WEBVTT

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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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The Mawaddah Association is pleased

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to present to you "Portraits from the Lives of the Companions"

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by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,

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may Allah have mercy upon him.

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Al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin al-Muzani,

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may Allah be pleased with him.

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The tribe of Muzaynah

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made their dwellings near Yathrib,

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along the road stretching between Medina and Mecca.

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The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

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had migrated to Medina,

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and news of him began reaching Muzaynah continuously through passersby,

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and they heard nothing of him but good.

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One evening, the chieftain of the people,

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al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin al-Muzani, sat

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in his gathering with his brothers and the elders of his tribe,

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and said to them, "O my people,

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by Allah, we have known nothing of Muhammad but good,

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and we have heard from his message nothing but mercy, beneficence, and justice.

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Why then do we hold back,

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while people are hastening to him?"

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He then continued, saying,

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"As for me,

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I have resolved to set out to him come morning.

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Whosoever among you wishes to join me, let him prepare."

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It was as though al-Nu'man's words had struck

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a tender chord within the hearts of his people.

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No sooner had morning broken

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than he found his ten brothers

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and four hundred horsemen of Muzaynah

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fully prepared to accompany him to Yathrib,

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to meet the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,

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and to embrace the religion of Allah.

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However, al-Nu'man felt ashamed to arrive with such a vast delegation

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before the Prophet, peace be upon him,

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without carrying anything in hand for him and the Muslims.

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Yet the barren year of severe drought

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that had afflicted Muzaynah

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had left them neither livestock nor crops.

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So al-Nu'man went round his house and the houses of his brothers,

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collecting whatever few sheep the drought had spared them,

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and drove them before him.

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He arrived with them before the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

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and he and those with him declared their Islam in his presence.

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Yathrib shook with joy from end to end

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in celebration of al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin and his companions,

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for never before had an Arab household

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seen eleven brothers born of a single father embrace Islam together,

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accompanied by four hundred horsemen.

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The noble Messenger rejoiced at the Islam of al-Nu'man

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with the greatest joy,

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and Allah, Glorified and Exalted, accepted his meager sheep,

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revealing Qur'an concerning him, saying:

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Al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin enlisted beneath the banner of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

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and witnessed all of his military campaigns with him,

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never wavering nor falling short.

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When the caliphate passed to al-Siddiq,

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he and his people of Banu Muzaynah stood resolutely at his side,

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an allegiance that had a profound effect in crushing the tribulation of apostasy.

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And when the caliphate came to al-Faruq,

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al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin attained a stature during his reign

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that history still commemorates with a tongue moist with praise

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and fragrant with commendation.

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Shortly before the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah,

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Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,

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the commander of the Muslim armies,

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dispatched a delegation to Khosrow Yazdegerd

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headed by al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin,

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to invite him to Islam.

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When they reached Khosrow's capital at al-Mada'in,

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they requested permission to enter his presence.

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He granted them audience, then summoned his interpreter and said to him:

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"Ask them:

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What has brought you to our land,

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and what emboldened you to invade us?

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Perhaps you coveted our wealth and dared defy us

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because we were preoccupied with other matters

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and did not wish to strike you down?"

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Al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin turned to his companions

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and said, "If you wish, I shall answer him on your behalf,

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or if any of you wishes to speak,

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I will defer the floor to him."

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They replied, "Nay, you speak."

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Then they turned to Khosrow and said,

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"This man speaks on our behalf,

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so listen to what he says."

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Al-Nu'man praised and extolled Allah,

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and invoked blessings and peace upon His Prophet.

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He then said, "Indeed, Allah had mercy upon us,

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and sent to us a Messenger to guide us to the good

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and command us to do it,

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to warn us of evil and forbid us from it,

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and who promised us that if we responded to what he called us to,

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Allah would grant us the best of this world and the Hereafter.

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It was not long

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before Allah replaced our hardship with ease,

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our humiliation with honor,

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and our animosity with brotherhood and mercy.

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He has commanded us to invite mankind to that which is best for them,

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beginning with those closest to us.

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Thus, we invite you to enter our religion,

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a faith that deemed all good to be virtuous

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and encouraged it, and deemed all evil to be vile

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and warned against it.

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It delivers its followers from the darkness and oppression of disbelief

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into the light and justice of faith.

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If you accept our invitation to Islam,

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we will leave the Book of Allah among you,

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establishing you upon it so that you may rule by its rulings,

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and we will depart from you, leaving you to your own affairs.

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But if you refuse to enter the religion of Allah,

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we will collect the jizya from you and protect you;

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and if you refuse to pay the jizya, we will fight you."

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Yazdegerd was infuriated and flared with rage at what he heard,

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and said:

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"I know of no nation on earth

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that was more wretched than you, fewer in numbers,

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more severely divided, or in a worse condition.

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We used to leave your governance to the prefects of our outlying districts,

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and they would secure your obedience on our behalf."

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Then, tempering his harshness slightly, he said,

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"If it is sheer need that has driven you

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to come to us,

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we will decree provisions for you until your lands become fertile,

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clothe your nobles and prominent figures,

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and appoint over you a ruler from our side who will treat you gently."

