" If war thou hast wrought and brought on me, No laggard I with arms outworn.Verses of Murra, the father of Jassás. Whate'er befall, I make to flow The baneful cups of death at morn.  When spear-points clash, my wounded man Is forced to drag the spear he stained. Never I reck, if war must be, What Destiny hath preordained.  Donning war's harness, I will strive To fend from me the shame that sears. Already I thrill and my lust is roused For the shock of the horsemen against the spears!"121

Thus began the War of Basús between Taghlib on the one side and the clan of Shaybán, to which Murra belonged, on the other; Outbreak of war between Taghlib and Bakr. for at first the remaining divisions of Bakr held aloof from the struggle, considering Shaybán to be clearly in the wrong. The latter were reduced to dire straits, when an event occurred which caused the Bakrites to rise as one man on behalf of their fellows. Ḥárith b.‘Ubád, a famous knight of Bakr, had refused to take part in the contest, saying in words which became proverbial, "I have neither camel nor she-camel in it," i.e., "it is no affair of mine." One day his nephew, Bujayr, encountered Kulayb's brother, Muhalhil, on whom the mantle of the murdered chief had fallen; and Muhalhil, struck with admiration for the youth's comeliness, asked him who he was. "Bujayr," said he, "the son of ‘Amr, the son of ‘Ubád." "And who is thy uncle on the mother's side?" "My mother is a captive" (for he would not name an uncle of whom he had no honour). Then Muhalhil slew him, crying, "Pay for Kulayb's shoe-latchet!" On hearing this, Ḥárith sent a message to Muhalhil in which he declared that if vengeance were satisfied by the death of Bujayr, he for his part would gladly acquiesce. But Muhalhil replied, "I have taken satisfaction only for Kulayb's shoe-latchet." Thereupon Ḥárith sprang up in wrath and cried:—

" God knows, I kindled not this fire, altho' I am burned in it to-day. A lord for a shoe-latchet is too dear: To horse! To horse! Away!"122

And al-Find, of the Banú Bakr, said on this occasion:—

" We spared the Banú Hind123 and said, 'Our brothers they remain: It may be Time will make of us one people yet again.'" But when the wrong grew manifest, and naked Ill stood plain,Verses by

al-Find. And naught was left but ruthless hate, we paid them bane with bane! As lions marched we forth to war in wrath and high disdain: Our swords brought widowhood and tears and wailing in their train, Our spears dealt gashes wide whence blood like water spilled amain. No way but Force to weaken Force and mastery obtain; 'Tis wooing contumely to meet wild actions with humane: By evil thou may'st win to peace when good is tried in vain."124

The Banú Bakr now prepared for a decisive battle. As their enemy had the advantage in numbers, they adopted a stratagem devised by Ḥárith. "Fight them," said he, "with your women. Equip every woman with a small waterskin and give her a club. Place the whole body of them behind you—this will make you more resolved in battle—and wear some distinguishing mark which they will recognise, so that when a woman passes by one of your wounded she may know him by his mark and give him water to drink, and raise him from the ground; but when she passes by one of your foes she will smite him with her club and slay him." So the Bakrites shaved their heads, devoting themselves to The Day of Shearing. death, and made this a mark of recognition between themselves and their women, and this day was called the Day of Shearing. Now Jaḥdar b. Ḍubay‘a was an ill-favoured, dwarfish man, with fair flowing love-locks, and he said, "O my people, if ye shave my head ye will disfigure me, so leave my locks for the first horseman of Taghlib that shall emerge from the hill-pass on the morrow" (meaning "I will answer for him, if my locks are spared"). On his request being granted, he exclaimed:—

" To wife and daughter Henceforth I am dead: Dust for ointment On my hair is shed.The vow of Jaḥdar b. Ḍubay‘a. Let me close with the horsemen Who hither ride, Cut my locks from me If I stand aside! Well wots a mother If the son she bore And swaddled on her bosom And smelt him o'er, Whenever warriors In the mellay meet, Is a puny weakling Or a man complete!"125

He kept his promise but in the course of the fight he fell, severely wounded. When the women came to him, they saw his love-locks and imagining that he was an enemy despatched him with their clubs.

The presence of women on the field and the active share they Women as combatants.took in the combat naturally provoked the bitterest feelings. If they were not engaged in finishing the bloody work of the men, their tongues were busy inciting them. We are told that a daughter of al-Find bared herself recklessly and chanted:—

" War! War! War! War! It has blazed up and scorched us sore. The highlands are filled with its roar. Well done, the morning when your heads ye shore!"126

The mothers were accompanied by their children, whose tender age did not always protect them from an exasperated foe. It is related that a horseman of the Banú Taghlib transfixed a young boy and lifted him up on the point of his spear. He is said to have been urged to this act of savagery by one al-Bazbáz, who was riding behind him on the crupper. Their triumph was short; al-Find saw them, and with a single spear-thrust pinned them to each other—an exploit which his own verses record.

On this day the Banú Bakr gained a great victory, and broke the power of Taghlib. It was the last battle of note in the Forty Years' War, which was carried on, by raiding and plundering, until the exhaustion of both tribes and the influence of King Mundhir III of Ḥíra brought it to an end.

Not many years after the conclusion of peace between Bakr and Taghlib, another war, hardly less famous in tradition The War of Dáḥis and Ghabrá. than the War of Basús, broke out in Central Arabia. The combatants were the tribes of ‘Abs and Dhubyán, the principal stocks of the Banú Ghaṭafán, and the occasion of their coming to blows is related as follows:—

Qays, son of Zuhayr, was chieftain of ‘Abs. He had a horse called Dáḥis, renowned for its speed, which he matched against Ghabrá, a mare belonging to Ḥudhayfa b. Badr, the chief of Dhubyán. It was agreed that the course should be a hundred bow-shots in length, and that the victor should receive a hundred camels. When the race began Ghabrá took the lead, but as they left the firm ground and entered upon the sand, where the 'going' was heavy, Dáḥis gradually drew level and passed his antagonist. He was nearing the goal when some Dhubyánites sprang from an ambuscade prepared beforehand, and drove him out of his course, thus enabling Ghabrá to defeat him. On being informed of this foul play Qays naturally claimed that he had won the wager, but the men of Dhubyán refused to pay even a single camel. Bitterly resenting their treachery, he waylaid and slew one of Ḥudhayfa's brothers. Ḥudhayfa sought vengeance, and the murder of Málik, a brother of Qays, by his horsemen gave the signal for war. In the fighting which ensued Dhubyán more than held their own, but neither party could obtain a decisive advantage. Qays slew the brothers Ḥudhayfa and Ḥamal—

" Ḥamal I slew and eased my heart thereby, Ḥudhayfa glutted my avenging brand; But though I slaked my thirst by slaying them, I would as lief have lost my own right hand."127