and there he studied Greek thought; he was handsome of face, little inclined to wrongdoing, and a lover of wisdom.

‘Aliyanus (1)—the emperor of the Romans at that time—was a profligate man, formidable in might, fiercely hostile to the Christians, prolific in shedding their blood, and infatuated with women: he spared no beautiful Christian maiden (2) but seduced her, and so did his courtiers. The Christians therefore endured severe hardship under him. When word reached him of Constantine—that he was an upright youth, gentle in disposition and richly learned—the astrologers and priests also informed him that this young man would one day wield a vast sovereignty. He thereupon resolved to kill him.

Constantine fled from Edessa, reached his father, and his father ceded the throne to him; soon after, the father died. Allah then sent down upon ‘Aliyanus manifold calamities that caused people to marvel at what had befallen him, and even his enemies pitied the suffering that overtook him. He reflected and said, “Perhaps this is because of my oppression of the Christians.” He therefore wrote to all his governors, ordering them to release (3) the Christians from prison, to honor them, and to ask them to pray for him during their services. Allah granted him recovery, and he returned to better health and strength than before. Yet once he was sound and robust, he relapsed into wickedness even worse than that which had preceded his illness (4). He dispatched orders to his officials to kill the Christians, leave not a single Christian within his realm, and allow them no city or village to inhabit. The corpses were then loaded onto carts and cast into the sea and the deserts.

As for the other Caesar who ruled alongside him, he too was harsh toward the Christians: he enslaved those who were in Rome, plundered their wealth, and killed their men.