In his history of the early years of the Muslim state, al-Baladhuri quoted from a 636 treaty between the inhabitants of the Byzantine city of Ba'labakk (in present-day Lebanon) and their Muslim conquerors, documenting the khilafah's taxation policies for non- Muslims:

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. This is a statement of security to so and so, son of so arid so, to the inhabitants of Ba'labakk—Greeks, Persians and Arabs—for their lives, possessions, churches and houses, inside and outside the city and also for their mills. The Greeks are entitled to give pasture to their cattle within a space of 15 miles, yet are not to abide in any inhabited town. After [the months of] Rabi' and Jumada I shall have passed, they are at liberty to go where they will. Whosoever of them adopts...