He took control of Syria and Egypt after his father’s death, then fought Ibn al-Zubayr, the caliph, and killed his brother Musʿab at the battle of Maskin (1). He went on to secure Iraq and dispatched al-Ḥajjāj to wage war against Ibn al-Zubayr, who was slain in 72 AH, after which all the provinces fell solidly under ʿAbd al-Malik’s authority.

Ibn Saʿd said (2): Before becoming caliph he was a devoted worshipper and ascetic in Medina.

He witnessed the assassination of ʿUthmān when he was ten years old. It is reported that Muʿāwiyah appointed him governor of Medina—so the narrator said—whereas in truth the appointment went to his father.

He was fair-skinned, tall, with joined eyebrows, large eyes, a prominent nose, and a delicate face. He was not corpulent, and both his hair and beard were white (3).

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Zabr narrated from Yūnus ibn Maysarah, from ʿAbd al-Malik, that he once proclaimed from the pulpit: “I heard Abū Hurayrah say that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘No Muslim who neither goes out to fight, nor equips a fighter, nor looks after him in his absence will escape a calamity that Allah will afflict upon him before death.’” (4)

ʿUbādah ibn Nusay related that Ibn ʿUmar said, “Marwān has a son who is a jurist; ask him.” (5)

It is also said that Abū Hurayrah looked at ʿAbd al-Malik when he was still a boy and remarked, “This youth will one day rule the Arabs.”