Amr ibn al-As

“ In the non-poetical realm one man stands out, the theologian and jurist Abd-al-Rahman ibn-Amr al-Awzai. Born in Baalbek in 707, he flourished in Beirut, where he died in 774. Al-Awzai was noted for his learning, asceticism and moral courage, speaking out in disapproval of excessive harshness in the treatment of Christians, such as destroying their churches and homes, cutting down their trees and expelling the villagers from al-Munaytirah. The legal system worked out by this jurist was applied in Syria for about two centuries before it was supplanted. ”

“ Hearing this, al-Muḳauḳis said to his followers, "These people are telling the truth. They have chased our king from his kingdom as far as Constantinople. It is much more preferable, therefore, that we submit." His followers, however, spoke harshly to him and insisted on fighting. The Moslems fought fiercely against them and invested them for three months. At last, ʿAmr reduced the city [3] by the sword and plundered all that was in it, sparing its inhabitants of whom none was killed or taken captive. ”

“ Thus were ʿAmr's possessions confiscated by ʿUmar.
Al-Madâʾini from ʿÎsa ibn-Yazîd:—When Muḥammad ibn-Maslamah divided with ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi his possessions, ʿAmr made this remark, "An age in which the son of Ḥantamah [26] treats us in this manner is certainly an evil age. ”

“ According to some, ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi left for Egypt and appointed his son ʿAbdallâh to succeed him. The truth in all that, on which scholars agree, is that the first to lay siege to the city was ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi who made his descent on it in Jumâda I, year 13. ʿAmr would camp around it as long as he could, and whenever the Moslem forces wanted to combine against their enemy, he would go to them. ”

“ About the same time, 'Omar appointed another early convert of singular religious merit, 'Abdallah ibn Mas'ud, who had in early days, like 'Ammar, been a slave at Mecca to a post at Al-Kufa, for which, however, he was better fitted,—the charge of the treasury. He had been the body-servant of the Prophet, who was used to call him "light in body, but weighty in faith."1 He was learned in the Kor'an, and had a "reading" of his own, to which as the best text, he held persistently against all recessions. ”

“ Ḳais severed his head, and, early in the morning, climbed the city wall and shouted, "Allah is great! Allah is great! I testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muḥammad is the Prophet of Allah, and that al-Aswad, the false Prophet, is the enemy of Allah!" As the followers of al-Aswad gathered, Ḳais cast the head to them and they dispersed with the exception of a few. At this the men of Ḳais opened the door and put the rest of the followers of al-ʿAnsi to the sword, and none escaped except those who accepted Islâm. ”

“ When he [abu-Sufyân] got to Marr aẓ-Ẓahrân and saw the fires and the tents he said, "What is the matter with the people? They seem like the people celebrating the night of ʿArafah." Saying this, he was surrounded by the Prophet's horsemen, who took him prisoner; and he was brought before the Prophet. ʿUmar came and wanted to execute him, but al-ʿAbbâs prevented him and he [abu-Sufyân] embraced Islâm and presented himself before the Prophet. When the time for morning prayer came, the Moslems bestirred themselves for ablution before prayer. "What is the matter?" ”

“ Abu Bekr followed the Prophet’s example. In the great revolt of the Arabic tribes after the death of Mahomet, and in the invasion of Irak and Syria by the Moslems, the principal generals belonged to them. Omar did not deviate from that line of conduct. It was he who appointed Yazīd, the son of Abu Sofiān, and after his death, his brother Moawiya as governor of Syria, and assigned the province of Egypt to Amr-ibn-el-Ass (‘Amr b. Āṣ) . It is even surprising to find among the leading men so few of the house of Hāshim, the nearest family of the Prophet. ”

“ Rather shall we select for ourselves some other place for prayer until abu-‘Âmir [8] comes and leads our service." Now, abu-Âmir had fled from the face of Allah and his Prophet to Makkah and thence to Syria where he was converted to Christianity. Hence the text revealed by Allah: "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"—referring to abu-‘Âmir. ”

“ Avho succeeded Abu Bakr, a.h. 13 (a.d. (J34) , and was assassinated by Firoz, a Persian slave, a.h. 23 (a.d. 644) , after a prosperous reign of ten years. His conversion to Islam took place in the sixth year of Muhammad's mission, and the Prophet took 'Umar's daughter Hafsah as his third wife.
'Umar is eminent amongst the early Khalifahs for having chiefly contributed to the spread of Islam. Under him the great generals, Abu 'Ubaidah, Khalid ibn al-Walid, Yazid, drove the Greeks out of Syria and Phoenicia ”

