in a verdant meadow, whereupon he said to him:
“You will take charge of my community; refrain from bloodshed, refrain from bloodshed. (1) Among the people you are called ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, yet with Allah your name is Jābir.”

Abū Bakr ibn al-Muqriʾ said: Abū ʿArūbah al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Mawdūd al-Ḥarrānī narrated to us; Ayyūb ibn Muḥammad al-Wazzān narrated to us; Ḍamrah ibn Rabīʿah narrated to us; al-Sarrī ibn Yaḥyā narrated to us, from Riyāḥ ibn ʿUbaydah, who said:
ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz went out to the prayer while an elderly man was leaning on his arm. I said to myself, “What a rough old fellow!” When ʿUmar had finished the prayer and gone inside, I followed him and asked, “May Allah set the governor aright—who was that old man leaning on your arm?” He replied, “O Riyāḥ, did you see him?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “I do not think, O Riyāḥ, that you are anything but a righteous man. That was my brother al-Khidr. He came to me and informed me that I shall be entrusted with the affairs of this ummah and that I shall act justly within it. (2)

Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān (3) reported: Abū ʿUmayr narrated to us; Ḍamrah narrated to us, from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ḥamlah (4), from Abū Aʿyas (5):
I was sitting with Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah when a young man clad in coarse, patched garments (6) came up and took Khālid by the hand. He asked, “Is the evil eye upon us?” Abū Aʿyas continued: I said, “Upon you both be Allah’s all-seeing eye and all-hearing ear.” Tears welled up in the young man’s eyes; he released Khālid’s hand and walked away. I asked, “Who was that?” He replied, “That was ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, the nephew of the Commander of the Faithful. If you live long enough, you will see him a leader of guidance.”

Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah possessed a fine store of the lore and sayings of the ancients, and he also studied astrology and medicine. (7) We have already mentioned, in the biography of Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, (8) that when death approached him he resolved to write a testament naming one of his sons. His trustworthy minister Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywah persisted until he dissuaded him from that course and advised him to entrust authority after him to the most righteous of the people. Allah inspired the Caliph with sound judgement, and he appointed his cousin ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.