Page:Baladhuri-Hitti1916.djvu/289

 This is a statement from ʿIyâḍ ibn-Ghanm to the bishop of ar-Ruha. If ye open before me the city gate and agree to offer to me for every man one dînâr and two modii of wheat, then I grant you safety for your persons, possessions and those dependent on you. It is incumbent on you to guide the one who goes astray, to repair the bridges and roads, and give good counsel to the Moslems. Thereunto, Allah is witness; and he is sufficient."

Dâʾûd ibn-ʿAbd-al-Ḥamid from a grandfather of his:—The statement of ʿIyâḍ to the inhabitants of ar-Ruha ran as follows:—

"In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. This is a statement from ʿIyâḍ ibn-Ghanm and his accompanying Moslems to the inhabitants of ar-Ruha. I have granted them security for their lives, possessions, offspring, women, city and mills, so long as they give what they rightly owe. They are bound to repair our bridges, and guide those of us who go astray. Thereunto, Allah and his angels and the Moslems are witnesses."

. ʿIyâḍ then came to Ḥarrân and directed Ṣafwân ibn-al-Muʿaṭṭal and Ḥabîb ibn-Maslamah-l-Fihri to Sumaisâṭ. With the people of Ḥarrân, he made terms similar to those of ar-Ruha. Its inhabitants opened the city gates for him, and he assigned a governor over it. He then came to Sumaisâṭ and found Ṣafwân ibn-al-Muʿaṭṭal and Ḥabîb ibn-Maslamah directing their operations against it, after having reduced many of its villages and forts. The people of Sumaisâṭ made terms similar to those of ar-Ruha. ʿIyâḍ used to make incursions from ar-Ruha and return to it.

. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from az-Zuhri:—In the days of ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb, not