In that same year ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ dispatched ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ to campaign in the lands of the Maghrib, and Ibn Abī Sarḥ asked his leave to press on into Ifrīqiyah; he granted him permission.
It is also said that during this year ʿUthmān removed ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ from Egypt and appointed ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ in his stead, while others place this event in the year twenty-seven, as will be mentioned later—and Allah knows best.
In the same year Muʿāwiyah captured the fortresses, and in it his son Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah was born.
Then the year twenty-six began.
Al-Wāqidī states that in this year ʿUthmān ordered the renewal of the anṣāb al-ḥaram (the boundary stones of the Sacred Precinct).
That same year the Sacred Mosque was expanded. In it he dismissed Saʿd from Kūfa and appointed al-Walīd ibn ʿUqbah (1) to succeed him. The reason for Saʿd’s dismissal was that he had borrowed money from Ibn Masʿūd out of the public treasury; when Ibn Masʿūd demanded repayment and Saʿd could not meet it, a sharp quarrel broke out between them. ʿUthmān therefore became angry with both of them (2), removed Saʿd, and installed al-Walīd ibn ʿUqbah (3).
Al-Walīd had previously been ʿUmar’s governor over the Arab tribes of al-Jazīra. When he arrived there, the inhabitants flocked to him. He remained in office for five years; his house had no door, and he treated his subjects with kindness.
Al-Wāqidī further relates that in the same year ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (may Allah be pleased with him) led the people in the Hajj.
According to another report, during that year ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ took Sābūr by a negotiated settlement for three million three-hundred thousand.
[Then came the year twenty-seven.]
Al-Wāqidī and Abū Maʿshar state that in this year (4) ʿUthmān dismissed ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ from Egypt and appointed ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ—his foster brother—in his place. He is the very man for whom ʿUthmān interceded on the day of the Conquest after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had declared his blood lawful.