Editing Umar (section)

=== Great plague ===
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by [[First plague pandemic|plague]]. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at [[Elat]], he was received by [[Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah]], governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubayda to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubayda died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.<ref>Haykal, 1944, Chapter 21.</ref>