# The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall/Chapter 49

CHAPTER XLIX
MUʿĀWIYA II, MERWĀN, AND ʿABD AL-MELIK, CALIPHS. REBELLION OF IBN AZ-ZUBEIR AND AL-MUKHTĀR
64–73 A.H. 683-692 A.D.
Short and feeble reign of Muʿāwiya II., iii. 64 A.H. Nov., 683 A.D.Yezīd's early death was a misfortune to the Umeiyad rule. He was succeeded by his son Muʿāwiya II., a weak and sickly youth, who survived but three months. He had the support of all the Syrians except those of Ḳeis, whose objection to him was that his mother and grandmother were of Kelb. His maternal granduncle, Ibn Bahdal, was ruler de facto, and the brother of the latter was governor of Ḳinnasrīn, a province settled by Ḳeis. Ḳeis was, therefore, jealous of the large share of Kelb in the government. Anticipating his decease, Muʿāwiya told the people from the pulpit that, like Abu Bekr, he would have appointed a successor, but there was none he saw of ʿOmar's stamp; that like ʿOmar he would have nominated electors, but neither so did he see any men fit for such a task; and accordingly that he left them to choose a successor for themselves. The short and feeble reign served but to relax the sinews of the Empire.
Ibn Zubeir's power extends, vii. 64 A.H. March, 684 A.D.On his death, the Umeiyad counsels were divided, and various aspirants to the throne appeared. Ibn az-Zubeir, now the acknowledged Caliph at Mecca and Medina, succeeded during the next few months in being recognised ruler also over Egypt and the greater part of Syria. He was proclaimed in Al-Baṣra by a Temīmite, and ʿObeidallah, who relied on the Azd and Bekr, was forced to flee. Al-Kūfa also went over to Ibn az-Zubeir. Persia was in the hands of the Khawārij. Syria, and only part even of that, remained under the government of Damascus.
Had Ibn az-Zubeir left his sanctuary for Syria, there is ​little doubt but that he would have succeeded, and the Caliphate might then have been established in his family. Merwān elected Caliph.Even at Damascus, there was a numerous party in his favour, and most of the strongholds in Syria and Mesopotamia sided with him. Ibn Bahdal alone and the Syrian army, now returning from Arabia, were staunch to the Umeiyad interest, and they were reinforced by Umeiyads driven out of Medīna. Aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk, governor of Damascus, temporised. The young Caliph had left no child, but there was a brother, a younger son of Yezīd, named Khālid. The family favoured him; but the chief men of the Court felt that a stronger hand was needed, and they put forward Merwān. An Umeiyad, he came from another branch, but had rendered devoted service to ʿOthmān and to the dynasty at large.Opposed by Ibn Zubeir's party. After much dissension, he was saluted Caliph, on condition that Khālid should succeed on reaching man's estate. Aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk now showed his colours in the interest of Ibn az-Zubeir, and retired with his adherents to Merj Rāhiṭ, a meadow in the vicinity. Merwān, with a following of the Kelb, of the Jordan province and the Ghassān, pitched at Al-Jābiya. A strong antagonism was growing up between the two Bedawi branches of the Arabs, the Yemeni or "southern," against the Beni Bekr and the "northern." The former, especially the Beni Kelb, from which the Caliphs had taken wives, were devoted to the Umeiyad house; the Beni ​Ḳeis and northern tribes were equally prejudiced against it, and joined Aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk on the side of Ibn az-Zubeir.Battle of Merj Rāhiṭ. Several months passed thus; at last, towards the close of the year, Merwān attacked his enemy at Merj Rāhiṭ, and after some weeks of fighting, completely discomfited him, Aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk being left dead upon the field. Thereupon all Syria returned to its allegiance. Egypt also was regained; and an army under Muṣʿab, brother of Ibn az-Zubeir, seeking to recover Syria, was put to flight. Merwān owed his success to two persons, ʿObeidallah the son of Ziyād, who persuaded him to contest the Caliphate when he and all the Umeiyads believed their case was hopeless, and Ibn Bahdal, who held sway over the Yemeni tribes. On his side fought besides Kelb and Ghassān, Sakūn, Sahsak, Tanūbh, Ṭaiʾ, and Ḳain. Aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk was supported by Suleim, ʿĀmir (Hawazin), and Dhubyān—all Ḳeis. The battle gave rise to a blood-feud between the Yemeni and Ḳeisi tribes, traces of which exist down to the present day.
