—or as a dead man?’ ʿUmar answered, ‘Speak; no blame will attach to you.’

Hormuzān said, ‘We—and you, the Arabs—when God left matters between us and you, used to seize your goods, kill you, and do as we wished. But once God sided with you, we could raise no hand against you.’

ʿUmar turned to me and said, ‘O Anas, what do you think?’ I replied, ‘Commander of the Believers, he has left behind many followers and considerable strength. If you execute him, his people will lose all hope of life and their resistance will only harden.’

ʿUmar retorted, ‘And am I to spare the slayer of al-Barāʾ and Mujazzaʾah ibn Thawr?!’ Sensing that he meant to kill him, I said, ‘There is no way to do that; you have already told him, “Speak, no blame.”’ He said, ‘Bring me someone other than yourself who can testify to this.’ I met al-Zubayr, who testified with me, and so ʿUmar let him be. Hormuzān embraced Islam, ʿUmar allotted him a stipend, and he remained in Medina.

In that same year Heraclius, the great emperor of Byzantium—the one to whom the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had written inviting him to Islam—died, and his son Constantine succeeded him.

That year also, ʿUmar divided Khaybar and expelled its Jews, apportioned Wadi al-Qurā, and moved the Jews of Najrān to Kufa. This was reported by Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī.

Year 21 AH

It is said that in this year ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ conquered Alexandria, as mentioned earlier.

In the same year the people of Kufa complained about Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and gave him a hard time, so ʿUmar removed him and appointed ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir to lead the prayer, Ibn Masʿūd over the Treasury, and ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf to survey the land of al-Sawād.

That year as well, ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ marched, settled in Tawwaj, and established it as a garrison town.