On the following day they deliberately advanced to fight, and a fierce battle raged until the sun passed its zenith. Many of Ibn Ḥunayf’s men were slain and wounds abounded on both sides. When the struggle bit hard, they called for a truce, agreeing to draft a written pact and to send an emissary to the people of Madinah to ask them: if Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr had been forced to give the pledge, ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf would withdraw from Basra and leave it vacant; but if they had not been coerced, then Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr must depart and surrender the city to him.
They dispatched the judge Kaʿb ibn Sūr, who reached Madinah on Friday. He rose before the assembly and asked, “Did Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr pledge willingly or under compulsion?” The people fell silent; only Usāmah ibn Zayd spoke, saying, “They were compelled.” Some men sprang at him, intent on striking him, but Ṣuhayb, Abū Ayyūb, and a number of others (1) shielded him until they secured his safety. They said to him, “Why did you not keep silent as we did?” (2) He replied, “By Allah, I never thought the matter would come to this.”
ʿAlī wrote to ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf, saying: “They were not forced into division; rather, they were compelled toward unity and excellence. If they now wish to renounce the pledge, they have no excuse; but if they desire something else, let them consider and we shall consider.”
When Kaʿb ibn Sūr delivered ʿAlī’s letter to ʿUthmān, the latter said, “This is quite another matter from what we were upon.”
Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr then sent word to ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf, summoning him to come out to them, but he refused. So they gathered men on a dark night, brought them to the congregational mosque for the night prayer, and ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf (3) did not appear. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAtāb ibn Asīd led the prayer, and among the rabble of Basra harsh words and blows were exchanged, leaving about forty men dead.
The crowd forced its way into ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf’s palace, dragged him out to Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr, and plucked every hair from his face. The two regarded this as an outrage and informed ʿĀʾishah, who ordered that he be released; they complied.
They appointed ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr over the treasury. Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr distributed its funds among the people, favouring those loyal to them; the populace flocked to receive their stipends. They took charge of the guards and assumed full control of Basra.
This inflamed a faction from among the killers of ʿUthmān and their supporters. They mounted out in a force of nearly three hundred, led by Ḥakīm ibn Jiblah—himself one of those directly involved in ʿUthmān’s assassination—and they challenged and fought. A man struck Ḥakīm’s leg and severed it; he crawled, seized the amputated limb, struck his assailant with it, and killed him. Then he leaned upon it and kept reciting (4):
from a rajaz couplet:
“O leg (5), be not afraid—
for you have my arm;
with it I shall shield my shank.” (6)