Ṭalḥah, al-Zubayr, and those with them set out to meet him, gathering at the palace of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād, while the people encamped, each party in its own sector. ʿAlī had ridden ahead of his army and the troops were still catching up with him. For three days the two sides remained where they were while envoys passed back and forth; this was in mid-Jumādā al-Ākhirah, year 36 AH. During that time some people (1)—from among the murderers of ʿUthmān—advised Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr to seize the moment, but the two of them replied, “ʿAlī has proposed to calm this affair, and we have already sent to him offering reconciliation on that basis.”
ʿAlī then stood and addressed the people.
Al-Aʿwar ibn Bunān al-Minqurī (2) rose and asked him about his advance toward the people of Basra. He answered, “For reconciliation, to extinguish the blaze of discord so that the people may unite upon good and the fabric of this ummah may be restored.”
Al-Aʿwar said, “What if they do not respond to us?”
He said, “We shall leave them so long as they leave us.”
He said, “And if they will not leave us alone?”
He replied, “Then we shall repel them from ourselves.”
He said, “Do they have in this matter the same right that we have?”
He said, “Yes!”
Abū Salām al-Dālani (3) then stood and said, “Do these people have any proof for seeking retribution for this blood, if they are truly seeking Allah thereby?”
He answered, “Yes.”
Abū Salām asked, “And do you have a proof for delaying that retribution?”
He said, “Yes.”
He asked, “What, then, will be our state and theirs if we are tested tomorrow?”
He replied, “I hope that none of us or of them whose heart is pure for Allah will be killed without Allah admitting him to Paradise.”
In the course of his sermon he said, “O people, keep your hands and your tongues from these folk, and beware lest they outstrip us tomorrow, for the one who is defeated tomorrow is already defeated today.”
Around that time al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays arrived with a contingent and joined ʿAlī. He had previously restrained Ḥarqūṣ ibn Zuhayr from siding with Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr, and he himself had pledged allegiance to ʿAlī in Madinah. He had come to the city while ʿUthmān was besieged and had asked ʿĀʾishah, Ṭalḥah, and al-Zubayr, “If ʿUthmān is killed, to whom shall I give my pledge?” They answered, “Give it to ʿAlī.” When ʿUthmān was in fact killed he pledged to ʿAlī. He later related: “I then returned to my people, but soon news reached me that was even more alarming, and people were saying, ‘ʿĀʾishah has come to seek the blood of ʿUthmān.’ I was bewildered as to whom I should follow, but Allah restrained me with a ḥadīth I had heard from Abū Bakr. He said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when informed that the Persians had made the daughter of Chosroes their ruler, declared, ‘A people that entrusts its affairs to a woman will never prosper.’ The original wording of this ḥadīth is in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (4).”
The point is that when al-Aḥnaf took ʿAlī’s side he brought six thousand [Qaws, and he said to ʿAlī, “If you wish I will fight alongside you, and if you wish I will hold back ten thousand swords from you.” ʿAlī replied, “Hold back from us”] (5) ten thousand swords.
ʿAlī then sent word to Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr, saying, “If you are still upon what you and al-Qaʿqāʿ ibn ʿAmr agreed upon, then hold your hand until we arrive and examine this matter.”