Mary—you would still not escape. By Allah, were you inside my very belly I would rip it open in order to kill you.” He then ordered ʿAbd Rabbih ibn Sayisan (1) to put him to death, and the sentence was carried out.
After that, al-Ḥārith ibn Surayj and al-Kirmānī formed a pact against Naṣr, vowing to oppose him and to summon the people to the Book and the Sunnah, to follow the Imams of true guidance, to forbid every abomination, and to uphold all that the Sacred Law enjoins. Soon, however, the two men quarrelled; a bitter battle ensued, al-Kirmānī gained the upper hand, and al-Ḥārith’s forces fled. Al-Ḥārith, who had been riding a mule, transferred to a horse, but it balked and would not move. His followers scattered, leaving only one hundred men with him. Al-Kirmānī’s troops overtook him and killed him beneath an olive tree—others say beneath a ghubayrāʾ tree (2)—on Sunday, six days before the end of Rajab that same year. One hundred of his companions fell with him. Al-Kirmānī seized his baggage and wealth, as well as the property of all who had marched out with him, and he commanded that al-Ḥārith’s headless body be crucified at the gate of Marw.
When word of al-Ḥārith’s death reached Naṣr ibn Sayyār, he said:
O bringer of disgrace upon his tribe—
Away with you, destruction to you, doomed one!
Your baleful star has laid all Muḍar low
And singed your own people with burning flame.
Never did Azd and the clans allied to it
Aspire to master ʿAmr or Mālik,
Nor the sons of Saʿd, when they bridled
Every battle-scarred steed of darkest hue. (3)
ʿAbbād (4) ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Surayj answered him, saying:
Lo, Naṣr, all concealment has vanished away,
Long have desire and expectation endured.
The clouds over Marw now sit in judgment,
Decreeing in governance as they choose;
Their verdict extends to every decree
Against Muḍar, though the ruling be wrong.
While Ḥimyar sits idle within its councils,
Blood trickles bright upon all their necks.
If Muḍar accepts this, content and abased,
Long will its wretchedness and shame abide;
But should it seek redress and refuse,
Then ruin shall fall upon all its hosts.