“Are you trying to trick me about my own soul? I disbelieve in every creature on earth—indeed I am more of an unbeliever than Pharaoh, Haman, and Nimrod!”

Al-Ḥajjāj laughed and set him free. ⦗1⦘

Ibn Jarīr ⦗2⦘ relates, through Abū Mikhnaf, that al-Aʿshā of Hamdān was brought before al-Ḥajjāj. He had composed a poem satirizing al-Ḥajjāj and ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān while praising Ibn al-Ashʿath and his followers. Al-Ḥajjāj demanded that he recite it, but instead the poet delivered a long ode (qasida) in the dal rhyme ⦗3⦘ containing lavish praise of ʿAbd al-Malik and his household. The Syrians kept exclaiming, “Well done, O Emir!” Al-Ḥajjāj retorted, “It is not well done; he is merely flattering us,” and he pressed the poet until he recited his other qasida ⦗4⦘. When he did so, al-Ḥajjāj became enraged and ordered him beheaded in his presence.

This al-Aʿshā was ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith, Abū al-Muṣabbiḥ al-Hamdanī al-Kūfī, a celebrated poet renowned for eloquence. In his early years he was noted for piety and devotion, but later abandoned that life and devoted himself to poetry, by which he became famous. He once visited Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, then governor of Ḥimṣ, and praised him; the reward for that journey—given by Nuʿmān and the troops of Ḥimṣ—totaled forty thousand dinars. He had married al-Shaʿbī’s sister, and al-Shaʿbī had likewise married his sister ⦗5⦘. He was among those who rose with Ibn al-Ashʿath, and al-Ḥajjāj killed him, as we have recounted—may Allah have mercy on him.

During one of his engagements with Ibn al-Ashʿath, al-Ḥajjāj sent a detachment to strike the latter’s army from behind. After the two forces had faced off, al-Ḥajjāj withdrew with his men, abandoning his camp. Ibn al-Ashʿath entered, seized everything in it, and spent the night there. In the darkness the raiding party fell upon them after they had laid down their arms, launching a single, overwhelming attack. Al-Ḥajjāj then returned with his troops, surrounded them, and a fierce battle ensued. A great many of Ibn al-Ashʿath’s men were slain, while many others drowned in the Tigris and the Dujayl. Al-Ḥajjāj entered their camp and killed everyone he found, about four thousand in all, including several leaders and notable figures, and he carried off the entire camp as booty.