Allah—w. n. b. e.—has said:—‘And [remember] when Mûsa said unto his servant [Yoshua’ the son of Nûn], I will not stop until I come to the place where the two seas meet; or I will travel for a long space of time.’* Theologians and historians agree that in this verse the word ‘servant’ means ‘Yoshua’ the son of Nûn,’ who was one of the greatest prophets, and his story runs as follows:
When the children of Esrâil had obtained certainty of Mûsa’s death, and were deploring his loss for one month, they conferred the plenary power of governing upon Yoshua’ and agreed to obey him in all things. On the 6th day of the month Nisân, during the first year of Mûsa’s decease, the Lord of Grandeur addressed Yoshua’ as follows: ‘Assemble the children of Esrâil, and make efforts to conquer Ariha [Jericho] and the country of Syria, because the time has arrived when the promise made by Me to Mûsa is to be fulfilled! Victory and conquest will be the sequel of the expedition to Syria!’ In obedience to the divine command, Yoshua’ immediately harangued the people of Esrâil, warned them not to oppose the Divine will, promised them good success, and fitted out the army, which started on the 10th of Nisân for Ariha. It is said that when the hosts of Esrâil crossed the Ardan [the river Jordan] the particles of water receded from each other, and a dry path appeared, through which the children of Esrâil passed with the greatest security; after that the waters again met and the river flowed as before. When this miracle took place Yoshua’ caused twelve big stones to be set up over each other, and the people built a tower on the spot, in commemoration of the prodigy. In that place they also celebrated the festival of the Passover; then they picked out two men from among themselves and sent them as spies towards Ariha, who, after their return, informed the children of Esrâil about the habits and circumstances of the inhabitants of it. The army then quickly marched in that direction, and besieged three towns. It is related that Ariha was a large fortified town, with strong breastworks and ramparts. Its earthworks reached the clouds, and its towers vied in altitude with the sphere that contains the signs of the zodiac. It contained large houses, flowing brooks, gardens, parks, and populous thoroughfares. As the city was fortified with strong defences the inhabitants believed its conquest to be difficult and remote, although the enemy was very near. Yoshua’ had, however, ascertained by his prophetic light, that the place could not stand a siege; therefore he proceeded on the seventh day of it with the chieftains and the grandees of the people of Esrâil, as well as the Harûnian priests and the ark of the testimony, to circumambulate the city seven times; then he uttered an invocation and breathed against it, whereon the ramparts of the fortifications all at once separated and crumbled to pieces, so that a citadel of such magnitude became level with the ground without any external causes.* The children of Esrâil then entered Ariha, which they plundered and ravaged according to their heart’s content, accumulating immense booty. Thereon Yoshua’ ordered the soldiers to produce everything they had taken, and not to spend anything, because at that time the adherents of monotheism were not allowed to plunder until the time of the mission of his lordship the seal of prophets [i.e., Mahammud] had arrived, as shall—if Allah pleaseth—be narrated at the proper place in the second volume of this work. When all the property taken by the army had been brought forth, Yoshua’ ordered it to be destroyed by fire; but as the fire had no effect upon the spoils, he knew that there must be some treachery. Therefore he had recourse to the ‘sudden judgment,’ which revealed the name of the villain, who confessed his guilt, and produced the golden head of a cow, encrusted with rubies and sapphires, which he had secreted. This having been placed on the top of the other booty, the fire immediately took effect and burnt the traitor likewise.
When the people of Esrâil entered the city, Yoshua’ asked them to implore the Lord and pardoner of transgressions to forgive their sins, and to offer their thanksgivings for having been delivered of their migrations in the desert. Numbers of the pious and devout among the multitude complied with this injunction; others, however, scoffed and asked for corn. The number of those who had ridiculed Yoshua’ is said to have amounted to seventy thousand, but they were all suddenly destroyed by lightning. After this Yoshua’ ordered Ailia to kill all the A’mâlekites who happened to be there; it is, however, said that they were so athletic and strong that twenty of the children of Esrâil assembled around one of them for the purpose of severing his head from his body, but could not effect it.
