THE MARTYRDOM OF SAʾÎD.
177
THE MARTYRDOM OF SAʾÎD-IBN-JUBAIR.
THE following story is related by ʾAwn-ibn-Abi-Shaddâd, el-ʾAbdy, in the Hayât-el-Haiwân.
When el-Hajjâj-ibn-Yûsuf was reminded of Saʾîd-ibn-Jubair,[1] he sent a man of rank called el-Mutalámmis-ibn-el-Ahwas, and twenty men with him, from Damascus, to seek Saʾîd. And whilst they were doing
- ↑ Abu-ʾAbd-Allâh (some say Abu-Muhammad) Saʾîd-ibn-Jubair-ibn-Hishâm, surnamed el-Asady, was an enfranchised negro, and a native of el-Kûfah. He was eminent for his religious knowledge and piety. In A.H. 79, according to Greek writers, and A.H. 82 according to Arabian historians, he joined ʾAbd-er-Rahman-ibn-Asháth in his revolt against the treachery and cruelty of el-Hajjâj. Though successful for some time, ʾAbd-er-Rahman was at length defeated and slain, and Saʾîd upon that fled to Mekkah. Ibn-Khalikân states that he was there arrested by Khâlid-ibn-ʾAbd-Allâh, el-Kúsary, (see Note †, p. 116,) then governor of Mekkah, and sent by him to el-Hajjâj. The same author gives a different account of his last interview with the tyrant, and also states that after his death Ahmed-ibn-Hanbal said, "el-Hajjâj killed Saʾîd-ibn-Jubair, yet there was not a man on the face of the earth who did not stand in need of Saʾîd and his learning."
