Thereafter he continued to uphold the authority of the state, unsheathing the sword whenever necessary, until the people feared him profoundly and abandoned the open sins they had been committing. He sought assistance in his duties from a number of Companions: he appointed ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn as judge in Basra, made al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAmr deputy over Khurasan, and assigned Samurah ibn Jundub, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Samurah, and Anas ibn Mālik to other positions.
Ziyād was decisive in counsel, formidable, and exceptionally shrewd. He was also a gifted, eloquent orator.
Al-Shaʿbī said, “I have never heard an orator speak well without wishing he would stop—lest he slip into error—except Ziyād, for the more he spoke, the better his speech became.”
He also enjoyed standing and esteem with ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him).
In this same year al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAmr al-Ghifārī—Ziyād’s deputy in Khurasan—launched a campaign, at Ziyād’s instruction, against Mount al-Ashal (1). He killed many of its inhabitants and captured an immense amount of wealth.
Ziyād wrote to him: “A letter has come from the Commander of the Believers ordering that every yellow and white piece—that is, all gold and silver—from this booty be set aside for the public treasury.”
Al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAmr al-Ghifārī replied: “The Book of Allah takes precedence over the letter of the Commander of the Believers. By Allah, if the heavens and the earth were to close in upon a servant (2) who fears Allah, He would grant him a way out.”
He then proclaimed to the people, “Come early to receive your shares of the booty,” and distributed it among them, acting contrary to Ziyād’s directive conveyed on behalf of Muʿāwiyah, while setting aside the one-fifth, as Allah and His Messenger had commanded.
Afterward al-Ḥakam said, “O Allah, if there is any good for me with You, then take me.” He died in Marw, Khurasan—may Allah have mercy on him.
Ibn Jarīr states: In this year Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam led the people in the pilgrimage; he was governor of Madinah, and the governors and officials were the same as in the previous year (3).
In this year there also passed away:
Zayd ibn Thābit al-Anṣārī (4), one of the scribes of revelation; we have related his biography among them toward the end of the Sīrah, and he was