[2] Sa'id may have been a pupil of the Muslim jurist Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri like his brothers Maslama and Sulayman.
Regardless, Sa'id had a reputation as "a sinner", according to the historian Steven Judd, often exposing himself indecently to the women of Homs, where he resided.
[4] Sa'id was a close ally of his brother Sulayman in the events following Hisham's death in 743 and the succession of their cousin al-Walid II.
Like his brothers, Sa'id was a supporter of Yazid III, who conspired against and succeeded al-Walid after the latter's assassination in 744.
Marwan dispersed the rebels and Sulayman fled to Iraq, where he recognized as caliph the Kharijite leader al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Shaybani.