that Caesarea in Palestine was taken, that Heraclius fled, and that Egypt was conquered in the year 20 AH.
Sayf ibn ʿUmar, however, maintained that both Caesarea and Egypt were opened in the year 16 AH. Ibn Jarīr ⦗1⦘ remarks: “The conquest of Caesarea has already been discussed; as for Egypt, I shall recount it under the events of the year 20 AH, Allah willing.”
Al-Wāqidī says: “In that same year a fire erupted in Ḥarrat Laylā ⦗2⦘. ʿUmar intended to go out with the men to confront it, but instead ordered the Muslims to give charity, whereupon it was extinguished—praise be to Allah.”
It is further said that in this year the Battle of Armenia took place under the command of ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ. During it Ṣafwān ibn al-Muʿaṭṭal ibn Raḥḍah ⦗3⦘ al-Sulamī, later called al-Dhakwānī, was struck down; he was one of the commanders on that day. Concerning him the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I know nothing about him but good.” ⦗4⦘ He was the one the hypocrites implicated in the Incident of the Slander, yet Allah cleared both him and the honor of the Mother of the Believers, the wife of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, of their allegations. Up to that time he had not married, which is why he said, “By Allah, I have never lifted the veil of any woman.” He married later, but he was a heavy sleeper and would at times oversleep the dawn prayer, as related in Sunan Abū Dāwūd ⦗5⦘ and elsewhere. A poet by talent, he ultimately attained martyrdom in the path of Allah—some say in this very region, others in al-Jazīrah, and others at Sumaysāṭ ⦗6⦘; portions of this have been mentioned earlier.
Some hold that Tikrīt was conquered in the same year, though the sounder view is that it occurred earlier. Also during it, as we have noted, the Byzantines captured ʿAbd Allah ibn Ḥudhāfah ⦗7⦘.
In Dhū al-Ḥijjah of that year a battle was fought in Iraqi territory in which the prince of the Magians, Shahrak ⦗8⦘, was killed, while the commander of the Muslims was al-Ḥakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ—may Allah be pleased with him.
Ibn Jarīr adds ⦗9⦘ that during this year ʿUmar led the people in the pilgrimage, and his governors and judges throughout the provinces remained those mentioned previously. Allah knows best.