of Damascus, nicknamed “al-Nāqiṣ” (“the Diminisher”) because he reduced the soldiers’ stipends.

He rose up against his cousin al-Walīd ibn Yazīd and, as has been noted, the affair fell to him; he occupied the caliphal residence in the year 126 AH, yet he scarcely enjoyed it—he did not even have time to swallow his own saliva.

Sulaymān ibn Abī Shaykh reported that when the commander Qutaybah ibn Muslim campaigned beyond the river, he captured two daughters of Fayrūz, son of King Yazdegerd. He sent them to al-Ḥajjāj, who in turn dispatched one of them, Shāhfarand, to al-Walīd; she bore him Yazīd.

Fayrūz’s grandmother was the daughter of Khāqān, king of the Turks, and their mother was the daughter of Caesar, the mighty ruler of Byzantium. Thus Yazīd used to boast, saying:

I am Khosrow’s son, and Marwān is my sire;
Caesar is my grandsire—and Khāqān no less.

Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ said: Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us from his father that, after al-Walīd was killed, Yazīd ibn al-Walīd addressed the people, saying:

“By Allah, I did not rise out of insolence or arrogance, nor out of greed for the world or desire for rule. Indeed, I would wrong my own soul if my Lord does not have mercy on me. Rather, I rose in anger for Allah and His religion, calling to the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Prophet at a time when the landmarks of guidance had been effaced, the light of the God-fearing extinguished, and a tyrant had appeared who violated the sacred and rode the mount of innovation. I feared that his oppression, which has engulfed you, might not be lifted on account of your sins, and I feared that he would summon others to what he was upon. So I sought Allah’s guidance and rallied those who responded to me, and Allah relieved the land and its people of him.

“O people, your right upon me, should I be entrusted with authority, is that I shall not place brick upon brick, nor transfer wealth from one region to another, until I have fortified the frontier posts. If anything remains, I shall return it to the nearest province until livelihoods are set aright and made equitable. If you wish to pledge allegiance to me on the basis of what I have offered you, I am yours; but if I deviate, you owe me no allegiance. Should you see someone stronger than I am in fulfilling this, and you wish to pledge to him, I will be the first to give him my oath and to obey him. I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you.”

ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀtikah said: “The first man to appear armed on the day of ʿĪd was Yazīd ibn al-Walīd.”