18 – Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṣafwān al-Bardhaʿī narrated to us; ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī al-Dunyā narrated to us; Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā al-Umawī narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿīd narrated to us, from Ziyād ibn ʿAbd Allah, from ʿAwānah ibn al-Ḥakam, who said:

Three men pledged one another to assassinate ʿAlī, Muʿāwiyah, and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ ⦗33⦘. One set out for ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, another for Muʿāwiyah—he was al-Bark ibn ʿAbd Allah, a man of Banū Tamīm, of Banū Saʿd, then of Banū Ṣuraym—and the third for ʿAlī, namely Ibn Muljam.

Ibn Muljam came to Kūfah and sought the hand of Qutām, a woman of Banū Taym who embraced the doctrine of the Muhakkima (the early Khārijites). She said, “No, by Allah, I will not marry you unless you give me three thousand and kill ʿAlī.” He accepted her terms, paid the sum, and consummated the marriage with her.