all of it. They then proceeded to the White Palace, where some people had barricaded themselves; they too concluded a peace agreement.

It is also reported that when the Persians saw the Muslims plunging into the river they were bewildered and said, “By God, we are not fighting human beings; we are fighting jinn!”—and so they turned and fled.

Saʿd took up residence in the White Palace and set the iwan up as a place of prayer; although it contained plaster statues, he left them untouched.

When he reached the throne room of Chosroes he began to recite: “How many gardens and fountains did they leave behind, and fields…” (Qur’an 44: 25–26).

They relate that Saʿd completed the full prayer on the day he entered the city, for he intended to remain there, and that this was the first Friday congregational prayer ever held in Iraq. It occurred in Ṣafar of the year 16 AH.

Al-Ṭabarī says: After setting aside the khums (one-fifth), Saʿd distributed the fayʾ, so that each horseman received 12,000; the entire army consisted of cavalry.

Saʿd also allotted the houses of al-Madāʾin among the people and settled them there. He collected the khums, placing in it everything of Chosroes’ garments, ornaments, and sword, and then said to the Muslims, “Would you be willing to cede the other four-fifths of this carpet so that we can send it to ʿUmar, who will dispose of it as he sees fit and thereby win the goodwill of the people of Madinah?” They replied, “Yes,” so he dispatched it intact.

The carpet measured 60 cubits by 60 cubits, a single piece about the size of a jirīb. It displayed pathways like painted scenes, gems gleaming like daylight, and pearl-like inlays. Its borders resembled cultivated fields, while its ground looked like a spring garden—silk woven upon golden reeds, its blossoms fashioned of gold, silver, and the like.

ʿUmar cut it into pieces and distributed them among the people; ʿAlī received one piece and sold it for 20,000.

Within three years the Muslims had taken hold of the very throne of Chosroes,