Tarikh (al-Tabari) 2059
The caliphate of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib
ثُمَّ دَخَلَتْ سَنَةُ سِتٍّ وَثَلَاثِينَ تفريق علي ؓ عماله في الأمصار فَمِنَ الْحَوَادِثِ فِيهَا تَفْرِيقُ عَلِيٍّ ؓ عُمَّالَهُ فِي الْأَمْصَارِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدٍ وَطَلْحَةَ، قَالَا: بَعَثَ عَلِيٌّ ؓ عُمَّالَهُ عَلَى الْأَمْصَارِ، بَعَثَ عُثْمَانَ بْنَ حَنِيفٍ عَلَى الْبَصْرَةِ، وَعُمَارَةَ بْنَ حَسَّانَ بْنِ شِهَابٍ عَلَى الْكُوفَةِ، وَعُبَيْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عَبَّاسٍ عَلَى الْيَمَنِ، وَقَيْسَ بْنَ سَعْدٍ عَلَى مِصْرَ، وَسَهْلَ بْنَ حَنِيفٍ عَلَى الشَّامِ. فَأَمَّا سَهْلٌ فَإِنَّهُ خَرَجَ حَتَّى إِذَا كَانَ بِتَبُوكَ لَقِيَتْهُ خَيْلٌ قَالُوا: مَنْ أَنْتَ؟ قَالَ: أَمِيرٌ، قَالُوا: عَلَى أَيِّ شَيْءٍ؟ قَالَ: عَلَى الشَّامِ، قَالُوا: إِنْ كَانَ عُثْمَانُ بَعَثَكُمْ فَحَيَّهَلَا بِكَ، وَإِنْ كَانَ بَعَثَكَ غَيْرُهُ فَارْجِعْ، قَالَ: أَوَ مَا سَمِعْتُمْ بِالَّذِي كَانَ، قَالُوا: بَلَى، فَرَجَعَ إِلَى عَلِيٍّ. وَأَمَّا قَيْسُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ، فَإِنَّهُ لَمَّا انْتَهَى إِلَى أَيْلَةَ لَقِيَتْهُ خَيْلٌ، فَقَالُوا: مَنْ أَنْتَ؟ قَالَ: مِنْ قَالَةِ عُثْمَانَ، فَأَنَا أَطْلُبُ مَنْ آوِي إِلَيْهِ وَأَنْتَصِرُ بِهِ، قَالُوا: مَنْ أَنْتَ؟ قَالَ: قَيْسُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ، قَالُوا: امْضِ، فَمَضَى حَتَّى دَخَلَ مِصْرَ، فَافْتَرَقَ أَهْلُ مِصْرَ فِرَقًا، فِرْقَةٌ دَخَلَتْ فِي الْجَمَاعَةِ وَكَانُوا مَعَهُ، وَفِرْقَةٌ وَقَفَتْ وَاعْتَزَلَتْ، وَقَالُوا: إِنْ قَتْلَ قَتَلَةَ عُثْمَانَ فَنَحْنُ مَعَكُمْ، وَإِلَّا فَنَحْنُ عَلَى جَدِيلَتِنَا، وَفِرْقَةٌ قَالُوا: نَحْنُ مَعَ عَلِيٍّ مَا لَمْ يُقِدْ إِخْوَانَنَا، فَكَتَبَ قَيْسٌ إِلَى عَلِيٍّ بِذَلِكَ. وَأَمَّا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ حَنِيفٍ، فَسَارَ فَلَمْ يَرُدَّهُ أَحَدٌ عَنْ دُخُولِ الْبَصْرَةِ، وَلَمْ يُوجَدْ فِي ذَلِكَ لِابْنِ عَامِرٍ رَأْيٌ وَلَا حَزْمٌ وَلَا اسْتِقْلَالٌ بِحَرْبٍ، فَافْتَرَقَ النَّاسُ فَاتَّبَعَتْ فِرْقَةٌ الْقَوْمَ، وَدَخَلَتْ فِرْقَةٌ فِي الْجَمَاعَةِ، وَفِرْقَةٌ قَالَتْ: نَنْظُرُ مَا يَصْنَعُ أَهْلُ الْمَدِينَةِ فَنَصْنَعُ كَمَا صَنَعُوا. وَأَمَّا عُمَارَةٌ فَأَقْبَلَ حَتَّى إِذَا كَانَ بِزُبَالَةَ رُدَّ وَانْطَلَقَ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ إِلَى الْيَمَنِ، وَلَمَّا رَجَعَ سَهْلُ بْنُ حَنِيفٍ مِنْ طَرِيقِ الشَّامِ دَعَا طَلْحَةَ وَالزُّبَيْرَ، فَقَالَ: إِنَّ الَّذِي كُنْتُ أُحَدِّثُكُمْ قَدْ وَقَعَ، وَسَأَمْسِكُ الْأَمْرَ مَا اسْتَمْسَكَ، فَإِذَا لَمْ أَجِدْ بُدًّا فَآخِرُ الدَّوَاءِ الْكَيُّ. وَكَتَبَ عَلِيٌّ إِلَى أَبِي مُوسَى وَمُعَاوِيَةَ، فَكَتَبَ إِلَيْهِ أَبُو مُوسَى بِطَاعَةِ أَهْلِ الْكُوفَةِ وَبَيْعَتِهِمْ، وَبَيَّنَ الْكَارِهَ مِنْهُمْ وَالرَّاضِيَ، وَكَانَ الرَّسُولَ إِلَى أَبِي مُوسَى مَعْبَدٌ الْأَسْلَمِيُّ، وَكَانَ الرَّسُولَ إِلَى مُعَاوِيَةَ سَبْرَةُ الْجُهَنِيُّ، فَلَمَّا قَدِمَ عَلَى مُعَاوِيَةَ لَمْ يُكْتَبْ مَعَهُ شَيْءٌ وَلَمْ يُجِبْهُ، حَتَّى إِذَا كَانَ فِي الشَّهْرِ الثَّالِثِ مِنْ مَقْتَلِ عُثْمَانَ فِي صَفَرَ، دَعَا مُعَاوِيَةُ بِرَجُلٍ مِنْ بَنِي عَبْسٍ يُدْعَى قَبِيصَةَ، فَدَفَعَ إِلَيْهِ طُومَارًا مَخْتُومًا، عُنْوَانُهُ: مِنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ إِلَى عَلِيٍّ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: إِذَا دَخَلْتَ الْمَدِينَةَ فَاقْبِضْ عَلَى أَسْفَلِ الطُّومَارِ، ثُمَّ أَوْصَاهُ بِمَا يَقُولُ، وَسَرَّحَ رَسُولَ عَلِيٍّ مَعَهُ، فَخَرَجَا فَقَدِمَا الْمَدِينَةَ فِي غُرَّةِ رَبِيعٍ الْأَوَّلِ، فَلَمَّا دَخَلَا الْمَدِينَةَ رَفَعَ الْعَبْسِيُّ الطُّومَارَ كَمَا أَمَرَهُ، وَخَرَجَ النَّاسُ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَيْهِ، فَتَفَرَّقُوا إِلَى مَنَازِلِهِمْ وَقَدْ عَلِمُوا أَنَّ مُعَاوِيَةَ مُعْتَرِضٌ. وَمَضَى الرَّسُولُ حَتَّى دَخَلَ عَلَى عَلِيٍّ ؓ، فَدَفَعَ إِلَيْهِ الطُّومَارَ، فَفَضَّ خَاتَمَهُ فَلَمْ يَجِدْ فِي جَوْفِهِ كِتَابَةً، فَقَالَ لِلرَّسُولِ: مَا وَرَاءَكَ؟ قَالَ: آمِنٌ أَنَا؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، إِنَّ الرُّسُلَ آمِنَةٌ لَا تُقْتَلُ، قَالَ: وَرَائِي أَنِّي تَرَكْتُ قَوْمًا لَا يَرْضَوْنَ إِلَّا بِالْقَوَدِ، قَالَ: مِمَّنْ؟ قَالَ: مِنْ نَفْسِكَ، وَتَرَكْتُ سِتِّينَ أَلْفَ شَيْخٍ يَبْكِي تَحْتَ قَمِيصِ عُثْمَانَ وَهُوَ مَنْصُوبٌ لَهُمْ، قَدْ أَلْبَسُوهُ مِنْبَرَ دِمَشْقَ، فَقَالَ: أَمِنِّي يَطْلُبُونَ دَمَ عُثْمَانَ، أَلَسْتَ مَوْتُورًا أَكْرَهُ قَتْلَ عُثْمَانَ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَبْرَأُ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ دَمِ عُثْمَانَ، اخْرُجْ، قَالَ: وَأَنَا آمِنٌ؟ قَالَ: وَأَنْتَ آمِنٌ، فَخَرَجَ الْعَبْسِيُّ، فَصَاحَتِ السَّبَئِيَّةُ: هَذَا الْكَلْبُ وَافِدُ الْكِلَابِ، اقْتُلُوهُ، فَنَادَى: يَا آلَ مُضَرَ، إِنِّي أَحْلِفُ بِاللَّهِ لَيَرُدَّنَّهَا عَلَيْكُمْ أَرَبَعَةُ آلَافِ خَصِيٍّ، فَانْظُرُوا كَمِ الْفُحُولَةُ وَالرِّكَابُ فَمَنَعَتْهُ مُضَرُ. وَعَنْ أَبِي حَارِثَةَ وَأَبِي عُثْمَانَ، قَالَا: أَتَى مُعَاوِيَةَ الْخَبَرُ بِحَصْرِ عُثْمَانَ، فَأَرْسَلَ إِلَى حَبِيبِ بْنِ مَسْلَمَةَ الْفِهْرِيِّ، فَقَالَ: إِنَّ عُثْمَانَ قَدْ حُصِرَ، فَأَشِرْ عَلَيَّ بِرَجُلٍ يُنْفِذُ لِأَمْرِي وَلَا يُقَصِّرُ، قَالَ: مَا أَعْرِفُ ذَلِكَ غَيْرِي، قَالَ: أَنْتَ لَهَا، فَأَشِرْ عَلَيَّ بِرَجُلٍ أَبْعَثُهُ عَلَى مُقَدِّمَتِكَ لَا تُتَّهَمُ نَصِيحَتُهُ، قَالَ: يَزِيدُ بْنُ شَجَعَةَ الْحِمْيَرِيُّ، فَدَعَا بِهِمَا فَقَالَ: النَّجَاءَ، سِيرَا فَأَعِينَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، وَتَعَجَّلْ أَنْتَ يَا يَزِيدُ فَإِنْ قَدِمْتَ يَا حَبِيبُ وَعُثْمَانُ حَيٌّ فَالْأَمْرُ أَمْرُهُ، فَانْفِذْ لِمَا يَأْمُرُكَ بِهِ، وَإِنْ وَجَدْتَهُ قَدْ قُتِلَ فَلَا تَدَعْنَ أَحَدًا أَشَارَ إِلَيْهِ أَوْ أَعَانَ عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا قَتَلْتَهُ. وَبَعَثَ مَعَ يَزِيدَ أَلْفَ فَارِسٍ، فَسَارَ بَعْضَ الطَّرِيقِ، فَبَلَغَهُ الْخَبَرُ، ثُمَّ لَقِيَهُ النُّعْمَانُ بْنُ بَشِيرٍ وَمَعَهُ الْقَمِيصُ الَّذِي قُتِلَ فِيهِ عُثْمَانُ مُخَضَّبٌ بِالدِّمَاءِ وَأَصَابِعُ امْرَأَتِهِ ، فَأَمْضَى حَبِيبٌ إِلَى مُعَاوِيَةَ وَأَقَامَ فَأَتَاهُ بِرَأْيِهِ فَرَجَعَ حَتَّى قَدِمَ دِمَشْقَ. وَلَمَّا قَدِمَ النُّعْمَانُ بْنُ بَشِيرٍ عَلَى مُعَاوِيَةَ أَخْرَجَ الْقَمِيصَ وَأَصَابِعَ نَائِلَةَ بِنْتِ الْفَرَافِصَةِ - أُصْبُعَانِ قَدْ قُطِعَتَا بِبَرَاجِمِهِمَا وَشَيْءٌ مِنَ الْكَفِّ، وَأُصْبُعَانِ مَقْطُوعَتَانِ مِنَ أَصْلِهِمَا مُفْتَرِقَتَانِ، وَنِصْفُ الْإِبْهَامِ - فَوَضَعَ مُعَاوِيَةُ الْقَمِيصَ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ، وَكَتَبَ بِالْخَبَرِ إِلَى الْأَجْنَادِ، وَثَابَ إِلَيْهِ النَّاسُ وَبَكَوْا سَنَةً وَهُوَ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ وَالْأَصَابِعُ مُعَلَّقَةٌ فِيهِ، وَالرِّجَالُ مِنْ أَهْلِ الشَّامِ لَا يَأْتُونَ النِّسَاءَ، وَلَا يَمَسُّهُمُ الْغُسْلُ إِلَّا مِنَ الِاحْتِلَامِ، وَلَا يَنَامُونَ عَلَى الْفُرُشِ حَتَّى يَقْتُلُوا قَتَلَةَ عُثْمَانَ، وَمَنْ عَرَضَ دُونَهُمْ بِشَيْءٍ أَوْ يُفْنِي أَرْوَاحَهُمْ، فَمَكَثُوا يَبْكُونَ حَوْلَ الْقَمِيصِ سَنَةً، وَالْقَمِيصُ مَوْضُوعٌ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ، وَفِي أَرْدَافِهِ أَصَابِعُ نَائِلَةَ مُعَلَّقَةً.
Translation
✧ Then the year thirty-six of the Hijrah began The dispatch of ʿAlī ؓ’s governors to the garrison cities Among the events of that year was the dispatch by ʿAlī ؓ of his governors to the garrison cities. From Muḥammad and Ṭalḥah, who said: ʿAlī ؓ sent his governors to the garrison cities. He sent ʿUthmān b. Ḥanīf to al-Baṣrah, ʿUmārah b. Ḥassān b. Shihāb to al-Kūfah, ʿUbayd Allāh b. ʿAbbās to al-Yaman, Qays b. Saʿd to Miṣr, and Sahl b. Ḥanīf to al-Shām. As for Sahl, he set out until when he was at Tabūk, horsemen met him. They said: "Who are you?" He said: "A commander." They said: "Over what?" He said: "Over al-Shām." They said: "If ʿUthmān sent you, then welcome to you; but if someone other than him sent you, then turn back." He said: "Have you not heard what has happened?" They said: "Yes." So he returned to ʿAlī. As for Qays b. Saʿd, when he reached Aylah, horsemen met him. They said: "Who are you?" He said: "One of the partisans of ʿUthmān, seeking someone to whom I may repair and by whom I may gain victory." They said: "Who are you?" He said: "Qays b. Saʿd." They said: "Proceed." So he proceeded until he entered Miṣr. The people of Miṣr split into factions: one faction joined the community and was with him; one faction stood aside and withdrew, saying: "If the killers of ʿUthmān are slain, then we are with you; otherwise we remain on our own course"; and one faction said: "We are with ʿAlī as long as he does not exact retaliation for our brethren." Qays wrote to ʿAlī about that. As for ʿUthmān b. Ḥanīf, he marched and no one turned him back from entering al-Baṣrah; Ibn ʿĀmir showed no judgment, no resolve, and no readiness for war in that matter. The people split: one faction followed the group, one faction entered the community, and one faction said: "We shall see what the people of al-Madīnah do, and we shall do as they do." As for ʿUmārah, he advanced until he was at Zubālah and was turned back. ʿUbayd Allāh went off to al-Yaman. When Sahl b. Ḥanīf returned from the road to al-Shām, he summoned Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr and said: "The thing I was telling you about has come to pass. I shall hold the matter as long as it holds together; then when I find no alternative, the last remedy is cauterization." ʿAlī wrote to Abū Mūsā and Muʿāwiyah. Abū Mūsā wrote back to him regarding the obedience and pledge of allegiance of the people of al-Kūfah, and he explained who among them was reluctant and who was content. The messenger to Abū Mūsā was Maʿbad al-Aslamī, and the messenger to Muʿāwiyah was Sabrah al-Juhanī. When he came to Muʿāwiyah, nothing was written back with him, and he did not answer him, until it was the third month after the killing of ʿUthmān, in Ṣafar. Muʿāwiyah summoned a man of Banū ʿAbs called Qabīṣah and handed him a sealed scroll, addressed: "From Muʿāwiyah to ʿAlī." He said to him: "When you enter al-Madīnah, grasp the bottom of the scroll." Then he instructed him in what to say, and sent ʿAlī’s messenger along with him. They set out and arrived at al-Madīnah at the beginning of Rabīʿ al-Awwal. When they entered al-Madīnah, the ʿAbsī raised the scroll as he had been commanded, and the people came out looking at it. They dispersed to their homes, knowing that Muʿāwiyah was in opposition. The messenger went on until he entered upon ʿAlī ؓ and handed him the scroll. He broke its seal but found no writing inside it. He said to the messenger: "What is behind you?" He said: "Am I under safe-conduct?" He said: "Yes; messengers are secure and are not killed." He said: "Behind me is that I left a people who will be satisfied with nothing but retaliation." He said: "From whom?" He said: "From your own self. And I left