In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The best of generations in their conduct and example,
Following the Messenger whenever he strove or spoke.
A society of affection,
Moving forward.
Scenes from the lives of the Tabi'un,
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
Al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
We are now in the early days of the Caliphate of al-Faruq (Umar), may Allah brighten his countenance.
And there they are, those noble and glorious men,
The kin of al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays from the tribe of Banu Tamim,
Mounting the backs of thoroughbred horses,
Girding themselves with thin, sharp swords,
Departing from their homes in al-Ahsa and Najd,
Directing their faces toward Basra,
Seeking to join the throngs of Muslims gathered there
Under the command of Utbah Ibn Ghazwan,
To fight the Persians in Jihad for the sake of Allah,
And in pursuit of the good reward that is with Allah.
With them was their young man, al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays.
One day,
Utbah Ibn Ghazwan received a letter from the Commander of the Faithful, Umar Ibn al-Khattab,
Commanding him to send ten of the righteous men of his army,
And those who had performed best in battle,
So that he might assess the state of the army through them,
And benefit from their opinions and counsel.
Utbah complied with the command,
And prepared ten of his elite men,
Including al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays among them,
And sent them to Medina.
The men of the delegation stood before the Commander of the Faithful,
Who welcomed them and seated them near him.
Then he asked them about their needs and the needs of the common people.
They rose one after another and said,
"As for the common people,
You are their guardian and the one responsible for their affairs.
As for us, we shall speak of our own specific needs."
Then each of them requested the need that concerned him.
Al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays was the last of the delegation to speak,
Because he was the youngest of them in age.
He praised Allah and extolled Him, then said,
"O Commander of the Faithful,
The Muslim soldiers who settled in Egypt
Have descended into the greenery, freshness, and fertility of the lands of the Pharaohs.
Those who settled in the lands of the Levant
Have descended into the abundance, fruits, and gardens of the lands of the Caesars.
And those who settled in the lands of the Persians
Have descended upon the banks of fresh rivers and lush gardens of the lands of the Chosroes.
But our people who settled in Basra
Have descended upon a land of shifting, porous soil,
Where the earth does not dry and its pasture does not grow.
One of its sides is a bitter sea,
And its other side is a barren wasteland.
So remove their hardship, O Commander of the Faithful,
And revive their lives,
And command your governor in Basra to dig a river for them from which they may draw sweet water,
And water their livestock and crops,
So that their condition may improve, their families may thrive,
And their prices may become affordable,
And they may be aided by this in their Jihad for the sake of Allah."
Umar looked at him in admiration,
And said to the men of the delegation,
"Could you not have done as he did?"
"By Allah, he is truly a leader."
Then he presented them with their awards,
And offered al-Ahnaf his award,
But he said,
"By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful,
We did not cross the vast deserts to reach you,
Nor did we strike the flanks of our camels in the early mornings and late evenings to meet you, for the sake of receiving awards.
I have no need of yours,
Except for the need of the people I mentioned.
If you fulfill it for them, you have done enough and fulfilled your duty."
Umar’s admiration for him increased, and he said,
"This young man is the leader of the people of Basra."
When the assembly dispersed,
And the men of the delegation prepared to return to their mounts to spend the night by them,
Umar cast his gaze upon their bags,
And saw the edge of a garment protruding from one of them.
He stood up, touched it with his hand, and said,
"Whose is this?"
Al-Ahnaf said,
"Mine, O Commander of the Faithful."
He realized that Umar thought it was too expensive.
Umar said to him,
"For how much did you buy it?"
Al-Ahnaf said,
"For eight dirhams."
And it was not known of him that he ever lied in his entire life except for that one lie,
Because he had actually bought it for twelve dirhams.
Umar looked at him gently and said,
"Would you not have been satisfied with one,
And placed the surplus of your wealth where it could help a Muslim?"
Then he said,
"Take from your wealth what suffices for your needs,
And place the surplus in its proper place, so you may find rest and profit."
