Preface
Translator's Foreword
The Events of the Year 60 (cont'd) (680)
The Attack of `Amr b. al-Zubayr
The Kufans' Invitation to Husayn and the Mission of Muslim b. `Aqil
Continuation of `Ammar al-Duhni's Account from AbuJa`far
Abu Mikhnaf's Account
Al-Husayn's Departure from Mecca for al-Kufah
Continuation of `Ammar al-Duhni's Account from AbuJa`far
The Events of the Year 61 (6801681)
The Names of the Banu Hashim Killed with al-Husayn and the Number of Those Killed from Every Tribe Which Fought against Him
The Death of Mirdas b. `Amr b. Hudayr
The Appointment of Salm b. Ziyad
Yazid's Dismissal of `Amr b. Sa`id as Governor of Medina and His Appointment of al-Walid b. `Utbah
The Events of the Year 62 (681/682)
The Arrival of a Delegation of the People of Medina to Yazid b. Mu`awiyah
The Events of the Year 63 (682/683)
The Events of the Year 64 (683/684)
The Death of Muslim b. `Uqbah and the Bombardment and Burning of the Ka`bah
The Cause of the Burning of the Ka`bah
The Number of Yazid b. Mu`awiyah's Sons
Bibliography of Cited Works
Index

This volume deals with the caliphate of Yazid. Yazid was not accepted as a legitimate caliph by many of the leading Muslims of the time, and, therefore, al-¿abari has concentrated his account of Yazid's caliphate almost entirely on the opposition to him. This opposition had its leadership in two of the leading Islamic figures of the time, al-¿usayn, the son of the caliph ¿Ali, and Ibn al-Zubayr, a leading Muslim who felt that he had had some claims to the caliphate himself. The first revolt was led by al-¿usayn. This revolt, although ineffectual in military terms, is very important for the history of Islam, as al-¿usayn came to be regarded by Shi'ite Muslims as the martyred imam; his martyrdom is still commemorated every year by them.
In his account al-¿abari has preserved for us some of the earliest historical writing on the subject. The amount of space he devotes to this event shows the importance it had already assumed by his own time. The second revolt, that of Ibn al-Zubayr, was much more serious in immediate terms. The revolt or civil war can be divided into two stages. This volume covers the first stage, ending with the timely death of Yazid, which saved Ibn al-Zubayr from defeat.