Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyá al-Balādhurī

“ Al-Ḳasim ibn-Sallâm and Rauh ibn-ʿAbd-al-Muʾmin from abu-Hurairah:—When abu-Hurairah returned from al-Baḥrain, ʿUmar said to him, "O thou enemy of Allah and enemy of his Book; hast thou stolen the money of Allah?" "Neither am I", replied abu-Hurairah, "the enemy of Allah, nor of his Book; rather am I the enemy of him who has enmity against them. I did not steal the money of Allah." "How then," said ʿUmar, "did 10,000 dirhams come to thee?" "Through horses" said abu-Hurairah, "that reproduced and stipends that came in successions and shares that mounted up." ʿUmar took the money from him. ”

“ Only a truce was arranged between us, according to which we agreed to give them some wheat and lentils, and they to give us slaves. It is all right to buy their slaves from them or from others."
Abu-ʿUbaid from al-Laith ibn-Saʿd:—The latter said, "The terms we made with the Nubians stipulated only that we neither fight against them nor they against us, that they give slaves and we give them their value in terms of food. If they desire, therefore, to sell their wives or children, there is no reason why they should not be bought." ”

“ To offer grass is easier for the Moslems than to offer money in gold and silver. [32] By Allah, this is their land for which they fought in pre-Islamic time and which was included in their terms when they became Moslem. They would, therefore, certainly feel that I oppress them; and had it not been for the cattle [secured by declaring a place Ḥima] to be used in the cause of Allah, I would never make a part of a people's land Ḥimaʾ."
Ḥima an-Naḳîʿ. Al-Ḳâsim ibn-Sallâm abu-ʿUbaid from ibn-ʿUmar:—The Prophet declared an-Naḳîʿ ḥima and reserved it for the Moslem cavalry. ”

“ When Muḥammad ibn-Marwân held under his brother ʿAbd-al-Malik the governorship of Armenia, he led the fight against them and won the victory, slaughtering and taking captives. Thus, he subdued the land. He promised those who survived higher stipends than the ordinary soldiers' pay. For that purpose they assembled in churches in the province of Khilâṭ where he locked them in and put guards on the door, and then he frightened them. In this campaign umm-Yazîd ibn-Usaid was taken captive from as-Sîsajân, she being the daughter of as-Sîsajân's patrician. ”

“ When Khâlid wanted to make terms with the inhabitants of al-Ḥîrah, Khuraim said to him, "The Prophet has given me Buḳailah's daughter. She should not therefore be included in thy terms." This was testified to by Bashîr ibn-Saʿd and Muḥammad ibn-Maslamah of the Anṣâr; and therefore, Khâlid did not include her in the terms, but turned her over to Khuraim. She was then bought from Khuraim for 1,000 dirhams, she being too old for Khuraim to marry her. Some one remarked to Khuraim, "She was sold very cheap. Her people would have paid thee many times the price thou hast charged." ”

“ I hate to kill thee because I see thou art wise and brave. Wouldst thou let me go back with thee that I may arrange terms with thee and pay tax for my townsmen, of whom those who stay will be considered dhimmis, and those who flee will not be interfered with? The city I will turn over to thee." Ibn-Budail returned with him and took Jai; and the Persian fulfilled his promise, saying, "I saw that ye, people of Iṣbahân, are mean and disunited. Ye, therefore, deserve what I did with you."
The territory of Iṣbahân pays kharâj. ”

“ It is reported on the authority of al-Wâḳidi that abu-Bakr assigned ʿAmr to Palestine, Shuraḥbîl to the Jordan, and Yazîd to Damascus saying, "When ye all fight together, your commander is the one in whose province ye are fighting." It is also reported that to ʿAmr he gave oral instructions to lead the prayers in case the armies are united, and to have each commander lead the prayer of his own army when the armies are separate. Abu-Bakr ordered the commanders to see that each tribe flies a banner of its own. ”

“ I was informed by a number of the inhabitants of ar-Raḳḳah that when ʿIyâḍ died and Saʿîd ibn-ʿÂmir ibn-Ḥidhyam became governor of Mesopotamia, the latter erected the mosque of ar-Raḳḳah and that of ar-Ruha, after which he died. The mosques in Diyâr Muḍar and Diyâr Rabîʿah were erected by ʿUmair ibn-Saʿd.
Muʿâwiyah settles Arab tribes. When Muʿâwiyah ruled over Syria and Mesopotamia in the name of ʿUthmân ibn-ʿAffân, he was instructed by him to settle the Arabs in places far from the cities and villages, and allow them to utilize the lands unpossessed by anyone. ”