After the conquest [of Ariha] Yoshua’ proceeded to Balqa, likewise a strong fortified town, with a high citadel, the inhabitants of which were idolaters. They had a king of the name of Bâluq, and Bala’m was also among them, which latter individual was, according to the opinion of the Jews, a sorcerer; but the chiefs of the Muhammadan faith assert that he was a devout believer, who knew the [ineffable] name of Allah, by whose blessings his prayers were answered. When Yoshua’ arrived at Balqa, Bâluq had not the strength to meet him or to fight him in an open battle-field; wherefore he retreated into a fortified town, after the protracted siege whereof [by the Esrâilites] he requested Bala’m, who was also called Bala’âm, to pray that the children of Esrâil might be put to flight.* Bala’m, however, at first refused, and said: ‘Yoshua’ is a prophet of Allah—w. n. b. e.—has brought his army to this country by divine command, and I cannot pray for the required purpose, and you must make a profession of the religion of Mûsa, that you may be delivered from the wrath of Allah.’ At last, however, Bala’m was, by threats and promises, induced to swerve from the straight path, and invoked the Lord Almighty to put the children of Esrâil to flight. His prayer was answered, and the troops of Yoshua’ fled, and the latter having supplicated God with reference to this event, the allocution arrived: ‘There is a servant of Mine among the inhabitants of Balqa who calls upon me by the greatest [i.e., ineffable] name, and whatever he asks from Me is granted to him.’ Yoshua’ said: ‘O God! since this prayer of his is not impressed with the signet of confirmation, cause him to forget that name.’ The request of Yoshua’ was hereon complied with, and the ineffable name blotted out of Bala’m’s memory. Yoshua’ then returned to the children of Esrâil and augmented his efforts in beleaguering the enemies of the true religion. The king afterwards again requested Bala’m to utter his prayers against the children of Esrâil, and to implore the Almighty —w. n. b. e.—to disperse them, but although Bala’m recited his orisons, they were not responded to; he therefore advised the king to send handsome and lascivious women into the camp of Yoshua’, and assured him that if one individual of the children of Esrâil committed adultery, God the Most High would refuse them the victory. The king accordingly despatched, at the instigation of Bala’m, dissolute females to the army of the Esrâilites, with injunctions to grant them anything they might ask for. These women proceeded to the locality, and one of them accosted a grandee of the children of Esrâil, who was the governor of the tribe of Shima’ûn, Bin Ya’qûb Zamry Bin Shalûm by name, who took her by the hand, brought her to Yoshua’, and said: ‘I think, according to thy opinion, it would be unlawful for me to have this woman.’ Yoshua’ replied: ‘Certainly! God forbid thou shouldst have anything to do with her; because whenever an Esrâilite commits adultery pestilence sent by heaven afflicts us.’ Zamry continued: ‘I shall not obey thy commands!’ He then took the woman into his tent; but the misery of the plague broke out in the army that very moment.
When Makhâz, the son of A’nzâr, the son of Harûn, who was one of the chiefs and grandees of the people, had heard of what happened, he snatched up a lance,* hastened to the tent of Zamry, pierced therewith both the man and woman, carried them to the camp, and stood for a long time shouting: ‘Whoever will hereafter have anything to do with dissolute women will be punished in this manner.’ Therefore the children of Esrâil withdrew from that sinful course, and expelled the prostitutes from the camp. The Lord of Magnificence then removed the misery of the pestilence from among the children of Esrâil, and deprived Bala’m, on account of his misdemeanour, of the diadem of knowledge, the robe of piety and of religion. The next day Yoshua’ ordered the army to march to the citadel. The Esrâilites were beating their drums and blowing their wind-instruments, and from Friday morning until the time of the afternoon prayers they engaged in fighting. When the evening had drawn near a part of the wall fell down by an earthquake; the conquest became evident, the carnage increased, and as by the command of Mûsa every occupation except devotion was illicit, Yoshua’ implored the Omnipotent Inscrutable One to order the sun to retrograde; accordingly it moved by command of the Lord of lords from west to east and remained stationary* until the children of Esrâil had terminated the slaughter of the A’mâlekites and giants; they also captured Bâluq and Bala’m, causing them to meet their friends [in death].
It is known that for the sake of three individuals the sun rose from the western horizon. Firstly, at the instance of Yoshua’, the son of Nûn; secondly, for Sulimân, the prophet—u. w. b., etc.—on the occasion of the ‘horses swift in course’;* and, thirdly, for A’li the elect—may Allah ennoble his face—as shall be narrated in its proper place if it pleaseth Allah.
When Yoshua’ was, on Sunday, collecting the spoils and burning them, he heard of there being in the vicinity of the Holy Land a town of the name of A’ali, the inhabitants of which were likewise idolaters. Therefore he again collected his army and marched to that region, and having captured the king of it, he massacred him with twelve thousand idolaters. In the rear of that town there were two mountains, one of which was called A’mâd, and the other Jia’ûn; the population between them being very large. Yoshua’ marched there and invited all men to make their profession of Islâm, whereon many asked for mercy and became Musalmâns. Near these mountains there was also another height called Salam, with a strong fortification and numerous inhabitants. That fort possessed many outworks and conveniences. Yoshua’ paid a visit to the king, who was a giant of the name of Bâruq, and invited him to accept the religion of Islâm, which the king and his people did.
After these great conquests Yoshua’ marched to the extreme west, and arrived in the country of Armaniân, which contained five towns, with a king in each. The people heard of Yoshua’s approach, attacked him, but were put to flight, and took refuge in a cave. Yoshua’ despatched a few warriors there, whilst he himself, with the heroes of his army, went in pursuit of the retreating foes, great numbers of whom were slain. The strangest thing of all, however, was, that those who had escaped from the sword were killed by hailstones to such an extent that their numbers exceeded those who had perished by the sword. After this victory Yoshua’ took the five kings and exterminated them; then the drum of return was struck, and he engaged in conquering the rest of Syria, thirty-one of the kings of which he captured and killed, so that he at last vanquished the whole country and distributed it amongst the children of Esrâil. All these events took place during the space of seven years. According to a tradition, his noble mind was after these wars occupied twenty years more with governing the people and teaching them the Mosaic Law. When, however, the time of his departure was approaching, his health failed him; he fell a prey to a grave malady, and was prostrated on his bed. On that occasion the news arrived that King Salam had apostatized from the religion, and had revolutionized all the country. As Yoshua’ was unable to wage war on account of his malady, he invoked the wrath of God upon the rebels, sent for Kalûb, the son of Yûfanna, appointed him to be his successor and heir, and departed from this world.