Ḥassān ibn Mālik ibn Baḥdal al-Kalbī wrote to al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays, urging him to desist from pledging allegiance to Ibn al-Zubayr. He reminded him of the favors and kindness the Umayyads had shown him, extolling their merits and noble standing. Ḥassān had already secured the allegiance of the people of the Jordan district to the Umayyads and was calling for allegiance to his nephew, Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān. He sent al-Ḍaḥḥāk a letter to that effect, instructing him to read it to the people of Damascus from the pulpit on Friday.

He entrusted the letter to a man named Nāghiḍa ibn Karīb al-Ṭābakhī—some say he belonged to Banū Kalb—and told him, “If he refuses to read it to the people, then you read it yourself.” He also handed him a copy of the letter. When Nāghiḍa reached al-Ḍaḥḥāk, the latter ordered him to read the letter; he declined, so Nāghiḍa rose and read it aloud. Some of the leading notables accepted his word, while others rejected it, and a great tumult erupted among the people. Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah—then a very young man—stood two steps up the pulpit and calmed the crowd. Al-Ḍaḥḥāk then descended and led the Friday prayer. Afterward he ordered that those who had endorsed Nāghiḍa be imprisoned, but their tribes rose up and freed them, and the people of Damascus were thrown into confusion, torn between Ibn al-Zubayr and the Umayyads.

The gathering and standoff took place after the Friday prayer at the Gate of Jayrūn ⦗1⦘, so the day came to be known as “the Day of Jayrūn.”

Al-Madāʾinī relates that the people had wanted al-Walīd ibn ʿUtba ibn Abī Sufyān to govern them, but he refused and died during those very nights.

Subsequently, al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays mounted the pulpit of the congregational mosque, addressed the people, and spoke disparagingly of Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah. A young man from Banū Kalb rose and struck him with a stick he was carrying while the assembly, swords strapped on, sat listening. They leapt at one another and fought fiercely inside the mosque: Qays and its allies rallied to Ibn al-Zubayr and supported al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays, whereas Banū Kalb championed the Umayyads and the pledge of allegiance to Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah, passionately defending Yazīd and his household. Al-Ḍaḥḥāk withdrew, entered the governor’s residence, barred the door, and did not reappear until dawn on Saturday, when he led the prayer.

He then summoned the Umayyads and gathered them to him; among those who came were Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam, ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ, and Khālid and ʿAbd Allah, the two sons of Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah—so says al-Madāʾinī. He apologized for what had taken place, and they agreed that at first light they would ride together to Ḥassān ibn Mālik al-Kalbī and collectively choose an Umayyad acceptable to all to assume command. They set out together, but while they were on the road to al-Jābiya to meet Ḥassān ibn Mālik, Maʿn ibn Thawr ⦗2⦘ ibn al-Akhnas arrived with his Qays kinsmen.

He said to al-Ḍaḥḥāk, “You summoned us to pledge allegiance to Ibn al-Zubayr and we complied; now you are going off to that bedouin so he can appoint his nephew, Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah, as successor!”

Al-Ḍaḥḥāk asked, “Then what do you propose?”

He replied, “My view is that we proclaim openly what we had…"