Futuhusham_-_The_Islamic_Conquest_of_Syria_-_Al_Waqidi

Part 1: Damascus
and Malik bin al-Ashtar will be of special assistance unto you.
When you reach the great mountainous city of Antioch and find
Heraclius Caesar there make peace with him if he offers peace
and fight him if he wants to fight. Do not cross the mountains
until you have written to me. I believe that Heraclius s death is
soon.
Was-saldm.
Every soul shall taste death. [3:185J
AbU Bakr ~ then put the letter in an envelope and stamped it with Rasulullah's ~
seal. He then gave it to Ibn Humayd, saying, "You were the messenger from Syria,
so you take the answer to Syria."
He took the letter and quickly reached Syria on his camel.
43) Return to Damascus
Nifi' bin 'Umayrah narrates:
Khalid ~ started heading for Damascus as soon as he had sent his letter to Abu Bakr
4i>. When the Damascenes heard of the slaughter of the warriors, they shut the fort
out of terror. Villagers and townspeople abandoned their districts and took refuge in
Damascus. The fort was prepared and swords, shields, spears and catapults put on the
city walls, and flags and crosses implanted.
By the time Khalid ~ arrived, Damascus was fully fortified. In his army was 'Amr
bin al-As and Yazid bin Abi Sufyan $, with 2,000 men each (in another copy 9,000)
followed by Shurahbil bin Hasanah ~ and 'Amir bin Rabi'ah ~ bringing 1,000 each
and then Mu'ath bin Jabal ~ brought along another 2,000. When the Damascenes
saw the Muslims coming like the waves of the sea, they felt their defeat to be
imminent.
117