and he was a scholar and a poet. A measure of knowledge of al-kīmiyāʾ (alchemy) (1) is attributed to him, and he was acquainted with certain branches of the natural sciences. He transmitted hadith from his father and from Dihyah al-Kalbī, while al-Zuhrī and others transmitted from him.
Al-Zuhrī said, “Khalid used to fast on all the festival days—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.” Abū Zurʿah al-Dimashqī remarked, “He and his brother Muʿāwiyah were among the best of people. He was proposed for the caliphate after his brother Muʿāwiyah ibn Yazīd, and he was named heir apparent after Marwān, but the matter did not come to pass. Marwān was married to his mother.”
Among his maxims were: “The nearest thing is the appointed term, the farthest thing is hope, and the most promising thing is action.”
One of the poets praised him, saying:
I asked Liberality and Generosity—both freeborn—
who they were; they answered together (2), “We are but servants.”
I asked, “And who is your master?” They straightened to their full height
before me and said, “Khalid ibn Yazīd.” (3)
He thereupon ordered that a hundred thousand be given to the poet.
He died in this very year, though some say in the year 84 AH, where he is mentioned; the first view is the sounder.
ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (4) ibn Sulaym al-Asadī, the poet Abū Kathīr (5)—some say Abū Saʿīd—was well known. He visited ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr and composed verses in his praise, but received nothing, whereupon he said, “May Allah curse the she-camel that carried me to you.” Ibn al-Zubayr replied, “And its owner as well!” It is said that he died during the time of al-Ḥajjāj.
[Then came the year 91 AH.]
In that year the summer expedition (al-ṣāʾifah) was led by Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik together with his nephew ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Walīd. During the same campaign Maslamah advanced into the land of the Turks until he reached al-Bāb on the Azerbaijani frontier, conquering many towns and fortresses as well. [Al-Walīd had dismissed his uncle Muḥammad ibn Marwān from al-Jazīrah and Azerbaijan and appointed his brother Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik over them] (6).