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Abu Ubaidah had already
occupied the District of Hauran which lay north-east of the river
Yarmuk. Under his command he had three corps of the Muslim army-his
own, Yazeed's and Shurahbil's, but he had fought no battles and
captured no towns. One place which worried him a great deal was
Busra, a large town which was the capital of the Ghassan Kingdom.
It was garrisoned by a strong force of Romans and Christian Arabs
under the command of Roman officers.
While Khalid was clearing the region of
Eastern Syria, Abu Ubaidah came to know that he would come under
Khalid's command upon the latter's arrival. He decided to take Busra
quickly, so that Khalid would not have to worry about this problem.
He therefore sent Shurahbil with 4,000 men to capture Busra. Shurahbil
marched to Busra, the garrison of which withdrew into the fortified
town as soon as the Muslims appeared in sight. This garrison consisted
of 12,000 soldiers, but expecting that more Muslim forces would
soon arrive and that Shurahbil's detachment was only an advance
guard, it remained within the walls of the fort. Shurahbil camped
on the western side of the town, and positioned groups of his men
all round the fort.
For two days nothing happened. The following
day, as Khalid set out on the last day of his march to Busra, the
garrison of the town came out to give battle to the Muslims outside
the city. Both forces formed up for battle; but first there were
talks between Shurahbil and the Roman commander, at which the Muslim
offered the usual alternatives, Islam, the Jizya, or the sword.
The Romans chose the sword, and in the middle of the morning the
battle began.
For the first two hours or so the fighting
continued at a steady pace with neither side making any headway;
but soon after midday, the superior strength of the Romans began
to tell and the battle turned in their favour. The Romans were able
to move forces around both Muslim flanks, and the fighting increased
in intensity. The temper of the Muslims became suicidal as the real
danger of their position became evident and they fought ferociously
to avoid encirclement, which appeared to be the Roman design. By
early afternoon the Roman wings had moved further forward, and the
encirclement of Shurahbil's force became a virtual certainty. Then
suddenly the combatants became aware of a powerful force of cavalry
galloping in mass towards the battlefield from the northwest.
Khalid was about a mile from Busra when
the wind carried the sounds of battle to him. He immediately ordered
the men to horse, and as soon as the cavalry was ready, led it a
gallop towards the battlefield. Beside him rode Abdur-Rahman bin
Abi Bakr. But Khalid and the Romans never met. As soon as the Romans
discovered the arrival of the Muslim cavalry, they broke contact
from Shurahbil and withdrew hastily into the fort. The Muslims under
Shurahbil came to regard this occurrence as a miracle: the Sword
of Allah had been sent to save them from destruction!
Shurahbil was a brave and pious Muslim in
his mid-sixties. A close Companion of the Prophet, he was one of
those who used to write down the revelations of the Prophet, and
consequently became know as a scribe of the Messenger of Allah.
As often as not, he was addressed by this title. As a general, he
was competent and sound, having learnt a great deal about the art
of war from Khalid, under whom he had fought at Yamamah and in the
Iraq Campaign.
It took only a glance for Khalid to assess
the relative strengths of the Muslims and the Romans and he wondered
why Shurahbil had not awaited his arrival before engaging the garrison
at Busra. As soon as the two met and greeted each other, Khalid
said, "O Shurahbil! Do you not know that this is an important
frontier town of the Romans and contains a large garrison commanded
by a distinguished general? Why did you go into battle with such
a small force?"
"By the order of Abu Ubaidah",
replied Shurahbil. Thereupon, Khalid remarked, "Abu Ubaidah
is a man of the purest character, but he does not know the stratagems
of war." 1
1.
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