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Al3STRACT
This stuQy deals with the characteristics of Arabie historiog
raphy in Iraq down to the time of Abli Ja'fer Tabarl (d. :510/92:5).
The historical annals of ~aberi provide both the specifie focus of
the s'tudy and 0. methodological approach. Since ~abari' s york JIUQ'
be rega:r:ded as an anthologr of the ni tings of the ear11' historians,
our first question concerns the characteristics of Iraqi historiog-. .
raphy as they are refiected in the annals. Then we are concer.ned
wi th the ~s in which Tabari' s 1I'Ork diff'ered from his predecessors.
Part One of the study comprises a historical survey of the main
historians of the period including Tabari. Part 'ho deals with certain
specifie characteristics of histor" writing, suoh as the khabar
element, based upon illustrative material provided by a tr8Zls1ated
portion of the annals, which i tself appears as an Appendix to the
s~. Age.in drawing upon the translated material, 1I'e deal with oer
tain problems, such as the nature of' the sources, with 1I'hich Tabari
1I'&S confronted in compiling his own 1I'Ork.
<:,;~:.r:~:t; ':.; ..... ... -::: ...... ;\ :'.·-·:i,::
.:.::. "
·~ '~.:.
:':.;
. :,'
ABU JA 'FAR ~ABARî AND . HIS S~URCES
An Introduc:t;iolL to Ear17 'Iraq! ... Historiograpby- .
David Waines
A ther:sis submitted to·the Faculty of Graduate Studies andRese~ch
in partial fu1filment of the requirements for the degree
of .Master. of Arts
Institute of Is1amic Studies McGil1 Universit7
Montreal
April, 1968
, @ David Waines 1969 1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Several pers ons who have contributed to the
preparation of this study it is MY pleasure to thank.
Dr. John A. Williams, formerly of the Institute of
Islamic Studies, first suggested the field of enquiry.
l also gathered valuable insights into early Islamic
historiography from his seminar on the historians of
the Umayyad periode My present advisor, Dr. Donald
Little, has always provided pertinent and penetrating
criticisms of the study throughout the various stages
of its preparation. Dr. Hermann Landolt also read the
completed essay and offered timely and helpful
suggestions. To each of these scholars my indebtedness
cannot be adequately expressed.
ii
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
PART ONE
I. Arabism and Is1amism II. Medinan Historiography III. Pre-~abari Historians IV. Abü Ja'far ~abari
PART TWO
I. The Elements of Historieal Writing II.~abarI·s Princip1e of Organization
(a) Chrono1ogy (b) Signifieant Events
III.The Nature of the Sources IV. The Place of God in History
NOTES
BI BLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX
NOTES TO APPENDIX
iii
ii
1
9-34
9 14 19 30
35-89
35 47
48
53
58 72
90-108
109-113
1-87
88-97
INTRODUCTION
Broadly speaking, the tocus of this es say is
the characteristics of Arabie historical writing in
'Iraq trom its origins at the beginning of the eighth
to the beginning of the tenth century. The discussion
of the nature, purpose and method of history in this
period of Islam is, however, impeded by certain
obstacles. First is the condition of the sources with
which the student has to deal. Our knowledge of the
overwhelming majority of historical works does not
extend beyond their titles; the books themselves are
not extant. Often of course, the title will reveal
the content of the book: Kitab Maqtal BusayAb. 'Ali
(The Death of ijusayn b. 'AlI) would deal with the
back ground and circumstances of the death of 'Ali's
son ijusayn at Karbala. While this and numerous other
works have not survived, what has come to us are frag
ments of some of these early writings preserved in
large compilations which appeared towards the end of
our period, that is, at the end of the ninth and early
tenth centuries. One such compilation is the Ansab al
Ashraf of Baladhuri (d. 279/892); another is the great
2
annalistic history of Abu Ja'far ~abarr (d. 310/923).
A second obstacle to our investigation is that
not until the end of our period does the historian
begin to formulate explicitly any reflection upon his
discipline. ~abar! appears to have been the first to
compose an introduction to his work, albeit brief and
unsystematic, in which he expresses some reflection
upon the subJect matter and method of history. Hitherto,
such notions had been implicit in the products of
hsitorical scholarship.
Bearing these two points in mind a problem ot
methodology is posed of how to proceed with a discussion
of the characteristics of early 'Iraq! historiography.
While the scope and depth of our study may be limited
by these two factors, they also indicate a possible
methodological approach.
The compilations of Baladhur! and tabar! may
be analysed from two perspectives, 1) each, as a
fundamental source book for early historians such as
'Awana b. al-ijakam (d. 147/764) and Abu Mikhnaf
(d. 157/774), may be treated as a kind of anthology of
these early historianJ writings and -2) each ean be
hand1ed as an independent contribution to the Islamic
historiographieal tradition. It shou1d be possible,
therefore, from the first perspective, to describe
certain characterietics of early 'Iraqi historiography
in terms of either one or the other (or both) of these
major compilations. From the second perspective, Tabar!
has been aelected as the work upon which this study
shall be based, in arder to narrow thefocus of the
essaye Two primary reasons may be noted for th1s choice.
First, the central position which ~abari occupies in
early Arabic historiography led Professor Gibb to say
that his was "the work in which the classical tradition
reaches its,culmination ••• by its authority and
comprehensiveness, (it) marked the close of an epoch.
No later compiler ever set himself to collect and
investigate afresh the materials for the early history
of Islam, but either abstracted them from al-Tabarr
[sometimes supplemented from al-Baladh~ri] or else
began wl:èœ .al..;rabari left off. ,,1 Secondly, ~abari' s
introduction, alluded to above, has an important
bearing upon certain questions ofmethod and nature of
history while Baladhuri is inconvenient in this respect
since he provides no introduction at all.
A third reason forusing Tabar! concerns the
presentation of illustrative historical material which
will be discussed presently. Again, BaladhurI's Ansab
al-Ashraf which is primarily a biographical and
e·
genealogical compendium is less convenient than
~abarI's history which is cbronologically arranged
4
and therefore provides a more methodical framework than
BaladhurI's for the narrative of events.
It is now appropriate to pose these questions
to define the specifie focus of the study: First, what
can be said of the characteristics of early 'IraqI
historiography insofar as they are reflected in ~abarI's
history! Second, since ~abarI's work itself marks a
stage in the development of Arabie historiography, in
what respects does his history differ from previous
works! Clearly the answers to these questions will
involve treating ~abarI from the two perspectives
already mentioned. In the same way that the entire work
of ~abarI could be treated in the fashion outlined
here, it follows that a portion of the same work would
lend i tself to .similar analysis. Therefore a portion of
~abarI's history has been translated for the purpose of
providing illustrative material for analysis.
A word needs be said, however, of certain
prior conditions which the translated portion should
fulfil. Firs~,it should be of manage able length to
provide sufficient material while at the same time
becoming neither unwieldy nor tedious. Secondly, the
5
passage should be as far as possible a coherent unit,
that is, the material should provide a central 'theme'
wi th à re(c:.o~gnizable beginning and end. Thirdly, the
passage should comprise as many of the major sources as
possible from among the early 'Iraq! historians. This
last provision would, for example, rule out the selec
tion of a passage from the period dealing with the
prophet Muoammad; Medinese sources are the most
important for this period and these are not our
concern here. Moreover two of the important early
'IraqI historians (Abü Mikhnaf and 'Awina) did not deal
wi th the Prophet a.t all. Furthermore a passage dealing
with the period after 840 A.D. would exclude the
writings of the outstanding figure of al-Mada'in! who
died in that year. Beyond these general pre-conditions,
selection becomes largely arbitrary.
The passage which we have selected (which
incidentally, has not before appeared in translation)
deals with a portion of the reign of the Caliph 'Abd
al-Malik (685 A.D. - 705 A.D.). The selection covers
the five years from 69/688 to 73/692 and meets our
first condition. The passage depicts the efforts of
that Caliph to re-establish the power of the Umayyad
dynasty in 'Iraq and the ijijaz which were then in the
6
hands of his strongest opponents the anti-Caliph 'Abd
AllSh b. az-Zubayr and his brother Mue' ab. Year 69
marks the first campaign against Mue'ab who was his
brother's governor in 'Iraq. The campaign was abortive
owing to a rebellion in Damascus led by the Caliph's
cousin 'Amr b. Sa'Id. Indeed, before Mue'ab can be
successfully removed, 'Abd al-Malik is faced with the
threat in northern Syria and al-JazIra respectively
from the Byzantine emperor and from the rebellious
tribal chief of the Qays, Zufar b. al-ijirith, who was
siding with 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr. With these threats
removed Mue'ab is dealt vith and killed in the year 72.
In the following year 'Abd Allih b. az-Zubayr meets
the same fate, and except for certain pockets of
resistance from the Khaviri" in 'Iraq, Umayyad power
is finally reasserted throughout the empire. So far
our second condition"of a theme is fulfilled. Finally,
the passage contains fragments from the writing of all
the major figures in 'IraqI historiography from Abu
Mikhnaf and 'Awana to the lesser known 'Umar b. Shabba
(d. 262/875).
Developed by itself, the analysis would be
abstracted from any historical frame of reference, and
the sources which ~abari employs would be mere names.
Part One of the study will therefore be a descriptive
survey based largely upon secondary materials, of the
development of 'Iraq! historiography, in order to
7
de scribe and identify the principal historians and to
provide a frame of reference for the two questions
mentioned above. We noted that one of the conditions
which the translation ought to tulfil was to comprise
portions from each of the principal historians down to
~abari's time. Each of these writers will be briefly
discussed in the survey. ~abar! himself naturally finds
a place here, too. However, since one of the features
which distinguishes him from his predecessors is bis
conception of history, ~abarI can be best understood
against a wider background which embraces the work of
the Medinese historians as welle These latter will be
briefly discussed. Finally, 'IraqI historiography, as
the product of Muslim writers, is intelligible as such,
only in reference to the Qur'anic world view which
differed dramatically from the pre-Islamic or Jâb:±l.~ .'v~oint.
Part Two will comprise an interpretive analysis
based upon the translated material. Four aspects of
'IriqI bis.toriography will be deal t wi th separately.
The tirst discussion is concerned with the elements of
~abarI's compos~io~, the essential feature of which is
8
the khabar (which was common to all historical wri ting
down to and inc1uding ~abar!) and the effects of the
influence of this tradition. The second aspect concerns
~abar!'s princip1e of organization, which raises the
prob1em of chronoiogy in 'Iraq! historiography. The
other aspect of ~abari's princip1e raises the question
concerning the meaning of 'significant event' which is
1eft unanswered"until the final section. The third
section of the analysis discusses the problems arising
from the nature of ~abari's sources, particularly the
problem of the fUDCtion of reason. In the fourth and
final section this problem and that of 'significant
events' are discussed in relation to the place of God
in history.
The translation itself appears as an appendix.
It is assumed that the reader possesses at least a
general familiarity with the events of the period, since
our study is in the main historiographical and not
historical.2 The footnotes to the translation will be
restricted largely to the identification of place
names.
PART ONE
I. Arabism and Islam1sm
In his essay upon the idea of history in early
Islam, Professor Obermann postulates the antinomy of
two forces which influenced that idea; these vere
Arabism and Islamism. l Each force influenced historical
investigation in widely scattered centres such as
Medina in the :ijijaz, Küfa and Ba'ira in 'Iraq and in
Syria. However, the impulse to historical enquiry in
'Iraq was derived initially rather from Arabism than
Islamism, while in Medina the.· latter played a rela
tively more important role. To place 'IraqI historio
graphy in its proper perspective we shall commence by
summarizing the content of the forces of Arabism and
Islamism, and then note briefly the primary concerns of
the Medinan 'school'. While these interests do not
directly concern the earliest 'Iraq! historians, they
do contribute to and later influence the " univers al "
concept of history elaborated by ~abarI.
The content of Arabism is the heritage of the
pre-Islamic (or JahilI) Arab whose life was permeated
9
e
10
by an intense clan consciousness, a spirit of tribal
solidarity and a pride in the nobility of his lineage.
The tribal st~ucture of his society produced a morali
ty based upon the custom of his ancestors; the only
ethical imperative recognized was of the form "X is
good because our forefathers did it".2 The Arab was
the iOOeri tor and guardian and transmi tter of his
tribal heritage which, apart from moral values,
included tales of the deeds of his ancestors. This
is expr~ssed in the famous line of Mu~arir b. Abi 'Amr,
We inherited our glory from our fathers. Lo1 it has grown in our hands to a lofty height.3
The tribal ethos was therefore 'the strongest
influence upon the Arab's historical perspective. The
record of his past was preserved in an oral poe tic '
tradition, or in the prose-poetry narratives of the
type which recounted the Battle Days of the Arabs
('A,yyam al-' Arab).4 The poet would exalt the heroic
deeds of his tribe in war thereby adding to its collec
tive glory and honour while at the same time he would
vilify its enemies. On the other hand, the Arabis
genealogical consciousness often extended beyond the,
confines of his own tribe to others, which like his
own, descended from an eponymous hero-founder. 5 This
meant, for example, that the northern Arabs of
11
Muoammad's generation would have, been conscious of a
span of about 1000 years of genealogical antecedence.6
Their perspective as to pragmatic history however,
would have been much shorter than that span.
Coupled wi t;h this attenua'ted historical pers
pective was a hedonistic world view which allowed no
room for speculation beyond the present. Man was
governed by a blind, irreversable and irresistable Fate
(~).7 The Qur'an has preserved an expression of
this view,
"n''I They assert: There is~our world; we die, we live us but Time (~).8
life in the present andnaught destroys
Pre-Islamic Arab thought reflected an extreme
pessimism which stemmed from the recognition of the
essential vanity of life. Nothing existed beyond the
present, so one lived only ~ the present and enjoyed
the goods of this ephemeral life to the utmost. Man's
actions therefore had no meaning beyond their conse
quences seen in terms of immediate and maximum pleasure
wrought by them. The earthly life is well summed up by
an early poet, 'AbId b. al-Abra~,
All that is pleasant must be snatched away and every one that gathers spoil ia spoiled intur.n~
12
A transformation of pre-Is1amic values and
perspec~ives occured with the Prophet Mu~ammad and the
rise of Islam. The transformation affected the two
aspects of Jâhili life we have a1ready noted, triba
lism and the hedonistic world view.
As a socio-political unit Y tribalism was
threatened by M~ammad's efforts to establish a new
unity based upon religious rather than blood ties. The
common faith was the be1ief in the One and Only God.
The new orientation shattered the narrow limits of the
Arab's perspective of his past. The Qur'in, for
example, is replete with references to great epochs
and upheavals of bygone times commencing with the very
act of God's creation of the world and man. Furthermore
at various points in history God intervened through his
prophets (NOah, Moses, Hüd, and 9ali~, for example) to
warn their people against evil living and p1easure
seeking owing to the dire consequences of such life.
Man will have to account for his actions on the Day of
Judgement and the evil (the Companions of Hell) shall
enter everlasting perdition while the good (the Compa
nions of Paradise) shall receive heavenly recompense. IO
The ethical imperative becomes "Do as God commands."
13
The implications of these teachings amspunted
to a revolut10n in the Arab's idea of history. The past
was no longer the glory of the tribe, but mankind it
self; God, and not a blind Fate governed the destiny
of man; God's command gave a new significance to man's
actions, for disobedience was punished and obedience
rewarded. Man's actions were no longer ultimately
relevant to the present, but to the future; history,
therefore, as the record of man's actions spanned the
past and was projected into the future. The present, in
the Islamic context, acquired an additional dimension
and gave impetus to the recording of deeds and events.
Despite these changes however, it would be a
mistake to assume that the forces of Arabism were
spent. They were evident throughout the dynasty of
the Umayyad Caliphs whose rule has been well described
by Professor Gibb as
the ou"Gcome of a coalition or compromise between those who represented the Islamic ideal of a rel1gious community, united by common allegiance to the heritage of the Prophet, and the Meccan secular interpretat10n of uni~, as against the threat of anarchy implicit in tribalism.ll
Tribal factional and particularistic impulses
passed over into the Umayyad contexte The survival of
14
inter-tribal enmit,. and the remembrance of the ' Anam al-'Arab are witnessed in the famous slanging matches
between the 'Iraq! poets JarIr and al-Farazdaq known
as the naga'id.12 In other instances, such as the
Medinan interest in the maghaz! of the Prophet, it is
difficult to assert conclusively that this merely
rep~çô;)nts an extension of the Arab' s preoecup'ation
with tales of raids common to the 'ayyam narratives.13
It would be more correct to account for Medinan histo
rical interests as the product of a fusion of pre
Islamic and Islamic influences.
II. Medinan Historioe;raphl
From the very beginning the Muslim community
appears to have sought information to elucidate the
historical allusions in the Qur'iin and to record the
deeds of the Prophet Mu~ammad (d. 10/632).14 The latter
pursuit resulted in the collection of material on the
maghaz! of the Prophet. SpeciGcally, maghaz! was the
term used to designate the early battles and raids
(razzia, variant of the Arabie ghazwa) of the community;
but the maghaz! collections from the start seem to have
included details from the pre-Hijra period of Mu~ammad's
career.15 This interest was then more inclusive than
15
simp1y the stories of the maghazi. Furthermore, since
Medina was also the major center of badith study, it
would not be surprising to find that among the ear1iest
transmitters of the maghazi were men who were also
expert in thé gadith of the Prophet. One such expert
was 'Aban b. 'Uthman. His dates are uncertain; he was
born around 20/640 and died,according to different
authorities,either in the reign of al-Walid (86-96/
705-715) or YazId ( 101-105/720-724).16 A second trans
mitter of maghazI material, a famous mubaddith and
also a contemporary of 'Aban b. 'Uthman, was 'Urwa b.
az-Zubayr, who lived from about 25/645 to 94/712.17
'Urwa had excellent sources for his material in the
pers ons of ~is father Zubayr b. al-'Awwam, his mother --------------~--------
and particularly his aunt 'l'isha, the wife of the
Prophet. Apart from the oral reports he had from them,
he also quoted from written documents. His own words
were transmitted in both oral and written form by his
son Hishim and the famous az-ZuhrI (51/671-125/742).
Professor Horowitz has concluded that his writings
"represent the oldest written notes o~ particular events
in the life of the Prophet preserved for us, and at the
same time the oldest monuments of Arabie historical
prose. 1I18 The interest in all aspects of the Prophe~s
16
life served both the religious and secular interests of
the Muslim community; and while the Prophet's life as a
... subject for investigation was obviously of purely
Islamic inspiration, the maghazi accounts do reflect a
long standing Arab tradition.
The form in which Islam19hiétoriography was
transmitted also reflected the continuing influence of
the narratives of the pre-Islamic 'AyySm al-'Arab.19
This form is known as khabar (pl. akhbir). Professor
'Abbott has drawn attention to an important distinction
to be made between khabar and badith.
In a general sense both badith and khabar mean 'a report' or 'information' irrespective of its nature or source, But early in Islam Àadith acquired a specifie technical meaning. It became a handy abbreviation of the phrase Àadith al-nabI, 1 sayings of the Prophet " at.. the same time that the phrase Ùadith al-saÙabah or 'athir al-sagabah • indicated the sayings of Mu~ammad's companions. These sayings were, as a rule, short and simple. In this same period, khabar as distinguished trom technical gadIth, came to mean a short narrative or bits of related information from whatever source available. Strictly speaking eve~ gadith was a khabar but not every khabar was a Oadith. 20
The characteristics of the pre-Islamic khabar narrative
which largely survived into the new era are th~~old:
17
no causal nexus between historical events is ever
established; the narrative is recounted in colourful
detail of exaggeration as against the use of cold
sober detail; the prose portions are interspersed with
poetic pieces.2l
Even the khabar, however, underwent some change
in the early Islamic periode Towards the close of the
first century the traditionist and historian fell under
each other's influence. The historian began to use the
device of the isnad (chain of authorities) which had
meanwhile gained acceptance in Àad!th; the traditionist,
on the other hand, found it expedient to imitate the
historian's practice by giving greater weight to the
written record as an ajd~emoire and a protection
against fraude In treating their respective subject
matters, however, the traditionist and historian were
drawing further apart. The traditionist was restricted
to literal accuracy in transmission while the historian
had a wider latitude of stylistic free play. He was able
to combine several reports from different sources into
an integrated narrative, citing his main authority at
the beginning of his work or at the beginning of each
main division.22
18
The study and collection of maghaz! material
which was the chief characteristic of the Medinan
'school' developed with Mu~ammad b. Muslim b. Shihib
az-ZuhrI •. His connection with the previous generation
was through his teacher, the above mentioned 'Urwa b.
az-Zubayr. Both an interest in the community's experi
ence and more purely religious motives apparently
stimulated his composition of the sIra (life) of
Mu~ammad.23 His perspective was wider than his prede
cessora' since he included in his study relevant pre
Ialamic details. While both traditionist and historian
converge in his person, he was the first to combine
tradi tions of variou·s sources into a single narrative
(y.adIth al-' ifk) , which ,·tas preceded by a list of his
authorities. 24 With this major technical advance, az
Zuhr! also provided the general outline and framework
.. of the sIra and did much to stabilize the Medinan
tradition.25
It was the famous Ibn Is~iq (d. 150/767) who
elaborated upon the foundation of az-Zuhr!'s work. Ibn
Is~iq's biography of the Prophet, which became the
claasie of its kind, was conceived as a history ot
prophecy cUlminating in the career of Mu~ammad. The
SIrat-an-NabI marked an advance beyond az-ZuhrI in
19
both concept and technique; it also reflected the stage
of the community's development in stature and confi
dence where its self-image was expressed explicitly in
a wider historical contexte From the Med1nan perspective,
Muslim history was a continuum not of tribal or intra
tribal history but of a theocentric world history.26
III. Pre-;abar! Historians
It is ooly now that we may turn to the subject
proper of the present study: historiography in 'Iraq.
The centres of scholarship in 'Iraq, Küfa and Ba§ra,
were founded as garrison towns for the tribes of the
conquering Arab armies. 27 They were therefore subject
to different influences than Medina28 and consequently
the products of their historians reflected more the
ethnic forces of Arabism than the religious forces of
Islam. Nevertheless, the emerging tradition of the
Islamic community challenged and slowly altered tribal
values just as the course of the Muslim conquests
diverted the focus of the tribal perspective of the
past.
At first the ancienttraditions of the 'ayyim
narratives, anecdotes relating to the recent conquests
and genealogical lore were circulated in the assemblies
20
of the tribes. The transmitters of this vast body of
tradition were principally the rawis. 29 In time, the
ro1e of the rawi broadened from that of being the trans
mitter of his master's poems (and often a poet in bis
own right) to a collector of all his tribê's tradition
regardless of its source. This reulted in the appearance
of the tribal monograph (kitib, pl. kutub) containing
genealogical lore, poetry and historical notices
(akhbar). The names of some of these works are known
although their contents are not extant. ijammid ar
Riwiya (d. 156/772) seems to have used the kutub of
the Quraysh and Thaqif tribes whi1e gathering informa
tion at the request of the Caliph Wal!d II (d. 127/
744).30 The kutub of Nawfal and '!mir are mentioned in
the Fihrist as col1ected byHisham b. al-KalbI (d. 204/
820) who received them from his father. 3l Similar
books were collected by a1-Madi'inI (d. 226/840) and
al-Haytham b. 'Ad! (d. 207/822).32
The transition from the simple tribal raw!
to the early historian occurred rapidly down to the
Middle of the second century of Islam. Scholars such
as the above mentioned ijammid and 'Amr b. al-'A1I
(ca. 70/689-154/770) whom Blachère cal1s 'les grands
transmetteurs· 33 continued the rawi tradition but
21 -
greatly extended their field of interest beyond their
own particular tribe. At the same time there emerged
the akhbirI, whose special interest was the traditions
(akhbir) relevant to a particular event or theme and
who compiled a coherent monograph upon that subaect.34
Many forces helpedto shape the interests of these
akhbirIs.There was first the local or regional interest
of the mier or province, • part y politics' which
developed in these locales, and also the creation of
empire which fashioned a new consciousness and pers
pective. The Muslim community and not the tribe had
become the new centre.of focus. 35
Among the earliest of these akhbiris was the
Kufan Abu MikhnafLut B. YaQ.ya b. Sa'id
(d. 157/774). Credited by Ibn Nadim vith thirty-two
monographs, Abu Mikhnaf dealt vith early Islamic
history in several books, and then with 'Iraqi affairs
down to the end of the Umayyad Caliphate.36 The works
which fal1into this latter division appear from their
titles to have been historical biographies; often Abu
Mikhnaf wo~e:.:;~~. his theme around the circumstances of
the sUbject's death. 37 In this fashion he was able to
account for the najor political events of the Umayyad
periode While it may be true that he held the concept
22
of the unit y and continuity of the Islamic community's
experience,38 he also seemed to view that experience
from the aspect of its greatest trials and conflicts.
Moreover, the period of history he covered was treated
only in episodic fashion in a series of aonographs
(kutub) and the major events of the Umayyad period are
not connectedin any formal manner in a larger work.
The monograph form with its characteristic limitations
of time and place remained one of the chief features of
'Iraq! historiographydown to ~abar!ts time.
Ithas been said that Abu Mikhnaf's political
attitude i8 revealed by the titles of two of his works,
namely "The Death of 'Al!" and "The Death of Ijusayn".
He also dealt'with other major opponents of the
Umayyads such as Mu~' ab and 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr.
These facts would tend to suggest an anti-Umayyad and
pro-'Alid sympathy.39 Tabar! employs him extensively as
a source, although in our translated passage there is
only one khabar on Abu Mikhnaf's authority. This shows
one of the 8.l:'eas of his preoccupation' namely, the
risings of the Khawarij who were also bitter opponents
of the Umayyads. This khabar 'shows the Azariqa
Khawarij taunting al-Muhallab and his followers for
their hast y change of allegiance from one master to
another. It is also interesting that Abü Mikhnaf
employed the isnad (as he did frequently), in this
instance from two named sources.40
23
A KÜfan contemporary of Abü Mikhnaf was 'Awana
b. al-~ak8Jll al-KalbI (d. 147/764-5).41 A blind scholar,
he was especially noted for his knowledge of akhbir.42
Only two works are attributed to him, one entitled
Kitab Ta'rIkh which indicates nothing of its contents,
the other being a biographical history of Mu'awiya and
the Banu Umayya down to 'Abd al-Malik' s reign. The
title ,of this latter work would appear to indicate
something more than a simple monograph but it is
impossible to speculate upon its arrangement. It is
doubtful from what is known of similar works such as
Ibn Is~aq's History of the Caliphs that 'Awana's work
was very large. Like Abü Mikhnaf, 'Awana dealt with
times closeto his own and both were unconcerned,with
the earliest days of Islam under the Prophet or with
the pre-Islamic era. Tribal tradition was important to
'Awana as a source of information of events in Syria
where the Kalb were gene~ally staunch supporters of
the Umayyads. His account of the death of 'Amr b. Sa~Id
in our translation was possibly selected by ~abarI
because of 'Awana's close knowledge of his tribe's
24
tradition. The tribal origin of the accoUnt may be
suggested from the names of several Kalb1tes who par
took in the events of 'Amr's rebel110n on both sides.
'Awana does"not use the isnad, at least not in our
translated passage, although it does occur in other
akhbar where the 'family isnad' indicates his drawing
upon tribal tradition.43
'Awina is a problem source. His sympathies are
difficult to determine. He is various1y described as
both pro_44 and anti_45 Umayyad. A recent scholar claims
his works show little evidence of pre~udice whether for
the"umayyads, for the Kalb or for Küfa.46 Yaqut calls
him an 'UthmSni. 47 It is worth noting what his being
an 'UthminI might have implied. Lammens has observed
that the community of sentiments between the ~UthmanIs
and the "Umayyads vent only so far as agreement upon
'Uthman's martyrdom and the necessity to expiate his
blood. This did not mean however that the 'Utbmanis
were simply devoted partisans of the Umayyad dynasty.
"Le terme prendra cette extension logique seul1nent .. après le triomphe des Umayyades. Pour le moment, tout
adhérent de Mu'awiya est uthmani, mais le contraire ne
se verifie pas nécessairement.,,48 Pellat qualifies
this view noting that the Umayyad-'Uthmin; alliance did
25
not imply just a recognition of the Umayyads; after
the success of the dynasty it was rather an anti~Alid
movement:
pour ne pas porter'de lleau au moulin umayyade, ils (uthmanis) déplacent légèrement le probl~me, et dans le but de justifier la légitimité de leur caliphe, sentent qulil est nécessaire de remonter jusqu l! Abu Bakr et, de prouver que ses droits au caliphat étaient plus puissants que ceux de Ali; cette théorie entra1ne imm6d1at~ment le classement de Umar et de Uthman après Abu Bakr, respecte le développement historique et détruit les prétensions exagérées des Alides.49
The important point is that it is very di ffi
cult to make politico-religious labels stick in this
early period; whereas an "'Uthmin!" would give quali
fied support to the Umayyads,50 an "'Alidll would not be
exclusively and consistently anti-Umayyad. Professor
Duri observes that the extant fragments of these writers
demonstrate great moderation.
(The) historians did not fall to the level of sheer partisanship and were not representative of one view only. It is possible that the process of selection from these works [especially in ~abar! and BaladhurI] eliminated some extreme traditions. But we may find the explanation in the importance attached to the tradition [riwiya] versus
26
opinion, and to the di.scipline imposed by scholarly judgement.5l
A contemporary of both 'Awana and Abu Mikhnaf
was Ibn Is~aq (d. 150/767) whom we noted above as the
author of the major biography of the Prophet. 52 As a
formal historian his career was important in an~ther
respect. His work in Medina wasiatèrrupted forcing him
to leave for 'Iraq and the cou~of Man~ur. There he
wrote his concise fa' rikh al-Khulafa', probably at the
request of the Caliph himself, for the bene fit of bis
son the Prince MahdI. In contrast with bis work on the
Prophet, for which he drew almost entirely upon Medinan
sources, the ~a'rrkh was composed exclusively from
'Iraqi sources.53 The importance of this work is in its
being the first dealing with the political history of
the caliphate written by a historian who had devoted
much attention to the history of prophecy and to
Mu~ammad. Ibn Is~aq's collective works represent the
first unco-ordinated expression of the "universal"
concept of Islamic history.
The extant papyrus fragment of this history
reveals details of Ibn Is~aq's historical method. His
use of the isnad, which had become popular among
traditionalists, was not consistent. He developed the
27
technique of combining severa! reports on various
related topics stopping short of composing a long
continuous narrative. Ibn Is~aq's sources for the reigns
of the various Caliphs were probably provided by the
KÜfans 'Awana and Abu .' :I1ikhnaf. Wh en it suited him, he
used Shi'a sources, a fact which perhaps formed the
basis for the accusation of partisanship. On the other
hand it must be remembered that he wrote under the
patronage of the Abbasid court. In the papyrus frag
ment which deals with the assassination of 'Umar l
and the appointment of the elective council the author
displays courage by rendering full account of the
respective claims of both 'Ali and 'Uthman. "The
account", concludes Professor Abbott, "so far as it
goes in our :f.ragment, gives no inkling of partiality
for either of these two major candidates and hence
calls into question the accusation that Ibn Is~aq
favoured the Shi'ite religio-political party.,,54
Similar to Ibn Is~aq's career was that of
MUQammad b, 'Umar a1-Waqidi (130-207/747-822)55 who
also began his professional career in the ijîjaz and
1ater settled in 'Iraq. He was an unquestionedautho
rity~ on the :ijijazi tradition as witness his only
extant work the classic Kitab al-Zllaghazi. For this.:':
reason perhaps, Tabar! relied upon him ~or details o~
the seige of Mecca and the death o~ 'Abd Allah b. az
Zubayr which occupy the year 73 of the translation.
Al-Waqid!'s other major importance is the care~ul
attention he gives to chronology.Theoccur~ces o~
dates in Tabar! (as ~ar as our passage is concerned)
originate almost exclusively with al-waqid!.56 The
problem of chronology was one which even al-Waqid!
found perplexing. Apart from the work on maghaz!
already mentioned, al-Waqid! favoured the monograph
from of history. The akhbir of al-Waqidi, cited by
Tabar! in our translation were transmitted by al
Waqid!'s secretary Muoammad b. Sa'd (d. 239/845)
famous himself for his large biographical dictionary
at-Tabagat al-KUbra.
