Page:Baladhuri-Hitti1916.djvu/434

 son of the basket]. Yazdajird thence left for Ḥulwân with the principal dignitaries of his kingdom, and carried with him the treasury of the kingdom, his precious but light pieces of furniture, private treasury, wives and children. In the year in which he fled, plague and famine ravaged all Persia. The Moslems then crossed [the Tigris] through a ford, and took possession of the city on the eastern bank of the river.

. ʿAffân ibn-Muslim from abu-Wâʾil:—The latter said, "When the Persians were put to flight at al-Ḳâdisîyah, we pursued them. They reunited at Kûtha and we pursued them until we reached the Tigris, at which the Moslems said, 'Why do you gaze at this small body of water? Let us wade through.' Accordingly, we waded through, and once more put the enemy to flight."

Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from Abân ibn-Ṣâliḥ:—When they were defeated at al-Ḳâdisîyah, the fugitive Persians came to al-Madâʾin. The Moslems having arrived at the Tigris, whose water was flowing higher than ever, found that the Persians had removed the ships and ferry-boats to the eastern bank and burned the bridge. Saʿd and the Moslems finding no way to cross over were greatly afflicted. At last, Saʿd chose one of the Moslems who swam across on horseback. Likewise, the other Moslems crossed on horseback and, on landing, made the owners of the ships transport the baggage. Seeing that, the Persians said, "By Allah, those we are fighting are nothing less than demons [jinn]!" and they took to flight.