Al-Waqidi reported: Mufaddal ibn Fadala narrated to me from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, and ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar narrated to me from ʿAbd al-Wahid ibn Abi ʿAwn. They said:

When power came into Muʿawiyah’s hands he deemed Egypt too large a fief for ʿAmr to enjoy as long as he lived, while ʿAmr felt that the whole enterprise owed its success to him and to his strategy. He was sure Muʿawiyah would add Syria to his domain, but Muʿawiyah did not. ʿAmr therefore grew estranged from him; they disagreed and spoke harshly to one another until Muʿawiyah ibn Hudayj reconciled them, drawing up a document that granted ʿAmr the governorship of Egypt for seven years and summoning witnesses to attest it.

ʿAmr set out for Egypt in the year 39 AH, remained there for about three years, and then died. (1)

Al-Madaʾini relates—on the authority of Juwayriyah ibn Asmaʾ—that ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ said to Ibn ʿAbbās:

“O Banu Hāshim, you have shouldered the killing of ʿUthmān so that even squint-eyed slave-girls hurled stones at him. You obeyed the libertines of Iraq in reviling him; you delivered him to the renegades of Egypt, and you sheltered his murderers.”

Ibn ʿAbbās replied, “You speak only for Muʿawiyah; you are merely voicing your own opinion. Yet the two of you are the last people who ought to speak about ʿUthmān’s case.

“As for you, Muʿawiyah, you made what he was doing seem fair to him; then, when he was besieged and asked for your help, you delayed, you desired his death, and you lay in wait for it.

“And you, ʿAmr—you set Medina aflame against him, then fled to Palestine inquiring after his fate. When news of his death reached you, your enmity toward ʿAlī drove you to join Muʿawiyah, and you sold your religion for Egypt.”

Muʿawiyah said, “Enough! ʿAmr has exposed me to you—and exposed himself as well.” (2)

Muhammad ibn Sallam al-Jumahi said: “Whenever ʿUmar saw someone stammer in his speech he would remark, ‘Did the One who created this man create ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ?’” (3)

Mujalid narrated, from al-Shaʿbi, from Qabisah ibn Jābir:

“I accompanied ʿUmar, and I never saw—”