53 — Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn ⦗356⦘ Nājiya informed us: Muhammad ibn Sulaymān Luwayn narrated to us: Jafar ibn Sulaymān al-Dubaī narrated to us: Awn and Hishām narrated to us, from Ibn Sīrīn, from Ubayda—that is, al-Salmānī—who said:

I was present with Ali ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—at the river. When the Kharijites had been killed, Ali ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—said, “Among them is a man with a malformed hand—or a short hand.”

They searched but were unable to find him. He said this three times, then ⦗357⦘ said, “Look, and turn over the slain.” They brought out a dark-complexioned, heavyset man whose right hand resembled a woman’s breast.

When Ali saw him, he faced the direction of prayer and raised his hands. He praised and extolled Allah, thanking Allah for appointing him to kill them and honoring him by fighting them. He then turned to face us and said, “Were it not that you might become boastful, I would tell you what the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—had previously said about the honor awaiting whoever fought these people.”

Ubayda said: I asked, “O Commander of the Faithful, did this come to you from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—or did you hear it from him yourself?”

He replied, “Rather, I heard it from him myself—by the Lord of the Kaaba.”