Then al-Hajjāj said, “I am convinced that your death will bring rectitude to the two garrison cities. Stand up to him, guard, and strike off his head.” A man stepped forward, severed ʿUmayr’s neck, and his property was declared free plunder. Al-Hajjāj then ordered a herald to proclaim among the people: “Behold, ʿUmayr ibn Ḍābiʿ lingered three days after the summons—therefore his execution has been decreed.”

The people surged out and crowded onto the bridge; within a single hour four thousand men of Madhḥij crossed it. The ʿurafāʾ (local captains) accompanied them until they reached al-Muhallab, from whom they obtained a written acknowledgment of their arrival. Al-Muhallab said, “By Allah, a true man has now reached Iraq; today the enemy will be fought.”

It is also related that al-Hajjāj did not recognize ʿUmayr ibn Ḍābiʿ until ʿAnbasa ibn Saʿīd said to him, “O emir, this is the man who, after ʿUthmān was killed, came and slapped his face.” Al-Hajjāj thereupon ordered his execution.

Al-Hajjāj dispatched al-Ḥakam ibn Ayyūb al-Thaqafī as his deputy over Basra, instructing him to deal sternly with Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allah. He confirmed Shurayḥ as judge of Kufa, then rode to Basra, leaving Abū Yaʿfūr in charge of Kufa and appointing Zurāra ibn Awfā as judge of Basra, after which he returned to Kufa.

That same year the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, led the people in the pilgrimage. He retained his uncle Yaḥyā as governor of Madinah and put Umayya ibn ʿAbd Allah in charge of Khurāsān.

In this year as well the people of Basra rose against al-Hajjāj. When he had ridden from Kufa after killing ʿUmayr ibn Ḍābiʿ, he addressed the people of Basra with threats as severe as those he had hurled at the Kufans. A man from Banū Yashkur (1) was then brought before him and it was said, “This man is a rebel.” The man replied, “I suffer from a rupture; Allah has excused me, and Bishr ibn Marwān excused me as well. Here is my stipend, returned to the treasury.” Al-Hajjāj would not accept this and ordered him killed, and he was executed. Terror gripped the people of Basra; they left the city and gathered at the bridge of Ramhurmuz under the leadership of ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Jarūd.

Al-Hajjāj marched out against them—in Shaʿbān of that year—accompanied by the army commanders from the two garrison cities. A fierce battle ensued, and their leader ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Jarūd was slain along with chiefs of the tribes that stood with him. Al-Hajjāj ordered their heads cut off and set up at the bridge of Ramhurmuz, then sent them on to al-Muhallab; this strengthened al-Muhallab and weakened the Kharijite commander.

Al-Hajjāj then wrote to al-Muhallab and to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mukhnif, commanding them to confront the Azāriqa. They advanced with their forces, drove the Azāriqa from their positions around Ramhurmuz after light fighting, and the rebels fled to the land of Kāzarūn in the province of Sābūr. The army pursued them, and the two sides met in the last ten nights of Ramadan. That night the Kharijites mounted a surprise attack on al-Muhallab but found his camp protected by a trench. They then turned to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mukhnif, who had neglected the trench that al-Muhallab had ordered him to dig. Night fighting broke out; the Kharijites killed ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mukhnif and a number of his men and routed the rest shamefully.