The same operation appears to be taking place here with...

The same operation appears to be taking place here with `Awana shifting the responsibility away from Yazid to Ibn Ziyad and ultimately to his advisor, Sergius, for suggesting Ibn Ziyad's appointment. Abu Mikhnaf's account survives in the reports taken by later writers from the recensions of Ibn al-Kalbi, Nasr b. Muzahim and al-Mada'ini. Ibn al-Kalbis work is given in very full form by al-Tabari. Al-Baladhuri tends to use the collective `they said (qalu)'.

But it is clear that the major source is Abu Mikhnaf. Abu al-Faraj uses both Nasr b. Muzahim's version and al-Mada'ini s, but he mainly relies on Nasr b. Muzahim's. It is clear from a comparison of the three texts that the fullest version is Ibn al-Kalbis, but all three recensions indicate that sometimes narratives are compressed together and summarized. What emerges is a very full account based on numerous sources, where alternatives are put side by side.