leaving Ḥāritha (1) ibn al-Nuʿmān in command. Reinforcements from Kūfa then reached al-Ahnaf, accompanied by four commanders. When his march brought him to Yazdajird—who had withdrawn to Balkh, and there al-Ahnaf encountered him—Allah, exalted be He, routed Yazdajird; he and what remained of his army fled across the river, and the whole dominion of Khurāsān was firmly secured at the hands of al-Ahnaf ibn Qays. He installed a governor in every town, then returned to camp at Marw al-Rūdh and wrote to ʿUmar informing him that Allah had granted him the complete conquest of Khurāsān.

ʿUmar said, ‘I wish there were a sea of fire between us and Khurāsān.’

ʿAlī asked, ‘Why, O Commander of the Believers?’

He replied, ‘Its people will break their covenant three times, and on the third they will be annihilated.’

ʿAlī said, ‘O Commander of the Believers, I would rather that befall its own people than the Muslims.’

ʿUmar then wrote to al-Ahnaf forbidding him to cross (2) to the lands beyond the river, saying, ‘Safeguard what you already hold of Khurāsān.’

When Yazdajird’s envoy reached the two rulers from whom he had sought assistance, they paid little heed; yet once Yazdajird himself had crossed the river and entered their realm, the law of kings obliged them to aid him. Thus the Great Khāqān, king of the Turks, set out with him, and Yazdajird returned with vast forces that included the Tatar king, Khāqān. They reached Balkh and retook it (3); the deputies appointed by al-Ahnaf fled to him at Marw al-Rūdh (for the idolaters had left Balkh and advanced until they encamped against al-Ahnaf).

Al-Ahnaf therefore moved out (4) with those who were with him from Basra and Kūfa—twenty thousand in all. He overheard one man say to another, ‘If the commander is a man of judgment he will halt in front of this mountain, place it at his back, and leave the river as a moat around him so that the enemy can approach only from one side.’

At daybreak al-Ahnaf ordered the Muslims to take that very position; it proved a sign of victory and right guidance. The Turks and Persians arrived in a vast, fearsome host. Al-Ahnaf addressed the troops, saying:

‘You are few and your enemy many; let that not dismay you. “How many a small company has overcome a great company by Allah’s leave; and Allah is with the steadfast.”’ [al-Baqarah 2:249]

The Turks fought by day, and al-Ahnaf could not discover where they retired at night. One night he set out with a reconnaissance party toward the Khāqān’s camp. Near dawn a Turkish horseman, an advance scout, emerged wearing a torque and beating his drum. Al-Ahnaf went forward; they exchanged two thrusts, and al-Ahnaf speared him and killed him while chanting (5):

It is every leader’s duty indeed
to dye his spear with blood, or see it shattered. (6)
For here lies an elder well prepared—
the sword of Abū Ḥafṣ that yet remains. (7)