when the faces of warriors are cast to the ground.’ ʿUmar replied, “You have spoken the truth; he was exactly that.” (1)

al-Wāqidī said: ʿAmr ibn (2) ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAnbasah narrated to us: I heard Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Dībāj say:

“Khalid remained with Abū ʿUbaydah until Abū ʿUbaydah died and ʿIyād ibn Ghanm was appointed in his place. He then stayed with ʿIyād until ʿIyād passed away; after that Khalid withdrew to Ḥimṣ, settled there, and set aside horses and weapons as an endowment. He kept constant watch on the frontier of Ḥimṣ until death overtook him.

“During his illness Abū al-Dardāʾ visited him. Khalid told him, ‘The horses I have stationed at the frontier are fed from my own wealth, and my house in Medina is a charitable endowment. I had ʿUmar witness both matters. By Allah, Abū al-Dardāʾ, should ʿUmar die, you will behold affairs you will find objectionable.’

Isḥāq ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥah relates from his uncle Mūsā: ‘I journeyed with my father, Ṭalḥah, to Mecca in the company of ʿUmar. While we were unloading our mounts, news arrived of Khalid’s death. ʿUmar cried out, “Abū Muḥammad! O Ṭalḥah! Abū Sulaymān has perished—Khalid ibn al-Walid is dead!”’

Ṭalḥah then recited:
‘Do not let me find you, after I am gone, lamenting me,
when in my lifetime you gave me not a single provision.’ (3)

Abū al-Zinād reports that when Khalid ibn al-Walid was in the throes of death he wept and said, ‘I have taken part in such-and-such battles; there is not a handspan on my body without a sword-stroke or an arrow-wound, yet here I am dying on my bed, by natural causes, like a camel dies. May the eyes of cowards never sleep!’ (4)

Muṣʿab ibn ʿAbd Allāh said: ‘Khalid remained in Syria until ʿUmar relieved him of command, and there he died; ʿUmar himself executed the provisions of his will.’