End of 64 A.H. Merwān's death, 27 ix 65 A.H. May 7, 685 A.D.Allegiance had been sworn to Merwān on 3 xi. 64 A.H. (June 22, 684 A.D.) at Al-Jābiya, and after the battle the oath was renewed at Damascus, two months later; but in the midst of his success, he came to an ignoble and untimely end. Fearing the stability of his throne, he set aside the recognised arrangement by which Khālid, brother of the late Caliph, should succeed, in favour of his own son ʿAbd al-Melik, whom he proclaimed heir-apparent. Then either with the view of reconciling Khālid's mother, that is, the widow of Yezīd, or of weakening her son's claim, he took her himself to wife. Further, he made light of her son, and treated him with indignity. The proud Bedawi dame was offended and took a signal revenge. As the Caliph slept by her side, she smothered him with a pillow, so that he was found dead in his bed. Born at the beginning of the Muslim era, and now over threescore years of age, he had gained an unenviable notoriety as an unscrupulous agent of the faction of ʿOthmān, though his demerits have no doubt been magnified by the opposite party.Succeeded by ʿAbd al-Melik. His reign lasted barely a year. He was succeeded by his son ʿAbd al-Melik, whose authority was at once recognised throughout Syria and Egypt.
It may be useful for a moment to notice events transpiring in the East which illustrate the intense jealousy ​that reigned between the Southern and Northern divisions of the Arab race, often with serious injury to the State.Hostilities in the East between Arabs of the South and North, 46–65 A.H. About this time, the rivalry broke out in Persia into fierce internecine warfare. For a whole year, Ibn Khāzim of Suleim, Ibn az-Zubeir's governor in Khorāsān, fought on the part of the Moḍar (or "northern") branch against Bekr (allied to "southern"), and in a victory gained at Herāt slew 8000 of his foes. His son having been killed by a party of the Temīm tribe commanded by Al-Ḥoreish, fighting was kept up for two years.
In the following year, Ibn Khāzim, still seeking to avenge his son's blood, stormed a fortress in which some eighty of the Beni Bekr had taken refuge. Marvellous tales are related of the feats and prowess of the little band; but their end was to be starved to death. Their chivalry has been handed down in verses by Al-Ḥoreish, which are still preserved.Arab sympathy with such combats. Such are the scenes over which, both in prose and verse, the Arab loves to dwell; and too much prominence may perchance have been given to them by our annalists. But the tribal jealousies and bloody engagements long prevailing amongst the Arab bands in Khorāsān and Eastern Persia, serve no doubt to explain why for many years there was so little progress made in the settlement of that territory, and in the extension of the frontier to the North and East.
Complications in Mesopotamia and Arabia.Meantime Ḳeis still held its ground on the Euphrates, and on the restoration of peace in Syria, Merwān had despatched an army under ʿObeidallah to reoccupy Mesopotamia from Mosul downwards, and thereafter advance on Al-Kūfa. A second, intended to recover Medīna, was routed on its way by the troops of Ibn az-Zubeir, whose supremacy continued to be recognised throughout Arabia, Al-ʿIrāḳ, and the East. His brave brother Muṣʿab continued governor of Al-Baṣra, though exposed there to serious jeopardy from the Khawārij. These at the first rallied round Ibn az-Zubeir in defence of Mecca against the army of Yezīd. But on his laying claim to the Caliphate, they demanded that he should join with them not only in condemning the "murderers" of Al-Ḥosein, but also in denouncing ʿOthmān as a tyrant justly put to death. This he could not do without compromising his whole career; for, in company with his father Az-Zubeir, he had waged war with ʿAlī for the avowed purpose of avenging ​the blood of that unfortunate Caliph.Khawārij fall out with Ibn Zubeir. The theocrats, incensed at his refusal, now turned against Ibn az-Zubeir, whose brother Muṣʿab had hard work in opposing them. Over and over again they got possession of Al-Baṣra, and when at last driven out they retired to Al-Ahwāz and spread themselves over Persia. There committing continual ravages under one name or another (for they split up into many sects), they were with difficulty held in check by Al-Muhallab, a brave general who had already distinguished himself in Khorāsān, and was now summoned for this task by Muṣʿab.
