[Then came the year 81 AH]

In that year ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān captured the city of Qāliqala (1), and the Muslims took abundant spoils from it.

That same year Bukayr ibn Wishāḥ was killed; his slayer was Baḥir (2) ibn Wiqāʾ al-Ṣuraymī, who was counted among the courageous commanders (3). Afterwards a clansman of Bukayr, a man called Saʿsaʿah ibn Ḥarb al-ʿAwfī al-Ṣuraymī, rose in retaliation. He stabbed Baḥir ibn Wiqāʾ—the killer of Bukayr—with a dagger while the latter was sitting in the presence of al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufrah. Baḥir was carried to his home on the verge of death. Al-Muhallab thereupon sent Saʿsaʿah to him; when Baḥir gained hold of him he said, “Put his head at my feet.” They did so, and Baḥir thrust his spear into him until he killed him, after which Baḥir himself died. Anas ibn Ṭalq (4) had said to him, “Spare him, for you have already killed Bukayr ibn Wishāḥ,” but he replied, “No, by Allah, I will not die while this man is alive,” and then he slew him. It has also been said that the man was killed only after Baḥir had died; Allah knows best.

Ibn al-Ashʿath’s Rebellion

Abū Mikhnaf states that it began in this year, whereas al-Wāqidī dates it to 82 AH. Ibn Jarīr (5) likewise records it under the present year, and we have followed him in this. The rebellion originated because al-Ḥajjāj despised Ibn al-Ashʿath, and the latter was fully aware of it, harbouring malice toward al-Ḥajjāj and hoping for his removal from power. When al-Ḥajjāj appointed him over the army mentioned earlier and ordered him to enter the territory of Rutbil, the king of the Turks, he advanced, taking some of the land as we have already described. He then advised his men to remain where they were until the following year so that they might grow stronger. He wrote to al-Ḥajjāj about this, but al-Ḥajjāj replied, ridiculing the plan, belittling him, accusing him of cowardice and of shirking the fight, and insisting categorically that he penetrate the land of Rutbil. He followed that with a second letter, then a third sent by courier, in which he wrote, among other things: “O son of the treacherous weaver who has turned renegade, proceed with what I have commanded you—press deep into the enemy’s country—or you will be met with what you cannot bear.” Al-Ḥajjāj loathed Ibn