97 – Al-Ḥusayn narrated to us; ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; Saʿid ibn Yaḥyā al-Qurashī narrated to us; ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿid transmitted from Ziyād ibn ʿAbd Allah; al-Mujālid ibn Saʿid said:

ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, died without appointing anyone to succeed him.

Al-Mujālid said: al-Shaʿbī told me—he said: Zahr ibn Qays al-Juʿfī informed me:

ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, dispatched me in command of four hundred men from Iraq and ordered us to take up position in al-Madāʾin as a frontier garrison. By Allah, we were sitting at sunset by the roadside when a rider came toward us, his mount dripping with sweat. We asked, “Where have you come from?” He replied, “From Kufah.” We asked, “When did you set out?” He said, “Today.” We asked, “What news do you bring?” He answered, “The Commander of the Believers went out to perform the dawn prayer. Ibn Bijrah and Ibn Muljam rushed at him: one of them dealt him a blow from which a man may live despite worse injuries, yet may also die from lighter wounds.” Then he rode on.

ʿAbd Allah ibn Wahb al-Sabaʾī thereupon raised his hands to the sky and cried, “Allah is the Greatest! Allah is the Greatest!” I said to him, “What is the matter with you?” He replied, “Even if this messenger had told us he had seen the Imam’s brain spill out, I would still know that the Commander of the Believers will not die until he drives the Arabs with his staff.” ⦗84⦘

Zahr continued: By Allah, we had spent no more than that single night before letters reached me from al-Hasan ibn ʿAli, reading: “From ʿAbd Allah Hasan, the Commander of the Believers, to Zahr ibn Qays. To proceed: take the pledge of allegiance from those around you.” We said to Ibn Wahb, “What of what you claimed?” He replied, “I never thought he would die.”