In the words of his _judicious_ historian,
'he thus _generously_ undertook the conquest of China, which was
inhabited only by unbelievers that by so good a work he might atone
for what had been done amiss in other wars, in which the blood of so
many of the faithful had been shed'.
'As all my vast conquests', said Timur himself,[54] 'have caused the
destruction of a good many of the faithful, I am resolved to perform
some good action, to atone for the crimes of my past life; and to
make war upon the infidels, and exterminate the idolaters of China,
which cannot be done without very great strength and power. It is
therefore fitting, my dear companions in arms, that those very
soldiers, who were the instruments whereby those my faults were
committed, should be the means by which I work out my repentance, and
that they should march into China, to acquire for themselves and
their Emperor the merit of that holy war, in demolishing the temples
of those unbelievers and erecting good Muhammadan mosques in their
places. By this means we shall obtain pardon for all our sins, for
the holy Koran assures us that good works efface the sins of this
world.
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