at his gait. By Allah, I have been on the verge of striking off his neck.”

Al-Shaʿbī quietly repeated these words to Ibn al-Ashʿath, whereupon Ibn al-Ashʿath replied, “And I, by Allah, will strain every nerve to strip him of his authority—so long as life remains to me and to him.”

The upshot is that al-Ḥajjāj began reviewing the armies, distributing their stipends, and then debated with himself over whom he should place in command. In the end he chose ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ashʿath and set him over the entire force.

Ibn al-Ashʿath’s uncle, Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ashʿath, came to al-Ḥajjāj and said, “I fear that if you appoint him, you will have no obedience once he crosses the Bridge of the Euphrates (1).”

Al-Ḥajjāj replied, “He is not of that mettle: he holds me in too much awe and covets too greatly what I possess to oppose my order or depart from my obedience.” He therefore ratified the appointment, and Ibn al-Ashʿath marched with the armies toward the territory of Rutbīl.

When Rutbīl learned of Ibn al-Ashʿath’s advance with the troops, he wrote to him apologizing for what had befallen the Muslims in his lands the previous year, affirming that he had loathed it, and insisting that the Muslims themselves had forced him into combat. He asked Ibn al-Ashʿath for a pact of peace and offered to pay tribute. Ibn al-Ashʿath would not agree and resolved to penetrate the country. Rutbīl therefore mustered his forces and made ready for war.

Each time Ibn al-Ashʿath entered a town, city, or fortress of Rutbīl’s realm, he installed a deputy of his own, posting men to hold it, and positioned outposts in every region and at every strategic point. Thus he seized a large portion of Rutbīl’s territory, captured vast and abundant wealth, and took many prisoners.

He then restrained the troops (2) from plunging deeper into Rutbīl’s lands until they had consolidated the districts already in their hands and strengthened themselves with their revenues and stores. The plan was that in the following year they would advance against the enemy, passing through province after province until they besieged them in their own homeland over their treasures, wealth, and dependents, taking them as booty and killing their fighting men. They were firmly resolved upon this course—and it was the sound policy—and Ibn al-Ashʿath wrote to al-Ḥajjāj informing him of the conquests won, the favor Allah had shown them, and the strategy he had adopted.

Some have said that al-Ḥajjāj had earlier dispatched Himyān ibn ʿAdiyy al-Sadūsī to Kirmān as a frontier force for its inhabitants, so that he might support the governors of Sijistān and Sind if they required it. Himyān and those with him rebelled against al-Ḥajjāj, whereupon al-Ḥajjāj sent Ibn al-Ashʿath to fight him; Ibn al-Ashʿath defeated him and remained with those forces. When ʿUbayd Allah ibn Abī Bakrah died, al-Ḥajjāj appointed Ibn al-Ashʿath governor of Sijistān in his stead and fitted out for him an army on which he spent two million—over and above their regular pay. This force was known as the Peacock Army. He ordered him to advance against Rutbīl, and what transpired between them has already been related.

Al-Wāqidī and Abū Maʿshar stated that in this same year Abān ibn ʿUthmān led the people in the pilgrimage. Others maintained, however, that it was Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik who led them.

Al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik commanded the summer expedition that year, while Abān ibn ʿUthmān was governor of Madinah, and