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Soon after dawn Abu Ubaidah,
followed by his officers and the rest of his corps, entered Damascus
in peace from the Jabiya Gate, and marched towards the centre of
the city. He was accompanied by Thomas and Harbees and several dignitaries
and bishops of Damascus. Now Abu Ubaidah, walking like an angel
of peace, and Khalid advancing like a tornado, arrived simultaneously
at the centre of Damascus, at the Church of Mary. Khalid had just
broken through the last Roman resistance. The other corps commanders
had also entered the city and were moving peacefully towards the
centre.
Abu Ubaidah and Khalid stared at each other
in amazement. Abu Ubaidah noted that Khalid and his men held dripping
swords in their hands, and he guessed that something had happened
of which he was not aware. Khalid noticed the peaceful air surrounding
Abu Ubaidah and his officers, whose swords were in their sheaths
and who were accompanied by Roman nobles and bishops.
For some time there was no movement. Then
Abu Ubaidah broke the tense silence. "O Father of Sulaiman,"
he said, "Allah has given us this city in peace at my hand,
and made it unnecessary for the Muslims to fight for it."
"What peace!" Khalid bristled. "I have
captured the city by force. Our swords are red with their blood,
and we have taken spoils and slaves."
It was clear that there was now going to
be a terrible row between these two generals, which could have serious
consequences. Khalid was the commander and had to be obeyed; what
is more, he was not a man who would take any nonsense from his subordinates.
Furthermore, his towering personality and his unquestioned judgement
in military matters made him difficult to argue with, especially
on this occasion, when he was determined to regard the conquest
of Damascus as a consequence of the use of force and not of peaceful
negotiation. Abu Ubaidah, on the other hand, had none of the military
stature or operational genius of Khalid, and would be the last person
to assert otherwise. But as a Muslim he was in the topmost class,
one of the Blessed Ten, the Trusted One of the Nation. He was the
Al Asram, the One without the Incisors-and no one could forget how
he had lost his front teeth.
Abu Ubaidah was wrong in making peace without
Khalid's knowledge and permission, but he was determined to see
that the word of a Muslim was honoured and unnecessary bloodshed
avoided. He respected Khalid's leadership and knew that he would
have to be handled with great care. Abu Ubaidah was in fact the
only man in Syria with high enough standing to question any decision
of Khalid. Even Khalid would not raise his voice when speaking to
Abu Ubaidah, no matter how great his anger. What made the situation
less dangerous was the fact that these two men held each other in
genuine affection and respect for the various qualities which made
them great. Abu Ubaidah also knew that he could silence Khalid with
a few words, for he was armed with an authority of which Khalid
was unaware. But he decided not to use this authority except as
a last resort, when all manner of persuasion had failed. In this
he was being kind to Khalid, but more of that later.
"O Commander," said Abu
Ubaidah, "know that I have entered the city peacefully."
Khalid's eyes flashed with anger, but he
restrained himself; in a voice which was not without respect, he
replied, "You continue to be heedless. How can they have
peace from you when I have entered the city by force and their resistance
is broken?"
"Fear Allah, O Commander! I have
given them a guarantee of peace, and the matter is settled."
"You have no authority to give them
peace without my orders. I am commander over you. I shall not sheathe
my sword until I have destroyed them to the last man."
"I never believed," pleaded
Abu Ubaidah, "that you would oppose me when I gave a guarantee
of peace for every single one of them. I have given them peace in
the name of Allah, exalted be He, and of the Prophet, on whom be
the blessings of Allah and peace. The Muslims who were with me agreed
to this peace, and the breaking of pacts is not one of our traits."
At this stage some of Khalid's soldiers,
tiring of listening to the argument and seeing some Romans standing
on one side, began to wave their swords and moved towards the Romans
to kill them. Abu Ubaidah saw this movement and rushing past Khalid,
ordered the men to desist until the discussion between him and Khalid
was over. The men obeyed. Only Abu Ubaidah could have done this;
and Khalid could do nothing but try and control his rising anger.
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