Mukhtār at Kūfā His previous history.Meanwhile an adventurer of a very different type, named Al-Mukhtār, came on the scene at Al-Kūfa. He was son of the Abu ʿObeid slain in the battle of the Bridge, and belonged to the notorious tribe of Thaḳīf. Designing and unprincipled, Al-Mukhtār was ever ready to take the side most for his own advantage. He was one of those who pursued Al-Ḥasan when, as Caliph, he fled from Al-Kūfa to AI-Medāin; and, on the other hand, he took part with Muslim, when deputed by Al-Ḥosein to Al-Kūfa. On the last occasion, he was seized by ʿObeidallah, then governor of the city, who struck him a blow that cost him an eye. Escaping to Arabia, he swore that he would revenge the injury by cutting the tyrant's body into a thousand pieces. At Mecca he aided Ibn az-Zubeir in opposing the Syrian attack on the Holy City; but distrusted by him, he departed and set up on his own account.Returns to Kūfa, end of 61 A.H. 684 A.D. Towards the close of 64 A.H. he returned to Al-Kūfa, now under one of Ibn az-Zubeir's lieutenants, and gained a name by joining in the cry of vengeance, raised by the ʿAlid party, against all who had been concerned in the attack upon Al-Ḥosein. But, suspected by the governor of sinister designs, he was seized and cast into prison.
Khāriji rising at Kūfa to revenge death of Ḥosein, 64 A.H.The civil war which now broke out was in reality a rising of the Persian Mawāli against their Arab masters, but it was given a religious colouring. For, about this time, a wild fanaticism had seized the Khawārij of Al-Kūfa, to revenge the death of Al-Ḥosein. Ever since the tragedy at Kerbalā, a party there had more or less conspired to slay all those who had joined the enemies of their Prophet's grandson. The feeling now became intense. The Penitents. Early in 65 A.H., numbers of "the Penitents" (Tauwābīn), as they called themselves, visited the tomb of Al-Ḥosein at Kerbalā, ​and gathering there "in a throng thicker than the throng that gathers around the Kaʿba," raised a bitter cry, and spent the night in a loud wail of self-reproach for having deserted in his extremity the son of Fāṭima and ʿAlī. Then they set out to attack the godless Syrians.Routed at Ḳirḳīsiyā, iv. 65 A.H. Nov., 684 A.D. Met near Ḳirḳīsiyā by the Caliph’s troops, they fought with desperate bravery, but were utterly defeated, their leaders slain, and the remnant driven back to Al-Kūfa.
Mukhtār gains possession of Kūfa as agent of the Ḥanefite, iii. 66 A.H. Oct., 685 A.D. Al-Mukhtār from his prison sent to the defeated "Penitents" a fulsome panegyric with hopes of future victory. Having obtained his liberty, he set up as the professed delegate of Moḥammad, Ibn al-Ḥanefīya, to execute vengeance on the enemies of his father's house. By dint of specious assertions, forged letters, and a certain countenance from Moḥammad himself, then at Medīna, he gained over Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashtar and other influential men of Al-Kūfa. By their aid he expelled the governor of Ibn az-Zubeir, gained possession of the city, and succeeded in extending his sway over Al-ʿIrāḳ, and even parts of Persia and Arabia.
Mukhtār sends army against ʿObeidallah, 66 A.H. 686 A.D.His first great effort was directed against his old enemy ʿObeidallah, who during the past year had been endeavouring to reduce the power of Ibn az-Zubeir in Mesopotamia, and now threatened Mosul. For this end Al-Mukhtār despatched Ibn al-Ashtar with an army; but no sooner had it left Al-Kūfa, than the citizens, many of whom had no sympathy with the ʿAlid movement, and were indeed themselves amongst the "murderers" of Al-Ḥosein,Uproar in Kūfa. rose in rebellion against Al-Mukhtār. He hastily recalled Ibn al-Ashtar for his defence. A terrible conflict ensued in the streets of Al-Kūfa, tribe against tribe, the Yemen against Ḳeis, faction against faction, till the cry on one side "Down with the murderers of Al-Ḥosein!" on the other "Down with the murderers of ʿOthmān!" resounded throughout the city. At last, after some 800 had been slain, Al-Mukhtār's party ​gained the victory. An amnesty was called; but from it all who had taken part against Al-Ḥosein were shut out.Massacre of all concerned in attack on Ḥosein, End of 66 A.H. These including,—besides Shamir, ʿOmar and other leading actors in the tragedy,—no fewer than 284 citizens of lesser note, were ruthlessly put to death. And so Al-Mukhtār at once achieved the ostensible object of his mission, and avenged himself by horrid cruelties upon his enemies. The heads of ʿOmar and his son, slain after he had given them quarter, were sent to Moḥammad Ibn al-Ḥanefīya, with this message,—"I have destroyed every man within my reach concerned in the attack upon Al-Ḥosein, thy martyred brother; and I will yet slay the remainder, if the Lord will." Only a few escaped to Al-Baṣra.
