find two of us at variance over him; no one of us had to bear witness against another, and none of us declared himself quit of him. I fulfilled ʿUmar’s right, acknowledged my duty of obedience to him, campaigned in his armies, accepted whatever he allotted me, set out whenever he dispatched me, and enforced the prescribed penalties with my own whip in his presence.

When he passed away, I recalled my kinship, my precedence, my former deeds, and my merit, convinced that he would not put anyone before me. Yet he feared that every sin a successor might commit would reach him in his grave, so he removed both himself and his son from the matter. Had he been showing favoritism, he would have preferred his son; instead, he referred the question to six men of Quraysh—of whom I was one.

When the council met, I again reflected on my kinship, my precedence, and my merit, certain they would not choose anyone over me. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān then bound us by solemn oaths that we would hear and obey whoever Allah placed in charge of our affair; after that he took the hand of Ibn ʿAffān and struck it with his own. I considered my situation: my obedience had already preceded my pledge, and the covenant had been taken for someone else. So we pledged allegiance to ʿUthmān. I rendered him his right, recognized my duty of obedience to him, fought in his armies, accepted whatever he granted me, marched whenever he sent me, and enforced the legal punishments with my whip in his presence.

When he was killed, I looked at my position: the two caliphs who had assumed office by the Prophet’s instruction regarding the prayer were gone, and the one for whom the covenant had been taken had fallen. Accordingly, the people of the Two Sacred Precincts and the inhabitants of these two garrison cities—Basra and Kūfa—gave me their pledge.

Ishāq ibn Rāhwayh transmitted a similar account from ʿAbdah ibn Sulaymān. He said: “Abū al-ʿAlāʾ Sālim al-Murādī narrated to us; I heard al-Ḥasan relate something similar and he added …”