When peace had been concluded, as narrated above, Khâled sued for the hand of the daughter of Mujâa’h; but the latter replied: ‘O Amir, what occasion can there be at the present time for weddings and rejoicings, when a corpse is lying in every one of our houses?’ Khâled rejoined: ‘There is no help for this.’ Khâled was then informed by Mujâa’h that his daughter would lay claim to a marriage-gift of one thousand dirhems; whereon Khâled not only agreed to pay this amount, but forthwith married the daughter of Mujâa’h, and honoured her relatives exceedingly, not regarding the Anssâr and Mohâjer chiefs as equal to them. The noble companions [of the prophet] felt aggrieved by these proceedings, and Hasân B. Thâbet sent a letter of the following purport to Abu Bakr: ‘Allowest thou, who art the successor of the apostle of God, that while the blood on the corpses of the martyrs is not yet dry, Khâled should with his new bride quietly repose in the apartment of joy, whilst the limbs of our friends are up to this time lying scattered about the desert? He is reposing on couches of silk and of brocade, honouring and respecting the relatives of his wife, whom he greets with the utmost cordiality! Had the Bani Hanifah shed the gore even of only one of our companions, no man of intelligence would consider it proper that a monotheist should enter into friendly and matrimonial relations with those people. If thou, who art righteous, deemest the act of Khâled to have been suitable, then inform us, that we may likewise deem it to be such with approbation and gratitude, because thy assent will be followed by ours; or else awaken him, because he is sleeping the sleep of indolence.’ When Abu Bakr had listened to the reading of Hasan’s letter he became angry, and addressed O’mar as follows: ‘Perceivest thou how Khâled has fallen into the bondage of lust, and how little he cares for the calamity which has befallen the adherents of Islâm?’ O’mar replied: ‘We have received news that Khâled is very distressed and melancholy.’ Others, however, have narrated that when the information about the martyrdom of Zaid B. Alkhattâb, with other companions, and the marriage of Khâled, had been brought to the notice of O’mar, he became very excited, and asked that Khâled should be deprived of his command. Whereon Abu Bakr, although not complying with this request, sent him an angry letter to the following effect: ‘O Khâled, thou art perpetually engaged in marrying and commingling with women, so that lust has overpowered thy modesty, and thou carest not for the catastrophe of twelve hundred Musalmâns, seven hundred of whom were readers of the Qurân. Thou hast neither honoured nor honourest the friends of the prophet according to their deserts, and hast added these acts to thy murder of Mâlek B. Nuyrah! A curse be on thee and upon thy base dealings, whereby thou hast incurred the blame of the Bani Makhzum! Farewell.’ When the letter of Abu Bakr reached Khâled, and he had been apprised of its contents, he burst out laughing, and said: ‘These are the words of O’mar, about which Abu Bakr knows nothing.’
When Khâled had terminated his business in Yamâmah, he remained in that country, waiting for the orders Zobeyr might bring him from the seat of the Khalifate. It is recorded in chronicles that his holy and prophetic lordship had said to A’li the Commander of the Faithful: ‘A girl of the Bani Hanifah will fall into thy possession, and when she bears thee a son, call him by my name, and give him my surname.’ When the said girl was brought to Madinah among the prisoners, Abu Bakr surrendered her to A’li Murtadza—u. w. bl.—and she bore him a son, whose name was Muhammad Hanifah.
It is known for a certainty that a short while after the subjugation of Yamâmah, Khâled was ordered to march with the army under his command to Arabian E’râq, and there to engage with the enemies of the religion in peaceable and warlike affairs. Khâled obeyed, and raised there the standards of the brilliant religion, but was afterwards commanded to pass into Syria to assume the government and command the invasion, without being one moment remiss in the energetic discharge of his duty. When these orders reached Khâled, he said: ‘O’mar was unwilling that the residence of the kings of Persia should by my efforts fall into the grasp of the adherents of Islâm, wherefore he implored Abu Bakr to despatch me to Syria.’ Although he thought this command to be odious, he obeyed the behests of the Khalifah, marched with his brave forces to that country, and conquered forts and towns, seeking the approbation of good, and destroying wicked people.
According to the ancient texts, it is recorded that in the beginning of his Khalifate Abu Bakr had given eleven standards to eleven commanders noted for bravery and intelligence, and had despatched them to various countries to invite apostates who had swerved from the right path by means of promises and threats to accept the religion, but in case of refusal to use the bright scimitar and the life-ravishing spear for reducing them to submission. Thus he had sent Khâled B. Alwolyd to attack Ttolhah and other apostates, as has been narrated. He had despatched E’kramah B. Abu Jahl to the boundaries of Yamâmah, but he returned, as has been mentioned in these pages. He appointed Mohâjer B. Ommyah to march to Yemen; ordered Khâled B. Sa’yd B. Ala´ass to go to the eastern portions of Syria; A’mru B. A´amer he selected to depart with troops for governing the Qodzaa’h and some other tribes who had become dispersed in various deserts. Hodhayfah B. Muhassin he despatched to the region of A’rfajah; Hozaymah in the direction of Mohrah; Sowyd B. Muqaran towards Tehâmah; and A’lâ Hadzramy to Bahrayn. In this manner the Amirs of exalted dignity acted according to the orders received, brought the necks of recalcitrant Arabs under the yoke of subjection, gained booty, and realized the legal alms, sending the shares pertaining to the public treasury in Madinah, and spending the remainder of the animate and inanimate acquisitions according to the injunction of the law to defray the necessary expenses. Thus the hostilities and conflicts of the surrounding countries were appeased in a short time; some of the opponents were slain, whilst others dispersed, whilst some professed obedience; but whoever desires to peruse detailed accounts of these affairs must have recourse to extensive works, because nothing more than what has been already recorded in this abridgment can be recorded therein, and now the musky reed will engage in jotting down the account of the homage to O’mar, and briefly recording the Ghazâs which have taken place in his time.