Al-Ahnaf lowered his head in modesty,
And said nothing.
The Commander of the Faithful gave the delegation permission to return to Basra,
But he did not allow al-Ahnaf to depart with them.
He kept him with him for a full year.
For Umar had perceived with his keen insight
The sharp intelligence that the Tamimi youth possessed,
As well as his clarity of speech,
Nobility of soul, high ambition, and wealth of talent.
He wanted to keep him near him,
To nurture him under his own supervision,
And for him to meet the senior Companions so he might be guided by their guidance,
And gain deep understanding of the religion of Allah at their hands.
Furthermore, he wanted to test him closely,
And penetrate the depths of his character before entrusting him with some of the Muslims' affairs.
This was because Umar feared the intelligent, eloquent, and articulate men most intensely,
For if they were righteous, they would fill the world with goodness,
But if they were corrupt, their intelligence would be a calamity for the people.
When the year ended, Umar said to al-Ahnaf,
"O Ahnaf,
I have tested and examined you,
And I have seen nothing but good.
I have seen your outward appearance to be virtuous,
And I hope that your inner self is like your outward appearance."
Then he directed him to the war against the Persians,
And wrote to his commander, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari,
"To proceed:
Bring al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays close to you,
Consult him, and listen to him."
The light of al-Ahnaf shone under the banners of the Muslims in the East and West of the Persian lands,
And he displayed such feats of heroism
That his status rose and his star shone bright.
He and his people, Banu Tamim, performed most honorably in fighting the enemy,
And they sacrificed most generously,
Until Allah granted victory at their hands in the city of Tustar,
The jewel of the Chosroes' crown,
And they took al-Hurmuzan captive.
Al-Hurmuzan was one of the most formidable Persian commanders,
The strongest in resolve, the most determined,
And the most cunning in warfare.
The Muslims' victories had forced him to make peace with them more than once,
Yet he would betray them whenever the opportunity arose.
He thought he was capable of victory,
But when they surrounded him in Tustar,
He fortified himself in one of its impregnable towers and said to them,
"I have one hundred arrows with me,
And by Allah, you shall not reach me as long as one of them remains in my hand.
And you know that I am an archer whose shot never misses.
So what is the use of capturing me
After one hundred of you have been killed or wounded?"
They said, "What do you want?"
He said,
"I want to surrender to the judgment of your Caliph, Umar,
And let him do with me as he wishes."
They said, "You may have that."
So he threw his bow to the ground,
And descended to them in surrender.
They bound him,
And he was sent to Medina with a delegation of the heroes of the conquest,
At the head of whom were Anas Ibn Malik,
The servant of the Messenger, peace be upon him,
And al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays,
The student of the 'Umari school.
The delegation proceeded, hastening their pace with al-Hurmuzan toward Medina,
To bring the good news of the victory to the Commander of the Faithful,
To carry the fifth of the spoils to the Muslim treasury,
And to deliver the oath-breaker and treacherous man to the Caliph,
So that he might pass judgment upon him.
When they reached the outskirts of Medina,
They prepared al-Hurmuzan,
To present him before the Muslims in his full regalia.
They dressed him in his garments woven from precious brocade,
Embroidered with gold threads,
Placed upon his head his crown studded with pearls and jewels,
And girded him with his scepter made of pure gold,
Adorned with rubies and pearls.
No sooner had their feet touched the land of Yathrib,
Than the people gathered around them, old and young,
And began to look at their captive,
Marveling at his appearance and attire with great wonder.
The delegation headed with al-Hurmuzan to the house of Umar,
But they did not find him.
They asked about him,
And it was said to them,
"He has gone to the mosque to receive a delegation that has arrived to see him."
So they set off to the mosque,
But they did not see him there.
And as their search for the Caliph grew longer,
The people multiplied around them and the crowding intensified.
While they were in this state of confusion,
Some young children playing saw them,
And said to them,
"What is your business?
