Secara umumnya, masyarakat Arab jahiliyyah adalah masyarakat buta huruf, yang memupuk tradisi lisan dan pendengaran yang sangat kaya, serta kisah-kisah epik, dan sangat menghargai puisi lisan yang indah, iaitu bentuk kesusasteraan Arab yang tertua. Tambahan pula, selama berabad-abad sebelum Islam, penyebaran bahasa Arab dalam budaya Arabia dan sekitarnya yang kebanyakannya bersifat lisan, serta pengarabkan sebahagian Levant dan Iraq, dijalankan melalui hafalan tradisi lisan, epik, puisi Arab dan puisi klasik (sebagai contoh, al-mu'allaqat). Puisi pra-Islam ini menjadi sumber utama bagi bahasa dan retorik Arab serta rekod sejarah yang kaya tentang kehidupan politik dan budaya pada zaman itu. Penyampaian tradisi lisan dan puisi pra-Islam yang berpengaruh ini, serta hafalan epik, bukan sahaja dilakukan oleh penyair dan rawi (penglipur lara), tetapi juga oleh pedagang Arab yang mengembara, melalui ziarah tahunan ke Makkah pra-Islam dan pertandingan puisi di pasar-pasar sastera bermusim (contoh yang terkenal ialah Souq 'Ukath, berhampiran Ta'if di Hijaz). Dalam budaya Arab pra-Islam ini, penyair memainkan peranan sebagai ahli sejarah lisan, pencerita, pengkritik sosial, intelektual awam, tukang tilik dan penghasut politik.

By and large Arab pagan society was illiterate, cultivating immensely rich oral/aural traditions and epic stories and prizing, in particular, exquisite oral poetry, the oldest form of Arabic literature. Furthermore, for many centuries before Islam the spread of Arabic in the predominantly oral culture of Arabia and beyond, and the Arabisation of parts of the Levant and Iraq, were carried out through the memorisation of oral/aural traditions, epics, Arabic poetry and classic poems (for instance, the mu’allaqat). This pre-Islamic poetry became a major source for the Arabic language and rhetoric and a rich historical record of the political and cultural life of the time. This communication of powerful pre-Islamic oral/aural traditions and poetry and the memorisation of epics were transmitted not only by poets and rawis (storytellers) but also by travelling Arab traders, through the annual pilgrimage to pre-Islamic Mecca and poetry competitions at seasonal literary markets (a famous example was Souq ‘Ukath, near Ta’if in the Hijaz). In this pre-Islamic Arab culture the poet played the role of oral historian, storyteller, social critic, public intellectual, soothsayer and political agitator.

Puisi Arab dan celik huruf Arab, serta peralihan daripada budaya yang sebahagian besarnya lisan/pendengaran dan tradisi lisan kepada persekitaran Arab yang lebih celik huruf dan budaya buku, sangat dipengaruhi oleh penyebaran Kristian Hellenistik dan, kemudiannya, kebangkitan Islam serta apa yang Islam namakan 'ahli Kitab' (ahl al-kitab). Yang penting, peralihan beransur-ansur daripada buta huruf dan tradisi lisan/pendengaran kepada celik huruf dan budaya bertulis itu turut digalakkan oleh istana Kristian Arab bagi para phylarch Ghassan di Palestin. Istana-istana ini dengan murah hati menaungi seni, terutamanya puisi Arab. Peralihan kepada celik huruf ini, bersama-sama tradisi penting menghafal epik dan puisi Arab klasik, terus berkembang dengan penyebaran Islam, tetapi yang penting ia juga disertai dengan pembacaan dan penghafalan al-Quran yang mulia sebagai cara menyebarkan bahasa Arab standard dan mengukuhkan Arabisasi serta bahasa Arab sebagai lingua franca dalam empayar Islam yang baru ditubuhkan. Orang Arab di Provincia Palaestina dan bekas Provincia Arabia, dengan budaya mereka yang sebahagian besarnya lisan/pendengaran, turut dipengaruhi oleh kehidupan sastera orang Arab pada abad ke-5 dan ke-6 serta oleh tradisi menghafal puisi Arab klasik oleh penyair, rawi dan rakyat biasa.

