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
557, etc.,)
and both will silence the moderns, who consider the ass as a stupid and ignoble emblem (D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 558).