William Muir

“ The terms of the treaty by which the Capital of Syria passed into the hands of the Muslims were as follows:—
"This is the treaty which Khalid the son of Al-Welid deigns to make with the inhabitants of Damascus, upon his entry into this town. He secures to them their lives and goods, the retention of their churches and of the walls of their town. No house will be pulled down or taken away from its owner. ”

“ Whilst the army which was to sweep the invaders out of the bounds of the Empire was being organised, to Baanes the Armenian was committed the task of constantly harassing the Arabs, and so preventing, above all, the fall of Damascus. He is said to have driven back the Muslims from Emesa upon Damascus, and pitched his camp on the banks of the River of Damascus—the often-mentioned Baradà, the Abana of the Old Testament, within sight of the City—only, however, to retire again upon Emesa. ”

“ An entrepôt of commerce between the east and west, it has been from age to age with varying fortune, ever rich and populous. The city wall, twenty feet high and fifteen broad, still contains stones of cyclopean size that must have been builded in ages before our era. ”