Ibn Jarīr (1) states: During this same year the following Companions passed away: Abū ʿAbs ibn Jabr (2) in Madinah—he had fought at Badr; also Masṭaḥ ibn Athatha (3); and ʿĀqil ibn al-Bukayr (4). That year the pilgrimage was led by ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, may Allah Most High be pleased with him.

[Then the year thirty-five began.] In it ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān—may Allah be pleased with him—was killed (5). The sequence of events was as follows: when ʿUthmān removed ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ from the governorship of Egypt, he appointed ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ in his place. The reason was that the Egyptian Kharijites had been tightly contained by ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, (subdued to the point that they dared not utter any abuse against the Caliph or any governor). They therefore kept lodging complaints (6) with ʿUthmān, demanding that he remove ʿAmr and set over them someone more lenient. They persisted until ʿUthmān relieved ʿAmr (7) of military command—while leaving him in charge of leading the prayer—and entrusted both the army and the fiscal administration to ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ. Thereafter the rebels sowed discord between the two men through malicious slander, and hostility flared up until abusive words were exchanged.

ʿUthmān therefore summoned Ibn Abī Sarḥ, placed the entire Egyptian province under his authority—its revenues, (its military forces), and its prayers—and sent word to ʿAmr: “There is no benefit for you in staying (8) among people who dislike you; come to me.” So ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ departed for Madinah, harboring deep resentment and ill-will toward ʿUthmān. The two spoke about what had occurred, disputing back and forth, and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ vaunted his father’s lineage over—