and Muʿāwiyah then assumed authority. He went to great lengths in luxury and outward display, and scarcely has any ruler risen to the rank he attained. If only he had not entrusted the office to his son Yazīd, but had left the matter for the ummah to decide.

ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim narrated, from Ibn Jurayj, from al-Ḥasan ibn Muslim, from Ṭāwūs, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

“When Muʿāwiyah lay dying he said, ‘I was once with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on al-Ṣafā, and I asked for a mishqaṣ—a small blade—whereupon I cut some of his hair. That hair is now kept in such-and-such a place. When I die, take that hair and pack my mouth and nostrils with it.’ (1)”

A similar report is transmitted with an isnād from Maymūn ibn Mihrān.

Muḥammad ibn Muṣaffā said: Baqiyyah narrated to us, from Baḥīr, from Khālid ibn Maʿdān, who said:

“Al-Miqdām ibn Maʿdī Karib, ʿAmrū ibn al-Aswad, and a man from the Asad tribe who had been a Companion visited Muʿāwiyah.

Muʿāwiyah said to al-Miqdām, ‘Al-Ḥasan has died.’

Al-Miqdām recited the istirjāʿ, whereupon Muʿāwiyah asked, ‘Do you consider it a misfortune?’

He replied, ‘Why would I not, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ placed him on his lap and said, “This one is from me, and Ḥusayn is from ʿAlī.”’

Muʿāwiyah then said to the Asadī, ‘What do you say?’

He answered, ‘A burning coal has been extinguished.’

Al-Miqdām said, ‘I adjure you by Allah! Did you hear the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbid…’