Yazid I

“ On the murder of Walid he prepared to dispute the supreme power with the new caliph, and invaded Mesopotamia. Yazid III., in alarm, offered him as the price of peace the government of this province together with Armenia and Azerbaijan. Merwan resolved to accept those conditions, and sent a deputation to Damascus, which, however, had just reached Manbij (Hierapolis) when Yazid died. Leaving his son Abdalmalik with 40,000 men in Rakka, Merwan entered Syria with 80,000 men. Suleimān b. Hishām, at the head of 120,000 men, was defeated at ʽAin al-Jarr, between Baalbek and Damascus. ”

“ Yazîd ibn-abi-Sufyân governor of Syria. When ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb received the news of the death of abu-ʿUbaidah, he wrote to Yazid ibn-abi-Sufyan appointing him in his place as governor of Syria, and ordering him to invade Ḳaisârîyah [Caesarea] . According to others, however, Yazîd was appointed by ʿUmar as governor of the Jordan and Palestine; abu-ad-Dardâʾ, of Damascus; and ʿUbâdah ibn-aṣ-Ṣâmit, of Ḥimṣ.
The conquest of Ḳaisârîyah. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from al-Wâḳidi:—There is difference of opinion regarding the conquest of Ḳaisârîyah [Caesarea] . Some say Muʿâwiyah subdued it ”

“ In Africa serious troubles arose from the same cause. Yazid b. Abi Moslim, who had been at the head of the financial department in Irak under Ḥajjāj, and had been made governor of Africa by Yazid II., issued orders that the villagers who, having adopted Islam, were freed from tribute according to the promise of Omar II., and had left their villages for the towns, should return to their domiciles and pay the same tribute as before their conversion. The Berbers rose in revolt, slaughtered the unfortunate governor, and put in his place the former governor Mahommed b. ”

“ I was informed by certain men well versed in the conditions of the Jordan and Palestine that Yazîd ibn-Muʿâwiyah assessed kharâj on the lands of the Samaritans in the Jordan, and levied on every man two dînârs as poll-tax. He also assessed kharâj on their lands in Palestine and levied five dînârs on every man. ”

“ Yazid discovered soon that the system of taxation as regulated by Hajjāj could not be altered without serious danger to the finances of the empire, and that he could not afford the expenses which his prodigal manner of life involved. He therefore asked the caliph to give him the governorship of Khorasan also, and took his residence in Merv, where he was free from control. On his return to Khorasan he set on foot a series of new expeditions against Jorjān and Tabaristān, with only partial success. ”

“ No sooner had the awe inspired by Islam worn off than male and female professional singers and musicians began to make their appearance. In the Umayyad era Mecca and, more particularly, Medina became a nursery of song and a conservatory of music. They attracted gifted artists from outside and supplied the Damascus court with an ever- increasing stream of talent. The second Umayyad caliph, Yazid I, himself a composer, introduced singing and musical instruments into the court. ”

“ It is said that a thousand bastards (the “children of the Harra”) were born in consequence of these days. The remaining citizens were compelled to take the oath of allegiance to Yazid in a humiliating form; the few who refused were killed. Ali b. Hosain, who had refused to have anything to do with the revolt, was treated with all honour. Mahommed b. al-Hanafiya, the son of Ali, and Abdallah b. Omar had likewise abstained, but they had left Medina for Mecca. ”

“ This army was defeated, and from that time Ibn Zobair was supreme at Mecca.
On the news of Yazid’s accession, the numerous partisans of the family of Ali in Kufa sent addresses to Hosain, inviting him to take refuge with them, and promising to have him proclaimed caliph in Irak. Hosain, having learned that the majority of the inhabitants were apparently ready to support him strenuously, prepared to take action. Meanwhile Yazid, having been informed of the riotous behaviour of the Shiʽites in Kufa, sent Obaidallah, son of the famous Ziyād and governor of Basra, to restore order. ”

“ In Africa Abdarrahman b. Habīb, a descendant of the famous ‘Oqba b. Nāfī’, was almost independent. In Spain every amir tried to free himself from a suzerainty which appeared to him only nominal. Naṣr b. Sayyār, the governor of Khorasan, had not yet decided whether he ought to take the oath of allegiance when Yazid died, after a reign of only five months and a half, on the 12th of Dhu’l-Ḥijja a.h. ”

