Yusuf Rumaysho - Hajjaj Bin

This act horrified later Muslim generations. Even Sunni scholars condemned Hajjaj for killing a pious scholar without just Islamic evidence.

Hajjaj despised the Qurra (Quran reciters) of Iraq, whom he saw as hypocritical rebels hiding behind piety. He executed many of them, including the famous ascetic Sa'id ibn Jubayr. When Sa'id was brought before him, Hajjaj asked: "What is your name?" "Sa'id ibn Jubayr." Hajjaj sneered: "Rather, you are Sa'id ibn Kusayr (son of the liar)." He then beheaded him.

| Aspect | Characteristics | |--------|-----------------| | | Primarily qasīda (single‑rhyme, mono‑meter, ~50‑80 verses). Also composed ghazal fragments and muwashshah ‑like strophic pieces (rare for his era). | | Language | Classical Arabic with a strong Bedouin flavor : extensive use of ṣaḥīf (tribal) vocabulary, vivid desert imagery, and a preference for the ‘arūḍ (prosody) of the al‑bahr al‑kāmil . | | Themes | 1. Patronage – lavish praise of Umayyad officials, emphasizing loyalty, military triumphs, and generosity. 2. Moral didacticism – occasional admonitions against fahsh (immorality) and ʿadāla (justice). 3. Nostalgia for pre‑Islamic glory – invoking the jāhilī heroic code (e.g., “the sword of Qays”). | | Signature motifs | - “The desert’s sigh” (ʿanāq al‑ṣaḥāra) - “The pearl of the caravan” (lu‘luʾ al‑qafila) - “The iron of the caliph’s horse” (ḥadīd al‑fark al‑khāliṣ) | | Innovations | Hajjaj is credited with the early use of internal rhyme (muqaṣṣara) within the qafiyah line, a technique later popularized by the Abbasid poet al‑Mutanabbī. He also experimented with mixed meters (e.g., switching between al‑bahr al‑mutakārib and al‑bahr al‑munsir ) within a single poem—a rarity in his generation. |

In 715 CE, Hajjaj bin Yusuf Rumaysho was reappointed as the governor of Iraq, a position he held until his death in 714 CE (some sources suggest 715 CE). During his tenure, he implemented significant military reforms, aimed at strengthening the Umayyad army. He established a robust system of recruitment, training, and logistics, which helped maintain stability and control over the vast territories under Umayyad rule.