“ Therefore, my suspicion has been aroused against thee, and I have sent to thee Muḥammad ibn-Maslamah with a view to dividing with thee what thou hast. Reveal to him thy secret, and give out whatever he demands of thee; thereby thou wouldst be spared his severity. What is concealed has been revealed. ”

“ Abu-‘Âmir, too, may pass here on his way from Syria and lead us in prayer." Accordingly, they erected a mosque and sent an invitation to the Prophet to come and pray in it. But no sooner had the Prophet got up to start, than the following text was revealed to him: "There are some who have built a mosque for mischief and for infidelity and to disunite the 'Believers,' and in expectation of him who, in time past, warred against Allah and his Messenger," the one meant being abu-‘Âmir, "never set thou foot in it. There is a mosque founded from its first day in piety. ”

“ This is a statement from ʿIyâḍ ibn-Ghanm to the bishop of ar-Ruha. If ye open before me the city gate and agree to offer to me for every man one dînâr and two modii of wheat, then I grant you safety for your persons, possessions and those dependent on you. It is incumbent on you to guide the one who goes astray, to repair the bridges and roads, and give good counsel to the Moslems. ”

“ He therefore said: 'O ye Anṣâr, ye have said so and so ...' 'We have, Prophet of Allah,' replied the Anṣâr. 'Nay,' said the Prophet, 'I am the slave of Allah and his Prophet. I have immigrated to Allah and to you. 'My life is your life; my death is your death!' Hearing this, the Anṣâr began to weep saying, 'By Allah, we said what we said only in our anxiety to spare the Prophet of Allah.' The people then crowded to the house of abu-Sufyân and closed its doors laying down their arms. The Prophet proceeded to the 'stone' and laid hold of it. ”

“ In the city of al-Bâb wa-l-Abwâb, 24,000 Syrians were settled by Maslamah ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik and assigned stipends. Accordingly, the inhabitants of al-Bâb to-day do not allow any ʿâmil to enter their city unless he has money to distribute among them. He, moreover, built a granary for food, another for barley, and an armory. He ordered that the cistern be filled with earth, repaired the city, and provided it with embattlements. In the company of Maslamah was Marwân ibn-Muḥammad who took part in the attack against al-Khazar and distinguished himself in fighting. ”

“ Al-Ḥusain ibn-al-Aswad from Shamir ibn-ʿAṭîyah:—ʿUmar said regarding the people of al-Kûfah, "They are the lance of Allah, the treasure of the faith, the cranium of the Arabs, who protect their own frontier forts and reinforce other Arabs."
Abu-Naṣr at-Tammâr from Salmân:—The latter said:—"Al-Kûfah is the dome of Islâm. There will be a time in which every believer will either be in it or will have his heart set upon it." ”

“ The time was an afternoon. ʿAmr ibn-Maʿdikarib az-Zubaidi rushed forward and, seizing a Persian chief by the neck, lifted him to the saddle in front of him, saying [to his men] , "I am abu-Thaur! Do ye as I do!" He then stabbed the nose of one of the elephants, saying, "Apply your swords to their trunks; the vulnerable point in the elephant is his trunk." ”

“ Thereupon, Khâlid called for an inkhorn and parchment and wrote:—
"In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. This is what Khâlid would grant to the inhabitants of Damascus, if he enters therein: he promises to give them security for their lives, property and churches. Their city-wall shall not be demolished; neither shall any Moslem be quartered in their houses. Thereunto we give to them the pact of Allah and the protection of his Prophet, the caliphs and the 'Believers'. So long as they pay the poll-tax, nothing but good shall befall them."
The Moslems enter the city. ”

“ I was informed by certain scholars that the Prophet had a slave, named Midʿam, whom Rifâʿah ibn-Zaid al-Judhâmi had presented to him. During the invasion of Wâdi-l-Ḳura, Midʿam was shot by an arrow from an unknown quarter as he was putting down the saddle of the Prophet's camel. When someone remarked, "Blessed, O prophet of Allah, is thy slave, for he was shot by an arrow and suffered martyrdom," the Prophet replied, "Nay, the mantle he took from the spoils on the day of Khaibar shall verily burn on him like fire." ”

