2020-04-17 Fri

Walid ibn Yazid or Walid II was an Umayyad Caliph reigning from 743 until his assassination on 17th April, 744. He succeeded his uncle, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik.

As a young man, he was of artistic temperament and acquired a good education. He was a musician and surrounded himself with poets and opportunists. He fancied himself a great builder and wanted to eclipse the architectural achievements of his predecessors; he did in fact build the desert castle of Mshatta?. He was killed when rebellions broke out in Syria.

Depicted here is a gold Dinar of Al Walid II. The obverse of a coin depicts ‘la ilah illa / Allah wahdahu / la sherikh lahu’. The reverse of a coin engraved ‘Allah ahad Allah / al-Samad lam yalid wa / lam yulad’.

Image Source: Wikipedia