 Al-Baladhuri travelled widely in regions of northern Syria and Mesopotamia, collecting traditions for material to include in his book.Futūḥ al-Buldān ("Book of the Conquests of the Lands") was edited by M. J. de Goeje as "Liber expugnationis regionum" (Leiden, 1870; Cairo, 1901).An English edition with the title "The Origins of the Islamic State, was published in two parts by Columbia University Press; vol.