28
Tbe!prolific prOduction o~ monographs continued
throughout the third/ninth century. Hishim b. al-Kalbi
(d. 204/820) le ft many works covering a wide field of
academic interests on genealogy, poetry and khabar. 57
Unlike the foregoing scholars his was not as creative
a spirit. His fame lies chiefly in preserving and
transmitting his father's vast store of knowledge. He
also transmitted akhbir from 'Awana and Abü Mikhnai,
many instances oi which will be found in the translation.
29
The wide range of his interests maltes him the ~~~er
of al-Mada'ini.
Al-Haytham b. ~di (130-209/747-824) also com
posed a numberof histor1cal-biographical works. 58 Two
of these deserve particular mention. The Kitab Ta'rikh
'ala s-SinIn (The Book of History according to the yeare )
suggests an annaljstic type of work. Although none of
his works is extant, this title indicates a possible
predecessor to the annals ~f ~abari. There is some
uncertainty, however, as to the exact meaning of.
ta'rikh. According to Rosenthal the word
merely indicates that that particular work contained chronological data and, although it might be used for an annalistic work, it does not necessarily refer to the use of the annalistic form of historical presentation.59
More important is al-Haytham's Kitab Ta'rIkh
al-Ashraf, which was the immediate model for BaladhurI's
Ansab al-Ashrif. 60 Like the latter, al-Haytham probab-
ly included more than genealogical data, that is,
historical notices (akhbar), for he is one of Baladhur~.' s
most important sources. He has two works on Syria and
two on related aspects of Persian-Islamic history,6l
indicating that the historians' interests were becoming
less parochial.
30
Monographie studies culminated in the prodi
gious output of 'Al! b. Mu~ammad al-Mada'in! (d. 225/
840).62 The Fihrist lists in all some two hundred and
sixt Y works covering the widest range of social,
literary and political subjects undertaken by any
historian before his time. Among them is an important
work of maghaz! and a major history of the caliphate
from Abü Bakr to al-Mu'tasim. His reputation for
reliability and trustworthiness made him one of the
principal sources for later writers especially
Baladhuri and Tabar!; the latter has used Madi'in!
(as an expert on Ba~ran affairs) for material of the
events surrounding Mu~'ab's death (year 71).
Much of al-Madi'in!'s material was transmitted
by 'Umar b. Shabba (172/788-262/875)63 (as we see from
the above mentioned events of Mu~' ab' s death·,year 71).
who himself wrote a number of monographs on poetry,
genealogy and history. His works are chiefly of a
local nature on KÜfa, Ba~ra and Medina. He also com
posed a study on the Abbasid Caliph Man~ür.
IV. Abü Ja'far îabari
Mu~ammad b. Jar!r Abü Ja'far ~abar! (d. 310/
923)64 constructed his famous History of the Prophets
31
and Kings upon the foundations latt:b,::;. by the previous
generations of Arab historians. He was naturally
influenced by the historiographical tradition of which
he was a part, but he also left his own particular
. mark upon that tradition.
Two major characteristics of the pre-~abarI
era of historiography were the monographie form and
the khabar element which subsisted in it. The latter
feature, of pre-Islamic origin, remained the essential
element of composition in historical works down to and
including ~abarI. The khabar element however was large
ly responsible for the lack of development of truly
continuous narrative in historical works. The mono
graph form reflected both the segmented concept of
history and the provincial outlook of the historians.
History was recorded as a series of s~parate episodes
centred around a battle or a famous personality. Other
monographs dealt with local affairs such as the akhbir
of Küfa or Ba~ra; still others treated certain sects
such as the Khawarij. Genealogical works as well
generally had a very narrow focus. And among historians
of the Medinan 'school' a common subject for a mono
graph was the maghaz! of the Prophet.
;2
It is true that before ~abar! there appeared
works of a wider scope. Both al-Waqid! and al-Mada'inI
produced major histories of the Caliphs. With Ibn Isoaq
the biography of Muoammad was conceived as a history of
prophecy culminating in the career of the Prophet. Ibn
Sa'd's biographical dictionary also broke new ground
in this branch of historical enterprise. The collec
tive achievment of the Muslim historians was neverthe
less immense; ~abari's history was at once an epitome
of that achievment and its embodiment.
~abar! brought a broader concept of history to
his study of the past which naturally required a diffe
rent form of presentation. He wae influenced by the
Qur'anic outlook and his histo~ commenced with God's
creation of the world. He absorbed the researches of
the Medinan historians into the history of prophecy and
the life of MuOammad. ~abar! was in fact the firet
historian to attempt a kind of synthe sis of all previous
historical endeavour. The form which seemed best suited
for his purpose was the annalistic for which al
Haytham b. 'Ad! may have been his model. This beset him
with certain difficulties for, with the exception of
a few, earlier historians seem to have been little con
cerned with compiling extensive chronological data.
~abari's literary activities extended over a
wide range of disciplines from history, jurisprudence,
Qur' anic exegesis to poetry, lexicography' and grammar.
In addition to his history, ~abarI has le ft one of the
most important eommentaries (tafsIr) on the Qur'in. We
have shown above how the methods of the historians and
traditionists influenced each other. In ~abarI, the
traditionist and the historian are the same person.
This dual aspect of ~abarI is well put in the words
of Prof essor Loth who said,
The highest object of scientific stud1 remained for him, of course, the Revelation, wh1ch however, he regarded in a double aspect: as the written Word of God in the Koran, and as the manifestation of the Will of God in H1story. So there came into ex1stence one after the other his Koran Commentary and his Universal History, the latter based l1kew1se upon theological princ1ples.65
As we shall see in the analysis below, this accounts
for ~abari's conscious defense of the traditional
histor1cal methods aga1nst attacks from critics like
the Mu'tazilites and his forceful assertion that the
Prophet and his Companions were the highest fount of
knowledge, a position wh1ch, however, caused certain
problems of method to arise.
Aga1nst th1s background of a historical survey
we can now proceèd to a detailed analysis of the
characteristics of ~abar! and early 'Iraq! historiography.
PART TWO
I. The Elements o~ Historical Writipg
In the first section o~ tbis analysis we shall
de scribe the elements o~~abar!'s composition. In this
respect ~abar! was influenced strongly by the estab
lished tradition. Throughout the two centuries which
~all within the purview o~ tbis st~, di~~erent tech
niques of presentation vere employed, as ~or example,
the annalistic, genealogical and monographie ~orms of
~abarI, Balidhuri and A:bii Mikhnaf respectively. Never
theless the underlying ~eature of all of these ~orms
remained the same inasmuch as they were all works o~
khabar. l
Akhbar were individu al pieces of information
varying in length and source. A one ljJl"e report on the
. duration of the battle between al-1J:ajjij and 'Abd Allah
b. az-Zubayr is transmitted by al-Wiqidi.2 'Awana's
account of the death of 'Amr b. Sa'!d on the other hand
runs to several pages.3 Generally a khabar was a
complete and self-contained unit; in many cases an
35
author might, however, edit an or~ginal report ~rom
his sources and use only a part of i t. 4
36
To relate the events of an episode, the
historian would group together in a logical sequence5
akhbar ~rom a number o~ persons known to possess rele
vant i~ormation on the subject. For example, al
Wi'lidi had transmi tted reports on 'Abd Allih b. az
Zubayr. He derived his i~ormation ~rom several
sources. One isnid reads:. "Mue'ab b.· Thibit~rom
~~i'a a mawli o~ the Banu 'Asad, a man well versed in
the ~itna o~ Ibn az-Zubayrll.6 Others contain the same
intermediate ~ormant o~ al-Wiqidi, namely Is~iq b.
YaQyi, who himsel~ received different reports from
'Uba,yd Allah b. al-Qutayba and Yüsuf b. Mahak (an
eyewitness).?
~abari employed the same method. In certain
instances he had received al-WiqidI's reports direct
ly from al-~arith b. Mu~ammad who quoted from Ibn
Sa'd's compilation of his master's works.8 In other
instances ~abarI used some written work of al-WiqidI
as the phrase ~ li. ~ Jli , "MuQ.ammad b. 'Umar said, Il
indicates.9 Each khabar assumes an individual character
since each emanates from a different source. Al-Waqidi
(and therefore ~abari) would juxtapose these individual
reports from several sources, and thereb~ the details
of a certain episode, which in effect beeomes an
aggregate of individual perceptions. '
37
The result in practice of the khabar construc
tion is found in the long account of 'Awana b. al-
ijakam concerning 'Abd ~-Malik and his cousin 'A:mr b.
Sa'Id (year 69). ~abari was working from the monographs
of Hisham b. al-KalbI who had obtained his information
from 'Awina.10 Each isnad as we saw above introduced a
new khabar. 'Awana does not cite hissources in this
particular account11 al though i t can be safely assumed
that the reports of this episode emanated from different
informants.
Sometimes the akhbir are closely related to
one another either in content or in the suggestion of
an indefinite lapse of time.12 Note, for example, the
khabar comprising paragraphs 2, 4, 5, 6 and the one
comprising paragraphs 7, 8, 9. The tirst deals with
the inter-relationship of 'Amr and 'Abd al-Malik from
the time 'Amr abandons the Caliph at Butnan ijabIb,
returns to Damascus and fortifies it, to the time the
Caliph besieges the city and battle commences. The
second khabar is concerned with an unspecified day
( l~~'») during the hostilities and the
• ,. r'
~8
pressures which finally led to a peaceful settlement.
Although broadly related, there 1s an evident shift ~n
locale and a lapse of time between the two. Paragraphs
10 to 2~ form the longest single khabar and also the
,core of the whole episode. Paragraph -'18 is an excep
tion, since it has been inserted by ~abarI from an
anL,onymous source (" i t is said, ~.) ,) as a variation
of . the las~ part of paragraph l? where 'Abd al-Malik
scarcely conceals his intention to kill 'Amr.l~
Logical sequence was sometimes not strictly
adhered to. The khabar in paragraph 35 1s actually
unrelated to what precedes and succeeds it. This anec
dote about the cause of enmity between the two cousins
has been inserted here as much from convenience as from
logic. The following khabar, paragraph 36, sUddenly
introduces a new character and the akhbir in paragraphs
38 and ~9 are incidental embellishments.
Despite the progression of events throughout .
the episode there is seldom a smooth transition between
one khabar and the next. This fundamental element of
traditional historio.graphy, i.e. the khabar, resulted
in the disjointed character of the historical narrative.
in ~abarI's work this characteristic ls reinforced by
two other factors a) ~abar!'s concept of the indiv1dual
39
year (annus) as a self-contained unit and b) the lack
of any causal nexus between the major events of a
single year. These factors will be treated presently.
Other elements of tradit10nal narrative are
found in the annals. Poetry l'las an inevi table feature
of the khabar accounts dating from pre-Islamic timesl~ and so i t is not surprising to find Tabar!' S history
spotted with verse.15 Professor Ooermann has pointed
to the emot1ve force of poetry as against prose in the
Jahil! khabar accounts.16 Poetry was more partisan in
expression than prose. Two examples in our translation
illustrate this. As 'Abd al-Malik 1s about to strike
down 'Amrb. Sa'!d, he cries,
"0 'Amr, cease thy slander,.do not vilify, Lest l kill you and the a-ama cry, 'Quench tbis thirst of mine,.17
A partisan verse in favour of 'Abd al-Malik is recited
by Ibn ar.-Riqa' as troops march out to meet MUQ'ab in
battle.18
Correspondence was perhaps a much less common
element in historical composition. While it was more
usual to make reference to correspondence without
quoting the contents,19 Tabar! quotes five letters which
could be classified as official documents since they
40
are either written by or addressed to 'Abd al-Malik
and deal with the struggle against the Khawiri~ in
'Iraq.20 The institution of the diwan (office or regis
ter) which had been founded·by 'Umar l (ca. 20/640)
primarily for the purpose of financing the army, was
expanded by Mu'awiya l (d. 60/680). He also estab1ished
the office of correspondence (diwan ar-rasa'il) which
dealt with all official communications. He also founded
the office of the seal (diwan al-khat am) in which a
copy of each piece of correspondence was kept.21
It is interesting that in our translated
passage two of 'Abd al-Malik's secretaries are men
tioned. One was Abü Zu'ayzi'a, the Oaliph's maw1a
(paragraph 24) and the other Qabioa b. Dhu'ayb who was
also "in charge of the seal", i.e. head of the office
of the seal.
It would appear that such correspondence was
used in historical writings quite early since the
letters in our text have been transmitted on Abü
Mikhnaf's authority. His informants cannot be identi
fied, so any connection between them and the diwin
cannot be ascertained. ~abarr evidently came by them in
the writings of Hisham b. Mu~ammad al-Kalbi. The histo
rian's use of 'archival' material,however infrequent,
41
demonstrates his considerable efforts to acquire materiall
from as wide a variety of sources as possible.
The last element of composition to be men
tioned is the intrusion of ~abarI's own hand in his
work. This is most evident where ~abarI refers to him-
self by the phrase . '\ \\~ 22 "Abü Ja' far ~~ OU ,
said." The opening paragraph o! the year 70 is also
~abarI • s own summary of 'Abd al-r'Jalik' s conclusion of
a treaty with the Byzantine emperor. Full details of
this event are found in BaladhurI's Ansâb al-Ashr§t on
the Syrian authority Hishim b. 'Ammar ad-DimashqI.23
~abarI does not use Hisham's authority at all in bis
work although it is evident that he was aware of this
particular tradition. Again, the capture of Baorayn by
Abü Fudayk is related by ~abarI himself; he has summa
rized various reports which can be traced to several
references in BaladhurI.24 ~abarI's own words aiso fol
low the phrases "and in this year ••• " ( ... ~\ o~ c! ,) which introduce a new event within the unit of the
year, down to the point where he gives the first isnad.
Moreover the details at the end of each year concerning
the leader of the pilgrimage and the office holders of
the provinces are also provided by ~abarI in his own
words without the citation of authorities. ~abarI also
introduces the major events of a year in a phrase or
two at the beginning of a new unit (annus).
One divisive factor of the narrative, the
khabar, has already been noted. A second is the divi
sion of the year as a se1f-contained unit. Each year
is introduced by the formula phrase •••• ~\ ~.) ,
"the the year ••• entered" and is generally concludè.d
by a brief notice of the leader of the pilgrimage for
that year, and the names of the current administrators
and jurists. For example, the year 69 closeswith the
notice that 'Abd Allih b. az-Zubayr led the pi1grimage
that year, and fo11owing this there is a brief note on
his administrators in KUfa and Ba~ra. This pattern
which is common with Tabar! reveals his conception of
the basic chrono1ogical unit, the year, as a comp1ète
one. This becomes more evident when we recal1 that
TabarI himse1f introduced and conc1uded each year in
his own words, as though he vere determining the extent
of each unit •.
Within this unit, iDdividual episodes are intro-
duced by means of other formula phrases such as ~.J ,
"and in i t" and ~\ o~ c.j -' , Il and in this year ••• "
Rather than chronological sequence, the events within
a sing1e year are arranged in order of their importance
or significance. In the year 69 two episodes are thus
accounted for. The first is of 'Abd al-Malik and 'Amr, the second of a Kharijite in the mosque at Mina. 25 The
episodes bear no relation to one another, except that
they occur in the same year, and there·is no indica
tion which is chronologically prior; only the impor
tance of the first episode gives it priority. Or again,
the report of 'Abd al-Malik's treaty with the Byzantines
rates greater importance than Muo'ab b. az-Zubayr's
visit to Mecca (year 70). Inother places there admit
tedly exists a logical relationship between two epi
sodes introduced by these formulae. The account of
'Abd al-Malik's entry into KÜfa, for example, is placed
after the account of the circUmstances of his defeat
of Muo'ab. Despite their logical relation, each epi
sode is treated as a discrete and individu al event; it
might also be argued that ~abarI considered the cir
cumstances surrounding the death of Muo'ab of greater
importance than 'Abd al-Malik's activities in Kufa.
The remaining events of this year (71) are respectively
a) the struggle for power in Baora between 'Ubayd Allah
b. abi Bukra and ~umrin b. 'Aban, b) the Oaliph's
installing Khalid b •. 'Abd Allan in charge of Baora,
c) 'Abd al-Malik's return to Syria and d) the speech
of 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr upon hearing of his
brother's death. Each of these events is introduced by
the phrase "and in this year ••• " there being a complete
absence of any other stylistic connect1on between
events.
From the above analysis the powerful influence
of the khabar convention on ~abari's work is evident.
This convention caused the anecdotal character of
Muslim history to subsist regardless of the external
form of the work be it monographie or annalistic.
~abarI did, however, reach beyond the limitations of
time and place implicit in a monograph composition;26
he succeeded in imposing a superficial external conti
nuit y on his histo~27 and he co-ordinated a variety
of subject matter, both qualities foreign to the mono
graphie history. These positive advances were the result
of ~abari's particular expository method or principle
of organization in the annalistic form of composition.
It may be said of the historiography of these earlier
generations that .. :;
it meant to r~collect the accounts of the witnesses, marshalling them with the greatest possible completness and with no concern for their contradictions. The reader was left to draw his own conclusions. The historian merely furnished the material. He took great pains to obtain reliable
45
information and strictly accounted, in the style of the traditionists, for his authorities.28
This point can be illustrated perhaps by inference
drawn from BaladhurI' s Ansab al-Asbrif as to. the nature
of the arrangement of the monograph forme Of this work
Prof. Goitein observes that "the chapters of the Ansib
are in great part nothing more than the ~onographs,
the 'books' of Abu Mikhnaf, al~Madi'ini etc. 1129 GOitein,
of course, does not mean that BalidhurI merely repro
duces these monographs in his own work, but rather that
BaladhurI's division of his work into chapt ers produces
sections which resemble monograph works. For example,
BaladhurI's section on Mue'ab corresponds to Abu
Mikhnaf's work entitled o~\ 4~"'J~--:,\l'(the Book
of Mue'ab and his Governorship of 'Iriq);O and the
section on 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr corresponds to the
~P\ Ù'. b\ ~ ~ -.\:;1 (The Book of the Death of 'Abd
Allah b. az-Zubayr) by the same author.;l
A scrutiny of yet a third section concerning the
death of 'Amr b. Sa'Id;2 (again the subject of a monograpn
by Abu Mikhnaf) reveals aninteresting difference between
the 'monograph' fQrm and ~abarI' s arrangement. The khabar,
the essential element, is common to both. However, in
BaladhurI, we find in this instance, the whole episode
recounted from six different authorities. There 1s,
moreover, considerable repetition of detail. For
example, the encounter between .' Abd al-Malik and
'Amr when the Caliph had set out for 'Iraq against
Mu'i' ab (paragraph 3) is told by both Abu Mikhnaf and
Hishim b. 'Ammir ad-Dimashqi. The seige of Damascus is
mentioned by these same two and 'AQmad b~ IbrahIm ad
Dawraqi. The peace treaty between the Oaliph and his
cousin is mentioned by Abu Mikhnaf and al-Mada'ini.
The final encounter between the two adversaries is
recounted no less than six times with varying emphaèis
and detail. ~abarI, on the other hand, has used only
'Awana's account and the repetition of detail does
not occur. In -the sections concerning MU'i'ab and 'Abd
Allah b. az-Zubayr similar repetition of detail occurs
(in BaladhurI's work) while this is not so in ~abarI,
as far as our translated passage reveals.
If from this we are justified in drawing the
inference that one of the features of the monograph
form was the repetition of detail then it would be
true to say that the monograph historian collected his
accounts and marshalled them "with the greatest possible
completeness and with no concern for their contradic
tions." It would therefore be consistent to assume that
'Awana also collected numerous accounts with repetition
of detail and that ~abari has 'edited' his version to
make a more even flowing narrative.
It was these historians of the earlier genera
tions who prepared the ground for ~abarI. His role in
history was not unlike the efforts of the badIth
collectors Muslim and BukhirI and others whose contri
bution "consisted not so much of diseovery and first
recording as of elimination and reorgan1zation.n3~
II. ;abari's Principle ofOrganization
Before ~abarI lay a vast corpus of material in
the form of monograph histories, genealogical and bio
graphical accounts. 34 Histask was to impose upon that
material some principle of organization by which he
would construct his h1sto~y. The nature of his inquiry
which embodied that principle was to select what he
considered to be significant or important episodes and
arrange them in chronological order. This principle
can be deduced from first, the annalistic structure of
the work and second, from the phrase ~abarI often
employs:· at the beginning of a year, such as V .?\}~ ~\ ,;..\~I»\ èJ' ~ ù~ ,35 "Mention of the informa
tion of significant events which occurred therein."
48
(a) Chronology
~abari was immediately confronted by the prob
lem of chronology, since he had determined upon the
annalistic form of presentation. The problem was some
what critical because few historians before ~abari
appear to have been concerned with dates. It was perhaps
the narrow scope of the monograph history centered
around a specifie event or person which explains the
genera:L lack of concern wi th Chronologyo.36 References
in both ~abari and Baladhuri suggest that al-Mada'ini
had paid some attention to this question. It was al
WaqidI, who above all others, provided chronological
data with any consistency. ~abarI is heavily indebted
to him as the numeroll's references in the translation
confirm. 37 As the author of a large history (the
Ta' rikh al-KabIr which came down to the year 179) and a
biographical work (the Wabaqat which came down to the
year 186y8 al-Waqidi was necessarily concerned with a
long sequence of events and at least the death dates
of important figures.
Accurate chronological reconstruction was not
altogether easy for ~abarI since his sources provided
few guides, and the evidence was at times conflicting.
He placed the revolt of 'Amr b. Sa'id and his death in
49
the year 69. In a note (from al-Waqidi) ~abari observes
that the siage of 'Amr in Damascus occurred in 69 while
he was killed in the year 70 •. ~abari was drawing attention
tion to the fact that the Muslim new year at thistime
fell during. the summer menths which was the usual
season for military campaigns. The Hijra year 69 ended
on June 24, 689 and the year 70 commenced the next
day. Both the siége and 'Amr's death therefore occurred
in the same summer (although in different yearsl) and
~abari has assigned the entire episode to one year.~9
Under the year 71 ~abari has recounted the
attack of Khalid b. 'As!d on behalf o~ 'Abd al-Malik
against Ba~ra. In an aside. ~abari notes that this
occurred "in the previous year, in 70~40 On the other
hand Il i t is also said Il that Khalid' s expedi tion occurred
in 71 while Mu§'ab was killed in 72.41 Al-Mada'inI
supports this latter date explicitly stating that
Mu~'ab was killed on Tuesday l~th of Jumada l (or II?),
72, (Oct.-Nov. 691). However, by assigning these
events to the year 71, ~abari implicitly has rejected
the alternatives.
Tabar! intervenes a winter season between the
death of 'Amr b. Salrd and Khalid's expedition~2 If we
accept the explanation that 'Amr was killed in 70 A.H.
(summer 689), then 'Abdal-Malik's treaty with Byzan
tium might also have occurred in the summer of that
50
same year. 4~ At least the treaty would logically hav.s: been
coneluded before the final round with Mu~'ab inorder
that the Caliph would not have his northern frontier
threatened while he entered 'Iraq. That would appear
to put Khalid's expedition late in the year 70 A.H •
. (summer 690).44 When the campaign failed 'Abd al-Malik
launched his final attack in the same summer of 690
which was now the HiJra year71. ~abari accepts al
WaqidI' s dating for 'Abd al-Malik' s entry into Küfa
and has placed the event in the year 71 A.H.45 He
notes on the other hand that al-Mada'inI places the
event in 72 A.H. and Mu~'ab's death in the month of
Jumada l or II (Oct .-Nov., 691 A.D.). 46 In any CaB_e
the discrepancy between the dates of al-WaqidI and 81-
Mada'inI is consistent and ~abarI has simply elected
to follow the former.
In the case of the encounter between the
Azariqa and al-Muhallab ~abarI provides no supporting
evidence for placing thisin_ the year 72 A.H. From the
context one would assume that it occurred shortly after
Mu~'ab's death. The opening paragraph of the khabar
states that the news of Mu~'ab's death reached the
51
Azariqa beforeal-Muhallab; but the news of such an
important event would not have taken long before lt
vas videly known.47 It vas a feature of lthabar histor.r
that in the absence of spec~fic dates (which in aD7
case may not be correct) the time lapse between events
of an episode or between episodes vas extremely vague.
There vas a preference fo~ such phrases as nwhen such
and such oc~urred, ••• then" or natter this ••• n•
The dates for al-ijajjaj's campaign against
Ibn az-Zubayr are explici t. We are told (on al-Waqidi' s
authority again ) that al-ijajjaj set out with his
troops in Jumada (I or II?), 72 A.H. (Oct.-Nov. 691)
and that he arrived in ~a'if in Sha'bin (Jan. 692)~ Then in Dhü' 'l-Qa'da (March 692) he left ~a'if and
besiè.ged ; Ibn az-Zubayr who is killed in Jumada l,
73 A.H. (Sept. 692).49 The length of the siage is
given variously as six months seventeen days and eight
months seventeen days. The discrepancy ia probably
explained by counting either from al-Uajjaj's arrival
in ~a'if whence he conducted several expeditions against
Ibn az-Zubayr's forces50 or from his actual siege of the
city two months later.
Whether or not ~abarI's chronological arrange
ment is correct is not important here.5l It is more
52
signifieant that from the vast material available to
him, ~abarI attempted to eonstruet a eonsistent and
intelligible chronological structure. Commeneing with
his basic unit of the year (annus) he would select the
aceounts of events for eaeh year, noting where possible
alternative dates. Where preeise dates wsœpossib17
unavailable, the context of a khabar would often 6uggest
its position in a s'equence. In one instanee, as we
shall presently see, ~abarI'felt justified in altering
his text in ordèr to place one khabar in a different
contexte Nevertheless, the evidence points to ~abari's
careful assessment of his material before committing
it to the structure of his annals. On the other hand,
~abarI's efforts at chronological reconstruction were
not pur~ued with strict consisteney. He does not, as
we have seen, arrange events within a year in ehronolo
gical sequence. In most cases this could perhaps be
accounted for by the insufficient chronological data
provided by his sources. Another reason may have been
his ccncsrn to place the most significant episode of a
year at the beginning of the major unit (annus).
In the previous discussion it was noted that
the impression of a closely knit narrative in ~abari's
work i6 more apparent than real. 52 This was partly
53
attributed to the very nature of the khabar narrative.
The annalistic structure itself contributes to the
lack of easy transition and development in the work.
An episode, for example;, may only last a few weeks at
the end of one year and run over into the next, but
the entire episode is placed in only one year. 53 Or
again,a year may contain one or two 'brief' encounters,
while the remainder of the year is a void.54 There is
consequently no clear distinction between the end of
one year and the commencement of .another; time lapses
are inde fini te and events are de·scribed as discrete
happenings and the narrative as a whole becomes
discontinuous.
Cb) Sisnificant Events
We noted above that it was part of ~abar!'s
task to select significant events for transmission. We
have also demonstrated how it was his custom to relate
the most important episode of a year at the beginning
of a new unit. 55 The events whose chronology has just
been described above are the significant events
(according to ~abari) for the period of this study.
Each bears a close relation to the central 'theme' of
our piece, namely, 'Abd al-Malik's attempts to re-construct
the power of the Umayyadsthroughout the empire.56
Although ~abar! possibly recognized the relational
significance of these events to the most important
political movement of the period, there is no stylistic
connection between them save for their position at the
commencement of each year.
We alluded above to an instance where ~abarI
altered the text of his source in order to place a
khabar in another context. 5? The occasion concerns the
battle between Khalid b. 'As!d and Ibn Ma'mar which is
known as the Day of Jufra ( 'ô;..sl' r ~ ). 58 ~abar!' s
account reveals an interesting aspect of his recons
truction where he alters both the time and the context
of Khalid's assault upon Ba~ra.
Baladhur! places the account under the heading
nKhabar on the Day of Jufra in Balira in the year 69. 1159
More significantly, Abü Mikhnaf confirms the coincidence
of the battle of Jufra and the rebellion of 'Amr b.
Sa'Id.60 ~abar! has used the account of Jufra on the
authority of al-Mada'inI.6l The same version is found
in Balidhur! withonly slight variation of phrase and
v9cabulary.62 A comparison of the two texts shows that
~abarI has deliberately edited al-Mada'in!'s account to
remove any hint of the coincidence of these wo events.
55
IIWhen 'Abd al.-Malik le ft for Damascus, Mu~' ab had no
aim but (to reach) Ba~ra (where) he hoped to overtake
KhSlid. n This supposedly happened after the battle of
Jufra. KhSlid had failed to capture Ba~ra and so 'Abd
àl~Mal.ik retired to Damaseus ~hile Mu~'ab had hastened
to Ba~ra to take matters in hand. He remained in Ba~ra
awhile and roundly upbraided Ibn Ma'mar for granting
KhSlid safe conduct; he then summoned the leaders of
the community before him and publicly humiliated and
severely punished them.64 Jufra and its aftermath are
thus linked to the narrative of Mu~'ab's downfal.l.
BaladhurI's version how~ver places the ab ove quotation
in a very different context:65 .. ..1/ ';: --: ~,) J) ~\ ~ cj~\.;p t..:"'A'Q .. tJ~ U J
\#ùl\? d)..,~ 6\ ~) ~\ ~\ ~ .J ~ f J~Y\ "And when Mu~' ab had been given homage and 'Abd. al
Malik had left for Damascus, because of 'Amr al-Ashdag,
~u~ab) had no aim but (to reach) Bavra (where) he
hoped to overtake Khalid." This shows that Jufra and
'Amr's rebellion fell close upon each other, and ~abarI's
omission of the phrase IIbecause of 'Amr al-'Ashdaq"
56
('Amr's agnomen was al-'Ashdaq) cannot be accidental.
~abar!'s juxtaposing Khalid's expedition and Mu~'ab's
downfall would indieate that he perceived an important
link between the two events and that combined they
constituted one of the significant epiaodes within the
wider context of 'Abd al-Malik's activities at this
time.
~abar! was not concerned wi th chronicaling .!U:. . possible events66 of the periode He does mention less
significant opposition movements against the Caliph
such as those led by 'Abd . ·Allih b. Khazim67 and Abü .
Fudayk the Khariaite.68 On the other hand, he only men
tions in passing Zufar b. al-ijarith69 and even then not
in any recognizable contexte Zufar was the head of the
Qays who had fled to northern Syria after the debacle
of Marj Rahit in 64/684 where he had fought as a . supporter of 'Abd Allah b. az-zubayr.?O 'Abd al-Malik
was finally forced to besie.ge him in his main centre
QarqisIya until Zufar made peace.?l Nor does ~abarI
deal with the important Kharijite leader in the ~ijaz,
Najda b. 'Imir.72 He mentions only that Abü Fudayk, who
had succeeded Najda, slew the former leader of the
Khawarij.73 The tact that both Zufar and Najda are
mentioned only casually by name would suggest that ;
57
fabari deliberately'chose not to elaborate; this would
also reinforce our contention that he was highlighting
those events and personages he considered important. We
cannot, however, account for aome details on the same
basis. What significance, for example, did fabarI see
in the incident of the Khiri~ite at the mosque in Mini'
(paragraph 41) or in.the journey of Mu§'ab to Mecca
(paragraph45). Indeed, what in ~abari's view consti
tuted a 'significant event'? To this question we shall
return in the final section.
We can now recapi tul~-œs. our argument to this
point. The examination of the elements of ~abarI's
composition showed the very strong traditional influences
of the khabar convention. It was this fundamental
element along with ~abari's conception of his basic
chronological unit, the year (annus), as a self
contained unit, and the arrangement of events as dis
crete units within the year which combined to give bis
work a disjointed character as a series of individual
anecodotes strung together. DeBpite this, however,
~abarI was quite consciously trying to impose a rational
principle of organization upon the mass of material he
had to work with. It was this principle, to construct
a chronological sequence of significant events, which
58
he employed to absorb the material of his predeeessors
which was largely in the form of monograph~. In this
respect, 'fabar!' s work marks an advance upon earlier
historians, to whom he was nevertheless deeply indebted.
