Note 70 — Chapter VIII · CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE REBELS IN THE EAST AND SOUTH OF ARABIA. A.H. XI. A.D. 632–3.

There is a tradition that two chiefs Zibricân and Acra obtained from Abu Bekr a patent appointing them collectors of tithe in Bahrein, on condition that they made themselves responsible for its loyalty. The document was shown to Omar, who, angry apparently because Acra had been an apostate, tore it up. Talha, who had negotiated the affair, went to Abu Bekr and asked, ‘Art thou ruler, or is Omar?’ ‘Omar,’ he replied, ‘but obedience is due to me.’ This (which illustrates the great influence of Omar with the Caliph) may have referred to a part of the Bahrein coast not under Alâ.