Arabic poetry and Arabic literacy and the movement from a predominantly oral/aural culture and oral traditions to a more literate Arabic setting and book culture was hugely influenced by the spread of Hellenistic Christianity and later the rise of Islam and by what Islam termed the ‘people of the Book’ (ahl al-kitab). Crucially, this gradual movement from illiteracy and oral/aural traditions to literacy and written culture was also promoted by the Christian Arab courts of the Ghassanid phylarchs of Palestine. These courts generously patronised the arts, especially Arabic poetry. This movement to literacy, together with the important tradition of memorisation of epics and classic Arabic poetry, continued to flourish with the spread of Islam, but crucially it was also accompanied by the reading and memorisation of the holy Quran as a means of spreading standard Arabic and establishing Arabisation and Arabic as the lingua franca in the newly founded Islamic empire. The Arabs of Provincia Palaestina and former Provincia Arabia, with their predominantly oral/aural culture, were also influenced by the literary life of the Arabs in the 5th and 6th centuries and by the tradition of memorisation of classic Arabic poetry by poets, rawis and ordinary people.

Pada zaman pra-Islam, terdapat istana-istana Arab Kristian di Hirah, di selatan Iraq, dan Jabiyah, di Palaestina Secunda, serta penyair-penyair istana seperti al-Nabighah adh-Dhubyani (535–604 M), yang memainkan peranan penting dalam penyebaran puisi Arab klasik. Raja-raja suku Ghassan (phylarchs)

In pre-Islamic times, there were Christian Arab courts at Hirah, in southern Iraq, and Jabiyah, in Palaestina Secunda, and court poets, such as al-Nabighah adh-Dhubyani (535–604 AD), who played an important role in the spread of classical Arabic poetry. The Ghassanid tribal kings (phylarchs)

dari Palaestina Secunda, khususnya, memberi naungan kepada seni dan menjamu beberapa penyair Arab terkemuka seperti al-Nabighah dan Hassasn ibn Thabit (seorang sahabat Nabi Muhammad ﷺ yang wafat pada tahun 674) di istana-istana mereka.

of Palaestina Secunda, in particular, patronised the arts and entertained some key Arabian poets such as al-Nabighah and Hassasn ibn Thabit (a companion of the Prophet Muhammad who died in 674) at their courts.

Satu kemungkinan hubungan antara kaum Ghassan di Palestin sebagai pelindung tempat-tempat suci Kristian di 'negeri Injil' dengan tempat-tempat suci Islam yang kelak di Mekah berkaitan dengan al-Nabighah, seorang sezaman dengan Nabi Muhammad ﷺ (570–632 M). Al-Nabighah (secara harfiah bermaksud 'si genius')

One possible connection between the Ghassanids of Palestine as protectors of the Christian holy places in the ‘land of the Gospel’ and the future Islamic holy places in Mecca is related to al-Nabighah, a contemporary of the Prophet Muhammad (570–632 AD). Al-Nabighah (literally ‘the genius’)

adalah salah seorang penyair Arab terakhir yang hebat pada zaman pra-Islam, yang sebahagian besar masanya dihabiskan di istana raja-raja Ghassan di Palestin dan di istana raja-raja Arab Kristian Hirah, iaitu al-Mundhirs. Seperti Palaestina Tertia dan Palaestina Secunda, Hirah ialah pusat penting Kristian Arab pra-Islam, kerana ia merupakan sebuah keuskupan gereja Timur antara abad ke-4 dan ke-7 serta tempat kedudukan keuskupan Nestorian menjelang tahun 410 M. Al-Nabighah dikenali dengan nama Arab Kristiannya, ‘Ilyas, dan kemudian sebagai ‘Ilyas dari Negeri Injil’ (Ilyas min ard al-Bishara الياس من أرض البشارة) atau Tanah Suci, sebagaimana digambarkan oleh ahli sejarah Arab al-Maqrizi (1364–1442). Bahasa Yunani ialah salah satu daripada dua lingua franca Palestin Byzantine, dan Ilyas ialah bentuk Arab bagi nama Yunani Elias, satu nama yang lazim dalam kalangan Arab Kristian hari ini.

was one of the last great Arab poets in the pre-Islamic era who spent most of his time at the courts of the Ghassanid kings in Palestine and the courts of the Christian Arab kings of Hirah, al-Mundhirs. Like Palaestina Tertia and Palaestina Secunda, Hirah was an important major pre-Islamic Arab Christian centre, being a diocese of the church of the East between the 4th and 7th centuries and seat of the Nestorian bishopric by 410 AD. Al-Nabighah became known as by his Christian Arab name ‘Ilyas and later ‘Ilyas from the Land of the Gospel’ (Ilyas min ard al-Bishara الياس من أرض البشارة ) or the Holy Land, as described by Arab historian al-Maqrizi (1364–1442). Greek was one the two lingua francas of Byzantine Palestine and Ilyas is the Arabic form of the Greek Elias, a name common among Christian Arabs today.

