Part of The Ten Given Glad Tidings of Paradise (series completed)
· Lesson 9 of 30
The ten promised Paradise | Episode (9) | Omar bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him (Part 5)
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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Mawaddah Association
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presents:
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The Ten Promised Paradise:
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'Umar ibn al-Khattab,
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may Allah be pleased with him.
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"Loving the Companions and the Prophet's kin is an established Sunnah,
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with which I shall meet my Lord when He resurrects me."
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"Loving the Companions and the Prophet's kin is an established Sunnah..."
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This is the city of the Prophet,
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the capital of the Islamic state
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and the seat of the Rightly Guided Caliphate.
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Delegations journeyed to it from everywhere;
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its day was filled with vibrant activity,
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and its night with remembrance of Allah and serene peace.
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One evening,
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a caravan of merchants arrived in Medina,
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camping at the open prayer area.
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'Umar said to 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf,
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may Allah be pleased with them both:
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"Shall we guard them tonight?"
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He replied, "Yes."
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So they spent the night guarding them and praying.
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Then 'Umar heard the crying of an infant,
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so he headed toward the sound
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and said to the mother:
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"Fear Allah Almighty,
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and take good care of your child."
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Then he returned to his post.
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Soon he heard the child crying again,
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so he returned to the mother
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and said the same to her,
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then went back to his post.
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Toward the end of the night,
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he heard the infant crying once more.
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He came to the mother and said:
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"Woe to you! What an uncaring mother you are!
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Why has your child had no rest from crying all night?"
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She replied:
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"O servant of Allah,
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I am trying to distract him from nursing,
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but he refuses."
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He asked, "And why is that?"
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She said:
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"Because 'Umar only allocates a stipend to weaned children."
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He asked:
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"How old is this son of yours?"
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She said, "Such and such months old."
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He said:
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"Woe to you!
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Do not rush him into weaning."
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When he led the morning prayer,
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the people could barely hear his recitation because of his weeping.
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He said:
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"Woe to 'Umar!
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How many children of the Muslims has he destroyed!"
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Then he commanded his caller to announce:
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"Do not rush your infants into weaning,
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for we shall allocate a stipend for every child born in Islam."
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And he dispatched this decree across all provinces.
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'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, assumed the caliphate
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and governed with the finest conduct,
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claiming nothing of its wealth for himself or his clan.
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He said to the people:
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"I regard my position regarding Allah's wealth
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as that of an orphan's guardian:
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if I am self-sufficient, I abstain;
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and if I am in need, I take only what is just and reasonable."
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The Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him,
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despite shouldering the heavy burdens of the caliphate and governance,
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would personally look after the widows of Medina,
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drawing water for them by night
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and attending to their needs.
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On one occasion,
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Talhah saw him enter a woman's house at night.
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So Talhah entered upon her the next day,
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only to find an elderly, blind, and paralyzed woman.
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He asked her, "What does that man do here with you?"
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Not knowing his identity, she replied:
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"This man has been looking after me for such and such a time;
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he brings me what benefits me and removes harm and filth from me."
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Talhah said, reproaching himself:
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"May your mother be bereaved of you, O Talhah!
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Are you seeking out 'Umar's faults?"
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And on another unforgettable night in history,
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the Caliph 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him,
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went out patrolling in the dead of night as was his habit,
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accompanied by his servant Aslam.
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From afar, they noticed a lit fire.
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'Umar said:
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"O Aslam,
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I see travelers over there
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who have been halted by the night and the cold.
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Let us go."
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Aslam said:
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"We set out jogging until we approached them,
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and found a woman with young children,
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a pot set over a fire,
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and children crying from hunger."
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'Umar said:
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"Peace be upon you, O people of the light!"
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—avoiding saying, "O people of the fire!"
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She replied, "And upon you be peace."
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He asked, "May I come closer?"
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She said, "Approach with good, or leave us be."
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He came near and asked:
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"What is the matter with you?"
