Khalid ibn al-Walid's March to Syria

مسير خالد بن الوليد إلى الشام

c. June 634 CE · Rabi' I 13 AH

In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr's letter reached him at al-Hira he left al-Muthanna ibn Haritha al-Shaybani over the Kufa side and marched in Rabi' al-Akhir of year 13 with eight hundred — some say five hundred — taking Ayn al-Tamr by force (others say the letter reached him there after its conquest), then Sandawda', held by Kinda, Iyad and Persians, whose people fought and were overcome — he left Sa'd ibn Amr ibn Haram al-Ansari over it, whose descendants dwell there today; hearing of an apostate gathering of Banu Taghlib at al-Mudayyih and al-Musayyid under Rabi'a ibn Bujayr he defeated them, took captives and spoil and sent them to Abu Bakr — among them Umm Habib al-Sahba' bint Habib ibn Bujayr, mother of Umar ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him); he raided Qaraqir, a Kalbi watering-place, then traversed the desert to Suwa, likewise Kalbi, where Bahra' were with them, killing Hurqus ibn al-Nu'man al-Bahrani of Quda'a and sweeping up their wealth; entering the waterless stretch he watered the camels, slit their lips and made them drool so they would not ruminate and thirst, carrying abundant water which ran out on the way — so he slaughtered the camels one by one, drinking with his men the water of their bellies, his guide Rafi' ibn Umayra al-Ta'i earning the poet's verse 'God bless Rafi' — how he guided, traversing from Qaraqir to Suwa'; from Suwa to al-Kawa'il, then Qarqisiya whose lord abandoned it for Byzantine lands, then Arak whose people he besieged until it fell by treaty for a payment to the Muslims, then Dumat al-Jandal which he took, then Qusam whose Banu Mashja'a ibn al-Taym of Quda'a made peace for a written aman, then Tadmur whose people resisted and fortified themselves then asked safety — granted on being dhimma, quartering the Muslims and submitting to them — then al-Qaryatayn whose people fought and were overcome with spoil, then Hawwarin of Sanir whose people fought with reinforcements from Ba'labakk and Busra and were overcome with captives and killing, then Marj Rahit where he raided the Ghassan on their Easter taking captives and killing; he sent Busr ibn Abi Artat al-Amiri of Quraysh and Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri (may God be pleased with him) to the Ghouta of Damascus to raid its villages, stood at the pass known as Thaniyyat al-Uqab by Damascus unfurling his banner — a black banner that had been the Prophet ﷺ's — whence its name that day, camped at the eastern gate of Damascus — some say Bab al-Jabiya — whose bishop brought him hospitality and service receiving a promise to keep the covenant, then marched to join the Muslims at the canal of Busra.