“ Al-Ḥûsain ibn-al-Aswad from Ḥârithah ibn-Muḍarrib:—ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb, desiring to divide as-Sawâd among the Moslems, ordered that they be counted. Each Moslem had three peasants for his share. ʿUmar took the advice of the Prophet's Companions, and ʿAli said, "Leave them that they may become a source of revenue and aid [11] for the Moslems." Accordingly, ʿUmar sent ʿUthmân ibn-Ḥunaif al-Anṣâri who assessed on each man 48, 24, or 12 [dirhams] . ”

“ Alexandria reduced. ʿAmr kept his way until he arrived in Alexandria, whose inhabitants he found ready to resist him, but the Copts in it preferred peace. Al-Muḳauḳis communicated with ʿAmr and asked him for peace and a truce for a time; but ʿAmr refused. Al-Muḳauḳis then ordered that the women stand on the wall with their faces turned towards the city, and that the men stand armed, with their faces towards the Moslems, thus hoping to scare them [Moslems] . ʿAmr sent word, saying, "We see what thou hast done. It was not by mere numbers that we conquered those we have conquered. ”

“ The Prophet sends abu-Zaid al-Anṣâri to ʿUmân. The al-Azd were in ascendency in ʿUmân, [1] although it had in its deserts [2] a many other peoples. In the early part of the year 8, the Prophet delegated to them abu-Zaid al-Anṣâri of al-Khazraj, who was one of those who compiled the Koran in the time of the Prophet. His [full] name, according to al-Kalbi, was Ḳais ibn-Sakan ibn-Zaid [3] ibn-Ḥarâm; according to some Baṣrah philologists, his name was ʿAmr ibn-Akhṭab, the grandfather of ʿUrwah ibn-Thâbit ibn-ʿAmr ibn-Akhṭab ”

“ When ʿUmar entered the mosque [in al-Madînah] , his eyes fell on an-Nuʿmân ibn-Muḳarrin; so he took a seat by his side. When he was through with his prayer, ʿUmar said, "I want thee to be my ʿâmil [lieutenant] ". An-Nuʿmân replied, "If a collecting-ʿâmil, no; but if an invading-ʿâmil, yes." "An invading one," said ʿUmar. Thus ʿUmar sent an-Nuʿmân and wrote to the people of al-Kûfah to reinforce him, which they did, sending among others al-Mughîrah ibn-Shuʿbah. An-Nuʿmân sent al-Mughîrah to dhu-l-Ḥâjibain, [4] the Persian chief at Nihâwand. ”

“ Under safe conduct, one of the people of az-Zârah came forth to point out the drinking water, and showed al-ʿAlâʾ the spring that issues from az-Zârah. This spring al-ʿAlâʾ filled up. The people seeing that, came to terms, agreeing to offer him one-third of the city and one-third of the gold and silver in it, together with one-half of what they owned outside the city. Then came al-Akhnas al-ʿÂmiri to al-ʿAlâʾ and said, "They have not made terms regarding their children who are now in Dârin." Karrâz an-Nukri pointed out to al-ʿAlâʾ the ford by which he could cross over to them. ”

“ According to some reports, however, it was Fairûz ibn-ad-Dailami who killed al-Aswad, Ḳais only giving the last stroke and severing his head. Certain scholars assert that the death of Ḳais took place five days before the expiration of the Prophet, who on his death-bed said: "Allah has brought about the death of al-Aswad al-ʿAnsi through the righteous man Fairûz ibn-ad-Dailami," and that the news of the conquest came to abu-Bakr ten days after he had been proclaimed caliph. ”

“ He bade them go forth to the enemy and gave the command of them to Sa’ad ibn al-Wákidí, a doughty cavalier and a dauntless champion; so the horsemen set out and fared on along the Tigris-bank. Al-Abbas, son of King Al-Aziz, looked at them and saw the flags flaunting and the standards stirring and heard the kettle-drums beating; so he bade his page saddle him a blood-steed and look to the surcingles and bring him his harness of war, for indeed horsemanship [356] was rooted in his heart. Quoth Amir, “And indeed I saw 200Al-Abbas his eyes waxed red and the hair of his hands on end.” ”