Al-Nabighah/Ilyas ialah salah seorang daripada enam penyair Arab pra-Islam yang tersohor, yang puisi-puisi mereka telah dikumpulkan sebelum pertengahan abad ke-2 Hijrah, dan telah dianggap sebagai piawai puisi Arab. Penyair-penyair ini telah menulis puisi panjang yang setanding dengan puisi epik, dikenali sebagai Muʿallaqat kerana ia digantung pada dinding Kaabah (sebuah bangunan di tengah-tengah masjid yang paling suci dalam Islam di Mekah). Gambaran yang masih tinggal tentang pusat-pusat bandar dan istana Ghassan memberikan imej kemewahan dan kehidupan budaya yang aktif, dengan naungan terhadap seni, muzik dan terutamanya puisi berbahasa Arab.

Al-Nabighah/Ilyas is one of the six eminent pre-Islamic poets whose poems were collected before the middle of the 2nd century of Islam, and have been regarded as the standard of Arabic poetry. These poets have written long poems comparable to epic poems, known as Muʿallaqat since they were hung on the walls of the Kaaba (a building at the centre of Islam’s most sacred mosque in Mecca). The surviving descriptions of the Ghassanid urban centres and courts impart an image of luxury and an active cultural life, with patronage of the arts, music and especially Arab-language poetry.

Warwick Ball, penulis, ahli arkeologi dan bekas Konservator Seni Bina di Jabatan Antikuiti di Jordan, memberi ulasan:

Warwick Ball, writer, archaeologist and former Architectural Conservator in the Department of Antiquities in Jordan, comments:

Istana-istana Ghassan merupakan pusat terpenting bagi puisi Arab sebelum bangkitnya istana-istana khalifah di bawah Islam, dan budaya istana mereka, termasuk kegemaran mereka terhadap istana-istana padang pasir seperti Qasr ibn Wardan, menjadi model bagi khalifah-khalifah Umayyah beserta istana mereka.

the Ghassanid courts were the most important centres for Arabic poetry before the rise of the Caliphal courts under Islam, and their court culture, including their penchant for desert palaces like Qasr ibn Wardan, provided the model for the Umayyad caliphs and their court.

(Ball 2000: 103‒105; juga Shahid 2006b: 102)

(Ball 2000: 103‒105; also Shahid 2006b: 102)

Komuniti Samaria telah ditubuhkan hampir di semua bandar di Palestin Rom: Neapolis, Sebaste, Caesarea Maritima, Scythopolis, Ascalon, Ashdod, Gaza, Iamnia, Emmaus, Ashdod dan Antipatris (Hjelm 2016), dan komuniti-komuniti ini juga terdapat di kebanyakan bandar Palestin pada zaman Byzantine. Malah, dari segi demografi, orang Kristian Byzantine berbahasa Yunani dan orang Samaria menguasai wilayah tengah Palaestina Prima, manakala orang Arab Ghassanid beragama Kristian dan orang Arab Nabatean masing-masing menguasai Palaestina Secunda dan Palaestina Tertia. Namun, pemberontakan Samaria pada abad ke-5 dan ke-6 di Palaestina Prima ditandai dengan keganasan yang hebat di kedua-dua pihak, dan penindasan kejam yang dilakukan oleh orang Byzantine dan sekutu Arab Ghassanid mereka (Crown 1989: 72–73; Shahid 2010: 8) turut menyumbang kepada perubahan demografi wilayah itu, sehingga orang Kristian menjadi kumpulan dominan di wilayah Palaestina Prima selama beberapa dekad. Selain itu, ramai orang Samaria memeluk Islam bermula dari awal abad ke-7.