Ibn al-Ashtar defeats ʿObeidallah, who is slain, i. 67 A.H. Aug., 686 A.D.While émeute and slaughter were thus going on, ʿObeidallah had taken Mosul, and was advancing on Al-ʿIrāḳ. Al-Mukhtār, now that he was rid of his foes at home, hurried off the army under Ibn al-Ashtar to meet his arch-enemy. He himself accompanied it a short way, when a scene, worthy of the unprincipled pretender, was enacted to stir the fanatic zeal of the troops. A party of his followers drew near with a worn-out chair borne upon a mule. "The chair of ʿAlī!" cried Al-Mukhtār; "a messenger from heaven sent to slay thousands upon thousands of the wicked ones; even as the ark brought victory unto. the children of Israel!" "Nay!" cried the pious Ibn al-Ashtar, as the crowds with uplifted arms shouted around the chair—"Call it rather the golden calf which led the Israelites astray." The wretched scandal thus countenanced by Al-Mukhtār tended to lower him in the eyes of all the thinking citizens. Meanwhile, with an immense force, ʿObeidallah was advancing from Mosul, and the Kūfan army hurried on to anticipate him before he should invade Al-ʿIrāḳ.Battle of the Zāb. The two armies met on the banks of the Zāb at the beginning of the year 67 A.H. But there ​was treachery in the Syrian camp. The Beni Ḳeis had not forgotten the field of Merj Rāhiṭ, and they carried the left wing in a body over to the enemy. Beaten at first by the other wing, Ibn al-Ashtar recovered his position; and in a furious charge, nerved by the cry of "vengeance on the tyrant ʿObeidallah and the murderers of Al-Ḥosein!" routed the Syrian force, of which the most that escaped the sword perished in the swift waters of the Zāb. ʿObeidallah and Ḥoṣein ibn Numeir were among the slain.ʿObeidallah's head sent ot Kūfa. The head of ʿObeidallah was carried to Al-Kūfa, and cast before Al-Mukhtār on the very spot where, six years before, as governor of Al-Kūfa he had so roughly handled the gory head of the Prophet's grandson. Thus early was the tragedy of Kerbalā avenged in the blood of its chief actor, and of almost all who had taken part in it.
Mukhtār falls out with Ibn az-Zubeir.The victory of Ibn al-Ashtar revived the hopes of the Ḳeis tribes; it also made Al-Mukhtār for the moment undisputed master of Mesopotamia. His fortune, however, built up on a sand-bed of false pretences, was but of short duration. He tried to hold with Ibn az-Zubeir; but Ibn az-Zubeir had no faith in him; and to test his profession of loyalty summoned him to Mecca. Al-Mukhtār, refusing, assumed a hostile attitude, and sent a force to succour Ibn al-Ḥanefīya, whose life Ibn az-Zubeir had threatened unless he would do him homage. He also despatched an army to Medīna with the ostensible object of defending it from Syrian attack; but Ibn az-Zubeir, divining his ambitious designs, sent a force in the same direction which cut it to pieces.