“ In the autumn of 679, six months before his death at the age of eighty, Muawiyah nominated his son Yazid as his successor, an unprecedented procedure in Islam. Yazid had been brought up by his mother partly in the desert around Palmyra, where her Christian tribe roamed. In the capital he also associated with Christians. In the desert the youth- ful prince became habituated to the chase, rough riding and hard life ”

“ Al-Ghazali, who was himself cursed for alleged heresy, is memorable among the theologians of Islam in that by his breadth of sympathy he forbade the cursing of Yazid, the notorious slayer of Hussein, Mohammed’s grandson, and gave his opinion in these words: “It is forbidden to curse a Moslem: Yazid was a Moslem. It is not certain that he slew Al-Husain, and it is forbidden to think ill of a Moslem. We cannot be certain that he ordered his death; really we cannot be certain of the cause of the death of any great man, especially at such a [188] distance of time. ”

“ So most women, when travelling, adopt an alias. Whoever knew an Afghan fair who was not Nur Jan, or Sahib Jan? [FN#26] The British reader will be shocked to hear that by the term fatted ass the intellectual lady alluded to her husband. The story is that Muawiyah, overhearing the song, sent back the singer to her cousin and beloved wilds. Maysunah departed with her son Yazid, and did not return to Damascus till the fatted ass had joined his forefathers. Yazid inherited, with his mothers talents, all her contempt for his father ”

“ When Egypt was conquered, the people made terms, agreeing to pay something he imposed on them, which was two dînârs on every man, excluding women and boys. The kharâj of Egypt during his governorship amounted to 2,000,000 dînârs; but later it reached 4,000,000.
Two dînârs on each Copt. Abu-ʿUbaid from Yazîd ibn-abi-Ḥabîb:—Al-Muḳauḳis, the chief of Egypt, made terms with ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi, stipulating that each Copt pays two dînârs. Hearing this, Heraclius, the chief of the Greeks, was enraged with anger and sent the troops to Alexandria and closed its gates; but ʿAmr reduced the city by force. ”

“ The latter loaded him with honours and made him governor of Khorasan, whence he directed several expeditions into Transoxiana. In the meantime Hajjāj himself had, in 695 and 696, with great difficulty suppressed Shabīb b. Yazīd at the head of the powerful tribe of Shaibān, who, himself a Kharijite, had assumed the title of Prince of the Believers, and had even succeeded in occupying Kufa. In the east the realm of Islam had been very much extended under the reign of Moawiya, when Ziyād was governor of Irak and Khorasan. ”

“ When ʿAbd-al-Malik departed Yazîd remarked, "It is said that this is the man that will rule after us. If that is right, we would have done him favor and expect to receive something in repay; if it is false, we have granted him a gift." ”

“ After Moaviah’s death, A. D. 679, Yazid, his son, assumed the khalifat, but Hosain, another son of Alí, still lived, and was invited by the inhabitants of Kufa to their town for receiving their oath of allegiance. Yielding to their invitation, he set out from Mecca, where he had concealed himself, with thirty-two horsemen and forty men on foot. Not far from Kerbela, in an arid tract of country in Jrak Arabi, he was encountered by five or ten thousand men, sent by Yazid to destroy him. ”

“ Alids of different camps were [188] active in their claim to be possessors of an infallible Imam; Zaydites and Qarmatians were in revolt; the decree of 234 that the Qur’an was uncreated had had little effect, so far, in silencing the Mu‘tazilites; in 261 the Sufi pantheist, Abu Yazid, died. Al-Ash‘ari himself was of the best blood of the desert and of a highly orthodox family which had borne a distinguished part in Muslim history. Through some accident he came in early youth into the care of al-Jubba‘i, the Mu‘tazilite, who, according to one story, had married al-Ash‘ari’s mother ”

“ In no city of the empire, during the reign of the Omayyads, lived more singers and musicians than in Medina.
Hosain b. Nomair arrived before Mecca in September 683 and found Ibn Zobair ready to defend it. A number of the citizens of Medina had come to the aid of the Holy City, as well as many Kharijites from Yamāma under Najda b. ʽÄmir. The siege had lasted 65—others say 40—days, when the news came of the death of Yazid, which took place presumably on the 14th of Rabia I, 64 (12th November 683) . ”

“ Ibn Zobair refused haughtily, and Hosain, with a contemptuous criticism of his folly, ordered his army to break up for Syria.
Hitherto Ibn Zobair had confined himself to an appeal to the Moslems to renounce Yazid and to have a caliph elected by the council (shūrā) of the principal leading men. He now openly assumed the title of caliph and invited men to take the oath of allegiance. He was soon acknowledged throughout Arabia, in Egypt and in Irak. The Omayyads, who had returned to Medina, were again expelled. ”

