The leader and inspiration for this expedition was ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās as a member of the powerful Umayyad clan. The force he led was very small, perhaps 3,500–4,000 troops, but as the conquest progressed ...
Introducing his translation of “The Book of Marvels” attributed to al-Mas'ūdī (d. c. 345/956), Carra de Vaux remarks: “Among Muslims there is a folklorist in every theologian, geographer and historian ...