The Conquest of Rayy and Qumis

فتح الري وقومس

In al-Baladhuri via al-Kalbi from Abu Mikhnaf: two months after Nihawand's battle Umar wrote Ammar ibn Yasir (may God be pleased with him), his Kufa agent, to send Urwa ibn Zayd al-Khayl (may God be pleased with him) al-Ta'i to Rayy and Dastaba with eight thousand; the Daylam gathered against him with Rayy's reinforcement, and God gave him victory — he killed and swept through them, left his brother Hanzala ibn Zayd, and came to Ammar asking to be sent to Umar — he having once borne the Bridge's ill news and wishing now to bring joy. Umar saw him and said 'we are God's and to Him we return'; Urwa answered 'rather praise God — we are victorious,' told his tale, and when asked why he did not send word answered 'I left my brother and wished to come myself' — so Umar named him al-Bashir. Urwa's verse: 'I stood forth a teacher to Qadisiyya's people — not every bearer of sorrow teaches.'

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Rashidun Caliphate
Region: Persia & Central Asia
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In space

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

al-Baladhuri relates, on the authority of Abu Mikhnaf, that Umar wrote to Ammar ibn Yasir, his governor over Kufa, two months after the battle of Nihawand. He ordered him to send Urwa ibn Zayd al-Khayl al-Ta'i to al-Rayy and Dastaba with eight thousand men. ¹

The fighting

The Daylam gathered for him, and the people of al-Rayy reinforced them and fought him. God gave him the upper hand over them and he killed them. He then left his brother Hanzala ibn Zayd in charge and came to Ammar, asking him to send him to Umar to bring him the good news. ¹

When Umar saw him he said: "Surely to God we belong and to Him we return." Urwa said: "Rather, praise God, for He has given us victory." Umar named him "the bringer of good news". ¹

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant: Amr ibn Ma'dikarib· Qaraza ibn Ka'b al-Ansari· Salama ibn Amr al-Dabbi· Urwa ibn Zayd al-Khayl al-Ta'i· Hanzala ibn Zayd· Ammar ibn Yasir· Umar ibn al-Khattab
Occurred at: Rayy

People and things also explored

The Kufans' Complaint against Sa'd and the Succession of Governors· Umar's Special Stipends and Equity· Uthman ibn Hunayf's Survey of the Sawad· The seven ahruf· Abu al-Mukhtar's Satire on the Ahwaz Officials· Abu Bakr leads the prayers during the final illness· The conversion of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb· Abu Sufyan's mission to Medina

Sources

Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition) , p.443

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Conquest of Rayy and Qumis”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/conquest-of-rayy-qumis/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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The Kufans' Complaint against Sa'd and the Succession of Governors

In al-Baladhuri via Jabir ibn Samura: the Kufans maligned Sa'd to Umar claiming he prayed poorly; Sa'd answered he led them the Messenger's prayer unabridged — lingering in the first two, light in the last — and Umar's mosque-by-mosque inquiry praised him everywhere until a man of Banu Abs called Abu Sa'da testified he neither divided equally nor judged justly; Sa'd's counter-prayer for a liar befell him, Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr later seeing him in the alleys saying 'an old man tried — Sa'd's prayer struck me'. Amr ibn Ma'dikarib testified for Sa'd with 'a gnat's gathering and a goodly mother's tenderness', gave Umar his famous appraisals of war and weapons — the spear 'your brother though he may betray', arrows 'death's messengers', mail 'a burden for horseman and weariness for footman yet a strong fortress', and for the sword 'there your mother bewailed you' met by Umar's 'nay, your mother bewailed you' — whereupon 'the fever drove me to you'. Umar deposed Sa'd for Ammar ibn Yasir, whom they then called weak and unknowledgeable — deposed after a year and nine months — and Umar cried 'who will excuse me from the Kufans? Appoint the strong they make him a sinner, the weak they slight him', finally giving it to al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba on his pledge not to return to his former accusation, which he held till Umar's death; Uthman then appointed Sa'd, replaced him with al-Walid ibn Uqba — Sa'd greeting him 'either you measured after me or I grew senile after you' — then with Sa'id ibn al-As.