That same year Muʿāwiyah removed ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ from the governorship of Egypt and installed Muʿāwiyah ibn Ḥudayj (1) in his stead.

The rites of pilgrimage were led by ʿUtbah—though some say it was his brother ʿAnbasah—son of Abū Sufyān; Allah knows best.

Among those who passed away this year was

Qays ibn ʿĀṣim al-Minqarī (2). He ranked among the chiefs both in the pre-Islamic era and after the coming of Islam. During the Jāhiliyyah (pre-Islamic period) he proscribed wine for himself. The reason was that he once became drunk and behaved inappropriately toward a close female relative, causing her to flee. When morning came and he was told what he had done, he swore off wine and composed the verses:

I found that wine debases; within it lie
disgraceful acts that shame the noble man.
By Allah, never shall I drink it while I live,
nor ever seek in it a cure for pain. (3)

He embraced Islam with the delegation of Banū Tamīm (4).

In one report the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said of him, “This man is the chief of the desert dwellers.” (5)

He was renowned for generosity, virtue, and nobility. On the day he died a poet (6) lamented:

The death of Qays is not the loss of one alone;
it is the downfall of an entire people’s rampart.

[It is also said that this couplet was composed by al-Khansāʾ for her brother Ṣakhr.] (7)

Al-Aṣmaʿī related: I heard Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ and Abū Sufyān ibn al-ʿAlāʾ say that al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays was asked, “From whom did you learn forbearance?” He replied, “From Qays ibn ʿĀṣim al-Minqarī. We used to consult him on matters of judgment just as people consult jurists on matters of law. One day we were with him—he was sitting in his courtyard, wrapped in his cloak—when a group approached carrying both a dead man and a bound man. The dead man was his son; the prisoner was his nephew. They said, ‘This is your son—your brother’s son has killed him.’ By Allah, he did not even loosen