Al-Waqidi and others said: In this year, al-Mada'in and Jalula were conquered. However, according to the well-known view, the conquest of these places occurred in other years. As a matter of fact, an explanation regarding this has been given on previous pages.
Muhammad b. Ishaq said: Al-Jazira, Urfa, Harran, Ra's al-'Ayn, and Nisibin were conquered in this year. But others have said that these places were conquered not in the nineteenth year after the Hijra, but in other years. Abu Ma'shar, Khalifa, and Ibn Kalbi said: Caesarea was conquered in the twentieth year after the Hijra. At that time, its governor was Mu'awiya. Al-Waqidi said: According to another account, the governor of Caesarea was Yazid b. Abi Sufyan. As explained on previous pages, Mu'awiya had conquered Caesarea two years earlier than this.
Muhammad b. Ishaq said: Caesarea, which is attached to Palestine, was conquered in the twentieth year after the Hijra. Heraclius fled from there, and in the same year Egypt was also conquered. According to Sayf b. 'Umar, the conquest of Caesarea and Egypt took place in the sixteenth year after the Hijra.
Ibn Jarir said: The explanation regarding the conquest of Caesarea has been given on previous pages. As for the conquest of Egypt, as I will explain later, it took place in the twentieth year after the Hijra. Al-Waqidi said: In the nineteenth year after the Hijra, a fire was seen one night in Harra. ʿUmar, together with his men, wanted to go there. Then he commanded the Muslims to give charity. Thereupon, the fire was extinguished. Praise be to Allah.
It is reported that in the nineteenth year after the Hijra, the battle of Armenia took place. At that time, its commander was ʿUthman b. Abi al-ʿAs. In this battle, Safwan b. Muʿattal b. Rahasa al-Sulami al-Zakwani was struck. He was one of the commanders at that time. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) had said about Safwan: "I know nothing about him but good and virtue." The hypocrites had also involved his name in the first incident. However, Allah cleared him and the mother of the believers and the wife of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), ʿAʾisha, from these slanders and revealed their innocence. It is reported that Safwan remained unmarried for quite some time. For this reason, he said: 'By Allah, I have never untied the sash of any woman.' After this incident, he got married. He was a man who slept a lot. Often, he could not wake up for the morning prayer and would not perform this prayer at its time. Indeed, there are explanations regarding this in the Sunan of Abu Dawud and other hadith books. He was a poet. Later, he attained the rank of martyrdom in the path of Allah. Some say he was martyred in the battle of Armenia, while others say he was martyred in the battle in al-Jazira. There are also those who say he was killed in Samsat. Some explanations regarding this have been given on previous pages.
In the nineteenth year after the Hijra, the city of Tikrit was conquered. According to the sound view, the conquest of Tikrit took place before this year. During the conquest of Tikrit, the Byzantines captured ʿAbdullah b. Huzafa. In the month of Dhu al-Hijja of the nineteenth year after the Hijra, a battle took place in the lands of Iraq, in which the commander of the Magians, Shahrak, was killed. At that time, the commander of the Muslims was Hakem b. Abi al-ʿAs. May Allah be pleased with him.
Ibn Jarir said: In the nineteenth year after the Hijra, ʿUmar led the Muslims in the pilgrimage (hajj). The names of his governors and judges for that year have been given on previous pages. Allah knows best.