Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Khalaf related to us; Sufyān (1) narrated from Sālim ibn Abī Ḥafṣah.
He said: When Saʿīd ibn Jubayr was brought before al-Ḥajjāj, the latter asked him, “Are you the wretched son of Kusayr?” He replied, “No, I am Saʿīd (happy) ibn Jubayr.” Al-Ḥajjāj retorted, “I shall certainly kill you.” Saʿīd answered, “In that case I shall indeed be as my mother named me—Saʿīd.” Al-Ḥajjāj said, “You shall be wretched, and so shall your mother.” Saʿīd replied, “The affair is not in your hands.”
Al-Ḥajjāj then said, “Strike off his head.” Saʿīd requested, “Allow me to perform two rakʿahs of prayer.” Al-Ḥajjāj ordered, “Turn him toward the qiblah of the Christians.” Saʿīd recited: “Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah” (al-Baqarah 2:115).
He then said, “I seek refuge with Allah from you by the words with which Mary sought refuge.” Al-Ḥajjāj asked, “And what were those words?” He replied, “She said: ‘Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, if you are God-fearing’” (Maryam 19:18). Sufyān remarked, “After him al-Ḥajjāj executed only one other person.”
[Another report states that al-Ḥajjāj said to him, “I shall substitute for you in this world a blazing Fire.” Saʿīd replied, “Had I known that such a thing were in your power, I would have taken you as a god.”
In yet another version, when al-Ḥajjāj resolved to kill him he ordered, “Turn him toward the qiblah of the Christians.” Saʿīd recited, “Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah.” Al-Ḥajjāj then said, “Throw him onto the ground.” Saʿīd recited, “From it We created you, into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you forth once again” (Ṭā Hā 20:55). Al-Ḥajjāj said, “Slaughter him! Never have I seen a man who confronted me with the verses of Allah the way he has.” Saʿīd supplicated, “O Allah, do not grant him power over anyone after me.” Abū Nuʿaym recorded much material here on the execution of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr; what we have cited is the most apt of it, and Allah knows best.] (2)
We have already described his killing, and many strange reports exist concerning it, the majority of which are not sound. In any event, al-Ḥajjāj was dealt with swiftly; he survived Saʿīd only a short while before Allah seized him with the seizing of the All-Powerful—as we shall mention when recording his death in the coming year. It was said that he lived fifteen days after Saʿīd, others said forty days, and others six months; Allah knows best. The affair of Saʿīd embittered al-Ḥajjāj’s life, waking and sleeping.
Scholars differed over Saʿīd ibn Jubayr’s age—may Allah have mercy on him—when he was killed. Some said forty-nine years (3), others said fifty-seven; Allah knows best.
Abū al-Qāsim al-Lālikāʾī held that his killing occurred in the year 95 AH, while Ibn Jarīr placed it in this very year, 94 AH; Allah knows best.
[I say: Here are some fine sayings of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr that I wished to record.
He said: “The best form of fear of Allah is to fear Him in a way that bars you from sin and drives you to obey Him—that is beneficial fear. As for remembrance (dhikr), it is obedience to Allah; whoever obeys Allah has remembered Him, and whoever disobeys Him is not remembering Him, even if he frequently glorifies Allah and recites the Quran.”
He was asked, “Who is the most devout of people?” He answered, “A man who has committed sins, and whenever he remembers his sin he belittles his own deeds.”
Al-Ḥajjāj once said to him, “Woe to you!” Saʿīd replied, “Woe belongs to the one who is kept away from Paradise and cast into the Fire.” Al-Ḥajjāj ordered, “Strike off his head!” Saʿīd declared, “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I entrust this testimony to you until I meet you on the Day of Resurrection, for I am—