Kitāb Futūḥ al-buldān (English translation)

Places conquered by ‘Amr ibn-al-‘Âṣi

 Abu-Ḥafṣ ad-Dimashḳi from learned sheikhs :—The first conflict between Moslems and Greeks took place in the caliphate of abu-Bakr in the province of Palestine, the one in chief command over the Moslems being ‘Amr ibn-al-‘Âṣi. Later on in the caliphate of abu-Bakr, ‘Amr ibn-al-‘Âṣi effected the conquest of Ghazzah, then Sabaṣtiyah1and Nâbulus [Neapolis] with the stipulation that he guaranteed to the inhabitants the safety of their lives, their possessions and their houses on condition that they pay poll-tax, and kharâj on their land. He then conquered Ludd [Lydda] and its district, and then Yubna [Jabneh or Jabneel], ‘Amawâs [Emmaus] and Bait-Jabrîn[Eleutheropolis] where he took for himself an estate3which he named ‘Ajlân after a freedman of his. He then conquered Yâfa [Jaffa] which according to others was conquered by Mu‘âwiyah. ‘Amr also conquered Rafaḥ and made similar terms with it.

The conquest of Jerusalem

As ‘Amr was besieging Îliyâ’, i.e., Jerusalem in the year 16, abu-‘Ubaidah after reducing Ḳinnasrîn and its environs, came to him, and according to a report, sent him from Jerusalem to Antioch whose people had violated the covenant. ‘Amr reduced the  city and returned [to Jerusalem]. Only two or three days after his return, the inhabitants of Jerusalem asked to capitulate to abu-‘Ubaidah on the same terms as those of  the cities of Syria as regards tax and kharâj, and to have the same treatment as their equals elsewhere, provided the one to make the contract be ‘Umar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb in person, Abu-‘Ubaidah communicated this in writing to ‘Umar who came first to al-Jâbiyah in Damascus and then to Jerusalem. He made the terms of capitulation with the people of Jerusalem to take effect and gave them a written statement. The conquest of Jerusalem took place in the year 17.

A different account has been reported regarding the conquest of Jerusalem.

Al-Ḳâsim ibn-Sallâm from Yazîd ibn-abi-Ḥabîb :— Khâlid ibn-Thâbit al-Fahmi was sent by ‘Umar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb, who was at that time in al-Jâbiyah, at the head of an army to Jerusalem. After fighting with the inhabitants, they agreed to pay something on what was within their fortified city and to deliver to the Moslems all what was outside. ‘Umar came and concurred, after which he returned to al-Madînah.

Hishâm ibn-‘Ammâr from al-Auzâ‘i :— Abu-‘Ubaidah reduced Ḳinnasrîn and its districts in the year 16; after which he came to Palestine and camped in Jerusalem, whose people asked him to make terms with them, which he did in the year 17, with the stipulation that ‘Umar would come in person, put the terms into effect and write a statement of them to the people.

‘Umar welcomed by the people of Adhri‘ât

Hishâm ibn-‘Ammâr from ‘Abdallâh ibn-Ḳais :—The latter said, “I was one of those who went with abu-‘Ubaidah to meet ‘Umar as he was coming to Syria. As ‘Umar was passing,  he was met by the singers and tambourine players of the inhabitants of Adhri‘ât5 with swords and myrtle. Seeing that, ‘Umar shouted ‘Keep still ! Stop them !’ But abu-‘Ubaidah replied, ‘This is their custom (or some other word like it), “Commander of the Believers,” and if thou shouldst stop them from doing it, they would take that as indicating thy intention to violate their covenant.’ ‘Well, then, said ‘Umar, ‘let them go on.’”

