Futuhusham_-_The_Islamic_Conquest_of_Syria_-_Al_Waqidi

Futuhushdm
Romanus : I take oath by my religion that I know very well that you are on the Truth
and that you will conquer 'Iraq and Syria. However, you are few while we are many.
I will do this favour to you of making peace with you. You return to your land and
we shall not interfere with you. 0 my 'Arab brother, AbU Bakr is my close friend. If
he were present here, he would never fight against me.
Shurahbil ~ : In matters of religion he had no consideration for his own son and
nephew until they embraced Islam, He has no personal choice in that Allah has
ordered us to wage Jihad. We will not leave until one of three outcomes has been
decided upon. Firstly, you should embrace Islam. Failing that, your second option is
to pay Jizyah. If that is also not acceptable, then we will have to do battle.
Romanus : I take oath by my religion and faith that if the matter were in my hands,
then I would never fight you because I know you to be upon the Truth. The Romans
have gathered. Let me go to them and make them understand and see what they feel.
Shurahbil ~ : Very good, but hurry for what we have told you about Islam, Jizyah or
war still stands.
Romanus returned to his people and said, "0 upholders of Christianity and sons of
baptism water, the arrival of the 'Arabs heralds the loss of your wealth and the death
of your leaders and champions. This has been foretold in your scriptures and it is
imminent. You do not have Rubius's army nor his bravery. A handful of 'Arabs
destroyed him in Palestine, massacred his champions and the rest fled in defeat. I
have been informed that a man called Khalid bin al-Walid is invading from 'Iraq. He
has conquered Arakah, Sakhnah, Palmyra and Hawran and is swiftly heading here. I
therefore suggest that we render Jizyah to the' Arabs and place ourselves under their
protection in order to avert this disaster."
The Romans were so infuriated at his words that they wanted to kill him, so he
quickly said, "I was merely testing your loyalty to Christianity. I am with you and
will go first to confront them."
The Romans prepared for battle and donned leather armour. Seeing this, Shurahbil ~
addressed his troops, "May Allah have mercy on you. Rasulullah ~ has said that
Paradise lies beneath the shadow of swords and that the most beloved drop unto
Allah is a drop of blood shed in Allah's Path and a tear-drop shed out of fear of Allah.
Fight in all earnest and fire your arrows simultaneously so that they are not wasted."
48