It is recorded in histories that Mâhân departed from Antioch with one hundred thousand men, and arrived, after traversing the distance, at Hamss, where he reproved and chastised the inhabitants for having made a treaty with the professors of Islâm, but they excused themselves as best they could, and submitted themselves to him. Mâhân then departed from Hamss, and after traversing the necessary distance, reached the water of Yarmûk, near which he encamped, and after the expiration of three days three other Amirs, who had been appointed to reinforce him, also joined him one after the other. When the adherents of Islâm had obtained this information, they became dismayed, so that Abu O’baydah despatched a swift messenger to O’mar, informing him of the multitude and boldness of the opponents as well as of the weakness and smallness of the Musalmân forces. The courier arrived in a very brief time in Madinah, and O’mar wept after he had perused the letter of Abu O’baydah, although he sent a cheery answer encouraging him to fight; he, moreover, said to the courier: ‘Convey my salutation to Abu O’baydah, and tell him: O’mar recommends thee to keep up thy spirits, because, if God willeth, his reinforcements will join thee before a battle takes place.’ After O’mar had given leave to the courier to depart, he despatched Sowyd B. Ssâmet Anssâri, with three thousand brave men, to reinforce the Musalmâns.—It is recorded in the ‘Maqssad Aqssa’ that, after the courier of Abu O’baydah had departed, he despatched Sa’d B. A´amer and Abu Sofiân B. Harb with one thousand men to reinforce him. —It is recorded in the ‘Târikh-i Aa’thum Kûfi’ that Sowyd had reached the camp of Abu O’baydah before the arrival of the letter of O’mar, and that the Musalmâns rejoiced.
On this occasion Mâhân held a consultation, after which he sent an envoy to Abu O’baydah with the following message: ‘We have been informed that the man who had ere this been the Amir and commander-in-chief of the army is adorned with the decorations of a noble genealogy. Now we stand in need of an interview with him, that we may communicate to him our intentions and learn what yours are.’ Abu O’baydah, having complied with the request of Mâhân, ordered Khâled next day to pay a visit to the camp of the Byzantines. When the morning dawned Khâled accordingly betook himself to the camp of the opponents, but ordered his red cupola, which he had purchased for three hundred dinârs, to be pitched near the tent of Mâhân, and when the latter entered it the first words he uttered were as follows: ‘This cupola of thine is very elegant, and pleases us greatly. We request thee to give us this tent, for which we shall very gladly pay thee any sum thou askest.’ Khâled said nothing about the cupola, but replied: ‘We have no need of your wares.’ It is said that Mâhân intended by his affable words to pave the way to familiarity with Khâled.—In some chronicles it is related that Mâhân had remained sitting in full pomp in his own tent, and had invited Khâled to enter it. When Khâled arrived, Mâhân rose to his feet, received him with politeness, and spoke with great affability. After these preliminary civilities, he spoke to Khâled as follows: ‘If the acquisition of money be the object of your hostilities, we agree to present to O’mar B. Alkhattâb, the ruler of the Arabs, ten thousand dinârs, to Abu O’baydah five thousand, to thee five thousand, and shall give to one hundred of the chief men of your army one hundred thousand dinârs [to be distributed among them], on condition that you leave our country as soon as you receive the money, and hereafter no more invade our possessions.’—Let it not remain unknown that when in transactions like these the dinâr is mentioned, it implies one mithqâl of gold, and the dirhem is silver.—When Mâhân had finished what he had to say, Khâled B. Alwolyd, having recited some passages in modulated prose and in poetry, added the following sentiments of his own: ‘If it be the wish of the Amir to see the dust raised by contention and strife laid, and to behold the foundations of peace and love which have been destroyed to be built up, he must illuminate the casket of his heart with the light of sincerity, and use the sword of his polished tongue in uttering the words promulged by the [religious] law; if, however, Divine favour is not vouchsafed him to guide him, he will, for the preservation of his family and wealth, have to pay a capitation tax; else hostilities must continue in case of refusal, and the blood-shedding scimitar alone will become the arbiter between us and you.’ Mâhân replied: ‘O Khâled, the Byzantines will never abandon their religion and believe in Muhammad, who was your prophet; nor will they agree to pay the capitation tax, which would be tantamount to a confession of their weakness and imbecility. Do not threaten us with hostilities; and I swear by my life that I have brought the valiant army thou beholdest for the purpose of waging war against you! Arise and depart from me, and prepare for a conflict, because we are also ready for it.’ When Khâled B. Alwolyd heard these words, he stroked down his skirts and departed to report to Abu O’baydah the result of the interview. Mâhân on his part, who had been foiled in his attempts at negotiation, consulted the Battâryqah and men of intellect on the manner of combating the Arabs. Some said: ‘Our forces exceed those of the enemy by many thousands, and amount to more than the double of their number; it would be proper that each day one hundred thousand should attack them, and if victory appears on the mirror of our aspirations all will be well; but in the contrary case— which Allah forbid—another hundred thousand will be ready to encounter the foe.’ Mâhân having demurred to this advice, another man spoke as follows: ‘It will be proper to draw out in battle array the whole Byzantine army opposite to the Arab forces; thus ten of our men will be able to assail each Arab, so that he will undoubtedly be slain or captured.’ Mâhân replied: ‘The correctness of this opinion is evident, because even if two of our men attack one of theirs they will not be able to cope with us, and will not leave their man unsuccoured on the battle-field; we must therefore hold our entire army in readiness, so as to make a unanimous onslaught upon the foe, and endeavour to annihilate our antagonists:
We shall either victoriously place our foot on the head of the sphere,
Or bravely sacrifice our heads to attain our desire.
The Byzantine grandees, having approved of the opinion of Mâhân, determined to act according to it; meanwhile, however, he despatched a letter to the residence of the Qayssar, the contents whereof were as follows: ‘After we had encamped along the bank of the river Yarmûk, I summoned Khâled—some of whose exploits and qualities have reached your noble audition—and peace being at all times preferable to war, have first offered him large sums of money, so that, beguiled by wealth, he might be induced to return to his country; but in vain. Then I threatened him with the numbers of our victorious army, but also ineffectually. As our troops know that the Arabs are desirous of annihilating them, and will be satisfied by nothing except slaying, plundering or capturing them, they are ready to meet death.
‘It is better to be a dead man under a stone,
Than to be a living man under disgrace.
We have now arrived at the determination to fight on an appointed day a battle royal, trusting that Divine favour will grant us victory to increase our prestige. I have, however, one night had a vision in which a person addressed me as follows: “O Mâhân! fight not with the Arab army, or else thou wilt be defeated and slain!” Having been distressed by this announcement, I awoke, but nevertheless determined to consider this dream as a vain hallucination. My weak mind now suggests that the sovereign and asylum of the world [i.e., your majesty] should remove his family and treasures to Constantinople, but to continue to honour Antioch with the presence of his noble person, to see what heaven will bring forth from the womb of futurity.’
It is related that when the hostilities were impending, one of the Battâryqah said to Mâhân: ‘I have had a wonderful dream last night; if you will permit I shall narrate it.’ Mâhân said: ‘Relate it.’ The Battryq said: ‘I dreamt that tall men in white garments and green turbans alighted from the sky on earth, broke off the points of our arrows, drew out our swords from the scabbards, drove us about in all directions, and said: “Flee, or else you will all be slain.” We accordingly ran, and while doing so many of us fell, and many became affected by a condition which disabled them from advancing one step. I also beheld detachments of our army making their appearance after each other and then again vanishing so as to leave no trace of themselves; and while thus fleeing I awoke.’ Mâhân, being displeased and saddened by this tale, exclaimed: ‘Ill-boding man! Let thy perverse eye see no rest, and may thy ear hear no glad tidings! Thy unpleasant dream has distressed my mind! The people thou hast seen falling and those thou hast seen standing will all be killed, and I wish thee to be slain first because thou hast informed us of the impending misery and destruction.’ Strangely enough, Abu O’baydah had also dreamt a dream which, however, pointed to the victory of the Musalmâns over the adherents of aberration, as is narrated in detail in the ‘Târikh-i Aa’thum Kûfi.’