His dwelling is in the highest Firdaws—and so it came to be—for the Master of the first and the last, the Messenger of the Lord of all worlds, testified that he is among the people of Paradise. All praise and favor belong to Allah.

Ibn al-Athīr relates in al-Ghābah that al-Zubayr possessed one thousand bondsmen who paid their revenues to him, yet he would give every coin of it away in charity. Ḥassān ibn Thābit praised him for this, saying:

He held fast to the Prophet’s covenant and his way—
the Prophet’s own disciple—whose deeds matched every word.
He trod unwaveringly the Prophet’s path and course,
befriending the Friend of Truth—and Truth is equity.
A famed horseman, the champion of the field,
who charged whenever the battle-day shone bright.
A man whose mother was Ṣafiyyah, of the house of Asad,
is draped from head to foot in honor’s robe.
Near is his kinship to the Messenger of God,
and firm the glory he earned in aiding Islam.
How many a crisis did al-Zubayr, by his sword,
ward from the Chosen One—Allah gives and amplifies reward.
When war laid bare its shank he pierced its heart
with a gleaming blade that raced headlong to death.
None among them was his equal, nor one before him;
nor will there ever be, so long as time endures.

We have already mentioned that ʿAmr ibn Jurmūz al-Tamīmī slew him in Wādī al-Sabāʿ while he slept. Another report says he had risen, still dazed from sleep, mounted his horse, and met Ibn Jurmūz in single combat; when al-Zubayr bore down on him, Ibn Jurmūz’s companions Faḍālah and Nufayʿ came to his aid and together they killed him. ʿAmr ibn Jurmūz then carried off his head and sword.

When he brought them to ʿAlī—may Allah ennoble his countenance—ʿAlī looked at al-Zubayr’s sword and said, “How often has this sword lifted hardship from the face of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.” He further declared, “Give the killer of Ibn Ṣafiyyah glad tidings of the Fire.”

Some say that upon hearing this, ʿAmr ibn Jurmūz took his own life. The sounder view, however, is that he lived on after ʿAlī until the era of Ibn al-Zubayr. When Ibn al-Zubayr appointed his brother Muṣʿab over Iraq, ʿAmr ibn Jurmūz went into hiding, fearing Muṣʿab would avenge his father. Muṣʿab said, “Inform him that he is safe. Does he imagine I would kill him over Abū ʿAbd Allāh? By Allah, the two men are not alike.” Such was a mark of Muṣʿab’s forbearance, intelligence, and leadership.