the banner once more, and they readied themselves again. Then he pronounced the third takbīr—and charged; the troops (1) surged against the polytheists, and al-Nuʿmān’s standard swooped down upon the Persians (2) like an eagle upon its prey. They closed until their swords met, and they fought with a ferocity unmatched in any earlier encounter; no listener has ever heard of a battle (3) comparable to it.
From the passing of the sun’s zenith until nightfall so many of the unbelievers were slain that their blood covered the ground, the animals leaving hoof-prints in it. It was said that Emir al-Nuʿmān ibn Muqarrin’s horse slipped in that blood, throwing him; an arrow then struck him in the flank (and killed him). No one perceived this but his brother Suwayd—others said Nuʿaym—who spread his cloak over him, hid his death, and handed the banner to Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān. Ḥudhayfah placed his brother Nuʿaym in command of it and ordered that the emir’s death be kept secret until the issue was decided, lest the men break and run.
When night closed in, the idolaters fled in disorder and the Muslims pursued. The disbelievers had chained thirty thousand of their own men together and dug a trench around them; when they retreated they tumbled into that trench and into the surrounding ravines—about one hundred thousand of them—so that multitudes perished there, roughly one hundred thousand or more besides those killed in the actual clash, and only scattered fugitives escaped.
Their commander Fīruzān had been unhorsed during the fighting but managed to slip away. Nuʿaym ibn Muqarrin set off after him, with al-Qaʿqāʿ riding ahead. Fīruzān headed for Hamadhān, but al-Qaʿqāʿ overtook him at the mountain pass of Hamadhān just as numerous mules and donkeys laden with honey were coming down it. Blocked by the animals, Fīruzān could not ascend; at that moment he dismounted and tried to scramble up the mountainside, but al-Qaʿqāʿ followed and killed him.
The Muslims said that day, “Indeed, Allah has hosts made of honey!” They captured the honey along with the rest of the loads, and the pass was named Thaniyyat al-ʿAsal—“the Pass of Honey.” Al-Qaʿqāʿ then pursued the remaining fugitives to Hamadhān, besieged it, and took control of the surrounding region. Its governor—Khusrah Shanūm—came down and concluded a treaty of capitulation. Al-Qaʿqāʿ returned to Ḥudhayfah and the Muslims with him, who, after the battle, had stormed Nihāvand by force and gathered the weapons and spoils with the officer responsible for distributions (4), al-Sāʾib ibn al-Aqraʿ.
When the people of Māh heard what had happened to Hamadhān, they sent envoys to Ḥudhayfah and obtained from him a guarantee of safety (5). A man known as al-Harbad (6)—custodian of their sacred fire—then approached Ḥudhayfah seeking protection so that he might hand over a trust belonging to Kisrā, set aside for times of calamity. Ḥudhayfah granted him security, and the man produced two caskets (7) filled with priceless jewels. The Muslims, however, attached no special importance to them; they agreed unanimously to dispatch them (8) to ʿUmar personally, and sent them off.