The campaign in Syria opened under the auspices of a very different Khâlid, of the Omeyyad clan,--Khâlid ibn Saîd. Having been one of the earliest converts, and amongst those driven for refuge to Abyssinia, he held a high place amongst the confessors of Islam. He had been appointed by Mahomet to a command in the south, and though forced to retreat in the troubles which ensued on the Prophet’s death, had achieved some renown in wresting from Mádekerib’s hands the famous sword Samsât.[147] Returning from thence, he urged his claim to a fresh command; and Abu Bekr, yielding to his importunity, and against the wish of Omar, posted him at Tayma, on the Syrian border, there to rally the friendly tribes, but, unless attacked, to take no offensive step. Tidings of the movement alarmed the Romans in that quarter, who thereupon, summoning the Ghassân and other Syrian tribes, assembled a large force to protect the border. Khâlid, on this, obtained permission to advance, but cautiously, and so as to leave no enemy in his rear. [Sidenote: Discomfits a Roman column.]As he advanced, the Syrians retired; and, marching onwards, he discomfited a Roman column on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea.[148] Finding himself in a position so advanced, and the country in front roused by the inroad, Khâlid urgently demanded reinforcements from Medîna. [Sidenote: Ikrima sent to his support;]The troops were just then returning from Yemen; and so Ikrima, with Dzul Kelâa, a loyal Himyarite chief, followed by his clan, being the first to appear, were despatched to the north in haste.[149] [Sidenote: also Amru and Welîd. January, A.D. 634.] Two other captains of note were also deputed for the support of Khâlid; these were Amru and Welîd, who had a joint command over the Beni Codhâa, in the tract of country between Tayma and the Red Sea. Since the reduction of Dûma, this tract was now comparatively quiet, and Abu Bekr gave them the option either of remaining where they were, or engaging in a work ‘better for them, both in this present life, and in that which is to come.’ Amru, although he had, even before his deputation to Omân, had the promise from the Prophet of this district, made answer: ‘Thy servant is but an arrow in the quiver of Islam, and thou the Archer. It is for thee to pick out the fittest shaft, and whithersoever thou wilt discharge it.’ So they were despatched, Welîd to join Khâlid ibn Saîd, and Amru by Ayla to the south of the Holy Land.[150] [Sidenote: Khâlid ibn Saîd defeated at Marj al Soffar.]