out of his admiration for him, would call him nasīj waḥdihi—“a class of his own.”

On one occasion ʿUmar dispatched him at the head of an army operating in Greater Syria. When he returned, he said:
“Commander of the Believers! Between us and our enemy lies a town called ʿArab al-Sūs (1). It exposes our weak points to the foe—they do this and that, again and again.”

ʿUmar replied, “Give them a choice: either they leave their town and we will grant them two sheep for every sheep, two cattle for every head of cattle—in fact, double of everything they possess. If they accept, grant it to them; if they refuse, then renounce the treaty with them on equal terms (2) and grant them a year’s respite.”

He said, “Write for me, Commander of the Believers, your directive concerning this.”

So ʿUmayr presented the offer to them; they refused. He allowed them a year, and then he broke with them.

Someone informed ʿUmar, “ʿUmayr has devastated ʿArab al-Sūs and done such-and-such,” and he became angry with him. When ʿUmayr arrived, ʿUmar struck him with his whip and said, “You have laid waste to ʿArab al-Sūs!”

ʿUmayr remained silent. After ʿUmar entered his house, ʿUmayr asked permission to come in, entered, and read the written directive aloud to him.

ʿUmar then said, “May Allah forgive you.”

ʿArab al-Sūs is now a desolation; it lies beyond Darb al-Ḥadath (3).

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hārūn ibn ʿAntara said: “My father told me, on the authority of my grandfather, that ʿUmayr ibn…"