but Allah turned their plot back against them and made their own planning the cause of their destruction. When the Muslims learned of the rumor, the zeal of Islam surged within them; their anger toward the enemy intensified and they resolved to avenge themselves. They therefore went to the spot where Asad was, and there he was—alive—while troops from every direction had gathered around him.
Asad marched toward Khāqān until he reached Jabal al-Milḥ (the Salt Mountain) and decided to ford the River of Balkh. The army had a large number of sheep with it, and Asad disliked leaving them behind. He ordered every horseman to carry one sheep in front of him and another around his neck, threatening to cut off the hand of anyone who failed to comply; he himself carried a sheep as well. They entered the river, and had scarcely emerged when Khāqān fell upon them from the rear with dark-hued cavalry. His men killed all those they found who had not yet crossed, together with some of the weak.
When the Turks reached the riverbank they hesitated, and the Muslims thought they would not venture across. The Turks consulted together and agreed on a single massed charge. They were fifty thousand strong. Beating their kūsāt (1) with tremendous force, they made the Muslims think they were already in their camp, then hurled themselves into the river as one man. Their horses snorted fiercely as they emerged on the Muslims’ side.
The Muslims, however, held their ground inside a camp that they had surrounded with a trench the enemy could not cross. The two armies spent the night watching each other’s fires. At daybreak Khāqān attacked one section of the Muslim forces, killing many, taking multitudes captive, and seizing great wealth and heavily loaded camels.
The armies confronted each other again on the day of ʿId al-Fiṭr. Asad’s soldiers feared they might miss the festival prayer, and performed it only in apprehension. Asad then marched with his men and camped on the meadow of Balkh, where they remained until winter passed.
On the day of ʿId al-Aḍḥā Asad addressed the people and sought their counsel: should they proceed to Marw, meet Khāqān in battle, or fortify themselves in Balkh? Some said, “Let us fortify Balkh and send word to Khālid and to the caliph.” Others recommended going on to Marw, while still others urged meeting the enemy and relying upon Allah. The last view accorded with Asad’s own, sounder judgment, so he set out with his army toward Khāqān. He led the people in two long units of prayer, followed them with an extended supplication, then departed, repeating three times, “If Allah wills, you will be granted victory.”
Advancing with the Muslims, his vanguard met Khāqān’s. The Muslims slew many of them, captured their commander and seven of his companions, and Asad pressed on until he reached their flocks—one hundred and fifty thousand sheep—which he drove away. He then encountered the enemy again. On that day Khāqān had only about four thousand men with him, together with an Arab defector named al-Hārith ibn Shurayḥ who pointed out the Muslims’ vulnerable points. When the main Muslim force approached, the Turks scattered, and Khāqān fled, al-Hārith shielding and steadying him. Asad pursued them.
By midday Khāqān had retreated with four hundred of his men, all clad in brocade silk and bearing the kūsāt (2). When the Muslims overtook them he ordered the kūsāt beaten with the signal for retreat—three powerful rolls—but they could not withdraw. The Muslims advanced, surrounded the camp, and captured it with everything it contained: immense stores of goods and vessels of gold.