Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (7/340)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

be assailed: the first to enter upon him was a man known as al-Mawt al-Aswad (“the Black Death”). He seized ʿUthmān by the throat and strangled him so violently that he lost consciousness, his breath rattling in his throat. Thinking he had killed him, the man let go and withdrew. Then (1) Ibn Abī Bakr came in, took hold of his beard, but (2) felt remorse and stepped back out. He soon returned with a sword and struck at him; ʿUthmān parried the blow with his hand, which was cut. Some said the hand was completely severed, others that it was merely gashed; yet ʿUthmān said, “By Allah, this is the very first (3) hand that ever wrote the surahs of al-Mufaṣṣal.” The first drop of blood from it splashed upon the verse, “So Allah will suffice you against them, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing” (al-Baqarah 2:137).

Another assailant advanced brandishing his sword. Nāʾilah bint al-Furāfiṣah stepped forward to shield him, grasped the sword, and he wrenched it from her, cutting off her fingers. He then pressed the blade into ʿUthmān’s belly and leaned upon it until he killed him—may Allah be pleased with ʿUthmān.

According to another report, al-Ghāfiqī ibn Ḥarb came up after Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr and struck his hand (4) with an iron bar. He then kicked the Qur’an that lay before him; the mushaf spun round and settled once more before ʿUthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—now stained with his blood.

Sudān ibn Ḥumrān next approached with a sword. Nāʾilah tried to fend him off, but he severed her fingers; as she turned away he slapped her backside, saying, “What a large backside she has!” He struck ʿUthmān and killed him—may the wrath of Allah and His curse be upon his murderer. A servant of ʿUthmān then came and struck Sudān, killing him, whereupon a man called Qutrah (5) struck the servant and slew him.

It is mentioned (6) by Ibn Jarīr (7) that they intended to cut off his head after killing him, but the women screamed (8) and slapped their faces—among them his two wives, Nāʾilah and Umm al-Banīn (9), and his daughters—so Ibn ʿAdīs said, “Leave him,” and they left him.

The miscreants then turned upon what was in the house (10) and plundered it. One of them cried out (11), “Is his blood lawful to us while his property is not?” They therefore looted it and departed, locking (12) the door behind ʿUthmān and the two men who had been killed with him.

When they reached the courtyard, a servant of ʿUthmān leapt upon Qutrah and killed him. They passed by nothing without seizing it, until a man named Kulthūm al-Tujībī snatched Nāʾilah’s mantle; a servant of ʿUthmān struck and killed him, but the servant too was slain.

The mob then shouted, “Head for the Treasury—do not let anyone reach it before you!” The guards of the Treasury heard them and said, “People, flee, flee! These men have not been truthful in their claim that their purpose was to uphold justice, to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and the like of what they alleged was their only motive.”

(1) In A: “then he entered.” (2) In T: “then he called out and went out.” (3) In T: “awwal yad” (literally “first hand”). (4) In T: “fi fihi” (literally “in it”). (5) In A: “qateera,” also in al-Tabari’s History (vol. 1, p. 391). (6) In A: “wa rawā” (and he narrated). (7) In his History (vol. 4, p. 414). (8) In A: “fa saha al-nas” (then the people cried out). (9) In A: “umm al-yadayn.” (10) In A: “bayt al-mal” (public treasury). (11) In A: “munādīhum” (their crier). (12) In A: “wa aghlaqū” (and they locked [it]).

دخل عليه رجل يقال له الموت الأسود فخنقه خنقًا شديدًا حتى غشي عليه، وجعلت نفسه تتردد في حلقه، فتركه وهو يظن أنه قد قتله، ودخل (١) ابن أبي بكر فمسك بلحيته ثم ندم (٢) وخرج، ثمّ دخل عليه ومعه سيف فضربه به فاتقاه بيده فقطعها، فقيل: إنه أبانها: وقيل: بل قطعها ولم يبنها، إلا أن عثمان قال: واللّه إنها لأول (٣) يد كتبت المُفَصَّلَ، فكان أول قطرة دم منها سقطت على هذه الآية ﴿فَسَيَكْفِيكَهُمُ اللَّهُ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ﴾ [البقرة: ١٣٧] ، ثم جاء آخر شاهرًا سيفه فاستقبلته نائلةُ بنت الفرافصة لتمنعَه منه، وأخذت السيف فانتزعه منها فقطع أصابعها. ثمّ إنّه تقدّم إليه فوضع السيف في بطنه فتحامل عليه [حتى قتله] ، رضي الله عن عثمان. وفي رواية أن الغافقيَّ بن حرب تقدم إليه بعد محمد بن أبي بكر فضربه بحديدة في يده (٤) ، ورفس المصحف الذي بين يديه برجله فاستدار المصحف ثم استقر بين يدي عثمان (رضي الله عنه) . وسالت عليه الدماء، ثم تقدم سُودان بن حُمران بالسيف فمانعته نائلة فقطع أصابعها فولت فضرب عجيزتها بيده وقال: إنها لكبيرة العجيزة. وضرب عثمان فقتله (غضب اللّه ولعنته على قاتله) ، (فجاء كلام عثمان فضرب سودان فقتله) ، فضرب الغلام رجل يقال له قترة (٥) فقتله. وذكر (٦) ابن جرير (٧) أنهم أرادوا حزَّ رأسه بعد قتله، فصاح النساء (٨) وضربن وجوههن، فيهن امرأتاه نائلة وأم البنين (٩) ، وبناته، فقال ابن عديس: اتركوه، فتركوه. ثم مال هؤلاء الفَجَرَةُ على ما في البيت (١٠) فنهبوه، وذلك أنه نادى مناد منهم (١١) : أيحل لنا دمُه ولا يحلّ لنا ماله، فانتهبوه ثم خرجوا فأغلقوا (١٢) الباب على عثمان وقتيلين معه، فلما خرجوا إلى صحن الدار وثب غلام لعثمان على قترة فقتله، وجعلوا لا يمرّون على شيء إلا أخذوه حتى استلب رجل يقال له كلثوم التجيبي، ملاءةَ نائلة، فضربه غلام لعثمان فقتله، وقُتل الغلامُ أيضًا، ثمَّ تنادى القوم: أن أدركوا بيت المال لا تستبقوا إليه، فسمعهم حفظة بيت المال (فقالوا: يا قوم النجاء النجاء، فإن هؤلاء القوم لم يصدقوا فيما قالوا من أن قصدهم قيام الحق والأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر وغير ذلك مما ادعوا أنهم إنما قاموا لأجله

(١) أ: ثم دخل. (٢) في ط: ثم ند وخرج. (٣) في ط: أول يد. (٤) في ط: في فيه. (٥) في أ: قتيرة، وكذا في تاريخ الطبري (١/ ٣٩١). (٦) في أ: وروى. (٧) في تاريخه (٤/ ٤١٤). (٨) في أ: فصاح الناس. (٩) في أ: أم اليدين. (١٠) في أ: بيت المال. (١١) في أ: مناديهم. (١٢) في أ: وأغلقوا.