Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 36007 — The affair of al-Qadisiyyah

Husayn said: Sayyiduna al-Nu'man bin Muqarrin (may Allah be pleased with him) was over Kaskar. He wrote to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "O Commander of the Faithful, my example and that of Kaskar is like a young man in the company of a prostitute who adorns herself with colours and perfume for him. I implore you by Allah to remove me from Kaskar and send me with one of the armies of the Muslims." He wrote to him: "Go to the people at Nahawand, for you are over them." So he went to them and they met in battle, and he was the first one killed. Sayyiduna Suwayd bin Muqarrin (may Allah be pleased with him) took the banner, and Allah gave them victory and destroyed the polytheists, and no assembly of theirs stood after that day. He said: And the people of every city began to march against their enemies and their lands. Husayn said: When the polytheists were routed from al-Mada'in, he overtook them at Jalula', then returned and sent Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him). He marched until he camped at al-Mada'in and wanted to settle the people there, but the people found its climate unhealthy and disliked it. Sayyiduna Umar learned that the people disliked it and asked: "Do camels thrive there?" They said: "No, because it has mosquitoes." Sayyiduna Umar said: "The Arabs do not thrive in a land where camels do not thrive." So they went back. Then Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) met an Ibadi, who said: "I will guide you to a land raised above the gnats, lower than the salt marsh, in the midst of the farmland and reaching into the prime of the soil." He said: "It is a land between al-Hirah and the Euphrates."