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Title
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Jizya on the Sons of Aram
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Date
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691-692 AD
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Description
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"The year one thousand and three: ‘Abd-al-Malik made a “census (ta‘dil) among the Syriacs. He issued a swift decree stating that every person must go to his country, village, and paternal house to register his name and that of his father, as well as his vineyards, olive trees, cattle, children, and all that he owned.
From this time, the “poll-tax” began to be levied on the male heads, and all the calamities began to emerge against the Christian people. Previously, kings used to levy tribute on land, not on men. From this time onward, the Sons of Hagar began to reduce the Sons of Aram to Egyptian slavery. But woe unto us! Because we sinned, the “slaves” ruled over us!
This was the first census (ta‘dil) the Arabs had made."
In the passage, it first says that ‘Abd al-Malik made a census “among the Syrians” and later that the “Sons of Hagar” began to reduce the “Sons of Aram” to slavery. Such wording shows “Syrians” and “Sons of Aram” are used for the same people, the native Syriac speaking Christian community descended from the ancient Arameans.
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Language
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Syriac-Aramaic
Chronicle of Zuqnin
