during the time allotted for the general audience, greeting the Caliph and taking a seat on some occasions, while on others he would simply offer the salām and withdraw.

When a month had passed, he spoke with ʿAbd al-Malik in private. He reminded him of their kinship and family ties and mentioned a debt he owed. The Caliph promised to settle it, and he did so, meeting all his other needs as well. (1)

I say: He inclined toward ʿAbd al-Malik because of the latter’s kindness to him, and because Ibn al-Zubayr had treated him badly.

Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār said: The Shiʿah called him “the Mahdī.”

My uncle Muṣʿab told me that Kuthayyir ʿAzzah recited:
He is the Mahdī, so Kaʿb has declared—
Brother to the scholars of ages long gone. (2)

Someone asked him, “Did you ever meet Kaʿb?”
He replied, “I spoke it only by conjecture.”

He also said:
Hearken! The rightful leaders from Quraysh,
Governors of truth, are four in all:
ʿAlī, and three from among his sons—
Those grandsons, whose rank is plain to see.
One is a scion of faith and devotion;
One was carried off by the tragedy of Karbalāʾ;
And one no eye shall behold until
He rides at the head of horsemen beneath a banner.
Long he has been concealed from them at Radwā,
With honey and water beside him. (3)

ʿUmar ibn ʿUbaydah transmitted these verses to Kuthayyir ibn Kathīr al-Sahmī. (4)