Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyá al-Balādhurī

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ When ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz became caliph, the Christians complained of what al-Walîd had down for their church. ʿUmar wrote to his ʿâmil ordering him to return to the Christians that part which he had added to the mosque from their church. The people of Damascus disliked the idea saying, "Shall we destroy our mosque after we have called to prayer and held service in it? And can a Christian church be returned [to its former owners] ?" Among the Moslems were at that time Sulaimân ibn-Ḥabîb al-Muḥâribi and other canonists. ”

“ In another tradition transmitted by al-ʿAbbâs an-Narsi, Saʿd made the following petition, regarding the people of al-Kûfah: "O God, let no ruler be satisfied with them, and let them be never satisfied with a ruler!"
I was informed by al-ʿAbbâs an-Narsi that al-Mukhtâr ibn-abi-ʿUbaid, or someone else, said, "To love the people of al-Kufah is honor; and to hate them is destruction."
Al-Ḥasan ibn-ʿUthmân az-Ziyâdi from ash-Shaʿbi:—After the victory of al-Ḳâdisîyah, ʿAmr ibn-Maʿdikarib visited ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb and was asked by him about Saʿd and whether the people were satisfied with him. ”

“ The personal equation is not only reduced but the personality of the author is almost eliminated, appearing only as a recipient of a tradition. Scarcely an opinion or remark is made. The intellect is not brought to bear on the data.
A weak characteristic of Arabic historians is their utter disregard of the social side of national life. Political history to them is history par excellence. It should, however, be said, to the credit of al-Balâdhuri, that while from a modern standpoint he is defective in that respect, still he stands superior to other historians. ”

“ Muḥammad ibn-aṣ-Ṣabbâḥ from ash-Shaʿbi:—The Prophet turned Khaibar over to its inhabitants for one-half of the produce and sent ʿAbdallâh ibn-Rawâḥah to estimate the dates (or perhaps he said the palm-trees) . This he estimated and divided into two halves and asked them to choose whichever one they wanted. Upon this they said, "It is by this that heavens and earth have been established." ”

“ Sâbûr allowed them the use of the land as fief without collecting kharâj from them.
In the battle of dhu-Ḳâr in which Allah through his Prophet gave the Arabs the victory, the Arabs gained possession of some of these springs, the rest remaining in the hands of the Persians. When the Arabs advanced to al-Ḥîrah, the Persians took to flight after covering over with earth all the springs in their lands. The Arabs who held the remaining springs embraced Islâm; and the land which they cultivated became tithe-land. ”