Zachariah, my Lord and your Lord know what has befallen your people because of you, and how many of them have been killed. So, by your Lord’s permission, let the blood cease before I leave not a single one of your people alive.” By Allah’s permission, the blood became still. Biyurzadhan then stopped the killing and said, “I believe in that in which the Children of Israel believe, and I am certain that there is no Lord besides Him.”

He said to the Children of Israel, “Khardush commanded me to kill you until your blood flowed through the midst of his army, and I am unable [to disobey him] (1).” They said to him, “Do what you have been commanded.” So he ordered them to dig a trench. He then ordered that their property—horses, mules, donkeys, camels, cattle, and sheep—be brought, and he slaughtered them until the blood flowed through the camp. He also ordered that those who had been killed earlier be cast upon the livestock he had slaughtered. Thus Khardush supposed that all that was in the trench was from the Children of Israel. When the blood reached his camp, he sent word to Biyurzadhan: “Stop killing them.”

Khardush then returned to Babylon, having annihilated the Children of Israel, or nearly [annihilated them] (2). This was the final calamity that Allah sent upon the Children of Israel, and it is meant by His saying: “You will surely cause corruption in the land twice.” The first calamity was brought by Nebuchadnezzar and his troops, and the other by Khardush and his troops. The latter was the greater of the two calamities. Thereafter, no banner was ever raised for them again, and rule over Syria and its surrounding regions passed to the Greek Romans. ⦗207a⦘ Yet remnants of the Children of Israel multiplied, and they held leadership in Jerusalem and its surrounding regions, though not in the form of sovereign rule. They remained in prosperity until they altered and introduced innovations. Then Allah set Titus, son of Vespasian the Roman, over them. He devastated their land, drove them from it, stripped them of kingship and leadership, and imposed humiliation upon them. Thus, wherever they are among a people, they are subject to abasement and the jizya (tribute tax). Jerusalem remained in ruins until the days of Umar ibn al-Khattab, when the Muslims restored it at his command.

Qatadah said: “In the first instance, Allah sent Goliath against them; he took captives, killed, and devastated. ‘Then We gave you your turn to prevail over them’—that is, in the time of David. Then, when the promise of the latter time came, Allah sent Nebuchadnezzar against them; he took captives and devastated. He then said: ‘Perhaps your Lord will have mercy upon you.’ So Allah again showed them mercy. Then the people returned to the worst evil they had, and Allah sent against them whatever vengeance and punishment He willed. Thereafter Allah sent the Arabs against them, as He said: ‘And when your Lord declared that He would surely send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, those who would afflict them with the worst torment.’ Thus they shall remain under punishment until the Day of Resurrection.”

Al-Suddi related through his chain of transmission that a man from the Children of Israel saw in a dream that the destruction of Jerusalem would come at the hands of an orphaned boy, the son of a widow from the people of Babylon, called Nebuchadnezzar. They were truthful, and so their dreams came true. The man set out to inquire about him, until he came and lodged with his mother while the boy was out gathering firewood. The boy then came carrying a bundle of wood on his head. He set it down and sat, and the man spoke with him. Then he gave him three dirhams and said, “Buy food and drink with this.” So he bought meat for one dirham, bread for one dirham, and wine for one dirham. They ate and drank. He did the same on the second day, and likewise on the third day. Then he said, “I would like—”