In that same year Muhammad ibn Marwan marched against Armenia, killed great numbers of its inhabitants, and burned their churches and villages; the year consequently came to be known as the “Year of the Conflagration.” (1)

During the same year al-Hajjaj appointed Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqafi as governor of Fars and ordered him to put the Kurds to death. That year as well, ʿAbd al-Malik entrusted Alexandria to ʿIyad ibn Ghanm al-Bajini, dismissing ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abi al-Kunud, who had governed it the previous year. (2)

In that year Musa ibn Nusayr took a number of territories in the Maghrib, among them the town of Ouraba, (3) killing a very large multitude of its people and taking about fifty thousand captives.

That same year al-Hajjaj also executed several of Ibn al-Ashʿath’s leading men. Among them was Ayyub ibn al-Qiriyyah, (4) an exceptionally eloquent orator and preacher. Al-Hajjaj had him executed in his presence and is said to have regretted it afterward. He was Ayyub ibn Zayd ibn Qays, Abu Sulayman al-Hilali, better known as Ibn al-Qiriyyah.

Other notable figures were ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Harith ibn Nawfal; Saʿd ibn Iyas al-Shaybani; Abu ʿInabah (5) al-Khawlani—who had companionship of the Prophet and transmitted hadith, settling in Homs where he died at nearly one hundred years of age—ʿAbd Allah ibn Qatadah, and others besides these. Some of them were put to death by al-Hajjaj, while others passed away naturally. Among them was Abu Zuraʿah al-Judhami the Palestinian, who enjoyed high standing among the people of Syria. Muʿawiyah grew apprehensive of him, and Abu Zuraʿah perceived this and said, “O Commander of the Believers, do not tear down a pillar you have erected, do not grieve a friend you have delighted, and do not give an enemy the joy of your humiliation.” Muʿawiyah therefore left him unharmed. (6)

In that year there also died ʿUtbah ibn al-Naddar al-Sulami, (7) a noble Companion counted among the Ahl al-Suffah (the People of the Bench).