so that not a single Muslim was lost—indeed, not even one, except for a single man named Gharqada (1) al-Bariqi. He slipped from his light-coloured horse, but Qaʿqāʿ ibn ʿAmr seized the bridle, grasped the man’s hand, and set him back upon his mount. Gharqada was himself a valiant fighter, and he exclaimed, “Women are incapable of giving birth to anyone like Qaʿqāʿ ibn ʿAmr!”
Nothing of the Muslims’ property went missing except a wooden cup belonging to a man called Mālik ibn ʿĀmir. Its strap was threadbare, and a wave swept it away. Its owner then supplicated Allah—exalted is He—saying, “O Allah, do not allow my belongings to be lost while everyone else’s are preserved.” The wave brought the cup back to the very bank toward which they were heading; the people retrieved it and returned it to its owner intact.
Whenever a horse tired while still in the water, Allah would provide it with something like a raised mound on which it could stand and rest. Indeed, some of the mounts advanced with the water not even reaching their girths. It was an extraordinary day—awesome, tremendous, and momentous—an unmistakable marvel and a miracle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that Allah bestowed upon his Companions. Nothing like it had ever been seen in those regions or anywhere else, except for the earlier incident of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Ḥaḍramī—but this was even greater, for this army was (2) many times larger than that one.
They relate that the one riding beside Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ in the river was Salmān al-Fārisī. Saʿd kept repeating, “Allah is sufficient for us and He is the best Protector. By Allah, Allah will surely aid His friend, make His religion prevail, and rout His enemy—provided there is no wrongdoing in the army or sins that outweigh the good deeds.” Salman replied, “Islam is still new; by Allah, the seas have been made as submissive to them as the land. By Him in whose hand is Salmān’s soul, they will come out of it in companies just as they entered in companies.” And they emerged exactly as Salman had said: not one of them drowned, nor did they lose a single thing.
When the Muslims gained firm footing on land, their horses shook their dripping manes and neighed, and they pursued the Persians until they entered al-Madāʾin. They found the city empty; Chosroes had taken his family and whatever wealth, furnishings, and stores he could carry, leaving behind what he could not: livestock, clothing, household goods, vessels, delicacies, and oils whose worth was incalculable. In the royal treasury were three thousand thousand thousand thousand dinars—three times over—but the Muslims took only what they could manage and left what they could not, roughly half of the total.
The first to enter al-Madāʾin were the Battalion of Terrors, followed by the Silent Battalion; they moved through its lanes (3) encountering no resistance, fearing only the White Palace, for it was fortified and manned.
When Saʿd arrived with the main army, he summoned the occupants of the White Palace for three days through the words of Salmān al-Fārisī. On the third day they descended, whereupon Saʿd took up residence in the palace and made the Great Īwān his place of prayer. As he entered he recited:
“How many gardens and springs they left behind,
and crops and splendid dwellings,
and comforts in which they delighted!
Thus it was, and We caused another people to inherit them.”
(Ad-Dukhān 44:25-28)
He then advanced to the front of the hall and prayed eight rakʿahs, the Prayer of Conquest.