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"He is held in
irons."
"What prevents you from killing
him? He is the most cunning of the Romans."
"Nothing prevents me except the
desire to kill both of you together."
"Listen," said the Roman,
"I shall give you 1,000 pieces of gold, 10 robes of brocade
and five horses if you will kill him, and give me his head."
"That is the price for him. What
will you give me to save yourself?"
"What do you want of me?"
"The Jizya!"
This enraged Azazeer, who said, "As
we rise in honour, so you fall in disgrace. Defend yourself, for
now I kill you."
These words were hardly out of the Roman's
mouth when Khalid assailed him. He struck several times with his
sword, but Azazeer, showing perfect mastery over the art, parried
every blow and remained unharmed. A cry of admiration rose from
the Muslim ranks at the skill with which the Roman was defending
himself against their commander, who had few equals in combat and
those only among the Muslims. Khalid also stopped in amazement.
The face of the Roman broke into a smile
as he said, "By the Messiah, I could easily kill you if
I wished. But I am determined to take you alive, so that I may then
release you on condition that you leave our land."
Khalid was infuriated by the cool, condescending
manner of the Roman general and his success in defending himself.
He decided to take the Roman alive and humble him. As he moved forward
to attack again, however, to his great surprise, Azazeer turned
his horse and began to canter away. Believing that the Roman was
fleeing from combat, Khalid pursued him and the spectators saw the
remarkable spectacle of two generals galloping, one after the other,
in the no-man's-land between the two armies. Several times the riders
galloped round the field; and then Khalid began to lag behind, his
horse sweating and winded. The Roman was better mounted, and his
horse showed no sign of fatigue.
This apparently was a pre-determined plan
of Azazeer, for when he saw Khalid's mount exhausted, he reined
in his horse and waited for Khalid to catch up. Khalid was now in
a most unforgiving mood, since in this race his opponent had got
the better of him, and it did not help his temper to hear the Roman
mock at him: "O Arab! Do not think that I fled in fear.
In fact I am being kind to you. Lo, I am the taker of souls! I am
the angel of death!"
Khalid's horse was no longer fit for combat.
He dismounted and walked towards Azazeer, sword in hand. The Roman
gloated at the sight of his opponent approaching on foot while he
himself was mounted. Now, he thought, he had Khalid just where he
wanted him. As Khalid got within striking distance, Azazeer raised
his sword and made a vicious sideways swipe to cut off the Muslim's
head; but Khalid ducked to let the blade swish past harmlessly inches
above his head. The next instant he struck at the forelegs of the
Roman's horse, severing them completely from the body, and horse
and rider came tumbling down. Now all courage left Azazeer. He got
up and tried to run, but Khalid sprang at him and catching him with
both hands, lifted him bodily off the ground and hurled him down.
Next he caught Azazeer by the collar, jerked him up and marched
him back to the Muslim army, where he joined Kulus in irons. 1
This grand duel was hardly over when two
more Muslim corps, those of Abu Ubaidah and Amr bin Al Aas, arrived
at the battlefield. Khalid deployed them as the wings of his army;
and as soon as the battle formation was complete, ordered a general
attack.
1. The description of these duels and the
dialogue are taken from Waqidi: pp. 19-21.
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