Then came the year 49 AH.
That year Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah campaigned against Byzantine territory until he reached Constantinople. A number of leading Companions accompanied him, among them Ibn ʿUmar, Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn al-Zubayr, and Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī. It is established in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (1) that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The first army from my ummah that attacks the city of Caesar will have its sins forgiven.” This was the very first force to assault the city, and they only arrived after enduring extreme hardship. While there (2) Abū Ayyūb Khālid ibn Zayd al-Anṣārī passed away—not during this expedition itself, but a few years later, in the middle fifties, as will be mentioned.
In the same year Muʿāwiyah dismissed Marwān from the governorship of Madinah and appointed Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ in his place. Saʿīd, in turn, named Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf as judge over the city.
That year Mālik ibn Hubayrah al-Fazārī spent the winter in Byzantine lands.
In the same year came the expedition of Faḍālah ibn ʿUbayd; he likewise wintered there, captured the town, and acquired abundant booty, [including slaves and other goods] (3).
Also in that year ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Kurz al-Bajalī led the summer raid.
That year a plague struck Kūfah. Al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah fled the city, but when the epidemic subsided he returned, only to contract the plague himself and die. The sounder opinion is that his death occurred in 50 AH, as will be explained.
[During the same year Muʿāwiyah relieved Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam of the governorship of Madinah in the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal and appointed Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir. Marwān had governed Madinah on Muʿāwiyah’s behalf for eight years and two months. Marwān’s judge in the city had been ʿAbd-Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Nawfal; when Saʿīd took office he dismissed him and appointed Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf] (4).
In the same year Muʿāwiyah combined the governorships of Kūfah and Baṣrah under Ziyād, making him the first to hold both provinces at once. He would reside in each for six months, and whenever he departed from Baṣrah he left Samurah ibn Jundub in charge.