The latter...

The latter, therefore, rode with a multitude from the tribe of Mathhaj, and they all surrounded the mansion. When Ibn Ziyad came to know about it, he ordered Shurayh, the judge[^6], to see Hani and then to tell those horsemen that Hani was still alive. Shurayh narrates saying, “When Hani saw me, he said in a loud voice, ‘O Muslims!

Should ten persons enter here, you must come to my rescue!' Had Hamid Ibn Abu Bakr al-Ahmari, the policeman, not been with me, I would have conveyed his message, but I had to simply say instead that Hani was still alive. ‘Amr Ibn al-Hajjaj then praised Allah and went back accompanied by the other men.”[^7] [^1]: On p. 19, Vol.

1, of his book Mujma’ al-Amthal, al-Maydani says that this verse was composed by al-Harith Ibn Jibillah al-Ghassani as he seized al-Harith Ibn ‘Afif al-’Abdi who had composed poetry defaming him. [^2]: According to p. 274, Vol. 2, of Al-Isaba (of Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani), where Qays Ibn al-Makshuh's biography is detailed, the author says that this verse was composed by ‘Amr Ibn Ma’di-Karib wherein he referred to his sister's son from whom he had distanced himself. On p. 32, Vol.

14, of Al-Aghani, Abul-Faraj al-Isfahani says, “The Commander of the Faithful (‘a) cited this verse when Ibn Muljim al-Muradi came to swear the oath of allegiance to him.” On p. 97, Vol.

3, of his Tarikh, published by the Hayderi Press (Najaf, Iraq), al-Ya’qubi says, “It came to the knowledge of Abu al-’Abbas al-Saffah that Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdullah raised an army in Medina to fight him, so he wrote the latter in this regard and included this verse: I seek his love while he seeks to murder me, What your friend seeks is now your own excuse. ‘Abdullah wrote him back saying, How could he thus seek while you are Like the arteries of his heart?

How could he thus seek while your forearm Derives its strength even from his own? How could he thus seek while you are To Hashim a head and a guide?” [^3]: al-Mas’udi, Muruj al-Thahab, Vol. 2, p. 88. By “your friend” he meant Yazid. [^4]: al-Zamakhshari, Al-Mustaqsa, Vol. 1, p. 15 (Hayderabad, India, edition). [^5]: Ibn Nama, Muthir al-Ahzan. [^6]: On p. 330, Vol.

1, of his book Al-Tabaqat, Khalifah Ibn ‘Amr says that Shurayh was one of the “sons” who were in Yemen, attributing his lineage to the Kindah tribe, and that he died in 76 A.H./695 A.D. On p. 16, Vol.