Amr ibn al-As
General and Conqueror of Egypt
"Egypt is a land of dust turned to gold by a single river."
Biography
A shrewd Meccan aristocrat, diplomat, and soldier, Amr ibn al-As conquered Egypt for Islam with a tiny army through boldness and political skill. He won permission from the caliph Umar to invade, beat the Byzantines at Heliopolis, and after a long siege took the great city of Alexandria, exploiting the resentment of Egypt's Coptic Christians toward their Byzantine overlords. He founded the garrison city of Fustat — the seed of modern Cairo — and governed Egypt with a light and pragmatic hand, reopening the ancient canal to the Red Sea. A supremely able politician, he later played a decisive role in the civil wars of Islam, helping Mu'awiya win the caliphate. He died as governor of the rich province he had conquered, one of the most consequential and cunning figures of the age of conquest.
Did you know?
The mosque he founded at Fustat in 642 — the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As — was the first mosque in Africa and still stands, much rebuilt, in Cairo.
Key Battles
Battle of Ajnadayn
The Caliphate (Rashidun & Umayyad) victoryJuly 634 · 12,000 total casualties
Ajnadayn was the first decisive Arab victory over Byzantium and shattered the imperial defence of Palestine, opening the road to Damascus and Jerusalem and revealing that the exhausted empire could not hold its southern provinces.
The Conquest of Egypt (Siege of Alexandria)
The Caliphate (Rashidun & Umayyad) victory641 – 642 · 15,000 total casualties
The conquest of Egypt stripped Byzantium of its richest remaining province and its grain, and gave the Caliphate the wealth, the shipyards, and the strategic base from which it would build the fleet that challenged Byzantine sea power and besieged Constantinople itself. Amr founded Fustat, the origin of Cairo.
Life Journey
Timeline
c. 585
🌅 Birth
Born in Mecca
641–642
⚔️ Battle
Conquers Egypt and takes Alexandria
664
✝️ Death
Dies as governor of Egypt at Fustat