Yemenite Jewish poetry
There is to be noted in Zechariah al-Ḍāhirī's ("circa" 1531 – d. 1608) poetic style a marked transition from the early Spanish-type of poetry typical of Yemen prior to his time (depicted in the prosaic writings of Daniel berav Fayyūmī and Avraham b. Ḥalfon, both, of Yemenite Jewish provenance) and the later classical Yemenite poetic writings (as depicted in the liturgical poems composed by Yosef ben Israel and Shalom Shabazi). Unlike the latter who compiled works, both, in Hebrew and in Judeo-Arabic, al-Ḍāhirī's corpus of prosaic writings are written almost exclusively in Hebrew. Much of al-Ḍāhirī's poetry was inspired by the great Spanish poets, while other works are said to have been inspired by Immanuel of Rome. Some of al-Ḍāhirī's poems are panegyrics influenced by the Arabic "madiḥ", in praise of great Jewish scholars, such as Rabbeinu Yerucham (1290-1350), a Provençal rabbi who moved to Spain in 1306, following the expulsion of the Jews from France. Other panegyrics were written about Rabbi Obadiah di Bertinoro (c. 1445-1515) and Maimonides.
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
In response to the wellspring of opposition forming throughout Arabia, Yazid dispatched a Syrian Arab expeditionary force led by Muslim ibn Uqba to suppress Ibn al-Zubayr and the Ansar. The Umayyad force defeated the latter at the Battle of al-Harrah in the summer of 683. The army continued toward Mecca, but Muslim died en route and command passed to his deputy Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni. The latter besieged the city on 24 September after Ibn al-Zubayr's refusal to surrender. The Ka'aba was severely damaged during Husayn's bombardment. News of Yazid's death in November prompted Husayn to negotiate with Ibn al-Zubayr. The former proposed to recognize him as caliph on the condition that he would rule from Syria, the center of the Umayyad military and administration. Ibn al-Zubayr rejected this and the army returned to Syria, leaving Ibn al-Zubayr in control of Mecca.