Sayf again transmitted it—this time through Mujālid, from al-Shaʿbī—with wording to the same effect.

ʿAbd Allah ibn Wahb related, from Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb, from Ibn ʿAjlān, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, that ʿUmar dispatched an army and placed a man in command of it (called Sāriyah). While ʿUmar was delivering the sermon he began to call out, “O Sāriyah, the mountain! O Sāriyah, the mountain!”—three times. Later the army’s courier arrived and ʿUmar questioned him. He replied, “Commander of the Believers, we had been defeated; while we were in that plight we suddenly heard a voice crying, ‘O Sāriyah, the mountain!’ three times. We put our backs to the mountain, and Allah routed them.” It was then said to ʿUmar, “You were the one who called that out.” This chain of transmission is reliable and fair.

Al-Wāqidī said: Nāfiʿ ibn Abī Nuʿaym narrated to me, from Nāfiʿ, the freedman of Ibn ʿUmar, that ʿUmar proclaimed from the pulpit, “O Sāriyah ibn Zunaym, the mountain!” The people did not understand what he meant until Sāriyah ibn Zunaym later came to Madinah and met ʿUmar. He said, “Commander of the Believers, we were besieging the enemy, spending days without anyone coming out against us. We were on low ground while they were in a high fortress. Then I heard a caller shout exactly as you did: ‘O Sāriyah ibn Zunaym, the mountain!’ I therefore led my men up the mountain, and within the hour Allah granted us victory.”

The ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim al-Lālakāʾī likewise transmitted it through the route of Mālik, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar in similar terms, though the soundness of Mālik’s wording is subject to review.

Al-Wāqidī also said: Usāmah ibn Zayd narrated to me from Aslam, from his father; and Abū Sulaymān from Yaʿqūb ibn Zayd—both said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) came out on Friday for the prayer, ascended the pulpit, and then cried, “O Sāriyah ibn Zunaym, the mountain! O Sāriyah ibn Zunaym, the mountain! He has wronged the flock who sets the wolf to guard it.” He then delivered his sermon until he finished.

A letter from Sāriyah later reached ʿUmar stating, “Allah granted us victory on Friday at such-and-such an hour”—the very hour in which ʿUmar had spoken from the pulpit (1). Sāriyah wrote: “I heard a voice: ‘O Sāriyah ibn Zunaym, the mountain! O Sāriyah ibn Zunaym, the mountain! He has wronged the flock who sets the wolf to guard it.’ So I led my men up the mountain. Before that we had been in the bottom of a valley with the enemy surrounding us, and Allah granted us victory.”

People asked ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb, “What were those words?” He replied, “By Allah, I uttered only what was cast upon my tongue.” Thus these numerous routes corroborate (2) one another.

[The Conquest of Kirman, Sijistān, and Makrān]

Ibn Jarīr (3) also recorded, through the chain of Sayf from his teachers, that Kirman was conquered at the hands of Suhayl ibn ʿAdī, who was reinforced by ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿItbān; it was also said that the conquest occurred under ʿAbd Allah ibn Budayl ibn Waraqāʾ al-Khuzaʿī. He likewise mentioned the conquest of Sijistān (4) at the hands of