sixty thousand old men weeping beneath the shirt of ʿUthmān, which is set up for them, having been draped over the pulpit of Damascus." He said: "Do they seek ʿUthmān’s blood from me? Am I not bereaved and averse to the killing of ʿUthmān? O God, I declare myself innocent before You of the blood of ʿUthmān. Go out." He said: "And am I under safe-conduct?" He said: "You are under safe-conduct." So the ʿAbsī went out. The Sabaʾiyyah shouted: "This dog is the envoy of dogs; kill him!" He called out: "O Maʿadd, I swear by God that four thousand eunuchs will drive it back upon you; see how many stallions and riding-camels there are." So Maʿadd defended him. From Abū Ḥārithah and Abū ʿUthmān, who said: News of the siege of ʿUthmān reached Muʿāwiyah, and he sent for Ḥabīb b. Maslamah al-Fihrī and said: "ʿUthmān has been besieged; advise me of a man who will carry out my order and not fall short." He said: "I know of none for that but myself." He said: "You are the one for it. Then advise me of a man I may send ahead of your vanguard whose counsel is beyond suspicion." He said: "Yazīd b. Shujaʿah al-Ḥimyarī." He summoned them both and said: "Hasten! Go and aid the Commander of the Faithful. And you, Yazīd, go quickly. If you arrive, Ḥabīb, while ʿUthmān is still alive, the matter is his; carry out what he commands you. But if you find that he has been killed, then leave no one who pointed at him or assisted against him without killing him." He sent a thousand horsemen with Yazīd. He traveled part of the way, and news reached him. Then al-Nuʿmān b. Bashīr met him, carrying the shirt in which ʿUthmān was killed, stained with blood, and his wife’s fingers. Ḥabīb proceeded to Muʿāwiyah and stayed, and brought him his counsel, then returned and arrived at Damascus. When al-Nuʿmān b. Bashīr came to Muʿāwiyah, he brought out the shirt and the fingers of Nāʾilah bt. al-Farāfiṣah — two fingers cut off at their knuckles with part of the palm, and two fingers cut off from their roots separately, and half the thumb. Muʿāwiyah placed the shirt on the pulpit and wrote the news to the armies. The people gathered to him and wept for a year while it was on the pulpit with the fingers suspended from it. The men of al-Shām did not approach women, and washing touched them only from nocturnal emission, and they did not sleep on beds until they killed the killers of ʿUthmān and whoever stood in their way, or their own souls were spent. They remained weeping around the shirt for a year, the shirt being set out every day, with Nāʾilah’s fingers suspended from its hem.
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