Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah

Jubair bin Hiyah says: My father narrated to me that Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Hormuzan: "You have escaped from me, now at least give us some sincere advice." This was at the time when he had granted him amnesty and said: "No harm, you may speak." So Hormuzan said: "Yes, today Persia has one head and two arms." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "Where is the head?" Hormuzan replied: "Nahavand, which is with Bundar, along with the commanders of Kisra and the people of Isfahan." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "Where are the two arms?" The narrator says that he forgot the places Hormuzan mentioned, then Hormuzan said: "Cut off the arms so that the head becomes weak." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Enemy of Allah! You are lying, we will attack the head first, thus Allah Almighty will destroy it, and if that happens, the arms will automatically perish." Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) intended to participate in the battle himself. But the people said: "O Commander of the Faithful! We beseech you by Allah Almighty, do not go yourself towards the non-Arabs, if you are martyred, the system of the Muslims will be disrupted, you should send the armies of the Mujahideen." (He acted upon this advice and) sent his son Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar, along with the Muhajireen and Ansar, and the people of Madinah to fight the people of Persia. Meanwhile, he wrote a letter to Sayyiduna Abu Musa Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) to bring the people of Basra, and to Sayyiduna Hudhaifah bin Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) to bring the people of Kufa, and gather at Nahavand. When you all gather, your commander will be Sayyiduna Nu'man bin Muqarrin Mazni (may Allah be pleased with him). When this army gathered at Nahavand, Bundar (the governor of Kisra), who was a fire-worshipper, sent a message to them: "O group of Arabs! Send your envoy so that we may talk." The people chose Sayyiduna Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him). Jubair bin Hiyah says: It is as if I can still see Mughirah, he was a tall man, had long hair, and was one-eyed. So he went, and when he returned after the discussion, we asked: (What happened?) He said: "The fire-worshipper consulted his companions and asked: 'What kind of environment should we create for this Arab? Should we show beauty, joy, and kingship, or should we deliberately show hardship and keep away from worldly adornments and comforts?' They said: 'Rather, we should display our beauty and our numbers in the best form.' (Anyway, when I arrived) I saw weapons and shields that dazzled the eyes, I saw them standing by Bundar, who was sitting on a golden throne with a crown on his head. I went straight ahead and bowed to sit on the throne with him (as a common man prepares to sit), but I was pushed and rebuked. I said: 'Such (misbehavior) is not done with envoys.' They said to me: 'You are a dog, do you sit with the king?' I said: 'As much as he has status among you, I have more status among my people.' Still, he scolded me and said: 'Sit down.' So I sat down. (First the king said something and) his words were translated for me as follows: 'O group of Arabs! You were the hungriest, the most wretched, the dirtiest, (compared to developed kingdoms) and far from every good. I could have ordered my commanders, who string arrows, to attack you, but because of your filthy and impure corpses, I did not do so. Now, if you go back, fine, but if you refuse, we will keep you in your killing fields.' Sayyiduna Mughirah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'I praised Allah Almighty and said: By Allah! You have not erred in describing our qualities, we were far from (developed kingdoms), hungry, wretched, and deprived of every good. (But a time came when) Allah Almighty sent His Messenger to us, he gave us glad tidings of support and victory in this world and Paradise in the Hereafter. From the coming of this Messenger until we reached you, we have been receiving success and help from our Lord. Fine, you have such kingship and life (but to us, this is wretchedness), and we will never return to that misery until we overcome you or are martyred here.' He said: 'The one-eyed has spoken his heart and spoken the truth.' After that, I stood up from him (and returned), by Allah! I overawed the Persian in my own way. He sent us a message: 'Will you cross (the river) or shall we?' Sayyiduna Nu'man (may Allah be pleased with him) said: '(My companions!) You cross over.' So we crossed (the river) and reached. My father (Jubair) said: 'I had never seen such a scene, the army of the fire-worshipping Persians looked like a mountain of iron, they had pledged not to flee from facing the Arabs, and some (warriors) were tied together, up