The plague of ‘Amawâs

The plague of ‘Amawâs [Emmaus] occurred in the year 18. To it a great many Moslems fell victim, among whom was abu-Ubaidah ibn-al-Jarrâḥ (who was 58 years old and a commander in the army) and Mu‘âdh ibn-Jabal of the banu-Salimah of al-Khazraj who was surnamed abu-‘Abd-ar-Raḥmân and who died in the district of al-Uḳḥuwânah in the province of the Jordan, aged 38. This Muâdh, abu-‘Ubaidah on his deathbed had appointed as his successor. According to others he appointed ‘Iyâḍ ibn-Ghanm al-Fîhri. Some others say he  appointed ‘Amr ibn-al-Âṣi who appointed his own son as successor and departed for Egypt. Al-Faḍl ibn-al-‘Abbâs ibn-‘Abd-al-Muṭṭalib, surnamed abu-Muḥammad, fell, according to some, as martyr in Ajnâdîn; but the fact is that he was a victim to the plague at ‘Amawâs. Other victims were Shuraḥbîl ibn-Ḥasanah, surnamed abu-‘Abdallâh (who died 69 years old); Suhail ibn-‘Amr of the banu-‘Âmir ibn-Lu’ai, surnamed abu-Yazîd; and al-Ḥârith ibn-Hishâm ibn-al-Mughîrah-l-Makhzûmi (who, according to others, fell a martyr in the battle of Ajnâdîn).

Yazîd ibn-abi-Sufyân governor of Syria

When ‘Umar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb received the news of the death of abu-‘Ubaidah, he wrote to Yazîd ibn-abi-Sufyân appointing him in his place as governor of Syria, and ordering him to  invade Ḳaisârîyah [Caesarea]. According to others, however, Yazîd was appointed by ‘Umar as governor of the Jordan and Palestine; abu-ad-Dardâ’, of Damascus; and ‘Ubâdah ibn-aṣ-Ṣâmit, of Ḥimṣ.

The conquest of Ḳaisârîyah

Muḥammad ibn-Sa‘d from al-Wâḳidi :—There is difference of opinion regarding the conquest of Ḳaisârîyah [Caesarea]. Some say Mu‘âwiyah subdued it; others, ‘Iyâḍ ibn-Ghanm, after the death of abu-‘Ubaidah whose successor he was; and still others ‘Amr ibn-al-‘Âṣi. According to some, ‘Amr ibn-al-‘Âṣi left for Egypt and appointed his son ‘Abdallâh to succeed him. The truth in all that, on which scholars agree, is that the first to lay siege to the city was ‘Amr ibn-al-‘Âṣi who made his descent on it in Jumâda I, year 13. ‘Amr 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. Thus he witnessed the battles of Ajnâdîn, Fiḥl, al-Marj, Damascus and al-Yarmûk. He then returned to Palestine and after taking Jerusalem laid siege to Ḳaisârîyah. From Ḳaisârîyah he left for Egypt. After abu-‘Ubaidah, Yazîd ibn-abi-Sufyân became governor of Syria, and he appointed his brother to press the siege. Smitten by the plague, Yazîd returned to Damascus where he died.

Other than al-Wâḳidi state that ‘Umar appointed Yazîd ibn-abi-Sufyân to the governorship ofPalestine together with the other provinces of Syria and ordered him to invade Ḳaisârîyah which had already been besieged. Yazîd [141] went against it with 17,000 men. Its people resisted ; and he laid the siege. In the last part of the year 18, he fell ill and departed for Damascus leaving his brother Mu‘âwiyah in his place at Ḳaisârîyah. Mu‘âwiyah reduced the city and wrote to Yazîd to that effect, and the latter communicated the news to ‘Umar.

Mu‘âwiyah nominated governor of Syria

At the death of Yazîd ibn-abi-Sufyân, ‘Umar wrote to Mu‘âwiyah making him governor in his [Yazîd’s] place, upon which abu-Sufyân thanked ‘Umar saying, “May the tie of relationship be made stronger by thy kind behavior !”

Hishâm ibn-‘Ammâr from Tamîm ibn-‘Aṭîyah :—‘Umar made Mu‘âwiyah ibn-abi-Sufyân governor of Syria after Yazîd, and appointed with him two men of the Prophet’s Companions for conducting prayer and performing the duties of ḳâḍi : abu-ad-Dardâ’ to act as ḳâḍi and to conduct prayer at Damascus and the Jordan, and ‘Ubâdah to act as ḳâḍi and conduct prayer at Ḥimṣ and Ḳinnasrîn.

Mu‘âwiyah besieges Ḳaisârîyah

Muḥammad ibn-Sa‘d from al-Wâḳidi :— When ‘Umar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb made Mu‘âwiyah governor of Syria, the latter besieged Ḳaisârîyah until he reduced it, the city having been under siege for seven years. Its conquest took place in Shauwâl, year 19.

