Emboldened by these reinforcements, Khâlid hastened forward to gain the first laurels of the campaign; and, forgetful of his master’s injunctions, suffered himself to be decoyed by the Roman general Bahân towards Damascus, away from his supports. Moharram, A.H. XIII. March, A.D. 634.Unprotected behind, the enemy closed in upon his rear, and cut off his retreat. He was routed at Marj al Soffar, to the east of the Sea of Tiberias; his son was slain, and, losing heart, he fled, leaving his camp in the enemy’s hands, and Ikrima to retrieve the disaster. That able general rallied the retreating force, and with a sufficient remnant, including the brave Himyarite band under Dzul Kelâa, took up a strong position on the frontier, until help should come. Khâlid continued his flight, but was stayed at Wady al Cora.—‘By my life!’ wrote the indignant Caliph, ‘thou shalt come no further; thou pratest bravely when secure, but in battle thou art a coward. I have no patience with thee!’ And he said to those about him: ‘Truly Aly and Omar knew the man better than I. Had I listened to them, this mishap had not been.’ We hear no more of Khâlid ibn Saîd.[151]
Reinforcements despatched to Syria. Beginning of A.H. XIII. Spring, A.D. 634.
In the present emergency, it was fortunate for Abu Bekr that the south of the peninsula was by this time entirely pacified. He was able, therefore, as the columns returned from thence, to hurry them off to Syria, there to retrieve the fortunes of Islam. Four battalions were now sent forward. First, Shorahbîl, returning at that moment from Irâc, was appointed to supersede Welîd, who shared in the disgrace of Khâlid’s defeat.[152] Rallying the scattered fragments of the discomfited force, he carried the greater part back again to the front, and there took up a position in advance of Ikrima. Then followed Yezîd, son of Abu Sofiân, with a great levy from Mecca, including many famous chiefs of the Coreish, roused by the Caliph’s call and the stirring news from Syria. His brother, Muâvia, shortly after joined him, bringing up the remaining fragments of the runaway army. Abu Obeida, already known to the reader as a trusted Companion of the Prophet, led a third column, and posted himself near to Amru, who commanded the fourth brigade in the Wady Araba, to the west of the others. Many of the new troops, especially the levies from the south, travelled, after the Bedouin fashion, with their families, ready to settle house and home in the north; for the marvellous success of the army in Irâc suggested the still more inviting prospect of establishing themselves in the Land of Promise, flowing with milk and honey.[153]
Composition of the Syrian force.
This force was altogether different in composition from the army of Irâc. That in the main consisted of Bedouins, who flocked in tribes or clans to the banners of Mothanna and Khâlid; the men of Mecca and Medîna were as yet in Irâc comparatively few, for they had returned in great numbers to their homes after the battle of Yemâma. In the Syrian army, on the contrary, there are reckoned at least a thousand Companions—men who had seen and conversed with the Prophet; and of these no fewer than one hundred of the famous Three Hundred of Bedr. They enrolled themselves at pleasure under whichever chief they chose; but, once enrolled, they yielded to their leader an implicit obedience; while he, on his part, consulted their views and wishes, not only in the set council of war, but generally on all occasions of importance. Sheikhs of renown, such as Abu Sofiân and Soheil, who but a few years before, had wielded at will the whole power of Mecca, and haughty high-born chieftains of Nejd and Yemen, now joined with alacrity and zeal the column of anyone, however young and inferior, into whose hands the Caliph was minded to present a banner of command. And the whole force, thus formed in separate detachments, held itself at the absolute disposal of the Commander of the Faithful.
Abu Bekr addresses the columns as they leave Medîna.
Abu Bekr was duly sensible of the gravity of the enterprise on which he now embarked—nothing short, in fact, of measuring swords with the Kaiser. He had thrown down the gauntlet, and in fact was waging war, at one and the same time, with the potentates of the East and of the West. The brigades for this service were pitched one after another on the outlying field of Jorf; and, as each was ready to march, the Caliph walked a little distance (as nearly two years before he had done with Osâma) by the side of the mounted leader, and gave him thus his farewell commands. ‘Profession,’ he would say, ‘is naught without faith. The merit of a work dependeth on the purpose of the worker. The reward set forth in the Book of the Lord for such as fight in His ways, is great. Set this ever before thee and before thy men. But when thou haranguest them, be brief, for in the multitude of words the foremost word is lost in the hindermost. So striving, ye will obtain the prize, riches and glory in the present life, and in the life to come salvation.’ Then saying ‘Fare ye well,’ he would retrace his steps and return to his simple home.
Advance of the four divisions.
The four battalions now gathered on the Syrian border numbered 30,000, besides the reserve of 6,000 under Ikrima.[154] In their first advance these columns met with little to oppose them. Moharram, A.H. XIII. March, A.D. 634.Abu Obeida marched through the Belcâa. The Arab settlement at Maâb[155] resisted, but, after an unsuccessful skirmish, submitted to his terms; and he then marched on to Jâbia. From the south of Palestine a Roman force advanced on the Araba below the Dead Sea; but it was easily discomfited by Yezîd, who pursued it to Dâthin, and slew the patrician in command.[156] The four divisions eventually took up ground in a sort of échelon, threatening the chief garrisons in the south of Syria. Abu Obeida, advancing towards Damascus, held a position the furthest east, near to Ikrima and the scene of the recent disaster. Next came Shorahbîl, overawing the Ghôr, or depressed valley of the Jordan and Tiberias. Yezîd in the Belcâa, threatened Bostra; and Amru, in lower Palestine, Hebron. Each of these, at last, found himself confronted by a Roman force.
Heraclius sends four battalions to oppose them.