وقعة القادسية

The affair of al-Qadisiyya began in Muharram 14 AH, when Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) consulted his Companions about marching out himself. Then the great battle took place, in which there were the day of Armath, the day of Aghwath, the day of 'Amas, and the night of al-Qadisiyya. ¹

al-Tabari reports that al-Waqidi fixed the year as 14 AH, Ibn Ishaq said 15, and some people of Kufa said 16. ² The year is therefore disputed.

al-Baladhuri relates that the Muslims wrote to Umar about the large number of the Persians and asked him for reinforcements. He wanted to march out himself, but al-Abbas and a group of the elder Companions advised him to stay and to dispatch the armies, so he sent Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. The account says that the Persian army numbered about a hundred and twenty thousand, with thirty elephants, and that the Muslims numbered nine to ten thousand. ³

The account mentions the dispatch of al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba to Rustam, and then of Amr ibn Ma'dikarib and al-Ash'ath ibn Qays. It tells the story of Abu Mihjan al-Thaqafi and the permission that Sa'd's wife gave him to fight. It says that Rustam was killed, that his killer was not known, and that his death was attributed to a number of men, and that the Persians fled to al-Mada'in. ³

al-Mas'udi named its days and nights: the day of Aghwath, the night of al-Harir, the night of al-Sawad, the day of 'Amas, and the night of al-Qadisiyya. ⁴

It needs an additional source for the numbers of the two armies and the names of the slayers.