Muḥammad ibn-Sa‘d from ‘Abdallâh ibn-‘Âmir:— Mu‘âwiyah besieged Ḳaisârîyah until he lost all hope of reducing it. Previous to this, the city had been besieged by ‘Amr ibn-al-‘Âṣi and his son. When Mu‘âwiyah at last took it by storm, he found in it 700,000 [sic!] soldiers with fixed stipends, 30,000 Samaritans and 20,000 Jews. He found in the city 300 markets, all in good shape. It was guarded every night by 100,000 men stationed on its wall. The city was reduced in the following way :—A Jew named Yûsuf came to the Moslems at night and pointed out to them a road through a tunnel the water in which would reach a man’s waist; in consideration for which information, safety was guaranteed him and his relatives. Mu‘âwiyah sanctioned the conditions [made to Yûsuf] and the Moslems entered the city by night, calling “Allah is great!” The Greeks seeking to flee through the tunnel found it occupied by Moslems. The Moslems opened the city gate and Mu‘âwiyah with his men went in. Many Arabs were in the city [as prisoners?]. One of them was a woman, Shaḳrâ’, whom Ḥâssn ibn-Thâbit referred to when he said:

“Shaḳrâ says, ‘If thou shouldst relinquish wine,
thou wouldst become rich in number.’”

[142] Others say her name was Sha‘thâ’.

The captives from Ḳaisârîyah

Muḥammad ibn-Sa‘d from al-Wâḳidi :— The prisoners from Ḳaisârîyah [Caesarea] amounted to 4,000. When Mu‘âwiyah sent them to ‘Umar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb the latter gave orders that they be settled in al-Jurf. They were then distributed among the orphans of the Anṣâr, and some were used as clerks and manual laborers for the Moslems. The ḍaughters of abu-Umâmah As‘ad ibn-Zurârah, having been given by abu-Bakr two servants from the prisoners of ‘Ain at-Tamr who were now dead, ‘Umar assigned to the daughters two of the captives of Ḳaisârîyah to take the place of the two dead servants.

Mu‘âwiyah forwarded two men of the Judhâm to carry the news of the conquest to ‘Umar. Fearing that they might not hasten enough, he forwarded a man of the Khath‘am who exerted all effort in walking by day and by night repeating :

“The two brothers of Judhâm have brought insomnia on me,
the brother of Ḥishm and the brother of Ḥarâm.
How can I sleep so long as they are ahead of me?
They are going along and the midday heat is becoming vehement.”8’

At last he got ahead of them and presented himself before  ‘Umar who, hearing the news of the conquest, exclaimed “Allah is great!”

Hishâm ibn-‘Ammâr from one whose name I do not remember:—Ḳaisârîyah was taken by storm in the year 19. Hearing the news of its capture, ‘Umar exclaimed, “Ḳaisârîyah is taken by storm. Allah is great !” and so did the rest of the Moslems. The city was besieged for seven years and was finally reduced by Mu‘âwiyah.

The death of Yazîd ibn-abi-Sufyân took place at the end of the year 18, in Damascus.

The date of the conquest of Ḳaisârîyah

Those who claim that Mu‘âwiyah reduced Ḳaisârîyah in the days of his brother believe that it was not reduced before the end of the year 18; but those who claim that it was reduced while he was governor of Syria believe that it was reduced in the year 19. Of the two views, the latter is the tenable one. According to still other reports, the city was reduced in the early part of the year 20.

‘Asḳalân reduced

‘Umar ibn-al-Ḳhaṭṭâb wrote to Mu‘âwiyah instructing him to follow up the conquest of what was left in Palestine. Accordingly, Mu‘âwiyah conquered ‘Asḳalân [Ascalon] which capitulated after some resistance. According to others, however, it was ‘Amr ibn-al-‘Âṣi who first conquered the city. Later, its inhabitants violated the covenant and were reinforced by the Greeks. It was then that Mu‘âwiyah reduced it, settled garrisons of [143] cavalry in it and put it in charge of a guard.

