and Kalb advanced on horseback, fully equipped,
with gleaming helms, coat-of-mail cuirasses, and plated arms.
So honor the living champions of the Sunnah (1)—
those who safeguarded its sanctities from every stubborn denier.
Shaybān and the Azd then arrived with weapons drawn;
ʿAbs and Lakhm followed, some shielding, others driving the foe.
Ghassān came next, together with the twin tribes, Qays and Taghlib,
while every faint-hearted or reluctant man held back.
By dawn they were the undisputed masters of the realm,
having subdued every insolent rebel and defiant rogue. (2)

Yazīd ibn al-Walīd now sent ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muṣād with two hundred horsemen to Qaṭanā to bring back ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥajjāj, the acting governor of Damascus, under a pledge of safety. ʿAbd al-Malik had barricaded himself in a palace there. They entered and found two jars (3), each containing thirty thousand dinars.

When they reached al-Mizzah the men with Ibn Muṣād said, “Take this money; it is better for you than Yazīd ibn al-Walīd.” He replied, “By Allah, the Arabs shall never say that I was the first to betray.” They brought ʿAbd al-Malik to Yazīd ibn al-Walīd, who used the money to hire almost two thousand cavalry for the coming fight. He placed them under the command of his brother ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and dispatched them in pursuit of al-Walīd ibn Yazīd.

One of al-Walīd’s retainers mounted a swift horse and rode until he reached his master by nightfall, the steed collapsing dead from exhaustion. He delivered the news, but al-Walīd did not believe him and ordered him beaten. When further reports arrived, some companions advised him to move to Ḥimṣ, for it was strongly fortified.

Al-Abrash Saʿīd ibn al-Walīd al-Kalbī said, “Take refuge with my people in Palmyra.” Al-Walīd would accept none of this. Instead, he set out with the two hundred horsemen who remained with him, heading toward Yazīd’s forces. En route they encountered his baggage train and it was captured. Al-Walīd himself proceeded to the fortress of al-Bakhraʾ (4), which had once belonged to al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr (5).

A messenger from al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd—one of his supporters—arrived, saying, “I am coming to you.” Al-Walīd ordered that his throne be brought out, seated himself upon it, and proclaimed, “Do men dare spring upon me when I leap upon lions and gird serpents round my waist?”

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Walīd soon arrived with those who remained—only eight hundred of the original two thousand horse. The two sides formed ranks and fought fiercely; several of al-ʿAbbās’s men were killed and their heads taken to al-Walīd. Al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd had originally come to aid al-Walīd ibn Yazīd, but his brother ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz sent for him; he was brought by force until he pledged allegiance to Yazīd ibn al-Walīd. They then united in war against al-Walīd ibn Yazīd. When the people saw their alliance, they deserted al-Walīd and joined them, leaving him humiliated and with only a few supporters. He retreated into the fortress, where they surrounded and besieged him on every side.

Al-Walīd approached the gate of the fortress and called out, “Let a noble man speak to me.” Yazīd ibn ʿAnbasah answered him.