your son. He began calling people to pledge allegiance to him in the year 87 AH, and his influence kept increasing until he died in this year—some say the year before it, others the year after—at the age of sixty-three. He was one of the most handsome of men. He appointed his son Ibrāhīm as his successor, yet the matter was not finally concluded except for his son as-Saffāḥ, who wrested power from the Umayyads in the year 132, as will be explained in detail later.
As for Yaḥyā ibn Zayd (1) ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib: when his father Zayd was killed in 121 AH, Yaḥyā remained in hiding in Khurāsān with al-Ḥarīsh ibn ʿAmr ibn Dāwūd in Balkh until Hishām died. At that point Yūsuf ibn ʿUmar wrote to Naṣr ibn Sayyār telling him about Yaḥyā ibn Zayd. Naṣr then wrote to the deputy of Balkh, sending ʿAqīl ibn Maʿqil al-ʿIjlī with the letter. The deputy seized al-Ḥarīsh and flogged him six hundred lashes, but he would not betray Yaḥyā. Al-Ḥarīsh’s sons, however, led them to him, whereupon Yaḥyā was imprisoned. Naṣr reported this to Yūsuf, who in turn informed al-Walīd ibn Yazīd. Al-Walīd wrote back ordering that Yaḥyā be granted safe-conduct, released from prison along with his companions, and provisioned for their journey to him. Naṣr complied, freed them, and equipped them. They set out for Damascus, but when they were partway along the route Naṣr suspected treachery on Yaḥyā’s part and sent an army of ten thousand men against him. Yaḥyā, accompanied by only seventy men, routed them, killed their commander, and seized a great deal of their property. A second army then confronted him; they killed him, severed his head, and slew all his companions (may Allah be pleased with them).
[Then came the year 126 AH]
In that year al-Walīd ibn Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik was killed; here is his biography (2):
He was al-Walīd ibn Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn al-ʿĀṣ ibn Umayyah ibn ʿAbd Shams, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Umayyī al-Dimashqī, Commander of the Believers. He received the oath of allegiance for the caliphate after his uncle Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik in the previous year, in accordance with the designation made by his father, as noted earlier. His mother was Umm al-Ḥajjāj bint Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī. He was born in 90 AH—some say 92, others 87. He was killed on Thursday, with two nights remaining of Jumādā al-Ākhirah, 126 AH. His murder while he was caliph sparked severe civil strife among the people, and he was slain because of his profligacy; some even accused him of outright heresy.
Imam Aḥmad said: “Abū al-Mughīrah narrated to us; Ibn ʿAyyāsh narrated to us; al-Awzāʿī and others narrated to me, from …”