“ It is therefore proper for us to defend and protect them. In the covenant of the people of Taflîs, Ḥabîb ibn-Maslamah wrote, 'In case something should arise to divert the attention of the Moslems from you and some enemy should subjugate you, that would not be a violation of your covenant, so long as ye keep loyal to the Moslems.' I, therefore, consider it best that they be left on their covenant and the security promised them, especially because when al-Walîd ibn-Yazîd expelled them to Syria, the Moslems considered the act outrageous, and the canonists disapproved of it ”

“ As Khalid came within sight of al-Yamâmah, he met a group of the banu-Ḥanîfah among whom was Mujjâʿah ibn-Murârah ibn-Sulmi. [10] He killed them and spared Mujjâʿah whom he carried off in chains. Khâlid put up his camp one mile from al-Yamâmah. Banu-Ḥanîfah came out to him, and among them were ar-Rajjâl and Muḥakkim ibn-aṭ-Ṭufail ibn-Subaiʿ, nicknamed the Muḳakkim al-Yamâmah. Khâlid, seeing something glittering among them, turned to his men and said, "Know ye Moslems that Allah has spared you the trouble of your enemy. Do ye not see how they have drawn the swords one against the other? ”

“ Then ʿAbd al-Masîḥ ibn-Buḳailah presented himself before Saʿd and said to him, " I can point out to thee a site which is outside the waterless desert, and higher than the muddy places where mosquitoes abound." ”

“ Al-Mughîrah answered, "Allah has sent us his Prophet by following and obeying whom we were made prosperous, and he has ordered us to fight those who differ from our faith 'Until they pay tribute out of hand and in a humbled state'. ”

“ When Hishâm ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik, however, came to power, he restored it; and it was kept until the caliphate of abu-Jaʿfar al-Manṣûr, who expressed himself as follows: "We shall, above everyone else, do justice to them, and not enrich ourselves by oppressing them." ”

“ The history of the Ḥaram-mosque. The Ḥaram-mosque at the time of the Prophet and abu-Bakr had no wall to surround it. When ʿUmar, however, became caliph and the number of the Moslems increased, he enlarged the mosque and bought certain houses which he demolished to increase its size. Certain neighbors of the mosque refused to sell their houses and ʿUmar had to demolish their houses, the prices of which he deposited in the treasury of al-Kaʿbah until they took them later. [30] Moreover he raised around the mosque a low wall not higher than a man's stature. ”

“ The wives of the Prophet demand an inheritance. ʿAbdallâh ibn-Ṣâliḥ al-ʿIjli from ʿUrwah ibn-az-Zubair:—The wives of the Prophet delegated ʿUthmân ibn-ʿAffân to ask abu-Bakr to give them their inheritance from the share of the Prophet in Khaibar and Fadak. But ʿÂʾishah said to them, "Do ye not fear Allah? and have ye not heard the Prophet say—'What we leave as ṣadaḳah cannot be inherited?' This property therefore is the property of the people of Muḥammad to meet the expenses of the accidents and guests, and when I die it goes to the one in authority after me." ”

“ According to the view of Mâlik and ibn-abi-Dhiʾb, as stated by Muḥammad ibn-ʿUmar al-Wâḳidi, regarding the legality or illegality of felling a tree of the Ḥaram, it is wrong at all events; but if the man who does it is ignorant he should be taught and receive no penalty; if he knows but is impious, he should be punished without paying the value of the trees. He who cuts it may have it for his use. According to abu-Sufyân ath-Thauri and abu-Yûsuf, he should pay the value of the tree he cuts and cannot have the wood for his use. ”

“ No sooner had the Prophet sent him than he called him back saying, "Bring my uncle back to me, that the 'polytheists' may not kill him." Al-ʿAbbâs, however, refused to return until he came to Makkah and made the following statement: "O ye people, embrace Islâm and ye shall be safe. Ye have been surrounded on all sides. Ye are confronted by a hard case that is beyond your power. [7] Here is Khâlid in the lower part of Makkah, there is az-Zubair in the upper part of it, and there is the Prophet of Allah at the head of the Emigrants, Anṣâr and Khuzâʿah." ”

“ It is not wise to have us all leave our position. Separate, therefore, thyself with a band of men from the main army, and that will keep our plans concealed. Then I will attack these 'unbelievers' in their homes at night." Ziyâd was resolute and sturdy. He went against the banu-ʿAmr and, under the cover of the night, fell upon them and some of them began to kill the others. At last Ziyâd and al-Muhâjir met accompanied by the captives and prisoners. They were intercepted by al-Ashʿath ibn-Ḳais and the leading men of Kindah, who fought a fierce battle against them. ”