in Khurasan during the civil strife. 1 Thus the report runs that he was killed in 71 AH; our teacher likewise related this from al-Dulabi, and I have found the same in the History of our teacher, the hadith master Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Dhahabi. 2 Ibn Jarir, however, in the course of his History, states that he was killed in 72 AH. 3 He writes: Some allege that his death occurred only after the slaying of ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr; that ʿAbd al-Malik sent Ibn al-Zubayr’s head to Ibn Khazim in Khurasan and summoned him to pledge allegiance, granting him Khurasan for ten years. When Ibn Khazim saw the head of Ibn al-Zubayr, he swore never again to give allegiance to ʿAbd al-Malik. He called for a basin, washed the head, shrouded and perfumed it, and sent it on to Ibn al-Zubayr’s family in Medina—while others say he buried it beside him in Khurasan; and Allah knows best. As for the letter, he forced the messenger to swallow it, saying, “Had you not been an envoy I would have struck off your head.” Others report that he cut off the man’s hands and feet and then beheaded him.

[Among those who died in 72 AH] was al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays 4, ibn 5 Muʿawiyah ibn Ḥuṣayn al-Tamimi al-Saʿdi, Abu Baḥr al-Basri, the nephew of Ṣaʿṣaʿah ibn Muʿawiyah. “Al-Aḥnaf” was his nickname; his given name was al-Ḍaḥḥak, though some say Ṣakhr. He accepted Islam during the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime but never met him, and a hadith relates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed for him. 6 He was a noble, honoured leader whose word was obeyed, a believer of eloquent speech. His clemency became proverbial, and tales of his forbearance were carried far and wide. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭab said, “He is a believer, eloquent of tongue.” al-Ḥasan al-Basri remarked, “I have never seen a noble of his people better than he.” Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allah al-ʿIjli 7 said, “He was a trustworthy Basran Successor, the chief of his tribe, and he was one-eyed.”