Report of the Battles of al-Ḥuṣayd (1) and al-Muṣabakh (2)

Saif (3) transmits—from Muḥammad, Ṭalḥah and al-Muhallab—who said:

Khalid had remained at Dūmat al-Jandal. The Persians therefore supposed he was detained there and wrote to the Arabs of al-Jazīrah; they gathered to fight him and moved against al-Anbār, intending to wrest it from al-Zibrqān, Khalid’s deputy in the town. When word reached al-Zibrqān he wrote to al-Qaʿqaʿ ibn ʿAmr, Khalid’s lieutenant in al-Ḥīrah. Al-Qaʿqaʿ accordingly dispatched ʿAbad ibn Fadaki (4) al-Saʿdī, assigning him to al-Ḥuṣayd, and he sent ʿUrwah ibn Abī al-Jaʿd al-Bāriqī and ordered him to al-Khanāfis.

Khalid meanwhile returned from Dūma to al-Ḥīrah, resolved to confront the people of al-Madāʾin, the seat of Chosroes, but reluctant to act without the permission of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq. Just then he was distracted by the mustering of Persian forces together with Christian Bedouins who intended to fight him. He therefore appointed al-Qaʿqaʿ ibn ʿAmr commander over the troops. The two sides met at a place called al-Ḥuṣayd. The Persians were led by one of their own named Rūzbah, reinforced by another commander called Zarmihir (6). A fierce battle ensued, the polytheists were routed, and the Muslims killed a great many of them. Al-Qaʿqaʿ himself (with his own hand) killed Zarmihir, and a man called ʿIṣmah ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Ḍabbī killed Rūzbah (7). The Muslims seized abundant spoils, while those Persians who escaped fled to a place called Khanāfis.

Abū Laylā ibn Fadaki al-Saʿdī pursued them; when they perceived this they withdrew to al-Muṣayyakh. After they had settled there—together with the Persians and Bedouins who had joined them—Khalid ibn al-Walid advanced against them with the forces under his command. He divided the army into three detachments and launched a night raid while they were asleep, laying them low (8). Only a few managed to flee; they were likened to sheep flung on their flanks.

Ibn Jarīr (9) relates on the authority of ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim, who said:

During that raid we came upon a man named Ḥurqūṣ ibn al-Nuʿmān al-Namrī. Around him stood his sons, his daughters, and his wife. He had placed before them a large bowl of wine, and they were saying,

“Who would drink at such a time when Khalid’s armies are upon us?”

He replied, “Drink a parting draught, for I do not think you will taste wine after this.” So they drank, and he began to recite (10):

[of the ṭawīl metre]