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Thereupon, a man from the delegation gave him a retort

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that reignited the fire of his wrath anew,

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and he said:

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"Were it not that envoys are never slain, I would have killed you!

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Begone, for you have nothing to receive from me!

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Inform your commander that I am sending Rostam against him,

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so that he may bury him and bury you all together in the trench of al-Qadisiyyah!"

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Then he commanded that a basket of dirt be brought to him,

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and said to his men:

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"Place it upon the head of the most noble among them,

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and drive him before you in full view of the people

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until he exits the gates of our capital."

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They asked the delegation, "Who is the most noble among you?"

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'Asim ibn 'Amr stepped forward

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and said, "I am."

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So they loaded it upon him until he exited al-Mada'in.

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He then loaded it onto his camel

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and brought it with him to Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,

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giving him the glad tidings that Allah would grant the Muslims victory over the lands of the Persians

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and bestow upon them the very soil of their earth.

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Then the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah took place,

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and its trench was packed with the bodies of thousands of the slain;

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yet they were not from the soldiers of the Muslims,

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but rather from the troops of Khosrow.

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The Persians did not surrender to their defeat at al-Qadisiyyah;

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they assembled their hosts

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and mobilized their armies,

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until they had gathered one hundred and fifty thousand

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fierce fighters.

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When al-Faruq learned of this massive host,

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he resolved to march forth to confront this grave peril in person.

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However, the prominent figures of the Muslims dissuaded him from doing so,

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advising him instead to dispatch a commander

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upon whom he could rely in such a momentous affair.

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'Umar said,

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"Advise me on a man whom I may appoint over that frontier."

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They said, "You know your soldiers best, O Commander of the Believers."

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He said, "By Allah, I will surely place in command of the Muslim army a man

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who, when the two hosts meet, is swifter to advance than the spearhead:

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he is al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin al-Muzani."

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They replied, "He is indeed the man for it."

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So he wrote to him, saying:

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"From the servant of Allah, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab,

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to al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin.

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To proceed:

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It has reached me that vast hosts of the Persians

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have assembled against you at the city of Nihawand.

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When this letter of mine reaches you,

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march forth by the command of Allah,

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with the help of Allah,

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and with the victory of Allah,

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alongside the Muslims who are with you.

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Do not tread with them through rugged terrain lest you harm them,

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for a single Muslim man

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is dearer to me than one hundred thousand dinars.

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And peace be upon you."

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Al-Nu'man mobilized his army to confront the enemy,

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sending advance scouts of his cavalry ahead of him

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to reconnoiter the route.

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When the horsemen approached Nihawand,

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their horses came to an abrupt halt;

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they urged them forward, but they would not move.

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So they dismounted from their backs to investigate the matter,

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only to find shards of iron embedded in the horses' hooves,

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resembling the heads of nails.

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They looked down at the ground,

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and discovered that the Persians had scattered across the roads leading to Nihawand

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iron caltrops,

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to impede the cavalry and the infantry from reaching it.

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The horsemen informed al-Nu'man of what they had seen

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and asked him to give them his counsel.

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So he ordered them to hold their positions,

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and to light fires at night so the enemy could see them,

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and at that point,

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to feign fear of them and act as though they were routed before them,

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in order to entice the enemy to pursue them

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and clear away the iron caltrops they had strewn.

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The ruse deceived the Persians,

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for no sooner did they see the vanguard of the Muslim army

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falling back in apparent defeat before them,

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than they sent out their workers,

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who swept the pathways clear of the caltrops.

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Thereupon, the Muslims charged back at them

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and seized control of those mountain passes.

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Al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin encamped with his army

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on the outskirts of Nahavand,

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resolved to take his enemy by surprise with an assault.

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He said to his soldiers,

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"I shall proclaim the takbir three times.

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When I utter the first takbir,

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let whoever is not yet ready prepare himself.

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When I utter the second,

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let every man among you fasten his armor and weapons securely.

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And when I utter the third,

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I shall charge against the enemies of Allah,

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so charge alongside me."

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Al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin proclaimed his three takbirs,

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and plunged into the enemy ranks

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like a charging lion,

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and behind him, the Muslim soldiers poured forth

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like an overwhelming torrent.

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Between the two sides,

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a fierce, grinding battle raged,

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the likes of which military history has rarely seen.

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The Persian army was utterly shattered,

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their dead littering the plains and the mountains,

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and their blood coursing through the passes and paths.

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Then the horse of Al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin slipped

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in the blood and fell,

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and Al-Nu'man himself was struck

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with a mortal wound.

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His brother took the standard from his hand,

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covered him with a cloak he had with him,

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and concealed the news of his death from the Muslims.

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When the great victory was complete—

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which the Muslims called the "Conquest of Conquests"—

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the victorious soldiers asked after their valiant commander,

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Al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin.

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His brother uncovered the cloak from him and said,

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"Here is your commander;

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Allah has delighted his eyes with victory

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and sealed his life with martyrdom."

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"Indeed, faith has its households,

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and hypocrisy has its households;

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and the household of the Banu Muqarrin

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is among the households of faith."

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— 'Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud