Among the notable people who died in the course of this year were:
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Kathīr ibn al-Ṣalt ibn Maʿdī Karib al-Kindī. A venerable elder, obeyed by his tribe, he owned a spacious house beside the prayer-ground in Madinah. Some maintain that he served as ʿAbd al-Malik’s secretary for official correspondence. He died in Syria.
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Muḥammad ibn Mūsā ibn Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh (2). His sister was married to ʿAbd al-Malik, who appointed him governor of Sijistān. As he set out for the province, people said to him, “Shabīb lies on your route and has wearied the populace; divert to him—perhaps you will kill him, and the fame of that deed will be yours for ever.” When he advanced, Shabīb met him; they fought, and Shabīb killed him. Other reports exist, and Allah knows best.
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ʿIyāḍ ibn Ghanm al-Ashʿarī (3). He fought at Yarmūk and transmitted hadith from a number of Companions and others. He died in Basra—may Allah have mercy on him.
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Muṭarrif ibn ʿAbd Allāh (4). He and his brothers ʿUrwah and Ḥamzah inclined toward the Umayyads, and al-Ḥajjāj appointed them over various provinces: ʿUrwah to Kūfa, Muṭarrif to al-Madāʾin, and Ḥamzah to Hamadhān (5).
[Then the year seventy-eight began.]
In that year the Muslims undertook a major expedition against Byzantine territory and captured Azqilah (6). On their return they were struck by torrential rain, snow, and severe cold, and many people perished as a result (7).
During the same year ʿAbd al-Malik placed Mūsā ibn Nuṣayr in command of the conquest of the entire Maghrib. He set out for Tangiers, having appointed over his vanguard