Peace between Amr ibn al-As and the Copts

Once the Muslims had stormed the fortress, al-Muqawqis, fearing for himself and those with him, asked Amr ibn al-As for peace on the basis of two dinars per man levied on the Copts for the Arabs. ³ Letters passed between them, and al-Muqawqis asked for a safe-conduct to meet Amr, each with a few companions. ¹

Amr consulted his men, who said they would grant neither peace nor jizya until the whole land was theirs as fay' and spoil, as the Qasr had become. Amr answered that he was bound by the commander of the faithful's instructions: if the other side accepted one of the three options, he would accept it. ¹

They agreed that two dinars would be levied on every Copt in Egypt, upper and lower, who had reached puberty, noble or humble alike, with nothing on the very old, on children or on women. The Copts owed the Muslims lodging wherever they camped and three days' hospitality to any Muslim guest, and their land and property were left to them untouched. ¹

The Coptic headmen counted under solemn oath those liable to the jizya: more than six million persons, so that the levy came to twelve million dinars a year. ¹ In a report of Abd al-Malik ibn Maslama, from Ibn Lahi'a from Yahya ibn Maymun al-Hadrami, the count was eight million. ²

The Romans were given the choice of staying on the same terms or leaving, and their case was left pending Heraclius's consent. ² The Copts undertook to keep the bridges, give hospitality and hold markets between al-Fustat and Alexandria. ⁴ It is also said that al-Muqawqis made peace for the Romans while Amr was besieging Alexandria, and al-Layth reports that Amr besieged it for three months. ⁴