awe-inspiring, relentless in his assault, cultivated and eloquent, and some of his epistles are still held in high esteem.
Yet, for all these gifts he was not granted felicity; affairs grew turbulent and the Umayyad dynasty came to an end.
He was given the pledge of allegiance as caliph in mid-Ṣafar, 127 AH. When he heard of the murder of al-Walid the previous year, he called upon the Muslims to pledge allegiance to whomever they approved, and they pledged to him. When news reached him of the death of Yazīd al-Nāqiṣ, he spent lavishly and advanced with thirty thousand cavalry; when he arrived in Aleppo, they swore allegiance to him.
He then entered Ḥimṣ and invited its people to pledge allegiance to the two heirs apparent—al-Ḥakam and ʿUthmān, the sons of al-Walid ibn Yazīd—who were being held in the caliph Ibrāhīm’s prison. The army of Ḥimṣ joined him, and the two forces met at Marj ʿAdhrāʾ ⦗1⦘, where Marwān was victorious. Ibrāhīm fell back and camped at Maydān al-Ḥaṣā ⦗2⦘; his troops scattered, his supporters rebelled, and they killed the two heirs and Yūsuf ibn ʿUmar in prison. The young men of Damascus then rose up against ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Ḥajjāj ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and killed him because he had ordered the execution of the three.
Next they brought Abū Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah al-Sufyānī out of prison, set him on the pulpit in his shackles so that he might receive the pledge of allegiance, and placed the head of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz before him. He preached, urged unity, and acknowledged the pledge to Marwān. When Ibrāhīm the caliph heard of this he fled, and Marwān granted the people amān (safe-conduct).
The first to salute him as caliph was Abū Muḥammad al-Sufyānī, and Marwān ordered Yazīd al-Nāqiṣ to be exhumed and crucified.
As for Ibrāhīm, he abdicated, wrote a deed of allegiance to Marwān al-Ḥimār, and was granted safety; he lived quietly in al-Raqqah.
Al-Madāʾinī said: “Marwān possessed great nobility, was fond of entertainment, but war kept him occupied. He loved movement and travel.”