to seven in one rope, and they had placed pointed iron behind them, saying that whoever tried to flee would be wounded by the pointed iron.' Sayyiduna Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him), seeing their numbers, said: '(In this battle, as many disbelievers will be killed) I have never seen such a number, surely our enemy has abandoned sleep and rest, so there is no need to hurry. However, if I were the commander, I would have confronted them swiftly.' Sayyiduna Nu'man (may Allah be pleased with him) was a man who wept much, he said to me: 'May Allah bring you to such situations (then see what you do). Now, whatever your position is, you should neither be worried nor consider it blameworthy. By Allah Almighty! What prevents me from hastening to fight them is the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he went on a campaign, he would not fight at the beginning of the day, but would wait until the time of prayer (i.e., when the sun declined), the winds would start to blow, and fighting would become pleasant.' Then Sayyiduna Nu'man (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'O Allah! I ask You for a victory in which Islam and the people of Islam are honored, and disbelief and the people of disbelief are humiliated, and through it, cool my eyes, and then grant me martyrdom.' Then he said: 'Say Ameen.' So we said Ameen. Then he began to weep, and we also wept. Then Sayyiduna Nu'man said: 'When I wave the flag the first time, hold your weapons, when I wave it the second time, get ready to fight the enemy, and when I wave it the third time, everyone attack his nearest enemy with the blessing of Allah Almighty.' When the time for (Zuhr) prayer came and the winds began to blow, he said Allahu Akbar, and we also said Allahu Akbar. Then he said: 'By Allah! The wind of victory has begun to blow, inshaAllah, and I hope Allah Almighty will accept my prayer and grant us victory.' Then he waved the flag the first time, then the second time, and when he moved it the third time, each of us attacked his nearest enemy. Sayyiduna Nu'man (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'If I am martyred, Hudhaifah bin Yaman will be the commander of the army, if he is also martyred, then so-and-so, after him so-and-so,' until he mentioned seven commanders, and finally mentioned Sayyiduna Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him). My father (Jubair) said: 'By Allah! To my knowledge, every Muslim wished either to be martyred or to be victorious, the enemy also stood firm against us, we only heard the sound of iron striking iron, eventually, so many Muslims were martyred, but when they saw our patience and resolve, that these people had no intention of fleeing, they prepared for defeat. When a Mujahid attacked one enemy, all seven tied in one rope would attack him, but it would happen that all of them would be killed, and the pointed iron behind would wound them. Sayyiduna Nu'man (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'Advance the flag,' so we advanced the flag and began to kill them, and they began to be defeated. When Sayyiduna Nu'man (may Allah be pleased with him) saw that Allah Almighty had accepted his prayer and granted victory, at that moment an arrow came and struck him in the abdomen, and he was martyred. His brother Ma'qil bin Muqarrin covered him with a cloth, took the flag himself, advanced, and said: 'May Allah have mercy on you, keep advancing,' so we did so and began to defeat and kill them. When we finished, the people gathered and began to ask: 'Where is the commander?' Ma'qil said: 'This is your commander, Allah Almighty granted him victory, cooled his eyes, and honored him with martyrdom.' The people pledged allegiance to Sayyiduna Hudhaifah bin Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him). Meanwhile, Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was engaged in supplication in Madinah and waiting anxiously like a woman in labor. Sayyiduna Hudhaifah (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote a letter to inform him of the victory and sent it with a Muslim. When he arrived, he conveyed the news of victory as follows: 'O Commander of the Faithful! Rejoice, victory has been achieved, and Allah Almighty has honored Islam and the people of Islam, and humiliated shirk and the polytheists.' Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: 'Did Nu'man send you?' He said: 'O Commander of the Faithful! Be patient and expect reward for the death of Nu'man.' Upon hearing this, he began to weep and recite Inna lillah, and said: 'Woe to you, then what happened to the commander?' He said: 'So-and-so, so-and-so,' then after mentioning some names, he said: 'O Commander of the Faithful! There are others, but you do not know them.' Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, while he himself was weeping: 'If Umar does not know them, it does not matter, Allah Almighty knows them.'