340 – Sulaymān ibn al-Ashʿath narrated to us; Maḥmūd ibn Khālid al-Sulamī told me; al-Haytham ibn ʿImrān related to them; he said: I heard Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUbayd Allāh say:
I used to tutor Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, Marwān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, and Muʿāwiyah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān—the youngest of the three, all of them sons of ʿĀtika bint Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah ⦗515⦘.
I was reclining on a mattress while they sat before me studying, when ʿAbd al-Malik entered, walking in without a cloak. Seeing him heading toward me, intending to sit, I rose from the mattress. ʿAbd al-Malik said, “Stay where you are, Ismāʿīl.” So I remained seated while he stood and called, “Boy, bring me a cushion.” A cushion was brought, he sat down, and his sons sat either before me or at my side.
They said, “Commander of the Believers, Ismāʿīl has finished teaching us; may we play?”
He asked, “With what would you like to play?”
They answered, “With walnuts.”
He said, “Boy, bring us a basket of walnuts.” They began to play, and ʿAbd al-Malik started helping his middle son, Marwān, against Muʿāwiyah the younger. The younger one fled and burst into tears.
ʿAbd al-Malik said to him, “Over ten walnuts he won from you, you cry? We will give you a whole sackful!”
The boy replied, “By Allah, I am not crying because he beat me; I am crying because today you have started teaching him how to beat me!” ⦗516⦘
Ismāʿīl said: I then said to Yazīd, “Do you not see your brother? He cried over ten walnuts.” The boy lowered his head in shame and did not answer me—meaning Yazīd.
When ʿAbd al-Malik saw his silence he said, “He has become bashful; we shall indeed find Abū Khālid forbearing and quiet,” referring to Yazīd.
While they were playing and laughing he said, “My sons, you laugh and play while so much has passed over your father’s head.”
They said, “And you, Commander of the Believers—while the people are under your authority—over what?”
He replied, “My sons, I used to march with the Syrians against the people of Iraq. The Iraqis were as numerous as mountains, and my supporters from Syria were exposed to enemies on every side; my mind would leave me for a long time, then Allah would restore it to me afterward.”