Omar

I do grieve for his death. It is an irreparable loss for Islam.

He was certainly hard on the enemy,

and a man of fine character.

May God bestow His mercy on Abu Sulaiman.

What God has in store for him is much better than what he had.

His loss is felt; his life was well praised.

I see that this life does not release anyone.

May God grant mercy to Abu Bakr.

May God grant mercy to Abu Bakr.

He knew people's characters better than me.

Ameer Al-Mu'mineen is not at home.

Where do we find him?

He went to the mosque to meet a delegation from Kufah.

You may find him there.

Where is Umar?

Shsh! Quiet please.

Where are his guards and assistants?

He has no guards, assistants, or government office.

Then he must be a prophet.

No. He acts like one.

Peace be to Ameer Al-Mu'mineen.

And to you be peace.

I seek refuge with God from the Fire.

This is Al-Hurmuzan, the governor of Tustur and Al-Ahwaz.

We managed to capture him

after we had faced great trouble overcoming his resistance,

until God has delivered Tustur to us.

He barricaded himself in his castle,

and his army surrendered to us and the fighting was over.

When we were close to the castle,

in a narrow place between the castle and its moat,

he began to aim him arrows at anyone getting closer.

You have heard of the death of Al-Bara' Ibn Malik and Majza'ah Ibn Thawrah.

He was the one who killed them.

He shouted to us.

You and I are in this tight situation.

I have a hundred arrows.

I swear that you shall not reach me while I have at least one arrow.

Then, what good is it for you to capture me

after I have killed and wounded a number of you?

What do you want, then?

I give myself up to you, provided that your Caliph personally will judge me

and do whatever he wants with me.

Here he is front of you, Ameer Al-Mu'mineen.

Let him speak and then judge him.

Not until he has taken off all this fancy attire.

How did you find the outcome of treachery, Hurmuzan,

and how God determines results?

Before you became Muslims, Umar, we defeated you

as God was neither with us nor with you.

When He was with you, you defeated us.

You only defeated us in our days of ignorance

and because you were united and we were not.

Now, what justification can you have for your repeated treachery?

Every time you make a peace agreement, you resort to treachery.

You gave yourself up only after killing some of the best Muslims

and the Prophet's own companions.

I will kill you in retaliation.

My throat is dry.

Could I have some water, please?

Why is your hand shaking?

Because of fear, Ameer Al-Mu'mineen.

Will you kill me before I drink this water and explain my reasons?

You shall be safe until you drink it.

Give him another one. Let him not be thirsty when he dies.

I do not need the water.

I only wanted to have your promise of safety.

I will kill you.

- You have promised me safety. - You lie.

He is right Ameer Al-Mu'mineen. You have promised him safety.

Anas, he is the one who killed your brother Al-Bara' and others with him.

Would I promise safety to the killer of Al-Bara' Ibn Malik and Majza'ah?

A testimony for the truth, Ameer Al-Mu'mineen, not for revenge.

Yes, you told him that he was safe until he had drunk the water,

and he did not.

Anas Ibn Malik is right.

You have tricked me.

I am not one to be tricked, except by a Muslim.

By God, I have been thinking about converting to Islam for some time.

I saw much of your soldiers at Al-Qadisiyyah, Tustur and elsewhere.

I realized that you did not defeated us with numbers of people and weapons.

The Creator of the Universe does what He wills with His creation.

He favoured you with victory over us.

But I was a man of high position among my people.

When I remembered our great days and how we subdued you,

I find it difficult to change.

I was overwhelmed by rage and grudge because of what happened to my people.

So I chose to fight you so I would have an excuse,

and not to be blamed neither by myself nor by my people.

Now I have nothing of all this.

Whatever was left of Persia came to an end after the battles of Tustur and Nahawand.

My people have been converting to Islam in large numbers.

It will not be long before the rest follow suit.

It will be said that the kingdom of Khosrau disappeared,

but the Persians remained.

Yet these are not the same Persians of Khosrau,

they are the Persians of Islam.

It is just the same with you, Arabs.

You were the Arabs of idolatry and jahiliyyah, as you call it.

