Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Hazrat Abu Wa’il narrates that Hazrat Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas reached Qadisiyyah with his army. In my opinion, we were not more than seven or eight thousand, while the polytheist enemy was more than sixty thousand. They also had elephants. When they entered the field, they said to us, “Go back; you have neither numbers, nor strength, nor weapons. Go back.” We said, “We will not go back.” They would even laugh at our arrows and liken them to spinning wheels. When we refused to accept their words and refused to go back, they said, “Send a sensible man to us who can clarify for us the purpose of your coming, because we see neither numbers nor strength among you!” (2) At this, Hazrat Mughirah bin Shu’bah said, “I will go to them.” Hazrat Mughirah went to them and sat with Rustam on his throne. This was very displeasing to Rustam and his companions. Hazrat Mughirah said, “By sitting here, neither has my honor increased nor has your king’s dignity decreased.” Rustam said, “Tell me, why have you come here from your city? For I see neither numbers nor strength among you?” At this, Hazrat Mughirah bin Shu’bah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “We were a people who were afflicted with wretchedness and misguidance. Allah Almighty sent a Prophet among us, through whom Allah granted us guidance. Through him, Allah also provided us sustenance. Among the provisions we received because of him was a grain about which people think it grows in this land. When we ate it and fed it to our families, people said, ‘There is no good for us until we go to that land and eat that grain there.’” (3) Rustam said, “Then we will kill you.” Hazrat Mughirah said, “If you kill us, we will enter Paradise, and if we kill you, you will go to Hell. If there is no fighting, you will have to pay jizyah.” When Hazrat Mughirah said, “You will have to pay jizyah,” they began to shout and expressed intense anger, saying, “There will be no peace between you and us.” Then Hazrat Mughirah said, “Will you advance towards us, or shall we advance towards you?” Rustam said, “We will come to you.” So the Muslims retreated, and whoever among them was to advance, advanced, and the Muslims attacked them, killed them, and defeated them. The narrator, Hazrat Husain, says that their king Rustam was from Azerbaijan. (4) Hazrat Husain says, “I heard my elder, Ubaid bin Jahsh, say that we were walking on the backs of men and crossing trenches on the backs of men. No weapon had touched them; they had killed each other. We found some camphor in a bottle, and we thought it was salt. So we cooked meat and sprinkled it on top, but we felt no taste. A Christian monk dressed in a shirt passed by us and said, ‘O people of Arabia! Do not spoil your food. There is no good in the salt of this land. Shall I give you this shirt in exchange for it?’ So we gave him the bottle in exchange for a shirt, and he gave the shirt to one of his companions, and he wore it. We began to show it around and rejoice. Later, we found out that the price of that shirt was two dirhams.” (5) The elder named Ubaid bin Jahsh says, “I saw a man who was wearing two bracelets; his weapon was in a grave. I told him to come out; he came out, neither did he speak to us nor did we speak to him, and we killed him. Then we defeated them, and they went to the Euphrates. We pursued them, and defeated, they went to Surra. Then we pursued them, defeated them, and they went to Suraat. Then we pursued them, defeated them, and they went to Mada’in. Then we stopped at a place called Kutha, where there were armed warriors of the polytheists. The Muslim cavalry fought them, and they were defeated and went to Mada’in.” (6) Then the Muslims moved on and camped on the bank of the Tigris River. Then a group of Muslims crossed over to Mada’in from Kuluadhi or its lower side and besieged the disbelievers, until nothing was left for them to eat except their dogs and cats. Then, after a night, they came to Jalula, and Hazrat Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) set out with the people, and Hazrat Hashim bin Utbah was at the front. After that...