al-Aḥwaṣ, from ʿAbd Allāh …—and he related the same report. (1)

Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ said: “Abū Bakr appointed Abū ʿUbaydah over the bayt al-māl (state treasury).” (2)

I say: that is, he was put in charge of the Muslims’ wealth, for no independent treasury had yet been set up; the first to establish one was ʿUmar.

Khalīfah added: “Thereafter, in the year 13 AH, Abū Bakr sent him to Syria as commander. In that same year ʿUmar became caliph; he dismissed Khālid ibn al-Walīd and appointed Abū ʿUbaydah.” (3)

Al-Qāsim ibn Yazīd reported: Sufyān narrated to us, from Ziyād ibn Fayyāḍ, from Tamīm ibn Salamah, that ʿUmar met Abū ʿUbaydah, shook his hand, kissed it, and the two withdrew together, weeping. (4)

Ibn al-Mubārak relates in his book al-Jihād: from Hishām ibn Saʿd, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, who said: Word reached ʿUmar that Abū ʿUbaydah was under siege in Syria and that the enemy had gained ground against him. ʿUmar wrote to him: “To proceed: whenever a believing servant is tried by hardship, Allah soon grants relief, and a single difficulty can never overcome two eases. ‘O you who have believed, persevere, outdo others in perseverance, and stand firm’ (Āl ʿImrān 3:200).”

He said: Abū ʿUbaydah replied to him: “To proceed: Allah says, ‘The life of this world is nothing but play and amusement … a deceptive provision’ (al-Ḥadīd 57:20).”

He said: Then ʿUmar went out—