Abu Bakr ibn Abi al-Dunya narrated from ʿUmar ibn Abi Muʿadh al-Numayrī, from his father, from ʿAmr ibn Kuliʿ (1), from Salim, the secretary of Hisham ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, who said:
“One day Hisham came out to us looking dejected, the signs of grief plain upon him. He sent for al-Abrash ibn al-Walid. When the latter arrived he asked, ‘Commander of the Faithful, why do I see you like this?’ Hisham answered, ‘How could it be otherwise, when the astrologers claim that I shall die within thirty-three days from today?’

We recorded that. When the last night of that period came, his messenger came to me during the night saying, ‘Bring the medicine for al-dhabḥah (throat constriction).’ He had suffered from it before, taken the remedy, and recovered. I went to him with the medicine; he drank it while in severe pain and remained like that for most of the night. Then he said, ‘O Salim, go home; I feel some relief. Leave the medicine with me.’ I departed, but had scarcely reached my house when I heard the wailing for him. I returned and found that he had died.

When he died, the treasurers came and sealed his storehouses. They wanted to heat water but could not find a single qumqum (2) for him until they borrowed one. The inscription on his signet ring read: ‘Judgment belongs to the All-Wise Judge.’

He died at al-Rusafah on Wednesday, six days before the end of Rabiʿ al-Akhir in the year 125 AH, at a little over fifty years of age. Others say he was past sixty. Al-Walid ibn Yazid ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, who succeeded him as caliph, led the funeral prayer. Hisham’s caliphate lasted nineteen years, seven months, and eleven days; others say nineteen years, eight months, and a few days—Allah knows best.

Ibn Abi Fudayk said: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Zayd related to us, from Musʿab, from al-Zuhri, from Abu Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman, from his father, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“The adornment of this world will be removed in the year 125 AH.” (3)

Ibn Abi Fudayk added: “Its adornment is the light and splendor of Islam.” Another said: “He meant the men.” Allah knows best.

I say: When Hisham [ibn ʿAbd al-Malik] died, [the sovereignty of Banū Umayyah died with him]; the cause of [jihad in the path of Allah] waned, and their affairs became thoroughly unsettled. Although their rule lingered for about seven years after him, it was marked by dissension and turmoil. They remained in that state until the Abbasids rose against them and stripped them of [their bounty and] their kingdom, [killing multitudes of them and wresting] the caliphate from them (4) [as will, Allah willing, be set forth in detail in its proper place. And Allah, glorified and exalted, knows best] (5).

End of Volume Nine of the Cairo edition (Q).