they had no heirs except the Bayt al-Māl (public treasury), and the Imām determines what is most beneficial in such cases; therefore he set ‘Ubayd Allāh free.

They said: Whenever Ziyād ibn Labīd al-Bayāḍī caught sight of ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn ‘Umar he would say (1):
(in ṭawīl metre)
O ‘Ubayd Allāh, you have no path of escape (2) …
no refuge from Ibn Arwā, nor any sanctuary.
You shed blood—by Allah—without right,
forbidden blood; and the slaying of al-Hurmuzān is fraught with peril.
For nothing at all save that someone once asked:
“Do you suspect al-Hurmuzān in the affair of ‘Umar?”
Then some fool—calamities are many—replied,
“Yes, I suspect him; he pointed it out and he gave the order.”
Yet the slave’s weapons were inside his own house (3),
he merely handled them—one matter is inferred from another.

He said: ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn ‘Umar complained of Ziyād to ‘Uthmān, so ‘Uthmān summoned Ziyād ibn Labīd, whereupon Ziyād recited before him:
(in wāfir metre)
O Abū ‘Amr, ‘Ubayd Allāh is held in pledge—
so harbour no doubt about the killing of al-Hurmuzān.
For if you pardon him his crime while the very causes of error are like two competing steeds (4),
will you then remit—when you remit without right?—
what you recount when you have not the two hands (5) to uphold it?

‘Uthmān thereupon forbade him to continue and sternly rebuked him, so Ziyād ibn Labīd ceased his criticisms.

After that, ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān wrote to his officials in the provinces—the commanders of the armies, the imāms who lead the prayers, and the treasurers of the public funds—enjoining them to promote what is right, forbid what is wrong, exhort obedience to Allah and His Messenger, urge adherence to the sunnah, and shun innovation.

Ibn Jarīr (6) said: During this same year ‘Uthmān dismissed al-Mughīra ibn Shu‘ba from Kūfa and appointed Sa‘d ibn Abī Waqqāṣ over it; he was the first governor ‘Uthmān named, because ‘Umar had said, “If the office of leadership falls to Sa‘d, so be it; otherwise, whoever among you is in charge should seek his assistance, for I did not depose him out of weakness or treachery.” Accordingly, Sa‘d governed the city for a year and part of another.

Ibn Jarīr also narrated the report through Sayf, from Mujālid, from al-Sha‘bī. Al-Wāqidī, quoting Zayd ibn Aslam from his father, related that ‘Umar had stipulated that his governors be retained for a full year. When ‘Uthmān assumed the caliphate he kept al-Mughīra ibn Shu‘ba over Kūfa for a year, then removed him, appointed Sa‘d, removed him in turn, and installed al-Walīd ibn ‘Uqba ibn Abī Mu‘ayṭ.