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Hurmuzan before Umar

هرمزان بين يدي عمر

Medina

Carried to Umar, Hurmuzan was spared and stipended; Anas ibn Malik (may God be pleased with him), his escort, narrates: 'Speak' — 'a living man's speech or a dead man's?' — 'no harm'. 'We Persians, so long as God left us between you, raided and killed you; when God was with you we had no hands against you.' Then 'what say you, Anas?' — 'I left a fierce force behind; count him a dog: kill it and the folk despair of life and grow fiercer, spare it and they hope.' Umar marvelled — Bara' and Majza'a had warned Anas not to kill him; doubting whether 'no harm' licensed the speech, Anas went out and al-Zubayr bore witness for him. Freed, Hurmuzan converted — then, accused of counselling Abu Lu'lu'a over Umar's murder, Ubaydallah ibn Umar drew him to see a horse and struck him dead unawares.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Rashidun Caliphate
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In space

Medina

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

Overview

Hormuzan was brought as a captive to Umar in Medina, and it was Anas ibn Malik who brought him. Al-Baladhuri relates this. 1

The dialogue

Umar said to Hormuzan: "Speak." He asked: "Is it the speech of a living man or a dead one?" Umar said: "No harm." Hormuzan then said that the Persians used to raid the Arabs as long as God was not with them. Then Umar asked Anas his opinion of him. Anas said he was a thorn among the people; if he were killed they would despair of life and fight harder, and if he were spared they would hope. 1

After the dialogue

Al-Baladhuri reports that al-Bara ibn Malik and Mujza'a ibn Thawr told Anas: "You have no way to kill him." Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam testified for Anas, so Hormuzan was released; he became a Muslim, and Umar granted him a stipend. 1

His death

Hormuzan was accused of having sat with Abu Lu'lu'a, the slave of al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba, in the killing of Umar. Ubayd Allah ibn Umar went with him to a horse of his and struck him with the sword, killing him. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
الهرمزان· Umar ibn al-Khattab· Anas ibn Malik· Ubaydallah ibn Umar
Occurred at
Medina

People and things also explored

Umar ibn al-Khattab· Medina· Abu Bakr leads the prayers during the final illness· Abu Sufyan's mission to Medina· al-Ahnaf's Petition to Umar for Basra· The affair of the Badr prisoners· The Battle of Nihawand (Fath al-Futuh)· The Battle of Uhud

Sources

  1. Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Hurmuzan before Umar”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/hurmuzan-umar-dialogue/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Umar ibn al-Khattab

Second caliph (634–644); under his rule the early community conquered Syria, Egypt and much of the Sasanian Empire. Remembered in Sunni tradition as al-Faruq, the model of just rule. ومن مناقبه في الصحيح القصر الذي رآه له النبي في الجنة فأخلى النظر إليه حياءً لغيرته ، ولبن الرؤيا الذي أوله النبي بالعلم فناوله إياه. ويروي هو صعوده إلى مشربة النبي حين اعتزل أزواجه فرأى أثر الحصير في جنبه فبكى فقال له «أما ترضى أن تكون لهم الدنيا ولنا الآخرة». ورأى حلة سيراء عند باب المسجد فعرضها على النبي ليلبسها يوم الجمعة وللوفد فقال «إنما يلبسها من لا خلاق له في الآخرة» ثم أهداها إليه بعد فكساها أخاً له مشركاً بمكة.