Samaritan communities were established in practically all the cities of Roman Palestine: Neapolis, Sebaste, Caesarea Maritima, Scythopolis, Ascalon, Ashdod, Gaza, Iamnia, Emmaus, Ashdod and Antipatris (Hjelm 2016), and these communities were also found in most Palestinian cities in the Byzantine period. In fact, demographically the Greek-speaking Byzantine Christians and Samaritans dominated the central region of Palaestina Prima, while the Christian Ghassanid Arabs and Nabataean Arabs dominated Palaestina Secunda and Palaestina Tertia respectively. However, the Samaritan revolts during the 5th and 6th centuries in Palaestina Prima were marked by great violence on both sides, and their brutal suppression at the hands of the Byzantines and their Ghassanid Arab allies (Crown 1989: 72–73; Shahid 2010: 8) contributed to shifting the demographics of the region, making the Christians the dominant group in the province of Palaestina Prima for many decades. Also, many Samaritans converted to Islam from the early 7th century onwards.

Kaum Arab Ghassan bangkit pada abad ke-5 untuk menjadi sebuah komuniti etno-linguistik dan agama yang penting di Palestin, dan Gereja Ortodoks Monofisit mereka juga menjadi penting di Palestin. Pada abad ke-5 hingga ke-6, ibu kota mereka terletak di Jabiyah di Dataran Tinggi Golan, yang berada dalam Palaestina Secunda. ‘Gabitha’ disebut pada tahun 520 Masihi dalam sepucuk surat berbahasa Aramaic Syriac oleh Uskup Monofisit Simeon dari Bet Arsham. Selepas Pertempuran Yarmouk pada tahun 636 Masihi dan penaklukan Arab ke atas Palestin dan Syria, bandar Ghassan, Jabiyah, menjadi ibu pejabat kem tentera utama bagi tentera Islam di Syria. Secara keseluruhannya, kaum Arab Ghassan yang berfahaman Monofisit lebih memilih penakluk Arab Islam berbanding golongan Kristian Chalcedon (Wigram 2004). Selepas kekalahan tentera Byzantine di Yarmouk, ramai daripada kaum Ghassan mungkin berasa gembira untuk melepaskan diri daripada Maharaja Byzantine dan Gereja Chalcedon yang berbahasa Yunani, lalu berpihak kepada kuasa Islam yang sedang meningkat.

The Ghassanid Arabs rose in the 5th century to be become an important ethno-linguistic religious community in Palestine and their Monophysite Orthodox Church became important in Palestine. In the 5th‒6th centuries their capital was at Jabiyah in the Golan Heights, located within Palaestina Secunda. ‘Gabitha’ is mentioned in 520 AD in a Syriac Aramaic letter of Monophysite Bishop Simeon of Bet Arsham. Following the Battle of Yarmouk in 636 AD and the Arab conquest of Palestine and Syria, the Ghassanid town of Jabiyah became the headquarters of the main military camp for the Muslim armies in Syria. Overall the Monophysite Ghassanid Arabs preferred the Muslim Arab conquerors to the Christian Chalcedonians (Wigram 2004). Following the Byzantine military defeat at Yarmouk many of the Ghassanids would have been happy to get rid of the Byzantine Emperor and the Greek-speaking Chalcedonite Church and ally themselves with the rising power of Islam.

Berasal daripada istilah Al-Quran millah, istilah millet merujuk kepada komuniti agama di bawah Islam. Gereja-gereja Ortodoks Monofisit yang dikuasai oleh Ghassanid mungkin telah memberikan idea sistem millet kepada Islam. Ini menjadi satu prinsip bagi golongan bukan Islam, yang diberikan tahap autonomi agama dan sosial yang ketara dalam komuniti mereka sendiri sepanjang sejarah Palestin dan Timur Dekat di bawah pemerintahan Islam.

Derived from the Quranic Arabic term millah, the term millet denoted the religious community under Islam. The Ghassanid-dominated Monophysite Orthodox churches may have given the idea of the millet system to Islam. This became a principle for non-Muslims, who were given a significant degree of religious and social autonomy within their own community throughout the history of Islamic Palestine and the Near East.

Selain itu, menurut ahli sejarah Warwick Ball dan Irfan Shahid, usaha kaum Ghassan dalam mempromosikan bentuk Kristian yang lebih ringkas dan lebih tegas bersifat tauhid dalam konteks Arab yang khusus boleh dikatakan telah mendahului Islam (Ball 2000: 105; Shahid 2006b: 102).

Furthermore, according to historians Warwick Ball and Irfan Shahid, the Ghassanids’ promotion of a simpler and more rigidly monotheistic form of Christianity in a specifically Arab context can be said to have anticipated Islam (Ball 2000: 105; Shahid 2006b: 102).

