and actual historical events.

The visions include the apparition to Khusraw Parwíz of an The Portents. (1) Visions. angel, who breaks a staff symbolising the Persian power, and the writing on the wall, whereof the purport is thus given in the Niháyatu'l-Irab:—

“O weak man! Verily God hath sent unto His people an Apostle, and hath revealed unto him a Scripture, therefore submit and believe, and He will vouchsafe to thee the good of this world and the next. But if thou wilt not do this, thou shalt shortly perish, and thy kingdom shall perish, and thy power shall depart from thee!”

The signs include the repeated bursting of a dam placed by order of the King in the “blind” Tigris (a branch of that (2) Signs. river which flowed by Baṣra); the collapse of the vaulted arch from which depended the mighty barrel-like crown over his throne; and the play of lightnings reaching towards the east over Ḥijáz.

The historical event was the Battle of Dhú Qár (fought between A.D. 604 and 610), an engagement which, com- (3) The Battle of Dhú Qár. paratively insignificant in itself, yet served to teach the Arabs that, for all their higher civilisation, their wealth, and their renown, the Persians were not invincible. “This,” said the Prophet, when he heard of it, “is the first day whereon the Arabs have obtained satisfaction from the Persians; through me have they obtained help!”