villages of Ghazzah, which lay on the way between the Moslems and the residence of the patrician[1] of Ghazzah. Here the battle raged furiously, but at last Allah gave victory to his friends and defeat to his enemies whom he dispersed. All this took place before the arrival of Khâlid ibn-al-Walîd in Syria.
The battle of al-ʿArabah. Thence Yazîd ibn-abi-Sufyân went in quest of the partrician, but hearing that a large host of Greeks were gathered in al-ʿArabah, which lay in Palestine, he directed against them abu-Umâmah aṣ-Ṣudai ibn-ʿAjlân al-Bâhili, who, falling upon them, put most of them to the sword and went his way. Regarding this battle of al-ʿArabah, abu-Mikhnaf reports that six of the Greek leaders at the head of 3,000 men camped at al-ʿArabah when abu-Umamah with a body of Moslems advanced against them and defeated them, killing one of their leaders. Thence he pursued them to ad-Dubbiyah (i. e. ad-Dâbiyah)[2] where he inflicted another defeat on them, and the Moslems carried off a large booty.
According to a tradition communicated by abu-Ḥafṣ ash-Shâmi on the authority of certain sheikhs from Syria, the first conflict of the Moslems was the Battle of al-ʿArabah before which no fighting at all took place since they left al-Ḥijâz. In no place between al-Ḥijâz and al-ʿArabah did they pass without establishing their authority and taking possession of it without resistance.