Autonomi yang besar yang dicapai oleh penempatan-penempatan berpenduduk Arab Ghassan di Palaestina Prima berpunca daripada hakikat bahawa kawasan-kawasan mereka memperoleh status kedua-dua phylarchate, yang diketuai oleh seorang phylarch Arab tertinggi (raja suku kaum), dan episcopate, yang diketuai oleh uskup. Petros (atau Petrus), seorang ketua suku Arab atau gabungan beberapa suku dari Provincia Arabia Byzantine, yang nama asalnya ialah Aspebetos, adalah orang pertama yang dilantik secara serentak sebagai phylarch dan uskup di Palaestina Prima (Shahid 2006a: 181; Isaac 2003: 450‒451). Kerjaya Aspebetos yang penuh warna itu amat luar biasa. Dia bermula sebagai komander tentera dalam perkhidmatan shah Parsi. Kemudian dia membelot kepada Byzantine dan menjadi phylarch Arab Provincia Arabia. Selepas itu dia berpindah ke Palaestina Prima, menetap berhampiran biara Euthemius, yang terletak antara Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem)

The substantial autonomy achieved by the Ghassanid Arab-populated settlements of Palaestina Prima was derived from the fact that their localities acquired the status of both phylarchates, headed by a supreme Arab phylarch (a tribal king), and episcopates, headed by bishops. Petros (or Petrus), a chief of an Arab tribe or group of tribes from Byzantine Provincia Arabia, whose original name was Aspebetos, was the first to be simultaneously appointed as phylarch and bishop in Palaestina Prima (Shahid 2006a: 181; Isaac 2003: 450‒451). The colourful career of Aspebetos was remarkable. He started as a military commander in the service of the Persian shah. He then defected to the Byzantines and became the Arab phylarch of Provincia Arabia. He then moved to Palaestina Prima, settling near the monastery of Euthemius, located between Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem)

dan Jericho, dan berkhidmat sebagai phylarch Arab bagi Palaestina Prima.

and Jericho, and served as the Arab phylarch of Palaestina Prima.

Dia dan anaknya Terebon kemudian memeluk agama Kristian dan dibaptiskan oleh Euthemius. Dia juga mengambil nama Petros (bahasa Yunani: batu karang) yang menjadi nama baptisnya. Butros, bentuk Arab bagi nama Yunani Petros – nama yang masih lazim di kalangan penganut Kristian Palestin dan Arab – akan digunakan olehnya dan para pengikut Arabnya di Palestin.

He and his son Terebon were then converted to Christianity and baptised by Euthemius. He also adopted the name Petros (Greek: rock) which became his baptismal name. Butros, the Arabic form of the Greek name Petros – a name still common among Palestinian and Arab Christians – would be the name used by him and his Arab followers in Palestine.

Petros/Butros menjadi phylarch-bishop pertama bagi Parembole Palestin sekitar tahun 427 M. Garis keturunan uskup-uskup Palestin ini bertahan sehingga pertengahan abad ke-6. Walaupun takhta uskupnya berpusat di Palaestina Tertia, dia bertanggungjawab kepada Patriarkat Seluruh Palestin di Aelia Capitolina, yang kemudiannya dikenali sebagai Patriarkat Ilya (Baitul Maqdis).

Petros/Butros became first phylarch-bishop of the Palestinian Parembole in around 427 AD. This line of Palestinian bishops survived until the middle of the 6th century. Although his bishopric was based in Palaestina Tertia, he was responsible to the All Palestine Patriarchate of Aelia Capitolina, which later became known as the Patriarchate of Ilya (Jerusalem)

di bawah pemerintahan Arab Muslim sejak 637 M. Pertobatan Aspebetos/Butros diikuti dengan pertobatan kaum Arabnya, dan ia menjadi seorang Kristen yang bersemangat serta selama bertahun-tahun memimpin komunitas Kristen Saracen (Arab) yang telah dikonversi, dan berhasil meningkatkan secara signifikan jumlah orang Arab Kristen di Palestina. Puncak kariernya ialah keterlibatan aktifnya dalam Konsili Ekumenis Efesus pada tahun 431 M, di mana ia tampil bukan sekadar sebagai nama dalam daftar penandatangan konsili, melainkan sebagai peserta aktif dalam perdebatan dan sebagai utusan Konsili Efesus kepada Nestorius (Shahid 2006a: 46‒48, 181‒184, 528; 2006b: 128). Anggota keluarga Aspebetos terus berkembang sebagai pemimpin suku di Arab Palaestina Prima, dan pada abad ke-6 Cyril dari Scythopolis, sejarawan kehidupan monastik di Palestina, menggambarkan Terebon II, cicit Aspebetos, sebagai ‘phylarch yang termasyhur di wilayah ini’: kawasan antara Yerusalem dan Yerikho (Shahid 1995: 652).

