your household, then there is no one among them like ʿUbayd Allah, for he is a firm, decisive man [none of them can fill his place]. Yet if you wish someone else, you know your own deputies best.” Muʿawiyah therefore restored him to the governorship.
Then, in private, Muʿawiyah said to him, “How could you have failed to recognize a man such as al-Ahnaf? It was he who dismissed you and reinstated you, all while remaining silent.” From that day al-Ahnaf enjoyed very high esteem with Ibn Ziyad.
Al-Ahnaf died in Kufah. Musʿab ibn al-Zubayr led the funeral prayer for him and walked in his procession.
Al-Waqidi relates that al-Ahnaf ibn Qays came to Muʿawiyah after al-Hasan had relinquished power to him and departed with his family to Madinah. Muʿawiyah said to al-Ahnaf, “You were the one who flourished his sword against us at Ṣiffīn and who discouraged support for ʿĀʾishah, Mother of the Believers.” Al-Ahnaf replied, “O Muʿawiyah, do not reproach us for what is past, and do not turn matters back to where they were; the hearts with which we hated you are still within our breasts, and the swords with which we fought you are still upon our shoulders”—and more words in that vein.
When he left, Muʿawiyah’s sister asked, “Who is this man who threatens?” He answered, “This is the one for whose anger one hundred thousand men of Tamīm grow angry, without even knowing why he is angry.” After that, al-Ahnaf’s standing with Muʿawiyah improved greatly (1).
Al-Waqidi also reports that al-Ahnaf once visited Muʿawiyah and found him angry with his son Yazīd. With a few words he reconciled them; Muʿawiyah then sent Yazīd a large sum of money and a great deal of fine cloth, and Yazīd gave half of it to al-Ahnaf. Allah, exalted is He, knows best. (2)
Al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib (3) son of al-Hārith son of ʿAdiyy son of Majdaʿah (4) son of Ḥārithah son of al-Ḥārith son of al-Khazraj son of ʿAmr son of Mālik son of Aws, the Anṣārī al-Hārithī al-Awsī, was a distinguished Companion, and his father was likewise a Companion. He transmitted many hadiths from the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—and also narrated from Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, and others. A number of the Successors, as well as some Companions, reported from him. It is said that he died in Kufah during the governorship of Musʿab ibn al-Zubayr over Iraq.
ʿUbaydah al-Salmānī, the judge (5)—he is ʿUbaydah ibn ʿAmr, though some say ibn Qays ibn ʿAmr, al-Salmānī al-Murādī, Abū ʿAmr al-Kūfī; Salmān is a clan of the tribe of Murād.