ABSTRACT
This chapter contains the English translation of al-Azdī’s Arabic text. It is the main chapter of the monograph. It begins with Abū Bakr’s idea of attacking the Byzantines in Syria, after the so-called “Wars of Apostacy”, and narrates the events that led to the conquest of Greater Syria (“al-Shām”). Among these events are major battles, such as the Battles of Ajnādayn and al-Yarmūk, conquests of important cities, such as Bosra, Damascus, Fiḥl, Ḥimṣ, Qinnasrīn, Jerusalem and Caesarea, and diplomatic initiatives between the Byzantines and the Muslims (e.g. Muʿādh b. Jabal and Khālid b. al-Walīd). The chapter concludes with the statement that all of Syria was conquered by the Muslims and with a brief chronology of Muʿāwiya b. Abī Sufyān’s ensuing rule. A more informative summary of this chapter is found in Chapter 2.