under Arab Muslim rule from 637 onwards. The conversion of Aspebetos/ Butros was followed by the conversion of his Arab tribe and he became a zealous Christian and for years led his converted Saracen (Arab) Christian community and managed to increase significantly the number of Christian Arabs in Palestine. The climax of his career was his active participation at the ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, where he appears not merely as a subscription in the conciliar list but as an active participant in the debates and a delegate of the Council of Ephesus to Nestorius (Shahid 2006a: 46‒48, 181‒184, 528; 2006b: 128). Members of the house of Aspebetos continued to thrive as the tribal leaders of Arab Palaestina Prima and in the 6th century Cyril of Scythopolis, the historian of monastic life in Palestine, describes Terebon II, Aspebetos’ great-grandson, as ‘the renowned phylarch in this region’: the area between Jerusalem and Jericho (Shahid 1995: 652).

Tetapi terdapat beberapa perbezaan asas antara phylarch-uskup Arab yang bersifat "autonomi" di Palaestina Prima, sebuah wilayah teras, dengan raja-raja phylarch Ghassan yang agak merdeka di dua "wilayah sempadan", iaitu Palaestina Secunda dan Palaestina Tertia: Abu Karib dan al-Harith. Kedua-dua yang terakhir ini beroperasi dari ibu kota yang mantap dan diiktiraf.

But there were some fundamental differences between the ‘autonomous’ Arab phylarchs-bishops of Palaestina Prima – a core province – and the fairly independent Ghassanid kings-phylarchs of the two ‘frontier provinces’ of Palaestina Secunda and Palaestina Tertia: Abu Karib and al-Harith. The latter operated from established and recognised capitals.

Mereka juga memerintahkan tentera Arab profesional yang besar milik mereka sendiri, dan bukan sekadar pasukan puak yang bersifat kontinjen. Mereka menguatkuasakan undang-undang dan ketenteraman dalam wilayah jajahan mereka yang lebih luas serta memungut hasil dan cukai daripada perdagangan antarabangsa dan serantau yang lumayan dan melalui wilayah mereka. Mereka memberikan perlindungan kepada tempat-tempat suci di Palestin dan, yang paling penting, mereka menghantar duta mereka sendiri ke negara-negara asing, duta yang bertindak atas nama mereka sendiri dan bukannya mewakili negara Byzantine.

They also commanded their own substantial professional Arab armies, and not just contingent tribal forces. They enforced law and order within their wider domain and raised revenues and taxes from the lucrative international and regional trade passing through their provinces. They provided protection to the holy places in Palestine and, crucially, they dispatched their own ambassadors to foreign countries – ambassadors who acted in their names rather than representing the Byzantine state.

Tahun 451 merupakan titik perubahan bagi Gereja di Palestin. Pada Konsili Chalcedon, 451, wilayah-wilayah 'Tiga Palestin' yang bersatu dipisahkan daripada bidang kuasa Patriarkat Antioch. Pemisahan gerejawi 'Tiga Palestin' daripada Antioch tidak memberi kesan segera kepada gereja Arab para federat yang kekal berpegang teguh kepada Ortodoks. Dengan berkembangnya Monofisitisme di Timur Dekat pada abad ke-6, terutamanya selepas dorongan yang diberikan oleh Maharaja Anastasius, Patriarkat Palestin kekal sebagai benteng ortodoksi yang didominasi Yunani di Palestin, dan warisan ini memberi kesan yang berkekalan terhadap hubungan Arab‒Yunani dalam Gereja Palestin (Shahid 2006a: 528). Ia juga membuka konflik dalaman yang berterusan hingga hari ini; pada abad ke-5 Masihi, perpecahan dalaman dalam Gereja Palestin ini turut tercermin dalam simbol dan kod warna:

