88 DEAR SON, WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Benevolent:
Dear son, Karim al-Din[Benevolent with Faith] Muhammad bin
Qasim, may God keep you in esteem. I received your letter full of
salutations and decorated with many elaborate dedications, and I lead
all the matter that you had inscribed within it. Dear son, what is the
matter with you? What has happened that you cannot use your in-
tellect ('aql), your reason (tadbir), and your counsel (rai')? I wish that
in warfare you would defeat all the kings of the east and destroy the
cities of the unbelievers! Why are you unable to finish this small
campaign? Why do you not surround the forts of the enemies and
overcome them? I hope their plans will fail.
He who hinders the cause of Islam's army, strengthen your heart,
and spend any capital that you want on [this enemy's] other enemies,
with riches and gifts raining on his opponents. If someone asks for
land, grant it to him. Make [this ally's] name prominent in your peace
treaties (aman nama) so that his heart is at ease. Because there are
four ways in which a kingship is acquired: first, through consulta-
tion, alliances and treaties, and relation; second, through expenditure
of wealth and grants; third, by knowing and understanding the ways
and means of one's enemies; and fourth, by dominance, terror, mag-
nificence, bravery, power, and strength (r'ub o mahabat o shahamat
o quwat o shaukat).
Make all effort to dismiss small enemies. Make all attempts to
give grants to nobility and have their consent. Make true,promises
to them. When they come to you and of their own volition appoint
a tax (kharaj), then take whatever cash or commodity they send to
the treasury. If you appoint one of them as your messenger, make
sure you have confidence in his intellect, foresight, and faith so that
he will not bring' discord into peace ....
Invite the nobles to accept the faith, and if they do, reward them
with wealth, governance, and land. If they reject Islam, caution them
to relJlain faithful to the regime. If they rebel, threaten them with
the righteous action against the rebellious.^18Where Qasim's letter expressed a hope to call all unbelievers to
Islam, Hajjaj's letter counters that the only person who needs to accept
Islam's supremacy is King Dahar. He suggests that other nobles, or the
broader public, could be supported in their own faiths, as long as they
agreed to obey the political power of the Muslims. The question of