would be a contemptible man were I to let them keep anything and then revoke it.”

Tariq answered, “We are only protecting you—and protecting ourselves—by parting with a portion of our wealth, while your favor toward us remains.”

Khalid refused. Tariq therefore bade him farewell and went to Yusuf. Tariq died under torture; Khalid endured every hardship, and a number of his officials likewise perished under the torment after Yusuf had extracted ninety million dirhams from them.

It was said that Hisham’s spite against Khalid was fueled by the latter’s vast wealth and estates, and because Khalid spoke too freely about him. Hisham wrote to Yusuf: “March against him with thirty mounted men.”

Yusuf reached Kufa in seventeen nights. He camped near the city, where the governor, Tariq, had just circumcised his son; the people had presented Tariq with one thousand freedmen, one thousand page-boys, and one thousand maidservants, besides money and garments. A man came to Tariq and said, “I have seen people I did not recognize; they claim to be travelers.”

Yusuf meanwhile headed for the dwellings of Banu Thaqif. He ordered a man to gather for him as many fighters of Mudar as he could, then entered the mosque at dawn. He told the muezzin to give the iqama, but the latter said, “Not until the imam arrives.” Yusuf rebuked him, the iqama was pronounced, and he led the prayer, reciting When the Event befalls (al-Waqiʿah) and A Questioner asked (al-Maʿārij). He then sent for Khalid and his companions; they were seized and their property confiscated.

Ashras al-Asadi relates: “Hisham’s letter reached Yusuf, but he concealed its contents and said, ‘I intend to perform ʿumrah.’ He set out, and I went with him. He did not utter a single word to any of us until we reached al-ʿUdhaib, where he said, ‘These are not the days for ʿumrah.’

“He remained silent until we came to al-Hirah. There he lay on his back and recited:
It was not long before our camels cast us forth
To a far exile, though the pact is still new.

“Then he entered Kufa, led the dawn prayer—his elocution was flawless and his voice melodious.”

Another report states that Hisham ibn ʿAbd al-Malik wrote to Yusuf: “If so much as a thorn pricks Khalid, I will surely kill you.”

Khalid therefore went to Syria, where he continued to lead the summer expeditions until Hisham died.

Yet another version holds that Yusuf tortured him only one day but kept him in prison for some thirteen months, then