Muḥammad ibn Ḥātim (1) reported: ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Abd Allāh [from Hilāl] ibn Khabbāb related: Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr was brought before al-Ḥajjāj, who asked, “Did you write to Muṣ‘ab ibn al-Zubayr?” He replied, “Indeed, Muṣ‘ab wrote to me.” Al-Ḥajjāj said, “No, by Allah, I shall certainly kill you.” Sa‘īd responded, “Then I shall truly be sa‘īd—fortunate—as my mother named me.” Al-Ḥajjāj executed him, and survived him only forty days. Whenever he slept he would see Sa‘īd in a dream clutching his collar and saying, “Enemy of Allah, for what did you kill me?” Al-Ḥajjāj would cry out, “What have I to do with Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr? What have I to do with Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr?”

Ibn Khallikān (2) said: Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr ibn Hishām al-Asadī, client of the Banū Wālibah (3), was a Kufan and one of the eminent Successors. He was dark-skinned. He would not sign his legal opinions, but when Ibn ‘Abbās lost his sight he began to do so, which angered Ibn ‘Abbās. Ibn Khallikān also recounted his death as above, noting that it occurred in Sha‘bān and that al-Ḥajjāj died after him in Ramaḍān; others say the latter died six months earlier.

It is related from Imām Aḥmad (4) that he said, “Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr was killed when there was no one on earth who was not in need—or, he said, in want—of his knowledge.”

It is further said that after his death al-Ḥajjāj was never given authority over anyone, and something of this will appear in al-Ḥajjāj’s own biography.

Ibn Jarīr (5) said: That year was called “the Year of the Jurists,” for the majority of Madinah’s jurists died in it. At its outset passed away ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn [Zayn al-‘Ābidīn], then ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, followed by Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyab, Abū Bakr ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, [and Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr of the people of Mecca] (6).

We have provided the biographies of these figures in our book al-Takmīl (7), and will present a suitable portion here as well, if Allah Most High wills.

Ibn Jarīr also said: In this same year al-Walīd ibn ‘Abd al-Malik appointed Sulaymān ibn Ḥabīb (8) as chief judge over Syria, and the pilgrimage that year was led by al-‘Abbās (9) ibn al-Walīd; some say it was Maslamah ibn ‘Abd al-Malik.