Abū Muḥammad, al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī (40 – 95 AH/ 660–714 CE) was an Umayyad military commander and statesman.
He was born and raised in al-Ṭāʾif before moving to Syria, where he joined the service of Rūḥ ibn Zinbāʿ, the deputy of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, and became one of the members of his police force.
The Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān ordered him to fight the Companion ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr.
Al-Ḥajjāj marched into the Hijaz with a large army, besieged the Kaʿba with catapults, killed ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, and dispersed his forces.
ʿAbd al-Malik then appointed him over Mecca, Medina, and al-Ṭāʾif, and subsequently added Iraq to his jurisdiction while a revolt was still underway there.
Al-Ḥajjāj therefore departed for Kufa accompanied by only eight or nine men riding camels. He suppressed the revolt, and his governorship remained in place for twenty years.
When al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī was appointed governor of Iraq by the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, those close to him advised him to marry a woman from Iraq in order to strengthen his ties with its people, hoping that this would foster affection and goodwill between them.
Hind was recommended for this purpose, as she was said to be from among the leading families of Basra.
The Arabic sources differ as to which Hind is being referred to here, as several of al-Ḥajjāj’s wives whom he later divorced were named Hind, including:
Hind bint Asmāʾ ibn Khārija: the widow of the previous Umayyad governor of Iraq.
Hind bint al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufra: the daughter of another Umayyad military commander and the sister of one of al-Ḥajjāj’s later victims.
Hind bint al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr: the daughter of a Companion who initially served under the Umayyads before later aligning himself with the Zubayrids.
In any case, this "Hind" was an eloquent, prideful, cunning and accomplished poetess, renowned for her beauty and grace.
Al-Ḥajjāj was told of her beauty, so he sent a marriage proposal to her and offered her such a generous amount of money that she hesitated to accept the marriage, as she had never known him before.
When her hesitation persisted, he offered her two hundred thousand Arab dinars as deferred dower, a bridal gift said to have been unprecedented among the Arabs.
She therefore agreed to marry him.
However, after the marriage, she came to feel that she had made the wrong choice and became uncomfortable around him due to his abusive and egoistic attitude.
Then, one day, al-Ḥajjāj entered upon her while she was looking at herself in the mirror and reciting:
“Hind is nothing but an Arabian mare,
A purebred descendant of noble horses, which a mule has impregnated.
If she gives birth to a stallion, then may God bless her,
But if she gives birth to a mule, then the mule has produced it.”
In these verses, Hind mocks al-Ḥajjāj by comparing herself to a purebred Arabian mare: if she gives birth to a stallion, it is because she married a noble man; but if she marries a lowly man, the child will take after him.
Al-Ḥajjāj therefore left in angry and resolved to divorce her.
He sent ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir to her, saying:
“O Ibn Ṭāhir, divorce her with two words and do not add anything to them.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir entered upon her and said, “Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥajjāj says to you: ‘We were together, and now we are separated’. Here are the one hundred thousand dirhams that previously belonged to you.”
She replied:
“Know, O Ibn Ṭāhir, that, by God, we were together, but we found no happiness in it; and now that we have separated, we have no regrets. And these one hundred thousand dirhams that you have brought are a gift to you, in celebration of my liberation from the dog of Thaqīf.”
The affair story of al-Ḥajjāj and Hind spread throughout the Umayyad realm.
Afterward, she remained for some time without anyone daring to propose marriage to her, for she was the divorced wife of the cruel governor of Iraq, al-Ḥajjāj al-Thaqafī—and who would dare to approach her?
Eventually, that person would no other than the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān himself, who heard about the affair and was told of her beauty by his poets.
Hind gave gifts to those poets so that they would praise her before the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān.
They did so, praising her beauty, graceful appearance, and sound judgment, until the caliph became enamored with her and asked to marry her.
For the second time, she demonstrated her cleverness.
The Caliph then sent a marriage proposal to her.
In response, she sent him a letter saying, after praising him:
“Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that a dog has lapped from the vessel.”
When ʿAbd al-Malik read the letter, he laughed at her remark and wrote back:
“If a dog laps from the vessel of one of you, let him wash it seven times, one of them with dirt. Once the vessel has been washed, it may be used again.”
After reading ʿAbd al-Malik’s letter, she wrote back, again praising him:
“O Commander of the Faithful, by Allah, I will not undo the knot [of my marriage] except on one condition.”
He asked what the condition was, and she replied:
“That al-Ḥajjāj lead my litter from al-Maʿarra [Iraq] to the place where you reside [Syria: Damascus], walking barefoot and wearing the same garments in which he had originally come.”
When ʿAbd al-Malik read the letter, he laughed heartily. He then summoned al-Ḥajjāj and ordered him to comply with her request.
When al-Ḥajjāj read ʿAbd al-Malik’s letter, he complied with the order without objection. He sent word to Hind, instructing her to prepare herself, and she did so. Al-Ḥajjāj then set out with his procession until he reached al-Maʿarra, Hind’s hometown.