III. The Nature of the Sources
The nature of 'fabari's inquiry raised a further
problem apart from the arrangement of significant events
in chronological order. This problem was the nature of
his sources; from the manner in which the problem
arises, it is evident that ~abar! wasat once aware of
its existence and unable to pro vide a solution.
The object of history to ~abarI was the human
past both remote and proximate.74 Entitled The History
of Prophets and Kings, his history spanned time from
the Creation ·to his own day. 'fabari was by no means the
first historian to be occupied with ancient story and
legend. '75 He was however, .the first 'Iraq! historian to
absorb the researches and products of the Medinan
scholars along with his 'Iraqi predecessors into a work
of more genuinely nuniversal" vision.
It was not surprising that Muslim scholars
considered ancient legend as the legitimate province of
their enquiries, since the Qur'in itself contained
59
scattered references to Creation, Adam and the ear1y
prophets.?6 God's purpos~ in creating man and in
sending the prophets was sufficient reason to acquire
knowledge of these matters: nI have only created jjnn
and men that the,. may serve Me." (51:56)77 Know1edge of
the past was in a sense neceasary to man's benefit:
There is, in their stories (i.e. of the 'Prophets), instruction for men endowed with understanding. It is not a tale invented, but a confirmation of what vent before it, a detai1ed exposition of al1 th1ngs, and a guide and a mercy to any such as be1ieve." (12:111)
Such know1edge was by implication possible and so the
nature of the sources of this knQw1edge became
important.
Data of pre-Is1amic events could not be obtained
through a re1iab1e ~.hain of transmi tters (isnad). The
sources deemed reliable for know1edge of such events
vere the Prophet and the pious predecessors.78 ~abarI
discusses; for examp1e, the duration of Adam and Eve's
sojourn in Paradise before God sent them to earth.79
Assessing the value of one source, ~abarI notes that
Il (the transmi tter's) words are not far from the truth
in this matter since the information (akhbar) emanates
trom the predecessors (salat) among the scholars. n80
60
Then, citing a report on the same question from Hishim
b. MuQ.ammad al-KalbI, ~abarI says, "these words are
contrary to the reports adduced on the authority of the
Prophet and of the predecessors (salat) of our learned
men. 1t8l
Next is the problem of the locale of Adam and
Eve's descent to earth. The collective authority of the
"scholars of the predecessors (salaf) of the community
of our Prophet" was that they descenç..ed together into
Hind (India).82 A report from Ibn IsQ.aq who quotes
"the people of thE; Torahll as his authority says that
Adam descended into India but that Eve was put down in
Jedda near Mecca.83 ~abarI, however, cautions the
reader against this report, implying preference for
thè~ ~ authori ty of the salaf. He wri tes,
This is an instance where certain knowledge cannot be obtained except by a report (khabar) (of the salaf)84 which is adduced as evidence. No report is known (for certain) of this matter except that Adam (and Eve) descended into India. Therefore this is something which the scholars of Islam [n.b. not the salat] and the people of the Torah and the Gospels cannot refute although evidence has been established through some of their reports.85
61
In another plac.e ~abarI rejects a report from
Ibn Isoaq because the latter does not attribute his
report to anyone.86 The issue concerns the first object . .
which God created; no ~.knowledge could be ascertained
of this matter except by a report (khabar) from God or
His Prophet. The Prophet' s work;. is correct 'owing to hie
veracity and soundness.87
Elsewhere ~abarI employs material from Jewish
and Christian historians88 and Persian chronicles89 but
one would assume that he did so with the reservation
that either the sala! or the Prophet (or the Qur'in
itself) are preferable where such reports are avail
able. There is the example of the traditions which
discuss the age of the world.90 A report from the
Prophet states that it will last six thousand years.
One who brings this khabar as evidence is on sound
ground. Then there follows divergent traditions from
the communities of the Jews,91 the Greek Christians,92
and the Majüs.93 In each of these latter cases, ~abarI
introduces the tradition with the phrase, "As for that
which the y (i.e. Jews etc.) allege ••• " ( (')). The
preference is clearly with the tradition from the
Prophet who ranks as the best authority.
This emphasis upon the varying soundness of
62
different authorities reflects an interesting dis'tinc
tion between the pre-Islamic and Qur'inic concepts of
.' i!!!!., "knowledgen , which Professor Izutsu has described
in his book, God and Man in the Koran.95 The basic
"meaning of "knowledge tl is "knowledge by inference",
that is, knowledge derived from some given data, while
the relational meaning varies with the context in which
the '110 rd is employed. Tge difference between the rela
tional meaning in the Jihill and Qur'inic contexts is
related to the source from which the knowle~ge ls derive~
In pre-Islamic times 'il! could mean knowledge
derived from one's own personal experience. This 'lias
opposed to zenn which 'lias only subjective thought and
therefore ,unreliable. '!lm in the same context could
be derived from a second source, namely tribal tradi
tion. In this sense, "knowledge tl 'lias preserved mainly
in the form of proverbs (amthil) • Both of these sources
guaranteed a kind of univers al validity for knowledge.
The Qur'ànic u.sage of '!!!. on the other hand,
reveals a very different ground for validity. Knowledge
in this context 'lias derived from God's revelation which
possessed absolute objective validity, owing to the
source of this knowledge being divine Truth (~). By
comparison, the pre-Islamic concept of 'i!! is
63
downgr'aded to mere ;ann. Professor Izutsu illustrates
this difference by the Qur'inic verse in wbich the
unbelievers refuse to accept God and the Hereafter
asserting instead that there 1s only an earthly exis
tence: "Of that they' (the kifirs, unbelievers) have no
certain knowledge ('~); theyare merely conjecturing
(ta;unnUna) • ,,96
Tabar! distinguishes between the nature of bis
sources in a similar w87. The Prophet and the pious
predecessors are an absolutely reliable source from
which certain knowledge can be derived. ~he Jews,
Christians and the Majüs on the other hand can only
make "claims" to certain things wbich equates their
informationJdLt~conaec~en.97
Tabar! ,had, therefore, implicitly defined a
source, the nature of which could provide certain
knowledge of past events. Thus far he was on firm ground.
The period under review in this study however, cause ..
the problem of the sources to be raised once again. The
Prophet and the pious predecessors could in no way be
regarded as sources (reliable or otherwise) for the
reign of 'Abd al-Malik. Simply, the problem was that
outside the Prophet and the salat there !!! no objec
tive criterion for determining whether or not a given
64
source was reliable; the line between "certain knowledgefl
and "conjecture" was blurred. Indeed, this was, in the
words of Professor Mahdi, fla major problem which tradi
tional historiography could not sOlve.,,98 Nevertheless,
~abari must have at least assumed that not !!! know
ledge of the past need be ~ conjecture. Otherwise
history would become impossible to record. He adopted
a certain definite standpoint, which is set out concise
ly in his introduction and is, so far as we know, the
earliest evidence of a practicing historian reflecting
upon his discipline:
(a) The knowledge of the events of past nations, and of the information about what is currently taking place, does not reach one who ls not contemporary to, or does not observe, such events except through the reports of historians and the transmission of transmitters. (b) These (historians, transmitters) should not use rational deductions and ment~ elucidations.99
Now if there happens to be in this book a report that l have transmitted from some past authority to which the reader objects or which the hearer detests because he does not see how it could possibly be true or correct, let him know that this report did not originate with me, but came from some of those who transmitted it to me and all l did was to deliver lt as it was delivered to me.100
_. In the first part of this statement (a) ~abarr is
saying that the knowledge of all events, past and
present, (except those events which one is contemporary
to or has himself witnessed) is dependent upon the
akhbir of other.historians and transmitters, who them-. .
selves may rely upon rëports transmitted to them by
reporters who should either have been contemporary to
or have witnessed the events they describe. In other
words, a historian, like ~abarI, could obtain the
highest degree of immediacy to a past event only from
the khabar whose original reporter was, or claimed to
have been, either a contemporary to or a witness of a
given event.
The practice had emerged under the influence of
the science of hadIth of affixing to each report a
chain of authorities leading back to the original
transmitter.1Ql This system, however, could not always
guarantee that ~abarI, for example, could obtain the
highest degree of immediacy to a past event through the
reports of eyewitnesses or contemporaries. This was
owing to th~ fact that the earliest 'IraqI historians
only infrequently employed the device of the lsnad.
A case in point is the lengthy account of
'Awana concerning 'Amr b. Sa'Id and 'Abd al-Malik. 'Awana
gives no indication of his sources here, although in
other cases we know that he transmitted from his
father,102 who may well have been contemporaneous to
the events of our periode Abu Mikhnaf on the other hand
seems to have used the isnad more consistently than
his fellow Kufan, 'Awana, and certainly much of his
material emanated from contemporary sources.103 A
good example of a contemporary report is that of al
W,aqidi in the episode of MUQ' ab. The isnad of the
khabar reads: "Muo,ammad b. 'Umar mentioned trom 'Abd
Ulih b. Muoammad b. 'Abd Allih b. abi Qarra from
Is~aq b. 'Abd Allan b. abi Farwa from Raja' b. Haywa ••• "
(paragraph 59). Iso,aq was the son of 'Abd Allah b.
abi Farwa who was one of the lesser personages in
the drama of MUQ'ab's downfall.104 The khabar there
fore must have originated close to the time and the
place of the events in Ba§ra.
There are also several akhbar in our excerpt
which are first hand reports. In the discussion which
centers around the circumstances leading up to the
death of 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubay~ (year 73), there
occurs a report the isnad of which runs: "Al-ij:irith
related to us (saying) MUQ-ammad b. Sa'd related to us
(saying}Mu~ammad b. 'Um~related to us (saying) Iso,aq
6·7
b. Yaoya related to me ',on the authority of Yusuf b.
Mahak who said: 'I sav ••• ·" (paragraph 137). Then the
stor,. of the bombardment by al-ijajjaj during his siège
of Ibn' az-Zubayr is related. The succeeding .~':,khabar
originates with one al-Mundbir b. Jahm al-Asad! who
states tbat he saw Ibn az-Zubayr on the day he vas
killed (paragrapb 138). Other examples could be cited.105
Despite the examples of both contemporary and
eyewitness reports in our sources it would be true to
say that the majority of akhbar for this period could
not be traced to the original transmitters. Tbe
'Ioriginal" sources were therefore essentially anony
mous and even with eye-witnesses and contemporary
reports, the historian could not apply his technique
of authority-criticism to authors and transmitters
about whom he knew little or nothing at all. ~abarr
might thus depend upon the general reputation for
acceptability as authorities which had grown up around
men like 'Awana and Abu Mikhnaf. It was precisely on
this point that the most pointed criticisms against the
traditional methods were raised by the Mu'tazilites:
They stressed the necessity of rational understanding and the' exploration of the nature and causes of things, and refused to accept reports
G8
whose only cla1m to truth was the multiple chain of authorit1es pref1xed to them. They asserted that 'the whole (Muslim) community could agree on what 1s false' and that lit 1s possible that an infinitely numerous group of people would lie'. They demanded that conviction be based on rational grounds and not solely on authority. App11ed to histor,y, th1s meant the acceptance of what 1s inherently reasonable and the rejection of what is not.10G
In this light, the tone of the last part of
~abarI's statement (b) is an uncompromising defence
of traditional methods. Nevertheless he allowed him
self, as we have seen, a certain latitude in the compo
sition and arrangement of his work which did not precise
ly fit the prescr1ption of transmitting material exact
ly as he found it. Indeed, he even admitted employing
rational proofs and mental elucidations although to a
very minimal degree;107 they served him only inciden
tally and not as fundamental principles.
~abarI eschewed the use of reason in history
but this did not preclude a measure of rational judge
ment in selecting his material.108 There is some evi
dence, although by no means conclusive, to suggest
that ~abarI may have omitted akhbir overtly judgemental
of individuals.109 ~abari was undoubtedly aware of
traditions from the Prophet warning against indiscri
minate reporting and conje~ture. Two of these tradi
tions which are found in the canonical collections
(and were perhaps current in the early 9th century) are
quoted by as-SakhawI in his work on historiography:
nBeware of conjectures, for conjectures are the
greatest lie,,110 and nA man is enough of a l.iar if he
reports all he hears. nlll To this latter tradition·
as-SakhawI adds, nThe historian should thus protect
himself against the unconscious commission of (base
less) expansion,.,;, vilifications , vituperations, and
(acts of) hbstility.nl 12 As-SakhawI (d. 902/1497) it
should be noted defendedthe traditional methods of
history.
Nor was ~abarI a simple uncritical compiler of
historical material, which might have more accurately
characterized his predecessors. As far as comparison is
possible within the scope of this study, ~abarI does
not seem to have been interested in transmitting all
manner of akhbar on a particular event regardless of
their contradictions. On the episode of 'Amr b. Sa'Id,
BaladhurI presents akhbar from a number of sources
including Abü Mikhnaf, al-Haytham b. 'AdI, and al
Mada'inI.ll; He has no account from 'Awina which
~abarI uses in his own work. In one essential detail
the reports are in disagreement, and that concerns the
specifie person who kills 'Amr. The concurrence of
authori ties in BaladhurI have Abü Zu' ayzi' a R:ill' ':.br on
'Abd al-Malik's orders.1l4 ~abari on the other hand,
using 'Awana as his source, has 'Abd al-Malik kill
'Amr with his own hands. This is not merely a question
of suppressing other material for ~abarInotes, "It is
said that when 'Abd al-Malik 1eft to pray, he had
ordered hi~ servant Abü Zu'ayzi'a to kill 'Amr, which
deed he did." (paragraph 24) It is evident from this
that ~abari was aware of the other reports. He may . - .
have judged that in either case 'Abd al-Malik would have
been morally responsible for 'Amr's death. knyhow, by
selecting ooly the one account, ~abari avoided the cum
bersome duplication of.details which is so apparent a
part of BaladhurI's version. In the final analysis,
~abarIts position on the use of reason appears ambi
guous to us. While denying the use of reason, ~abarI
nevertheless displays an evident tendency to employ
rational principles of organization and selection. The
first of these principles, of organizing his work by
chronologically significant episodes was discussed in
the previous section. Bere another acute problem has
?!
been raised. We have shown how ~abarI used his criterion
of absolute reliability for reports from the Prophet
and the sala! as against other authorities. In the light
of the Mu'taz1lite criticisms ~abarI's defence of the
traditional methods indicates his awareness of a theore
tical problem concerniDg his later sources when so few
of these reports emanated from eyewit.ness • The very
fact that he compiled bis history revealed as well
that he regarded it possible to construct a work based
upon other than mere conjecture. Then, in the instance
cited above of the various accounts of 'Amr's death,
~abarI has clearly made a rational choice of his
material, even if he "judged" (i.e. rationally conclu
ded)that 'Abd al-Malik was in !al case morally respon
sible for his act, and thereby judg,bi.g:~· each version
equally valide Tbis problem of reason, which we encoun
ter for the first time in ~abar! (since earlier histo
tians give no indication of even their awareness that
a problem existed) is not resolved explicitly by him.
It may not be possible (certainly not within
the limits of this study) to arrive at a final state
ment concerning ~abari's criteria for significant
events or for selection of material. A line of enquiry
will be suggested in the following section of the
72
analysis, which links an understanding of ~abarJ:' suse
of reason with the wider problem of the place of Godin
Islamic history.
I~ The Place of God in History
The purpose of this section is to provide at
least an intelligible explanation for~abarr's ambi
guous position concerning the use of reason. For example,
if ~abarl demonstrates some rational principle of orga
nization, what can we say, if anything, of his criterion
of a "significant event". Or again, in the absence of
sound objective criteria for the reliability of
reports, what solution, if any, -did ~abari envisage.
The observations made here should be accepted as tenta
tive since a much more extensive investigation needs
be made to arrive at a definitive statement.
We shall start with the place of God in history.
The Qur'anic viewpoint of the God -- Man relation is
convenient for this purpose since ~abarJ:'s own concept
of history (commencing with God's creation of the world)
is clearly influenced by the Qur'anic outlook. Next,
history as the record of man's actions in the past will
introduce the man-to-man relationship. To each of
these relationships the question of causation is raised;
?ô
does God cause man's actions, or does man act of his
own accordl It will be seen that wo rational. explana
tions can be offered in terms of ~abari's text itself,
one determinist (i.e. inevitable), the other note How
ever, viewed against the background of the total.
Islamic perspective (God - Man) the ambiguity of the
function of reason emerges, since any explanation of
events i5 beyond reason's grasp.
The material transmitted by early Muslim
historians comprises elements of legend ~d."'Jnnh':::as·:~well
as proper historical. narrative. The Muslim historian's
interest in Time from Creation was motivated by the
Qur'inic allusions to creation, the stories of the
prophets aIid ancient peoples. As the Creator of Time
past, Time present and Time future, God assumed the
central point in the Muslim's world view.115 "This,
then, is Allan your Lord, there is no God save Bim, the
Creator of everything. nl16
From a wider perspective the Qur'inic Weltans
chauung is a "large multi-strata system standing on a
number of basic conceptual oppositions", a world "over
which reigns an intense atmosphere of spiritual strain
and tension".ll? According to Professor Izutsu the most
important and fundamental opposition i8 the relation
between God and Man. 118 While GOd, ontologically, ls
Being over against which nothing in the world can be
opposed, nwhat God is, says and does,. becomes a
problem chiefly, if not exclusively, in connectlon
with the problem of how man reacts to lt. nl19 God
74
and Man became the major poles of this basic concep
tual opposition. Professor Izutsu sees the God - Man
opposition in the Qur'in as a multiple and reciprocal
relationship. Briefly, these are a) the ontological or
Creator - creature relation; b) the communicative rela
tion which distinguishes between 1. the verbal aspect
which is God's revelation on the one hand and man's
prayer on the other, and 2. the non-verbal aspect
meaning God's 'signs' which he has sent down on the one
hand and man's cult practices on the other; c) the
Lord-servant relation between an all-powerful, omni-
acient Lord and His humble obedient servant; d} the
ethical relation. Rere God is merciful, beneficent and
forgiving to man when he is thankful (shukr) for these
kindnesses or God is wrathful toman who is ungrate
ful (kufr).120
In terms of this last, the ethical relation,
~abari describes in his introduction the pervasive
importance of the God - Man relationship in history;
again, the statement is the first, 80 far as we know,
7·5
by a historian describing the place of God in history:
In this book of mine l mention ••• those upon whom God had placed His blessing and favour from the beginning and who in turn were thankful for His favour; such as these weœa prophet who had been sent, or a king made sovereign, or a caliph appointed as successor. And God increased that initial favour in this world and His pref.erred bounty (upon each). And there were those whose favour was witheld by God Who kept it in trust for them. And there were those of them who were ungrateful for His favour and so He stripped His favour from them and hastened His revenge. And there were those among them who were ungrateful for His favour, but God allowed them enjoyment of that favour He had granted until their death and destruction.12l
God is sovereign over allhuman destiny,
altho~gh the evidence of divine sovereignty actually
observable in history is sometimes obscure. God may
.hold in trust His fav~r of one who has been grateful
for it, or He may allow one who has demonstrated his
ingratitude, to enjoy His favour for the duration of
his lifetime on earth. This, of course, implies Godls
sovereignty beyond history as well, which reflects the
Muslim eschatological belief of man's individual
'apPointed time' ('ajal) beyond which lies the end of
the real world (dunya) at the Hour (as-sa'a) or the
Day of Judgement which itself is the.threshold of
eternal life (al-khulüd) .122 Over ~ this God is
sovereign.
76
The proper province of history however is the
human past, or,. more precisely, the actions performed
by men at determinate times in the past. As ~abar!
himself says, bis history treats of ancient kings,
messengers (of God) and prophets and the O~ aliphs •123
The bulk of the work deals with the time of the Prophet
Mu}J.ammad onward. History therefore has an axis other
than the vertical God - Man relation described already.
The h0.r.izontal axis is history as the record of man's
action and inter-relations. While theology or philoso
phy are those branches of knowledge particularly
devoted to the relation of God to Man, history is more
properly concerned vith Man. In the Islamic system as
even with modern Christian interpretations of history
the vertical axis can never be lost sight of. The
total gestalt of the Islamic historical perspective
therefore resembles
the triangle in our diagtam,
where both the horizontal and
vertical axis are combined. In the
following discussion ve shall trace
Cèocl.
briefly the nature of the horizontal axis and then
de scribe the place of God in this scheme.
Not unnaturally the period under study here
was dominated by a series of cOnflicts, as 'Abd al
Malik attempted stage by st~ge to re-impose Umayyad
authority over the provinces. The nature of these
conflicts bear examination for what they reveal of the
man-to-man relation in history.
Th three episodes of our period reveal certain
. remarkable similarities. In each, a situation emerges
as an irreconcilable conflict between the antagonists,
resolved only by the death of one of them. In other
words, given the known, that is the death of one of the
antagonists, the event is described as the consequence
of an irreconcilable conflict. In each episode either
the victor or the defeated views the predicament in the
same way.
For example, when 'Abd al-Malik has brought
'Amr to him, he places a chain upon his neck. 'Amr
pleads for his release and the Caliph replies, "By
GOd, were l sure that you would spare me if you were
to be spared, and the Quraysh were to be peaceful, then
l would set you free. But two men never meet in one city
in a situation such as ours save one of them expeliB
the other". Tao late does 'Amr realize the Caliph' s
intention to kill him. l24
With Mu~'ab b. az-Zubayr, 'Abd al-Malik had
sent his brother Mu~ammad to offer him safe conduct
(,.~) and Mu~' ab replied, "0ne like myself does not
retreat from. a situation such as this except as
conqueror or conquered."l25 This, despite his realiza
tion that he had been abandoned almost to a man.
The situation of 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr is
put in the words of his mother who says to him, "If
you were to say, '1 am right and yet when MY companioDS
.become weak, l am become weak', this is not the act of
free men nor of people of religion. How long is your
life on earth (khulud)? Death is better!" 'Abd Allan
agrees with her and says, nThis day shall l be killed. n126
With the odds weighted heavily against them
Mu~'ab and 'Abd Allah b. az.-Zubayr choose to go down
fighting thus forcing a violent resolution to their
conflict with 'Abd al-Malik. In the case of 'Amr b.
Sa'Id the element of choice is perhaps not as evident,
but he does contribute to making his conflict with his
cousin irreconcilable. One factor was his haughty
behaviour towards the Caliph after the peace treaty
between them had been arranged. When 'Abd al-Malik had
?9
re-entered Damascus and ordered 'Amr to supply the
people with provisions, 'Amr replied, "This is no city
for you, so leave itt,,12? Al-Madi'ini transmits an
account in which 'Amr at first is well received by
'Abd al-Malik. Then one day, 'Amr said to him,
"Indeed, l am more worthy of the caliphate than you.
80 if you want, break the peace and pr.epare for war. ,,128
Furthermore 'Amr failed ~o heed his frie~~s~advice
not to answer the Caliph's summons.129 His friend,
'Abd Allah b. Yazid b. Mu'iwiya ventured the analogy
of one of the sons of Ismi'il who locked the gates of
Damascus, then set forth -from the city and was shortly
thereafter killed. But 'Amr insisted and set out to
meet 'Abd al-Malik armed and escorted by a hundred &
-of his mawJ.i.
'Awana includes in his account an anecdote to
show that the enmi ty between 'Abd al-Malik and 'Amr
b. 8a'id was deep rooted.130 It was Umm Marwin's custom
whenev.er the cousins came to visit her to excite
discord between them until "finally a lasting enmity
for each other became rooted in their hearts."
As againstanother level of explanation, which
in itself would have been adequate to explain the down
fall of each of the Caliph's adversaries, the similarities
of the 'irreconcilable conflict' situation in each
episode appear more striking. 'Amr, for example, was
disgruntled because of Marwan b. al-ijakam's failure
80
(and after him 'Abd al-Malik) to nominate him for the
caliphate which had been promised him at the so-called
cong~ of Jabiya after the battle of Marj Rihiv.131
As long as he was dissatisfied in this respect or
remained without recompense of any kind, he was a poten
tial threat ~o 'Abd al-Malik. The downfall of Muv'ab
and 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr may be said to have been
brought about by the desertion of their supporters
to 'Abd al-Malik's side. The reasons for desertion in
each case was possibly different. Muv'ab was probably
abandoned owing to his own ruthless treatment of ranking
'IraqIs following' the battle of Jufra.132 This may also
explain why ~abarI deliberately chose to alter the
context and time of the Day ,·:of Jufra and juxtapose it
with the circumstances of MU$'ab's death.133 In the case
of 'Abd Allih, the Meccans were prepared to take advan
tage of al-ijajjaj's offer of safe conduct ('~)
even including Ibn az-Zubayr's sons.134
Apart form this level of explanation, the
factor of the irreconcilable conflict is consistent to
the three episodes. The cause of downfall in each
instance appears to lie in the nature of the predicament
81
in which the adversaries found themselves. The function
of the irreconcilable conflict then provides the suffi
cient condition of the downfall of the Caliph's adver
saries and their deaths were consequently inevitable.
Thetyranny. of sheer deter~nism is avoided by the
element of choice involved in the fate of each anta
gonist. The inevitable consequence of an irreconcilable
conflict could be taken to ~'mean that either one or
both of the antagonists could not reasonably have been
expected in the circumstances to act in a different
manner. The horizontal axis, or history as the record
of man's acts, can therefore be rationally explained.
However, it is precisely here that man ~
history must be viewed against the full historical
parspective; for, while Han is the focal point of
History, God is The Focal Point. From ~~barI's descrip
tion quoted above, God's omnipresence both in and
beyond history was deduced. In the Qur'anic world view
God's sovereignty is absolute in the sense of His
governing the whole course of human affairs and as
judge of man's destiny in the Hereafter. l35 GOd, as
Sovereign, therefore, could determine the 'appointed
timë' ('ajal) of each of His creatures. The deaths of
'Amr, Mu~'ab and 'Abd Allah were their 'appointed times'
and were therefore inevitable and determined by God.
An event may then be interpreted as the result of
direct intervention of God; it may B2! be explained by
resort to reason because God's purpose cannot be
rationally grasped.
On the other hand, Man in history appears to
an extent to determine his own fate and / or the fate
of others. Islam, in contrast with the Jahili view
(as we noted in our Introduction, p. 11 ) had introduced
a new significance or dimension to man's actions; they
became relevant not only to the present but also to
the future. History which is the record of man's actions
is directed toward an anticipated ;- end, the Judgement
Hour. An event may then appear to result from the
free act of ma·n himself; but in this case the act
assumes an eschatological significance and the ulti
mate explanation of it (and the event).is not found !!! history but beyond it, and therefore beyond reason's
province.
'Abd al-Malik had felt no alternative but to
kill 'Amr. When he had executed the deed (and 'Amr) he
acknowledged his awareness that he had committed a sin.·
liA worldly man", he says, "who sought nothing of the
Hereafter (al-'akhira) has killed him. 1I1;6 Far from
85.
being an act of Divine will, 'Abd al-Malik realized
that 'Amr's death for which he must answer would have
its consequences not in this world, but in the next.
It was, ironically, 'Amr himself who had called the
Damascenes' attention to the fact that the Quraysh had
no power to command obedience on the threat of punish
ment in Hellfire.13? This was a matter for God alone.
The conceptual .structure of the Hereafter comprises
the Garden (al-janna) and Hell Fire (al-jahannam). The
entire structure operates directly upon man's life
through the eternal Reward and Punishment.138 "The
presence of janna and jahannam must make itself felt
in the form of the moral conscience whenever man does
something, whenever man acts in this world. It is the
very source of the moral values.,,139
'Abd al-Malik acknowleged his act but claimed
he had no option except to ~ill his cousin. 'Amr's
wife held the Caliph criminally responsible as she had
wrapped the peace treaty between her husband and the
Caliph in 'Amr's shroud that he might use it in evidence
against the Caliph with God.140 'Amr's son Sa'!d put the
situation in its proper perspective when he said to
'Abd al-Malik, tlyou know best what you have done; 'Amr
is now with God and God is sufficient as a Reckoner.,,14l
st!-
Whether or not 'Abd al-Malik committed his act freely,
and whether or not he is responsible for it is ultimate-
1y irrelevant. All explanations are only probable; the
certain explanation is wi th God.
In contrast to this situation the death of
~'ab is viewed by 'Abd Allah and 'Abd al-Malik as
an act of God. When the news of Mu~'ab's death reached
'Abd Allah, he was moved to say, "Goq does not humble
whosoever possesses the truth even though he be unique;
nor does He exalt anyone whose master is the devil and
bis crew, even though mankind without exception be with
bim. n142 Mu~'ab died alone, not humbled by GOd, but
rather as a martyr. 'Abd al-Malik is reported to have
observed on Mu~'ab's death that "We had striven to spare
bim, but God refused that. n143 Ibn ar-Riqi'a, a parti
san of the Caliph's had said, "He is not overcome,
whom God helps."l44 And so, even if the event is viewed
as an act of GOd, the purpose of His determining 'Amr's
'appointed time' remains unanswered.
'Abd Allih b. az-Zubayr is qui,te unambiguous
about his decision to fight to the death. He believed
himself fighting in the way· of God. He had rebelled out
of anger that things which God had decreed forbidden
were being tolerated. He claimed he had always sought
God's pleasure and had never committed a purposeful act
of injustice toward anyone.145 'Abd Allah died with
his conscience clear; on principle he could not be
expected to compromise with~, 'Abd al-Malik. It is
interesting that before his death he recited the chap
ter of the Pen from the Qur'in which illustrates by
example the Truth as against false standards set up by
man. The seventh verse reveals the ambiguity of the
human situation: "Surely thy Lord knows very well those
who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very
well those who are guided." (68:7)146 'Abd Allah
believed he was rightly guided. By choosing to follow
Godls will, he was in a sense determined by that will
to act the way he did, but once a~ain God's u1timate
purpose cannot be deduced.
~abarI therefore saw no.relevance in searching
for the nature and causes of things as the Mu'tazilites
had insisted. There was no 'internal aspect' to histori
cal eventsby which they could be understood and
explained. Any ultimate explanation lay beyond history.
Explanation furnished by man's reason alone was only
probable.147 Certainty was only with God.
To return now to the two questions posed at the
beginning of this section which themselves had arisen
86
out of our previous d1scussion.First, what constltutes
a 'significant event'. It shotiId be recalled that ~abarI's
total 11terary output was the work of a t~tionist as
weIl as hlstorian. "In this great ta'rikh, 'fabarI
the traditionist is ever at the elbow of 'fabari the
historian, and in his lengthy tafsir, the historien is
equally at the elbow of the traditionist and commenta
tor.,,148 His history, in fact, whlch seems to date
later than his commentary, maybe eonsidered as a supple
ment to the tafsir. History therefore, msy be said to
be the divine will teaching by example. "If Tradition,
like the Quran, provlded positive commands and injunc
tions, history pointed to the consequences of heeding
or ignoring these.,,149 The didactic element, in other
words, which is evident in the earller historlans, ls
used by ~abari as a criterion for the. narration of
certain episodes whlch he eonsidered significant in
this respect. This consideration need not override
another aspect which was, that those episodes which
~abari placed at the beginning of each year were 81so,
in his view, the most significant political events
relevant to the major poli tic al movement of the period,
which was 'Abd al-Malik's efforts to re-impose Umayyad'
authority in the empire. The didactic element supplemented
87
the politiiHll significance of an event. A significant
event tben,"iJ;).: ~abar! 's view, may have been an event of
poli tical"slgnificance whiclt at the same time served a
didactic purpose.
History, therefore, was not only the narration
of the acts of man, but it also revealed the sovereign
ty of God over everything in and beyond history. Man,
through the study of his cw.n past is reminded by
example of God's sovereignty. Although His purpose ~
history may not be discerned, the hand of his favour
and displeasure could be interpreted and appreciated.
'Abd al-Malik at least was mov~ to sayon one occa
sion to 'Abd Allan b. Yaz!d al-QasrI who had lost his
family, "That is for the evil your hands wrought before
time, for God.will not deal wrongfully towàrds his
servants." (paragraph ;6)
Admittedly not all events can be accounted for
in this manner. The reports of the Kharijite at Mini
and of MUIi' ab' s journey to Mecca (paragraphs ~l and %
respectively) have no discernible didactie,. content.
Our explanation of a 'significant avent' may
also provide a partial explanation for ~abarI's selec
tionof 'Awana's account over others concerning 'Amr b.
