and of Caesar as well, together with the principal seats of both their realms. The Muslims secured spoils the like of which had never been heard of—gold, jewels, silk, captives, whole cities, and palaces. All glory be to God, the Mighty, the Opener of victory.

Chosroes and Caesar, and the kings before them, had enjoyed a sovereignty that lasted many ages. The Sassanids—the Persian Magians—ruled over Iraq and Persia for roughly five hundred years. Their first king was Dārā, whose reign was so long that some say it lasted two hundred years. Altogether they had twenty-five sovereigns, two of them women, the last being Yazdajird, who met his end during the caliphate of ʿUthmān.

Among their rulers was Sābūr, surnamed Dhū al-Aktāf ("the Shoulder-Ripper"). He was invested with the kingship while still in his mother’s womb: his father died while she was pregnant, and the soothsayers declared, “This child will rule the earth.” They therefore placed the crown upon the mother’s belly and issued decrees in his name even though he was unborn—an event without precedent. He was called “the Shoulder-Ripper” because he would tear the shoulders from those who angered him. He built the Great Īwān and founded Nishapur and Sijistān.

Among their later kings was Anūshirwān, a shrewd and resolute man. He possessed twelve thousand wives and concubines, fifty thousand mounts, and one thousand elephants minus one. Our Prophet was born during his reign, and Anūshirwān died the same year that ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib passed away. When the Companions captured the Īwān they burned its curtain, and from it there poured a million mithqals of gold.

The Battle of Jalūlāʾ

In that same year Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī says: “God slew from among the Persians one hundred—”