—Ayyūb—while secretly hoping that misfortune would overtake his brother. Ayyūb, however, died during his father’s lifetime, whereupon Sulaymān transferred the bayʿa to his cousin ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, appointing him caliph after him—and what an excellent decision it proved to be. (1)

In the same year the city of the Ṣaqāliba (Slavs) was conquered.

Al-Wāqidī relates: That year the Burjān raided Maslama’s army when he had only a small detachment with him. Sulaymān therefore sent a force to support him, and the Burjān fought until Allah—exalted is He—put them to flight.

That same year Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab campaigned against Quhistān (2) in the land of China. He besieged it and fought a fierce battle outside its walls, and he did not desist until it surrendered. He then executed four thousand of the Turks there by beheading (3) and carried off money, furnishings, and goods beyond all reckoning for their quantity, value, and beauty. From there he marched on to Jurjān. Its ruler appealed to the Daylamites, who came to his aid, and Yazīd engaged them in battle. Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Sabrah al-Juʿfī—an outstanding and courageous horseman—charged the king of the Daylamites, killed him, and Allah routed them. On another day Ibn Abī Sabrah challenged one of the Turkish cavaliers to single combat: the Turk struck him on the helmet, the blade sticking fast in it, whereupon Ibn Abī Sabrah struck him and killed him. He then returned to the Muslims, his own sword dripping blood while the Turk’s sword was still embedded in his helmet.

Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab looked at him and said, “I have never seen a sight finer than this. Who is that man?” They replied, “Ibn Abī Sabrah.” He said, “What a splendid man—were it not for his addiction to wine.” (4)

Yazīd then resolved to press the siege of Jurjān and kept tightening the noose on its ruler until the latter sued for peace on the following terms: seven hundred thousand dirhams, four hundred thousand dinars, two hundred thousand garments, four hundred donkeys laden with saffron, and four hundred men, each man bearing a shield on which were placed a cloak, a silver bowl, and a bolt of silk.

When Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ had first taken the city it had been by treaty, on condition that they pay the land-tax: some years they would remit one hundred thousand, other years two hundred thousand, and in some years three hundred thousand; at times they withheld it altogether. Eventually they openly rebelled and repudiated the treaty, so Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab marched against them and reinstated the settlement that had existed in the days of Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ.

They also report that Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab acquired an immense amount of wealth elsewhere, among which was a crown set with precious jewels. He asked, “Do you think anyone would turn away from this?” They replied, “We know of no one.” He said, “By Allah, I know a man who, were this and its like presented to him, would renounce it.” He then summoned Muḥammad ibn Wāsiʿ—who was campaigning with the army—and offered him the crown. He replied, “I have no need of it.” Yazīd said, “I adjure you, take it.” So he accepted it and departed. Yazīd ordered a man to follow him and see what he would do with it. Ibn Wāsiʿ passed a beggar who asked him for something, so he gave him the crown in its entirety and went on his way. Yazīd then sent for that beggar, recovered the crown, and compensated him with a large sum of money.