Sa'!d's death. The didactic element which is very
88
evident in 'Awana's account is absent from all other
accounts in Baladhuri. The implication of this is that
authoritywas not TabarI's only criterion for selec
ting this version. Indeed, he eould have as easily
ineluded the reports of Abü Mikhnaf and al-Mada'inI
both of whom were generally regarded as reputable and
reliable. However, the fact that ~abari selected only
, Awana 's account "would tend to support the hypothesis
that the didactic contênt may have been his guide.
On the other h~d if we view the episode in the
light of this last section of the analysis, we could
ask, how does one explain the death of 'Amr; was it
the force of circumstances which presented no alterna
tive to 'Abd al-Malik but to kill his cousin; had 'Amr
been 'bought off' in some way could it all have been
avoided~ All such questions and answers to them provided
on rational grounds are ultimately irrelevant because
they cannot be answered; at best any explanation is
only probable, not certain.
In the episodes of Mu~'ab and 'Abd Allah b.
az-Zubayr the didactic element may also have been a
factor in ~abari's selection of his khabar. But again
we should consider Tabari's rejection of reason in the
light of our present argument. When there was an absence
89
of eyewitness or contemporary reports (as was so in
the majority of cases) there existed no objective
criterion for a reportls re11ab1l1ty. As a general
principle therefore, explanation provided by these
sources was only probable, not certain. To construct
an episode from akhbar with some rational principle
in mind (eg. an irreconcilable conflict) was ~ !!D!, a vain pursuit .• Since historical explanation was only
probable, history was not about the investigation into
the nature and causes of events. This would apply
equally t6 episodes constructed entirely from eye
witness accounts, which would yield a reliable account,
but not certain rational explanation.
NOTES
Introduction
1. H.A.R. Gibb, "Ta'rikh", in his Studies on the Civilization of Islam, eds. S. Shaw and W. Polk (London, 1962~, p. 118.
2. Full details of the historical development of these events are found in J. Wellhausen, The Arab Kingdom and its Fall, transe M. Weir (Beirut: Khayats, 1963), chaps. 3 and 4. The crucial events immediately preceding 'Abd al-Malik's caliphate are well treated in Henri Lammens'short study, -ilL 'Avènement des Marwanides et le Califate de Marwan 1er." M.F .• O., XII (1927), 43-142. There are two popular works, in Arabie, on 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan: 'Umar Abu Na~r, 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwin, (Beirut, 1962) and Ri~a' ar-Rayyis, 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan, (Cairo, n.d.).
Part One
1. J. Obermann, "Early Islam", in R.C. Dentan ed., The Idea of History in the Ancient Near East, (Yale University Press, paperback ed., 1967), pp. 241-242.
2. T. Izutsu, The Ethico-Religious Concepts of the Quran, (McGill University Press, 1967), p. 42.
90
91
3. ~., p. 62.
4-. The most comprehensive account of .. this 1iterature is that of W. Caske1 entitled "Ai;Jam al-Arab", Is1amica, III, Pt. 5. (1930), 1-99.
5. The Southern or YemenI Arabs traced their descent to Qao~an, whi1e the Northern Arabs traced theirs to 'AdnSn..
6. Obermann, "Early Islam", p. 253.
7. l zut su , Concepts, p. 4-7.
8. Qur'an, ~5:23.
9. Quoted in Izutsu, Concepts, pp. 4-9-50.
10. ~., pp. 105-106.
11. H.A.R. Gibb, "An Interpretation of Islamic History", in his Studies, p. 8.
12. Even this poetry had fal1en under the influence ~f the new era. Prof. Gibb remarks of the naga'id poetry that "the very fact that major poets should 50 pander to the vu1gar tastes of the urbanized tribesmen,however, shows how far they had departed from the simple, if narrow, loyalties and moralities of the old poetry." Arabie Literature: An Introduc~, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1963), p. 4-3.
13. As Obermann does, "Ear1y Islam", pp. 271-272.
14. N. Abbott, Studies in Arabie Literary Papyri: l, (Chicago University Press, 1957), p. 7; J. Horowitz, "The Ear1iest Biographers of the Prophet and their Authors", Is1amic Culture, l (1927).p.536 sq.
92
15. A.A. Duri, "AI-Zuhri: A Study on the Beginnings of History Writing in Islam", BSOAS, XIX (1957), pp. 3-4; Horowitz, Islamic Culture, l (1927), p.548.
16. Horowitz, Is1amic Culture, l (1927), pp. 537-542.
17. Ibid., pp, 542-550.
18. ~.t p. 550; cf. Abbott, Studies: l, pp. 15-20.
19. F. Rosenthal, A History of Muslim Historiography, (Leiden, 1952), p. 59.
20. Abbott, Studies: l, p. 7.
21. Rosenthal, Historiography, pp. 59-60.
22. Abbott, Studies: l, p. 9.
23. Duri, BSOAS, XIX (1957), p. 10.
24. aadith here should be understood as khabar.
25. Duri, BSOAS, XIX (1957), p. 12.
26. The Muslim wor1d view as reflected in the Qur'in is more. complex than being mere1y theocentric. We have used the term here to contrast it with the Jahili wor1d view which was essentially anthropocentric.·A detai1ed discussion of these differences is found in T. Izutsu, God and Man in the Koran, (Tokyo, 1964), chap. 3. In Part Two, section IV of this study we sha11 discuss the place of God in Is1amic history.
27. On the deve10pment of Küfa and Balira see the articles in the Encyc10pedia of Islam: E.I. 1 , II, pp. 1107-1108 (KÜfa) and E.I. 2 , l, pp. 1085-1086 (Ba/ira.) •
93
28. It shou1d be reca11ed that the ~u11 name of Medina was Medinat an-Nabi, "The City of the Prophet", a tit1e which was re~lected in the city's being the center for gadIth study and research into the lives of MUQammad and his Companions.
29. On the ~iwi see the work of Régis B1achère, Histoire de la Litterature Arabe, (Paris, 1952), pp. 92-93; see a1so article on "Shi'ir" in E.I. I , IV, p. 295.
30. B1achère, Histoire, p. 98 and fn. 6.
31. Ibn Nadim, Fihrist, p. 98:9. . .
32. ~., p. 103:23 (al-Madi'in!) and p. 99:28 (al-Haytham b. 'Adi).
33. B1achère, Histoire, pp. 99-100.
34. ~., pp. 96-107; see also A.A. Duri, "The Iraqi Schoo1 o~ Historiography to the 9th. Century" in B. Lewis and P.M. Ho1t, eds •. , Historians of the Middle East, (London, 1961), p. 48.
35. Duri, "The Iraqi Schoo1", p. 48.
36. Ibn Nadim, Fihrist, p. 93; Yaq~,Irshid, Vil, pp. 220-222.
37. Such tit1es for examp1e as Kitib Magtal DaQgik b. QayS and Kitib Magta1 ijuj'r b. 'Ad!, Ibn Nadim, Fihrist, p. 93.
38. Duri, "The Iraqi Schoo1", p. 48.
39. We11hausen, Arab Kingdom, p. xi; cf. Abbott, Studies: I, pp. 86-87.
40. Infra, translation, paragraphs 99-101. Abü-Mikhn~'s interest in the Khawarij is indicated by the tit1es of two of his works, name1~Kitib Bi1al al,Khiriji
94
and Kitab Sadith al-'Azariga.
41. Ibn Nadim, Fihrist, p. 91. Yaqut gives his date of death as l58/774~5 the same year in which the Oaliph Man~ur died, Irshad, VI, p. 95.
42. Yaqut, Irshad, VI, p. 94. "And he ('Awana) was one of the learned men of KUfa, especially in akhbar. "( ~~\; .... ~~\ ~~, -Us ~P.1).
43. An isnad in BaladhurI' s Ansab al-AShraf, V,,p.27l: 4, reads "'Abbas b. Hisham related to'me on the authority of his father (Hisham b. Muoammad alKalbi) from 'Awana on the authorityof 'Awana's father d' ( J\;; ~\;S ~~ if' ~\ if' f~~~~~.ar). 'Awana' s use of the isnad appears les,s cil'an established practice than it was with Abu Mikhnaf. Yaqut reports that once when 'Awana was, asked the source of some poetry he had recited, he 'replied, "1 abandoned (the collection) of badith because the isnad annoyed me, but now l see that you will not excuse me from it in poetry."Irshid, VI, p. 94:11 ( ..,....:J\ cj .M isp ~'-'\ ~ J .,)\:-~ ,cr-,~ ~...-\ :J.; \I\) •
44. Duri, "The 'Iraqi School", p. 49; Wellhausen, Arab Kingdom, p. xiv.
45. E.L. Petersen, 'Ali and Mu'awiya in Early Arabie Tradition, (Copenhagen, 1964), p. 53, fn. 5.
46. E.I.2 , l, p. 760 (eali~ al-'Ali).
47. Yaqut, Irshad, VI, p. 94:9.
48. H. Lammens, "ttudes sur le Règne du Oalife Omaiyade Mo'âwia 1er• If, M.F.O., II (1907), pp. 11-12.
49. C. Pellat, Le Milieu Basrien et al Formation de Gahiz, (Paris, 1953), pp. 193-194.
95
50. An "înteresting contextua1 definition of an 'Uthman! is found in this sense in Ba1adhurI's Ansab alAShraf, V, p. 349:16-17 where the poet Abü a1-'Abbas is described as fo11ows, "He would vi1if'y the fami1y of Zubayr, but would praise (only) Mu~'ab among them, and he wou1d (a1so) prai~ the Banu Umayya. He was an 'UthmanI. Il ( "7-V.. • ,.1\ \\ . ...N ••• i>"
.. 1. ,. \.1 ., ~/ " J""''''' \i.~ O~~·~\~~-.J ~\t'~).
51. Duri, "The Iraqi SChoo1", p. 49.
52. Supra, PP.18-19.
53. Abbott, Studies: l, p. 90.
54. ~., p. 97. For the text of the papyrus, p. 82 1ines 8-13 (recto).
55. Ibn NadIm, Fihrist, pp. 98-99; E.I.1 , IV, p. 1104.
56. Infra, p. 48 , on al-WaqidI and chronological data.
57. Ibn NadIm, Fihrist, pp. 95-98; Yaqüt, Irshad, VII, pp. 250-254.
58. Ibn NadIm, Fibrist, pp. 99-100; Yaqüt, Irshad, VII, PP. • 261-266.
59. Rosentha1, Historiography, p. 64.
GO. Prof. Goitein in bis introduction to BaladhurI's Ansab al-Ashraf, V, p. 14.
61. Ibn NadIm, Fihrist, p. 100. One tit1e is Kitab Akhbar al-Fars.
62. ~., pp. 101-104.
63. ~ • ., pp. 112-113.
96
64. Yaqut, Irshad, VI, pp. 423-462; see also E.I. l , IV, pp. 578-579 (R. Paret) and D.S. Margoliouth, Lectures on Arabie Historiens, (Calcutta, 1930), pp. 101-111.
65. Quoted in Gibb, Arabie Literature, p. 80.
'\ .:'~ .' Part Two ---1. On khabar, supra, p.16.
2. Par. l35( ~ab., II, p.844: 7-8). 3. Pars. 1-24.
4. The an~onymous khabar in par. 3 (~ab., II, 784:9-15) is to be found in a ne,arly identical text in Baladhür! 's Ansab al-Asbraf, IVb,.p.l38: 14-19, on the,authority of Abu Mikhnaf. The part used by ~abar! is only a paragraph of Abu Mikhnaf1s complete account.
5. It is necessary to meke the distinction in this context beteeen 'logical sequence' and 'chronological sequence'. Chronology is understood here in its strict sense of "assigning events to their true dates." (Oxford Universal Dictionary, 3rd. ed. revised, 1955; p. 309) The prob1em of chronology will be treated in the following section of the analysis. It will suffice to note that in the majority of cases, akhbar bore no chronologie al reference i.e. a date of a year, month or day. Bearing in mind the akhbar of one episode emanated from different sources, the original compiler WQuld naturally set the separate khabar in some order which would render an intelligible or 'logical' sequence.
97
6. Par. 1;6( ~ab., II, p. 844: 9.).
7. Par. 1;7( ~ab., II, p. 844: 12-1~
8. Pars. 1;5 and 1~7.. For the mean1ngs of the var10us terms of transmission see Ab~ott, Studies: l, pp.1;, 16, 21, 22, 5;. Here the phrase crt t><=' "He re1ated to me ••• " cou1d imp1y that a1-ijarith transmitted his material oral1y to ~abarI, quoting from some written workof Ibn Sa'd.
9. Abbott, Studies: l, p. 1;. This usage is simi1ar to ~abari's referriI:Lg to himse1f by the phrase "Abu Ja' far said" ( ~ f?\ J\:; ). For a1-WaqidI see pars. 122 (~ab., II, p. 8;1: 10)~ and 1;6 (~ab., II, p. 844:8). For Tabari see pars. 78 (~ab., II., p. 81;:9), 91 (~ab., II, p. 817:8) and 148.(Tab., II, p. 85;:6).
10. ~abari was using a written monograph of Ibn Hisham~s as the phrase "Hisham said" ( r\.:A cl\,; ) indi-eates, par. ;5. The isnad "Hisham said, on the authority of 'Awana" ( "';iI ~ if e\..::J. ù\:; ), par.;7, using the word lf~ genera11y means some missing 1ink in the ehain (Abbott, Studies: l, p. 16). The missing link in this ease may have been Hisham's father mueh of whose materia1 Hisham was responsib1e for transmitting.
11. In one instance he al1udes to an ~nym.ous informant by using the passive voice, "I was told" ( ~ ~ ), par. 25. 'Awana used the isnad deviee only infrequent1y, supra, PP.2;-24.
12. Rosentha1, Historiography, p. 59.
98
13. '-rabarI interr.11PIE the na:c'rati ve by inserting a comment of his own from an unacknowledged source. The comment is introduced by the phrase "And 1t 1s sa1d" ( J.:;..I ), par. 18. '-rabarI then resumes the narrative by 'Awanawith the words "The badIth returns to that of 'Awana" ( ":ùlP~~.,v? C/\, ..::..:.~\ t:r"J) , par. 19 '.(~ab., II, p. 789: 6 and 9).
14.:. Supra,p.12. ;:!""
15. For a discussion of poetry as a vehicle of history see Margo1iouth, Arabie H1storians, chap. 4, pp. 59-8i. It was not uncommon to find monographers 11ke al-Madi'inI or 'Umar b. Shabba who compiled separate works on the poets, Ibn NadIm, F1hr1st, passim.
16. Obermann, "Ear1y Islam", pp. 256-257.
17.
18.
Par. 21( Tab., II, p. 791:5-6} a-Par. 47{ '-rab., II, pp. 79?-7ge~ Other parti~n
verses are found in par. 56 (~ab., II, p. 803) and par. 53 (Tab., II, pp. 800-801).
19. For examp1e, 'Abd a1-Ma1ik's letter to Ibrahim b. a1-'Ashtar, par. 60.
20. Par. 105 (~ab., II, p. 825:2-7), par. 106 (~ab., II, p. 825:7-17), par. 108 ('-rab., II, p. 826:1-6), par. 112 (~ab., II, pp. 827-828), par. 113 (~ab., II, p. 828:3-8) ..
21. E.I2 , II, p. 323 article "Diwan" (A.A. Duri).
22. Par. 78 (Tab., II, p. 813:9), par. 91 (~ab., II, p. 817:8), par. 148 ('-rab., II, p. 852:6).
23. Ba1adhurI, Ansab a1-Ashrat, V, pp. 298-300 .
24. lli2:., V,p.346~:'17-20 from al-Haytham b. 'Adi and IVb, p. 152:14.
25.' Par. 41.
99
26. As fur example, the events of the period under study here were treated in monograph form by Abü Mikhnaf and al-Mada' ini, infra, p.45 •
27. It is impossible in the present state of our knowledge to know how arranged or expansive were the 'large' histories of al-Mada'ini or al-Waqidi.
28. G. Von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam: A study in Oultural Orientation, 2nd ed. (University of Ohicago Press, 1953), p. 281. Von Grunebaum intends by this description the pre-~abari historians as well as ~abari himself. However, as we shall show in the fOllowing two sections of the analysis, ~abari was attempting a more systematic arrangement of his material than his predecessors and therefore Prof. Grunebaum's excellent description would be more applicable to the pre-~abari era of historiography.
29. BaladhurI, Absab al-Ashraf, V, intro., p. 16.
30. !lli., V,pp.279 sq. and 331 sq.
31. !lli., V, p. 355 sq.
32. Ibid., IVb, pp. 138-146.
33. Abbott, Studies: II, p. 33; Margo1iouth, Arabie Historians, p. 100.
34. It is not evident from our translated passage that ~abarI used material from genealogies. Passages commencing the year 86 A.H. (~ab~pp.II72 sq.) are
100
c1ear1y drawn from these sources. They deal with the death of the Caliph 'Abd al-Malik which inc1udes information concerning bis nisba and kunya, his wives and chi1dren, fo11owed by verses relevant to his 1ife.
35. Year 72. Sometimes the phrase ~\~~~\ is used instead,~. Year 73.
36. B1achère observes that the absence of dates was a common feature of ear1y prose narratives of the 'ayyam, Histoire, pp. 163-166.
~ 37. Par. 40 (~ab., II, p. 796: 1-5), par. 45 (~ab., II, p.796:17), par. ?9C'fab.,II,P. 813:14-15), par. 95 (~ab.,II,p. 818:16), par. 98 (~ab.,Ir,821:5), pars. 118-119 (~ab., II, p~ 830:4, ~3,17), par. 123 (~ab., II, p. 831:10-12), par. 135 (~ab., II, p.844: 5-8), par, 136 (~ab., 844:8-12), par. 149 ('fab., II, p. 852:8-9), par. 154 (~ab., II, p. 854:1).
1 38. E.I. , IV, p. 1104.
39. Par. 40 (Tab., II, p. 796:1-5). We11hausen, l be1ieve, has comm1tted an error by cautioning against the mistake of thinking the ep1sode fal1s in one summer, Arab Kingdom, p. 189. See also L. Caetani, Chronographia Is1amica, (Paris, 1912), IV, p. 810, no. 9.
40. Par. 48 (Tab., II, p. 798:5). This phrase does not appear in the same text as transmitted by Ba1idhurI, Ansab a1-Ashrif, IVb, p. 159:19-22. It is therefor.e assumed to have been added by TabarI.
41. Par. 78 (Tab., II, p. 813:19-12); cf. Caetani, Chronographia, IV, p. 821, no.3.
101
42. Year 71, opening paragraph, 47.
43. There appears to have been two treaties signed. One was made in 69 A.H. which was to last ten years (Caetani, C~onographia, IV, p. 811, no.ll). In the year 70 A.B. another document was signed which required the Caliph to pay 1000 dinars a week to Byzantium, (Caetani, Ibid, IV, p. 823, no.LO)~ -which stipulation also agrees with the text in ~abar!, year 70 A.H. and with Baladhur!, Ansab al-AshrS:f, V, p. 300:1-6, except that iri the Baladhur! text payment went rather to insurgents in Lebanon (the Jarajima) rather than"to the Byzantine Emperor himself..
" 44. Caètani, Chronograp~a, IV, p. 821 no. 3 has it the year 70.
45. Par. 79 (~ab., II, p. 813:14-15).
46. Par. 79. We11hausen accepts this as we1l, ~ Kingdom,pp. 192-193. Possibly~abarr would accept the "month "i. e. Jumada l or II, but place the event in the previous year, 71 A.H.
47. Par. 100 (~ab., I~.821:12). It therefore might have occurred sometime during 71 A.H. rather than 72 A.H.
48. Pars. 118, 119 (~ab., II, p. 830:4,13).
49. Par. 136 (~ab., II, p. 844:10-11).
50. Par. 118 (~ab., II, p. 830:6-7).
51. For examp1e, if we accept the date of Mu~'ab's death as Oct.-Nov. 690, then there is no explanation for the gap of one year between this date and
102
'Abd al-Malik' s despatching al-JJacjcjij to the JJij~----3 which ~abarI accepts as Oct.-Nov. 691. lt would have been expected as Wellhausen points out that the Caliph would send ,his lieutenant immediately after his capture- of Ba~ra and Kata. (Arab Kingdom, p. 198).
52. Supra, pp. 38-39.
53. Year 69 and the episode of 'Amr b. Sa'Id.
54. Year 70.
55. Supra, pp. 42-43.
56. Supra, pp. 5-6.
57. Supra, p. 52.-
58. Par. 51 (~ab., II, p. 799:7). Jufra is the name of the locale of the batt1e.
59. BalidhurI, Ansab a1-Ashrif, IVb, p. 155. The date ~9 cou1d be taken to mean the summer of 69-70 A.H. Another report has it that the Day of Jufra coincided with a severe p1ague which struck Ba~ra in the year 69, Ansib, IVb, p. 157;14-22.
60. ~., IVb, p. 156:17-18.
61. This account perhaps traced back to Abü Mikhnaf via Hisham b. Muoammad al-Ka1bI from whom alMadi'ini received much of his material (BaladhurI, Absab a1-Ashraf, IVb, p. 155:15).
62. Ibid., IVb, pp.162 sq.
63. Par. 54 (~ab., II, p. 801:5-6).
64. Par. 55.
10~
65. Baladhuri, Ansab al-Ashrar, IVb, p. 162:7-8.
66. In his Introduction Tabari observes that to include every possible detail would lengthen his work and shorten his life. (Tab., ~.5).
67. Pars.:.. 124-l~1 (Tab., II, pp. 8~1-8~4).
68. Pars. 116 and 150 (Tab., II, p. 829:5-11 and 852: 10- 85~:11).
69. Par. 2 (Tab., II, p. 784.:2).
70. Wellhausen, Arab Kingdom, p. 154 passim ; Lammens, ilL 'Avènement", pp. 77 sq. and 97 sq.
71. Details are given in Baladhuri, Ansab al-Ashrar, V, pp. 298-~08.
72. Tabari has only a half dozen or so references to him in his entire work; Baladhuri, on the other hand devotes a whole chapter to akhbar on him. (Baladhuri, Anonyme Ohronick, ed. W. Ahlw~dt, pp.125-146) Najda's importance in comparison with Ibn az-Zubayr is assessed by Wellhausen in this way: " ••• in the fitna which is called after him (Ibn az-Zubayr), he himself was quite in the background; the struggle turned round him nominally, but he took no part in it and it was decided without him. Even in Arabia itself he had for years less influence than the Kharijite Najda." Arab Kingdom, p. 200.
7~. Par. 116.
74. tab., l, pp. 5:~- 6:16.
75. Wahb b. Munabbih (d. 110 or 114/728 or 7~2) drew upon Old Testament and Israelite tales and he gave
.1
104
an account of the ~reation of the wor1d in his Kitib at-Tijan. (Abbott, Studies: l,pp. 36, 45.) The works of Ibn Is~aq co11ective1y reveal an interest in the span of history from the wor1d's creation; 'Hisham b. a1-Ka1b! as we11 has a work on Adam and his descendaxts, (Ibn NadIm,Flhr,fStt.' ; pp. 95-96). .
76. Qur'in on creation, 10:4; on the creation of Man, 23:12-14.
77 • ~ab ., I,p.2.
,78. M. Mahdi, Ibn Khaldun's Phi1osophy of History, paperback ed. (University of Chicago Press, 1964), p. 136; ~ab., I,pp.55-56.
79. ~ab., l,pp. 117·~l:9.
80.
81.
82.
83.
~ab. ,
~ab. ,
Tab. ,
Tab. ,
l, pp. 117:8-9.
I fp ).19:5-7.
I,p.119: 12-13.
l, p. 121:1-3.
84. This phrase has been interpo1ated into the text~ of our translation to complete the meaning. We have seen a1ready that ~abarr regards the salat as a sound source of information. The context here speaks of sound know1edge ( ~ F ) and we have assumed that.TabarI intends the salat. This exp1anation is more evident when Tabar! says that the evidence (i.e. of the salat) cannot be refuted by 'the scho1ars of Islam' ( ~)L-J\ .~~.
We take this phrase to exc1uda the salat since in
85.
86.
87.
880
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
105
other cases ~abar! .. al1udes to them as 'the salaf froin among our scho1ars'. (~ab., I, p. 119: 7-8) •
~ab. , l, p. 121:7-11.
~ab. , l, p:;;:16sq.
~ab. , I,p.;;: 6-7.
~ab. , l,pp. 102:11; 16:2, 10.
~ab. , l, p. 147:;.
Tab. , l , p. 15:11sq.
Tab. , I, p. 16:2-10.
~ab. , I,pJ.6:10 -17:4.
Tab. , I, p. "17:4-20.
The high rank 01' the Prophet as a source is ref1ected alàG in Tabar!'s Tafs!r, I, p. 26.
95. Izutsu, God and Man, pp. 58-62.
96. Jill., p. 61; Qur' an, 45: 2.; •
97. The critica1 standards demonstrated here by no means meant that non-Is1amic sources weee a1ways held in suspicion. Professor Gibb has remarked 01' this prob1em that liAs soon as history passed outside the Is1amie field the 01d diffieulty 01' distinguishing between legendary, semi-legendary and historica1 e1ements reappeared, and with it.the tendeney to take on trust whatever materials were avai1a'ble. 1I (IITa'rikh", in his Studies,p. 117):
98. Mahdi, Ibn Khaldun, p. 136.
99. The Arabie phrase is: tf"'~\~ J,~Y'.., ù?~ ë~Y\ v.}.)
106
100. Trans1ated by Mahdi and quoted in Ibn Khaldun, p. 136; ~ab., l, 6.
101. Supra, p.17.
102. Supra, p.24 and fn.43 •
103. Supra; p.23.
104. BaladhurI, Ansab a1-Ashrif, V, p. 280:7-17.
105. Par. 66 (Tab.~ II, p. 808:6-7) and par. 122 (Tab., II, p. 831:1-2).
106. Mahdi, Ibn Khaldun, pp. 137-138.
107. Tab., I,p.5.
108. We have not gone into the prob1em of ~abarI's selective princip1,e in this study in order to provide any final statement as to what it was, if indeed this were possible; a possible 1ine of enquiry is suggested in sectionIV be1ow.
109. A comparison of the accounts of BaladhurI and 'labarI concerning .:the episode of 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr is suggestive. In only one i~stance can we see where 'labarI has dropped ; ',part of a khabar of a1-WaqidI which ref1ects badly upon one ' of 'lariq b. 'Amr's men. Oompare ~ab., II, p. 830:1 sq. with BaladhurI, Ans ab , V, p. 359:12-22. ~abarI, however, does not include akhbar which suggest that 'Abd al-Malik abandoned his religion::. in agreeing to allow al-ijajjaj to attack the holy city, ~., V, p. 360:7:9; nor does ~abarI allow passages in which Ibn az.Zubayr is described as a mulQid as in ~., p. 363:19-20. He also does notinclude an account rather prejudicial to alijajjaj, ibid., V, pp. 357~17- 358:22.
107
110. Rosenthal, Historiograpby, p. 299.
111. ~., p. 296.
112. ~. pp. 296-297.
113. Baladhuri, Ansab al-Ashrif, IVb, pp. 138-146.
114. Ibid., IVb, p. 139:15-17 for Abu Mikbnaf; p.140:21-22 for Hisham b. 'Ammar; p. 140:16 for eadaqa b. Khalid; p.141:15-16 for al-Mada'ini and p. 145:13-14 for AQmad b. Ibrahim ad-Dawraqi.
115. Izutsu, God and Man, pp. 40-41; 45-52 and chap. 4.
116. Qur'in, 6;102.
117. Izutsu, God and Man, p. 74.
118. ~., pp. 75-77.
119. ~., p. 75.
120. Ibid., pp. 76-77.
121. ~ab., l, p. 5:3-10.
122. l zut su , God and Man, pp. 130-131.
123. ~ab., l, p. 6:2-4.
124. Par. 17 (~ab., II, p. 789:1-4). 'Abd al-Malik aLso remarked to 'Amr's sons, "Your father gave me tb,e choice of either his ki11ing me or my ki11ing him and l e1ected the latter alternative." Par. 37 (~ab., II, p. 795:12-13).
125. Par. 65 (~ab., II, p. 808: 5-6).
126. Par. 138 (~ab., II, p. 846:9-11).
127· Par. 10 (~ab., II, p. 786:8)
128. Ba1adhuri, Ansab a1-Ashraf, IVb, p. 141:11-12.
129. Par. 12 (~ab., II, p. 786:15-19).
130. Par. 35 (Tab., II, p. 793:16-17).
131. We11hausen, Arab Kingdom, p. 173; Lammens, ilL 'Avenement", p. 95.
132. Par. 55 (Tab., II, p. 803:2-5}.
133. Surpra, pp. 54-56.
134. Par. 138 (Tab., II, p. 846:16-17).
135. Izutsu, God and Man, pp. 129-131.
136. Par. 22 (Tab., II, p.791:9).
137. Par. 5 {Tab., II, p. 784:18-20},
108
138.'Amr's son Sa'Id al1udes to this in ,are 37 where he says,. "God brought Islam •• and He promised us Paradise, and warned us of the He11-fire."
139. Izutsu, God and Man, p. 89.
140. par. 33 (Tab., II, p. 793:10-13).
141. Par. 37 (Tab., II, p. 795:9-10); cf. Qur'an 4:7 add 33:39 •
. 142 Par. 96 (Tab., II, p. 819:,1 -2).
143. Ba1adhurI, Ansab al-Ashraf, V, p. 342:8-9.
144. Par. 47 (Tab., II, p. 798:3).
145. .Par. 139 (Tab., II,pp. 846:10-847:1).
146. Par. 144 (Tab., II, p. 850:4).
147. Mahdi, Ibn Khaldun, pp. 141-142.
148. Abbott, Studies:I, p. 9.
149. ~., p. 7.
109
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1·. Works in Arabie
Abü Nalir, 'Umar 'Abd al-Malik b. Marvin, Beirut: 1962.
Baladhur! Kitab Ansab al-Ashrat. Edited by Max Schloessinger (Vol. IVb, 1940) and S.D. Goitein (Vol. V, with Introduction, 1936). Jerusalem: Hebrew University Press.
Anonyme Arabische Chronik Band XI. Edited by W. Ahlwardt. Greifswald, 1883.
Ibn Man;ür Lisan al-'Arab. 15 Vols. Beirut: Dar 9adir, 1376/1957.
Ibn Nadlm Fihrist. Edited by Flügel. Beirut: Khayat's reprint of the 1872 edition, n.d.
Ibn Sa'd At-Tabaqat al-Kubra. 8 Vols. Beirut: Dar Sadir, 1376/1957.
Al-Maydan!, AQm,ad b. Muq.ammad Ma'jma' al-Amthal. 2 Vols. Cairo, n.d.
Ar-Rayyis, RiQ.a J
'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan. Cairo, n.d.
~abarI
Yaqüt
110
Ta'rIkh ar-Rusul wa'l-Mulük. 13 Vols. Edited by De Goeje et al. Leiden: E.J. Brill, Reprint, 1964.
TafsIr at-Tabari: Jim' al-Bayin'an Ta'wIl a1-Qur'in. Edited by MaQ,müd Shakir and AQ,mad Shàkir. Oairo: Dar al-Ma'arif, n.d.
Irshad a1-Arib ila Ma'rifat al-'Adib. 7 Vols. Edited by D.S. Margo1iouth. London: Luzac, 1925-1931.
Mu'jam al-Bu1din. 6 Vols. Edited by F. Wustenfeld. Leipzig, 1866.
II. Works in European Languages.
Abbott, Nabia Studies in Arabie Literary Papyri: l, Historical Texts. Ohicago: University of Ohicago Press, 1957.
Studies in Arabie Literary Papzri: II, Hadith. Ohicago: Ohicago University Press, 1967.
B1achère, Rég;i;s:. Histoire de la Litterature Arabe des Origines à la Fin du XVe • Siècle de J.-O. 3 Parts. Paris: Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1952-1966.
Oaetani, Leone Ohronographia Is1amica. 5 Vols. Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1912.
111
Duri, A.A. "The Iraqi Sèhool of Historiography to the Ninth Century", in B. Lewis and P. Hol t eds., Historians of the Middle East. London: Oxford University Press, 1961.
Gibb, H.A.R. Arabic Literature: An Introduction. Second Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963.
