In this year, the Muslims spent the winter in the lands of Byzantium.
In this year, Muʿāwiya dismissed ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ from the governorship of Egypt and appointed Muʿāwiya b. Ḥudayj in his place.
In this year, the pilgrimage (ḥajj) was led for the people by Muʿāwiya’s brother, ʿUtba b. Abī Sufyān. According to another narration, the one who led the ḥajj was ʿAnbasa b. Abī Sufyān. Allah knows best which is correct.
Among the notable figures who died this year was Qays b. ʿĀṣim al-Minqarī. This person was among the leading figures both in the pre-Islamic (jāhiliyya) period and in the era of Islam. He was also among those who considered wine forbidden for himself both before and after Islam. The reason for this was as follows: One day, he became intoxicated and flirted with one of his female relatives (maḥram); the woman fled from him. In the morning, when people told him what he had done, he responded with the following poem:
"I have seen that wine diminishes a person and brings blame. There are such evils in it that it disgraces an honorable man. By Allah, I will never drink wine again in my life, nor will I seek healing from it when I am ill."
He had come to Medina with the delegation of the Banū Tamīm tribe and embraced Islam. In a hadith, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said about him: "This is the chief of the nomads."
Qays was a generous, praiseworthy, and noble person. A poet said about him: "The death of Qays is not the death of a single person. Rather, he was the edifice of a people that has now collapsed."
al-Aṣmaʿī said: I heard ʿAmr b. ʿAlā and Abū Sufyān b. ʿAlā say: They said to al-Aḥnaf b. Qays:
– From whom did you learn forbearance and gentleness? He replied:
– I learned from Qays b. ʿĀṣim al-Minqarī. Just as people go to jurists (fuqahāʾ) to learn about legal matters, we used to go to him for wisdom and sagacity, and would ask his views and opinions. One day, while he was sitting in his courtyard wrapped in his cloak and we were with him, a group of people came to him. They had with them a dead body and two people whose hands and feet were bound. The newcomers, pointing to the dead man, said:
– This dead man is your son; your brother’s son killed him.
Qays did not rise from his place until he had finished his speech. After finishing, he turned to his other son who was in the mosque and said:
– Untie your cousin’s hands and feet, bury your brother, and take a hundred camels to your cousin’s mother, for that poor woman is a stranger.
It is related that when Qays b. ʿĀṣim al-Minqarī was about to die, his sons gathered around him—he had thirty-two sons—and he said to them:
"O my sons! Appoint your eldest brother as your leader, so that you may fill your father’s place; do not appoint your youngest brother as leader, for then your peers will look down on you. Strive to acquire and possess wealth, for wealth is a most excellent possession for a generous and noble person. Whoever has wealth will not be in need of the ignoble. Beware of begging from people, for begging is the worst means of earning. Do not weep over me after I die, for after the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, no one was wept over. Do not bury me in a place known to the Bakr b. Wāʾil tribe, for I was their enemy in the jāhiliyya period."
About Qays b. ʿĀṣim al-Minqarī, a poet said:
"Peace of Allah be upon you, O Qays b. ʿĀṣim. And may His mercy be upon you as long as He wills to show mercy. Peace be upon you as a favor from one whom you befriended. When such a greeting is mentioned, it fills the mouth.
The death of Qays is not the death of a single person. Rather, he was the edifice of a people whose core has now collapsed."