72 – Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq ibn Ziyād narrated to us; Abū Hammām al-Salt ibn Muḥammad al-Khārikī related to us; Maslama ibn ʿAlqama transmitted from Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, who said: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd told me:

“When Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik assumed the caliphate he sent me to Iraq to attend to those who had been marched off to the prison of ad-Dīmās, the men al-Ḥajjāj had confined there. I released them—among them were Yazīd al-Raqāshī, Yazīd al-Ḍabbī, and the ascetic ʿĀbidah of Basra. I freed them while serving in the district governed by Ibn Abī Muslim, rebuked him for what he had done, and clothed every one of the men in two garments.

When Sulaymān died, and ʿUmar (ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz) passed away as well, I was appointed over Ifrīqiyyah. Yazīd ibn Abī Muslim then arrived ⦗72⦘ as governor under the rule of Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and subjected me to a fierce torture, even to the point of shattering my bones.

One evening at sunset they carried me before him wrapped in a cloak. I said, ‘Have mercy on me.’ He replied, ‘Seek mercy somewhere else. If I saw the Angel of Death at your head I would snatch your soul before him. Now go away until I summon you.’

So I called upon Allah the Exalted: ‘O Allah, remember what I did for the prisoners of ad-Dīmās; remember Yazīd al-Raqāshī, so-and-so and so-and-so. Protect me from the evil of Ibn Abī Muslim. Set over him one who will show him no mercy, and let that occur before I can even blink.’ I held my eyes open, hoping for an answer.

Just then some Berbers burst in on him and killed him. They came to me and untied me, but I said, ‘Go away and leave me; I fear that if you remain they will think this happened because of me.’ So they left me and went on their way.”