Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥakam al-Thaqafī (1), the father of al-Ḥajjāj; he came from Ṭāʾif to Syria, then travelled on to Egypt and Madinah, and used to keep close company with Marwān.

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam (2), Marwān’s brother; he was present in the House during the siege of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, was an accomplished poet, and is remembered for a pointed remark he once made in the presence of Muʿāwiyah and his daughter (3).

[Then the year 70 AH began]

In that year the Byzantines rose up, inciting one another against the people of Syria and deeming them weak when they observed the conflict between ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān and Ibn al-Zubayr. Consequently, ʿAbd al-Malik concluded a truce with the Byzantine emperor, agreeing to pay him one thousand gold dinars every Friday, fearing for the security of Syria.

That same year a plague struck Egypt. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Marwān fled to the eastern province, settling at Ḥulwān, a single stage-stop from Cairo. He made it his residence, purchased it from the Copts for ten thousand dinars, built a governor’s palace and a congregational mosque there, and quartered the troops in the town.

Also in this year, Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr set out from Basra to Mecca carrying vast sums of money. He distributed generous gifts, and at the Kaʿbah he sacrificed one thousand camels and twenty thousand sheep, enriching the inhabitants of Mecca. He then returned to Iraq, bestowing favors (4) and granting large sums to a number of leading notables of the Ḥijāz.

That year Ibn al-Zubayr led the people in the ḥajj, and the governors over the provinces remained as previously mentioned (5).

Among the notable persons who died in this year were:

ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (6) of the Qurayshite ʿAdī clan. His mother was Jamīlah bint Thābit ibn Abī al-Aqlaḥ (7). He was born