that he keep them busy with military expeditions, distracting them from the wrongdoing they were engaged in, so that each man would think only of himself and of the saddle-sore of his mount and the lice (1) in its coat. (For when the rabble find themselves idle and unemployed, they busy themselves with what is of no benefit and speak in ways that give no pleasure, whereas when they are dispersed they benefit both themselves and others.)
Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ advised extirpating (2) the very root of the trouble-makers and cutting off their remnant (3). Muʿāwiyah proposed sending the governors back to their provinces and paying no heed to these men or to the evil on which they had banded together, for they were fewer in number and weaker in force.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ recommended winning them over with money: give them enough of it to curb their mischief, secure oneself against their treachery (4), and incline their hearts toward him.
As for ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, he rose and said: “To proceed, O ʿUthmān: you have imposed upon the people what they detest. Either remove from them what they dislike, or advance yourself and settle your governors according to what the people desire.” He spoke to him with some harshness, then later excused himself in private, saying that he had spoken thus only so that those present would relay it to the rest of the people and they would be satisfied with ʿUthmān’s policy.
At that point ʿUthmān confirmed his governors in their posts, conciliated those men with financial largesse, and ordered that they be dispatched on campaigns to the frontier zones, thereby bringing together every interest.
When the governors returned to their regions, the people of Kūfah refused to admit Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ. They armed themselves and swore that they would not allow him to enter until ʿUthmān dismissed him and appointed Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī in his place. They gathered at a spot called al-Jurʿah (and on that day al-Ashṭar al-Nakhaʿī declared, “By Allah, so long as we bear our swords he will never enter!” and the people faced one another at al-Jurʿah). Saʿīd shrank from fighting them, while they were determined to bar him.
That very day Ḥudhayfah and Abū Masʿūd ʿUqbah ibn ʿAmr were in the mosque of Kūfah. Abū Masʿūd kept saying, “By Allah, Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ will not turn back until blood is shed.” Ḥudhayfah kept replying (5): “By Allah, he will certainly turn back and not a single drop the size drawn by a cupping-lancet will be spilled. There is nothing today that I do not already know, though Muhammad ﷺ was alive.”
In short, Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ turned back to Medina and quelled the fitnah. The people of Kūfah were delighted and wrote to ʿUthmān requesting that Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī be appointed over them. ʿUthmān granted their request so as to remove any excuse, dispel their doubts, and cut off their pretexts.
Sayf ibn ʿUmar (6) stated that the reason the factions rallied against ʿUthmān was a man named ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sabaʾ, who had been a Jew and then professed Islam. He travelled to Egypt and whispered to a group of people ideas he had invented, the gist of which was that he would say to a man, “Has it not been established that Jesus son of Mary will return to this world?” If the man said, “Indeed,” he would reply