provided Khâlid with food at the beginning of the siege was wont to stand on the wall. Once Khâlid called him, and when he came, Khâlid greeted him and talked with him. The bishop one day said to him, "Abu-Sulaimân, thy case is prospering and thou hast a promise to fulfil for me; let us make terms for this city." Thereupon, Khâlid called for an inkhorn and parchment and wrote:—
"In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. This is what Khâlid would grant to the inhabitants of Damascus, if he enters therein: he promises to give them security for their lives, property and churches. Their city-wall shall not be demolished; neither shall any Moslem be quartered in their houses. Thereunto we give to them the pact of Allah and the protection of his Prophet, the caliphs and the 'Believers'. So long as they pay the poll-tax, nothing but good shall befall them."
The Moslems enter the city. One night, a friend of the bishop came to Khâlid and informed him of the fact that it was the night of a feast[1] for the inhabitants of the city, that they were all busy and that they had blocked the Sharḳi gate with stones and left it unguarded. He then suggested that Khâlid should procure a ladder. Certain occupants of the convent, by which Khâlid's army camped, brought him two ladders on which some Moslems climbed to the highest part of the wall, and descended to the gate which was guarded only by one or two men. The Moslems co-operated and opened the door. This took place at sunrise.
In the meantime, abu-ʿUbaidah had managed to open the Jâbiyah gate and sent certain Moslems over its wall. This made the Greek fighters pour to his side and lead a violent fight against the Moslems. At last, however, the Greeks took to flight. Then abu-ʿUbaidah at the head of
- ↑ Ṭabari, vol. i, p. 2152.
