Sa ' id ibn Amr al - Harashi Sa ' id ibn Amr al - Harashi ( ) was a prominent general and governor of the Umayyad Caliphate , who played an important role in the Arab – Khazar wars . Biography . Sa ' id ibn Amr al - Harashi was a Qays i from Qinnasrin . He appears on the side of the Umayyad prince and general Maslama ibn Abd al - Malik in 720 , when the latter was sent into Iraq to quell Yazid ibn al - Muhallab ' s rebellion . Umar ibn Hubayra , who was installed as the new governor of Iraq , appointed Sa ' id as governor of Basra , and , shortly after ( in 722 – 723 ) , of Khurasan . In this position , Sa ' id was able to swiftly restore the Muslim position in Transoxiana , which was threatened by a large - scale Soghdia n rebellion and the first attacks of the Turgesh nomads . Sa ' id rallied the Muslims and took to the offensive , crushing the Soghdian rebels near Samarkand and then proceeding to capture the important city of Khujand , thereby restoring Muslim control over most of Transoxiana except for the Fergana Valley . However , his brutality in suppressing the Soghdian revolt , and his strict enforcement of the " jizya " on the native population , merely reinforced their hostility towards Arab rule . Despite his oppressive measures , however , he was unable to forward enough tax revenue to Iraq , and was replaced by Muslim ibn Sa ' id al - Kilabi . After his dismissal , Sa ' id returned to Syria . He re - appears in December 730 , when he was called upon to halt the unprecedented Kazar advance into the Caliphate following their crushing victory in the Battle of Marj Ardabil . The Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al - Malik , close to panic , brought Sa ' id to his residence at Rusafa and appointed him to lead an army against the Khazars , but he had few troops at hand . Instead , he gave Sa ' id a lance said to have been used in the Battle of Badr to be his standard , as well as 100 , 000 silver " dirham s " to recruit men as he went north . Although the forces he could muster immediately ( including survivors from Ardabil who had to be paid ten gold dinar s to be persuaded to fight ) were small , Sa ' id managed to recover Akhlat on Lake Van . From there he moved north to Bardha ' a and south again to relieve the siege of Warthan . Near Bajarwan , Sa ' id came upon a 10 , 000 - strong Khazar army under the Khazar " khagan " s son , which he defeated , killing most of the Khazars and rescuing the prisoners they had with them . The surviving Khazars fled north , with Sa ' id in pursuit . Despite this success , Sa ' id was relieved of his command in early 731 and even imprisoned for a while at Qabala as the result of the jealousy of Maslama ibn Abd al - Malik , whom Hisham now appointed as governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan and charged with command against the Khazars . In spring 733 , however , Sa ' id was rehabilitated and appointed in turn as governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan , following the somewhat lacklustre performance of Maslama and another Umayyad prince , Marwan ibn Muhammad ( the future Marwan II ) , against the Khazars over the previous years . Nevertheless , for the duration of Sa ' id tenure , he remained on the defensive , possibly as a result of the exhaustion of his troops in the long conflict with the Khazars . Due to the loss of his eyesight , Sa ' id was forced to resign his post , probably in early 735 . Family . Sa ' id had several sons who were active as military leaders and governors for both the Umayyads and the Abbasids : Yazid was killed in Ifriqiya , Nadr was Marwan II ' s governor of Iraq , Anbasa commanded the troops of Qinnasrin in 785 / 786 , and another , Yahya , served as governor of Egypt in 779 / 780 .