[Footnote 36: Al Hemar. He had been governor of
Mesopotamia, and the Arabic proverb praises the courage of
that warlike breed of asses who never fly from an enemy.
The surname of Mervan may justify the comparison of Homer,
(Iliad, A. 557, &c.,) and both will silence the moderns, who
consider the ass as a stupid and ignoble emblem,
(D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 558.)]