دير رُمانين

دير رُمانين

A great thriving monastery of Syria, in which runs the famous tale: young Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him), fleeing after killing a Byzantine patrolman at Antioch, was sheltered by its monk, whose book foretold a man named Umar would rule most of the earth and drive Heraclius from Syria; he took Umar's written pledge on a strip of leather, and when the caliph later came to Jerusalem the old monk met him with it — Umar would not squander the Muslims' fay', but commuted the pledge into a gentle kharaj the monks' heirs still hold and governors still honour ¹.