“ His sons, aided by the powerful tribe Zenāta, succeeded in forcing the prison, and releasing their father, who continued to organize a conspiracy on a vast scale, and by the end of 943 was strong enough to take the field against the Fatimite sovereign, whom he drove out of Kairawān. Abū Yazīd proclaimed himself a champion of Sunnī doctrine against the Shīʽis, and ordered the legal system of Mālik to be restored in place of that introduced by the Fatimites. ”

“ Yathrib (al-Madînah) , 31, 33, 34, 44, 86
Yazdajird b. Shahriyâr, 406, 416, 417, 418, 420, 421, 469, 471, 486, 490–493
Yazîd b. ʿAbd-al-Malik, 112, 190, 204, 322, 366, 442
Yazîd b. Ḥâtim, 369
Yazîd b. al-Ḥurr, 254
Yazîd b. Makhlad, 262
Yazîd b. Muʿâwiyah, 59, 75, 76, 96, 103, 202, 236, 244, 245, 294, 359, 376, 480
Yazîd b. al-Muhallab, 259, 366
Yazîd b. abi-Muslim, 366
Yazîd b. abi-Sufyân, 58, 166–168, 173, 178, 179, 186, 189, 190, 193, 194, 196, 201, 208, 215-217, 219, 269, 335, 341
Yazîd b. ʿUmar, 445
Yazîd b. Usaid, 319, 328–329
Yazîd b. ”

“ The Say-yid's turban is to them more precious than a kingly crown. It is the sign of their glory. The girdle is a symbol of strength. Their rank is higher than all other degrees among men and their high priest is more honored than a prince. So Say-yid ruleth over other men. He demands and receives their honors. In the assemblies of lords and influential men, the Say-yid occupies the chief seats, and are always served first. Oaths of gravity are sworn by their heads. All men fear them, believing that their curse will surely be brought to pass. They are never smitten or reviled. ”

“ The functions of the Yazatas. Various are the boons that the Yazatas give unto man. [8] By hundreds and by thousands they gather together the light of the sun and pour it upon the earth. [9] Men invoke them with sacrifices, [10] and in return they help men. They have a share of invocation and sacrifice offered unto Ahura Mazda, who is not jealous of the oblations thus dedicated to his subordinates. They are the holy, mighty, beneficent ones, [11] full of glory and healing. ”

“ Yezdeyard, the weak and unlucky last King of the Sassan family, which had reigned over Persia for 415 years, was the first to lay the foundations of the city and to colonize its neighbourhood. It is in this city that, notwithstanding the sufferings and persecution of Mussulmans after the Arab invasion of Persia, the successors of a handful of brave people have to this day remained faithful to their native soil.
To be convinced that the Parsees of Yezd are a strikingly fine lot of people it is sufficient to look at them. The men are patriarchal, generous, sober, intelligent, thrifty ”

“ A Yezdi will belittle himself, his house, his relations, and the country of Persia, because he regards the first three as purely personal, and does not care the least bit about the fourth; but if he belittles his town, his etiquette, or the foundations of his creed, he will make it very plain that he expects you to understand that he simply does it out of civility. There is one thing that a Yezdi puts before everything, and that is the water-supply of his town. I personally got on very well with the Yezdis, although I had to own that I did not admire Mohammed or his religion. ”

“ As the prince was now secure from all attacks, Jehoiada also permitted the populace to enter the Temple courts. At a thrilling moment, when the Carians and guards stood with drawn swords, and whilst the chiefs held the weapons used by David, the high priest led the child Joash from the room in which he had been concealed, put the crown on his head, anointed him as king, and made him mount the pillar-like throne which had been brought into the courts of the Temple for the king's use. Amid trumpet blasts and clashing of arms, the people clapped their hands, and cried "Long live King Joash." ”

“ On the death of Ziyād the Caliph gave the governments of Kūfa, Basra, and Khorāsān to his own son `Ubaydullah, while he appointed Ziyād’s son `Ubaydullah, in supersession of Khulayd, as his lieutenant in Khorāsān. `Ubaydullah ibn Ziyād collected an army in Irāk, entered Khorāsān and, crossing the Oxus, penetrated into the mountains of Bokhārā,91 and conquered Rāmtīna and half of Baykand.40 The Turks of Bokhārā were at that time governed by a princess named Khātūn, who acted as regent during the minority of her son Tughshāda. ”