—a harsh rebuke.

Some said that the real reason was jealousy of the enormous wealth, revenues, and crops that had come into Khālid’s hands: it was reported that his yearly income reached thirteen million dinars—others said it was the same figure in dirhams—while his son Yazīd ibn Khālid received ten million.

It is also related that a certain Qurashī, one of the Commander of the Faithful’s personal retainers, named Ibn ʿAmr, once visited Khālid. Khālid neither welcomed him nor showed him any regard, whereupon Hishām wrote him a scathing letter. In it he ordered that, the very moment the letter reached him, he was to rise with everyone present in his court, go out on foot to Ibn ʿAmr’s door in a state of abject humility, request permission to enter, and apologize for what had happened. If permission were granted, so be it; if not, he was to remain standing at the door for a full year without moving from his place. Thereafter Ibn ʿAmr might dismiss him, keep him, seek redress, or pardon him as he wished. Hishām also wrote to Ibn ʿAmr informing him of the contents of the letter to Khālid and instructing him—should Khālid appear before him—to strike him twenty lashes on the head if he deemed that to be in the public interest.

Hishām then removed Khālid from office but concealed the fact. He dispatched a courier to Khālid’s deputy in Yemen, Yūsuf ibn ʿUmar, appointing him governor of Iraq and ordering him to set out with only thirty riders. They reached Kūfah before dawn, entered the city, and when the muʾadhdhin gave the adhān Yūsuf told him to pronounce the iqāmah. The muʾadhdhin replied, “Not until the imām arrives”—meaning Khālid—so Yūsuf rebuked him and again ordered the iqāmah.

Yūsuf stepped forward, led the prayer, and recited: “When the Inevitable Event comes to pass” (Sūrat al-Wāqiʿah) and “A questioner asked about a punishment bound to fall” (Sūrat al-Maʿārij). When he had finished, he sent for Khālid, Ṭāriq, and their associates; they were brought before him, and he confiscated great sums, imposing on Khālid a fine of one hundred million dirhams.

Khālid had assumed the governorship of Iraq in Shawwāl of the year 105 AH and was dismissed in Jumādā al-Ūlā of this year, namely 120 AH. In that same month Yūsuf ibn ʿUmar took charge of Iraq in place of Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qasrī. He appointed Judayʿ ibn ʿAlī al-Karmānī over Khurāsān and removed Jaʿfar ibn Ḥanẓalah, whom Asad had earlier installed. Later that year Yūsuf dismissed Judayʿ and put Naṣr ibn Sayyār in his stead.

All the real estate and property Khālid had acquired vanished in a single stroke. Some of his companions, when they learned of Hishām’s displeasure, had advised him to send the caliph a portion of his estates, letting him take what he wished and leave what he wished, saying, “For part to be lost while part remains is better than losing it all together with dismissal and ruin.” Khālid refused, deluded by worldly fortune; his pride would not allow him to abase himself. Thus the dismissal struck him suddenly, and everything he had amassed, collected, and hoarded was lost.

Yūsuf ibn ʿUmar’s authority over Iraq and Khurāsān was firmly established, and Naṣr ibn Sayyār’s governorship of Khurāsān likewise took hold. The provinces became tranquil, the subjects secure—praise and gratitude belong to Allah.

Suwār ibn al-Ashʿar ⦗1⦘ composed on the occasion:
“Khurasan, once fearful, now wakes in peace,
free from the tyranny of every heavy-handed despot.”