Muḥammad ibn Saʿd said, “He saw the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—but retained nothing from him.” Ibn Maʿīn, al-Bukhārī, and Abū Ḥātim rejected this, saying, “His status as a Companion is unsound.” Allah knows best. He died in this very year, though some say it was the year before; Allah knows best. Ṭuwīs the singer (1)—whose name was ʿĪsā ibn ʿAbd Allāh, Abū ʿAbd al-Munʿim al-Madani, the client of Banū Makhzūm—excelled in his craft. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and cross-eyed, and was considered ill-omened because he was born on the day the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, died; he was weaned the day al-Ṣiddīq (Abū Bakr) passed away; reached puberty the day ʿUmar was assassinated; married the day ʿUthmān was killed; and a child was born to him on the day al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī was killed—some said on the day ʿAlī was killed. Ibn Khallikān and others have recorded this. He died this year at the age of eighty-two, in al-Suwaydāʾ (2), which is two stages from Madinah. Al-Akhtal (3) was an outstanding poet who surpassed his contemporaries in verse. [Year 93 AH] In this year Maslama ibn ʿAbd al-Malik captured many Byzantine fortresses, among them Ḥiṣn al-Ḥadīd, Ghazāla, Māsa, and others. That same year al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd campaigned and took Samsaṭiyya. Marwān ibn al-Walīd also campaigned against the Byzantines, advancing as far as Ḥanjarah (4). During this year Khwarazm Shah wrote to Qutaybah, inviting him to make peace and offering to cede to him several cities from his dominions, together with abundant wealth and many slaves, on the condition that he fight his brother (5) and hand him over. “For,” he said, “my brother has spread corruption in the land, wronged the people, and treated them harshly. Whenever he heard that anyone possessed something desirable, he would send for it and seize it—whether money, women, children, mounts, or anything else.” Qutaybah—may Allah grant him victory—advanced with his armies, and Khwarazm Shah delivered what he had promised. Qutaybah then dispatched a force to his brother’s territory; they killed great numbers, captured the brother along with four thousand of their leading men, and handed the brother over to Khwarazm Shah. Qutaybah ordered that the prisoners be executed in his presence, and a thousand of them were beheaded