the conquest of Damascus followed it, and after the conquest of Damascus the battle of Fiḥl took place. The report of al-Wâḳidi, however, is more authentic.
It was regarding the battle of Marj that Khâlid ibn-Saʿîd ibn-al-ʿÂṣi said:
"Isn't there a horseman who, tired of stabbing,
would lend me his lance for the battle of Marj aṣ-Ṣuffar?"
Referring to this battle, ʿAbdallâh ibn-Kâmil ibn-Ḥabîb ibn-ʿAmîrah ibn-Khufâf ibn-Amruʾi-l-Ḳais ibn-Buhthah ibn-Sulaim said:
"The tribes of Mâlik took part, but ʿAmîrah disappeared
from my sight in the battle of Marj aṣ-Ṣuffar,"
meaning Mâlik ibn-Khufâf.
The story of the Samṣâmah sword. According to Hishâm ibn-Muḥammad al-Kalbi, in the battle of Marj, Khâlid ibn-Saʿîd suffered martyrdom with his sword aṣ-Ṣamṣâmah hanging down from his neck. The Prophet had sent him as ʿâmil to al-Yaman, and on his way he passed by the kindred of ʿAmr ibn-Maʿdikarib az-Zubaidi of Madhḥij and attacked them, taking as captives the wife of ʿAmr and other kinsmen. ʿAmr proposed that Khâlid grants them their liberty and they would accept Islâm. And so it was. ʿAmr offered Khâlid his own sword, aṣ-Ṣamṣâmah,[1] saying:
"A friend whom I offered as present not because of any hatred
but because presents are for those of noble birth.
A friend whom I did not betray and who did not betray me,
and so my qualities and fellow-drinkers did not.
I bestowed it on a nobleman of Ḳuraish
who was pleased with it and by which he was protected against the evil men."
This sword Muʿâwiyah took from the neck of Khâlid when
- ↑ Aghâni, vol. xiv, pp. 27, 31, 32.
