Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sending forces to al-Sham

Aslam said: When Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Syria, he and his companions were besieged and faced severe hardship. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote him a letter in which, after the greeting, he wrote: "Allah has placed ease after every distress. One hardship can never overcome two eases." He also wrote to him this verse of the Qur'an: "O you who believe, be patient, outdo others in patience, remain steadfast, and fear Allah so that you may succeed." [Al Imran: 200] The narrator said: After this Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah wrote to him in reply: "The life of this world is only play and amusement, adornment, boasting among yourselves and rivalry in wealth and children." [Al-Hadid: 20] Then Sayyiduna Umar read Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah's letter to the people and said to them: "O people of Madinah, Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah is hinting at you and urging you to jihad." Zayd said that his father said: I was standing in the market when some people came down from the valley, among them Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), giving the good news of victory. I too came out in joy, went to Sayyiduna Umar and said to him: "O Commander of the Faithful, glad tidings of the help of Allah and of victory." Sayyiduna Umar said "Allahu Akbar" and said: "Many a speaker will say: If only it had been Khalid bin al-Walid."

Azrah bin Qays al-Bajali said: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) dismissed Sayyiduna Khalid bin al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) and appointed Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) as governor over Syria, Sayyiduna Khalid delivered a sermon. He praised and glorified Allah Almighty and said: "The Commander of the Faithful appointed me as governor over Syria, and then, when only butter and honey remained, he dismissed me and preferred someone else over me." At this a man stood up and said: "Be patient, O commander, for this is a tribulation." Sayyiduna Khalid said: "As long as Sayyiduna Umar is alive, there will be no tribulation. But then, when the people are left without a leader, until a man comes to a land seeking in it what is not in his own land, and he does not find it."

Al-Hasan said: When the statement of Sayyiduna Khalid bin al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) became known to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: "I will dismiss Khalid and al-Muthanna so that they both know that Allah helps His religion, and not the two of them."

Aslam, the servant of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), said: When we came to Syria with Sayyiduna Umar, he made his camel kneel and went to relieve himself. I spread a sheepskin on the saddle, and when he returned he mounted on the sheepskin. Then we met the people of Syria, who would ask me about Sayyiduna Umar, and I would point towards him. Seeing their condition, Sayyiduna Umar would say: "Their eyes incline more towards the mounts of those who have no share of good." That is, towards the mounts of the non-Arabs.

Qays said: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Syria, the people received him while he was riding his camel. The people said: "O Commander of the Faithful, it would be good if you rode a horse of fine breed, for the great and leading men of this place will be meeting you." Sayyiduna Umar said: "Matters are not decided here but there," and he pointed towards the sky.

Qays said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was in Syria when Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) came to him. At that time the commanders of the armies were sitting around Sayyiduna Umar. Sayyiduna Bilal called out: "O Umar!" Sayyiduna Umar said: "Umar is here." Sayyiduna Bilal said to him: "You are between these people and Allah, and there is no one between you and Allah. Look in front of you, behind you, to your right and to your left. These people sitting around you eat nothing but the flesh of birds." Sayyiduna Umar said: "You have spoken the truth. I will not rise from this seat of mine until these people undertake to provide every Muslim man two mudds of grain and their share of vinegar and olive oil." They said: "That is on us, O Commander of the Faithful. Allah Almighty has made provision ample and increased what is good." Sayyiduna Umar said: "Then very well."

Aslam, the slave of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), said: When Sayyiduna Umar came to Syria, a man from among the dihqans (local chiefs) there came to him and said: "I have prepared food, and I would like you to come to my house so that the people of my region may realise my standing and rank with you." Sayyiduna Umar said: "We do not enter such houses of worship as have images in them."

Sayyiduna Tariq bin Shihab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Syria, many armies came to him. Sayyiduna Umar was wearing a waist-wrap, leather socks and a turban, and he was holding his camel and wading through the water. The people said: "O Commander of the Faithful, many people and the rulers of Syria are coming to you, and you are in this state." Sayyiduna Umar said: "We are a people whom Allah Almighty has honoured through Islam, and we will not seek honour in anything other than Islam."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Syria, I saw him resting in his tent during the day, and I waited for him in the shade of the tent. When he woke up, I heard his voice; he was saying: "O Allah, forgive me my return from the expedition of Sargh." That is, when he came back from there because of the plague.

Usayr bin Amr said: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Syria, a horse of non-Arab breed was brought to him to ride. He mounted it and it began to tremble, so he got down from it and said: "May Allah disgrace you and disgrace the one who trained you."

Sayyiduna Tariq bin Shihab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Syria, he delivered a sermon to the people in which he said: "Let no one slacken the rein of his horse among the people." Then the next day a boy was carried to him whom a horse had kicked. Sayyiduna Umar said to him: "Did you not hear what I said yesterday?" He said: "O Commander of the Faithful, I heard what you said." Sayyiduna Umar said: "Then why did you do such a thing?" He said: "I saw the road empty, so I slackened the animal's rope." Then Sayyiduna Umar turned to the people and said: "Which two men will take him out of the mosque and punish him?" Hearing this, no one answered. Sayyiduna Umar repeated what he had said, and Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Commander of the Faithful, the people do not like their companion to be disgraced in this way." Then Sayyiduna Umar said to the boy's relatives: "Take him and have him treated. By Allah, if anything happens to him, I will make you an example." Then the boy recovered and Allah Almighty granted him well-being.

Someone told Muhammad (Ibn Sirin) that when Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) heard that there was plague in Syria, he came back from there. At this he expressed that he did not know of this and said: "He came back because he was told that the summer expedition would not set out that year, so he came back."

Urwah bin Ruwaym said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote a letter to Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him), which Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah read out to the people at Jabiyah. In it was written: "From the servant of Allah, Umar, Commander of the Faithful, to Abu Ubaydah. Peace be upon you. Only a man of clear intellect and great strength can implement the command of Allah among the people, one whose secrets people cannot discover, who does not flinch in enforcing the truth, and who does not care for the blame of any blamer in the matter of Allah. Peace be upon you."

Urwah said: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Syria, his shirt had torn at the back; it was a thick Sunbulani shirt. He sent that shirt to the governor of Adhri'at or Aylah, who washed and mended it, sewed a Coptic shirt for him and brought both shirts to him, and presented the Coptic shirt to him. Sayyiduna Umar touched it and said: "This is soft." Then he threw that shirt back to him and said: "Give me my shirt, for it absorbs sweat better."

Abu Maryam said: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Syria, he prayed in the prayer place of Dawud (peace be upon him) and recited Surah Sad. When he reached the verse of prostration, he prostrated.

Abu al-Juwayriyah al-Jarmi said: I was among those who went towards Syria on the day of Khazir. When we faced the enemy, the wind blew against them and they turned their backs, and we fought them from evening until morning. Ibrahim bin al-Ashtar said: "Last night I killed a man and I noticed a fine fragrance from him. I think he was Ibn Marjanah. His feet were towards the east and his head towards the west, or his head towards the east and his feet towards the west." So I went and looked, and it was indeed him, that is, Ubaydullah bin Ziyad.

Ibn Wa'il or Wa'il bin Alqamah said: I was present with the army at Karbala. Then a man came and said: "Is Husayn among you?" He asked: "Who are you?" The man said: "I give you tidings of Hell." He said: "Rather, the Lord is forgiving and the intercessor is obeyed. Who are you?" The man said: "I am Ibn Huwayzah." Sayyiduna Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) cursed him and said: "O Allah, drag him to Hell." After that, when he mounted his horse, the horse bolted and began to run wildly, and it dragged him in such a way that nothing of him remained in the horse's saddle except his feet.