conceal themselves (1)? Or, if my back was to them, how could they have thought it permissible to look into my house at (2) my wife? By Allah, I went in to no woman but my own wife, who merely resembles her.
ʿUmar therefore began with Abū Bakrah. He testified that he had seen him between the legs of Umm Jamil, inserting and withdrawing—like a kohl-stick in its holder. ʿUmar asked, “In what position did you see the two of them?” He replied, “With their backs to me.” ʿUmar said, “Then how did you recognise (3) her head (4)?” He answered, “I strained myself to see.” ʿUmar then summoned Shibl ibn Maʿbad, who gave the same testimony. He asked, “Were they facing you or turned away?” He replied, “Facing me.” Nāfiʿ gave testimony similar to that of Abū Bakrah, but Ziyād did not testify as they had. He said, “I saw him sitting between the legs of a woman; I saw two henna-dyed feet beating together, two sleeves uncovered, and I heard heavy panting (5).” ʿUmar asked, “Did you see anything like a kohl-stick (6) entering and withdrawing in its container?” He answered, “No.” He said, “Do you recognise the woman?” He said, “No, but she resembles her.” ʿUmar said, “Stand aside.”
It is related that ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with him—then pronounced the takbīr and ordered that the three be given the statutory punishment of flogging, while he recited: “So if they do not produce the witnesses, then in the sight of Allah they are indeed the liars (13)” [al-Nūr 24:13].
Al-Mughīra said, “Grant me satisfaction against these slaves.” ʿUmar replied, “Be quiet—may Allah silence your mouth! By Allah, had their testimony been completed, we would have stoned you with your own stones.”
Conquest of al-Ahwāz and Manādhir (7) and Nahr Tīray (8)
Ibn Jarīr (9) said: “This occurred in this very year—some say in the year sixteen.” He then related, through Sayf from his shaykhs, that al-Hurmuzān had taken control of these provinces (he was among those Persians who had fled on the day of al-Qādisiyyah). Abū Mūsā set out from Basra, and ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān from Kūfa, each leading an army to fight him. Allah granted them victory over him; they seized from him the land between the Tigris and the Dijayl, took whatever spoils of his army they wished, and killed whomever they wished. Al-Hurmuzān then sued for peace, seeking a treaty for the remainder of his territory. They consulted ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān, who agreed to the truce, sent the fifth share and the good news to ʿUmar, and dispatched a delegation that included al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays. ʿUmar was impressed with him and held him in high regard. He wrote to ʿUtbah commending al-Aḥnaf, instructing him to consult him and benefit from his counsel. Later al-Hurmuzān broke the covenant and the treaty, enlisted a band of Kurds, indulged his own ambition, and Satan made his deed seem fair to him. The Muslims marched out against him, were granted victory, and killed a great multitude of his troops, a vast number of people,