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The Conquest of Nihâwand
475

of an-Nuʿmân and mentioned the case of the two chests. ʿUmar said 'Go and sell the chests and divide the price among the Moslems.' Accordingly, I took them to al-Kûfah, where I met a young man of the Ḳuraish, ʿAmr ibn-Ḥuraith, by name, who paid their price from the stipends of [his own] family and the warriors of its members. One chest he took to al-Ḥîrah, where he sold it for the same price he had paid me for both; and the other he kept. This was the first part of the fortune ʿAmr amassed."

Other versions. A certain biographer reports that the battle of Nihâwand was fought on Wednesday and Thursday and, after a short cessation, fighting was continued on Friday. He reports in describing the battle a similar tradition to that reported by Ḥammad ibn-Salamah.

Ibn-al-Kalbi from abu-Mikhnaf:—An-Nuʿmân camped at al-Isbîdhahâr[1] with al-Ashʿath ibn-Ḳais commanding his right wing and al-Mughîrah ibn-Shuʿbah, the left wing. In the fight that ensued, an-Nuʿmân was killed. At last the Moslems won the victory; and that conquest was termed "the victory of victories." The conquest of Nihâwand took place on Wednesday, year 19, and according to others, 20.

Ar-Rifâʿi from al-Ḥasan and Muḥammad:—The battle of Nihâwand took place in the year 21. A similar tradition was communicated to me by ar-Rifâʿi on the authority of Muḥammad ibn-Kaʿb.[2]

Dînâr makes terms for the city. Others report that after the defeat of the Persian army and the victory of the Moslems, Ḥudhaifah, who was at that time the leader, laid siege to Nihâwand, whose inhabitants made sorties but were de-

  1. Hamadhâni, pp. 211, 259, and Dînawari, p. 143: "al-Isfîdhahân"; Yâḳût, vol. i, p. 239: "Isbîdhahân".
  2. Cf. Weil, vol. i, pp. 88–94; Muir, Annals, pp. 255–258; Muir, Caliphate, pp. 178–180; Wellhausen, Skizzen, vol. vi, p. 97.