but only for a short while before Allah—who crushes the tyrants both before and after them—broke him; surely He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful]. (1)

In this very year a host of well-known and eminent figures, Companions and others, died in the catastrophe of al-Ḥarra—so many, in fact, that listing them all would be tedious.

Among the famous Companions were:
• ʿAbd Allah ibn Hanzalah (2), the commander of Madinah during al-Ḥarra;
• Maʿqil ibn Sinan (3);
• and ʿAbd Allah (4) ibn Zayd ibn ʿĀṣim—may Allah be pleased with him.

Also in this year passed away:
Masrūq ibn al-Ajdaʿ (5). His father al-Ajdaʿ—whose name was ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Mālik—was said to be the finest horseman in Yemen.

It is related that Masrūq once served as governor over a certain province. When he returned home, his family searched his baggage and found nothing in it but an axe-head with no handle. They said, “You were away two full years and have come back with only an axe-head without a handle?!” He replied, “Surely we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return; that axe is one we had borrowed and then forgot to return.”

The governor of Basra sent Masrūq a gift of thirty thousand, yet he refused to accept it, though he was among those most in need. When appointed as judge he would not take a single dirham in salary. Shurayh would consult him, whereas he himself never consulted Shurayh. Masrūq would stand in prayer until his feet became swollen.

He lived through the caliphates of Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān, narrated hadith from numerous Companions, and was present at the Arbitration. He used to say: “It is enough of ignorance for a person to be impressed by his own deeds, and it is enough of knowledge for a person to fear Allah.”