and Abū Naḍrah al-Mundhir ibn Mālik ibn Qiṭʿah al-ʿAbdī (1). We have already recorded their biographical entries in our book al-Takmīl (2).

That year the pilgrimage was led by Ibrāhīm ibn Hishām ibn Ismāʿīl al-Makhzūmī, governor of the Two Sanctuaries and al-Ṭāʾif, and the provincial officials were the very same as in the preceding year (3).

[Then the year 109 AH began]

In it Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik removed Asad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qasrī from the governorship of Khurāsān and ordered him to come for the ḥajj. He set out and arrived in Ramadan, leaving al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAwāna al-Kalbī as his deputy over Khurāsān. Hishām then appointed Ashras ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Sulamī as governor of Khurāsān and instructed him to correspond with Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qasrī. Ashras was an upright and virtuous man—hence he was called al-Kāmil, “the Perfect.” He was the first to establish frontier ribāṭ garrisons (murābaṭa) in Khurāsān, placing ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Dithār al-Bāhilī in charge of them. He personally oversaw every matter, great and small, and the people rejoiced at his appointment (4).

That same year the pilgrimage was again led by Ibrāhīm ibn Hishām, governor of the Two Sanctuaries and al-Ṭāʾif.

The year 110 AH of the Prophetic Hijrah

In this year Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik fought Khāqān, the supreme king of the Turks. Khāqān advanced against Maslamah with a massive host, and the two forces faced one another for about a month. Then, in the winter season, Allah granted victory over Khāqān, and Maslamah returned to Syria safe and laden with spoils. On his return he followed the route taken by Dhū al-Qarnayn, and the expedition became known as the “Mud Campaign” because they had to traverse stretches of boggy ground—