198 — Al-Abbās ibn Muhammad related to me, saying: Rawh ibn Ubāda narrated to us, from Awf, from Abū Rajā, who said: “I saw a man whose ear had been cut off. I asked him, ‘What happened? Were you born that way, or did something happen to you?’ He replied: ‘I will tell you. As I was walking among the slain on the day of the Battle of the Camel, I came upon a man scraping the ground with his foot and saying:

[Long metre]

Our mother led us into death’s maelstrom;
We did not withdraw until we had drunk our fill.

We obeyed Quraysh through an error of judgment;
Our aid to the people of Hijaz brought us only hardship.

I said to him, “O servant of Allah, say: There is no god but Allah.” He said, “Come closer and prompt me.” So I drew near, whereupon he asked me, “Where are you from?” I replied, “I am a man from Kufa.” He then sprang at me and did to my ear what you see. He said, “When you meet your mother, tell her that Umayr ibn al-Ahlab al-Dabbī did to me what you see.”’”

Someone other than al-Abbās added: “Then he died while my ear was still in his mouth.”