First invasion by Abdallah, A.D. 647 The conquest of Africa,
from the Nile to the Atlantic Ocean, (138) was first attempted
by the arms of the caliph Othman. The pious design was approved
by the companions of Mahomet and the chiefs of the tribes; and
twenty thousand Arabs marched from Medina, with the gifts and
the blessing of the commander of the faithful. They were joined
in the camp of Memphis by twenty thousand of their countrymen;
and the conduct of the war was entrusted to Abdallah, (139) the
son of Said and the foster-brother of the caliph, who had lately
supplanted the conqueror and lieutenant of Egypt. Yet the favour
of the prince, and the merit of his favourite, could not
obliterate the guilt of his apostasy. The early conversion of
Abdallah, and his skilful pen, had recommended him to the
important office of transcribing the sheets of the Koran: he
betrayed his trust, corrupted the text, derided the errors which
he had made, and fled to Mecca to escape the justice, and expose
the ignorance, of the