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She said, "The night and the cold have halted us."
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He asked, "And why are these children crying?"
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She said, "Hunger."
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He asked, "And what is in this pot?"
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She said, "Water with which I quiet them until they fall asleep.
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Allah will judge between us and 'Umar!"
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He said, "May Allah have mercy on you!
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How could 'Umar know about your plight?"
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She said, "He assumes authority over us and then neglects us!"
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Aslam recounted: 'Umar turned to me
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and said, "Let us go!"
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We hurried until we reached the flour storehouse.
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He brought out a sack of flour and a vessel of fat,
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then said, "Load it onto me."
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I said, "I will carry it for you."
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He said:
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"Will you carry my burden on the Day of Resurrection?
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May you have no mother!"
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So I loaded it onto him,
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and he set off, with me jogging alongside him, back to her.
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He placed it down beside her,
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took out some of the flour,
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and began saying to her:
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"Sprinkle it for me while I stir it for you."
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He began blowing beneath the pot and stirring it.
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Aslam said:
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"I saw smoke coming out through his beard
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until he had cooked the meal for them."
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Then he said, "Bring me a dish."
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She brought a platter, and he poured it into it,
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then began saying to her:
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"Feed them while I spread it out for them,"
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meaning he spread it to cool down.
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He continued until they ate their fill,
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leaving the remainder of the food with her.
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He stood up, and I stood up with him,
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while she began saying:
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"May Allah reward you with good!
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You are more worthy of this office than the Commander of the Believers, 'Umar!"
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He said, "Speak good words.
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When you come to the Commander of the Believers,
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you will find me there, if Allah wills."
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Then he moved a short distance away from her
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and sat watching her children.
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I said, "You have other matters to attend to,"
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but he did not speak to me
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until I saw the children playfully wrestling,
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and then they fell peacefully asleep.
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He said:
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"O Aslam,
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hunger had kept them awake and made them weep,
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and I hated to leave before seeing them laughing.
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Now that they have laughed, my heart is at ease."
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That pastoral care of 'Umar's extended
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to encompass even animals.
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He, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say:
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"If a mule were to stumble in Iraq,
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I would fear that Allah would question me about it:
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'Why did you not pave the road for it, O 'Umar?'"
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On the other hand,
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'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, was unyielding in the truth,
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devoted to spreading Islam across all of Allah's lands,
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shattering the power of Persia and Rome,
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the greatest empires of that era.
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He would always say:
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"We are a people whom Allah has honored with Islam,
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and whenever we seek honor through anything else, Allah will humiliate us."
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Thus, Allah humbled the might of Khosrow and Caesar before him,
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and their realms submitted to his rule.
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Al-Faruq, may Allah be pleased with him, succeeded
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during the ten years of his caliphate
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in establishing the most formidable state history had ever known.
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The Islamic state arose,
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stretching from the lands of Persia and the borders of China in the east
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to Egypt and North Africa in the west,
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and from the Caspian Sea in the north
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to Sudan and Yemen in the south.
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His caliphate witnessed unforgettable and monumental days in the history of Islam.
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Against the Persians,
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there were the battles of al-Qadisiyyah, al-Namaraq,
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the Bridge, and al-Buwayb,
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and the conquest of al-Mada'in, the Persian capital.
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Against the Byzantines,
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there were the battles of Yarmuk, Baysan, and Marj al-Rum,
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and the conquest of Damascus, Homs, and Baalbek.
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During his reign, the Muslims also conquered Jerusalem—
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that glorious conquest
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that will forever remain etched in the memory of the Muslims.
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Heraclius, the emperor of the Romans, was astounded
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by the successive Muslim conquests
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and the collapse of his armies and cities before them.
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So he gathered the commanders of his armies and said to them,
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"Tell me about these people who are fighting you.
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Are they not human beings like you?"
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They replied, "Yes, indeed."
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He asked, "So, are you greater in number, or are they?"
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They said, "Rather, we outnumber them many times over
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in every single field of battle."
