Serjun asked him...

Serjun asked him, “Had Mu’awiyah been alive and suggested to you to employ him [as governor of Kufa], would you then do so?” Yazid answered in the affirmative. “Mu’awiyah had given him his own seal, and nothing stopped me from recommending him except my knowledge of how much you hate him.” Yazid, therefore, dispatched ‘Ubaydullah to Kufa and deposed al-Nu’man Ibn Bashir. He wrote the latter saying, “One who is praised will one day be condemned, and one who is condemned will one day be praised.

You are named for a task wherein the first part of this statement applies to you.” Elevated, you were, reaching the clouds and beyond, What ails you so you, crippled, watch the sun?[^10] He ordered Ibn Ziyad to rush to Kufa in the company of Muslim Ibn ‘Umar al-Bahili, al-Munthir Ibn al-Jarud, and ‘Abdullah Ibn al-Harith Ibn Nawfal escorted by five hundred soldiers whom he hand-picked from among the people of Basra.

Ibn Ziyad rushed to Kufa, paying no attention to anyone who fell off his horse due to exhaustion even if he were one of his own closest friends. Even when Shurayk Ibn al-A’war fell on the way, and even when ‘Abdullah Ibn al-Harith fell, thinking that Ibn Ziyad would slow down for their sake, Ibn Ziyad paid no attention to them for fear al-Husayn (‘a) would reach Kufa before him. When he reached al-Qadisiyya, his slave Mahran fell down.

Ibn Ziyad said to him, “If you remain thus on foot and reach the [governor's] mansion, your reward will be a hundred thousand [dinars].” Mahran said, “By Allah I cannot do that!” ‘Ubaydullah Ibn Ziyad abandoned him on the highway then disguised in Yemeni clothes and put on a black turban.

He rode alone and whenever he passed by a checkpoint, its guards thought that he was al-Husayn (‘a), so they said, “Welcome, O son of the Messenger of Allah!” He remained silent till he reached Kufa via the Najaf highway.[^11] When he arrived, people welcomed him and said in one voice: “Welcome, O son of the Messenger of Allah!” This only intensified his ire. He continued his march till he reached the governor's mansion.

Al-Nu’man did not open the gate for him, and he spoke to him from the mansion's roof-top. Said he, “I shall not return the trust to you, O son of the Messenger of Allah!” Ibn Ziyad said to him, “Open the gate, for your night has extended for too long!”[^12] A man heard his voice and recognized him.