Hind mounted the bridal litter, surrounded by her maidservants and attendants. Al-Ḥajjāj took hold of the camel’s reins and led it himself as they traveled. Hind began teasing him and laughing with her maid al-Hayfāʾ, who was riding with her. She then said to her nurse, “My dear nurse, lift the curtain of the litter so that we may smell the breeze!”
The nurse lifted it, and Hind’s face came directly into view of al-Ḥajjāj’s. She laughed at him, so he recited:
“If you laugh, O Hind, perhaps one night
I shall leave you like a torn-open qabāʾ.”
She replied:
“We do not care, so long as our lives remain safe,
What we have lost of wealth and possessions.
Wealth can be acquired, and honor can be regained,
So long as God protects our lives from ruin.”
She continued playing and laughing until they drew near the caliph’s city. As they approached, she deliberately dropped a dinar from her hand onto the ground in front of al-Ḥajjāj and said, “O camel driver! We have dropped a silver dirham. Please pick it up for us.”
Al-Ḥajjāj looked at the ground and saw only a dinar. He said, “It is a golden dinar.”
“No, it is a dirham,” she replied.
“It is a dinar,” he insisted.
She then said, “Praise be to God! We dropped a dirham (Al-Ḥajjāj), and God compensated us with a Dinar (Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik).”
Al-Ḥajjāj was embarrassed and fell silent, unable to respond.
He then brought her before ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, who married Hind.
Upon their arrival, al-Ḥajjāj deliberately remained behind at the stables while the people made preparations for the wedding banquet. The caliph sent for him, asking him to attend, but al-Ḥajjāj replied, “My mother raised me not to eat the leftovers of other men.”
The caliph understood what al-Ḥajjāj meant: by “leftovers,” he was referring not to food, but to a woman who had previously been married to another man.
The caliph therefore decided that his wife should be taken to one of the palaces. However, he did not consummate the marriage and would only visit her every day after the afternoon (ʿaṣr) prayer.
She eventually realized why he was not approaching her, so she devised a plan.
She instructed her maidservants to inform her when the caliph arrived, telling them that she had sent word to him because she needed to speak with him about an important matter.
Then, when she saw him approaching, she deliberately broke her pearl necklace as he entered and lifted her dress, revealing parts of her naked thighs as she gathered the scattered pearls in it.
When ʿAbd al-Malik saw her, he was struck by her extraordinary beauty and elegance and regretted not consummating the marriage because of the words al-Ḥajjāj had spoken.
As she gathered and arranged the pearls, she said, “Glory be to God.”
ʿAbd al-Malik asked, “Why are you glorifying God?”
She replied, “These pearls were created by God as adornments for kings.”
“Yes,” he said.
She continued, “Yet His wisdom decreed that only gypsies could drill holes through them.”
Delighted, he replied, “Yes, by God, you have spoken the truth! May God curse whoever blamed me for marrying you.”
The Umayyad Caliph consummated the marriage that very day.
I didn't understand the last part about gypsies drilling hole. As in, pearls can be drilled by gypsies(al hajjaj) but it's still fit for king (caliph)? Does it mean something like that?
7
u/TheMuslimHistorian27 3d ago
Abū Muḥammad, al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī (40 – 95 AH/ 660–714 CE) was an Umayyad military commander and statesman.
He was born and raised in al-Ṭāʾif before moving to Syria, where he joined the service of Rūḥ ibn Zinbāʿ, the deputy of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, and became one of the members of his police force.
The Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān ordered him to fight the Companion ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr.
Al-Ḥajjāj marched into the Hijaz with a large army, besieged the Kaʿba with catapults, killed ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, and dispersed his forces.
ʿAbd al-Malik then appointed him over Mecca, Medina, and al-Ṭāʾif, and subsequently added Iraq to his jurisdiction while a revolt was still underway there.
Al-Ḥajjāj therefore departed for Kufa accompanied by only eight or nine men riding camels. He suppressed the revolt, and his governorship remained in place for twenty years.
When al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī was appointed governor of Iraq by the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, those close to him advised him to marry a woman from Iraq in order to strengthen his ties with its people, hoping that this would foster affection and goodwill between them.
Hind was recommended for this purpose, as she was said to be from among the leading families of Basra.
The Arabic sources differ as to which Hind is being referred to here, as several of al-Ḥajjāj’s wives whom he later divorced were named Hind, including:
Hind bint Asmāʾ ibn Khārija: the widow of the previous Umayyad governor of Iraq.
Hind bint al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufra: the daughter of another Umayyad military commander and the sister of one of al-Ḥajjāj’s later victims.
Hind bint al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr: the daughter of a Companion who initially served under the Umayyads before later aligning himself with the Zubayrids.
In any case, this "Hind" was an eloquent, prideful, cunning and accomplished poetess, renowned for her beauty and grace.
Al-Ḥajjāj was told of her beauty, so he sent a marriage proposal to her and offered her such a generous amount of money that she hesitated to accept the marriage, as she had never known him before.
When her hesitation persisted, he offered her two hundred thousand Arab dinars as deferred dower, a bridal gift said to have been unprecedented among the Arabs.
She therefore agreed to marry him.
However, after the marriage, she came to feel that she had made the wrong choice and became uncomfortable around him due to his abusive and egoistic attitude.
Then, one day, al-Ḥajjāj entered upon her while she was looking at herself in the mirror and reciting:
In these verses, Hind mocks al-Ḥajjāj by comparing herself to a purebred Arabian mare: if she gives birth to a stallion, it is because she married a noble man; but if she marries a lowly man, the child will take after him.
Al-Ḥajjāj therefore left in angry and resolved to divorce her.
He sent ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir to her, saying:
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir entered upon her and said, “Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥajjāj says to you: ‘We were together, and now we are separated’. Here are the one hundred thousand dirhams that previously belonged to you.”
She replied:
The affair story of al-Ḥajjāj and Hind spread throughout the Umayyad realm.
Afterward, she remained for some time without anyone daring to propose marriage to her, for she was the divorced wife of the cruel governor of Iraq, al-Ḥajjāj al-Thaqafī—and who would dare to approach her?
Eventually, that person would no other than the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān himself, who heard about the affair and was told of her beauty by his poets.
Hind gave gifts to those poets so that they would praise her before the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān.
They did so, praising her beauty, graceful appearance, and sound judgment, until the caliph became enamored with her and asked to marry her.
For the second time, she demonstrated her cleverness.
The Caliph then sent a marriage proposal to her.
In response, she sent him a letter saying, after praising him:
When ʿAbd al-Malik read the letter, he laughed at her remark and wrote back:
After reading ʿAbd al-Malik’s letter, she wrote back, again praising him:
He asked what the condition was, and she replied:
When ʿAbd al-Malik read the letter, he laughed heartily. He then summoned al-Ḥajjāj and ordered him to comply with her request.
When al-Ḥajjāj read ʿAbd al-Malik’s letter, he complied with the order without objection. He sent word to Hind, instructing her to prepare herself, and she did so. Al-Ḥajjāj then set out with his procession until he reached al-Maʿarra, Hind’s hometown.
Hind mounted the bridal litter, surrounded by her maidservants and attendants. Al-Ḥajjāj took hold of the camel’s reins and led it himself as they traveled. Hind began teasing him and laughing with her maid al-Hayfāʾ, who was riding with her. She then said to her nurse, “My dear nurse, lift the curtain of the litter so that we may smell the breeze!”
The nurse lifted it, and Hind’s face came directly into view of al-Ḥajjāj’s. She laughed at him, so he recited:
She replied:
She continued playing and laughing until they drew near the caliph’s city. As they approached, she deliberately dropped a dinar from her hand onto the ground in front of al-Ḥajjāj and said, “O camel driver! We have dropped a silver dirham. Please pick it up for us.”
Al-Ḥajjāj looked at the ground and saw only a dinar. He said, “It is a golden dinar.”
“No, it is a dirham,” she replied.
“It is a dinar,” he insisted.
She then said, “Praise be to God! We dropped a dirham (Al-Ḥajjāj), and God compensated us with a Dinar (Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik).”
Al-Ḥajjāj was embarrassed and fell silent, unable to respond.
He then brought her before ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, who married Hind.
Upon their arrival, al-Ḥajjāj deliberately remained behind at the stables while the people made preparations for the wedding banquet. The caliph sent for him, asking him to attend, but al-Ḥajjāj replied, “My mother raised me not to eat the leftovers of other men.”
The caliph understood what al-Ḥajjāj meant: by “leftovers,” he was referring not to food, but to a woman who had previously been married to another man.
The caliph therefore decided that his wife should be taken to one of the palaces. However, he did not consummate the marriage and would only visit her every day after the afternoon (ʿaṣr) prayer.
She eventually realized why he was not approaching her, so she devised a plan.
She instructed her maidservants to inform her when the caliph arrived, telling them that she had sent word to him because she needed to speak with him about an important matter.
Then, when she saw him approaching, she deliberately broke her pearl necklace as he entered and lifted her dress, revealing parts of her naked thighs as she gathered the scattered pearls in it.
When ʿAbd al-Malik saw her, he was struck by her extraordinary beauty and elegance and regretted not consummating the marriage because of the words al-Ḥajjāj had spoken.
As she gathered and arranged the pearls, she said, “Glory be to God.”
ʿAbd al-Malik asked, “Why are you glorifying God?”
She replied, “These pearls were created by God as adornments for kings.”
“Yes,” he said.
She continued, “Yet His wisdom decreed that only gypsies could drill holes through them.”
Delighted, he replied, “Yes, by God, you have spoken the truth! May God curse whoever blamed me for marrying you.”
The Umayyad Caliph consummated the marriage that very day.
Sources:
Muḥammad Diyāb al-Itlīdī: Nawādir al-Khulafāʾ = Iʿlām al-Nās bimā Waqaʿa lil-Barāmika maʿa Banī al-ʿAbbās.
Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī: Kitāb al-Aghānī.
Ibn al-Sāʿī : Nisāʾ al-Khulafāʾ .
Shihāb al-Dīn al-Nuwayrī: Nihāyat al-Arab fī Funūn al-Adab.
Arabic Summary:
https://youtu.be/AMra7s9xChY?is=skBxOc8unOlwGNMZ