others, but he killed many of the Arab nobles. The ruler had instructed him not to kill anyone from Banū Hāshim, reminding him that when al-Husayn was killed under the rule of Banū Harb—that is, during Yazīd’s reign—calamity befell them. Abd al-Malik took warning from this and forbade him to kill anyone from Banū Hāshim. Al-Hajjāj even aspired to marry a Hashimite woman: he asked Abd Allah ibn Jafar for his daughter’s hand and offered her a substantial bridal gift. Abd Allah accepted his proposal, but this angered some of Abd al-Malik’s sons, who did not consider al-Hajjāj worthy to marry a woman from Banū Hāshim. They went to Abd al-Malik and informed him of the matter, so he prevented al-Hajjāj from proceeding. They did not regard him as a suitable match for a Hashimite woman or as fit to marry her.
In sum, the reports transmitted by many ignorant people are governed by no reliable standard. Some are known to be lies through reason, some through ordinary experience, some because they contradict what has been established by authentic transmission, and some by other means.
[Section: The Rāfidī’s Statement, “And During the Campaign of the Confederates,” and the Response to It]
(Section)
The Rāfidī said (1): “And during the Campaign of the Confederates, which was the Campaign of the Trench, when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had finished constructing (2) the trench, there advanced