Then idolatry has gone while the Arabs remained.

These, however, are the Muslim Arabs.

So why shouldn't I be a Muslim? Yes, I will be.

And you stay here with us in Madinah,

and we will give you an allowance to live on.

But it will be a small fraction of the extravagance you are used to.

Why would I need extravagance when all its causes have gone?

Teach your brother how to be a Muslim.

I never saw anything like I did today.

The brother of a man I killed testifies for me to save my life!

It is such behaviour that brought people to Islam.

- Where can I find the Caliph, Umar? - He is in the mosque, right there.

This is the style of the Copts of Egypt.

Who is the Caliph?

What made you come to us here?

To appeal to you, Caliph.

You appeal to one who listens and protects.

Sit down and tell me.

We had a horse race in Egypt.

The race included my horse and that of Muhammad Ibn Amr Ibn Al-Aas,

son of your governor of Egypt.

When my horse won, and people witnessed that,

Muhammad Ibn Amr disputed this with me.

Then he stood up and beat me with his whip.

He said: "Take this from me, the son of the noble ones".

I have come to you for justice.

He is the son of the governor,

and I feared that he might just lean towards his son.

You are the ruler whose justice is widely known.

I am still under the pledge of your Prophet, yourself and the believers.

Stay with us until he comes.

What have you perpretrated so that Ameer Al-Mu'mineen

instructs me to travel with you to see him?

Have you committed a crime and I am unaware of it?

No.

Then why is Umar writing to summon you?

- Where is the Egyptian? - Here I am.

Take this whip and beat "the son of the nobles".

Beat him up!

Beat him up!

Beat "the son of the noble ones".

Have you had your full right?

Yes, very fully.

Now use it over Amr's head.

By God, he only could beat you because of his father's authority.

Ameer Al-Mu'mineen! I have taken my right,

and beaten the one who beat me up.

I seek no more.

By God, if you beat him,

we would not have stopped you until you stop.

Amr!

How can you enslave people when their mothers delivered them as free people?

You were hard on me, Ameer Al-Mu'mineen.

Don't you fear that people will be too forward with their governors?

If that is in support of what is right, then it is what we want.

Amr, the dignity of government is not enhanced by scaring people,

but by making them feel safe and respected,

preventing injustice and ensuring that the weak have their rights.

Thus, the powerful will be deterred and the weak will feel safe.

People will thus feel that the state is their means of protection,

rather than what they need to be protected from.

They will support their strong and just governor

so that they will be safe.

Otherwise, both ruler and ruled will be lost.

I intended to write to you

suggesting that we move west of Cyrenaica and Tripoli

after God has delivered these to us,

but then I received your summons. What do you think?

Do not do that.

You know that I fear that we overstretch ourselves.

The land of Islam has increased in area.

It is better that we concentrate our efforts on looking after the people

and ensure consolidation in our areas.

As more and more people in these areas become Muslims

and their faith becomes stronger,

they will be helping us in moving into neighbouring areas.

Let us not increase our burden until we can better shoulder it.

Isn't that Al-Mugheerah Ibn Shu'bah?

Yes.

Peace be to you with God's mercy.

And to you be peace with God's mercy.

What brings you from Egypt, Amr?

Ameer Al-Mu'mineen has sacked you. No?

Then it must be a complaint he is investigating.

I can see this is Amr's face.

Don't worry Amr. You are not the only one.

He does not wrong you who treats you on equal footing with himself and others.

Governors appointed by Ameer Al-Mu'mineen are always on their guard,

fearing that someone will report them to Ameer Al-Mu'mineen

for any excess or omission in what they do or say.

This is Fairuz, Abu Lu'lu'ah.

He was taken captive at the Battle of Nahawand, with many Persian soldiers.

He became mine. When I came back to Madinah, I brought him with me.

He works in manufacturing mills.

He gives me four dirhams of his daily earnings, and keeps the rest.

No one produces mills like his.

Yet, he is an ironmonger, decorator and carpenter.

He is very dextrous with his hands.

My master, the great Hurmuzan.

I am master of no one. Those days are gone.

Have you forgotten where we are now?