ʿUmar to mobilize the people for war against the inhabitants of Iraq. When al-Ṣiddīq passed away and was buried on the night of Tuesday, ʿUmar rose the next morning and called upon the people, urging them to fight the people of Iraq. He exhorted them and encouraged them with the reward awaiting them, yet no one stepped forward, for the people loathed engaging the Persians because of their formidable might and their fierce fighting. He summoned them again on the second and third days, but still no one responded (1).
Al-Muthannā ibn Ḥārithah then spoke eloquently, telling them how Allah had granted Khālid the conquest of most of Iraq and how great were the riches, estates, goods, and provisions awaiting them there. Even so, on that third day not a single man arose.
On the fourth day, however, the first Muslim to volunteer was Abū ʿUbayd ibn Masʿūd al-Thaqafī, and after him the people began to answer one after another. ʿUmar formed a detachment from the people of Madinah and placed Abū ʿUbayd—though he was not a Companion—in command over them all.
Someone said to ʿUmar,
“Why did you not appoint a man from among the Companions over them?”
He replied,
“I appoint the one who responded first. You surpassed mankind only by supporting this religion, and this man was the first to respond before you (2).”
He then called Abū ʿUbayd to him privately, enjoined him to fear Allah and to treat the Muslims with him well, and ordered him to consult the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and, in particular, to seek the counsel of Salīṭ ibn Qays, for he was a man seasoned in warfare.
The Muslims set out for Iraq—seven thousand strong. ʿUmar wrote to Abū ʿUbaydah instructing him to send to Iraq those of the men who had previously marched with Khālid; ten thousand were prepared under the command of Hāshim ibn ʿUtbah. ʿUmar also dispatched Jarīr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Bajalī with four thousand men to Iraq. He reached Kūfah, set out from it, engaged Hirqarān al-Madār, killed him, and his army fled, most of them drowning in the Tigris.
When the forces arrived in Iraq, they found the Persians in turmoil over the throne. Matters finally settled with the enthronement of Būrān, daughter of Kisrā, after they had slain her predecessor Āzarmīdokht. Būrān delegated the affairs of state for ten years to a man among them named Rustam ibn Farrukhzād, on condition that he handle the war and that the monarchy afterward revert to a descendant of Kisrā; he accepted. Rustam was an astrologer, well versed in the science of the stars.
He was asked, “What moved you to accept this, knowing that the matter will never be yours in the end?” He replied, “Greed and the love of prestige.”
The Battle of Namāriq
Rustam dispatched a commander named Jābān, with two officers on his flanks: one called Ḥashnasmāh and the other Mardānshāh, a eunuch who served as the Persians’ chief chamberlain. They encountered Abū ʿUbayd at a place called al-Namāriq (4)—situated between al-Ḥīrah and al-Qādisiyyah. Al-Muthannā ibn Ḥārithah commanded the cavalry, while ʿAmr ibn al-Haytham was over the left wing. A fierce battle was fought there; Allah routed the Persians, and Jābān and Mardānshāh were taken prisoner. The captor of Mardānshāh killed him, whereas Jābān resorted to deception