449 — He said: Sulaymān said: Muhammad ibn al-Hakam also related to us, from Awānah, who said:

Al-Hārith ibn Khālid ibn al-Ās ibn Hishām remained at the door of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwān for a year. He then departed, reciting:

[al-Tawīl meter]

“I followed you while foolishness clouded my sight;
when it cleared, I tore myself apart with reproach.

I kept turning my soul toward you until it seemed
my misery lay in your hands—or its happiness rested with you.

Yet even if you cast me aside, no servility lies within me,
nor is my soul reduced to needing one who would humiliate it.”

Abd al-Malik sent a messenger to bring him back, saying, “Follow him and bring him back to me, even if you reach Mecca.” When he came before Abd al-Malik, he asked, “Did you find it beneath you to remain at my door?”

He replied, “No, by Allah, Commander of the Faithful. I did not find it beneath me to remain at your door, nor do I wish to turn away from you. But my stay had grown long, and I have an estate and a debt to pay.”

He asked, “How much do you owe?”

He replied, “Thirty thousand dinars.”

Abd al-Malik said, “If you wish, I shall settle your debt; or, if you wish, I shall appoint you governor of Mecca for a year.”

He replied, “Appoint me governor of Mecca for a year.” So he appointed him and subsequently dismissed him.