and Muʿāwiyah as well, leaving the matter to a consultative council (shūrā). ʿAmr then rose after him and supported the deposition of ʿAlī while affirming Muʿāwiyah. At this Abū Mūsā said to him, “May God never grant you success; you have betrayed us!” Shurayḥ ibn Hāniʾ al-Hamdānī struck ʿAmr with a whip.

Abū Mūsā withdrew in humiliation, made his way to Mecca, and never returned to Kūfa, swearing that he would never again look ʿAlī in the face as long as he lived. Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and Ibn ʿUmar went on to Jerusalem, entered the state of iḥrām, and remained there.

As for ʿAmr, he departed and did not at first go to Muʿāwiyah. Later he did come to him and prepared a lavish meal. They exchanged many words and called for the food. First the slaves of ʿAmr ate; when they rose so that Muʿāwiyah’s slaves might eat, Muʿāwiyah ordered that the door be shut while his own servants were dining. ʿAmr said, “So you have done this?” Muʿāwiyah replied, “Yes, by God. Give the pledge or I will kill you.” ʿAmr said, “Then Egypt?” Muʿāwiyah answered, “It is yours for as long as you live.”

Al-Wāqidī reports that the Syrians raised up the Qur’ans and proclaimed, “We call you to the Book of God and to be judged by what is in it.” Peace was then concluded, and they wrote an agreement that the two sides would meet at Adhruh at the turn of the year and appoint two arbiters. They did so, but no settlement was reached. ʿAlī returned with dissension and distrust among his followers; from them emerged the Khārijites, who rejected the arbitration, declaring, “Judgment belongs only to God.” Muʿāwiyah, on the other hand, returned with unity and a single voice behind him. The people of Syria then pledged allegiance to Muʿāwiyah as caliph in Dhū al-Qaʿdah of the year 38 AH—so says al-Wāqidī.

Khalīfah and others, however, maintain that the pledge was in Dhū al-Qaʿdah of the year 37 AH, which is the more likely date, for it came immediately after ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ returned from the arbitration.

Muḥammad ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk al-Ḥizāmī, quoting his father, said: ʿAlī stood on the pulpit of Kūfa and, when the two arbiters disagreed, declared, “I had forbidden you from this….”