"An Interpretation of Islamic History", in his Studies on the Civilization of Islam. Edited by S. Shaw and W. Polke Boston: Beacon Press, 1962.
"Ta'rikh", in .his Studies on the Civilization of Islam.
Von Grunebaum, Gustave Medieval Islam: A Study in Cultural Orientation. Second Edition. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1953·
Izutsu, Toshi~o God and Man in the Koran: Semantics of the Koranic Weltanschauung. Tokyo, 1964.
The Concept of Belief in Islamic Theology: A Semantic Analysis of Iman and Islam. Yokohama: Yurindo Publishing Co., 1965.
Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur'an. Montreal: McGill University Press, 1966.
Le St range , Guy
The Lands of the Eastern Calipahte. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1930.
112
Mahdi, Muhsin Ibn Khaldun's Philosophy of History: A. Study of the Philosophie Foundation of the Science of Culture. Chicago: Phoenix Books, 1964.
Margoliouth, D •. S. Lectures on Arabie Historians. Calcutta, 1930.
Obermann, Julian "Early Islam", in R.G. Den:tan ed. The Idea of History in the Ancient Near East. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955.
Pellat, C. Le Milieu Basrien et là Formation de Gahiz. Paris: Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1953.
Petersen, E.L. Ali and M~'awiya in Early Arabie Tradition. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1964.
Rosenthal, Franz A ~~~ory of Muslim HistoriograPAl. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1952.
Wellhausen, J. The Arab Kingdom and its Fall. Translated by Margaret Weir. Calcutta, 1927.
III. Articles.
Duri, A.A. "Al-Zuhri: A Study on the Beginnings of History Writing in Islam", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, XIX (1957), 1-12.
11~
Horowitz, Joseph "The Earliest Biographies of the Prophet and their Authors" , Islamic Culture, l (1927), .;5~5-559; 11(1928), 22-50. 164-182, 495-526 •
. Lammens, Henri nEtu~es sur le R~3gne du Calife Omaiyade Mo' aWiya 1er• , Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale, Université Saint - ; .. Joseph, 1 (1906), 1-108; II (1907), 1-172.
"L 'Av~nement des Marwanides et le Califat de Marwan ler.
u, Mélanges, XII (1927), 4~-142.
Lichtenstadter, l1se IIArabic and Islamic Historiograpb.y", Moslem World, XXXV {1945}, 126-1~2.
Richter, G. "Medieval Arabic Historiograpb.y", tslamic Culture, XXXIII (1959), 240-250; XXXIV (1960), 1~9-151.
Somogyi, J. de. "The Development of Arabic Historiograph1''', Journal of Semitic Studies, (1948), ~7~-~87.
IV. Reference Works.
1 E.I. Encyclopedia of Islam, The.4 Valà. and Supplement.
London: Luz~c, 191~-19~8.
E.I. 2 Encyclopedia of Islam, The. New Edition. London: Luzac, 1960 continuing.
Lane, E.W. An Arabic- English Lexicon. 4 Vol.:s., London, 1863-1885.
APPENDIX
Note: The edition used for this translation is the
De Goeje edition, Leiden [Reprint] 1964. The figures
in the body of thetext plaeed within braekets e.g.
(783) refer to the page number of Series II of the
printed edition.
l
(783) The Year 69 of the Hijra1
1. In this year, al-WaqidI asserts, 'Abd al
Malik set out for 'Ayn Warda2 , leaving 'Amr b. Sa' id b.
al-' IV behind in charge of Damascus. Thereupon 'Amr
fortified himself in the city, and when news o,f his
action reached 'Abd al-Malik he returned to Damascus
and besie.ged 'Amr. (AI-Waqidi) said: But it is also
said that 'Amr had set out wi th 'Abd al-Malik and ~t
Butnan ijabIb3 'Amr had. turned back to Damascus and
fortified nimself therein and 'Abd al-Malik also
returned.
2. However, by the version of 'Awana-b. al
ijakam, as Hishim b. Muo.ammed quotes it, 'Abd al-Malik
(784) returned from Bu~nBn UabIb and so~~rned awhile in
Damascus. He then set out (on a campaign) against
Zufar b. al-ijiri th al-Kilibi who was encamped in Qar
qIsIya.4 'Amr accompanied 'Abd al-Malik, but upon
arriving at Bu~nBn ijabIb, 'Amr resolved to return by
coyer of night with ijumayd b. ijurayth b. BaQ.dal al
Kalbi and Zuhayr b. al-' Abrad al-Kalbi. 'Abd ar-RaomBn
b. Umm al-ijakam ath-ThaqafI, who had been placed in
charge of Damascus by 'Abd al-Malik, heard the news of
'ABr's return and fled t~ cit7.abandoDÎng the gover
nate. Thereupon 'Amr entered the city and seized
control over it and its treasur1es.
3. Another than al-WiqidI and 'Awana s~that
this story took place in the year 70 A.H.,5 and that
'Abd al-Malik' s march from Damascus to 'Iraq was direc
ted at M~ab b. az-Zubayr. "You are leaving for 'Iraq",
said 'Amr to 'Abd al-Malik, "and your father had
promised me the ~e (of °tbe Caliphate) after him; on
this account did l strive with him and serve him with
distinction as you w~ll know. So appoint me now the
caliphate after you." But 'Abd al-Malik gave no response
at al1, and so 'Amr departed from him and returned to
Damascus, and 'Abd. al-Malik fol10wed in his tracks
until he too reached the City.
4. To resume the narrative as Hishim tells it /
from 'Awana: After 'Amr had seized Damascus he sougbt
out' Abd ar-RaQ.man b. Umm al-ijakam but did not find him.
'Amr then ordered his house destroyed, which order was
executed.
5. Then the people assembled (at the mosque),
while 'Amr ascended the minbar6 giving praise to God
and extolling Him. "0 people", he cried, "no QurayshI
before me has stood upon this minbar without claiming
3
that that of which he spoke was a matter of Heaven and
Hell, and that those who obeyed him would enter Heaven
and those who disobeyed would enter Hell; but l sSJ to
you that Héaven and Hell are in God's hands, (785) and
l have no control over that. All that you can expect
from me is fair and equal treatment. l, And he descended.
6. 'Abd al-Malik awoke that morning and failing
to find 'Amr enquired after him, and he vas informed of
his news. The caliph then returned to Damascus only to
find that 'Amr'had strewn coarse cloth about the city7
and so fighting ensued at Damascus which continued for
some dSJs. 'Amr would send forth ijumayd b. ijurayth al
Kalbi at the head of the cavalry and 'Abd al-Malik
would counter by directing Sufyan b.al-'Abrad al-Kalbi
against him. And when 'Amr sent forth Zuhayr b. al
'Abrad al-KalbI then 'Abd al-Malik directed ijassan b.
Milik b. BaQdal al-Kalbi against him.
7. Hisham continues: 'Awina related to me that
one day the two cavalry confronted each' other. In 'Amr' s
troops there was one Ra~s' b. Sirs;) of the Kalb. "0 'Abd
ar-RaQmSn b. Salim", he sliouted, II show yourself". This
'Abd ar-RaQmin who vas among 'Abd al-Malik's troops
replied, quoting the adage: "He who competes in marks
manship with a Qiri, treats him justlyU.8 And he came
4
forward to face Ra~i'. They thrust and cut at one
another and in the struggle 'Abd ar-RaQ.man' s camel vas
cut down while Ibn Siri~ escaped •. "By God", swore 'Abd
ar-Ralpnin after him, "Îlad my camel not been felled l
would have scattered the straw in your gutsl" On no
account would 'Amr and 'Abd al-Malik be reconcUed.
8. When the battle became .prolonged, women of
the Kalb and their childr.en came to Sufyan b. al-' Abrad
and Ibn Ba.Q.dal al-Kalbi. "Why do you kill yourselves
for the power of the Quraysh", they wailed. But each
man swore an oath that he would not turn back until the
other did. Agreeing at last to tu~n back, they looked
about and found Sufyin (the) elder ijurayth and they
appealed to him and he too turned back.
9. Then 'Abd al-Malik and 'Amr made peace and
drew up a treaty between them; 'Abd al-Malik granted
'Amr a free pardon. This took place on Thursday evening.
10.:Hishim's narrative continues: 'Awina related
to me that 'Amr b. Sa'id (786) set out in the"midst of
his cava1ry with a black bow"slung over his shoulder.
He came so near to 'Abd al-Malik's tent enclosure that
his horse trod upon the ropes and caused it to collapse.
He then dismounted and sat down. 'Abd al-Malik was
furious. 110 Abü Umayya", he said, lIit seems as if with
5
this bow you are tryi~ to imitate the tribe of Qaysl"
"Bever", he replied angrily, "rather l imitate one who
was better than they: al-'I~ b. Umayyan • He arose still
fuming and dèparted wi th the cavalry and re-entered
Damascus. 'Abd al-Malik entered Damascus on that
Thursday and sent word to 'Amr, "Give the people their
rations", to which '.Amr rejoined, "This is no town :tor
you, so leave it!"
11. On the Monday follotfing 'Abd al-Malik' s
entry- into Damascus he sent word that 'Amr, who was
then with his wife the Kalbite woman, should come to
Mm.· 'Abd al-Malik had meanwhile summoned Kurayb b • . 'Abraha b. as-eabbao. al-ij:imyarI and took counsel with
Mm on the matter of 'Amr b. Sa' Id. K~ayb said to
him, "ij:imyar per1shed because of something like this.
l don't think that you have a right to do that, and l
wash·my hands of the affair. n9
12. When 'Abd al-Malik's messenger came calling
for' Amr he found 'Abd Allah b. YazId b. Mu' awiya with
Mm. 'Abd . Allah was saying to 'Amr, "0 Abü Umayya, b;y
God, ;you are dearer to me than my hearing and my sight.
l am sure that this man has been sent to fetch you to
'Abd al-Malik, but l do not think that you should do i t. "
1fWb.y?If, asked 'Amr, and Kurayb replied, "Because ~ubay'?
6
the son of the wife of Ka'b b. al-'AQbir once said:
tVerily, a mighty one among the mighty sons of Isma'il
shall return and lock the gates of Damascus; then shall
he venture forth from it, and before long he shall be
slain." But said 'Amr, tlByGod, if l were asleep l
would not be afraid that Ibn zuraqa,lO would wake me;
he would not dare try that with me, even though
'Uthman b. 'Affin did appear to me in a dream (787)
last night and dressed me in his shirt."ll
1;. This same 'Abd Allah b. YazId with whom
'Amr had been talking was the husband of 'Amr's daughter
Umm Müsa.
14. 'Amr then turned to the messenger and said,
nConvey my greetings to 'Abd al-Malik and tell him that,
God willing, l shall come to him in the evening." And
so that evening 'Amr donned a strong coat of mail,
wearing it between an outer-garment and an undershirt
made of QühIy material,12 and girt himself with his
sword. His wife, the Kalbite woman, and ijumayd b.
JJurayth b. BaQ.dal al-Kalbi. When 'Amr arose to leave
he stumbled on the carpet and JJumayd said to him, "By
God, if you would only listen to me you would not go
tohim." 'Amr's wife echoed these words, but he paid no
heed to either of them and set out with a hundred of
7
his mawilI.
15. The Banü Marwin responded to 'Abd al_1v1alik' s
summons of them and gathered around him. When he heard
that 'Amr was at the gate, he gave orders to detain
whoever was wi th him and then permi tted 'Amr himself to
enter. 'Amrls companions were ke~t detained at every
door until he had passed into the entrance hall. No
one save his servant was with him. 'Amr cast a glance
in the direction of 'Abd al-Malik and vas surprised to
see the Banu Mar\f8.n gathered around him, among whom
vas ijass8.n b. Më.lik b. BaQ.dal al-Kalb! and QubayVa b.
Dhu'ayb al-Khuza'!. When he saw the group 'Amr
suspected foul play. He turned to his servant and
said, "Mercy on you; hasten to Yao,yi b. Sa'Id and tell
him to come to me." The servant misunderstood what
'Amr had said to him and he replied t "Rere l am at
your service 1 Il ~o which 'Amr said, "Leave me for God' s
burning and fire."
16. 'Abd al-Malik spoke to ijassan and QubayVa,
"If you please", for 'Amr was standing just inside the
chamber and so the two men arose to meet him. "Which of
you two is the taller? ", queried 'Abd al-Malik of
ijassin and QubayVa in a joking manner. This was meant
to calm 'Amr. ijassin replied, "Q\1bayva is higher
(lit. taller) tban l, 0 Commander of Believers, in
authoriv"." QubaJ,a vas in charge of the seal.13
8
17. 'Amr again turned to his servant and said,
"Go to Yal)y8. ·and order him (788) to come to me." The
servant replied, "Here l am at your service", for once
again he had misunderstood his master. "Leave me t" said
, Amr. FJassin and QubaJia then took their leave and 'Abd
al-Malik ordered the doors locked. 'Amr came forward
and 'Abd al-Malik greeted him saying, "Come, 0 Abü
Umayya, may God have mercy upon you." He seated him
beside him on the couch14 and commenced to talk at
length vith him. Then 'Abd al-Malik called to his
servant boy to relieve 'Amr of his sword. "Truly we
are God's, 0 Commander of Believers," said 'Amr. 'Abd
al-Malik replied, "Unless you wish to sit with me
vearing your avord." So the boy took the sword from
him, and the two men fell to talking again awhile.
Thereupon 'Abd al-Malik interaected, "0 Abü Umayyal"
and 'Amr replied, "At your service, 0 Commander of
Believers." Then 'Abd al-Malik said, "Since you for
sake obedience to me, l swear sOlemnly that l am not
at al1 happy vi th you, and as l am your ruler l am
going to place you in shackles.,,15 The Banü Marwin, who
had remained behind, asked, "You will then release him,
9
o Commander of Be11evers?" "I will", replied 'Abd al
Malik, "for what might l do with Abü Umayya?" "The Banü
Marwan said to 'Amr, "Fulfil the oath of the Commander
of "Believers". And 'Amr'said, "May God fulfil your
oath, 0 Commander of Believers." 'Abd al-Malik brought
out the shackles from beneath his couch and tossed them
to 'Amr. Then he called ";'0 his servant and told him:
to place them on 'Amr. This was d~ne. "I remin<l: you of
your oath before God, 0 Commander of Be11evers, that
you would send me before the people in these shackles."
"Do you try to deceive me, Abü Umayya, and you about
to die?16 Don't bring God into it in that case. We are
not the ones to send you before the people in shackles;
we shall not even remove them from you except if we
pull them stra1ght over your head." Then 'Abd al-Malik
pulled 'Amr down with sucb "force that his mouth struck
the couch and broke his front tooth. Cried 'Amr, "I
remind you of your oath before GOd, (789) 0 Commander
of Believers, lest something cause you to break a bone
of mine, let alone commit greater violence than thatl"
'Abd al-Malik replied, "By GOd, were l sure that you
would spare me if you were to be spared, and the Quraysh
were to be peaceful, then l would set you free. But two
men ~ever meet in one city in a situation such as ours
save one of them expels, the other." When 'Amr saw his
tooth had been broken and he knewwhat 'Abd al-Malik
intended, he cried, " Treachery, 0 Ibn Zuraqi'l"
10
18. It is said that when 'Abd al-Malik pulled
'Amr down causing his tooth to break, 'Amr was about to
pick it up when 'Abd al-M~ik observed, "1 see your
tooth has fallen but after what happened to it, your
àoul will have no cause to re~oice either." And at his
command, 'Amr's head was struck off.
19. To resume again with 'Awana's narrative:
The mu'adhdhinl ? proclaimed the time of afternoon
prgyer. Before 'Abd al-Malik 1eft to pray with the
people, he ordered 'Abd al-'AzIz b. Marwan to kill 'Amr. When 'Abd al-' Aziz approached him bra.mi;.ishing sword in
hand, 'Amr spoke to hiœ, "1 appeal to you in God's
name and by our kinship lest you were entrusted with
killing me. Only he should undertake this task who is
more distantly related to me than you." At these words
'Abd al-'Aziz threw aside the sword and sat down. 'Abd
al-Malik finished his prgyers promptly, returned and
the doors were shut behind him. Now the people had seen
'.Abd al-Malik come ta prgy but 'Amr had not been wi th
him. They mentioned this fact to Yaoyi b. Sa'id, who
approached the do or of 'Abd al-Malik's (maqsüra)18
and stationed himself there. He brought a crowd of
11
people with bim and one thousand of 'Amr's slaves, for
there were still many of his followers around. The
. crowd began.to shout, "Let us hear your voice, 0 Abü
Umayya 1" (790) Then ij:umayd b. ij:urayth and Zuhayr b. al
'Abrad drew nigh the magsUradoor and vith Ysoya the
three men broke i t down. Swords were drawn and fighting
ensus'd between the two aides. One of 'Amr' a slaves,
Mivqala by name, struck al-WalId b. 'Abd al-Malik a
blow Qn the head. IbrihIm b. 'ArabI who was the chief
of the Diwin lifted·al-WalId and carried him to the
Bayt al-QaratIs.19
20. Now,. '~when 'Abd al-Malik had finished bis
prayers and returned to his chamber, he found 'Amr
still alive. "What preventsi:~u from killing him?" he
asked 'Abd Sl-'AzIz. "He prevented me, beseeching me
in the name of God and our kinship and l fe~t
compassion towards him." "May God dishonour your mother
who al ways urinated upon her heelsl You are two of a
kind." 'Abd al-Malik's mother was 'l'isha bint Mu'iwiya
b. al-Mughira b. abi al-'lv b. Umayya, while the
mother of 'Abd al-'AzIz was called Layli. Thus in the
verse of Ibn ar-Ruqayyit: 20
That one is 'Abd al-'AzI~, Layli's son, His ~$! become n~~~~ Babylo.n.
12
21. Then 'Abd al-Malik said to his servant,
"Boy, bring me the spe~t" Taking it 'Abd al-Malik
brandished it in 'Amr' s face, (791) and then thrust it
at him, but the spear did not pierce his body. 'Abd al
Malik thrust again, and again nothing happened. Then he
struck 'Amr' s arm wi th his hand and fel t the armour
beneath his outer garment. "Armour too, 0 Abü Umayya",
laughed 'Abd al-Malik, -"you are indeed well prepared".
Turning to his servant he said, "Boy, bring me the
sabre". When his sword was brought, 'Abd al-Malik
ordered 'Amr cast to the ground and kneeling on his
chest he slew him with the sword while quotin$ the verse:
o 'Amr! cease thy slander, do not vilify, Lest l kill you and the Hama cry, "Qu~nch this thirst of minel,,2l
, 22. 'Abd al-Malik trembled violently. It is
said that a man who kills his relative is affected
this way. 'Abd al-Malik was dragged off 'Amr's body
and placed upon his couch. "1 have never seen the likes
of this,1I he said, lia worldly man who sought nothing of
the hereafter has killed him. Il
23. Then Y~ya b. Sa'id entered the chamber
with his followers attacking the Banü Marwin and their
mawSli who in turn set upon Y~yi and his supporters.
'Abd ar-Rag,min b. Umm al-ijakam ath-ThaqafI arrived and
1.3
pushed the severed head of 'Amr at Ya;ya who took it
and threw it to the crowd of people. 'Abd al-'Aziz b.
Marwan then arose, took money from the treasury purses
and began to cast it to the people. When they caught
sight of the money and saw the head, they seized the
money and then. dispersed.
24. It has been said that when 'Abd al-Malik
departed to his prayers he ordered his servant Abu
az-Zu'ayzi'a to kill 'Amr, which deed he did, and then
threw the head to 'Amr's (?92) companions and the crowd.
25. Hisham says quoting 'Awina: l was told that
'Abd al-Malik ordered the money which had been throw.n
to the crowd collected and all of it returned to the
treasury.
26. On that same day YaQ.ya b.· Sa'id vas struck
on the head by a rock.
27. After the fighting had subsided, 'Abd al
Malik ordered his couch taken to the mosque, fo1.1owed
there soon after and seated himself upon it. Walid b.
'Abd al-Malik was missing and 'Abd al-Malik said, nWoe
upon you all! Where is Walid? By their father, if they
have killed him, the)" will-certainly have achieved
their blood revenge." Ibrahim b. 'Arabi al-Kinini
came to the caliph and said, "WalId is with me. He has
14
been wounded, but he i8 all right."
28. 'Abd al-Malik had YaOya b. Sa'id brought in
and he ordered him killed, whereupon 'Abd al-' Aziz
stepped forward and said, "May God make me your ransom,
o Commander of Believers, are you going to slay all the
Banu Umayya in one day?1t So the caliph relented'and had
YaOya imprisoned.
29. Next 'Anbasa b. Sa'id was brought in and
'Abd al-Malik also ordered him killed. Again 'Abd al
'Aziz arose and said, nI would remind you before GOd,
o Commander of "-Believers, of the consequences of
utterly destroying the Banu Umayya." And so he ordered
'Anbasa imprisoned.
30. The next person brought before the caliph
was 'Imir b. al-' Aswad al-KalbI. 'Abd al-Malik struck
him on the head vith a bamboo stick he was holding, an~
said, "Do you fight on 'Amr's side against me?" nYes,
l do", replied 'Amir, "because 'Amr treated me with
honour, but you held me in contempt; 'Amr drew me close
te him, while you held me aloof; he treated me well
whereas you treated me shabbily. For these reasons l
was with him against you." 'Abd al-Malik would have
had him killed, but once again 'Abd al-'Aziz arose and
said, "I would remind you, before GOd, 0 Commander of
15
Believers, of MY uncle, MY mother's brother. n And so
'Abd al-Malik handed 'Imir over to 'Abd al-' Aziz, and
ordered the Banü Sa'ld imprisoned. Ya;ya remained in
prison for a.month or more.
31. Then 'Abd al-Malik ascended the minbar.
(793) He praised God and extolled Him, and then
addressing the crowd, he sought their counsel, "Shall
Yaoya be put to death or not". One of the khatibs
stood up and said, ,,~ Commander of Believers, is a
serpent born anything e1se except a serpent? By GOd,
we be1ieve that you should kill him for truly he is a
hypocrite, an enemy." Then 'Abd Allah b. Mas'ada a1-
Fazarl spoke out, "0 Commander of Believers, YaQya is
the son of your father's brother and his kinsbip to·you
is well known. They have done what they have and you
have dealt with them as you·have, and you do not trust
them. But, l do not think that you sbould kill tbem.
Send tbem instead to your enemy and if tbey are slain
you will have been rid of tbeir affair by a band other
than your own. But if they escape safely and return,
then you can decide bow best to deal with them."
32. 'Abd al-Malik accepted tbis latter view,
and he exi1ed tbe family of Sa'ld to Mu~'ab b. az-Zubayr
in 'Iraq. When they arrived at Mu~'ab's camp, YaQya
came forward and M'\1v'ab greeted him saying, "You
escaped, but your tail was cut off". "Yes by God",
said Yaoya "it was completely eut off."
16
33. 'Abd al-Malik dispatched the following
message to 'Amr's wife the Kalbite woman: "Send to me
the peace agreement which l wrotefor 'Amr." She said
to 'Abd al-Malik's messenger, "Return and inform him
that l wrapped that agreement in 'Amr' s shroud:"., that
he might use it against him with h~s Lord."
34. 'Amr b. Sa'id and 'Abd al-M~ik were botl?,
related to the Umayya. 'Amr' s mother, known as Umm al
Banin was the daughter of al-ijakam b. abi al-' Ail and
the aunt of 'Abd al-Malik.
35. Hisham says: 'Awana related to us that it
was an old in jury which ensted between 'Abd al-Malik
and 'Amr. (~t came about as follows). The mother of
Sa'Id's two sons was Umm al-Banin. 'Abd al-Malik and
Mu'awiya were sons of Marwan b. al-ijakam. As young men
the y would all frequently go to Umm Marwan b. al-ijaltam
al-KinanIya to converse in her house. A black slave of
'Abd al-Malik's and Mu'awiya's used to go along (794)
with them. Whenever they visited her, she would prepare
food for them and then serve it, placing before each
one a bowl by himself. She always excited discord
17
between 'Abd al-Malik and 'Amr b. Sa'Id. They would
fight and quarrel with ea~h other for a time and then
not speak to one another. Umm Marwin used to observe,
"If no bloodwit, should ever be owed by one of this pair,
then surel~ the other will owe it." Such was Umm
Marwin's custom whenever they visited her, that finally
a lasting enmity for each other became rooted in their
hearts.
?6. ('Awina) mentioned that Abu Khilid 'Abd
Allah b. YazId al-QasrI, vas also with Y~a b. Sa'Id
when he went into the mosque and broke downthe door
of the magsira, and fought the Banu Maritin. When 'Amr
had been killed and his head cast to the crowd, 'Abd
Allah and his brother KhSlid set out upon their mounts
for 'Iraq, where they reaained with Sa'id's sons who
w:ere then wi th Mu~' ab. Gradually there gathered people
who were against 'Abd al-Malik. This same 'Abd Allah
had lost an eye on the day of Marj (Râhi~) while
fighting for Ibn az-Zubayr against the Banu Umayya. He
came upon 'Abd al-Malik after the battle and the former
said to him, "How are you, family of Yazid?" 'Abd
Allah replied, "They are utterly despoiled!" Said 'Abd
al-Malik, IIThat is for the evil your hands had wrought
tiêt'â-re.time." :rOI.' 'ut>d ,will not deal wrongfully towards
His servants. 1I
18
37. Hisham says, on 'Awana's authority: 'Amr's
sons entered 'Abd al-Malik's presence after the fight1ng.
They were four: Umayya, Sa'!d, (795) Isma'il and
Muo.ammad-". When 'Abd al-Malik saw them he said, "You
are People of the House. 22 You have always ascribed
to yourselves a superior1ty over your people wh1ch God
did not give you. The enm1ty which existed between
myself and your f'ather was not a new thing. On the
contrary it was of ancient or1gin, ly1ng in the souls
of your forbearers against ours, in the Jah11tya times.
Umayya b. 'Amr who was the eldest, most noble and able
of them tr1edto 1nterrupt but he was unable to speak.
Then Sa'id b. 'Amr, the m1ddle of them in age, arose
and said, "0 Commander of Believers, you do not blame
us for someth1ng which happened in the Jahiliya. God
brought Islam and destroyed all that. He promised us
Paradise, and warned us of Hell-fire. As for what lay
between you and 'Amr, truly he 1s the son of your
f'ather's brother. You know best what you have done.
'Amr 1s now with GOd, and God is suff1cient as a
Reckoner. By my life, 1f you have seized us on account
of what existed between you and 'Amr, then indeed the
belly of the earth 1s a better place for us than its
surface." At these words, 'Abd al-Maljkfelt deep
compassion for them, and said, "Your f'ather-gave me the
19
ehoiee between his killing me and my killing him, and
l ,took the latter alternative. As for yourselves, how
anxious am'.I for you, how l want to be near 'to you
and to proteet your rights". And so 'Abd al-Malik , &..
treated them generou~ly, establis~d a bond with them,
and brought them into his favour.
38. 'Awana mentioned that Kh81id b. YazId b.
Mu'awiya said one day to 'Abd al-Malik, "1 wonder at
you and 'Amr b. Sa' Id. How did you catch him in an
unguarded moment and so kill him? Il 'Abd al-Malik
answered him with these verses:
At first l drew him near me, To appease his frightened soule Then with firm and measured leap, l cast myself upon him In anger, as protector of my faith, For evil treds not the pathway of the pious.
39. 'Awana says: Once a man encountered Sa'Id
b. '.AIl:Jrrb.Sa'Id in Mecca and said to him, "By the Lord
of the Ka'aba, there was no one among the people like
your father, but he quarrel,ed with them (796) over
their possessions, and he perished:
40. Al-WaqidI used to say: it was only in the
year 69 A.H. that the siege of 'Abd al-Malik against
'Amr oecured. 'Amr fortified himself in Damascus and
20
'Abd al-Malik returned from Butnan ijabIb and besieged
'Amr therein. But it was in the year 70 A.H. that 'Abd
al-Malik killed 'Amr.
41. In this same year a Khariji te muhakkim23.
cried out in the al-Khayfmos~ue in Mina,24 "Judgement
belongs to God alone! Il He was killed near al-Jamra.25
MuQ.amme.d b. 'Umar mentioned that YaJ»ri b. Sa'id b.
Dinar had related to him qûoting the latter's father:
At al-Jamra l saw him draw his aword in the midst of a
crowd of people, but God seized their hands and he
escaped from them. Then he cried out, "Judgement belongs
to God alonel n whereupon the people turned against him
and slew him.
42. 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr led the people in
the pilgrimage that year.
43. His governor that year in the two cities of
KUfa and Bavra was his brother Muv'ab b. az-Zubayr.
ShurayQ. vas in charge of the affaira of jurisprudence
in Kufa and Hisham b. Hubayra in Bavra. 'Abd Allah b.
Khazim was the governor of Khurasan.
21
The Year 70 of the Hijra26 and the Mention of Events therein
44. In this year Byzantium grew aggressive and
mobilized an army against the Muslims in syria.27 Fearing
such an attack, 'Abd al-Malik arranged a peace agree
ment with the king of Byzantium28 on the condition that
the caliph pay the sum of one thousand dinars week17, ta
the Byzantine sovereign.
45. In the same year, as Mu~ammed b. 'Umar has
mentioned,' MUQ' ab b. az-Zubayr departed for Mecca and
arrived there bearing a considerable fortune. He distri
buted it among his people and others. MUQ'ab also
arrived with many animals and a pack (camel) laden with
goods. To 'Abd Allih b. eafwin and Jubayr b. (797)
Shayba and 'Abd Allah b. Mut!' he sent many riches and
slaughtered many beasts of sacrifice.
46. 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr performed the
pilgrimage with the people that year. His governors
of the regions were the same as the preceding year.
22
The Year 71 of the Hijra29 and the Record of the Events Therein
47. Among the year's events vas 'Abd al-Malik's
campaign into 'Iraq to war against Muo'ab b. az-Zubayr.
It is said that 'Abd al-Malik pressed on against
Muo'ab until he reached Buvnan ijabib, and Muo'ab mean
while had set out (fromKÜfa) to Bijumayra.;O However,
when a deep cold set in,.each returned to his camp and
then resumed (the campaign). 'Ail b. Zayd b. 'Ad! b.
ar-Ruqi'a al-'Xmili;l aquoted these verses:
By heaven! to Tigris shores and Muo'ab, our cavalry was desert bound.
If (Mu§'ab) has been censured as the hypocrite of 'Iraq, he should not so be blamed.
Step by step we approached him, neither fearing nor heedful of abseDtones,
(And) brandishing long spears with well wrought blade and tip.
(798) When they arrived, their shouts were as the cry of a sand-grouse of a fertile land.
o A man of handsome countenance advanced us (in
glory); a man of generous disposition and rank. He was aided by us and we triumphed by him; for
one whom God assists is never overcome.
48. 'Umar b. Shabba related to me saying that
'AlI b. Mu~ammad had related to him: 'Abd al-Malik set
out from Syria against Mu§'ab (in 'Iraq). [This event
occured in the year previous to this one, that is, in
70 A.H.].~2 Khalid b. 'Abd Allah b. Khilid b. 'AsId
accompanied 'Abd al-Malik and said to him, "If you
were to send me to Baira with a tew troop of horse to
follow, l could hope to take the city for you." 'Abd
al-Malik despatched him and Khalid arrived at Baira in
disguise among pis mawilI and nobles and then settled
in the dwelling of 'Amr b. , Aoma' al-BahilI.
49. 'Umar said: Abü al-~asan said: Maslama b.
MtiQarib said: 'Amr b. 'Aima' placed Khilid under his
protection. Then 'Amr sent word to 'Abbad b. 81-~uVayn
who was in charge of Ibn Ma'mar' s gaurd,~~ and 'Amr
requested that 'Abbad extend homage to him. [The above
mentioned 'Ubayd Allah b. 'Ubayd Allah b. Ma' mar had
been left in charge of Bavra when Muo~ab set out thence].
