by a single gate; instead, enter by separate gates. I can avail you nothing against Allah. Judgment rests with none but Allah. In Him I have placed my trust, and in Him let the trusting place their trust.” ⦗Yusuf 67⦘

Accordingly, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan’s march followed the Tabuk route.

Al-Madaʾini, transmitting through his authorities, said: Abu Bakr dispatched these armies at the beginning of the year 13 AH.

Muhammad ibn Ishaq (1), on the authority of Salih ibn Kaysan, reported: Abu Bakr walked while Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan rode, giving him counsel all the way. When he finished, he said, “Peace be upon you, and I commit you to Allah.” He then turned back, and Yazid pressed on at full speed. Shurahbil ibn Hasana followed him, and after that Abu ʿUbaydah as reinforcement for the two; they took a different route.

ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs set out until he encamped in Palestine, part of al-Sham (2). It is also said that Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan first halted at al-Balqaʾ, Shurahbil in the Jordan region—some say at Busra—and Abu ʿUbaydah at al-Jabiya. Al-Ṣiddiq kept reinforcing them with troops and instructed every incoming contingent to attach itself to whichever commander it preferred. It is said that when Abu ʿUbaydah passed through the land of al-Balqaʾ he fought its people until they concluded a treaty with him; this was the first pact concluded in Syria.

Another report states that the first engagement in Syria occurred when the Byzantines gathered at a place called al-ʿAraba (3) in Palestine. He (4) sent Abu Umamah at the head of a detachment; they routed them, seized spoils, and killed a prominent baṭriq (Byzantine officer). After this came the battle of Marj al-Ṣuffar, in which—according to one account—Khālid ibn Saʿid ibn al-ʿAs and a group of Muslims were martyred. Another version holds that the martyr at Marj al-Ṣuffar was a son of Khālid ibn Saʿid, while Khālid himself fled until he reached the Ḥijāz; Allah knows best. This was related by Ibn Jarir (5).

Ibn Jarir (6) also said: When Khālid ibn Saʿid reached Taymaʾ, contingents of Byzantines assembled against him, joined by large numbers of Christian Arabs from Bahrāʾ (8), Tanūkh, Banū Kalb, Salīḥ, Lakhm, Judhām, and Ghassān (7). Khālid advanced toward them; but as he drew near they dispersed, and many of them entered Islam. He wrote to al-Ṣiddiq informing him of the victory, whereupon al-Ṣiddiq ordered him to press forward without hesitation and reinforced him with al-Walid ibn ʿUqbah (9).