The Moral Vision
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
