15 – Al-Ḥusayn related to us; ʿAbd Allah related to us; he said: my father—may Allah have mercy on him—told me; from Hisham ibn Muhammad; he said: a man of the Nakhaʿ tribe narrated to me, from Ṣāliḥ ibn Maytham, from ʿImrān ibn Maytham, from his father:

ʿAli came out and uttered the opening takbīr for the prayer, then recited eleven verses from Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ. Ibn Muljam struck him from within the row, hitting him on the crown of his head. The people ⦗31⦘ rushed toward him, seized him, and wrenched the sword from his hand while they were still standing in the prayer. ʿAli then bowed (rukūʿ) and prostrated (sujūd); I watched him move his head, blood dripping from it each time he prostrated, from one spot to another. Then he rose for the second unit, stood and lightened the recitation, sat and pronounced the tashahhud, concluded with the salām, and leaned his back against a wall of the mosque.