The Origins of the Islamic State: Being a Translation from the Arabic Accompanied with Annotations, Geographic and Historic Notes of the Kitâb Futûḥ Al-buldân of Al-Imâm Abu-l ʻAbbâs Aḥmad Ibn-Jâbir Al-Balâdhuri

"Al-Balâdhuri's The origins of the Islamic state (or History of Muslim Conquests) is one of the most reliable sources on the beginnings of the Islamic Empire. The book begins with the wars of the Prophet Muhammad followed by accounts of the riida wars, the conquests of Syria, Armenia, Egypt, and the Maghrib, and lastly, the occupation of Iraq and Persia"--