Muhammad ibn Isḥāq (1) transmitted—through Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, from Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim al-Bajalī, who was present at al-Qādisiyyah—the following account:

“There was a man from Thaqīf with us who defected to the Persians, apostatizing, and informed them that the strongest fighters were on the sector held by the tribe of Bajīlah. We ourselves were only a quarter of the army. So the Persians sent sixteen elephants against us, scattered iron caltrops beneath our horses’ hooves, and pelted us with arrows in a downpour that felt like rain. They even chained (2) their horses together so the animals would not bolt.

ʿAmr ibn Maʿdī Yakrib al-Zubaydī kept passing by us, calling out, ‘O Emigrants, fight like lions—after all, the Persian is nothing but a billy-goat!’ Among the enemy ranks was an aswār, an elite Persian archer whose arrow almost never missed. We said to ʿAmr, ‘O Abū Thawr, beware (3) of that Persian (4); none of his arrows falls short.’ The Persian turned toward him and loosed an arrow (5) that struck ʿAmr’s shield; ʿAmr then charged, grappled with him, slew him, and stripped from him two golden armlets, a gold belt, and a yalmuq (6) of brocade.

The Muslims numbered six or seven thousand. Allah caused Rustam (7) to be killed; the man who slew him was Hilāl ibn ʿAlqamah (8) al-Tamīmī. Rustam had shot an arrow that pierced Hilāl’s foot, but Hilāl closed in, killed him, and severed his head. The Persians fled; the Muslims pursued, striking them down until they caught them at a place where the Persians had encamped and felt secure (9). While the enemy were drunk, drinking and playing, the Muslims burst in and slaughtered a great many of them. There, Jālīnūs was killed as well, slain by Zuhrah ibn Ḥawiyyah (10) al-Tamīmī.

The Muslims continued the chase, and whenever the two forces met, Allah granted victory to the party of the All-Merciful and abandoned the party of Satan and the worshippers of the fire. The spoils they gained were so vast that neither scale nor balance could measure them; some were even heard to say, ‘Who will trade a white coin for a yellow one?’ (11) because of the sheer abundance of booty taken from the Persian cavalry. They kept up the pursuit until they had crossed the Euphrates after them and captured al-Madāʾin and Jalūlāʾ—as will be detailed in its proper place, if Allah Most High wills; in Him we place our trust.