in the least, so ʿUmar wrote to ʿAmmār, telling him to set out in person, and he sent further reinforcements from Medina.

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakrah reported: “They remained in siege for about a year. Then a man from Tustar came to Abū Mūsā and said, ‘I ask you to spare my life, the lives of my household, and my property, and I will show you the way in.’ Abū Mūsā granted him that. The man added, ‘Now find me an intelligent swimmer who can bring you clear information.’ Abū Mūsā sent with him Mujazzaʾah ibn Thawr al-Sadūsī. Entering through the water channel, Mujazzaʾah would sometimes lie flat on his stomach and sometimes crawl until he got inside the city and learned its streets. The Persian then pointed out Hormuzān, the city’s ruler; Mujazzaʾah was about to kill him but remembered Abū Mūsā’s instruction, ‘Do not pre-empt me in any matter,’ so he returned to Abū Mūsā.

“After that he went back in with thirty-five men, swimming like ducks. They scaled the wall, shouted the takbīr, and fought the defenders on the ramparts. Mujazzaʾah was killed, but those men opened the city, while Hormuzān barricaded himself in a tower.”

Qatādah narrated from Anas: “We did not perform the dawn prayer that day until the sun was halfway to its zenith, and I would not trade that single prayer for the whole world.”

Ibn Sīrīn said: “Al-Barāʾ ibn Mālik was killed that day.”

Another report states that the first man to enter Tustar was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mughaffal al-Muzanī.

Al-Ḥasan said: “Tustar was besieged for two years.”

Al-Shaʿbī said: “Abū Mūsā besieged them for eighteen months, after which Hormuzān surrendered to the judgment of ʿUmar.”

Ḥumayd narrated from Anas: “Hormuzān surrendered to ʿUmar’s judgment. When we brought Hormuzān before him—meaning before ʿUmar—he said, ‘Speak.’ Hormuzān asked, ‘Shall I speak as one who is still alive, or as one already doomed to die?’”