—forty thousand captives. People remarked, “The man is mad! How could he have forty thousand captives as the statutory one-fifth of the booty?” When this reached him, he sent forty thousand captives—the full fifth of what he had taken—and nothing comparable to the prisoners captured by Mūsā ibn Nuṣayr, governor of the Maghrib, had ever been heard of in the history of Islam (1).

Many marvels attended his conquest of al-Andalus, and he used to say, “Had the people obeyed me, I would have led them on until we seized Madīnat Rūmiyya (2)—the greatest metropolis of the Franks—and Allah would surely have granted it to me, God willing.” When he came to al-Walīd, he arrived with thirty thousand captives, the statutory fifth of what he had taken on his last expedition in the Maghrib, together with treasure, rare gifts, pearls, and jewels beyond measure or description. He remained in Damascus until al-Walīd died and Sulaymān succeeded him. Sulaymān nursed a grievance against Mūsā, detained him, and demanded enormous sums of money. He kept him under guard until the year he led the people in ḥajj; he took him along and Mūsā died in Madinah—some say at Wādī al-Qurā (3)—at about (4) eighty years of age. Another report places his death in 99 AH (5). Allah knows best. May Allah have mercy on him and pardon him by His grace and favor. Āmīn.

[Then came the year 98 AH]

In this year the Commander of the Believers, Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, equipped his brother Maslama ibn ʿAbd al-Malik to attack Constantinople in support of the force already besieging it. Maslama set out with a great army, having ordered every man to carry on his mount two mudds of provisions. When they reached the city and gathered the food together, it stood in heaps like mountains.

Maslama said to them, “Leave this food and eat from whatever you find in their land. Sow crops where fields are and make use of them, and build yourselves houses of wood, for, Allah willing, we shall not withdraw until we conquer this city.”

A Christian named Ilyūn had ingratiated himself with Maslama and secretly colluded with him, promising to deliver the lands of Byzantium. At first he appeared sincerely helpful. Then the emperor of Constantinople died, and Ilyūn entered the city on an embassy from Maslama; the Byzantines feared him greatly. Once inside, they said, “Turn him [Maslama] away from us and we will make you our ruler.” He went out and set about plotting treachery and deceit—may Allah disgrace him—until he burned the Muslims’ provisions. He had told Maslama, “So long as they see this food they will assume you mean to prolong the fighting; burn it and they will be convinced of your resolve and will quickly surrender the city to you.” Maslama therefore ordered the stores to be burned.

That night Ilyūn slipped away by ship, taking whatever army equipment he could, and at daybreak he was inside the city, openly at war with the Muslims. He displayed unambiguous hostility, fortified himself within the walls, the Byzantines rallied to him, and the Muslims’ circumstances became straitened.