where he found that Marwan had already fled, having entered Egypt. A letter then reached him from al-Saffah instructing: “Send Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAlī in pursuit of Marwan, while you remain in Syria as its deputy.” Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAlī therefore set out after Marwan in Dhul-Qaʿdah of that same year, accompanied by Abū ʿAwn and ʿĀmir ibn Ismāʿīl. He encamped on the Mediterranean coast, gathered all the vessels he could find, and was informed that Marwan had taken up quarters at al-Farma (1)—some said at al-Fayyūm. Marching along the coastline, he had the ships towed beside him at sea until he reached al-ʿArīsh. From there he advanced until he halted by the Nile, then continued on to Upper Egypt.

Marwan crossed the Nile, cut the bridge, and burned the surrounding stores of fodder and grain. Ṣāliḥ pressed on in pursuit and encountered Marwan’s cavalry, whom he routed; thereafter, whenever they met any detachment of Marwan’s horsemen they put them to flight. They questioned some of the captives about Marwan’s whereabouts, and they directed them to him—he was in the church of Būṣīr (2). They reached him late in the night, whereupon the troops with him scattered. Marwan emerged with only a small band; they surrounded him and killed him. A man from Basra named Muʿawwiḍ, who did not recognize him, dealt him the fatal thrust. When someone exclaimed, “The Commander of the Faithful has been struck down!” a Kufan pomegranate-seller rushed forward and severed his head. ʿĀmir ibn Ismāʿīl, commander of that detachment, sent the head to Abū ʿAwn, who forwarded it to Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAlī. Ṣāliḥ, in turn, dispatched it with a man named Khuzaymah ibn Yazīd ibn Hāniʾ—his chief of police—to the Commander of the Faithful al-Saffāḥ.

Marwan was killed on Sunday, three days remaining of Dhul-Ḥijjah, or, it was said, on Thursday, six days having elapsed of that month, in the year 132 AH. His caliphate, according to the most reliable report, lasted five years, ten months, and ten days. Scholars differ concerning his age: some said forty years, others forty-six, fifty-eight, sixty, sixty-two, sixty-three, sixty-nine, or eighty; Allah knows best.

Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAlī then proceeded to Syria, appointing Abū ʿAwn ibn Abī Yazīd governor of Egypt. Allah, exalted is He, knows best.

This is a brief portion of the biography of Marwan al-Ḥimār:

[Marwan ibn Muḥammad] ibn Marwan ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ ibn Umayyah, al-Qurashī al-Umayyad (3), Abū ʿAbd al-Malik, the Commander of the Faithful, the last—