We see you going back and forth;
Perhaps you are looking for the Commander of the Faithful?"
They said, "Yes, we are looking for him."
They said,
"He is sleeping in the corner of the mosque,
Using his cloak as a pillow."
For Umar, may Allah be pleased with him,
He had gone out to meet a delegation from the people of Kufa, wearing a burnous.
When the delegation departed,
he took off the burnous,
placed it under his head,
and surrendered his eyelids to slumber.
The delegation proceeded with al-Hurmuzan to the right side of the mosque.
When they saw the Caliph asleep, they sat down quietly.
They seated their captive with them.
Al-Hurmuzan did not understand a word of Arabic,
and it never crossed his mind that this man sleeping in the corner of the mosque
was the Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Truly, he had heard of Umar’s austerity
and his asceticism regarding the vanities and adornments of this world,
but he could not even imagine
that the conqueror of the Romans and the breaker of the Chosroes would sleep in the corner of a mosque
without a cover or a pillow,
and without guards or chamberlains.
When he saw the people sitting in silence,
he thought they were preparing for prayer
and awaiting the arrival of the Caliph.
But al-Ahnaf ibn Qays
began signaling to the people to refrain from speaking
and to cease the commotion,
so as not to wake the Caliph.
For he knew, from his companionship with him,
that he rarely closed his eyes in sleep at night;
he was either standing in his prayer niche worshipping Allah,
or disguised in his garments,
patrolling the neighborhoods of Medina to learn the conditions of his subjects,
or keeping watch to protect the homes of the Muslims from intruders.
Al-Ahnaf’s signals to the people caught the attention of al-Hurmuzan,
so he turned to al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba,
who knew Persian,
and said,
"Who is this sleeper?"
Al-Mughira replied,
"It is the Commander of the Faithful, Umar."
Al-Hurmuzan opened his mouth in astonishment and said,
"Umar?
Where are his guards and his chamberlains?"
Al-Mughira said to him,
"He has neither guard nor chamberlain."
Al-Hurmuzan said,
"He must be a prophet."
Al-Mughira replied,
"Rather, he acts as the prophets act,
for there is no prophet after Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
Then the crowd grew and the noise increased,
so Umar awoke.
He sat up and looked at the people in surprise,
and saw the Persian prince
with his crown glowing under the rays of the sun upon his head,
and in his hand his scepter, whose brilliance dazzled the eyes.
He stared at him and said,
"Al-Hurmuzan?"
Al-Ahnaf said to him,
"Yes, Commander of the Faithful."
Umar contemplated the gold, pearls,
rubies, and silk he was wearing,
then turned his face away from him and said,
"I seek refuge in Allah from the Fire,
and I seek His aid against this world.
Praise be to Allah who has humbled this man and brought him to Islam."
Then he said,
"O assembly of Muslims,
hold fast to this religion,
and be guided by the guidance of your noble Prophet.
Do not let the world deceive you,
for it is a deceiver."
When he finished speaking,
al-Ahnaf ibn Qays brought him the glad tidings of the victory,
and informed him of the spoils Allah had granted the Muslims.
He said to him,
"Commander of the Faithful,
al-Hurmuzan has surrendered to us,
and has asked to submit to your judgment regarding him.
Speak to him if you wish."
He said,
"I will not speak to him until you remove these manifestations of arrogance and pride from him."
They removed his finery and crown,
took his scepter from him,
and dressed him in a thick garment that covered his body.
At that, Umar turned to him and said,
"Well, al-Hurmuzan,
how have you found the consequence of treachery
and the outcome of Allah’s decree?"
Al-Hurmuzan hung his head in humiliation and said,
"O Umar,
we were in the Age of Ignorance, both we and you,
and Allah was neither with us nor with you,
so we defeated you.
But when you embraced Islam and Allah became with you,
you defeated us."
Umar said to him,
"You defeated us for what you mentioned,
and for another reason:
your unity and our division."
Then he looked at him sternly and said,
"What is your excuse for breaking your treaty time after time, al-Hurmuzan?"
