The story of Cairo . when he arrived at Fustat, and combined in aremarkable degree the military and administrative abilityof his race with the culture of his adopted had studied under the learned professors of Baghdad,and even journeyed to Tarsus for the benefit of speciallectures. In matters of Arabic philology and Koranicdoctrine he was critically expert. But beyond this hewas a man of boundless energy, an unerring judge ofcharacter, who knew how to choose and use his sub-ordinates. His justice, if stern, was incorruptible, andhis generosity was superb. * Give to every one wh
The story of Cairo . when he arrived at Fustat, and combined in aremarkable degree the military and administrative abilityof his race with the culture of his adopted had studied under the learned professors of Baghdad,and even journeyed to Tarsus for the benefit of speciallectures. In matters of Arabic philology and Koranicdoctrine he was critically expert. But beyond this hewas a man of boundless energy, an unerring judge ofcharacter, who knew how to choose and use his sub-ordinates. His justice, if stern, was incorruptible, andhis generosity was superb. * Give to every one whoholds out the hand was his motto, and every monthhe devoted a thousand dinars to charity. He came toEgypt penniless, save for a loan from a friend; but whenhe died he left ten million dinars in the treasury, animmense establishment of slaves and horses, and a hundredships of war. Yet he accomplished his economieswithout increasing the taxes. Indeed he abolishedvarious imposts, and his revenues were due chiefly to 72. TOWER OF THE MOSQUE OF IBN-TULUN 73 The Faubourgs the pains he took to encourage cultivation and to givethe fellahin better security in their land. For the firsttime since the Arab conquest Egypt became a powerfuland sovereign State. Ahmad soon threw over all savea nominal dependence on the caliphate, and after over-coming intrigues and subduing three rebellions in Egypt,he marched into Syria, and occupied the whole countryas far as Tarsus and the Euphrates, fought the armiesboth of the caliphate and of the Romans of the Cilicianfrontier, and united under his sole authority thebroad stretch of territory from Barka in Libyato the borders of the Byzantine empire in AsiaMinor, and from the Euphrates to the first cataractof the Nile. Side by side with this imperial policy Ahmad ex-pended infinite labour and wealth upon the embellish-ment of his capital. The government house atel-*Askar, the official suburb of Fustat, was toosmall to house his numerous retinue and army
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