Muṣʿab defeats Mukhtār, 67 A.H. 686 A.D.Muṣʿab, brother of Ibn az-Zubeir, was still governor of Al-Baṣra. Fortunately for ʿAbd al-Melik his hands were full. The Kūfans who had escaped thither from the tyranny of Al-Mukhtār, now besought Muṣʿab to rid them of their adversary. Nothing loth, he summoned the brave Muhallab from Fars, where he was still fighting against the Khawārij; and, thus supported, some little time after the battle of the ​Zāb, Muṣʿab set out for Al-Kūfa with a fully equipped army. He was met on the way by the troops of Al-Mukhtār, whom he totally discomfited. Al-Mukhtār then rallied his adherents in Al-Kūfa, and himself at their head encountered the enemy just outside the walls; but he was driven back, and with some 8000 followers, mostly Persians, forced to take refuge in the Fort. For several months they held out, but with little sympathy from the citizens at large. At last, driven by hunger and thirst, Al-Mukhtār called on the garrison to go forth with him and fight either for victory or a hero's death.Mukhtār slain, ix. 67 A.H. March, 687 A.D. He was followed but by nineteen, and with them met his fate. The rest surrendered at discretion. There was much discussion as to whether these should be spared, or at least those amongst them of Arab blood, who numbered 700. But the army was incensed, and the citizens of Al-Kūfa had no favour for them; and so Muṣʿab gave command, and the whole seven or eight thousand were beheaded. It was a deed of enormous ferocity, and brought Muṣʿab into well-merited disfavour with his brother Ibn az-Zubeir. The hand of the pretender was nailed to the wall of the Mosque, where it remained till taken down by Al-Ḥajjāj; and the cruelties were crowned by putting to death one of the widows of Al-Mukhtār, who refused to speak otherwise than well of her husband's memory. Thus ended the short-lived triumph of Al-Mukhtār, but a year and a half after his seizure of the city. The cause which he championed—that of the Mawāli—seemed lost, but the fire quenched in blood in Al-Kūfa, where the Arabs were strong, broke out again in Khorāsān sixty years later; and this time it was not put out.
67–69 A.H. 687–688 A.D. Outbreak of Khawārij.During the next two years there was little change in the relations subsisting between the several provinces. ʿAbd al-Melik looked quietly on while Muṣʿab made an end of Al-Mukhtār. The Khawārij kept the East in constant alarm. They scoured the country, made cruel ​attacks on the unoffending people, took Ar-Reiy, besieged Ispahān for months, overran Al-Ahwāz and Kirmān, and even threatened Al-Kūfa. Al-Muhallab, the only general able to cope with these savage fanatics, had been unwisely withdrawn from the field for the government of Mosul. Muṣʿab now again sent him against the Khāriji bands; and after eight months of unceasing warfare he succeeded in dispersing them for the time.Pilgrimage xii. 68 A.H. June, 688 A.D. The temporary quiet which, apart from these Khāriji outrages, at this period prevailed throughout the Empire is signalised by the singular spectacle chronicled by tradition, that whereas the Meccan solemnities were always headed by the Sovereign himself or by his Lieutenant, there were in the year 68 A.H., four leaders who, without any breach of harmony, presided at the Pilgrimage, each over his own adherents,—namely Ibn az-Zubeir, Ibn al-Ḥanefīya, the Khāriji Najda, who held the south of Arabia, and the representative of the Umeiyads. Yet no act of violence took place.
Rebellion of ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd, 70 A.H. 689 A.D.Now that the power of Al-Mukhtār and of the Khawārij had been broken for him, ʿAbd al-Melik had for some time been contemplating operations against Ibn az-Zubeir, and had in fact started on more than one occasion for a campaign to commence in the north of Syria, and sweep down upon Al-ʿIrāḳ and Arabia; but a severe famine paralysed his efforts for a time. At last, in the summer of 689 A.D. (69–70 A.H.) he set out against the Ḳeis in Ḳirḳīsiyā, but was recalled by a danger which threatened his throne, and led to an act which has left an indelible stigma on his name. At the time of Merwān's accession, it was stipulated that the minor son of Yezīd should have the next claim. A similar expectation was held out, either then or afterwards, to ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd, cousin of the Caliph and governor of Damascus. Both expectations were defeated by the succession of ‘Abd al-Melik, and the injury rankled in the mind of ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd. Accordingly, on the Caliph's camp nearing Aleppo, he left it secretly by night, re-entered Damascus, and set up for himself as Caliph. ʿAbd al-Melik ​hurried back, and after some inconclusive engagements offered an amnesty, on which the fighting ceased, and a deed of pardon was given to ʿAmr.Treacherously slain by ʿAbd al-Melik. A few days after, the Caliph, who had resolved on his death, summoned him to his presence. He went against the advice of his friends, clad in armour below his dress, and with a large following, which, however, were shut out at the palace gates. Accosting him in friendly accents, ʿAbd al-Melik bade him sit down by him, and after indifferent conversation, signified that he wished to fulfil an oath he made on first hearing of ʿAmr's rebellion, namely, that he would bind him hand and foot; but that having fulfilled his oath he would afterwards unloose him. ʿAmr submitted, but no sooner was he bound than the Caliph smote him violently, and having bid his brother ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz put him to death, went forth to evening prayers. Returning shortly, he was startled to find his victim still alive; and, taunting his brother, who said he had not the heart to do the deed, with cowardice, himself stabbed ʿAmr to death, and then cast his head with a heavy largess to the crowd without. ʿAmr's followers were put to flight; his sons and adherents, with difficulty spared, were banished, and peace restored. The Caliph then sent to the widow for the deed of amnesty;—"It is in the grave with my husband," she replied, "that he may arraign thee before his Lord thereby." ʿAbd al-Melik was not otherwise a cruel or hard-hearted man; but this act of refined and ruthless treachery created a widespread impression against him at the moment.
