The "Maronite Chronicle" provides some unique information on the early Umayyad Caliphate. In general it favours the Umayyad Muawiyah over the Caliph Ali in the First Arab Civil War. It is the earliest source to record the Islamic battle cry, "God is great". It reports with disdain the Syrian Orthodox had accepted the status of "dhimma" and paid the "jizya". It is also the only literary witness to Muawiyah's minting of gold and silver coin, which now has some archaeological confirmation.