‘Abd-al-Malik makes repairs in ‘ Asḳalân, Ḳaisârîyah and other places

Bakr ibn-al-Haitham from certain sheikhs of ‘Asḳalân :—The Greeks destroyed ‘Asḳalân and expelled its inhabitants in the days of ibn-az-Zubair. When ‘Abdal-Malik ibn-Marwân became ruler, he rebuilt the city and fortified it, and made repairs in Ḳaisârîyah, too.

Muḥammad ibn-Muṣaffa from abu-Sulaimân ar-Ramli’s  father :—In the days of ibn-az-Zubair the Greeks went out against Ḳaisârîyah and devastated it and razed its mosque to the ground. When ‘Abd-al-Malik ibn-Marwân was settled in his rule, he made repairs in Ḳaisârîyah, restored its mosque and left a garrison in it. Moreover, he built Tyre and outer Acre which had shared the same fate as Ḳaisârîyah.

Sulaimân ibn-‘Abd-al-Malik builds ar-Ramlah

The following tradition was communicated to me by certain men well versed in the conditions of Syria:—Al-Walîd ibn-‘Abd-al-Malik made Sulaimân ibn-‘Abd-al-Malik governor of the province of Palestine. Sulaimân took up his abode in Ludd and then founded the city of ar-Ramlah and fortified it. The first thing he built in it was his palace and the house known as Dâr aṣ-Ṣabbâghîn [the house of the dyers] in the middle of which he made a cistern. He then planned the mosque and began its construction, but he became caliph before its completion. After becoming caliph, he continued its construction which was completed by ‘Umar ibn-‘Abd-al-‘Aziz who reduced the original plan, saying, “The inhabitants of ar-Ramlah should be satisfied with the size thereof to which I have reduced it.”

After having erected a house for himself, Sulaimân permitted the people to build their houses, which they did. He dug for the inhabitants of ar-Ramlah their canal which is called Baradah, and he dug also wells. The one he appointed to oversee the expenses of his palace in ar-Ramlah and of the cathedral mosque was one of his clerks, a certain Christian of Ludd named al-Baṭriḳ ibn-an-Naka.Before Sulaimân there was no such city as ar-Ramlah, and its site was sand [Ar.raml].

The Dâr aṣ-Ṣabbâghîn passed to the hands of the heirs of Ṣâliḥ ibn-‘Ali ibn-‘Abdallâh ibn-al-Abbâs, because it was confiscated with the possessions of the banu-Umaiyah.

The expenses of the wells and canal of ar-Ramlah, after the time of Sulaimân ibn-‘Abd-al-Malik, were met by the banu-Umaiyah. But when the banu-l-Abbâs assumed the  caliphate, they paid the expenses. The order for these expenses was issued yearly by every caliph; but when al-Mu‘taṣim became caliph, he gave a permanent decree for these expenses, thereby doing away with the necessity of issuing an order every time by the caliph. It became thereafter a current expense which the ‘âmils paid and kept an account of.

“Reduction” and “restoration” in the kharâj

There are in Palestine special places containing documents from the caliphs, set aside from the records of the kharâj of the common people and containing a statement of the “reduction” and “restoration”, the explanation of which is the following:—Certain estates having been abandoned in the caliphate of ar-Rashîd and deserted by their occupants, ar-Rashîd sent Harthamah ibn-A‘yan to cultivate them. Harthamah asked some of their old tenants and farmers to go back to them with the understanding that he would reduce their kharâj and would deal with them more leniently. Those who went back are those to whom the “reductions” were made. Others came after that and their old lands were restored to them. These are the ones to whom the “restorations” were made.

Fiefs in ‘Asḳalân

The following tradition was related to me by Bakr ibn-al-Haitham :—“I met a man of the Arabs in ‘Asḳalân who said that his grandfather was one of those settled in ‘Asḳalân by ‘Abd-al-Malik and was given a fief in it as one of the garrison of cavalry to whom fiefs were assigned. He also showed me a piece of land, saying, ‘This is one of the fiefs given by ‘Uthmân ibn-‘Affân’. I heard Muḥammad ibn-Yûsuf al-Fâryâbi say :— ‘Here in ‘Asḳalân are fiefs which were given out by the orders of ‘Umar and ‘Uthmân, and it matters not who takes possession of them.’”