THE FAITHFUL ARAB, ETC.
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brought thee at such a time as this?" asked Muʾâwiyah. He answered, "I have come to thee lamenting, and seeking through thee redress." Muʾâwiyah asked, "From whom?" He said, "From Marwân-ibn-el-Hákam,[1] your vicegerent." And he recited, saying:
- ↑ Marwân-ibn-el-Hákam was Secretary of State to ʾOthmân, the third Khalîfah, and was highly favoured by him, so much so that the large sums squandered by the Khalîfah upon Marwân, and one or two others, gave great offence to the people. But nevertheless it was chiefly through the treachery of Marwân that the intrigues of Aishah (the Prophet's widow), Talhah and Zubair (two of the Associates), and Muhammad, son of Abu-Bekr, were successful, and ended in the assassination of ʾOthmân, the traitor's master and benefactor. In A.H. 54, Marwân was appointed governor of el-Medînah by Muʾâwiyah, and in A.H. 64 (A.D. 684) was chosen Khalîfah of Syria upon the abdication of Muʾâwiyah the Second, the son of Yezîd, the son of Muʾâwiyah. The Khalîfate was now again divided, ʾAbd-Allâh-ibn-Zubair having been appointed Khalîfah in Arabia after the death of Yezîd. But Marwân's election was upon condition that Khaled, a younger son of Yezîd, should succeed on Marwân's death, his own children being excluded. And to show his sincerity in this matter, Marwân married Yezîd's widow, the mother of Khaled. Afterwards, however, he caused his own eldest son, ʾAbd-el-Mâlik, to be proclaimed his successor, which so angered Khaled that he reviled his step-father in public, who, being incensed at his reproaches, grossly aspersed the character of Khaled's mother. News of the affront being carried to her by the child, she vowed vengeance, and in consequence soon afterwards poisoned her husband, as is stated by some of the Arab historians. Others assert that she laid a pillow on his face while he slept, and sat upon it till he was smothered. Abu-Jaʾafar-et-
