and the surrounding provinces and lands, levying the jizyah on their inhabitants. He restored what was already settled, cut irrigation canals through the ruined and barren tracts, and the whole area reached the highest level of prosperity and refinement.

When al-Hurmuzān found his territory constricted by the Muslims’ presence, he asked Jazʾ ibn Muʿāwiyah for a truce. Jazʾ wrote to Ḥurqos, Ḥurqos wrote to ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān, and ʿUtbah referred the matter to ʿUmar. ʿUmar’s reply authorized peace on the basis of Rām-Hurmuza, Tustar, Jundaysābūr (1) and several other towns. The treaty was therefore concluded exactly as ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with him—had commanded.

A Note on the Campaign against the Land of Persia from the Bahrain Front (2) — related by Ibn Jarīr from Sayf

Al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Ḥaḍramī had governed Bahrain in the time of al-Ṣiddīq (Abu Bakr). When ʿUmar became caliph he removed him and appointed Qudāmah ibn Maʿẓūn, but later reinstated al-ʿAlāʾ. Al-ʿAlāʾ had long competed with Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ; so when Saʿd captured al-Qādisiyyah, expelled Kisrā from his seat, secured the borders adjoining the Sawād, and achieved exploits greater than those of al-ʿAlāʾ from Bahrain, al-ʿAlāʾ resolved to match him with a deed in Persia. He called the people to arms; the inhabitants of Bahrain responded, and he divided them into detachments: one under al-Jārūd ibn al-Muʿallā, another under al-Suwwār ibn Hammām, and a third under Khulayḍ ibn al-Mundhir ibn Sāwā—Khulayḍ being commander-in-chief. He shipped them by sea to Persia without ʿUmar’s permission—something ʿUmar disliked, for neither the Messenger of Allah ﷺ nor Abu (3) Bakr had ever sent the Muslims on a naval expedition.

The force crossed from Bahrain to Persia and landed near Istakhr. The Persians then came between them and their ships. Khulayḍ stood before the troops and said:

‘People! By this move these folk mean only to fight you—and you have come to fight them. Seek Allah’s help and attack them; the land and the ships belong to the victor. “Seek help through patience and prayer, though it is indeed heavy except for the humble” (Q 2:45).’

They accepted his counsel, prayed ẓuhr, advanced, and a fierce battle was fought at a place called Ṭāwūs. Khulayḍ ordered the Muslims to dismount and fight on foot; they held their ground, triumphed, and inflicted on the Persians a slaughter the like of which they had never suffered before.

They then set off for Basra, but their ships sank and they could not recross the sea. They found Shahrak with the people of Istakhr blocking the roads, so they encamped and held the enemy at bay.

When ʿUmar heard what al-ʿAlāʾ had done, his anger flared. He summoned him, dismissed him, threatened him, and imposed on him the most burdensome and disagreeable duties, saying, ‘Join Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ.’ Accordingly al-ʿAlāʾ departed to serve under Saʿd.

ʿUmar also wrote to ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān: ‘Al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Ḥaḍramī marched out with an army, only for the people of Persia to cut them off, and he disobeyed me.’