his shin bears the scar of an arrow whose head is still lodged within it, and whenever anything so much as touches that spot he cannot keep himself from crying out.’

Al-Ḥajjāj therefore ordered that the torture be applied precisely there, and Yazīd screamed. When his sister Hind bint al-Muhallab—who was at that time married to al-Ḥajjāj—heard his voice, she wept and wailed over him. Al-Ḥajjāj divorced her on the spot and consigned the brothers to prison.

Not long afterwards he set out to one of his provinces in order to dispatch an army against the Kurds, taking the prisoners along with him. He dug a trench around their quarters and stationed guards over them. One night Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab ordered a large banquet to be prepared for the guards.

Then he disguised himself as one of the cooks, dyed his beard white, and slipped out. A guard saw him and said, ‘I have never seen a gait more like that of Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab than this man’s.’ He followed him to be sure, but on noticing the whiteness of the beard he turned back. Yazīd’s two brothers soon caught up with him, and together they boarded boats

[and set off toward Syria].

When news of their escape reached al-Ḥajjāj he was thrown into turmoil, convinced they had headed for Khurasan. He wrote to Qutaybah ibn Muslim warning him of their possible arrival, ordering him to prepare for them and to keep watch in every quarter; he also wrote to the commanders of the frontier posts and the provinces to seize them, and he informed the Commander of the Faithful of their flight, stressing that Khurasan was surely their destination. Al-Ḥajjāj feared that Yazīd might do as ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ashʿath had done—rise against him and rally the people—and he now regarded the monk’s prediction as confirmed.

Yazīd, however, skirted the marshlands. Horses that his brother Marwān ibn al-Muhallab had made ready for this very day were brought to him; he mounted and was guided by a man of the Kalb tribe named ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn Yazīd, who led them across the desert of al-Samāwah. Two days later word reached al-Ḥajjāj that Yazīd had taken the road toward Syria, so he wrote to al-Walīd to inform him.

Yazīd continued until he reached the Jordan ⦗1⦘ and lodged with Wahīb ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Azdī, a man dear to Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik. Wahīb went to Sulaymān and said, ‘Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab and his two brothers are guests in my home; they have come seeking your protection from al-Ḥajjāj.’ Sulaymān replied, ‘Go and bring them here; they are safe for as long as I live.’ Wahīb escorted them to Sulaymān, who guaranteed their security and wrote to his brother al-Walīd:

‘The household of al-Muhallab is under my protection. What remains for al-Ḥajjāj with them is three million dirhams, and that sum is with me.’

Al-Walīd answered, ‘By Allah, I will not grant him safety until you send him to me.’

Sulaymān wrote back, ‘By Allah, I will not send him until I accompany him myself. I beseech you by Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, do not disgrace me or violate the pledge of protection I have given.’

Al-Walīd replied, ‘By Allah, you shall not come with him; send him to me in fetters.’

Yazīd then said, ‘Send me to him; I do not wish to bring enmity and war between the two of you. Dispatch me, send your son with me, and write to him in the kindest words you can.’ Sulaymān sent him off together with his son Ayyūb, saying to the boy, ‘When you enter the vestibule, chain yourself beside Yazīd and go in to the Caliph that way.’

When al-Walīd saw his nephew in chains he exclaimed, ‘By Allah, we have endured enough from Sulaymān!’

Ayyūb handed his father’s letter to his uncle and said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful, may my life be your ransom! Do not annul my father’s pledge—you are the one most entitled to uphold it. Do not dash the hopes of those who seek safety under our protection because of our standing with you, and do not abase those who seek honor by attaching themselves to us, for our honor is through you.’

Al-Walīd then read Sulaymān’s letter, which opened with:

‘To proceed: By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, I was certain that if an enemy who had opposed and fought you were to seek refuge with me and I granted him asylum, you would neither dishonor my protection nor violate it. I extended my protection only in obedience and full compliance, with gracious conduct…’