ʿUqbah (1); he later deposed him and appointed Saʿid ibn al-ʿĀṣ. Saʿid remained there for a time, yet his conduct won no praise among them and they did not care for him. Malik ibn al-Ḥārith—al-Ashṭar al-Nakhaʿī—then rode with a party to ʿUthmān and asked that Saʿid be removed, but the Caliph refused. Saʿid was with him in Madinah, so he dispatched him to Kufah. Al-Ashṭar, however, reached Kufah first, addressed the people, and urged them to bar Saʿid’s entry; he himself rode with an armed contingent to keep him out. It is said they met him as far as al-ʿUdhaib while Saʿid had encamped at al-Raʿthah (2). They prevented him from entering and persisted until they sent him back to ʿUthmān. Al-Ashṭar then appointed Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī over the prayer and the frontier, and Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān over the public revenue. The people of Kufah approved this arrangement and wrote to ʿUthmān, who ratified it and outwardly expressed pleasure, yet this was the first crack to appear in ʿUthmān’s authority.
Saʿid ibn al-ʿĀṣ remained in Madinah until the time of ʿUthmān’s siege, during which he was with him in the house. Later, when Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr, together with ʿĀʾishah, set out from Mecca in pursuit of ʿUthmān’s killers, he rode with them, but soon he and al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah, along with others, withdrew and stayed in al-Ṭāʾif until all those wars had ended. Muʿāwiyah then appointed him governor of Madinah in the year 49 AH, dismissing Marwān; Saʿid held the post for a while (3) before Marwān was reinstated.
ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr reported, on the authority of Qabīṣah ibn Jābir: Ziyād once sent me on some business to Muʿāwiyah. When I had completed my task I asked, “Commander of the Believers, to whom will authority pass after you?” He paused a moment and then said, “It will be contested among several men: The nobleman (4) of Quraysh is Saʿid ibn al-ʿĀṣ; the young Qurashī famed for modesty, shrewdness, and generosity is ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir; as for al-Ḥasan (5) ibn ʿAlī, he is a gracious nobleman; the one who recites the Book of Allah, is learned in His religion, and uncompromising regarding His penalties is Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; a jurist is ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar; and the man who will defend the Sacred Law with the stratagems of beasts of prey and dodge like a fox is ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr.”
We have also transmitted that on one occasion he became thirsty while walking along a street of Madinah. A man brought him water from his house, and he drank. Some time later he saw that same man offering his house for sale. He asked why he was selling it and was told, “He owes a debt of four thousand dinars.” Saʿid then sent for the creditor and said, “That debt is on me,” and he sent word to the owner, “Enjoy your house (6).”
One of the Qur’an-reciters who used to sit with him had fallen into poverty and severe hardship. His wife said to him, “Our governor…"