|
On the orders
of Khalid, the two left corps had advanced to attack the Romans
on their front and were in contact when Khalid moved the Mobile
Guard to deal with the Armenians. Initially these corps enjoyed
some success and the Romans were pushed back, but this action had
not proceeded far when the Muslims found themselves subjected to
a merciless barrage of archery. Thousands of Roman archers opened
up on the Muslims, and so rapid and intense was the flight of arrows
that according to some accounts, "arrows fell like hailstones
and blocked the light of the sun!" 1
Many a Muslim was wounded by these arrows, the wounds varying from
light to severe, and each of 700 Muslims lost an eye. From the sectors
of Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed rose the lament: "O my eye! O
my sight!" 2 Abu Sufyan also is
believed to have lost an eye in this action. 3
As a result of this calamity, this fourth day of battle became known
as the Day of Lost Eyes, 4 a tribute to
Roman marksmanship. And this was undoubtedly the worst day of battle
for the Muslim army.
The Muslims of the left now fell back. Their
own bows were ineffective against the Roman archers because of their
shorter range and fewer numbers; and the only way to avoid further
casualties was to withdraw out of range of the Roman archers, which
Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed promptly did. As the two sides disengaged,
both fronts stood still and the Muslims wisely refrained from advancing
again. There was in fact a certain amount of consternation among
the Muslims as a result of the arrow wounds and lost eyes.
But Mahan and his army commanders, Gregory
and Qureen, had seen how the Muslims had suffered and decided to
exploit their advantage. The two armies now advanced to assault
the Muslims before they could recover from their repulse and the
two bodies of men clashed again. As a result of the Roman assault
the Muslims fell back to their own position and here the Romans,
knowing that this was the decisive day of battle, attacked with
even greater fury. The corps of Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed were again
pushed back a short distance, except for the regiment of Ikrimah
which stood at the left edge of Abu Ubaidah's sector.
The fearless Ikrimah refused to retreat,
and called to his men to take the oath of death with him, i.e.
that they would go down fighting and not surrender their position.
In response to his call 400 of his men immediately took the oath
and fell upon the Romans like hungry wolves. Not only did Ikrimah
repulse the Romans on his front but he also lashed out at the Roman
regiments passing on his flanks. This position was never lost by
the Muslims. Of the 400 dedicated men who had taken the oath of
death, everyone was either killed or seriously wounded, but they
accounted for many times their number of Romans. Ikrimah and his
son, Amr, were mortally wounded.
1. Waqidi: pp. 146, 148.
2. Ibid: p. 149.
3. We have already noted the loss of Abu Sufyan's
eye at Taif. However, some sources indicate that this happened at
Yarmuk and not at Taif.
4. Waqidi: p. 148.
|