“ There they settled. ʿAmr remarked: "To seek herbage before knowledge is weakness." The tribe of ʿAkk were distressed at the fall of their best lands into the hands of al-Azd and asked the latter to evacuate the land. Thereupon a one-eyed and deaf man of al-Azd, named Jidhʿ, made an attack on a ʿAkk party and destroyed them. This resulted in a war between al-Azd and ʿAkk. ”

“ The Prophet is reported to have said, "There is no truer a Muslim, nor any one more steadfast in the faith, than ʾAmru." THE following is one of the best among them.
There assembled before Muʾâwiyah, ʾAmru-ibn-el-ʾAs, and Walid-ibn-ʾUkbah, [2] and ʾUtbah-ibn-Abu-Sufyân, and el-Mughîrah-ibn-esh-Shuʾabah, [3] who said to him, "O Commander of the Faithful! send to Hásan son of ʾAly, [4] and let him appear before us."
"And why?" asked Muʾâwiyah.
"In order," they replied, "that we may reprove him, and inform him that his father killed ʾOthmân." ”

“ Al-ʿAbbâs ibn-al-Walîd an-Narsi from ash-Shaʿbi:—ʿUmar wrote to abu-ʿUbaidah, "Send to al-Ḳâdisîyah Ḳais ibn-Makshûḥ at the head of the men he invites to join him." Ḳais summoned a body of men and arrived, at the head of 700 of them, to find the victory already won by Saʿd. Ḳais's men asked for a share in the booty. Saʿd wrote to ʿUmar, who wrote back, "If Ḳais arrived before the burial of those that were killed, then thou shouldst give him his share." ”

“ 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. ”

“ The inconstant populace, weary of perpetual alarms and threatened with famine, made their peace with the representative of the Emir by the surrender of the city and the sacrifice of their general. The treacherous Ibn-Hamza was promptly executed, and his head sent by a courier to Al-Hakem; the affairs of the city were regulated with all possible expedition; and Amru, leaving his son Yusuf in command of the garrison, departed with all his available battalions to reinforce the army of his sovereign, then at Chinchilla. ”

“ Eighteen of these shares were divided among the Moslems including the Prophet, who had in addition eighteen shares to meet the expenses of visitors and delegates and accidents that might befall him.
ʿAbdallâh ibn-Rawâḥah estimates the produce. ʿAmr an-Naḳid and al-Ḥusain ibn-al-Aswad from ibn-ʿUmar:—The Prophet sent ibn-Rawâḥah to Khaibar who made a conjectural estimation of the palm-trees and gave the people their choice to accept or refuse, to which they replied: " This is justice; and upon justice have heaven and earth been established." ”

“ Alids of different camps were [188] active in their claim to be possessors of an infallible Imam; Zaydites and Qarmatians were in revolt; the decree of 234 that the Qur’an was uncreated had had little effect, so far, in silencing the Mu‘tazilites; in 261 the Sufi pantheist, Abu Yazid, died. Al-Ash‘ari himself was of the best blood of the desert and of a highly orthodox family which had borne a distinguished part in Muslim history. Through some accident he came in early youth into the care of al-Jubba‘i, the Mu‘tazilite, who, according to one story, had married al-Ash‘ari’s mother ”

“ Those who gave greatest annoyance to the Moslems were their old enemies, the Greek troops from Memphis. Amru, seeing that the greatest defence was from a main tower, or citadel, made a gallant assault upon it and carried it, sword in hand. The Greek troops, however, rallied to that point from all parts of the city; the Moslems, after a furious struggle, gave way, and Amru, his faithful slave Werdan, and one of his generals, named Moslema Ibn al Mokalled, fighting to the last, were surrounded, overpowered, and taken prisoners. ”

“ Khâlid sent al-Muthanna who made a raid on this market, and the Moslems filled their hands with gold and silver and commodities light to carry. They spent the night at as-Sailaḥîn, and then came to al-Anbâr where Khâlid was. The Moslems then invested the inhabitants of al-Anbâr and set fire to places in its district. ”

“ Muhājir, with the help of Ikrima, succeeded with difficulty, but thoroughly, in defeating Amr ibn Ma’dikarib and Qais ibn ‛Abd Yaghūth in Yemen and Ashath ibn Qais in Hadramut. The Hejaz and Tehama were cleared of the plundering nomads by ‛Attāb and Ṭāhir. At the end of the first year of his caliphate Abu Bekr saw Arabia united under Islam. The new national feeling demanded that all Arabs should be free men, so the caliph ordained that all Arab slaves should be freed on easy terms. The solidarity of Arabia survived the first foreign conquests. ”