antine ▁official ▁of ▁Dam asc us , ▁he ▁was ▁a ▁favour ite ▁of ▁the ▁early ▁Um ay y ad ▁cal i ph s ▁Mu ' aw i ya ▁I ▁and ▁Y az id ▁I , ▁and ▁served ▁as ▁the ▁head ▁of ▁the ▁fis cal ▁administration ▁for ▁Sy ria ▁from ▁the ▁mid - 7 th ▁century ▁until ▁the ▁year ▁ 7 0 0 , ▁when ▁C ali ph ▁Abd ▁al - Mal ik ▁ibn ▁Mar wan ▁dismiss ed ▁him ▁as ▁part ▁of ▁his ▁efforts ▁to ▁Arab ic ize ▁the ▁administration ▁of ▁the ▁C ali ph ate . ▁According ▁to ▁the ▁Muslim ▁histor ians ▁al - Bal ad h uri ▁and ▁al - Tab ari , ▁San j ur ▁was ▁a ▁ma w la ▁of ▁the ▁first ▁Um ay y ad ▁cal i ph , ▁Mu ' aw i ya ▁I ▁( ), ▁serving ▁as ▁his ▁" secret ary ▁and ▁the ▁person ▁in ▁charge ▁of ▁his ▁business ". ▁The ▁h agi ograph ies , ▁although ▁less ▁reliable , ▁also ▁assign ▁to ▁him ▁a ▁role ▁in ▁the ▁administration , ▁even ▁as ▁" r uler " ▁( arch on ▁or ▁even ▁am ir ), ▁of ▁Dam asc us ▁and ▁its ▁en vir ons , ▁where ▁he ▁was ▁responsible ▁for ▁collect ing ▁the ▁re venue . ▁In ▁this ▁capacity , ▁he ▁is ▁att ested ▁in ▁later ▁collections ▁of ▁source ▁material ▁such ▁as ▁that ▁of ▁al - M as ' udi . ▁Sar j un ▁ibn ▁Mans ur ▁was ▁replaced ▁by ▁Sul ay man ▁ibn ▁Sa ' d ▁al