Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 7 of 93
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (22) - Al-Numan bin Muqrin Al-Muzani, may God be pleased with him
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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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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