The year 451 was a turning point for the Church in Palestine. At the Council of Chalcedon, 451, the ‘Three in One’ Palestine provinces were separated from the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Antioch. The ecclesiastical separation of the ‘Three Palestines’ from Antioch did not have an immediate effect on the Arab church of the federates who remained staunchly Orthodox. With the growth of Monophytism in the Near East in the 6th century, especially after the impetus given by the Emperor Anastasius, the Patriarchate of Palestine remained the stronghold of Greek-dominated orthodoxy in Palestine and this legacy had a lasting impact on Arab‒Greek relationships within the Palestine Church (Shahid 2006a: 528). It also opened up internal conflicts which lasted until today; in the 5th century AD, these internal divisions within the Palestine Church were also reflected in symbols and colour codes:

Federasi Arab di tiga Palestin, sekurang-kurangnya Prima dan Secunda, kekal teguh berpegang kepada Ortodoks, manakala mereka yang berada di luar bidang kuasa Patriarkat Baitulmaqdis kebanyakannya ialah Monofisit, terutamanya kumpulan yang dominan, iaitu Ghassanid … Perpecahan dalam gereja Arab tercermin dalam historiografi Palestin, di mana imej filarch Arab Ortodoks di Parembole di Palaestina Prima adalah cerah, dan imej Ghassanid di Arabia adalah suram. (Shahid 2006a: 528)

The Arab federates of the three Palestines, at least Prima and Secunda, remained staunchly Orthodox, while those outside the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, were mostly Monophysites, especially the dominant group, the Ghassanids … The division within the Arab church is reflected in Palestinian historiography, where the image of the [Arab] Orthodox phylarchs of the Parembole in Palaestina Prima is bright and that of the Ghassanids of Arabia is dim. (Shahid 2006a: 528)

Berbeza sedikit latar belakangnya daripada semua ketua puak Arab di Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda dan Palaestina Tertia ialah Elias, Patriarkh Arab Aelia Capitolina (Baitulmaqdis), yang menjadi ketua Gereja seluruh Palestin pada tahun 494 M. Jika yang lain merupakan raja-raja Arab yang berstatus sekutu (federate), Elias pula ialah seorang Arab Rhomaic yang dilahirkan di Arabia. Kerjaya gerejawinya tidak kurang luar biasanya.

Somewhat different in background from all Arab phylarchs of Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda and Palaestina Tertia was Elias, the Arab Patriarch of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), who became head of the All Palestine Church in 494 AD. While the others were federate Arab kings, Elias was a Rhomaic Arab born in Arabia. His ecclesiastical career was no less remarkable.

Beliau memulakan hidupnya sebagai rahib di padang gurun Palestin yang berkait dengan Saint Euthymius the Great (377–473), seorang abbot yang dihormati hari ini dalam kedua-dua gereja Roman Katolik dan Ortodoks Timur. Elias kemudian menarik perhatian Patriarch Anastasius, yang menahbiskannya sebagai imam Gereja Anastasia di Jerusalem; akhirnya, Elias menjadi Patriarch kota suci itu, dan menjalankan pentadbiran Patriarkatnya dengan berkesan. Beliau mencurahkan masa untuk memperbaiki gereja-gereja dan biara-biara, serta meletakkan asas Gereja Theotokos di Jerusalem, gereja yang megah itu yang siap pada zaman pemerintahan Maharaja Justinian dan dirasmikan pada tahun 543.

He started as a monk in the desert of Palestine associated with Saint Euthymius the Great (377–473), an abbot venerated today in both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Elias then drew the attention of Patriarch Anastasius, who ordained him priest of the Church of Anastasia in Jerusalem; finally, Elias became the Patriarch of the holy city, and engaged in an effective administration of his Patriarchate. He devoted time to the improvement of the churches and monasteries and laid the foundation of the Church of the Theotokos in Jerusalem, the spectacular church completed during the reign of Emperor Justinian and dedicated in 543.

Mungkin Elias juga terlibat dalam penterjemahan liturgi ringkas dan bacaan Alkitab (lectionary) ke dalam bahasa Arab untuk kepentingan pelbagai komuniti Kristian Arab yang tersebar di 'Tiga Palestin', yang berada di bawah bidang kuasa gerejawinya (Shahid 2006a: 193‒194).

Possibly Elias was also associated with the translation of a simple liturgy and biblical lectionary into Arabic for the benefit of the various Christian Arab communities scattered in the ‘Three Palestines’ which came under his ecclesiastical jurisdiction (Shahid 2006a: 193‒194).