and we covered, out of those seven, the head of Husayn ibn Numayr and that of ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyad. Later I returned, lifted the covering, and there was a serpent inside ʿUbayd Allah’s head, devouring it (1).

An authentic report is also related by ʿUmara ibn ʿUmayr, who said:
“The severed heads of ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyad and his companions were brought in. We approached them while the people around were calling out, ‘It has come, it has come!’
“Suddenly a snake wormed its way among the heads until it entered the nostril of ʿUbayd Allah. It stayed there for a short while, then came out and vanished.
“Again they cried, ‘It has come, it has come!’ The serpent did the same a second—and a third—time (2).”

I say: A Shiʿite cannot be content until he curses this man and all who follow him, whereas we loathe them for Allah’s sake, disavow them, but do not curse them; their affair rests with Allah.

With His—exalted be He—assistance, the third volume of Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ is now complete. The fourth volume follows, beginning with the biography of the Mad Lover, Qays ibn al-Mulawwah.