with words that encompassed the finest morals, the most praiseworthy traits, and the loftiest aspirations (1). He stipulated that after him authority in Khurasan should pass to his son Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab, and both al-Ḥajjāj and ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān confirmed the appointment.
In Jumādā al-Ākhirah of the same year the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, dismissed ʾAbān ibn ʿUthmān from the governorship of Madinah and appointed Hishām ibn Ismāʿīl al-Makhzūmī in his stead. ʾAbān’s tenure over the city had lasted seven years, three months, and thirteen days. Over the whole of the eastern provinces al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf held sway, with his deputies managing the various districts beneath him, while he himself was entirely preoccupied throughout this period with the war against Ibn al-Ashʿath.
Abū Maʿshar said: The man who led the people in pilgrimage that year was ʾAbān ibn ʿUthmān, who had been the governor of Madinah (2).
Asmāʾ ibn Khārijah al-Fazārī of Kūfah (3) was famed for his generosity. It is related that one day he saw a young man sitting at his doorway and asked why he was there. The youth replied, “I have a need I cannot disclose.” When pressed, he confessed, “I saw a slave-girl enter this house—none more beautiful have I ever seen—and my heart went with her.” Taking him by the hand, Asmāʾ brought him inside and showed him every slave-girl he possessed. When that particular girl passed, the youth said, “That one.” Asmāʾ told him, “Go back outside and sit where you were.” The youth did so, and an hour later Asmāʾ emerged with the girl, now adorned in every kind of jewelry, and said, “The only reason I did not give her to you inside was that she belonged to my sister, who was loath to part with her. I have bought her for you from her for three thousand, and I have clothed her in this jewelry. She is yours, together with everything on her.” The young man took her and departed.
Al-Mughīrah ibn al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufrah (4) was likewise generous, widely praised, and courageous, with many well-known exploits.
Al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rabīʿah al-Makhzūmī, known as Qubāʿ (5), served as governor of Basra on behalf of Ibn al-Zubayr.
Muḥammad ibn Usāmah ibn Zayd ibn Ḥārithah (6), one of the most virtuous and intelligent sons of the Companions, died in Madinah and was buried in al-Baqīʿ.