Rāwḥ ibn Qabīṣah reported, on the authority of his father, that al-Muhallab said:
“Nothing preserves sovereignty better than clemency; the ruler’s greatest virtue is to pardon.” (1)
I say: A king’s clemency should apply in matters short of homicide—save where the prescribed punishments must be enforced. He ought not to pardon an oppressive governor or a judge who takes bribes; rather, he should remove them at once and punish the accused with imprisonment. The forbearance of rulers is praiseworthy only when they fear Allah and act in obedience to Him.
It is said that al-Muhallab died while on campaign at Marw al-Rūdh (2) in Dhū al-Ḥijjah of the year 82 AH. Others place his death in 83 AH. After him, his son Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab assumed the governorship of Khurasan.
- Jamīl ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Maʿmar, Abū ʿAmr al-ʿUdhri—
a celebrated poet, famed for his love of Buthayna. His verse stands at the summit of grace, delicacy, and eloquence.
He lived until roughly the year 100 AH. Among the poets of his age were:
• al-Akhtal, court poet of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān—his given name was Ghiyāth ibn Ghawth al-Taghlibi, a Christian (3) and the foremost of the poets;
• Jarīr ibn al-Khaṭfā (4), the leading poet of his day;
• al-Farazdaq al-Mujāshiʿi (5), the poet of the age;
• ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Rabīʿah al-Makhzūmi (6), the poet of Quraysh; and
• Kuthayyir ʿIzza (7), son of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Aswad al-Khuzaʿi al-Madani.