It was also reported that Allah sowed discord in the hearts of these Mongols and Georgians, setting mutual hatred and hostility between them, just as He, glorified be He, had done between Quraysh and Ghatafān and the Jews in the year of the Confederates, as the historians of the Prophet’s campaigns relate. There is not enough space here to recount the events of the Trench. Anyone who studies that account will recognize the truth of this comparison, as recorded by such historians as ‘Urwa ibn al-Zubayr, al-Zuhrī, Mūsā ibn ‘Uqba, Sa‘īd ibn Yahyā al-Umawī, Muhammad ibn ‘Ā’idh, Muhammad ibn Ishāq, al-Wāqidī and others.

Some remnants of their forces remained in Syria. Most of the Damascus army marched against them, joined by the armies of Hama, Aleppo and the surrounding regions. The Muslims stood firm facing them. Although they greatly outnumbered the Muslims, they were severely weakened. They drew near Hama, but Allah Most High humbled them, and they never dared attack the Muslims. Some Muslims wished to advance against them, but the others would not agree. Small skirmishes ensued, much as they had during the campaign of the Trench, when ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, may Allah be pleased with him, killed ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd Wudd al-‘Āmirī after he and a small band of polytheists had forced their way across the trench.

Likewise, some enemy forces would draw near, only to be defeated by the Muslims, even though the approaching enemy numbered many times the Muslim force that had marched against them. On every occasion, the Muslims had the upper hand. The Muslims rode in pursuit of them on the last of