Caliph's campaign against Muṣʿab, 71–72 A.H. 691 A.D.Secure in Syria, ʿAbd al-Melik, apparently for the third time, renewed his design against Ibn az-Zubeir and Muṣʿab. There was a strong party in the Caliph's favour at Al-Baṣra; but endeavour through an emissary to stir them into active loyalty having failed, the Caliph resolved himself to head a force for Mesopotamia and Al-ʿIrāḳ. The Greeks, taking ​advantage of the divisions in the Muslim Empire, pressed heavily at this time on the Syrian frontier;War against Muṣʿab, and ʿAbd al-Melik, to be free for his enterprise, had to make a truce with them at the weekly tribute of 1000 golden pieces. It was the year 71 A.H. before ʿAbd al-Melik again broke ground. Having sown disaffection widely in Al-Kūfa and Al-Baṣra by missives promising pardon and rewards, he laid siege to Ḳirḳīsiyā, where Ibn az-Zubeir's governor ere long accepted the offer of amnesty, and with the Ḳeis tribes joined the Caliph's army. Muṣʿab, now thoroughly alarmed, sought the help of Al-Muhallab, but that general was at the moment hotly engaged with the Khawārij, who were close upon the walls of Al-Baṣra. So he had to meet the Caliph on the Syrian frontier with only Ibn al-Ashtar, who, though tempted with the promise of Al-ʿIrāḳ, stood fast by Muṣʿab. When the two armies met, it was soon seen that the Caliph's missives had taken effect, and that treachery was rife in Muṣʿab's camp. Ibn al-Ashtar, the only loyal friend he had, was one of the first to fall;who is slain in battle, iv. or v. 72 A.H. Sept. or Oct., 691 A.D. and Muṣʿab, deserted by his troops, and having seen his son slain before his eyes, refusing quarter, was slain by one of his own Kūfaites, a hero to the last. His head, with the nose cut off, was sent round by ʿAbd al-Melik to Egypt and Damascus. It was then to have been shown over the cities of Syria, when the Caliph's wife, with better feeling, had it washed and buried. Muṣʿab died aged thirty-six. He was handsome and brave; but his memory is stained by the butchery perpetrated by his command at the death of Al-Mukhtār.
Caliph regains Kūfa and ʿIrāḳ.On Muṣʿab's death, the Kūfan army swore allegiance to ʿAbd al-Melik, as did also the Arab tribes of the Syrian desert. Advancing on Al-Kūfa, he encamped by the city forty days. There, one of the citizens made him a great feast at the ancient palace of the Khawarnaḳ, open to all. ʿAbd al-Melik was delighted:—"If it would only last!" he said, "but as the poet sang" (and he quoted some verses), "all is transitory here." Then he was taken over the palace, and being told of the ancient princes of Al-Ḥīra who lived there, extemporised a couplet (for he was himself a poet), ​signifying that the world passes away, and but repeats itself.Khawarnaḳ Palace. The Caliph was fortunate now in obtaining the adhesion of Al-Muhallab, whom he confirmed in his commission against the Khawārij; and having arranged for the administration of Al-Kūfa, Al-Baṣra, and the various Eastern posts, returned to Damascus.
