He was thus connected with the Omayyad rulers in Spain, and seems to have kept up a correspondence with them and to have sent them some of his works.
Astarabad owes its origin to Yazid ibn Mohallab, who occupied the province early in the 8th century for Suleiman, the seventh of the Omayyad caliphs (715-717), and was destroyed by Timur (Tamerlane) in 1384.
Moawiya, the first Omayyad caliph, chose Damascus for his residence; but in 750 the capital of the empire was removed by the Abbasids to Bagdad.
After the battle of Siffin (657) arbitration was resorted to for the settlement of the rival claims. By a trick `Ali was deposed (658), and the Omayyad dynasty was established with its capital at Damascus.
The other Arab tribes became increasingly jealous of the Koreish, while among the Koreish themselves the Hashimite family came to hate the Omayyad, which now had much power, although it had been among the last to accept Islam and never was very strict in its religious duties.