a plague in Syria, Basra, and Wasit, known as the “Plague of the Maidens,” because it first appeared among women; hence the name. (1)
That same year Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik campaigned in Byzantine territory: he killed enemy troops, took captives, seized booty, returned unharmed, and captured the fortress of Buluq and the fortress of al-Afram from the Byzantines. (2)
During the year as well, ʿAbd al-Malik invested his son ʿAbd Allah with authority over Egypt after the death of his brother ʿAbd al-ʿAziz. ʿAbd Allah entered the province in Jumada al-Akhirah, being twenty-seven years old at the time. (3)
In the same year the Byzantine king al-Akhram Lawra died—may Allah not have mercy on him. (4)
Also that year al-Hajjaj imprisoned Yazid ibn al-Muhallab. (5)
The pilgrimage that year was led by Hisham ibn Ismaʿil al-Makhzumi.
Those who died during the year included:
• Abu Umamah Suday ibn ʿAjlan (6) al-Bahili;
• ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Awfa (7);
• and, according to one report, ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Harith ibn Jazʾ (8) al-Zubaydi. He took part in the conquest of Egypt, settled there, and was the last Companion to die in that land.
On the fifteenth of Shawwal in the same year there passed away:
(1) Tarikh Khalifa (p. 291) and Tarikh al-Islam (Events of Years 81–100, p. 25).
(2) Ibid.
(3) Tarikh al-Islam (Events of Years 81–100, p. 26). Al-Dhahabi adds: “Then his brother al-Walid confirmed him in his post when he succeeded.” Ibn Yunus, however, reports that al-Walid first deposed his brother ʿAbdallah from Egypt in favor of Bakkara ibn Shurayk.
(4) As in the original manuscript; in Tarikh al-Islam it reads “Buri.”
(5) Al-Tabari adds in his History (vol. 6, p. 426): “He dismissed Habib ibn al-Muhallab from Kerman and ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Muhallab from its shurtah (police force).”
(6) Biography of Sadi ibn ʿAjlan in: Tabaqat Ibn Saʿd (v. 7, p. 411); Tarikh Khalifa (p. 292); al-Tabaqat (p. 46); al-Maʿrifa wa-l-Tarikh (2/353); al-Istiyʿab (2/198); Tarikh Dimashq (24/50) and its Tahdhib (6/419); Asad al-Ghabah (3/16); Tahdhib al-Kamal (13/158); Tarikh al-Islam (al-Dhahabi) (5/226); Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ (3/359); al-Isabah (2/182); Tahdhib al-Tahdhib (4/420); al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat (16/305); Shudhūr al-Dhahab (1/351).
(7) Biography of ʿAbdallah ibn Abī Awfa in: Tabaqat Ibn Saʿd (4/301); Tarikh Khalifa (p. 292); al-Tabaqat (p. 110); al-Maʿrifa wa-l-Tarikh (1/265); Ansab al-Ashraf (1/248); al-Istiyʿab (2/264); Asad al-Ghabah (3/121); Wafayat al-Aʿyan (2/400); Tahdhib al-Kamal (14/317); Tarikh al-Islam (5/98); Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ (3/428); al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat (17/78); al-Isabah (2/279).
(8) Biography of ʿAbdallah ibn al-Harith ibn Juzuʿ in: Tarikh Ibn Maʿin (2/300); Tahdhib al-Kamal (14/402); Tarikh al-Islam (al-Dhahabi, Events of Years 81–100, p. 107); al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat (17/117).