“I see, beneath the ashes, a glimmer of flame—
sure enough, it is bound to burst into a blaze; (1)
for fire is struck only when the two fire-sticks meet,
and deeds are always ushered in by words.
If the wise men of a people do not extinguish it,
its fuel will be their corpses and their shattered skulls.
In bewilderment I exclaim: would that I knew—
are the Umayyads awake, or are they asleep?!”

Ibn Hubayrah then wrote to Caliph Marwan, informing him of Ibn Ḍubārah’s death. Marwan dispatched Hawtharah ibn Suhayl al-Bahili with ten thousand tribesmen of the Qays confederation to reinforce him. Marwan’s troops assembled at Nahavand under the command of Malik ibn Adham. Qahtabah besieged them for four months, pressing them so hard that hunger drove them to eat their mounts. In Shawwal they emerged under a pledge of safety, yet Qahtabah executed the leading commanders and sons of Nasr ibn Sayyar.

He next advanced toward Iraq. Ibn Hubayrah came out to confront him and encamped near Hulwan with fifty-three thousand cavalry, and the two armies drew close.

In that same year, 131 AH, Abu Muslim left Marw for Nishapur, and the whole province submitted to him.

When the year 132 AH began, word reached Ibn Hubayrah that Qahtabah was heading toward Mosul. He asked his companions, “Why are they skirting us?” They replied, “They intend Kufa.”

Ibn Hubayrah therefore set off back toward Kufa, and Qahtabah did the same. Qahtabah crossed the Euphrates with seven hundred horse, and roughly the same number gathered around Ibn Hubayrah. They engaged in battle; Qahtabah ibn Shabib was pierced by a lance, fell into the water, and died, unknown to his own men. Even so, Ibn Hubayrah’s forces were routed; some of them drowned, and their baggage was lost.

Bayhas ibn Habib recounts: After we had crossed, the people gathered, and a herald cried, “Whoever wishes to go to Syria, come!” (2) A band of men went with him. Another shouted, “Whoever wants the Jazirah …,” and another, “Whoever wants Kufa ….” The army scattered in these directions, so I said, “Whoever wants Wasit, come!”

By morning we were at the bridges of al-Musayyab with the commander Ibn Hubayrah, and we entered the town.