Editorial note — Chapter I · The Exodus of the Parsis

There exists a great number of poems composed in honour of this battle, one of the most celebrated, and fraught with the greatest blessings for the Mussulmans. Omar having written to Sa’d to ask for some information regarding the position of Quadesyeh, the latter sent him the following:—“Quadesyeh is situated between the moat and el-’Atiq (the canal of the Euphrates). On its left is the sea, a sort of bay, whence lead two roads to Hirah: the first, over high hills; the second, over the banks of a river called Khousous, which passes out between Khawarnaq and Hirah; on its right are numerous streams which water the country. All the tribes who have made peace with the Mussulmans before my arrival tremble before the Persians, and are ready to assist me.” The historians of the first conquests divide this affair at Quadesyeh into four battles. The first is called the battle of Ermath; the second, the battle of Aghwath; the third, the battle of Amas; the evening preceding the fourth, they called the evening of Herir or of the storm; and the last, the battle of Quadesyeh. The celebrated Rustam, son of Farrokh-Zad, lost his life in this battle, and the Persians could not replace this skilful general. (Dictionnaire geographique, historique et littéraire de la Perse et des Contrées adjacentes, taken from the Mo’d’jem el-Bouldan of Yaqout, &c. Trans. Barbier de Meynard, Paris, 1861, p. 432.)