not even two men could lift one; they would have to split it with an axe (1).

It is also said that when Mūsā entered Ifriqiya he found most of its towns deserted, for the Berbers were at one another’s throats and the land was in the grip of drought. He therefore ordered the people to pray, fast, and mend their ways, then led them out to the open plain, bringing along all the animals. He separated the beasts from their young, whereupon cries and wailing filled the air. He remained until the sun reached its zenith, then performed the prayer and delivered a sermon—in which he made no mention of al-Walid.

Someone asked him, “Will you not supplicate for the Commander of the Believers?” He replied, “This is a station in which supplication is directed to Allah alone.”

Rain then fell, and relief was granted.

When he had pressed far on into al-Andalus he came upon a land that trembled beneath its inhabitants. His troops said, “Where do you intend to take us? What we already hold is enough.” He answered, “Had you obeyed me, I would have reached Constantinople.”

He then returned to the Maghrib riding his mule, Kawkab, as though drawing the whole world behind him. Ox-carts hauled bales of gold and silk at his command. He left his son as governor in Ifriqiya and took with him one hundred Berber nobles and one hundred and twenty kings and princes. He reached Egypt in a splendour the like of which had never been heard, showered gifts upon its scholars and notables, and made his way to Syria. There he learned of al-Walid’s illness, and Sulaymān wrote instructing him to halt, but he paid no heed; Sulaymān swore that, if he caught him, he would crucify him.

He arrived before al-Walid’s death, kept for himself treasures beyond reckoning, and placed the remainder in the public treasury. The Table alone was appraised at one hundred thousand dinars.

When Sulaymān succeeded to the caliphate, he humiliated him: the corpulent Mūsā was forced to stand in the scorching heat until he lost consciousness, while ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz writhed in sympathy.

Sulaymān then said, “Abū Ḥafs, it seems I have broken my oath.”

Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab took him under his protection, and he ransomed himself with a payment of one million dinars; another report holds