(The message said): "I have given my protection to
Khalid and l wished that you be aware of that so you
might support me." His messenger delivered this to
'Abbad as soon as he dismounted from his horse. To the
messenger 'Abbad replied, "Tell 'Amr, 'By God, Ish81l
not remove my steed's saddle cloth until l have brought
the cavalryto yoU.'" Then 'Amr said to Khalid, "I do
not want to deceive you; 'Abbad will be arriving present
ly. By GOd, l am not able to protect you, but Malik
24
-
b. Mâsma' will be obliged to do so."
50. Abu Zayd said: Abu al-ijasan said: It 1s
said that Khilid stayed with 'Ali b. ' Aima' and when
news of this reached 'Abbid, he sent word to 'Ali that
he was on his vay (799) to him.
51. 'Umar related to me (and said): 'Ali b.
M~ammad related to me quoting Maslama and 'Avina:
Khil1d departe~ from Ibn 'Aoma' at a great gallpp, clad
in a light QiihII shirt, which exposed his thighs while
his feet protruded from the stirrups. He arrived at
Malik b. Misma' and said, "1 am in trouble, so gi ve me
your protection." ~lik replied, "Done~" Then Khilid
left accompanied by"his"son sending a messenger on to
Bakr b. wi' il and al-' Azd. The first banner which
appeared before him was that of the Banu Yasbkur. Then
'Abbid arrived vith the caval~, and they confronted
each other but there was no combat. ~;next dey Nifi'
b. al-ijirith set out for Jufra34 which vas af~erwards attributed to Khilid. There were several men with
Khilid who had come to him from the Banu Tamim. Among
them were ea',a'a b. Mu'iwiya, 'Abd al-'AzIz b. Bishr,
Murra b. MaQkin with anumber of others. The companions
of Khilid were known as the Jufriya as they adopted th1s
name from the place al-Jufra. Ibn Ma'mar's followers
25
were called the ZubayrIya. Others among the former
group were 'Ubayd Allah b. abi Bukra and ijumran and al
Mughira b. al-Muhallab; among the latter, or ZubayrIya
faction was Qays b. al-Haytham as-SulamI who hired
mercenaries· to fight with him. Someone had demanded
payment from him to which Qays replied, nI will giva it
to you tomorrow. n Ghawafan b. 'Unayf [who was one of the
Banu Ka'b b. 'Amr] said,
o Jalajil~ (This is) the worst judgement you ever made.
Payment is a debt, and battle will soon ensue, You are a night-hawk who would postpone the matter.
52. Qays used to suspend a bell (i.e. jalajil)
from his horse's neck. 'Amr b. Wabara al-QaoIfi was in
charge of the cavalry of (800) Banu ijan~ala; 'Ubayd gave
them only ten. And so it was said to him,
What evil have you decreed Oh Ibn Wabara~ You are given thirty and you pay out ten'dirhams?)
Mu§'ab despatched ZaOr b. Qays al-Ju'ri with a thousand
men as reinforcement for Ibn Ma'mar. And 'Abd al-Malik
reinforced Khalid by sending 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad b.
~abyan to him. Khalid wasloathe to enter Ba~ra and so
he sent off Ma~ar b. at-Taw' am. He retùrned and
informed Khalid of the desertion of the people (in
Baera). Then Khalid rejoined 'Abd al-Malik.
26
53. Abu Zayd said: Abu al-ijasan said: An old
. man of the Banu 'Ar3:n related to me quoting as-Sakan b.
Qatida, who said: The JufrIya and the ZubayrIya fought
each other for twenty-four daJs. Malik (b. Masma') lost
an eye and grew disqu1eted about the battle. Mediators
intervened, among them being Yusuf b. 'Abd Allah b.
'Uthman b. abi al-'I,. He arranged a peace on the condi-
tion that Kh81id should withdraw under the promise of
safe conduct. So Yiisuf had Kh81.id e~ect.ed from Ba,ra.
Khilid, however, was afraid Mu,' ab would not contin
'Ubayd Allan's safe conduct, so he ~oined Malik who had
gone to Tha,~.35Al -Farazdaq36 has said in some verses
mentioning the Tam3:m' s and Kh8.J.id' s ~ oining Milik:
l wondered at (those) tribesmen whose fathers were Tam3:m and who among the Banu Sa'd held an exalted and blessed position.
They vere the mightiest people before their .. ~our.ney, yellow-bearded, to 'Azd and Mralik. (801) What think you of Muv'ab, Ibn al-HawirIy,
when he bared his teeth wi thou t laughing ,. We, we expelled Mralik from his country, and we
gouged out his eye with short spears.
54. Abu Zayd said: Abu al-ijasan said: Maslama.
related to me: When 'Abd al-Malik turned back to
Damascus, Muv'ab had no other object in mind but (to
reach) Ba§ra. He wanted to overtake Khalid there but
27
found tbat be had already left. Ibn Ma'mar assured the
people of their safety and most of them remained, where
as some, who feared Mue'ab, left (the city). MU'i'ab
became very angry at Ibn Ma'marfor this and swore tbat
he would no longer be an official. He next sentword
to the party of al-Jufriya cursing and upbraiding them.
55. Abü :.: Zayd said: al-Madi' in! and other
Ba'irans allege that MU'i'ab sent word to the Juforiya
who were brought before him. He approached 'Ubayd
Allah b. abi Bukra and said, "0 Ibn MasrUl#, you are a
son of a bitch who has slept with dogs of many hues,
red, black and yellow and who has produced one like
each of them. Your father was merely a slave, who came
to the Messenger of God from the fortress of ~i'if.
Then you (all) rendered witness that Abü Sufyan
committed adultery vith your mother. By God, were l to
remain (in your company?) l would surely be classed
vith your kind." He next summoned :e:umrin and said, "0
son of the Jevs, you are a lout of a Nabatean captured
at 'Ayn at Tamr. Il 37 Then he said to al-:e:akam b. al
Mundhir b. al-Jariid, "0 son of an infamous dogt Do you
know who you are and who is Jirüd? JarUd was an infi4el
vith Jazira b. Kivin the Persian who travelled to the
sea coast and who traced his lineage to the 'Abd al-Qays.
But by (802) God, l know of no living thing more
28
thoroughly vile than they. Then Jirüd gave his sister
in marri age to al-Muka'bir the Persian who did not even
possess pretentions to dignity greater than his own;
those are her children 0 Ibn Qubadh!" Then 'Abd Allah
b. FaQ.ila azlZaharinI was brought to him and Mu,' ab
said, "Are you not one of the Hajar and therefore one
of the Samihij?;8 Truly by God l can trace your
pedigree!" Next 'AlI b. 'A,ma' was brought and Mu,'ab
spoke to him, "Once a slave of the Banu Tamim and a
lineage of a free woman." Then to 'Abd al-'AzIz b.
Bishr b. ~anni~ he said, "0 Ibn Mashtür! Did your uncle
not steal a goat in 'Umar' s day which he had ordered
killed? By God you were unconcerned thatsomeone would
not marry your sister." [His sister was married to
Muqitil b. Misma'.J Then to Abü ijiQ.ir al-'Asadi he
said, "0 Ibn al-Is~akhriya,;9 what are you and the hobles?
You are merely from the people of Qaiar, a basterd son
of the Banu 'Asad with whom you have neither relation
ship nor noble lineage." Next Ziyad b. 'Amr was brought
in and Mu,' ab said, "0 Ibn al-Karmani, you are a lout
of the KarminI;40 you went to Persia and became a sea
man. What concern is war to you;- you are more skilled in
pulling ropes and stayS." And to 'Abd Allah b. 'Uthman
b. abi al-'ls, Mu,'ab said, "You increased (opposition)
to me; you are a gross brute of the HajarI people whom
29
your father joined at Ta'if. They are a people who
gather to their fold whomsoever assembles around them,
priding themselves by this. Bi GOd, l know what your
roots are." Next an old man of the Banu Nu' man was
brought in and MUIi'ab said, 110 vile dog, you are but
an infidel zandawardi;41 your mother ran away (803)
and your father vas slain; then someone of the Banu
Yashkur married your father's sister and she brought
two slaves and so we join you with their pedigree."
55. MUIi'ab then beat them each a hundred
strokes, and- then another hundred. He shaved their
heads and beards, demolished their homes, roasted them
in the heat of the sun for three days, made them -
divorce their wives, gathered their children together
in one group and marched them through the quart ers of
Bavra and finally made them al1 swear an oath that
they would not marry free women.
56. Muo'ab despatched one Khidash b. Yazid al
'Asad! in search of those of Khilid's fol1owers who had
fled. Khidash caught up vith Murra b. MaQkan 42 and
seized him. Murra quoted these 1ines:
Banu 'Asad, if you kil1 me, you shal1 have to contend with Tam!m; then endless war shal1 erupt.
( 30
Banu 'Asad, are there (not) among you clement ones, so you could forgive, were the Banu Na'l to have committed the error.
Let not enemies reckon that il l am concealed trom them and (bound to Ma'n?) that my
battle i~ ended. Khidash has walked the ways in safety, while the
spears drank (my blood) and drank again.
Khidish, who was at that time in charge of MUQ'ab's
gaurd, approached and killed Murra. MUQ'ab ordered
Sinan b. Dhuhl one of the Banu 'Amr b. Marthad to des
troy the home of Malik b. Masma'. MUQ'ab seized all
his possessions including a young slave girl who subse
quently bore him a son, 'Umar.
57. (He said;) MUQ'ab remained (804) in BaQra
until he was ready to leave tor KÜfa where he stafed
until he set out to fight'Abd al-Malik •. The Oaliph
meanwhile had encamped at Maskin.43 He wrote to the
(party of the) Marwanids in 'Iraq. Each of them replied
stipulating the governorship of IQbahan as condition
(of his support), and 'Abd al-Malik conceded this to
each of them. Among those were ~ajjar b. 'Abjar, al
Ghadban b. al-Qaba'thara, 'Attab b. Warqi', Qaian b.
'Abd Allah. al-ijarithI, Mu1)ammad b. 'Abd ar-Ralplan b.
Sa'id b. Qays, Zahar b. Qays and Mu1)ammad b. 'Umafr.
Mu1)ammad b. Marwan was at the head of the Oaliph' s
vanguard and on the right flank was 'Abd Allah b.
YazId b. Mu'awiya while on the 1eft flank was Khilid
b. YazId. Muf'ab set out against ('Abd al-Malik) but
the Küfans deserted him.
31
58. 'Una b. al-MughIra b. Shu'ba said: Muv'ab
set out 1eaning on the neck of his beast looking atten
tively at the people right and left (as though seeking
out a particular person) when his eyes feil upen me.
He said, "Oh 'Una, come here." l did so and he said,
"Tell me about ijusayn b. 'AlI and how he skil1fully
avoided attacking ijukm b. Ziyad despite the latter's
determination to fight." 'Urwareplied,
They who are in ai-~aff of the family of Hishim, shared their property, one with another, and so set the example to the generous, of sharing property.
, " MuV ab said. l knew that he would not quit the field
" of battle until he had been killed.
59. According to what Mu;.ammad b. 'Amr men
tioned quoting as authority 'Abd Allah b. Muoammad b •
. , Abd Allih b. abi Qurra, who had 'it from Isoaq b. 'Abd
Allah b. abi Farwa who himself had it from Raja'.
ijayawa: (805) After 'Abd al-Malik had killed 'Amr b.
Sa'Id he took the sword and slew those who dissented
32
from him. When he decided upon the campaign against
Mu~'ab, Syria and its inhabitants were devoted to him.
(the Caliph?). 'Abd al-Malik addressed the people (in
the mosque) and ordered them to prepare themselves to
fight Muo'ab. The Syrian chief s, one after the other
came to him without opposition when he sought it, but
they preferred that 'Abd al-Malik remain (behind) and
send the army in advance. If they were victorious, well
and good; if not, he could reinforce them with more
soldiers. This was because they feared for the people,
tha t if the Caliph was struck down in his encounter
with Muo'ab, there would be no authority left behind
him. They said, "Oh Commander of the Believers, if you
were to remain here and send a man of your own house
to lead the soldiers, you could despatch him instead
to Mu~'ab.tt 'Abd al-Malik replied, "This matter can
only be .. entrusted to a QurayshI who has sound judge
ment. But perhap~ l .should send one who has courage
rather than sound judgement. l know myself to possess
a keen insight into the affairs of war and courage
with the sword when l am forced to adopt such measures.
Muo'ab comes from a brave family; his father was the
most courageous Quraysh~. But although Mu~'ab is brave,
he has no knowledge of war. He likes a life of ease
and there are some in his camp who oppose him while l
have good advisQrs."
60. So 'Abd al-Malik made his way to·. his camp
at Maskin, while Mue'ab proceeded to Bajumayra.· 'Abd
al-Malik wrot~ to his party amongthe 'Iraqis. IbrihIm
b. al-' Ashtar brought one ot the letters from 'Abd
al-Malik, still sealed and unread, and gave it to
Mue'ab. Mue'ab asked, AWhat is in it?" "1 have not
read it tl, replied IbrahIm. Mue'ab read it and found
that it summoned (IbrahIm) to join 'Abd al-Malik (and
offered in return) to make him governor of 'Iraq.
IbrihIm said to MUfi'ab, "By GOd, there was no one more
concerned about this matter than myself, for 'Abd al
Malik has written to each of your companions in the
same manner as he has done wi th me. Hee.d me and kill
them.(806) Their kinsmen have not counselled us in
good faith. Toss them in irons and send them to 'Abyai
Kisri44 and imprison them there. Entrust them to one
who will kill them if you are defeated; but if you
should win you could release them to their tribes."
MUfi' ab said, "O' Abü Nu'min, l am too occupied (with
other matters) for that. May God have mercy on Abü
BaQr 45 (AOna~ b. Qays) for truly he warned me of the
perfidy of the 'Iraqis, as though he could see things
we could not."
61. 'Umar related to mesaying: we were told
by Mu~ammad b. Sallim who was quoting 'Abd al-Qahir b.
as-Sarri whosaid: The 'Iraqis were intending to
betray Mu§' ab, and Qays b. al-Haytham said,· "\'/oe
betide yout Do not allow the Syrians to enter 'Iraq.
For if once they sample tour fare, your homes will
surely be confiscated from you. For by GOd, l have
sean a sayyid of Syria waiting at the Caliph's door
content to be sent upon some errand~ while l saw our
selves on a warring expedition in the summer season,
with one of us in charge of one thousand camels. One of
theirnobles though, would go ft'rth on a raid upon
his horse with his provisions laid behind him."
62. When the two armies approached each other
at Dayr al-Jathiliq46 in Maskin, Ibrahim b. al-'Ashtar
advanced and attacked Mu~ammad b. Marwan and forced him
to retire frqm his position. Then 'Abd al-Malik sent
'Abd Allah b. Yazid b. Mu'awiya (to aid Mu~ammad). The
people clashed:. and Muslim b. 'Amr al-BahilI vas killed
as was Y~ya b. MubashShir one of the Bànu Tha'laba b.
Yarbü', and IbrahIm b. al-'Ashtar. 'Attab b. Warqa' who
was in charge of the cavalry fled with Mu;'ab. Mu;'ab
spoke to Qatan b. 'Abd Allih al-Virithi and said,"Abü
'Uthman, send your troops forward." "1 don't (80?)
think l should," replied Qatan. "Why?", asked Muv'ab,
35
and Qaian said, "1 would hate to have Madhhij47 killed
for no purpose." (Mu~'ab) spoke to ijajjar b. 'Ab~ar,
"Abu 'AsId, send forward your banner." He replied,
"('Ilhat), to this dung-heap?" Muo'ab said, "Whatever
you retreat t~ by GOd, would be more foul and base."
(:Finally), Mu~' ab spoke to MuOammad b. 'Abd ar-RalpIlan
b. Sa'id b. Qays in the same fashion, and Muv.ammad
replied, "1 see no one who has acted, so l will do it."
"Oh IbrahIm", said Mu,'ab, "1 have no Ibrahim this
dayl"
63. Abû Zayd related to me that Muoammad b.
Sallim had related to him (saying): Ibn Khazim vas told
of the expedition of Mu,' ab against 'Abd al-Malik. He
asked, "Was 'Amr b. 'Ubayd Allah b. Ma'mar with him?"
He was told that he was not because 'Amr had been
placed in control of .. Fars. (Ibn Khazim) then aSked,
''Vas al-Muhallab b. abi eufra vi th him?" Again the
answer was negative for al-Muhallab was in charge of
MoVul. "Then was 'Abbad b. al-JSUVayn with him?", he
asked. Another negative answer for he had been left
in charge of Ba~ra. "And 1", said Ibn Khazim, "1 was
in Khurasan. Il
Take me, then drag me, (0) she-hyena and strip the flesh of a man whose aide di~ot witness the day (of battle).
64. Mu~'ab addressed his son 'lsi, "My son,
ride with your companions to your uncle in Mecca and
inform him of what the 'Iriqis have done. Leave me,
36
for l am doomed." 'lsi replied, "By God, I shall never
tell the Quraysh about your situation, but if you wish
that, go to Ba~ra, for they are numerous there, or
else join the Commander of the Believers: Mui'ab said,
"By God, the Quraysh shall not relate stories thatI
fled bècause of Rabi'a's desertion and so entered the
sacred area in flight. Rather, I shall fight and if l
am killed, by.heaven,(808) the sword will not be dis
honoured. Flight is neither my habit nor in my nature.
If you wish to return, do so and fight. 1I This he did'
and he fought until he was slain.
65. 'Ali b. MuQ.ammad said quoting Ya.Q.yi b.
Ismi'Il b. abi al-Muhijir on his father's "'authority:
'Abd al-Malik sent this message to Mu§'ab via his
brother MuQ.ammad b. Marwan: "Your cousin will give you
safe passage". Mu~'ab replied, liA person like myself
does not abandon a situation like this until either he
conquers oil is conquered."
66. Al-Haytham b. 'Ad! said: 'Abd Allan b.
'Ayyash related to us on his father's authority: l
remained beside 'Abd al-Malik while he was fighting
37
Mu§'ab. Ziyad b. 'Amr approached him and said, "0
Commander of the Believers, Isma'il b. ~al~a was an
honest neighbour of mine. Seldom did Mu§'ab intend evil
toward me but Ismi'il would protect me from 1t. l see
you have given him safe conduct despite his trans
gression." 'Abd al-Malik replied, "He is secure". So
Ziyad, who was a huge fellow, passed on between the
two armies. He crièd out, "Where is Abü al-Bakhtari
Isma'il b. ~al~a?" Abü al-Bakhtar! went towards him,
and Ziyad spoke to him, "1 want to tell yôu something."
Isma'il came closer until their animals stood neck to
neck (each person being assisted by an entourage of
servants), and Ziyad seized hold of Ismi'il's belt and
dragged him from the saddle for he was of very slight
build. Ismi'il cried, "1 implore you by God, 0 Abü
Mughira, this is not loyalty to MU'i'ab." And Ziyad
replied, "I would like nothing better than to see you
dead tomorrow. Il
67. When MUQ'ab refused to accept the warrant
of security MuQ.ammad b. Marwan câlled out to MUi'ab's
son 'isa saying, "0 nephew, do not commit (809) sui
side; you have been given safe conduct." MU'i'ab said to
'!sa, "Your uncle has given you sate conduct, so go to
him." '!si replied, "The Qurayshi women will not gossip
that l abandoned you to die." Muv'ab said, "If you go
before me, l shall count on Godls reward for your
;8
death in the world to come." '!sa fought in front. of
him until he was slain. Mu,' ab was weakened by many
blows. Za'ida b. Qudima saw him, leaped upon him and
pierced him (with his weapon) crying, "0 slayers of 81-
Mukhtarl" And he felled him.
68. 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad b. ~abyan dismounted
near Muv'ab and cut his head (without severing it from
his shoulders). "He killed my brother, an-Nabi' b.
Ziyad," said 'Ubayd A~~ih. He brought the head to 'Abd
al-Malik who rewarded him with 1000 dinars. Howeve~,
'Ubayd Allah refused to accept it. He said, "I did not
kill him out of obedience to you, but rather for a
wrong he had done me. So l will accept nothing for
merely bringing'h1s head to you." And he left the head
with 'Abd al-Malik. The injustice to which 'Ubayd AllSh
referred for which he killed Muo'ab, was that the latter
had placed his gaurd Mu~arrif b. S!dan al-BahilI (then
one of the Banu Jia'wa) in control of a portion of his
governorship.
69. 'Umar b. Shabba related to me saying that
Abu al-ij:asan al-Mada' inI and Makhlad b. YaQ.ya b. ijaQ.ir
had related to him that this Mu~arrif encountered
an-Nibi' b. Ziyad and one of the Banu Numayr both of
whom blocked the road. Mu~arrif killed an-Nabi' and
beat the Num~I with his whip and left him.
39
70. 'Ubayd Allah gathered about him a group
(of men) after Muv'ab had dismissed him from Bavra and
had made him wili of al-Ahwaz.4S 'ubayd Allah set out
towards Muv'ab and the two encountered each other
across a stretch of river which.separated them. Mu~arrif
crossed over the river against Mu~'ab and Ibn Zubyin
rushed at him, pierced him (with his weapon) and killed
him. Mu~'ab then sent Muiarrifts son Mukram, to seek
out Ibn ZUbyin. He reached 'Askar Mukram which he was
named after (810) but failed to find Ibn ZUbyan.
'Ubayd Allah had actually joined 'Abd al-Malik when
his brother had been killed. Al-Ba'Ith al-Yasbkuri said
after Mue'abts death mentioning this,
When we saw the men (of battle) turnabout, and horsets neck almost become hind quarters.
We awaited Godls will patiently, until he put things right again; with only an Umayyad as ruler were we content.
We, yes we killed Mu~'ab and his son, a brother of 'Asad and an-Nakha'I the YemenI.
But the eagle of death passed a Muslim among us, extended his beak (lit. woth) and killed him.
We gave Ibn Sidin a full cup to drink which sufficed us; the best is that which suffice.s.
40
71. Abu Zayd related to me saying that 'AlI b.
Mu~ammad had related to him: In BaQra Ibn ~ubyan passed
bl" Mutarrif's daughter and she vas tOld, IIThis is the
man who killed l"our father. 1I She said, IIMy father is on
God's path." To whichlbn ~ubl"an said,
Your father did not meet death in the service of God,
But rather in the service of. the dirham.
72. (811) When MUQ'ab was killed 'Abd al-Malik
called upon the 'Iraqis to pay homage to him and they
did. MUQ'ab was slain by the river which is known as
the ad-Dujal"l at Dayr al-JithalIq. After Muo'ab's death
'Abd al-Malik ordered that he and his son 'Isi be bur:ied.
73. AI-WaqidI mentioned quoting 'Uthman b.
MUQ,ammad from Abu Bakr b. 'Umar from 'Ur.a: When MUQ' ab
was killed and buried 'Abd al-Malik observed, IIRespect
between us has been age-old, but his rule in 'Iraq was
quite ineffectual. 1I
74. Abu Zayd said: Abu NU'aym related to me
(sal"ing) that 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr, Abu abi AQmad,
related to him quoting 'Abd Allah b. Sharik al-'Imiri:
l was standing by Mu~'ab's side; l took out a letter
for him from my tunic and said to him, IIThis is a
letter of 'Abd al-Malik. Il "What do you want? Il asked.
MUfi'ab.
?5. Then a Syrian arrived, entered (Mue'ab's)
army and removed a young slave girl who cried out,
"How great is my humi1iation1" Mue'ab glanced at her
and then turned his back upon her.
41
?6. MUfi'ab's head was brought to 'Abd al-Malik.
He looked at and said, "When will the Quraysh produce
(another) 1ike youl"
?? Two (men) were talking with ~ubba in
MedIna. She was to1d, "Mu,,'ab has been ki11ed". To
which she rep1ied, "May his murderer perish1" When she
was to1d that 'Abd al-Malik had ki11ed him, she said,
"Both theslayer and the slain are dear to me." (Some
time) after that 'Abd al-Malik performed the pilgri-·
mage, and one day ~ubba visited him enquiring, "Did
you ki11 your brothe·r (812) Mu~' ab?' He said,
Whoever tastes war finds its flàvour sour And it 1eaves (the bitterness) in Ja'ja,.49
_50 Ibn Qays ar-Ruqayyat said:
A dead man in Dayr al-JathilIq bequeathed two cities shame and .disgrace.
Bakr b. Wa'il were insincere towards God; nor did Tamim endure when they encountered (strife).
Had Mue'ab been a Bakr!, the troops whose defence against enemies boi1s cease~ess1y would have rallied round him.
(8l?) But the bonds of covenants were neglected and there vas no noble Mu~ar there that day.
May Gad give (just) reward ta Küfans there, a censure; and ta the BaQrans as welle
One who blames, blames rightly. The sons of one father by many women betrayed us,
although among them we were of pure race and lineage.
If we p.erish, these (same) sons will not remain:. and after us there will be no partner for any Muslim husband.
78. Abu Ja'far (at-~abari) said: It has (also)
been said that what l have mentioned about MUQ'ab's
death and the fighting vhich took place between him and
'Abd al-Malik occurred in the year 72. The matter of
Khilid b. 'Abd Allih b. Khilid b. ' Asid and his expedi
tion to Ba§ra (on behalf of) 'Abd al-Malik took place
in the year 71. ·Mu§'ab was killed in Jumaaa II.
79. In this same year (that is, 71) 'Abd al
Malik entered Kufa and distributed the districts of
'Iraq and .the cities of Küfa and Ba§ra among his own
governors. This is according to al-Waqidi. Abu al-ijasan
(al-Mada'ini) however observed that all this occurred
in the year 72.
80. 'Umar related to me (saying) that 'Ali b.
Muoammad had related to him: Mu~'ab was killed on
le
Tuesday, the l3th day of the month of Jumada l or
Jumada II in the year 72.
43
81. When 'Abd al-Malik arrived (814) in KÜfa -
as 'Ali b. MUQammad has mentioned - he settled in an
Nukhayla.5l Next he summoned the peôple to pay homage
to him. The QuQ.i' a came and 'Abd al-Malik perceived
the y were few in number, and asked, "0 men of QuQ.a'a,
how have you managed to escape from MuQ.ar in such saall
number?" 'Abd Allah b. Ya'la an-:Nahad~ replied, "We
are mightler and more stubborn than they.'~ The Caliph
aSked, "(On whose side) are you?':'. 'Abd Allah replied,
"With those of our people who are with you, 0 Commander
of the Believers". Then Madhhij and Hamdin arrived, and
'Abd al-Malik noted "I don't think that any of them
has any $ffair' in KÜfa. Il Wh en 'Abd al-Malik saw that
the Ju'fi had arrived, he aSked, "0 men of Ju'ri,
did you enshroud the son of your sister and bury him?"
He was referring to YaQya b. Sa'id b. al-'A~. They
replied in the affirmative. Saidthe Caliph, "Give me
him." "Will he be sate?" they asked. 'Abd al-Malik
replied, "Do you also impose conditions?" One of them
said, "By GOd, we do not stipulate conditions out of
ignorance ofyour right. Rather, we feel close to you,
as a child would feel towards his parent." The Caliph
44
replied, "By God your lite is one of comf'ort. You have
been cavaliers in the Jahil! era and in Islam. He will
be safe. And so they brought the one whose agnomen
(kunya) was Abu Ay-yUb. When 'Abd al-Malik saw him he
said, "0 vile fellow! With which face do you look at
your Master (Lord), since you have already forsaken
me." c.
"The face with whih "
He created me", replied Abu
Ayy\ib. He subiaitted his obedience (to the Caliph) and
as he was before him, 'Abd al-Malik looked at his
bowed head and said, "What an excellent fellow!1I That
is, Ibn Zawmala, meaning son of a foreign woman.
82. 'AlI b. Muoammad said: al-Qasim b. Ma'an
and others related to me that Ma'bad b. Kh8lid al
Judal! said: We, a group of the 'Adwan, went to 'Abd
al-Malik. We placed in the front of our group a comely
handsome man, while l remained just behind him (for
Ma'bad was very ugly). 'Abd al-Malik asked, IIWho is
this?1I "'Adwan", replied the secretary. Then 'Abd al
Malik quoted these lines:
(815) A supporter of 'Adwan is the serpent of the earth;
They quarrel amongst themselves and care not for each other,
But there are also some who are leaders, and those Who faithfully return payment of a loan.
45
8:;. Then 'Abd al-Malik approached the handsome
fellow and said, "What ia it?" "I don't know", he
replied, and l spoke out from behind him:
Among them is a judge who judges and does not renege,
And one who extends permission for the pilgrimage according to the sunna and religious duties,
Bince they were born and grew up they possessed .. the secret of!a pure and genuine line of descent
84. Ma'bad continued, saying: 'Abd al-Malik
ignored me, and approaching the handsome fellow he
asked, "Who was that?" "1 don't know", he answered, and
l said from behind him, "Dhü al-'Ii ba'". 'Abd al-Malik
turned again to the handsome fellow and aSked, "Why
was he called that'l" "1 don' t knOW"., he replied, and
from behind him, l said, "Because a serpent bit his
finger and severed it." 'Abd al-Malik said to the hand
some fellow, "What was his (real) name?" "1 don't know",
he answered. "Ijurthan b. al-ijarith", l said from
behind him.'Abd al~Malik asked the handsome fellow,
"Which branch (of your tribe~ was he from?" The hand
some fellow again repeated, "I don't know". And from
'behind him l said, "From the Banu Naj." To which 'Abd
al-Malik said,
Would (you continue) alter Banu Naj to excite your evil among them; don't be persuaded by what penshes;
46
If l say someth1ng good to mend the matter among you, Wuhayb would say: 1 l cannot agree with this'.
(816) And thus he became 11ke a camells back whose hump 1s severèd, who, hump backed and weak, the ch11dren march around.
85. Then 'Abd al-Mal1k turned to the handsome
fellow and aSked, "How much is your pay?" "Seven
hundred", he rep11ed. Then to me he asked, "And how
much 1s yourS?11 "Three hundred", l said. 'Abd al-Malik
turned to two secretar1es and said, "Take four hundred
from the wage of th1s one and add it to that of this
fellow." And so l came out wi th seven hundred and he,
the handsome one, with,only three hundred.
86. Kinda arrived next. The Caliph looked at
'Abd Allih b. Isoaq b. al-'Ash'ath and then entrusted
him to his brother Bishr's keeping, saying,l1!" am
placing him in your company. ft Da' ud b. Qaodham arri ved
in charge of two hundred of the Bakr b. Wa'il, the
al-'AqbIya ad-Da'udIya as the y were known. Da'ud seated
himself beside 'Abd al-Malik on his couch, and the
Caliph turned his attention to him. Then Da'ud arose
and everyone 'else did the same. 'Abd al-Malik followed
them with his eyes and commented, I1They are aIl
fussag;52 By GOd, had it not been that their chief
came to me himself, not one of them would have given
me his obedience."
47
87. First 'Abd al-Malik appointed - as i8
said - Qavan b. 'Abd All8h al-ijaritbi over KUfa for
fort y days and "Ghen removed him, replacing him by his
own brother Bishr b. Marwin.
88. Then 'Abd al-Malik ascended the minbar of
KUfa and addressed the people, "If 'Abd Allah b. az
Zubayr were Qaliph as he claims, he would leave his
refuge and make good his claim rather than hiding his
tail in the holy area (Ka'ba). l have placed Bishr b.
Marwan in command over you and l have ordered him to
treat the obedient well but to be severe with the
dissident. "Listen to him". And they obeyed.
89. (817) Muoammad b. 'Umayr was placed over
Hamadhan and Yazid b. Ru'aymover Rayy-. The Oaliph
dispersed his governors, but he did not fulfill to
anyone the promise that he should he given I~bahan. The
Caliph said, "Against me are those fussig who have
sti~red up resentment against Syria and who have under
mined 'Iraq." It is said that the chiefs of their
tribes gave them (the fussag) protection. Said 'Abd
al-Malik, "Would anyone giveto someone else proteë
tian from me?"
48
90. 'Abd Allah b. YazId b. 'Asad took refuge
with 'Al! b. 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas; Yawa b. Ma'yiif al
Hamdam: also sought refuge with him. Al-Hudhayl b.
Zufar b. al-ij:arith and 'Amr b. Zayd al-ij:akamI took
refuge with Khalid b. YazId b. Mu'awiya. 'Abd al-
Malik gave them all safe eonduct, and they emerged
from their refuge.
