the Banū Marwān, every last man among them, gathered around ʿAbd al-Malik.
Sensing danger, he turned to the page beside him and whispered, “Woe to you! Go to my brother Yaḥyā and tell him to come to me.” The boy did not understand and merely replied, “At your service.” He repeated the command, but again the boy failed to grasp it and said, “At your service.” ʿAmr then cried, “Away from me—may you be consumed by Allah’s fire!”
At that moment ʿAbd al-Malik was attended by Ḥassān ibn Mālik ibn Baḥdal and Qabīṣa ibn Dhuʾayb; he gave them permission to leave. When they had gone, the doors were closed. ʿAmr approached ʿAbd al-Malik, who welcomed him, seated him beside himself upon the throne, and conversed with him at length.
Presently ʿAbd al-Malik said, “Boy, take the sword from him.”
“Indeed we belong to Allah, O Commander of the Faithful,” ʿAmr replied.
“Do you imagine you can sit and talk with me while your sword is strapped on?” ʿAbd al-Malik retorted. The page removed the sword and the two men spoke for a while.
Then ʿAbd al-Malik said, “Abū Umayya.”
“At your service, O Commander of the Faithful,” he answered.
“When you deposed me,” ʿAbd al-Malik continued, “I swore by my right hand that if ever I set eyes on you while you were in my power, I would bind you in a jāmiʿa (iron collar and shackles).” ⦗1⦘
The sons of Marwān said, “Then you will release him afterwards, O Commander of the Faithful.” He replied, “Yes, I will release him—what else would I do with Abū Umayya?” They urged, “Fulfil the oath of the Commander of the Faithful.” ʿAmr said, “Then honour your oath, O Commander of the Faithful.”
So ʿAbd al-Malik drew a set of irons from beneath his cushion, tossed them toward him and said, “Boy, rise and shackle him.” The page bound him.
ʿAmr pleaded, “I remind you by Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, do not parade me in these chains before the people.”
ʿAbd al-Malik retorted, “Guile at the moment of death, Abū Umayya? By Allah, never! We shall not display you in irons before the people, and these bonds will not be removed from you except upwards.” Then he jerked him so violently that his mouth struck the edge of the throne, breaking one of his front teeth.
ʿAmr said, “I remind you by Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, let not the breaking of my bone drive you to something worse.”
ʿAbd al-Malik replied, “By Allah, if I knew that keeping you alive would make you loyal to me and reconcile Quraysh, I would release you. But never have two men remained together in one land, both claiming what we claim, except that one drives out the other. In another version he said: ‘Do you not know, ʿAmr, that two virile camels cannot share a single hobble?’ ⦗2⦘”
When ʿAmr realised he meant to kill him, he cried, “Treachery, son of al-Zarqāʾ!” ⦗3⦘ and hurled at him vile insults.
While they were thus, the muʾadhdhin called the ʿAṣr prayer. ʿAbd al-Malik rose to go out for the ṣalāh and ordered his brother ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Marwān to kill him. ʿAbd al-Malik departed, and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz advanced with his sword. ʿAmr said, “I adjure you by Allah and by kinship: do not be the one to do this to me; let someone else carry it out.” So ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz held back.
When the people saw that ʿAbd al-Malik had emerged without ʿAmr, rumours spread that ʿAmr was dead. His brother Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd came with a thousand of ʿAmr’s slaves and many others, while ʿAbd al-Malik hurried into the Khadrāʾ (the Green Palace). ⦗4⦘
Those men arrived, pounding on the gate of the emirate and calling, “Let us hear your voice, Abū Umayya!” One of them struck al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik on the head with a sword, wounding him, and Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAdī ⦗5⦘, the officer, brought him inside.