It is said that the very first section he composed was the chapter on exclamatives, for on one occasion his daughter said to him late at night, “Father, mā aḥsanu (1) al-samāʾ—how beautiful the sky is!” He answered, “Its stars are the most beautiful.” She replied, “I was not asking which part of it is most beautiful; I was only expressing wonder at its beauty.” He therefore instructed her, “Say: mā aḥsana al-samāʾ.”

Ibn Khallikān (2) remarks that Abū al-Aswad was thought to be miserly. He used to say, “Had we obeyed the poor concerning our wealth, we would have become just like them.” One night he invited a beggar for supper, then shackled him and kept him until morning so that he would not disturb the Muslims with his begging. The man pleaded, “Release me!” Abū al-Aswad replied, “Not at all; I only fed you so that the Muslims could have a night’s rest from your requests.” When dawn broke he let him go. He also composed fine poetry—may Allah have mercy on him.

Ibn Jarīr (3) states: In this year ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr led the people in the ḥajj. A Kharijite who called for arbitration at Minā was killed near the Jamarah. The provincial deputies remained the same as in the previous year.

Among the notable figures who died this year were:

Jābir ibn Samura ibn Junāda (4), a Companion and transmitter of hadith, as was his father. Some maintain that he died in 66 AH; Allah knows best.

Asmāʾ bint Yazīd (5) ibn al-Sakan al-Anṣāriyya, who pledged allegiance to the Prophet—blessings and peace be upon him. She was also called Umm Sulaym. On the day of Yarmūk she killed nine Romans with the pole of her tent [on the night of her wedding]. She later settled in Damascus and was buried at Bāb al-Ṣaghīr.

Ḥassān ibn Mālik ibn Baḥdal (6), the commander Abū Sulaymān al-Kalbī, who initiated the pledge of allegiance to Marwān when the latter assumed the caliphate. He died in this year, and Allah—glorified and exalted—is most knowing. It is said that the people addressed him as caliph for forty days before he handed the office over to Marwān. Ḥassān owned a palace in Damascus known as the Palace of Ibn Abī Ḥadīd, also called the Palace of the Baḥādila.