ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf said, “Indeed we belong to Allah and to Him we return! By the Lord of the Kaʿbah, the millstone of Islam has begun to turn; consider on which rim we shall be ground ⦗1⦘.” ʿImrān replied, “Yes, by Allah, we shall grind them with a long, relentless grinding.”
ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf was alluding ⦗2⦘ to the marfūʿ hadith narrated by Ibn Masʿūd: “The millstone of Islam will turn at thirty-five,” as cited earlier. He then said to ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn, “Advise me.” ʿImrān answered, “Withdraw, for I shall remain in my house”—or, in another version, “seated upon my camel”—and he departed.
ʿUthmān said, “Rather, I shall hold them back until the Commander of the Believers arrives.” He therefore called out, ordering the people to arm themselves and gather in the mosque. When they had assembled, he instructed them to prepare for action.
A man ⦗3⦘—while ʿUthmān stood upon the pulpit—rose and said, “O people, if these folk have come in fear, they left a land where even the birds are safe. And if they have come seeking retribution for ʿUthmān’s blood, we are not his murderers. Obey me, then, and send them back whence they came.”
Al-Aswad ibn Sarīʿ al-Saʿdī ⦗4⦘ rose and said, “They have come only to seek our help against ʿUthmān’s killers, whether among us or others.” The people pelted him with stones, and ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf realized that the murderers of ʿUthmān had supporters in Basra; this displeased him.
The Mother of the Believers arrived with her followers and encamped at the upper end of al-Mirbad, near Basra. Those among the townspeople who wished to join her went out to her ⦗5⦘, while ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf advanced with the army, and the two forces met at al-Mirbad. Ṭalḥah—commanding the right wing—spoke first, urging the avenging of ʿUthmān and the pursuit of his blood. Al-Zubayr supported him, speaking in the same vein. Some men from ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf’s army answered them ⦗6⦘, and the Mother of the Believers addressed the people, exhorting and inciting them to fight. Skirmishes flared on the edges of the armies and stones were hurled; then the forces disengaged, each returning to its own camp. A group from ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf’s army defected to ʿĀʾishah’s side, and their numbers grew.
Ḥārithah ibn Qudāmah al-Saʿdī came forward and said, “Mother of the Believers, by Allah, the murder of ʿUthmān is a lesser matter than your leaving your home atop this camel, exposed to weapons. If you have come to us willingly, then return to your house from whence you came; and if you have been compelled, then seek the people’s help to return.”
Hakīm ibn Jiblah—who commanded the cavalry of ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf—then advanced and kindled the battle, while the supporters of the Mother of the Believers at first restrained themselves and withheld from fighting. Hakīm pressed upon them until combat erupted at the mouth of the lane. ʿĀʾishah ordered her followers to move to the right until they reached the cemetery of Banū Māzin, and nightfall separated the two sides.