BIG-HEARTEDNESS

Big-Heartedness ~ 268 ~ services of a man of Syria, a merchant who knew the Roman language. Mu’awiya gave him a great quantity of gold and money, charging him with the task of arresting the patriarch and bringing him to Damascus. The Syrian travelled as a merchant from Damascus to Constantinople. Before long he had established the identity of the patriarch and made friends with him, wooing him with gifts of perfumes, jewels, silk and other such precious items. The Syrian made several trips between the two cities, bringing the patriarch gifts each time. The whole operation was conducted in the utmost secrecy, with no one learning of it save Mu’awiya, and the merchant himself. A lengthy period elapsed. Contacts between the two men became so close that the patriarch requested certain specific gifts, which the Syrian promised to bring. On his return to Damascus, he purchased a swift camel and, along with a camel driver, brought it to a place near Constantinople. He himself went on to meet the patriarch. “I have brought all your gifts,” he told the Roman, “let’s go and collect