and I said, “The people have acted as you can see, and nothing of this affair has been assigned to me.”
She replied, “Then go and join them, for they are waiting for you; I fear that your staying away from them will lead to division.”
Before long he had gone.

He continued: When the two arbitrators separated, Muʿāwiyah addressed the people, saying, “If anyone wants to speak about this matter, let him show me his horns, for we are more entitled to it than he is—and than his father.” He was alluding to Ibn ʿUmar.

Ḥabīb ibn Maslamah said, “Why did you not answer him—may my father and mother be your ransom?”

Ibn ʿUmar replied, “I loosened the cloth around my knees and was about to say, ‘More entitled to it than you is the one who fought you and your father for the sake of Islam.’ But I feared uttering a word that would split the community and cause blood to be shed, so I remembered what Allah has prepared in Paradise (1).”

Sallām ibn Miskīn related: I heard al-Ḥasan say, “When the people were in the turmoil, they came to Ibn ʿUmar and said, ‘You are the leader of the people and the son of their leader; the people are pleased with you—come out so that we may pledge allegiance to you.’ He replied, ‘By Allah, not even the amount of blood that fills a cupping-glass will be spilled on my account or because of me (2) as long as there is life left in me (3).’”

Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, from Yaʿlā, from Nāfiʿ, reported: Abū Mūsā said on the day of arbitration, “I see no one fit for this matter other than ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar.” ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ then said to Ibn ʿUmar, “We wish to pledge allegiance to you; would you accept a great sum of money in return for relinquishing…"