thrown dust in those people’s faces, they would have turned back in humiliation.

Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār said: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan related to me that when the attacks on ʿUthmān intensified, ʿAlī withdrew to his estate in Yanbuʿ. ʿUthmān wrote to him: “To proceed: the strap has reached the ribs, the flood has overrun the high ground, the affair has grown beyond its limits, and even those who cannot defend themselves now covet authority.

If I am to be devoured, then be the noblest one who eats;
Otherwise, reach me before I am torn apart.”

(The line is by a poet of ʿAbd al-Qays.) The ṭabī is the area of a horse’s chest where the breast begins.

Muḥammad ibn Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim said: When ʿUthmān was besieged, he sent word to ʿAlī, “Your cousin is about to be killed, and you will be left despoiled.”

Abān ibn ʿUthmān said: When they pressed ʿUthmān hard with their volleys, I went to ʿAlī and said, “Uncle, the stones are destroying us!” He rose with me and kept on hurling stones back until his shoulder grew weary. Then he said, “My nephew, gather your household; after that, the matter is yours.”

Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, quoting Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, reported: ʿUthmān sent for ʿAlī while he was under siege. ʿAlī wanted to go to him, but the people clung to him and prevented him. He removed a black turban from his head and said, “O Allah, I neither approve of his killing nor do I command it.”

Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī said: ʿUthmān sent for Saʿd (ibn Abī Waqqāṣ). When Saʿd came and spoke with him, he said, “Send for ʿAlī. If he comes to you satisfied, the affair can be reconciled.” ʿUthmān replied, “Then you are my messenger to him.” Saʿd went to ʿAlī, and ʿAlī set out with him. As they passed by Mālik al-Ashtar, al-Ashtar said to his companions, “Where is this man heading?” They answered, “He is going to ʿUthmān.” He replied, “By Allah, if…"