91. Abü Ja' far said: In this same year 'Ubayd
. Allah b. abi Bukra and ij:umran b. ' Aban struggled for
the leadership in Ba;ra. 'Umar b. Shabba related to me
that 'AlI b. Mu~ammad had related to him saying: When
Mu;' ab had been slain both :ijumran b. ' Aban and 'Ubayd
Allah b. abi Bukra arose and contended with one
another over the district of Ba;ra.lbn abi Bukra said,
"1 am wealthier than you and l provided support for the
companions of Khalid on the day of al-Jufra." Someone
said to ij:umran, "You have no influence over Ibn abi
Bukra, so seek the help.' of 'Abd AllSh b. al-' Ahtam.
If he assists you then Ibn abi Bukra will have no
power over you." He did this and was able to seize
Baera while Ibn al-'Ahtam took charge of its local
militia (shurta). ijumran had a certain standing with
the Banu Umayya.
92. Abü Zayd related to me saying that Abü ~i~
49
an-NabIl related to him: A certain man informed me
that an Arab sheikh arrived who saw ijumran and asked,
"Who is thl:s'l" They said, !rijumran" •. He said, nI had
(once) seen this fellow's cloak slip from his shoulder
and Marwan and Sa'Id b. al-'I~ hastened to him to
straighten tt out. Abu Zayd said: Abu 'Afiim said: l
told a certain man about that who was a son of 'Abd
Allah b. 'Imir. (818) He said, "My father related to
me that ijumran stretehed out his foot and Mu'awiya
and 'Abd Allih b. 'Xmir hastened to touch i.t."
93. In the same year 'Abd al-Malik sent Khalid
b. 'Abd Allah as governor of Bafira. 'Umar (b. Shabba)
·related to me (saying ) that 'AlI b. Mu~ammad related
to me that: ijumran remained in Ba~ra only a short
time while Ibn abi Bukra set out and reaehed 'Abd al
Malik at Kufa after Mu~'ab's death. Then 'Abd al-Malik
placed Khalid b. 'Abd Allah b. Khalid b. 'AsId over
Ba~ra and its districts. Khalid sent 'Ubayd Allah b.
abi Bukra as his successor to Ba~ra and when he reached
ijumran he was asked, "Have you come (for sure) or not'l"
Ibn abi Bukra was still in charge of Bafira until
Khalid arrived there.
94. Al-WaqidI asserts that in this '.same year
(i.e. 71 A.H.) 'Abd al-Malik returned to Syria. He
50
(also) said that in this year Ibn az-Zubayr drove Jabir
b. al-'Aswad b. 'Awf out of Medina and replaced him by
~al~a b. 'Abd Allah b'. 'Awf. He was the last of-Ibn az
ZUbayr's governors of Medina until ~iriq b. 'Amr, one
of 'Uthmin's mawli arrived. ~alQ,a fled and ~iriq
remained in Medina until 'Abd al-Malik wrote him.
95. According to al-WaqidI,'Abd Allah b. az
Zubayr led the pilgrimase', that year.
96. Abu Zayd mentioned quoting AbI Ghassan
MUQ,ammad b. YaQ.yi who said: MUfi' ab b. Uthman related
to me (saying): When the news of MUfi' ab 1 $, death' ,
reached 'Abd AllBh b. az-Zubayr, he addressed the
people thus: 5;
Praise be to God, to Whom is the Creation and the Judgement; Who grants sovereignty to whomHe wiSh~s; Who exalts whom He wishes and humbles (819) whom He wishes. Verily, God does not humble wbo-soever possesses the truth, even though he be unique; nor does He exalt anyone whose master is the devil and his crew, even though mankind without exception might be with him. Verily, news bas come to us from 'Iraq whicb has saddened yet cheered us. MUfi'ab bas been killed (May God's mercy rest upon bim). What has cheered us is our knowledge that bis death is martyrdom for him. What has saddened us however, is that the loss of a dear friend is an anguish which his own close friend feels in time of calamity. The wise one
51
abstains in such distress and become~ patient and composed. If I;have been arflicted with Muv'ab's death, l had been arflicted with az-Zubayr's death before him. Like 'Uthman l am not free of misfortune. Muv'ab 1s not but a servant of God.and an·. '. assistant of mine. The 'Iraqis are indeed perfidious and treacherous people. ~hey received him and sold him for the lowest priee. If he has been slain, then by God we shall not die in our beds as did the Banu Abi al-'I§. By God, not a man of theirs was killed in battle during either the Jahili (days) or Islam. We shall not die except by the lance swiftly, a death beneath the shadow of swords. Truly the world only deprived of the greatest, king whose power (authority) continues and whose reign is not destroyed. And if this world were to present a favourable aspect, l would not accept it as a proud and insolent man; even if it turns away l shall not shed tears for it as a perplexed and mean person. These words of mine l speak, and may God forgive you and me. 1I
97. He (Mu~'ab b. 'Uthman) further mentioned
that when 'Abd al-Malik killed Mue'ab and entered
Kufa, he ordered (820) vast quantities of food prepared
and sent to al-Khawarnaq.54 He extended general permis
sion for the people to enter and take their places.
'Amr b. ijurayth al-MakhzÜJnI :. ~,came in and the Caliph
said, "Come here and sit on my couch." The Caliph sat
him down beside him and asked, "What food do you like
the best and desire the most'?" 'Amr replied, "Red goat's
meat which has been well cured and prepared. 'Abd al
Malik asked, "You have not arranged something?tI:
Then the tables were set and they ate. 'Abd
al-Malik said, . "How pleasant our life would be if
only things would lastl But as a (poet) has put it:
o 'Umayma everything will once decay, And every man, one day, shall fade away.
52
When he had finished his meal 'Abd al-Malik 1
walked around the palace talking to :ijurayth. "Whose
verse is this? Who composed it?", he asked, and :ijurayth
told him. 'Abd al-Malik repeated the verse, andwhen he
entered his assembly, he reclined and said;
Work leisurely, you people, as though you were dead; Labour for yourselves. For it is as though what was, had not been, And what, is, was.
98. And according to al-Waqid!, in this same
year, 'Abd al-Malik conquered Qaysar!ya.55
The Year 7256 of the Hijra and a Narrative of the Significant Events therein.
53
99. Abu Ja'far said: Among those events was the
affair of the Khawarij and that of al-Muhallab b. abi
~ufra and 'Abd al-'AzIz b. 'Abd Allan b. Khilid b.
'AsId.
100. Hisham b. Mu~ammad mentioned on Abu
Mikhnaf's authority that Va~Ira b. 'Abd Allah and Abu
Zuhayr al-'Abasi had both related to him that: The
Azariqa57 and al-Muhallab had been fighting a bitter
struggle for the prece.ding eig.ht months when news
reached them of Mu§'ab's death. The Khawarij received v,
the news before al-Muhallab and his company heard it.
The Khawarij ealled out to them, "0 tell us what you
said about Mu~'ab". al-Muhallab replied, "He is the
imam who guides rightly." The Azariqa asked, "Is he
your walI in this world and the next?" "Yes", they
replied. The Azariqa asked, "And you are his followers
in life and death?" "We are", said al-Muhallab. IIWhat
do you say of 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan?" queried the
Azariqa. Al-Muhallab replied, "He is the son of the .
Devil and we are quit of him before God. In our view
he is more fit to die than you." They asked, "Are you
54
quit of him in this world and the next?" "Yes, just
as 'Ile are quit of you", .:replied al-Muhallab. "And you
are his enemies in life and death?" asked the Azariqa.
They replied, "Yes, just as we are your enem1es, we are
his." Then the Azariqa .\said, "Your imam 58 Mu~'ab has
just been killed by 'Abd al-Malik and we believe that
tomorrow you will make him your imam, although now you
renounce (822)him and curse his father!" "You lie 0
enemies of Godl" cried al-Muhallab.
101. On the following day Mu~'ab's death was
confirmed and al-Muhallab and the people acknowledged
'Abd al-Malik. Theywere then confronted by the
Khawarij who asked them, "What do you say now about
Mu~'ab?" "0 enemi~s of God", they said, "'Ile will not
tell you what 'Ile say about him." They were loathe to
make liars of themselves before the Azariqa. "You told
us only yesterday that Mu~'ab 'lias your w81159 in this
world and the next, and that you were his followers
in life and death. Tell us 'Ilhat you say of 'Abd al
Malik." Al-Muhallab replied, "He is our imam and
khal!fa." Since they had acknowledged 'Abd al-Malik it
'lias inevitable that they would say this. The Azariqa
said to them, "0 enemies of God! Yesterday you said
that you were quit of him in this world and the next
and you professed yourself his enemy in life and death;
but today he is your ~ and kh81!fa. He slew your
imam whom you served. Which of your statements is
55
true; which is rightly guided and which is erroneous."
Al-Muhallab replied, "0 enemies of God, we were content
when Mu~'ab was master of our affairs. We are content
with 'Abd al-Malik as we vere vith him." The Azariqa
said, "By God, you are but brethren of devils and
followers of tyrants and slaves of this world."
102. 'Abd al-Malik despatched his brother Bishr'
as governor of Küfa and Kh81id b. 'Abd Allah b. Kh81id
b. 'As!d over Ba~ra. Wh en KhBlid arrived he confirmed
81-Muhallab in charge of the kharaj60 of 81-' Ahwaz and
its dependencies. He also sent 'Imir b. Misma' to
Sabür6l and Muqatil b. 1,::Misma' to Ardash!r Khurra62
and Misma' b. Malik b. Misma' to Fasa and Darabjird63
and al-MughIra b. al-Muhallab to I~takhr.
103. The Caliph 81so sent word to Muqatil
placing him in charge of an army adjoining the district
of 'Abd 81-' Az!z. He then set out in search of the
Azariqa whose forces had been diminished in the Kirman
area and so they travelled to Darabjird. Muqatil
advanced in their direction. Qatar! despatched (823)
with 9ali~ b. Mikhraq seven huDdred cav81ry and he
advanced with his men until he met up with 'Abd 81-'Aziz
who was marehing with the people by night to avoid
exhaustion. eiliO routed the people, and Muqatil b.
Misma' deseended from his beast and fought until he
was killed. 'Abd al-'AzIz b. 'Abd Allah fled. His
56
wife, the daughter of 81-Mundhir b. 81-Jirüd, was seized
and sold to the highest bidder. As she was very beauti
ful she fetehed 100,000 (dirhams?). One of her own
people who was a ehief of the Khawirij, a man ealled
Abü al-ijadId ash~Shanni grew jealous and said, "Take her
away! l have never seen this unbeliever but she had
sedueed you. fI And he killed her. Then some said that
Abü al-ijadId had gone to Ba,ra. The family of 81-
Mundhir saw him and said, "By God we do not knaw
whether to praise or eurse YOUe fl To whieh Abü al-
ijadid said, "I did it only out of jealousy and passion."
104. 'Abd al-'Az!z journeyed forth and arrived
at Ramhurmuz. 64 Al-Muhallab arrived and was informed of
this. And so he sent to 'Abd al-'AzIz one of his
sheikhs who was one of his finest horsemen. Al-Muhallab'
said, "Go to him and if he has been defeated, respeet
him and tell him that he has done nothing that the
people before him had not done. Inform him that
soldiers hast en to him. God will strenghten and aid
him. The sheikh arrived and found 'Abd al-'AzIz sad
57
and dejected encamped with about thirty men. The 'Azdi
greeted him and told him that he was al-Muhallab's
messenger. He related to 'Abd al-'Aziz the news which
al-Muhallab had entrusted him with. 'Abd al-'AzIz
submitted that the sheikh mention his needs to al
Muhallab. The messenger then returned to al-Muhallab
and informed him of what had transpired. Al-Muhallab
said to him, "Now join Khilid in Ba~ra (824) and tell
him the news." The sheikh exclâimed, "Am l to go and
tell him that his brother has been defeated; by God l
will not do itl" Al-Muhallab replied, "By God, no one
but you can go. You are the one who helped him and
saw him while"you were my messenger to him." The sheikh
replied, "0 mUhallab, it is therefore your guidance
that goes to him this year." He then departed and al
Muhallab said, "By God, you are a trustworthy person to
me; but by God if you were with someone else, then he
would send you out upon your feet, t"'hat you might
suffer." The sheikh said, approaching him, nIt is as
though you are boasting to us of your civilized atti
tude. We will reward you, By GOd, nay, rather we shall
augment it. Do you not know that we give ourselves up
to death for you, and we shall protect you from your
enemies. But,by God, were we with one who was unjust
58
to us, who would send us out on our feet on some matter
of his, then he would need our fighting and assistance.
We would put him between us and our enemies and we
would protect ourselves by him." Al-Muhallab said to
him, "Yes indeed, you speak the trutht" And so he
summoned a young lad who was with him from theAzd
tribe, and directed to Khalid to inform him of his
brother's news. The AzdI lad ar~ived at Khalid, who was
standing amidst a group of people clo~ed in a green
robe and hood. Khalid greeted the boy, approached him
and asked, "What 40 you want?" "May God compensate you,"
replied the lad, lIal-Muhallab has sent me to bring
you news of what l have seen." "And what is that?"
asked Khalid. The boy replied, "I saw 'Abd al-'AzIz in
Ramhnrmuz defeated." lIyou liet", said Khalid. "By God,
l do not", the boy said, III have told you naught but
the truth. If l have lied, then behead me. But should
l be telling the truth, then give me (may God compen
sate you!) your cloa,sk and hood." "Woe on you", said
Khalid, IIhow little you ask for! l should have been
content with a great danger had you been lying, and a
(825) small one had you been truthful." He imprisoned
the boy and ordered him treated well until the rout of
the people had been confirmed.
.. ;
105. Khalid addressed a letter to 'Abd al
Malik as follows:
59
l hereby inform the Commander of the Believers
(may God honour himt) that l despatched 'Abd al-'AzIz
b. 'Abd Allah in search of the Khawarij. Theyencountered
him in Fars and heavy fighting ensued. 'Abd al-'AzIz
was routed when the people abandoned him. Muqatil b.
Misma' was slain, and the remnants of the army pro
ceeded to al-'Ahwaz. l wanted to make the Commander of
the Believers cognizant of these things so that his
decision and command should reach me. God willing, l
shall take up quart ers with him. Peace and the Compas-
.. s'ion of God be·~. upon you.
106. 'Abd al-Malik's reply ran as follows:
Yo~ messenger has just arrived with your letter
in which you inform me of sending your brother to fight
the Khawarij, and the rout and death which occurred. l
enquired from your messenger of the (present) where
abouts of al-Muhallab. He tells me that he is your
governor in al-'Ahwaz. God disgraced your judgement
when you sent your brother, a beduin from Mecca, to
fight. (Now) summon al-Muhallab to your side to collect
the kharaj. He is blessed, intelligent, skilled in
politics and war and is stern. He is the son of war and
60
son of its sons. l note that you champion the people so
that you are receiving them in both al-'Ahwaz and
beyond. l have sent for Bishr (b. Marwan) to reinforce
you with an army of Kufans. If you shoUld encounter
your enemy do not execute any plan against them until
you have submitted it to al-Muhallab and consulted with
him on it. Peace and Compassion of God be upon you.
107. Khalid was grieved that he erred in his
judgement of sending his brotherand neglecting al
Muhallab and that 'Abd al-Malik was not frankly con
tent with his judgement. This caused him to say,
"Present (826) it to al-Muhallab and seek his advice."
108. 'Abd al-Malik wrote to Bishr b. Marwan as
follows: l have written to Khalid b. 'Abd AllSh ordering
him to attack the Khawarij. Despatch to him five
thousand men and put one of your men of whom you
approve in command of them. When they conclude their
expedition, direct them to Rayy,65 to fight their
enemies gatherea in their military camps. Collect their
taxes (fay·)66 until the end of their days. Then you
can succeed them and send others in their place.
109. And so Bishr took five thousand KÜfans,
placed 'Abd ~RaQmin b. MuQ.amJnad b. al-Ash' ath in
61
command and said, "When you have concluded this exped1-
tion go to Rayy." He then drew up an agreement to this
effect (for 'Abd ar-RaQman). Khalid then set out with
some Ba~rans and arrived at al-'Ahwaz. 'Abd ar-RaQmin
b. Mu'Q.ammad brought his troops of KÜfans and finally
delivered them to al-'Ahwaz.The Azariqa approached the
city of al-'Ahwaz and the military encampment of the
tribesmen. Al-Muhallab said to Khalid b. 'Abd Allan,
"I see here many vessels. Annex them to you, for by God
l can only imagine that the tribesmen would destroy
them." Scarcely an hour later, one of the cavalry
group was released for the purpose and they burned them.
Khalid b. 'Abd Allah sent al-Muhallab on his right
flank and Da' ud b. Qaodham of the Banu Qays b. Tha' laba
on his left flank. Al-Muhallab marched past 'Abd ar
RaQmsn b. Mu'Q.ammad who had not prepared a trench. Al
Muhallab said, "0 cousin, what has preven,ted you from
preparing a trench?" 'Abd ar-RaQmin replied, "By God,
(the Khawarij) are more worthless in my opinion than a
camel fart." Al-Muhallab answered, "Not so, they are
not 50 unimportant to you, my cousin; they are the lions
of the Arabs. l shall not depart (827) until you have
constructed yourself a trench." And he did so.
110. 'Abd ar-RaQmin's expresssion 'more wortblam
than a camel fart' reached the Khawarij, and their
poet said:
62
o truth seeker, do not be deluded by hope, because between you and what you desire is a span of lite.
Perform for your Lord, and ask of Him recompense; Know well that your being pious toward Him is the
best act. Fight the impotent, in armour and in distinguisbed
way, in order that you show (them) how a camel fart is a real attack.
111. The Khawarij remained some twenty days.
Then Kh81id led the tribesmen towards them. The Khawa
rij saw their number and their preparedness and began
to withdraw. The tribesmen made bold and the cavalry
bore down upon them. KhaIid marched towards them and
the Kba~arij retreated as though they believed they did
not possess the power to fight the tribesmen. Kh81id
b. 'Abd Allah sent Da' ud b. Q~dham after them wi th
Baliran troops:, while he himself returned to Bafira.
'Abd ar-RaQ.man b. MuQ.ammad turned off toward Rayy and
al-Muhallab remained in al-'Ahwaz.
112. Khilid b. 'Abd Allah wrote to 'Abd al-Malik
as follows:
l hereby inform the Commander of the Believers
(may God make him prosper~) that l ventured forth to
the Azariqa, those who have renounced their faith, and
they have left the region of the Muslims. We met at
al-'Ahwazand we rose and fought the fiereest battle.
God sent down His aid to the believers and the Muslims,
and He struck the faces of His enemies. The Muslims
pursued them and massacred them, giving no quarter.
And God delivered (828) their army to the Muslims. l
-sent Da'ud b. Qa~dham after them. And God willed their
destruction and annihilation. Peace be upcn you.
113. When this letter reached 'Abd al-Malik,
he wrote to Bishr b. Marwan:
Send one from among you who is brave and intelli
gent in war with foun thousand horsemen, and let them
joucney to Fars in search of renegades. Khalid has
written informing me that he sent Da'ud b. Qa~dham in
search of them. Order the commander which you send not
to quarrel with Da'ud b. Qa~dham when the y meet, for
any disagreement among the tribesmen is a help for their
enemies against them. Peace be upon you.
114. Bishr b. Marwan sent 'Attab b. Warqa' with
four thousand horsemen from KUfa. They travelled until
Da'ud b. Qa~dham met them in Fars. The tribesmen
followed searching for them until most of their horses
were exhausted, and the strain (Of travel) and hunger had
64
overcome them. Most of the two armies returned on foot
to al-'Ahwaz.
115. Ibn Qays _ 'ar-Ruqayyat, of the Banu MakhzUm
recited concerning the rout of 'A-bd al-'Azlz and his
flight from his wife:
'Abd al-'Azlz, you abandoned your entire army and left them strewn about all over.
Some thirsty and dying, others dead with glaring wounds •.
Why did you not endure the struggle with the martyr when one aftermoon y6u became weakened.
(829) You left your army leaderless; bear the shame (of it) forever.
You forgot your bride, when she was led :7away into slavery, her cries and wails causing eyes to wee~
116. In this same year Abü Fudayk al-Khiriji,
one of the Banu Qays b. Tha'laba set out and conquered
Ba9rayn. He killed Najda b. '!mir. The camps of Qatari
of al-'Ahwaz and Abü Fudayk joined forces against
Khalid b. 'Abd Allah. Khalid sent his brother Umayya
in charge of a well equipp.:ld army against Abü Fudayk who
routed it. Abü Fudayk se~ed one of Umayya's slave girls
and kept her for himself. Umayya returned by horse to
Ba~ra which he reached after three days. Khalid then
wrote to 'Abd al-Malik about his situation and that of
the Azariqa.
65
117. Also in this year 'Abd al-Malik sent al
ijajjaj b. Yusuf to Mecca to fight 'Abd Allan b. az
Zubayr. According to what is mentioned (in the sources)
the reason for the Caliph's sending him and no one
else is that when 'Abd al-Malik wanted to return to
Syria al-ijajjij came to him and said, "0 Commander of
the Believérs, l saw in a dream l had that l seized
'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr and l skinned him (alive). So
send me and entrust me with killing him. 1t The Caliph
therefore sent him with a well equi~ army of Syrians.
Al-ijajjij set out until he finally reached Mecca. 'Abd
al-Malik had written to the Meccans offering them safe
warrant if they submitted to him.
118. Al-ijarith related to me (saying) Muoammad
b. Sa'd related to me that Muoammad b. 'Umar informed
us (saying) (830) that Mu~'ab b. Thibit related to us on
the authority of Abu al-'Aswad who had it from 'Abbad
b. 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr: After Mu~'ab's death, 'Abd
al-Malik sent al-ijajjaj against Ibn az-Zubayr in Mecca.
Al-ijajjij set out with two thousand Syrian soldiers in
the month of Jumada of the year 72 A.H. He did not
appear at Medina (directly) but continued on the 'Iraq
road and settled at ~a'if.67 He would sand out datach
ments of soldiers to 'Arafa68 in the ragion outside the
66
sacred territory, whi1e Ibn az-Zubayr did the same and
batt1e was engaged at 'Arafa. A1-ijajjaj's cavalry
returned victorious having routed the troops of Ibn
az-Zubayr.
119. Then al-ijajjaj wrote to 'Abd al-Malik
requesting permission to besiège Ibn az-Zubayr and to
enter the ho1y area • He informed the Caliph that his
own forces were exhausted and that the common run of
his fo11owers had ::deserted him,69 so he requested
reinforcements. Then a letter (in reply) arrived from
'Abd al-Malik. He had written to ~ariq b. 'Amr ordering
him to take what soldiers he had and join al-ijajjaj.
80 ~ariq set out wi th fi ve thousand of his followers ..
and joined up with a1-ijajjaj. Al-ijajjaj's entry into
~a'if occurred in the month of 8ha'ban of the year
72 A.H. (Dec. 691-Jan. 692). In Dhu 'l-Qa'da (March
April, 692) he left ~a'if,encamped at BIr Maymijn70
and bes· •. ged Ibn az-Zubayr.
120. Al-ijajjaj led the pe9Ple in the pilgrimage
that year while Ibn az-Zubayr was besieged. ~iriq
entered Mecca in Dhu 'l-ijajja at the time of the new
moon although he did not circumambulate the Ka'ba; nor
did he reach it in a state of ritual conse~ration
(mugrim) because he was armed. But he touched neither
67
women nor perfume until Ibn az-Zubayr had .been killed.
121. Ibn az-Zubayr killed a sacrificial animal
on the day of sacrifice. He did not perform the pil~i
mage that year, nor did his companions for they had
been unsuccessful at 'Arafa. (8~1)
122. MUQammad b. 'Umar said that Sa'Id b.
Muslim b. Babik related to him on his father's autho
rit y: l performed thepilgrimage in the year 72 A.H.
and we arrived at Mecca and entered it from the heights
of the city. We found the followers of al-ijajjaj and
~ariq between al_ijajün7l and BIr Maymün. We performed
the circum~bulation of the Ka'ba and aS-9afa' and '. . .
al-Marwa.'· Then al-ijajjaj led the people in the pilgr1-
mage l saw him at the heights of 'Arafa seated upon a
horse. He wore armour and a helmet. He set forth and l
saw him turn towards BIr Maymün. He did not walk around
the Ka'ba and his companions were armed. l noticed that
they had a large quantity of food and l saw the caravan
from Syria bearing food such as ka'k, sawIg.72 l saw
his companions were well provisioned so from some of
them we bought ka'k for a dirham. This was sufficient
for us until we reached al-JuQfa for we were only
three persons.
12~. MUQammad b. 'Umar said: Mu§'ab b. Thabit
related to me on the authority of Nati' a mawla of the
Banu 'Asad, who was knowledgable about the fitna of
Ibn az-Zubayr: Ibn az-Zubayr was besie.ged on the night
of the ne.w Moon of Dhu 'l!.Qa'da in the year 72 A.H.
124. In this year 'Abd al-Malik wrote to 'Abd
Allah b. Khazim as-SulamI calling on him to render
him homage, (in return for which) he would give him
the revenue of Khurasan for seven years.
125. 'AlI b. Muoammad mentioned that al-Mufa~~al
b. Muoammad and Yaoya b. ~ufayl and Zuhayr b. :ijumayd
had related to him (some of them elaborating upon the
report of others) saying: MUQ'ab b. az-Zubayr was
killed in the year 72 A.H •. and 'Abd Allah b. Khazim
was fighting against BaoIr b. Warqa' as-~uraymI (euraym
b. al-ijarith) in 'Abrashahr.
126. 'Abd al-Malik wrote (8~2) to Ibn Khazim
(sending the letter) with Sawra b. Ashyam an-NumayrI,
"Khurasan is yours for seven years on the condition
that you 'acknowledge me." Ibn Khazim said to Sawra,
"Had l not sown dissension between Banu Sulaym and the
Banu 'Imir, l would surely have killed you. So eat this
letter." And Sawra did so.
127. Abu Bakr b. Muoammad b. Wasi' said: It was
rather Suwada b. 'Ubayd Allah an-Numayri who brought the
69
knowledge of 'Abd Allah b. Khazim.
128. Some said: 'Abd al-Malik sent Sinan b.
Mukammal al-GhanawI to Ibn Khizim and he wrote him
(saying), "Khurasan is revenue (lit. food) for you."
Ibn Khizim said to the messenger, "Abü adh-Dhibban
(i.e. 'Abd al-Malik) only sen~ you because you are from
the GhanI; he knew that l would not kill a Qays!. So
eat his letter."
129. 'Abd al-Malik wrote to Bukayr b. Wish~
one of the Banu 'Auf b. Sa'd, and Ibn Khazim's succes
sor in Marve, about his pledge concerning Khurasan,
making him a promise and arousing his des ire for it.
Bukayr b. Wisha~ denounced 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr
and proclaimed 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan. The people of
Marve responded to him. (This news) reached Ibn
Khazim and he feared that Bukayr would arrive with the
Man!a; the p"eople of Marv, and ' Abrashahr gathered
against Ibn Kha~im and so he left Ba~Ir (b. Warqi')
and arri ved at Marv'" intending totake his son to
Tirmidh.7; Bao!r followed him and caught up with him
in a village called in Persian ShimIghad which was
eight parsangs distance from Marv.
1;0. Ibn:Khazim fought Ba1}.Ir and a mawla of
the Banu Layth said, "1 was in camp near the battle
70
field of the people. When the sun arose, the two
armies clashed against each other and l could hear the
ring of swords. When day was fully come (833) the sounds
died away and l said (to myself) 'This is because of
the day'. When I~b.ad performed the midday prayer or
somewhat before then, l departed and one of the.men
of the Banu TamIm encountered me and l said, 'What is
the news?' and he replied, '~killed the enemy of God,
Ibn Khazim; that is he over there.' He was borne upon
a mule. They had tied him by his genitals with a rope
and a .. stone and had balanced him thus upon the mule.
131. The one who killed him was Waki' b.
'Umayra al-Quray' i known as Ibn ad-Dawraq!. B~ir b.
Warqa', 'Ammar b. 'Abd al-'AzIz al-Jushami and Waki'
blocked Ibn Khazim's way. They pierced him (with
their weapons) and brought him down. Waki' sat upon
his chest and slew him. Some said to Waki', IIHow did
you kill Ibn Khazim?" and he said, "1 got him with a
lance point. And when he had fallen l sat on his
chest. He tried to rise but was unable. l said, '0
revenge for Dawila!' "Dawila was the brother of Waki'
by the same mother. He was killed before that in days
other than these. Waki' said, IIHe spat in my face and
said, 'God curse you! You slay the chief of Mu~ar
71
because of your brother, alout who was not equal to a
handful of date pits.' l never saw anyone die with more
spittle than he."
Ibn Hubayra mentioned this tale one d8.1'. "By
God, this is courage " said he.
132. Immediately upon the death of Ibn Khazim,
Baolr ;.despatched a man of the Banu Ghudama to 'Abd
al-Malik informing him of the event. But he did not
send his head. Bukayr b. Wishaoarrived among the
people of Marv and provided for them when Ibn Khazim
had been killed. He intended to take the head of Ibn
Khazim but B~Ir prevented him. Bukayr struck him with
a club, took the'head, (834) shackled BaQir and impri
soned him. Bukayr sent the head to 'Abd al-Malik and
wrote him informing him that he was the one who had
killed Ibn Khazim. When the head was brought to 'Abd
al-Malik he summoned al-GhudimI, a messenger or BaQIr
and said,"What is this?" "1 do not know", replied the
messenger, "1 did not leave the tribe until he had
been killed." One of the Banu Sulaym recited:
o Night of ours in Nlsabur1'O you (Night), return to me the morning, or else give light (yourself).
Its stars are wearied and fatigued, as though the he avens were in some controller's hands.
, Umm·' Zayd blames events, but have you any blame in events.
72
They ignored my prestige and shunned me for a short fate on earth.
If the horsemen of (Banu) Sulaym had witnessed that day the wounded lion taunted,
A generous people would have fought around him, and this particular revenge would be sweet .'
Barking dogs would remain, but after you there would be no roaring lion on earth.
133. Al-ijajjaj was entrusted with the pilgri-
mage in this year.
134. The governor of Medina, on behalf of 'Abd
al-Malik was Tariq, the mawli of 'Uthman. Bishr b.
Marwan was in charge of Kufa while 'Ubayd Allah b.
'Utba b. Mas'ud was in charge of the affairs of juris
prudence. KhSlid b. 'Abd Allah b. Khalid b. 'AsId was
in charge of Ba~ra and Hisham b. Hubayra was in charge
of the affairs of jurisprud.S:lll.ce. 'Abd . Allah b. Khazim
as-Sulami was over KhurasSn .according to some; but
according to others it was Bukayr b. Wishao. It was
claimed that 'Abd Allah b. Khazim was in Khurasan in
the year 72 A.H. and that he was killed only after Ibn
az-Zubayr's death. (835) 'Abd al-Malik wrote to 'Abd
Allah b. Khazim summoning him to recognize him in
exchange for Khurasan for ten years, after the death
of 'Abd Allâh Ibn az-Zubayr. 'Abd al-Malik sent him
Ibn az-Zubayr's head and Ibn Khazim swore that he
would never render obedience to 'Abd al-Malik. He
called for a basin and washed Ibn az-Zubayr's head
and then he embalmed and wrapped i t up, prayed over
73
it and sent it to Ibn az-Zubayr's family in Medina. He
made the messenger eat the letter and said, "If you
were not just a messenger, l would kill you." Some
said that he cut· off the messenger's hands and feet
and killed him.
74
(844) The Year 73 of the Bijra74 and the Mention of the Momentous Events which occurred therein, of which One was the Death of 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr. The Information is Mentioned after the Following Fashion:
135. Al-Hari th related to me (saying), Mu~ammad • b. Sa'd related to us (saying), M~~ad b. 'Umar
-~
informed us (saying), IsO~q b. Yaoya related to me on
the' authority of 'Ubayd Allah b. al-QubtIya who said: , .
War between Ibn az-Zubayr and al-Vajjaj in the valley
of Mecca lasted for six months and seventeen days.
(lit. nights).
