Juwayriyah ibn Asmāʾ relates, on the authority of Musāfiʿ ibn Shaybah, who said:

“Al-Ḥusayn met Muʿāwiyah in Mecca at al-Radm. He seized the bridle of his mount and made it kneel, then spoke with him in private for a long while before leaving. Muʿāwiyah prodded the animal on, whereupon his son Yazīd said, ‘There will always be someone who comes to you and makes you halt like that.’ He replied, ‘Leave him; perhaps he will seek it from someone other than me, who will not grant it and will kill him.’ ”

The report now reverts to the earlier narrative (1):

When death approached Muʿāwiyah, he summoned Yazīd, advised him, and said, “Watch over Ḥusayn, for he is the most beloved of people in the people’s eyes. Maintain kinship with him and treat him gently. Should anything arise from him, Allah will suffice you through those who slew his father and deserted his brother.”

Muʿāwiyah died halfway through Rajab, and the people pledged allegiance to Yazīd. Yazīd wrote to the governor of Medina, al-Walīd ibn ʿUtbah ibn Abī Sufyān: “Summon the people and take their oath of allegiance, beginning with the notables, and deal gently with Ḥusayn.”

Al-Walīd therefore sent for Ḥusayn and Ibn al-Zubayr in the night and invited them to pledge allegiance to Yazīd. They said, “We shall wait until morning and see what the people do.” Then they slipped away and left.

Al-Walīd had earlier spoken harshly to Ḥusayn, so Ḥusayn cursed him, seized his turban, and pulled it off. Al-Walīd remarked, “By provoking him thus we have stirred nothing less than a lion.” Marwān—or someone else—said to him, “Kill him.” He replied, “That is blood that must remain inviolate.” (2)

Ḥusayn and Ibn al-Zubayr immediately set out for Mecca. Ḥusayn lodged there in the house of al-ʿAbbās, while ʿAbd Allah remained in the Ḥijr, donned a Maʿāfirī cloak (3), and began inciting opposition to the Umayyads. Morning and evening he would go to Ḥusayn, urging him to proceed to Iraq and saying, “They are your supporters.” But Ibn ʿAbbās kept forbidding him. (4)