Ibn Zubein at Mecca.Ibn az-Zubeir in retirement still held to his claim to the Caliphate. Virtual ruler for several years of the greater part of the Empire, he had remained singularly inactive at Mecca. His chief domestic work had been the restoration of the Holy House, destroyed 64 A.H. Having removed the débris, he came upon remains of the ancient limits of the Ishmaelite structure, and enlarged the walls accordingly. Fire, we are told, flashed from the sacred rock when Ibn az-Zubeir had the temerity to strike the foundation with his pickaxe, as the same terror had overawed the people sixty years before when, in the youth of the Prophet, the Kaʿba was dismantled and rebuilt. If instead of remaining inactive at home, and contenting himself with the issue of orders from the Holy City, he had gone forth to head his armies, the Caliphate might have been established in his line. But the defeat of his brother Muṣʿab came upon him as an unlooked-for and fatal blow. He mounted the pulpit when hearing of it, and harangued the people on the treachery of the men of Al-ʿIrāḳ, and his readiness to die in defence of the Kaʿba. But trusting perhaps to the immunity of the Sanctuary, he took no further steps.
If such were his thoughts, they were in vain; for before leaving Al-Kūfa, ʿAbd al-Melik resolved on putting an end to the pretensions of his rival. He therefore sent a column of horse and foot under Al-Ḥajjāj, an able officer now ​Ḥajjāj attacks Mecca.coming to the front. Marching from Al-Kūfa, Al-Ḥajjāj reached Aṭ-Ṭāʾif, four days east of Mecca, in the month of Shaʿbān (Jan. 692 A.D.), without opposition, and forwarded letters of pardon to Ibn az-Zubeir if only he would submit. But Ibn az-Zubeir declined the offer. Frequent skirmishes took place on the plain of ʿArafāt, in which Al-Ḥajjāj got the advantage. Al-Ḥajjāj then sought from the Caliph leave to besiege Mecca, and also reinforcements. He obtained both. Men remembered how shocked the same ʿAbd al-Melik had been when, eight years before, Mecca was stormed by order of Yezīd, and so they said the Caliph had gone back in his religion. But this was hardly fair to him; for so long as Ibn az-Zubeir remained rival Caliph in that otherwise secure sanctuary, the Empire could not be free from the danger of revolt.Besieges the city, xi. 72 A.H. April, 692 A.D. It was close upon the month of Pilgrimage when Al-Ḥajjāj, strengthened by reinforcements from Medīna, from which Ibn az-Zubeir's governor had just been expelled, invested the city and mounted catapults on the surrounding heights. As the engines opened with their shot, the heavens thundered (so tradition goes) and twelve of the Syrian army were struck by lightning; but next day when the storm returned, the impartial thunderbolts fell upon the men of Mecca, an incident from which Al-Ḥajjāj drew happy augury. During the days of Pilgrimage, the bombardment was at the intercession of ʿOmar's son ʿAbdallah held over, and the solemnities proper to the season partially performed. The siege was shortly turned into a strict blockade, and in a few months the inhabitants, suffering the extremities of want, began to desert in great numbers to the enemy. Even two of his own sons did so, on Ibn az-Zubeir's advice; but a third preferred to stay and share his father's fate. The siege had now lasted seven months, when Ibn az-Zubeir lost heart. He was tempted to give in; but he would first consult his mother Asmā, daughter of Abu Bekr, now a hundred years of age. The scene is touching. With the ancient spirit of the Arab matron, she exhorted her son, if still conscious of the right, to die as a hero should. "That," said he, as he stooped to kiss her forehead, "is what I thought myself; but I wished to strengthen my thought by thine." And so, putting on his armour, he rushed into the thickest, and fell in the ​unequal fight.Ibn Zubeir dies fighting, vi. 73 A.H. Oct., 692 A.D. The heads of Ibn az-Zubeir and two of his leaders were exhibited at Medina, and thence sent on to Damascus. Al-Ḥajjāj, giving thus early proof of his hard and cruel nature, had the pretender's body impaled on the outskirts of the Holy City. ʿAbd al-Melik blamed him for his inhumanity, and bade him give the body up to Asmā, by whose loving hands it was washed and committed to the grave.
Ibn Zubeir and his mother Asmā.Thus ended the rule of Ibn az-Zubeir, a man of noble but inactive spirit, who for nine years held the title, and much also of the real power, of Caliph. He died aged seventy-two.
His mother, Asmā, is the same who, at the Hijra, seventy-three years before, tore off her girdle to bind with it the Prophet's wallet to his camel as he took his flight from the cave of Mount Thaur, and thus earned the historic name of "She of the shreds." It is one of the last links that connect the Prophet with the chequered days on which we have now entered. What a world of events had transpired within the lifetime of this lady!