136. M~ammad b. 'Umar said: Mu~'a_ b. Thabit
related to me on the authority of ~afi' a mawla of the
B~u 'Asad whowas well informed of the revolt of Ibn
az-Zubayr: Ibn az-Zubayr was besièged on the night of
the new moon of Dhü 'l-Qa'da in the year 72 A.H., and
he was killed on the 17th. of Jumada I, 73 (Oct. 4,
692). The siége of al-~ajjaj against Ibn az-Zubayr
lasted eight months and 17 days (lit. nights).
137. Al-ijarith related to us (saying) Mu~ammad
b. Sa'd related to us (saying) Mu~ammad b. 'Umar
informed us (saying) Is~aq b. Yaoya related to me on
the authority of Yüsuf b. Mrahik: l saw the mangonel
75
fire and then the he avens rumb1ed and flashed wi th
lightning; thunder and lightning erashed upon the roeks
(845) and enveloped them. The Syrians took this for an
ill omen and elasped their hands together. Al-ijajjaj,
however, raised the edge of his outer garment and
shoved it into his belt ',_ .• ;}':::. Then he picked up a stone
for the mangonel and plaeed it in the machine, and
eried, "Fire 1" and they fired in unisQu:è.. When they
had done this a bolt of lightning struek and th en
another, and twelve of the companions of al-ijajjaj
were killed. The Syrians vere in confusion (or: broken
in spirit) and al-ijajjaj spoke to them saying: "Oh
people of Syria, you do not know what this is; but l
am a son of (the) Tihama,75 and this is Tihama lightn
ing. The eonquest has been achieved so rejoiee. W,bat
has befalleIi you will also befall them." Lightning
struek again in the morning and a number of Ibn az
ZUbayr's companions were struck. Al-ijajjaj said: "Dô
you not see how the y are struck down, while you are at
the side of obedience and they oppose it. 11 The war
eontinued between Ibn az-Zubayr and al-ijajjaj until a
short time before the former's death. His eompanions
had deserted him and the common people of Mecca had
gone out to al-ijajjaj with safe eonduct.
76
138. Al-ijarith related to me (saying), Ibn
Sa'd related to us (saying), Mu~ammad b. 'Umar informed
us (saying), Is~aq b. 'Abd Allah related to me on the
authorityof al-Mundhir b. Jahm al-'AsadI: l saw Ibn
az-Zubayr on the day he was killed and his companions
had abandoned him and deserted him in great numbers.
They set out for al-ijajjaj until nearly ten thousand
persons had gone to him. (al-Mundhir) mentioned that
among those who had left az-Zubayr for al-ijajjaj were
his own two sons, Hamza and Khubayb who secured safety
for themselves from al-ijajjaj.
Ibn az-Zubayr entered his mother.' s house -
according to what Mu~ammad b. 'Umar mentioned on the
authority Abü az-Zinad who took it from Makhrama b.
(846) Sulayman al-WSlabI: Ibn az-Zubayr entered his
mother's presence when he saw the people deserting him.
He said, "Oh mothert the people have forsaken me, even
my own sons and family. None has remained with me
except a handful who have only enough resistance to
endure a little longer. The people will give me what
l want of this life. What do you think?" She said, IIBy
God my son, l know you. If you know that you follow the
truth, and you are summoned to it, then pursue it. Your
companions have been slain for the truth, and the
Umayyad slaves will be unable to play with your own
neck. If you sought only this world, you would be a
wretched slave, and you would have destroyed yourself
and those who were killed with you. But if you were
77
to say, II follow the truth, but when my companions
languish, then l too am weak l, this is not the deed of
free men or of people of religion. How long is your
existence in this world? Death is preferable!"
139. Ibn az-Zubayr approached her and kissed
her ·.forehead. He said, "By GOd, this is (exactly) my
own opinion. That for which l have constantly urged to
this very day, l have not depended upon this world and
l have had no love for its life. Nothing forced me to
rebel except anger in the way of God because things
were tolerated which He forbade. But l wanted to know
your opinion and you have confirmed my own insight.
Consider, my mother, l shall die this day, but let not
your sadness be great and accept the judgement of God.
Your son has never committed intentionally a deceitful
act nor a foui deed. He has neither forsaken the judge
ment of God nor betrayed the faith. He has never
intentionally committed injustice to a Muslim or a
covenanter. No word reached me of oppression of my
governors that l approved of, nay rather, (847) l
censured such acts. There is nothing more pleasing to
78
me than to seek the pleasure of my Lord. 0 GOd, l do
not say this to make myself appear an honourable person -
o You.- are more knowing - but l say i t to console ury
mother that she will be at ease about me."
His mother said, "What l trulT.· hope of God
is that my consolation concerning you is good, if you
should precede me (in death). And if l should precede
you, then l wish to go out and see how your atfair is
resolved." 'Abd Allah said, "May God reward you well,
my mother. Do not cease to pray for me before and atter
( l die) ." "1 shall nevet' stop .:," she said, nfor
whoever has been slain in vain, you have been killed
in the truth. 0 GOd, be merciful throughout the prayer
vigil of.the long night and throughout the lamenting and
the thirst of themidday heat of Medina and Mecca, and
his devotion to his father and myself. 0 God, l give
him up to yourjudgement and l would be content with
your decree. In 'Abd AllSh (my son) reward me the
reward of the stout-h~ed and the thankful.
140. Mu~'ab b. Thabit said: There remained ooly
ten days after that, although some say rive days.
141. Mu~ammad b. 'Umar said: Müsa b. Ya'qüb b.
'Abd Allah said on his uncle's authority: Ibn az-Zubayr
came to his mother wearing his armour and helmet. He
79
stood and greeted her; then he approached her, reached
for her hand and kisseci it. She said, "This is farewel.l.
Do not be distant. 1f Ibn az-Zubayr replied, "I did come
to bid you farewell for trult.y,. l believe this is my
l.ast day on earth. Know, 0 mother, that if l am killed,
l am only flesh and nothtng arranged for me can harm
me." She said, "You are sincere my son, persevere in
your vision. Come to me that l may bid you farewell."
He came (848) and kissed and embraced her. She said as
she fel.t the armour, "This is not the deed of one who
desires what you do." He replied, "1 donned this armour
only to give you strengtb." "It does not," said the ol.d
woman. And so, 'Abd Allah removed the armour and rolled
up his sleeves, tightening the hem of his shirt. and
the sil.ken cloak under it and tucked it all under his
belt, whil.e his mothEr spoke, IIRoll your clothes up."
Then Ibn az-Zubayr departed saying; "l, when
l know my day (has come), l am patient; others who know
their day has come, refuse to acknowledge it."
The old woman heard his words and said, "God
willing, you will surely persevere. By God, your father
was Abü Bakr b. az-Zubayr and your mother eafiya bint
'Abd al-Mutallib."
80
142. A.l-:ijarith related to me (saying), Ibn Sa'd
related to me (saying), that Mu~ammad b. 'Umar had
informedhim that Thawr b. YazId ~',reported to us on
the authority of a sheikh from ~om~?6 who had witnessed
the battle of Ibn az-Zubayr and the Syriàns: l saw Ibn
az-Zubayr on Tuesday, and we of ijom~ about a thousand
strong suddenly, came:upon him by our gate; we alone
entered it and he came out immediately to us a1one.
We fled from him and l will not forget his words as he
recited:
II, when l know my day (has come) l am patient; only a free man knows his two days; others who know theirs do not acknowledge it. 1
l said (to myself), "By God, you are the noble free
man." l saw him ~standing in al-Abt~?? no one approached
him until we thought that he would not be killedo
14,. Al-ijarith related to me (saying), (849)
Ibn Sa'd related to us (saying) that Mu~ammad b. 'Umar
informed us (saying) Mu~'abb. Thabit related to us on
the authority of ~afi' a mawla of the Banu 'Asad: ,On
Tuesday l saw that the gates had been blocked with
Syrians. The companions of Ibn az-Zubayr deserted their
posts. They were outnumbered by the tribesmen who
placed men at each gate with a chief and people of a
certain city. The ~om~is were at the gate opposite that
1
81
of the Ka'ba; the Damascenes were at the ',gata of the
Banu Shayba; the Jordanians were at as-eafa, and the
Palestinians at the gate of the Banu Juma9 and the
people of Qinnisr!n were at the gate of the Banu Sabm.
Both al-ijajjaj and ~ariq were in the area of ~,~A~1~t!
at al-Marwa.
At one time Ibn az-Zubayr would (attack) in
one direction and in another direction at another
time as though he were a lion in a forest. The men did
not venture to attack him and they dashed past the
people at the gate until Ibn az-Zubayr had driven them
out, all the while reciting the same verse as before.
Then he would cry out, "0 Abü eafwan, woe upon his
mother in victory. Had he only had men. He recited the
verse, 'If only my opponent in battle were one, l would
suffice him.' Ibn eafwin said, ''res, by GOd, and a
thousand!"
144. Al-ijarith' related to me (saying) Ibn Sa'd
related to us (saying) MUQammad b. 'Umar informed us
(saying) Ibn abi az-Zinad and Abu Bakr b. 'Abd Allah
b. Mu~'ab related to me on the authority of Abü
Mundhir (Hisham b. MUQ,ammad al-Kalb!). And Nifi' a
mawla of the Banu 'Asad related to us: On Tuesday
morning, the seventeenth of Jumada l of the year 73 A.H.
82
al-ijajjaj had eut off Ibn az-Zubayr from the gates.
Ibn az-Zubayr had spent the entire night in prayer.
Then he seated himself cross-legged with his sword(850)
beside him and fell asleep. He awoke at dawn and said,
"0 Sa'd, make the call to prayer." Sa'd invoned the
prayer call while Ibn az-Zubayr performed the ritual
ablutions. He made two rak'as of the dawn prayer, then
stood at the head (o.! the group). The mu~adhdhin
remained and 'Abd Allah prayed with his companions,
reading (the Qur'inic) verse w~ich begins nün wa-l
galam78 word by word, then he was made free from harm.
Then he arose and praising God and extolling Him he
said, "Uncover your heads", for they were wearing hel
mets and turbans. They did so and he said, "0 family of
Zubayrl If you have been sincere to me from your hearts
we were the People of the House among the Arabs who
have suffered in ( the way of ) God (yet) no total
disaster has afflicted us. (He continued) 0 Family of
ZUbayr, let not the clash of swords frighten you. l
have never been in any situation but that l have
been dragged half-dead from battle. l have never
encountered a healing wound which was not more grievous
than the pain of sword blows. Protect your swords as
you do your faces. l know of no man who has lost his
sword and managed to survive, since once a man loses
his weapon, he is like a defenceless 'woman. Shut your
eyes to the (glistening swords and let each man occupy
h1mself with his opponent. Let no question about me
divert you. Do not ask, 'Where is 'Abd Allah b. az
Zubayr?' Let him who should ask know now that l will
be in the front rank.
The cause of Ibn SalJiïa's refusal (to submit) was that he was mortal, facing death wherever' he turned.
l shall not buy life withdamei nor run away to escape, for fear of death.7~
Attack with God's blessings!"
He attacked them until he reached al-ijajiÎn. A (851)
rock struck him in the face and made him shudder. His
face became bloody and when he felt the warm blood
dripping down his face and beard he said,
We are not (like) those whose wounds drip blood upon their heels; rather we are (like) those who cause blood to drip before us.80
And (the soldiers) attacked him (en masse).
145. A crazy slave woman of ours cried out, "0
my Commander of the BelielTers!1I She had seen (Ibn az-
Zubayr )where he had fallen and she pointed him out
to them. He was deRd, still wearing his silken robe. The
84
news reached al-ijajjaj and he made a prostration in
prayer. Then he went and stood by (Ibn az-Zubayr) with
~ariq b. 'Amr. ~ariq spoke, "Woman shall never bear a
more manly person than he." Al-ijajjaj replied, "You
praise him who has rejected obedience to the Oommander
of Believers?" "Yes", said ~iriq, nit is more forgiving
of us (that we should). If it were not 50, we should
have no excuse, for we besieged him, while he had
neither trench, nor fortress nor equipment for defence ~
by which he could avenge us for seven months. Rather
he was superior to us in every encounter." When this
conversation reached the hearing of 'Abd al-Malik he
agreed with ~ariq.
146. 'Umar related to us (saying) Abü al-ijasan
related to us on the authority of one of his men: It
was as though l saw Zubayr who had killed a black slave
he had struck an~, hamstrung and who continued to attack
saying, 'Pat·tence, 0 Ibn ijam.!, in situations such as
this noblemen are patient.'
147. Al-ijarith related to me (saying ) Ibn Sa'd
related to us (saying) Muoammad b. 'Umar informed us
(saying) 'Abd al-Jabbar b. 'Umara related to me on the
authority of 'Abd Allah b. abi Bakr b. Muoammad b. ~r(8S2)
b. ijazm:Al-ijajjaj sent the heads of Ibn az-Zubayr and ~bd
Allah b. ~afwan and 'Umara b. 'Amr b. ijazm to Medina and they
e
85
were displayed in it. Then the heads were brought to
'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan. Al-ijajjaj entered Mecca, and
the Quraysh in the city payed homase to 'Abd al-Malik.
148. Abu Ja' far said: In this year 'Abd al-Màlik
placed ~ariq, 'Uthman's mawla as governor of Medina and
he remained there five months.
149. And in this year; as well, according to
al-Waqid!, Bishr b. Marwan died. According to other
sources al-Waqid! said that Bishr died in the year 74 A.H.
150. In this year also, accordins' to what is
mentioned (in some sources), 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan
despat'ched 'Umar b. 'Ubayd Allah b. Ma' mar to kill
Abu Fudayk.8l 'Abd al-Malik ordered him to commission
anyone he wished from among the Ba~rans. 'Umar arrived
at Kura and commissioned people there. Ten thousand
people were detailed to him. Then he went to Ba~ra
and another ten thousand were detailed there. 'Umar
sent to them their previsions andpay, and they received
them. 'Umar b. Ubayd Allah led them and placed the
KUfans on his right flank with Mu~ammad b. Musa b.
~al~a in charge; the Ba~rans were on his left flank
with his nephew 'Umar b. Musa b. 'Ubayd Allah in charge.
The cavalry was in the middle. Finally the army reached
Bao.rayn, and 'Umar b. 'Ubayd Allah arranged it by files.
Foot soldiers preceded with lances in the1r hands
which they fixed into the ground, and concealed with
pack saddles.
86
Abu Fudayk and his followers attacked as one (853)
man, and crushed 'Umar' s left flank until all but al
MughIra b. al-Muhallab, Ma'an b. al-MughIra and Mujja'a
b. 'Abd ar-RaQ.mSn and the cavalry were destroyed. (The
enemy) .then turned toward the KUfan flank which was
holding on. 'Amr b. MUsa b. 'Abd Allah was practically
dead (lying) among the slain; he had been severely
weakened by his wounds. When the Ba~rans saw that ·the
KUfans had not been routed, they rebuked themselves
and returned to fight without a leader. They came upon
'Amr b. Musa b. 'Abd Allah wounded and they carried him
right into the Khawajir army. The (Ba§rans) burned a
qantity of straw (which they had found in the camp)
and the wind carried (the smoke) against the Khawarij.
KUfans and. Ba~rans carried on until they had séj;zed the
Khawarij troops and killed Abu Fudayk. They encircled
the army in al-Mushaqqar82 which yielded to their
authority. 'Amr b. 'Ubayd Allah killed, according to
what is mentioned, around six thousand of them and took
eight hundred prisoner. They acquired a pregnant slave
girl from Abu Fudayk for Umayya b. 'Abd Allah and then
returned to Ba~ra.
87
151. In this year 'Abd al-Malik removed KhaJ.id
b. 'Abd Allah from Ba§ra and placed his brother Bishr
b. Marwan as governor over it together with the gover
norship of Kiifa. When the two governars.·. had been made
one Bishr set out for Baera and le ft 'Umar b. ijtirayth
behind in charge of Küfa.
152. In this same year as well Muoamaad b.
Marwan perfar.~ed a summer expedition against (the
Byzantines) and routed them.
153. It is said that in this year 'Uthman b.
al~WalId fought the Byzantines in the region of Armenia.
He had four and the Byzantines six thousand troops.
'Uthman routed them and most of the dead occurred on
the Byzantine side.
154. Al-ijajjaj b. Yusuf remained to perform the(854)
pilgrimage with the people in this year. He was in charge
of Mecea, the Yemen, and Yamama. Küfa and Ba~ra were,
according to al-WaqidI, in the hands of Bishr b. Marwan,
although others say that Bish~ was in charge of KUfa
while Khalid b. 'Abd Allah b. Khalid b. 'AsId was in
charge of Ba~ra. Shuray~ b. al-ij:arith was in charge of
juridical affairs in Kiifa and Hisham b. Hubayra in
Balira and Bukayr b. Wishal'J. in Khurasan.
NOTES
1. Ju1y 6th., 688 A.D. ta June 24th., 689 A.D.
2. 'Ayn Warda is identical with Ra's al-'Ayn which is 1acated on the Khabur River in al-Jazira, northern Syria. Yaqut, Mu~jam, ed. Wustenfe1d, III, p. 764; E.I.1 , III, pp. 119-1121, article "Ra's a1-'Aynll (E. Honigmann).
3. A district aboutthirty ki10meters fram A1eppo, named after a certain ijabIb b. Mas1ama who had captured the fortress there. Yaqut., Mu' jam, l, pp. 664-665; E.I2 , l, p. 1348, article "Butnanll
(F. Hours).
4. A town in al-JazIra on the left bank of the Euphrates near the confluence o~ the KhabUr.· Yaqut, Mu'jam, IV, pp. 65-66; E.I. l , pp. 765-766, article "JS:ar~isIyaJl (M. Streck).
5. A para11e1 text of this paragraph is to be found in Baladhuri, Ansab a1-Ashraf, IVb, p. 138:15-19, on the authority of Abu Mikhnaf.
6. The minbar, usua11y, a1though not always accurate-1y, rendered in English as "pulpit". It was a raised platform upon which a s".?eaker would stand ta. address his company. In this context, it seems reasonable to «ssume that 'Amr was addressing the people in the mosque at Damascus. E.I.1 , III, pp. 339-341, article "Masdjid" (Johs. Pedersen) and E.I.1 , III, pp. 499-500, article, "Minbar" (E. Diez).
88
7.
89
The context here obscures the meaning of the Arabie phrase &-'-' ~> J-. ~. The picture is c1earer in Baladhuri where the text of another ve.rsion reads: ~\..1 y.-L\ ~.).,I.,-' J& (~/) ~\ ~ ô~'J:-.)~ ~!,6\~ Ansab, IVb, p, 139:1-2. 'Amr was evident1y trying tofortify the city by whatever means, by heaping wood, heavy coarse c10th and matreeses upon the wall of the city.
8.· A tribe known as Qira was noted for its superb marksmen. One day, 1t is said, a Qiri met a man of the 'Asadtribe. The Qiri said to his opponent, "If you wish, l will wrest1e with you, or e1se challenge you to a race, or even- .. compete wi th you in mm:ksmanship." The 'Asad! rep1ied, "1 choose marksmanship." To which.the Qiri said, nyou have been just with me." Lisan a1-' Arab, V, p. 123 under ".",\; •
9. A1-Maydw, Majma' al-Amthil, II, p. 153.
10. Literal1y "son of a b1ue-eyed woman" which was a common epithet of 'Abd al-Malik.
11. The allusion here is to the murder of the Caliph 'Uthman (d. 35/656). Such was the intense feeling against him that he was not accorded the usual burial rites and his unwashed body was buried in a Jewish graveyard. In his dream, 'Amr may have seen 'Uthman appear in his bloodstained shirt, which he p1aced upon 'Amr. This was sure1y an i11 omen, which 'Amr neverthe1ess, chose to ignore. 'We11hausen, Arab Kingdom, p. 50.
12. A kind of white c1oth, named after the region of Quhistin. Lisin al-'Arab, XIII, p. 532.
90
13. E.I. l , II, pp. 921-924, article IIKhatam" (J. Allan) and E.I. 2, II, article "Diwân" (A.A. Duri).
14'. SarIr in Arabie, anything upon which one si ts or li~s. Lane notes that the word was possibly derived fr,om .' 'sarUr because it generally belonged to persons of ease and luxury, or pers ons in authority such as a king or Oaliph. Lexicon, p. 1339 a,b. In E.I. l , III, p. 339, suggested synonyms of sarIr are minbar, takht and kursi. Sar!r has been rendered as 'couch' here to denote something upon which one recJ.1.nes or sits. Although the sar!r spoken of here belonged to 'Abd al-Malik, we do not want to suggest that it refers to his 'throne' which might be misleading.
15. Jama'a pl. jawimi'. A shackle consisting of two rings, one for the neck, the other for the hands, which arejoined by a bar of iron. Lane, Lexicon, p. 2278.
16. AI-Maydëni, Majma' al-Amthil, II, p. 236. The expression in ~abarI is ' V:;"'S, a short form of the full expression ~.,s\ c.l c.::.J\.J \.~'\ •
17. E.I.li III, pp. ~33-335, article "Masdjid".
18. In Arabie magsüra, the part of the mosque which is the station of the Oaliph, so~called becaœe i t is partitioned off from the rest of the mosque by a railing or screening. Lane, Lexicon, p. 2536 a.
19. Qirtis pre QaratIs, syn. with Persian kaghad ( ~ \{) "paper" or "papyrus". Also means "scro11","writing"
1 or "bookll• Lane, Lexicon, pp. 2517 c-2518 a; E.I. ,
II, p. 1036, article "Kirtis" (01. Huart).
91
20. 'Ubayd Allah b. Qays '.:ar-Ruqqayat, b. ca. 625, a poet who openly embraced the Zubayrid cause and attached himself to Mus'ab b. az-Zubayr to whom he addreàsed several verses. Blachère, Histè1re~,;., pp. 606-609.
21. Hama is a birdof Arab legend which sits upon the tomb of a dead man whose spirit is unavenged. The bird cr:\.eS out "Give me drinkfl until the spirit is avenged and then it flies away. Lisan al-'Arab, XII, p. 624.
22. Ahl al-Bayt, "People of the House" or "Family". This meaning is extended in several~,::: .. ,:··.; .,~ ,'J.<,:"":.,,,' '.-:
ways, to branches of the Banu Hashim. E.I.1 , l, p. l8~, articl~ "Ahl al-Bait" ·(I. GOldziher).
23. The early dissenters of the Kharijites took the name al-MUbakkim~ which meant one who repeated tbe phrase flJudgement belongs to God alone ll (La bukma i1.la li-llihi). E.I.1 , II,p. 905 article "Kharidjites fl
(LeVi Della Vida).
24. A place in the hills to the east of Mecca on the road from it to 'Arafa. Yaqut, Mu'jam, IV, pp. 642-643; E.I. l , III, p. 498, article "Minafl (Fr. BUhl).
25. Al-Jamra:." Literally "Pebble fl which refers to piles of stones in the valley of Mina formed by the stones cast by pilgrims returning from 'Arafa. There are three such stone piles, one being near the al-Khayf mosque called al-J~at al-'Üla 'the first Jamrs', and is probsbly the one meant here. Yaqut, Mu'jam, II, p. 117; E.I. l , p. 1012,artiele IIA1-Dj'amrafl (Fr. Buhl).
26. June 25th., 689 A.D. to June l4th., 690 A.D.
27. More complete details of these evants are found in BaladhurI' s Ansab al-Ashr8.f, V, pp. 299-300.
28. This was the Emperor Justinian II Rhinotmetus (685-695).
29. June l5t~ 690 A.D. to June 3rd., ~9l A.D.
30. A place of uncertain locale, possibly south of Ti~krIt near the confluence of the Tigris and Tharthar Rivers. Yaqüt, Mu'jam, I,"pp. 454-455.
92
31. The poet w~s born ca. 45/665. B1ach~re, Histoire, pp. 475-476.
32. This phrase has been inserted by ~abar!. A par~-1e1 passage is found in Ba1adhur!, Ansab al-Asbraf, IVb, p. 155:15-18 on Abu Mikhnaf's authority. Ba1adhurI a1so has the account of a1-Mada'inI where the phrase dces n"ot appear. Ansab, IVb, p. 159:19 sq.
33. On shurta "armed attendants U, "police", "militia"
see Lane, Lexicon, p. 1533 c and E.I.;L, IV,article "ShurVa" (Zetterstéen).
34. A place near Ba§ra noted for this particular batt1e between the Ca1iph's forces and those of Mus'ab. Yaqüt, Mu'jam, II, p. 93.
35". A village in BaQ-rayn. Yaqüt, Mu' jam, l, p. 913.
36. rThe poet be10nged to the clan of Darim of the TamIm tribe. His dates are b. ca. 20/640, d. 120/738. Blachàre, Histoire, pp. 495-505.
37. 'Ayn at-Tamr, "The Spring of the Date Palm" due south of BIt a village in 'Iraq lying on the west side of the Euphrates near Anbar. Le St range , Eastern Caliphate, p. 65; Yaqut, Mu'jam, III, p. 759.
38. SamabIj, the name of an island in the &ri;ar\,&JcLf between 'Uman and Bao.rayn. Yaqut, Mu'jam, III, pp. 131-132.
39. Ietakhria, a man from a woman of Ie'tiakhr, a district of Persia with an ancient city.by the same name known. to the Greeks as Persepo1is. Le Strange, Eastern Caliphate, p. 275; ·yaqut, Mu' jam, l, pp. 299-300.
40. Name of a province in Persia. Yaqut, Mu'jam, IV, pp. 263-267; E.I.1 , II, pp. 1028-1033 (J.H. Kramers).
41. Zandaward is a town between Wasi-v and Baera. raqut, Mu'jam, II, pp. 951-952.
42. Blachêre, Histoire, p. 482.
43. Located on the DuëJay1 River "The Little Tigris", north of Baghdad. It is said that MUij'ab was buried. here. Yaqüt, Mu'jam, IV, pp. 529-531; Le Strange, Eastern Calipahte, p. 51.
44. This apparently refers to a palace in the city Mada'in which lay twenty miles south of Baghdad. Yaqüt, Mu'jam, l, p. 109. Le St range mentions a White Palace ( w..Y\ ~\) which may be the same place, Eastern Caliphate, p. 34.
45. Abü BaQ.r was the kunya of al-AQ,naf b. Qays an intimate of Mu~'ab b. az-Zubayr. Baladhuri, Ansab al-Ashraf, V, p. 337,·22.
46. An ancient monast~ in Maskin. Yaqüt, Mu'jam, II, pp. 650-651.
47. An Arab tribe of YemenI origin predominant in KÜfa. E.I. l , III, p. 82.
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48. Al-Ahwaz, originally known by the name of HurmuzShahr in Persian, was the capital of a province of the same name, known also as Khu~istan. Le Strange, Eastern Caliphate, pp. 2~2-2~~; Yaqut, Mu'jam, I, pp. 410-414.
49. A verse by Abü Qays al- Aslat, the name of ~ayfI b. 'Imir who was a leader of the Aw~ tribe in Medina. Blach~re, Histoire, p. ~12.
50. Supra, ,fn.20.
51. A place nearKüfa on the road to Syria. Yaqüt, Mu'jam, IV, pp. 771~-772.
52. Fussag, pl. of..flaS:Lg , a" grave sinner". A person who, in Islamic belief, was mid-way between a believer (muslim) and an unbeliever (katir). A detailed description of this concept is found in T. Izutsu, The Concept of Belief in Islamic Theolof!jY, (Tokyo, 1965), chap. ~.
5~. A parallelversion is found in BaladhurI, Ansab al-Ashrat, V,pp. ~47:10 -~48:10 on the authority of 'Awana b. al-ijakam.
54. At. ijira, the famous Sassanian city which lay in ruins just south of Kufa were two palaces of asSadlr and al-Khawaranq. The latter was sometimes used as a hunting lodge by the Caliphs. Le Strange, Eastern Caliphate, pp. 75-76; Yaqut, Mu'jam, II, pp. 490-494.
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55. A town in western Asia Minor. Le Strange, Eastern Caliphate, pp. 145-146; Yaqut, Mu'jam, IV, p. 214.
56. June 4th., 691.A.D •. to May 22nd., 692 A.D.
57. One of the main branches of the Kharijites, Its name being derived from its leader, Nifi' b. alAzraq who was killed in battle in the al-Ahwaz region in 65/685 against the Zubayrid general Muslim b.'Ubayr. E.I~, l, pp. 810-811~(R. RUbinacci).
58. "Leader". M. Huart observes that "the conduct of public worship became thus one of the chief attributes of the ruler and the transference of power to the gogernors of the provinces was seen·in a form visible to all when the Caliph's deputy placed himself at the head of the community assembled for prayer." E.I. l , II, p. 473 article "Imam". This description would well.suit Mu~'ab as the Imam or leader of the 'Iraq!s acting on behalf of, or deputy for his brother the (anti-)Caliph 'Abd Allah b. az-Zubayr.
59. "Protector" or "guardian". Not to be confused with the strictly religious meaning of "saint".·
60. This is a tex payed upon landed property as opposed to other kinds of taxes on persons, such as the 'poll tas' jizya.
61. One of the five districts into which Fars is divided. It is also called Shapur Khurra and Shapur is the chief town. Le Strange,Eaatern Caliphate, p. 148.
62. Another district of Faœwith Shiraz as its capit~. Le Strange, Eastern Caliphate, p. 148.
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63. F.asa is si tuated about 55 kilomete~s from Darabjird which itself was the capital of the easternmost of the five districts of Fars. Le.Strange, Eastern Caliphate, pp. 148, 288.
64. A City east of al-Ahwaz which received its name from King Hurmuz. Le Strange, Eastern Caliphate, p. 243.
65.' One of the chief towns of Jibal province, located in the north east corner. ·',.I['»i tten in Arabie wi th the definite article, ar-Rayy, it 1s the name representing the Greek':.: Rhages. Le st range , Eastern Caliphate, pp. 215-217.
66. Fay' lands, according to theory, arose from the unconditional surrender of territories taken,dur1ng the Muslim conquests, as against terri tories which were 'part of a negotiated peace settlement. In this particular context the term is not clear however, E.I. 2 , II, pp. 869-870,article on "Fay'" (F ~egaard) •
67. A town in Arabia about 75 miles south east of Mecca in the sarat mountains. It was the home of al
Uajjaj b. Yusuf whose tribe, the Thaqaf were native to the city. E.I. l , IV, pp. 621-622 (H. Lammens).
68. A plain situated about 20 kilbmeters east of Mecca on the road to ~a'if, the site of the main ceremonies during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. E.I. 2, I, p.604.
69. It iS".unclear from the ~rabic, to whom the pronoun , him' refers. It could be ei ther al-ijaj j aj 'or Ibn az-Zubayr.
70. An ancient well of uncertain location in the environs of Mecca. E.I.2 , II, pp. 1232-1233. (G. Rentz).
•
71. A mountain overlook1ng Mecca. Yaqüt, Mu' jam, II, p. 215.
72. Ka'k i8 a dry biscuit or cake. 8a .. 19 is meal of parched barley.
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73. An important town in the Oxus region (Saghaniyan district), north west of Balkh near the junction of the Oxus and Zimil Rivers. Le Strange, Eastern Caliphate, p. 440.
74. May 23rd., 692 A.D. to May l2th., 693 A.D.
75. Tihama is the name given to the region of low lying land along the coast running from the Sinai peninsula along the west and south side of Arabia. Mecca is generallyincluded in this region.E.I. l , IV, pp. 763-765 (A. Grohmann).
76. ij:om~ or JJim~ was the Emese. of the Greeks, situated near the Orontes River in the Orontes Plain of central 8yria. E.I.2 , III, pp. 397-402 article "JJim~1t (N. Elisséeff); Yaqüt, Mu'jam, II, pp.334-338
77. Al-Abtaq or al-Batqa' is the bottom of the valley in which Mecca stood and where the water of the Zamzam well accumulated near the Ka'ba. E.I. l , III, p. 438, article "Mecca" (H. Lammens); Yaqut, Mu'jam, l, p. 92.
78. Qur'in, Sura 68.
79. Verse by al-JJu~ayn b. al-ijamam al-MurrI.
80. Verse by al-MurrI. 81. On Abu Fudayk see above in the translation, par. 116.
82. Name of a fortress in BaQ.x'ayn. Yaqut, Mu' jam, IV,p. 541 •
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