Egypt at the head of 3,500 men. Just before that, ʿUmar was affected with solicitude and fear and sent az-Zubair ibn-al-ʿAuwâm at the head of 12,000 men. Az-Zubair took part with ʿAmr in the conquest of Egypt and marked out for himself two lots in Miṣr and Alexandria.
Ibrâhîm ibn-Muslim al-Khawârizmi from ʿAbdallâh ibn-ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi:—The latter said, "There is a disagreement regarding the conquest of Miṣr: some say it was conquered by force, and others by capitulation. The fact is that my father [ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi] arrived in it and was resisted by the people of Alyûnah. He finally took possession of it by force and led the Moslems in. Az-Zubair was the first to climb its fort. The chief of Miṣr said to my father, 'We have heard of what ye did in Syria and how ye assessed poll-tax on the Christians and Jews, leaving the land in the hands of its owners to utilize it and pay its kharâj. If ye treat us the same way, it would do you more good than to kill, capture and expel us.' My father consulted with the Moslems and they all advised him to accept the terms, with the exception of a few men who asked him to divide the land among them. Accordingly, he assessed on every adult, excepting the poor, two dînârs as poll-tax, and on every land-owner, in addition to the two dînârs, three irdabbs of wheat, two ḳisṭs of oil, two ḳisṭs of honey and two ḳisṭs of vinegar, to be given as a subsistence allowance to the Moslems, and gathered in the public house of provision [dâr-ar-rizḳ], where it is divided among them. A census was taken of the Moslems, and the inhabitants of Miṣr were required to provide every one of the Moslems with a woolen upper gown, an upper cloak or turban, breeches and a pair of shoes[1] per annum. Instead of the woolen gown, a Coptic robe would do. To this end, a state-
- ↑ Dozy, Noms des Vêtements, s. v. jubbah, burnus, ʿamâmah, sirwâl and khuff.