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He said, "Then why on earth are you being defeated?"
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Thereupon, an old man among their prominent figures stood up and said,
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"Because they stand in prayer by night and fast by day,
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they fulfill their covenants,
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they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong,
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and they exchange sincere advice and treat one another with justice.
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Whereas we drink wine, commit adultery,
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engage in the forbidden, breach our covenants,
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commit injustice, and encourage what incurs divine displeasure."
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Heraclius then said, "You have spoken the truth to me."
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Later, the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), sent
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an army to fight the Persians,
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and placed Sariya Ibn Zanim (may Allah be pleased with him) in command over them.
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The Persians and the Kurds lay in wait for them with a massive force,
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surrounding the Muslim army
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until they were on the verge of total destruction.
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While they were in that dire state,
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and while 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was in Medina,
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delivering the Friday sermon to the people on the pulpit,
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'Umar suddenly shouted out,
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"O Sariya,
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the mountain, the mountain!"
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"O Sariya,
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the mountain, the mountain!"
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"O Sariya,
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the mountain, the mountain!"
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The army heard 'Umar's shout
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from thousands of miles away,
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so they retreated toward a nearby mountain,
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positioning themselves to face the enemy from a single direction.
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Thus Allah granted them victory,
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and they captured vast amounts of spoils from the enemy.
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Among the captured spoils was
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a casket filled with precious jewels.
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Sariya (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the permission of the Muslims
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to single out this casket as a gift for the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar.
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They granted him permission,
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so he dispatched a messenger to Medina,
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carrying the fifth of the spoils
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along with the casket.
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'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) took the fifth
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and handed it over to the public treasury of the Muslims,
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but he refused to accept the casket of jewels,
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returning it instead to the Muslim fighters.
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The people of Medina asked Sariya's messenger about the victory,
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and he informed them.
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Then they asked him,
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"Did you hear a voice on the day of the battle?"
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He replied, "Yes,
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we heard a caller saying,
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'O Sariya,
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the mountain, the mountain!'
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We were on the brink of perishing,
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so we took refuge by the mountain,
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and Allah granted us victory."
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When the Muslim delegation arrived in Medina,
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bringing the Hurmuzan with them as a captive—
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who was one of the military commanders of Chosroes—
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they entered upon 'Umar,
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who was sleeping in the mosque,
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using his hooded cloak as a pillow.
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The Hurmuzan kept asking,
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"Where is 'Umar?"
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They said,
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"There he is,"
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lowering their voices so as not to awaken him.
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The Hurmuzan kept asking,
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"Where are his doorkeepers?
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And where are his guards?"
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They replied,
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"He has no doorkeepers and no guards."
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The Hurmuzan was utterly astonished.
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Hafiz Ibrahim depicted for us
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this scene in his famous poem *Al-'Umariyyah*,
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saying:
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"And it astonished the envoy of Chosroes to see 'Umar
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among his subjects, unadorned, though he was their ruler.
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For he knew the kings of Persia to be enclosed
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behind a wall of soldiers and guards protecting them.
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He saw him immersed in deep sleep, and perceived
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in him grandeur in its loftiest forms:
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Upon the bare soil, beneath the shade of the trees, wrapped
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in a cloak worn thin by the passage of time.
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Thus, all he had once magnified crumbled in his eyes—
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of the Chosroes and the worldly power in their hands.
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And he uttered a word of truth that became a proverb,
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which generation after generation continues to relate:
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'You felt safe when you established justice among them,
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and so you slept the tranquil sleep of a peaceful mind.'"
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How did the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, manage the administration
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of this vast, expansive empire?
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And how did his life come to an end (may Allah be pleased with him)?
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This will be the focus of our discussion in the next gathering, Allah willing.
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In the Eternal Paradise, texts preserve their elevated rank;
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they are Talhah, Ibn 'Awf, and al-Zubayr,
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along with Abu 'Ubaydah, the two Sa'ds, and the Caliphs.