He is the very man at whom the People of the Slander aimed their calumny concerning the Mother of the Believers; yet Allah cleared both him and her of everything they alleged. He was counted among the leaders of the Muslims. He slept so heavily that the sun would sometimes rise while he was still asleep and unaware of it, whereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, “When you wake up, then perform the prayer.” (1)

Ṣafwān was later killed as a martyr.

Abū Muslim al-Khawlānī (2)—ʿAbd Allah ibn Thawab al-Khawlānī, a member of the Khawlān tribe in Yemen—was also among those who died that year. The false claimant to prophethood al-Aswad al-ʿAnsī (3) summoned him and demanded that he testify that al-Aswad was the Messenger of Allah. He asked, “Do you testify that I am the Messenger of Allah?” Abū Muslim replied, “I do not hear you; I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” Al-Aswad then kindled a fire and threw him into it, but it did him no harm; Allah delivered him from it, so he was likened to Abraham the Friend (khalīl). Afterward he emigrated and arrived to find that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had already passed away. He presented himself to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (the Truthful), who seated him between himself and ʿUmar. ʿUmar said, “Praise be to Allah, who did not take my soul until He allowed me to see, within the Ummah of Muhammad, someone with whom Allah dealt as He dealt with Abraham the Friend,” and he kissed him between the eyes. (4) Abū Muslim was renowned for extraordinary spiritual states and unveilings.

It is also said that al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr died in this same year; the stronger view, however, is that he died later, as will be mentioned, Allah willing.

[The Caliphate of Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah and the events that occurred during his rule]

The oath of allegiance for the caliphate was given to him after his father in Rajab of the year 60 AH. He had been born in the year 26 AH, so on the day he was invested—