In this year, ʿAbbās b. al-Walīd launched a military expedition (ghazā) into Byzantine territory. According to one narration, he conquered Antioch in this year. His brother, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. al-Walīd, also undertook a ghazā, reaching the region of Ghazāla. Al-Walīd b. Hishām al-Muʿayṭī advanced as far as the region of Burj al-Hamān. Yazīd b. Abī Wabsha extended his campaign as far as Syria. At that time, there was an earthquake in the city of Damascus in Syria.
Maslama b. ʿAbd al-Malik conquered the Byzantine city of Shandara.
Allah granted to the sons, relatives, and commanders of al-Walīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik conquests similar to those that took place during the time of ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him).
Qasīm b. Muḥammad al-Thaqafī conquered India, acquiring spoils of war so numerous and unprecedented that they could not be counted or described. Regarding the campaign in India, a hadith has been transmitted by Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir and others concerning its location.
Qutayba b. Muslim set out on a ghazā to Shās and Farghāna. After completing the conquests of Sogd and Samarqand, he advanced as far as Khujand and Kashan, which are attached to Farghāna. After conquering these places, he reached Kabul, besieged it, and conquered it. There he encountered many polytheist Turks. He fought them near the city of Khujand and was victorious. He took their lands from them, killed some, and took others captive. He acquired a great amount of spoils.
Ibn Jarīr said: Regarding the battle that Qutayba b. Muslim fought with the Turks near Khujand, Suḥbān b. Wāʾil recited the following verses:
"Ask the horsemen who remained under sharp spears at Khujand,
When they dispersed, was I gathering them to advance for battle,
Or was I striking the head of the one who resisted,
Or was I resisting against the spears?
Such is the case, and you are the master of Qays.
They already receive a great share.
You surpass them in generosity.
Your judgment concerning them,
Your justice is manifest in every circumstance.
Your valor is complete,
With your superiority, you rival the peaks of mountains."
Ibn Jarīr thus transmitted the poem of Suḥbān b. Wāʾil regarding this battle.
As we have mentioned in previous sections, in his work "Munazzam," Ibn al-Jawzī stated that Suḥbān b. Wāʾil died in the fiftieth year of the Hijra during the caliphate of Muʿāwiya b. Abī Sufyān. Allah knows best.