Campaign of Ifrīqiyah
ʿUthmān instructed ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ to lead an expedition against the lands of Ifrīqiyah, telling him that if Allah granted him its conquest(1) he would be entitled, as an extra reward, to one-fifth of the fifth of the booty. Ibn Abī Sarḥ set out with 10,000 men, opened both its lowlands and its highlands, and slew great numbers of its inhabitants. Thereafter they(2) united in obedience and in Islam, and their Islam proved sound. Ibn Abī Sarḥ then took his one-fifth of the fifth, forwarded the other four-fifths of that portion to ʿUthmān, and distributed the remaining four-fifths of the spoils among the army, so that each cavalryman received 3,000 dinars and each foot-soldier 1,000.

Al-Wāqidī says: He (Ibn Abī Sarḥ) made peace with its baṭrīq (governor) for 2,000,000 dinars [and 500,000 dinars] and 20,000 dinars, and ʿUthmān released the whole sum in a single day to the family of al-Ḥakam; some say, to the family of Marwān(3).

Campaign of al-Andalus
Once Ifrīqiyah had been conquered, ʿUthmān immediately dispatched ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd Qays and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nāfiʿ ibn al-Ḥuṣayn, both of the Fihrī clan(4), straightaway to al-Andalus. They approached it by sea, and ʿUthmān wrote to those who had set out, saying, “Constantinople will only be conquered from the direction of the sea. If you open al-Andalus, you will share the reward with those who conquer Constantinople at the end of time. Peace.” They therefore marched to it, took it, and to Allah belong praise and grace.

The Encounter of Jarjīr and the Berbers with the Muslims
When the Muslims—20,000 strong under ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ, with ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar and ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr in the army—advanced against Ifrīqiyah, the Berber king Jarjīr confronted them with 120,000 men, and it is also said, 200,000. When the two hosts faced one another, he ordered his troops and they encircled the Muslims like a ring, so that the Muslims were in a position the like of which had never been seen for dreadfulness nor more fearful for them.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr said: “I spotted King Jarjīr behind the ranks, mounted on a palfrey, while two slave-girls shaded him with peacock feathers. I went to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ and asked him to send men with me to guard my back so that I might attack the king. He provided me with a group of valiant men.

“He ordered them to protect my rear, and I advanced, tearing through the ranks toward him—they thought I was carrying a message to the king. When I drew near, he sensed danger from me and bolted on…"