Saʿid, nicknamed Khudhaina, the governor of Khurasan, advanced against the lands of Sogd because they had helped the Turks (1) against the Muslims in the engagement we have just described. He fought them with great ferocity until Allah granted him victory; they turned and fled, and he seized abundant spoils, appropriating every sum of money and store of goods he found.
In that same year the Commander of the Faithful, Yazid ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, dismissed his brother Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik from the governorship of Iraq and Khurasan. Maslamah had been disposing of the spoils as he wished and had not remitted anything to his brother during that period. Coveting the revenue, Yazid removed him and appointed ʿUmar ibn Hubayra in his place over Iraq and Khurasan.
That year the pilgrimage was led on behalf of the people by the governor of Medina, ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn al-Dahhak ibn Qays.
Among the eminent figures who died that year was al-Dahhak ibn Muzahim al-Hilali (2), Abu al-Qasim—some say Abu Muhammad—the Khurasani. He lived in Balkh, Samarkand, and Nishapur. A distinguished Successor, he related hadith from Anas, Ibn ʿAbbas, Ibn ʿUmar, Abu Hurayrah, and a number of Successors. Some nevertheless maintain that no reliable audition from any Companion is established for him, not even from Ibn ʿAbbas (3), though it is reported that he had already passed the age of seven.
Al-Dahhak was a leading authority in tafsir. Al-Thawri said: “Take tafsir from four men: Mujahid, ʿIkrimah, Saʿid ibn Jubayr, and al-Dahhak.” Imam Ahmad declared: “He is trustworthy and reliable.” Ibn Maʿin and Abu Zurʿah agreed, while Shuʿbah denied that he had heard directly from Ibn ʿAbbas, saying: “He transmitted Ibn ʿAbbas’s material only through Saʿid.” Yahya ibn Saʿid al-Qattan deemed him weak. Ibn Hibban, however, included him among the reliable narrators, stating: “He never met any of the Companions face to face, and whoever claims that he met Ibn ʿAbbas is mistaken.”
His mother carried him in the womb for two full years and bore him with teeth already showing. He taught children free of charge; it is said that three thousand pupils attended his school. Mounted on a donkey, he would ride about among them in the al-ʿAlyaʾ district (4).
Some record his death in 105 AH, others in 106 AH; he had reached the age of eighty. Allah knows best.