Al-Waqidī related—through al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh—that Yaʿlā ibn Umayyah declared: “O people, whoever sets out to demand retribution for ʿUthmān’s blood, I will outfit him for the campaign.”

ʿAlī ibn Abī Sārah reported: Yaʿlā arrived with 400,000 and spent it on equipping the force headed for Basra.

Another transmitter said: Yaʿlā ibn Umayyah provided ʿĀʾishah with an entire contingent and announced, “Here are 10,000 dinars from the finest of my wealth; with them I will strengthen all who seek justice for ʿUthmān.” When this reached ʿAlī he exclaimed, “And where did he get that? He plundered Yemen and then came here! By Allah, if I gain power over him I shall take whatever he himself has admitted.”

Yahyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī, on the authority of one of his uncles, recounted: On the Day of the Camel ʿAlī called out, “Do not shoot anyone with arrows; speak to them first, for whoever succeeds in this stance will succeed on the Day of Resurrection.” We kept advancing until the heat of the steel reached us. Then the opposing troops cried out with one voice, “Vengeance for ʿUthmān!” Ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah was a short distance ahead of us bearing the standard. ʿAlī raised his hands and prayed, “O Allah, hurl the killers of ʿUthmān upon their faces.” Al-Zubayr next instructed the asāwira with him, “Loose your arrows, but do not shoot to strike,” as though he only wished to ignite the battle. When our men saw the arrows they did not wait for them to hit the ground; they charged, and Allah routed the enemy. Marwān shot Ṭalḥah with an arrow that pierced his leg alongside his mount.

Abū Jurū al-Māzinī said: I witnessed ʿAlī and al-Zubayr when they halted face-to-face. ʿAlī said to him, “Zubayr, I adjure you by Allah: did you hear the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘You will fight me while you are in the wrong toward me’?” He answered, “Yes, but I did not remember it until this very moment,” and he withdrew.

Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī—reporting from Qays ibn ʿAbād—said: ʿAlī said on the day