Ibn Khāzim faithful to Ibn Zubeir.The only one of Ibn az-Zubeir's governors who remained faithful to his memory was Ibn Khāzim, now fighting with the rival clans of Khorāsān. ʿAbd al-Melik offered, if he swore allegiance, to confirm him in Khorāsān; but he indignantly rejected the offer. "I would have slain the envoy," he said, "had he not been of my own Ḳeis blood." But he made him swallow the Caliph's letter. Thereupon ʿAbd al-Melik sent him the head of Ibn az-Zubeir, in order to assure him of his end. Ibn Khāzim embalmed the relic, and forwarded it to the family of the deceased. He was shortly after slain in battle by one whose brother he had put to death in the intertribal warfare.
* ↑ The subjoined tree will show the relationship of the Umeiyad family:— Umeiya. ee | Abu’l ‘As. Harb. | | Al-Hakam. Abu Sulyan. 4. MERWAN I. 1. Mu'Awiya I. | | | ; Mohammad. 5. ‘ABD AL-MELIK. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz. 2, YEZip I. | | | 14. MERWAN II. 8. ‘OMAR II, | l 3. MU‘AWIYAIT. Khalid. | | ae | l 6. AL-WELIDI. 7. SULEIMAN. g. YEzipD II. Io. HISHAM. | l 11. AL-WELID II. 12. YEziD III. 13. IBRAHIM.
* ↑ The wild fanaticism of these people is illustrated by the war-cry of one who thus exhorted his fellows: ‘"Whoso desireth the life after which there is no death, the journey after which there is no weariness, the joy after which there is no grief, let him draw nigh unto his Lord in this battle, and breathe out his soul in Paradise."
* ↑ Son of the Al-Ashtar who bore so prominent a part on ʿAlī's side in the battle of Ṣiffīn.
* ↑ "Some they stoned, some they stabbed, and some they shot with arrows like as they had shot Al-Ḥosein." Of one, Al-Mukhtār had the four limbs cut off, and the wretched creature so left to die; another half dead, they burned in the fire. The feeling ran so high as to override the ties of nature; thus the citizen who brought in from Kerbalā the head of Al-Ḥosein was hunted down till at last he was pointed out by the fanatic piety of his own wife, and slain.
* ↑ Quoting the Ḳorʾān, Sūra Ixxvii. 1.
* ↑ The feeling of abhorrence towards ʿObeidallah may be gathered from the tradition that a viper issued from his head and kept crawling from his mouth into his nose, and so backwards and forwards.
* ↑ Eventually Ibn al-Ḥanefīya tendered allegiance to ʿAbd al-Melik, and we hear little more of him.
* ↑ It is instructive to observe the distinctive value at this period placed on the life of Arabs, when it was calmly proposed to set the Arab prisoners free and slay the "clients" of foreign blood.
* ↑ Elegies by different poets mark the horror at this atrocious act.
* ↑ These theocratic fanatics seem throughout to have had a strange fascination for the most savage cruelties, regarding them apparently as service to God, if only perpetrated against those held by them as heretics. They even cut up women big with child.
* ↑ For example, it alarmed Ibn al-Ḥanefīya, and prevented his coming in for a time. The Caliph is represented as rather boasting of it at Al-Kūfa: "Beware," he said, "for I have the bonds by me which I cast around the neck of ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd." According to some accounts ʿAmr's rebellion took place somewhat later, on the occasion of the Caliph's setting out for Al-ʿIrāḳ against Muṣʿab; but the main outlines otherwise are the same; ʿAmr persisting in his claim, the Caliph felt that his life was not safe, and that either he or ʿAmr must die.
* ↑ For the Palace of the Khawarnaḳ, see Life of Mahomet, 1st edition, vol. i. p. clxxi.
* ↑ "Be not vexed with care, for thou too shalt pass away: Therefore enjoy thyself, O man! whilst thou canst; For that which was, shall not be again when it hath passed; And that which shall be, only as what hath already been."
* ↑ A tradition is quoted from ʿĀisha of Moḥammad having told her that he would himself have restored the Kaʿba to its ancient wider dimensions, but that the people having been so recently reclaimed from idolatry, he feared the effect upon them of appearing to tamper with the sacred edifice. Al-Ḥajjāj subsequently took the temple down and rebuilt it on its former lines.
* ↑ Life of Moḥammad, p. 27 et seq.
* ↑ Life of Moḥammad, p. 140 f.