Ibn Jarīr said: On the basis of al-Wāqidī’s report, Saʿd’s governorship of Kūfa lasted through the year twenty-five. (1)

Ibn Jarīr (2) further stated: In this same year—meaning the year twenty-four—al-Walīd ibn ʿUqba campaigned against Azerbaijan and Armenia after their people withheld the tribute they had agreed to pay the Muslims in the days of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. (3) This is the version transmitted by Abū Mikhnaf; others place the event in the year twenty-six. Ibn Jarīr then recounted the encounter, summarising it as follows:

Al-Walīd ibn ʿUqba marched with the Kūfan army toward Azerbaijan and Armenia once they had broken the covenant, penetrated their lands and launched raids throughout the region, taking booty, captives, and abundant wealth. When the inhabitants realised that destruction was imminent, they renewed the pact on the same terms previously concluded with Ḥudhayfa ibn al-Yamān—eight hundred thousand dirhams every year. Al-Walīd collected one year’s jizyah from them and then returned, safe and victorious, to Kūfa, passing through Mosul. While he was there a letter from ʿUthmān reached him, instructing him to reinforce the people of Syria in their war against the Byzantines.

Ibn Jarīr said: In that same year the Byzantines mustered, striking fear into the Syrians, who wrote to ʿUthmān (may Allah be pleased with him) for assistance. He wrote to al-Walīd ibn ʿUqba: “When this letter of mine reaches you, dispatch a trustworthy, noble, and courageous man with eight, or nine, or ten thousand troops to your brothers in Syria.”

When ʿUthmān’s letter arrived, al-Walīd ibn ʿUqba addressed the people, informing them of the Commander of the Believers’ instruction. He urged them to wage jihad and to assist Muʿāwiyah and the people of Syria, appointing Salmān ibn Rabīʿa over those who would depart. Within three days eight thousand volunteers had assembled, and he sent them to Syria, where the overall commander of the Muslim forces was Ḥabīb ibn Maslama (4) al-Fihri. Once the two armies linked up, they launched raids on Byzantine territory, seized great quantities of booty and captives, and opened many fortresses—praise be to Allah.

Al-Wāqidī, however, claims that the one who reinforced the Syrians with Salmān ibn Rabīʿa was in fact Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ, acting on a letter from ʿUthmān (may Allah be pleased with him). Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ dispatched Salmān ibn Rabīʿa with six thousand cavalry until he joined Ḥabīb ibn Maslama. The Byzantine commander Mawryān (5) advanced against them with eighty thousand Byzantines and Turks. Ḥabīb ibn Maslama was a bold and resolute warrior; he determined to launch a night attack on the Byzantine camp. His wife overheard him telling the commanders of his plan and asked, “And where is my rendezvous with you?”—meaning, “Where shall I meet you tomorrow?” (6) He replied, “Your rendezvous is either in Mawryān’s pavilion or in Paradise.”

That very night he advanced with the Muslims, killing all who confronted him. His wife reached Mawryān’s pavilion before he did, becoming the first Arab woman for whom a pavilion was pitched. Ḥabīb ibn Maslama later died, and al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays al-Fihri married her; she bore him children.