he manages to enter upon him, you will all be killed to the last man.’ Malik then rose with his followers, wrested ʿAlī away from Saʿd, and seated him among his own men. He also sent word to the Egyptians: ‘If you truly intend to kill him, then make haste.’ They forced their way in and killed him.
Abū Ḥabībah reported: When the situation became critical, those inside the house said to ʿUthmān, ‘Give us permission to fight.’ He replied, ‘I place every one of you who obeys me under oath not to fight.’
Abū Ḥabībah was the freedman of al-Zubayr; Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah narrated from him.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd said: Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: Shurabīl ibn Abī ʿAwn told me from his father; and ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿImrān told me from his father, from al-Miswar ibn Makhramah; (ḥ) and Mūsā ibn Yaʿqūb told me from his uncle, from Ibn al-Zubayr; (ḥ) and Ibn Abī Ḥabībah told us from Dāwūd ibn al-Ḥuṣayn, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās. They said:
ʿUthmān sent al-Miswar ibn Makhramah to Muʿāwiyah to inform him that he was under siege and to order him to dispatch an army without delay. When al-Miswar reached Muʿāwiyah, the governor immediately mounted with Muslim ibn ʿUqbah and Muʿāwiyah ibn Ḥudayj, and they set out from Damascus toward ʿUthmān, covering the distance in ten days. Muʿāwiyah arrived in the middle of the night, kissed ʿUthmān’s head, and ʿUthmān asked, ‘Where is the army?’ He answered, ‘I have come with only three men.’
ʿUthmān exclaimed, ‘May Allah not preserve your kinship bond, nor strengthen your hand, nor reward you with any good! By Allah, it is because of you that I shall be killed; people have no grievance against me except on your account.’
Muʿāwiyah replied, ‘May my father and mother be your ransom! Had I sent an army and word of it spread, they would have hurried to kill you. But I have with me swift-riding camels—leave with me now, and no one will know. By Allah, in just three days we shall see the landmarks of Syria.’
ʿUthmān said, ‘What a vile suggestion that is,’ and refused to go with him.