HIND'S REVENGE.
171
HOW HIND, DAUGHTER OF EN-NUʾAMÂN,
REVENGED HERSELF UPON EL-HAJJÂJ.
IT is said that Hind, the daughter of en-Nuʾamân,[1] was the most beautiful woman of her time; and
- ↑ There appears to be some confusion here, consequent upon the possession of the same name by two women who lived about the same time, and both of whom were celebrated for beauty of person and power of mind. Ibn-Khalikân, in his Biographical Dictionary, gives a slightly different version of the lines in the text which he attributes to Hind, daughter of en-Nuʾamân, but states that she composed them upon her husband, Abu-Zarâa, Rûh-ibn-Zinba, whom she detested. This Abu-Zarâa was the head of the tribe of Judâm, and was appointed Governor of Palestine by the Khalîfah ʾAbd-el-Málik, whose intimate and inseparable companion he became. Ibn-Khalikân says that the lines were also attributed to Humaidah, Hind's sister; and he makes no mention of Hind having been married either to el-Hajjâj or to ʾAbd-el-Málik. According to the same author, the Hind who married el-Hajjâj was daughter of el-Muhállab, who when el-Hajjâj was made ruler over ʾIrâk, Sijistan, and Khorassân, was appointed to administer the affairs of the last-mentioned province in the name of el-Hajjâj. On el-Muhállab's death-bed, he nominated his son Yezîd as his successor; but el-Hajjâj, having conceived a violent dislike to, and jealousy of, him, persuaded the Khalîfah to dismiss him. He then fell into the power of el-Hajjâj, who extorted money from him with tortures so cruel that he could not restrain his
