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    The story begins with an account of how the Muslim governor of Egypt, Abd al-Azīz b. Marwān (governor 686-704), came to Alexandria on a visit. While he was there he enquired whether there were any men still alive who remembered the conquest of the city by the Muslims in 641, at least half a century previously. He was told that there was only one aged Byzantine, who had been a young boy at the time. When asked what he recollected from that time, he did not attempt to give a general account of the warfare and the fall of the city but instead told the story of one particular incident in which he had personally been involved. He had been friends with the son of one of the Byzantine patricians (a generic term the Arabic sources use for high-ranking Byzantines). His friend had suggested that they went out ‘to take a look at these Arabs who are fighting us’. Accordingly the patrician’s son got dressed up in a brocade robe, a gold headband and a finely decorated sword. He rode a plump, sleek horse while his friend the narrator had a wiry little pony. They left the fortifications and came to a rise from which they looked down on a Bedouin tent outside which there was a tethered horse and a spear stuck in the ground. They looked at the enemy and were amazed by their ‘weakness’ (meaning their poverty and lack of military equipment) and asked each other how such ‘weak’ men could have achieved what they did. As they stood chatting, a man came out of the tent and saw them. He untied the horse, rubbed it and stroked it and then jumped up on it bareback and, grabbing the spear in his hand, came towards them. The narrator said to his friend that the man was clearly coming to get them so they turned to flee back to the safety of the city walls, but the Arab soon caught up with his friend on the plump horse and speared him to death. He then pursued the narrator, who managed to reach the safety of the gate. Now feeling secure, he went up on the walls and saw the Arab returning to his tent. He had not glanced at the corpse or made any effort to steal the valuable garments or the excellent horse. Instead he went on his way, reciting Arabic, which the narrator reckoned must have been the Koran. The narrator then gives us the moral of the tale: the Arabs had achieved what they had because they were not interested in the goods of this world. When the Arab got back to his tent he dismounted, tied up his horse, planted his spear in the ground and went in, telling nobody about what he had done. When the story was over, the governor asked the man to describe the Arab. He replied that he was short, thin and ugly, like a human swordfish, at which the governor observed that he was a typical Yemeni (south Arabian).
     
    At first glance this story is hardly worthy of serious reading, let alone retelling. The Muslim conquest of Alexandria was an event of fundamental importance, marking as it did the end of Byzantine rule in Egypt and the extinction of 900 years of Greek-speaking rule in the city. The historian devotes two or three pages to it. He tells us nothing of the nature of the siege, if there was one, where the armies might have been deployed or any of the military details we would like to know. This trivial anecdote occupies almost all the space he allows for the event. Furthermore there is no real evidence that it is true, in the sense of describing an event that actually occurred, and even if it was, it would not be very interesting: the protagonists are anonymous and the death of one man had no significant effect on more general events. On further consideration, however, this anecdote is quite revealing. For a start the telling of it is put into a historical context. It may not be a true record of what happened in 641 but it does appear to be a genuine artefact of the late seventh century. The Umayyad governor wanted to find out more about the circumstances in which the province he now ruled over became part of the Muslim