lay in your hand, I would have taken you as a god.

Al-Ḥajjāj asked, “What do you say about Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace?”

He replied, “He is the Prophet of mercy, the leader of right guidance.”

Al-Ḥajjāj continued, “And what is your view of ʿAlī—will he be in Paradise or in the Fire?”

Saʿīd answered, “If I enter it and see who lives there, I shall know.”

Al-Ḥajjāj said, “What is your opinion of the caliphs?”

He replied, “I have not been appointed as their keeper.”

“Which of them appeals to you most?”

“The one who is most pleasing to my Creator.”

“And which of them is the most pleasing to the Creator?”

“The knowledge of that rests with Him.”

Al-Ḥajjāj said, “You refuse to tell me the truth.”

Saʿīd answered, “I simply did not wish to lie to you.”

Al-Ḥajjāj asked, “Why is it that you do not laugh?”

He replied, “Hearts are not all alike.”

Then al-Ḥajjāj ordered pearls, rubies, and emeralds to be brought and piled up in front of Saʿīd. He said, “If you have amassed this to ransom yourself from the terror of the Day of Resurrection, then fine; otherwise, a single shock will cause every nursing mother to forget her suckling. There is no good in anything gathered for this world unless it is pure and wholesome.”

Al-Ḥajjāj next called for the lute and the flute. When the lute was plucked and the flute blown, Saʿīd wept. Al-Ḥajjāj asked, “What makes you cry? It is only amusement.”

He replied, “It is sorrow, not amusement. The blowing reminded me of the Day the Trumpet will be blown; the lute is a tree cut down without right; and the strings are the intestines of a sheep—you will be raised with them on the Day of Resurrection.”

“Woe to you, Saʿīd!” exclaimed al-Ḥajjāj.

“Woe belongs to the one who is driven from Paradise and cast into the Fire,” Saʿīd retorted.

Al-Ḥajjāj said, “Choose the manner in which I shall kill you.”

“Choose for yourself, O Ḥajjāj, for by Allah, whichever way you kill me, I shall kill you the same way in the Hereafter.”

“So you want me to pardon you?”

He replied, “If pardon comes, it is from Allah. As for you, you have neither innocence nor excuse.”

Al-Ḥajjāj ordered, “Take him away and kill him.”

As Saʿīd passed through the doorway he laughed. When al-Ḥajjāj heard of this, he had him brought back and asked, “What made you laugh?”

“I was amazed at your audacity toward Allah and His forbearance with you!” he said.

Al-Ḥajjāj ordered the leather mat to be spread and commanded, “Kill him.”

Saʿīd recited, “I have turned my face toward the One who created the heavens and the earth” (Qur’an 6:79).

“Turn him away from the qiblah,” al-Ḥajjāj said.

Saʿīd responded, “Whichever way you turn, there is the Face of Allah” (Qur’an 2:115).

“Throw him down on his face!”

He said, “From it We created you, and into it We shall return you” (Qur’an 20:55).

“Slaughter him!” ordered al-Ḥajjāj.

Saʿīd declared, “I bear witness—and shall plead with this testimony—that there is no deity but Allah, alone, without