He rebuilt it with finely carved stone, set up stone pillars, and roofed it with teak. Its length he made 160 cubits and its breadth 150 cubits, and he kept its six doors just as they had been in ʿUmar’s time.

ʿUthmān then led the people in the pilgrimage. A pavilion was pitched for him at Minā, and there, as well as at ʿArafah, he performed the prayer in its full four units. The people criticized him for this, so ʿAlī came to him and said, “By Allah, nothing new has happened and no covenant has aged. I remember your Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—praying two rakʿahs, then Abū Bakr, then ʿUmar, and then you yourself at the outset of your rule.” ʿUthmān replied, “It is a judgment I have arrived at.”

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf also spoke with him. ʿUthmān said, “I was informed that some rough people were saying, ‘The prayer of a resident is two rakʿahs, and here is ʿUthmān praying only two,’ so I prayed four to counter that. Besides, I have married a woman in Mecca.” ʿAbd al-Raḥmān answered, “That is no excuse.” ʿUthmān replied, “It is the view I have adopted.”

Year 30 AH

In this year al-Walīd ibn ʿUqbah was dismissed from Kūfah and replaced by Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ. Saʿīd marched against Ṭabaristān, besieged its inhabitants, and they asked him for safe-conduct on the condition that he would not kill a single one of them. He nevertheless slew them all save one man, having issued a legal opinion for himself to that effect.

That same year Jūr, in the province of Fars, was conquered by Ibn ʿĀmir, who gained abundant spoils; around this time he also overran many regions of Khurāsān.

Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind relates: When Ibn ʿĀmir conquered the land of Fars in the year 30, Yazdgerd son of Kisrā fled, and Ibn ʿĀmir dispatched Mujāshiʿ ibn Masʿūd al-Sulamī in pursuit of him,