Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyá al-Balādhurī

“ At last the city was taken by capitulation.
Amr ibn-Muḥammad from a grandfather of al-Ḥajjâj ibn-abi-Maniʿ:—Raʾs al-ʿAin [23] held out against ʿIyâḍ ibn-Ghanm; but ʿUmair ibn-Saʿd, who was ʿUmar's governor over Mesopotamia, reduced it after a fierce resistance on the part of its inhabitants. The Moslems entered by force; but terms of capitulation were drawn up stipulating that the land be held by them and the tax be imposed on their persons to the amount of four dînârs per head. Their women and children were not taken as captives. ”

“ In the place of Nahr Saʿîd—the canal named after Saʿîd ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik ibn-Marwân (who was nicknamed Saʿîd al-Khair and who practised asceticism) —once stood a jungle frequented by lions. Al-Walîd gave it to him [Saʿîd] as fief, and he dug out the canal and erected the buildings that stand there. ”

“ Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from az-Zuhri:—In the days of ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb, not a foot was left in Mesopotamia unsubdued by ʿIyâḍ ibn-Ghanm who reduced Ḥarrân, ar-Ruha, ar-Raḳḳah, Ḳarḳîsiya [Circesium] Naṣîbîn [Nisibis] and Sinjâr.
Muḥammad [ibn-Saʿd] from Thâbit ibn-al-Ḥajjâj:—ʿIyâḍ effected the conquest of ar-Raḳḳah, Ḥarrân, ar-Ruha, Naṣîbîn, Maiyâfâriḳîn, Ḳarḳîsiya, and all the villages and towns of the Euphrates by capitulation; but all the open fields by force. ”

“ According to others, it was ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz who gave it as fief.
Ar-Râfiḳah. There is no trace that ar-Râfiḳah is an old city. It was built by al-Manṣûr the "Commander of the Believers" in the year 155, according to the plan of his city in Baghdâdh. Al-Manṣûr stationed in it an army of the people of Khurâsân and entrusted it to al-Mahdi, who was at that time the heir-apparent. Later, ar-Rashîd built its castles. Between ar-Raḳḳah and ar-Râfiḳah lay a wide tract of sown land to which ʿAli ibn-Sulaimân ibn-ʿAli moved the markets of ar-Raḳḳah when he came as governor to Mesopotamia. ”

“ Some of them would sometimes throwstones at him. When he was through with Talbas [27] and ʿÂnât, [28] he came to an-Naʾûsah, Âlûsah [29] and Hît where he found out that ʿAmmâr ibn-Yâsir, the ʿâmil of ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb over al-Kûfah, had sent an army for the invasion of the region above al-Anbâr, under the leadership of Saʿd ibn-ʿAmr ibn-Ḥarâm al-Anṣâri. The holders of these forts had come to Saʿd and demanded peace, which he arranged with them, retaining one-half of the church of Hît. ʿUmair, therefore, kept on his way to ar-Raḳḳah. ”