and a single drop of his blood landed on the words: “So Allah will suffice you against them.” Abu Ḥurayth later said that he went with Suhayl al-Marri to see the codex; they brought the muṣḥaf out, and there was the drop of blood right on the verse “So Allah will suffice you against them.” He added, “It is still there in the muṣḥaf, unchanged to this day.”
Muhammad ibn ʿĪsā ibn Samīʿ reported from Ibn Abī Dhīb, from al-Zuhrī: I asked Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, “Will you tell me how ʿUthmān was killed?” He replied, “He was killed while wronged; those who failed to support him had an excuse, and those who killed him were oppressors. When he first became caliph, some of the Companions disliked it because he loved his clan and placed them in office. They committed actions the Companions disapproved of; complaints were lodged, but he would not dismiss them. During the last six years of his rule he favored his cousins exclusively, appointing them and no one else. He made ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Sarḥ governor of Egypt, where he remained in power, and the Egyptians came complaining and seeking justice against him.
Before that, ʿUthmān had already committed certain offenses against Ibn Masʿūd, Abū Dharr, and ʿAmmār, which caused their supporters to resent him. The Egyptians again complained about Ibn Abī Sarḥ, so ʿUthmān wrote threatening him, but he would not comply; instead, he beat one of the complainants who came to him and killed him.
Seven hundred men from Egypt then set out, camped in the Mosque, and laid their grievances before the Companions. Ṭalḥah rose and spoke to ʿUthmān in harsh terms, and ʿĀʾishah sent him word: “Grant them justice against your governor.” ʿAlī entered—he was the spokesman for the delegation—and said, “All they want is one man in place of another; they claim blood against him. Dismiss him and judge between them.” ʿUthmān replied, “Choose whomever you wish to replace him.” They nominated Muhammad ibn Abī Bakr, so he wrote the appointment for him, and a number of the Emigrants and the Helpers set out with them to look into the matter between the Egyptians and Ibn Abī Sarḥ.
When Muhammad was three days’ march from Medina, they came upon a black slave-boy speeding along on a camel. They questioned him and he said, “The Commander of the Believers has sent me to the governor of Egypt.” They replied, “That is the governor of the people of Egypt.” They brought him to Muhammad, searched him, and found his water-skin.