sent word to Abd Allah that he was ready to relinquish the Califate upon certain conditions, and to deliver over the bridle of decision into Moawia's hands. The conditions were, that the Persians and Arabs who had adhered to Hasan should not be punished, but amnestied; that Hasan should receive the tribute of the province of Ahwaz; that, annually, 200,000 dirhems should be paid him from the public treasury; and that his Excellency the Imam should be distinguished above his family, as regards the privileges enjoyed by the Beni Hashim. As a further condition it is added by some, that Hasan's father, Ali, was thenceforth no more to be reviled; but this was only conceded in reference to assemblies in which Hasan himself was present.

Abd Allah Ibn Amir sent an account of this peaceable arrangement to Moawia, who conceded all Imam Hasan's requests. Moawia had a formal treaty of peace drawn up, in which he pledged himself with a strong oath, to carry out those requests inviolate; and after having it likewise signed and sealed by the chief men in Damascus, he sent it to Ibn Amir, to deliver it to Imam Hasan. The Imam gladly accepted the peace, and wrote to Kais Ibn Saad, 'Peace is concluded between myself and Moawia, therefore thou hast to give up all thought of fighting, and to relinquish the government to him.' As soon as this letter had reached Kais, he made its contents known to the chief men of his army, and added, 'You must now choose between two things: either you must fight Moawia, without the Imam, or you must bend your heads in obedience to Moawia. They choosing the latter alternative, Kais left them and returned to Hamadan.

Some also narrate, that Hasan especially insisted on the condition that Moawia should never appoint a successor, but leave it to the Mussulmans to choose after his death any one whom they might consider best fitted to become Calif. Likewise, that the family of Ali should never in any way be molested, and that Kais should expressly be included in the amnesty. When Moawia had accepted all these conditions, he entered Kufa with his Damascene army, and Imam Hasan took the oath of allegiance to him there.

Moawia also desired Hosein to come and take the oath of allegiance, but he declined; and Hasan advised Moawai not to compel him to do so, because he knew that he would rather die than take the oath of allegiance. Another account, according to which Hasan forced his brother Hosein to take the oath, is not credited by the Shiites. Kais had to be pressed by Hasan to take the oath: and when he thus came at last, Moawia said to him, 'O

Kais, I did not wish to become Sultan and thou be alive.' Kais replied, 'Nor did I wish to be alive and thou bear rule.' Those present prevented an open rupture, till the heat had cooled down on both sides. Hasan being supposed to be wanting in eloquence, Moawia requested him to mount the pulpit and give an address, in the hope that thus his unfitness for the Califate might be made obvious to the public. But he spoke so well, that his speech began to make an impression on the people, whereupon Moawia called out, 'It is enough now; come down from the pulpit.' After these things Hasan with his followers departed for Medina, and Moawia returned to Damascus.

According to one account, the Califate of Hasan lasted 6 months, and that of the previous four Califs, 29½ years, which explains the tradition, 'The duration of the Califate is 30 years.' It is reported that his Excellency the Imam was reproached for having made peace with Moawia, and that he was exhorted to reassert his claims to the Califate by force of arms. But he steadfastly resisted, on the ground that the general opinion was opposed to a war, and that he himself wished to spare the blood of his partisans. Imam Hosein also agreed with this decision, saying, 'As long as Moawia lives, every one must remain at home, and draw his cloak over his head.' When, A.H. 41, about 600 rebels assembled at Nakhla, regarding it as a duty to fight against Moawia, the latter, on hearing it, requested Hasan to attack and destroy them. Accordingly he sent word to them, 'No one must rise in rebellion and shed blood on my account. All people know that I have resigned the Califate. If I had inclined towards war, I should have made war with Moawia at the first, but in order not to fight against Moslems and to preserve my followers from destruction, I have chosen the corner of private life, and turned the carpet of enmity.'

There is an account that one of the conditions of peace was this, that after Moawia's death, the appointment of a Calif should be dependent on Hasan's consent. Some considerable time after the conclusion of peace, Moawia determined to appoint his son Yezid as his successor, and to invite the people to take the oath of allegiance to him. But well knowing that he could not carry out this intention so long as Hasan was living, he spent whole nights in devising means for getting him out of the way. So he sent a messenger to Medina to promise to Hasan's wife, Jaada, a reward of 50,000 dirhems, and the hand of his son Yezid, if she would make use of her intercourse with Hasan for rubbing his limbs and