Tawus Bin Kaysan, one of the righteous students of Ibn Abbas and a Muhaddith, narrated an interesting incident during his lifetime between a Yemeni Abid (one who would devoutly worship Allah) and the tyrant ruler, Al-Hajjaj Bin Yusuf: I entered the Haram (Makkah) to perform Umrah and when I completed it, I prayed two units of prayer behind the Maqam of Ibrahim and sat down. I turned to look at the people in the mosque when, behold, I saw a group of people with weapons, swords, spears and shields! I looked and it was Al-Hajjaj Bin Yusuf, the Amir of bloodshed, about whom Laila Al-Akhiliya (a poet) said, “Hajjaj, you are the one above whom there is none; except the True Ruler, the Forgiving and Eternal One (Allah). He (Hajjaj) killed a hundred souls and he killed Sa'id Bin Jubayr.” Al-Hajjaj once said, “I saw in my dream that Allah killed me once for every soul I killed except for Sa'id Bin Jubayr, for Allah killed me on the Sirat (path over Hellfire) 70 times because of him.” I saw the commotion so I kept seated in my place. Whilst in that state, I saw a poor, ascetic worshipper from Yemen. He did Tawaf around the Ka'bah and came to pray two units of prayer when suddenly his garment clung to a spear from the spears of the army of Hajjaj, and so the spear fell on Al-Hajjaj. Hajjaj stopped the Yemeni man and asked, “Who are you?” He replied, “Muslim.” “Where are you from?” Hajjaj asked. “From Yemen,' the man said. “How is my brother with you people?” (Al-Hajjaj meant his brother Muhammad Bin Yusuf who was also a tyrannical ruler like him). The man replied, “I left him as a fat man with a fat stomach.” Al-Hajjaj said, “I didn't ask you about his health but I asked you about his justice.” He said, “I left him as a deceiving and oppressive ruler.” Al-Hajjaj said, “Don't you know who I am?” So, the man asked, “Who are you?” He said, “I am Al-Hajjaj Bin Yusuf!” The man replied, “Do you think that he (your brother) is mightier and strengthened by you more than I am by Allah?” When the man said that, all my hair stood on end. But Al-Hajjaj let him go and left him. “… But Allah is the Best of Protectors and He is the Most Merciful of those who show Mercy.” (Qur'an, 12:64) – Excerpt from Ihfidh Allah Yahfadhak/SG __