Al-Hurmuzan said,
"I fear that you will kill me."
Umar said,
"No harm shall come to you until you tell me [the truth]."
When al-Hurmuzan heard that from Umar,
his fear subsided somewhat,
and he said,
"I am thirsty."
Umar ordered them to give him water.
It was brought to him in a coarse cup.
He looked at it and said,
"If I were dying of thirst, I could not drink from such a vessel."
Umar gave the order,
and water was brought to him in a vessel he found acceptable.
When he took it in his hand,
his hand began to tremble.
Umar said to him,
"What is the matter with you?"
He said,
"I fear that I will be killed while I am drinking this draught of water."
Umar said to him,
"No harm shall come to you until you drink it."
Al-Hurmuzan did nothing
but tip the vessel
and spill the water.
Umar said,
"Bring him other water,
and do not combine killing and thirst for him."
Al-Hurmuzan said,
"I have no need for water;
I only wanted to use it to secure my safety from being killed."
Umar said to him,
"I am going to kill you."
Al-Hurmuzan said,
"You have already granted me safety."
Umar said,
"You lie."
Anas ibn Malik said,
"He speaks the truth, Commander of the Faithful,
for you did grant him safety."
Umar said,
"Woe to you, Anas!
Would I grant safety to the killer of your brother, al-Bara' ibn Malik,
and Mujah'a ibn Thawr?
Far from it!"
Anas said,
"You said to him,
'No harm shall come to you until you tell me,'
and you said to him,
'No harm shall come to you until you drink the water.'"
Al-Ahnaf supported Anas’s statement,
and those present affirmed that the Commander of the Faithful had granted al-Hurmuzan safety.
Umar looked at al-Hurmuzan angrily and said,
"You have deceived me,
and by Allah, I am only deceived for the sake of a Muslim."
So al-Hurmuzan embraced Islam,
and Umar assigned him a stipend of two thousand.
Umar had been troubled
by the Persians frequently breaking their treaties with the Muslims
and turning against them.
He gathered the men of the delegation who had come with al-Hurmuzan and said to them,
"Do the Muslims harm the protected people (dhimmis) and treat them poorly,
causing them to turn against them?"
The men of the delegation said,
"By Allah, Commander of the Faithful,
we do not know of anyone who treated them poorly,
or violated a covenant with them,
or cheated them in a contract."
Umar said,
"Then why do they turn against you whenever the opportunity arises,
despite the contracts between you and them?"
The delegation answered with words that did not convince Umar,
nor did he find comfort in them.
At that, al-Ahnaf ibn Qays stood up and said,
"I will tell you what you asked about, Commander of the Faithful."
He said,
"Speak what you have."
He said,
"Commander of the Faithful,
you forbade us from spreading out into the lands of the Persians,
and ordered us to limit ourselves to the lands and cities of theirs that we already hold.
As long as the Persians have a living king and an established kingdom,
they will fight us time after time
to regain the people and lands of theirs that we hold.
And those with whom we have made treaties will join them whenever the caller calls them
and the opportunity for victory appears to them.
Indeed, Commander of the Faithful,
two kings cannot coexist in one land;
one must drive the other out.
If you were to permit us to spread out into their lands
until we destroy their kingdom and remove their sovereignty,
we would cut off their hope, calm their hearts,
and the matter would be settled for us."
Umar hung his head for a moment, then said,
"Al-Ahnaf has spoken the truth to me,
and has revealed to me what was hidden from me regarding the affairs of these people."
And furthermore,
this stance of al-Ahnaf had significant consequences,
and the effect of this opinion
Indeed, he changed the course of history.
By Allah, this young man is truly a leader.
He is the leader of the people of Basra.
Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him.
They were here, watering the clouds of our lives.
How could their memory not be exalted among us?
They departed, leaving behind a question in our conscience:
Has any star risen and shone as they did?
They filled life with pride through their noble deeds.
And through them, the world of the Ummah flourished.