Among a band of youths, their faces gleaming like newly-minted dinars—
Allah has shielded them from hypocrisy and fatigue.
Linked to Abū Bakr, to Zayd, to ʿUmar,
and after them to the Disciple, their radiant grandsire.
There, nobility rose high and thundered;
over it they stand, evening and morning.
They water every comer and no one is hurt;
were you to thank them, your thanks would only grow.
Al-Zubayr said: My uncle Muṣʿab ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us:
ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr had sold his estate at al-Ghābah (1), the property known as al-Siqāyah, to Muʿāwiyah for one hundred thousand dinars. He then divided the proceeds among Banū Asad and Taym, and from that money Mujāḥ (2) was purchased for ʿUrwah for thousands of dinars.
Al-Zubayr also said: Muṣʿab ibn ʿUthmān related to us, from ʿĀmir ibn Ṣāliḥ, from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, who said:
ʿUrwah came to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, who seated him beside him on the throne. Some people entered and spoke ill of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr. ʿUrwah left and said to the chamberlain, “ʿAbd Allāh is my brother. If you intend to revile him, do not admit me to your presence.”
When this was reported to ʿAbd al-Malik he said to him, “Tell me what you said. We did not kill your brother out of hatred; he sought a goal and we sought it, so we killed him. It is the custom of the Syrians that they do not kill a man without also cursing him. Thus, whenever we grant someone an audience before you, another comes along to abuse him. So depart.”
Later, ʿUrwah visited al-Walīd when his foot had become ulcerated (3), and he was told, “Amputate it.”
He replied, “I dislike cutting off a part of myself.”
The affliction then spread to his knee, and it was said, “If it reaches your knee, it will kill you.”
So he had it amputated, yet his face did not flinch.
Before the operation he had been asked, “Shall we give you a potion so you will feel no pain?”
He answered, “I would not wish even this wall to spare me its pain.”
Maʿmar narrated from al-Zuhrī, who said:
The devouring disease struck ʿUrwah’s leg, and it climbed