the rubbish upon the Rock until it even reached the prayer-niche of David. He said to them, “You deserve to be killed for this heap of filth with which you have insulted this mosque, just as the Children of Israel were killed over the blood of John son of Zechariah.” They were therefore ordered to clear it away and set to work, but had removed barely a third of it before the Muslims conquered the city; ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab then cleared it completely. The ḥadith-master Bahāʾ al-Dīn, son of the ḥadith-master Abū l-Qāsim ibn ʿAsākir, has documented all of this with full chains of transmission and texts in his book Al-Mustaqṣā fī Faḍāʾil al-Masjid al-Aqṣā.

Sayf ⦗1⦘ further relates that ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, mounted a horse in Madinah so that he might travel swiftly, having appointed ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his deputy there. He rode on until he reached al-Jābiyah, where he dismounted and delivered a long, eloquent sermon that included the following words:

“O people, set right your inner selves and your outward affairs will be set right; work for your Hereafter and your worldly concerns will be taken care of. Know that between any man and Adam there is no living father, and between him and Allah there is no special kinship. Whoever seeks the spacious garden ⦗2⦘ of Paradise, let him keep to the community, for Satan is with the solitary person, but he is farther from two. Let none of you be alone with a woman, for Satan is the third of the two. Whoever is gladdened by his good deed and saddened by his bad deed—that is the believer.” ⦗3⦘ (It is a lengthy sermon, of which we have given only this abridgement.)

ʿUmar then made peace with the people of al-Jābiyah and set out for Bayt al-Maqdis. He had written to the commanders of the armies instructing them to meet him in al-Jābiyah on a particular day, and they all gathered there on that day. The first to greet him was Yazīd ibn Abī Sufyān, followed by Abū ʿUbaydah and then Khālid ibn al-Walīd, leading the Muslim cavalry whose mounts were draped with yalāmiq of silk brocade ⦗4⦘. ʿUmar advanced toward them intending to pelt them with pebbles ⦗5⦘, but they excused themselves, saying that they were in full armour and needed it for their battles, whereupon he left them alone. All the commanders then assembled, having appointed deputies over their respective districts—apart from ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ and Shuraḥbīl, for the two of them were facing the Arṭabūn at Ajnādīn ⦗6⦘.

While ʿUmar was still in al-Jābiyah, a contingent of Byzantines appeared, swords drawn. The Muslims moved toward them with their weapons, but ʿUmar said, “These people are coming to seek protection.” When they approached, it turned out that they were troops from Jerusalem who had come to request safety and a treaty from the Commander of the Faithful after hearing of his arrival. ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, granted their request, wrote for them a document of security and reconciliation, imposed the jizya upon them, and stipulated conditions that Ibn Jarīr has recorded ⦗7⦘. The document was witnessed by Khālid ibn al-Walīd, ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, and Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān—who served as its scribe—and it was issued in the year 15 AH.