Beautiful Egypt 151 – «Wait, Father» April 10, 2016

   Let us resume our account of Pope Khail who was arrested, together with Abba Moses, bishop of Usim, and three hundred people. At that time, a Christian was appointed to attend to the proconsul’s table. The proconsul liked him. So, the man requested visiting the Pope in prison and brining him food and clothes. According to manuscript # 287 – Ecclesiastical History which is kept at the National Library of France, “The patriarch was detained. They tied his neck with an iron chain. He stayed in prison for three months with three hundred men and women. Sick prisoners, be they Christians, Muslims or Barbarians, would come to the patriarch’s dungeon, seeking his prayers. He would bless them, and they would recover. The proconsul’s table attendant was a good Christian. He took care of the patriarch. He would visit us in prison and bring us what we needed. Egyptians, at that time, were suffering from injustice, material losses, as well as Kharaj (agricultural land tax).” The patriarch remained in prison until he was released, after which he became on good terms with the proconsul.

   After his release, the patriarch spent some peaceful time in which he started attending to his congregation. At that time, some Christians violated some of the Church’s rules, which he did not accept. It came to pass that as he was conducting a Mass at Sts. Sergius and Wakhus Church, he got to know that some members of the congregation did not fast before Communion, neglectful of the Church’s rules. So, he issued a directive prohibiting people from receiving Communion unless they were fasting.

   Peace did not last for a long time. The Kharaj collector demanded more taxes from Copts. So much so, that they could not pay. He was so strict that they rebelled against him. They mobilized an army led by Youaness of Samanud. They fought the proconsuls’ sentries led by Marawan, the caliph’s son. He was appointed by his father commander of the Egyptian army. The fight endured for days. It ended in the Copt’s defeat, after one of Marawan’s sentries had sneaked to Youaness’ tent and murdered him in his sleep. This was followed by Marawan’s army’s drummers declaring victory. Copts got besieged by Marawan’s sentries. But they kept fighting. Yet, they were defeated. Many of them died that night. One historian maintains that not one Copt house was void of a dead or an injured man.

   In addition to the conflicts and rebellions that shook the Umayyad State, Roman emperor, Constantine V attacked the northern border of Syria, taking advantage of the Umayyad caliphs’ weakness. At that time, Abu Muslim of Khorasan continued to conquer one city after another. So, Marawan fled to Egypt which was in turmoil after the Copts’ rebellion, fight, and the murder of the leader. Taghribirdi comments on this, saying, “When Marawan came to Egypt, he found people of its Eastern district dressed in black, a token of alliance with the Abbasids. So, Marawan decided to cross the Nile.  He crossed to Giza, burned the two bridges as well as the Proconsul’s Mansion. He also sent an army to Alexandria.It fought people there at a village near Beheira. At that time, Copts rebelled again. So, he sent them troops which fought and killed them. Then he sent an army to Upper Egypt.

   Likewise, Marawan overcame the Peshmurians’ rebellion against the caliph. It was not a battle. The Peshmurian leader was called Mina bin Buqaira. They used to kill the proconsul’s sentries, rob things at night, then hide during daytime. Marawan tried to get into terms with the Peshmurians as the Abbasid troops were approaching. Yet, they insisted on fighting. Likewise, the proconsul of Alexandria rebelled and declared independence. So, the caliph sent an army which overcame the rebellion in Alexandria and killed lots of inhabitants. Amidst these incidents, the caliph had Pope Khail arrested, together with renowned Copts. He ordered them to pay a large sum of money, which they could not. He scolded them for the Peshmurians’ rebellion, and ordered that they be put in prison. Hawtharah, one of the caliph’s commanders, feared lest the Peshmurians’ attacks would increase. So, he released Pope Khail, sent him to Rosetta and asked him to write a message to the Peshmurians, describing how he was humiliated because of them in order that they might stop their attacks. Yet, when they got to know what happened to the Pope, they increased their attacks.

   During that turmoil, news came that the Abbasids arrived to Egypt. So, Hawatharah sent Pope Khail to Fustat escorted by one of his commanders. He returned via the Nile and passed by Usim where Abba Moses, his secretary, an aghnostis from St. Makarius’ Monastery, and a man from Belbeis joined him.

   As the Abbasid troops approached, Marawan decided to burn Fustat. He ordered its inhabitants to leave it within three days. So, they left hurriedly, being quite scared. They jam-packed the boats to flee to Giza, which made lots of them drown. On the other hand, the sick, blind and paralyzed, who could not leave the city, were burned to death.

   After burning Fustat, Marawan took a boat to the western bank of the Nile to escape from his enemies. He ordered that Pope Khail and those who accompanied him be taken somewhere near his tent. At that time, the Abbasid army had reach the opposite bank and waited there. Thus, the Nile separated the two armies.

   The caliph used to bring the Pope and his friends to the Nile bank and pluck their beards hair, then leave them in the scorching sun before the two armies and the people. This was such a piteous scene that Copts and as well as Muslims would weep. Some ecclesiastical references mention that the Abbasid army used to watch this horrible scene as follows: “Egyptians as well as the Abbasid army used to watch this scene with great aggravation. They wished they had found boats to cross the river in order to take revenge from Marawan for his terrible injustice.”

   Three days later, caliph Marawan ordered that the Pope and his company be brought over to him. He presented them to a merciless commander who started to prepare torture instruments for them. So, they started praying for one another and getting ready for death. This had a great impact on all spectators. At that time, Ubayd Allah, the caliph’s eldest son, started asking his father to retract, saying, “Wait, father. Do not hurt these people, for we are in great distress now. We might be compelled to flee to Sudan. The Sudanese are godchildren to this respectable elder. Should you kill or hurt him, they will refuse to host us. They might even take revenge from us.” Marawan was convinced. He sent them back to prison only for another story to begin… Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center