Ibn Jarir (1) and others report that a man known as Ibn Uthal—he was the head of the non-Muslim taxpayers in Homs—served ʿAbd al-Raḥmān a drink containing poison, from which he died. Some claimed that Ibn Uthal acted on Muʿāwiyah’s instructions, but this is unsubstantiated; Allah knows best.

Someone composed an elegy for him (2):
Your father was the one who led the armies westward
against the Romans, once Persia had paid its tribute.
How many a youth you roused from deepest sleep
by the ring of a bridle—maimed and heavy-eyed though he was.
The two battle lines are never the same:
one stands with Khalid, the other with men in Damascus cloaks.

They also relate that Khalid ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khalid arrived in Madinah. ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr asked him, “What became of Ibn Uthal?” Khalid remained silent, returned to Homs, rebelled against Ibn Uthal, and killed him. [Muʿāwiyah imprisoned him for a while and then released him; when Khalid later visited Madinah, ʿUrwah again asked, “What became of Ibn Uthal?”] (3) He replied, “I have spared you the trouble of him. But what became of Ibn Jurmuz?” ʿUrwah fell silent.

According to one opinion, Muḥammad ibn Maslamah also died that year; we have already mentioned his passing.

Haram ibn Ḥayyān (4) al-ʿAbdī (5) likewise passed away. He had served as one of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb’s officials, had met Uways al-Qaranī, and was counted among the intelligent, the learned, and the devout. It is said that when he was buried a cloud came, watered his grave, and grass sprouted on it immediately; Allah knows best.

[Then the year 47 AH began.] In that year the Muslims spent the winter in Byzantine lands for the sake of jihad (6).