He was thunderstruck, struck dumb, and could not utter a word; bewilderment and shame overcame him.
Then she said, “May Allah war against Jamil—how truly he says:
‘May Allah curse the one whose friendship brings no benefit,
whose rope, when pulled, proves anything but firm;
And the two-faced man who never keeps faith,
ready to swear every oath under the sun.’ (1)
Kutheyyir thereupon began to offer excuses and disavow what he had done, composing poem after poem on the matter, forever mentioning and extolling her. (2)
ʿAzzah died in Egypt during the days of ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Marwān. Kutheyyir visited her grave, elegized her, and his poetry changed thereafter. Someone asked him, “Why has your poetry altered and grown less abundant?” He replied, “ʿAzzah has died, and I no longer find delight; youth has departed, and I am no longer amazed; ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Marwān has died, and I no longer aspire. Poetry is born only of such conditions.”
His death and that of ʿIkrimah occurred on the same day, but, according to the prevalent opinion, in the year 150 AH. Our teacher Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Dhahabī, however, recorded it under this year—meaning 107 AH—and Allah, exalted is He, knows best.
[Then came the year 108 AH.]
During it Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik captured Caesarea from the Byzantines, and Ibrāhīm ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik seized another of their strongholds. That same year the governor of Khurāsān, Asad ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Qasrī, campaigned and dealt the Turks a humiliating defeat.
In this year as well the Khāqān advanced into Azerbaijan and besieged the city of Warthān (3), bombarding it with mangonels. The local commander, al-Hārith ibn ʿAmr—deputy of Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik—marched against him, met Khāqān, king of the Turks, and routed him. A great many of the Turkish army were killed; Khāqān fled after narrowly escaping death, while al-Hārith ibn ʿAmr was martyred, but not before vast numbers of Turks had been slain.
That same year Muʿāwiyah ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik raided Byzantine territory, sending al-Baṭṭāl at the head of a large force. They captured Jandjara (4) and carried off abundant spoils. (5)