Futuhusham_-_The_Islamic_Conquest_of_Syria_-_Al_Waqidi

Ibn Ja Jar ~ : So why do you not believe in him and accept him?
Part 2: Him(£
Monk (raising his hand to the sky) : I will believe when the Master of these skies
wants me to.
We were shocked at his words and continued on our journey with the guide leading
us. When we came to a valley filled with trees and water, he ordered us to camp there
and said to Ibn Ja'far ss, "I am going out to scout."
Ibn Ja Jar ~ : Hurry and bring news back to us.
He hastened away while Ibn Ja'far ~ personally kept watch until morning.
7) The obstruction
In the morning we prayed Salatul Fajr and sat waiting for the guide who did not
return. His delay made us anxious and we feared some deception from him. The
Devil began his Whisperings which made all of us think of him as evil except for AbU
Tharr ~, who said, "Think good of your companion and do not fear any plot or
deception from him for you know how he is."
We all kept quiet after that until he suddenly arrived. When we saw him we were
overjoyed, thinking that he would tell us to get up to go to the enemy. He came and
stood in the midst of the Muslims where he said, "0 Companions of Muhammad, I
swear by Christ, son of Mary, that I do not lie to you in what I am telling you. I
sincerely wished the booty for you but there is an obstruction blocking your path to
it."
Ibn Ja 'Jar ~ : What is this obstruction?
Guide : It might as well be the sea that blocks you. I saw that the market had already
started with buying and selling taking place. The Christians had gathered with most of
them going to the monastery of AbU al-Quds where the priests, monks, princes and
patricians gathered. When I sawall that, I did not want to return until I found out the
reason why there were so many more people this year than any other year. I went and
mixed with the crowd until I found out that the governor of Tripoli was marrying his
daughter to a Roman prince. They brought her to receive Communion from the monk. She
was surrounded by a large number of Christian 'Arab cavalry out of fear of you, as they
know you Muslims to be in Syria. 0 Muslims, I do not consider it appropriate for you to go
ahead because their numbers are absolutely huge.
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