in this matter.

They therefore wrote back to him: “We remain upon what we agreed with al-Qaʿqāʿ ibn ʿAmr—reconciliation among the people.” At that, hearts were reassured and the turmoil subsided; each party gathered with its own followers (1) from the two armies.

When evening came, ʿAlī sent ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbās to them, and they sent Muhammad ibn Ṭalḥah al-Sajjād to him. The people then passed the best of nights, whereas the assassins of ʿUthmān passed the worst. They spent the night plotting and finally agreed to spark the war at the break of dawn.

Before day-break, nearly 2,000 of them rose up; each group turned toward its relatives and burst in upon them with swords. Every faction sprang to defend its own people (2), and the sleepers leapt from their beds to their weapons, crying, “The people of Kūfah have attacked us by night—they have fallen upon us treacherously!” They assumed this had been done with the full consent of ʿAlī’s companions.

The report reached ʿAlī. “What is the matter with the people?” he asked. “The people of Basra have assaulted us by night,” they replied. At once every party seized its arms (3), donned the laʾmah (armor) (4), and mounted their horses—none of them aware of what had actually taken place. Yet the decree of Allah was a decree already ordained. War was now standing on its own feet; champions rode out to duel, brave men charged back and forth (5), the battle became entangled, and the two sides clashed fiercely.

Some 20,000 had gathered around ʿAlī, while about 30,000 (6) had rallied around ʿĀʾishah. “Indeed we belong to Allah, and to Him we return.” The Sābiʾah, the followers of Ibn al-Sawdāʾ—may Allah disgrace him—never tired of killing, while ʿAlī’s crier kept proclaiming, “Hold back! Hold back!” but no one heeded him.

Kaʿb ibn Sūr, the judge of Basra, came forward and said, “O Mother of the Believers, intervene among the people; perhaps Allah will bring reconciliation through you.” She sat in her hawdaj (howdah) atop her camel, they covered the howdah with shields, and she advanced until she could watch the fighters as they moved (7). The combatants lunged and wheeled about (8).

Among those who stepped forward to duel were al-Zubayr and ʿAmmār. ʿAmmār kept prodding him with a spear while al-Zubayr held back, saying, “Will you kill me, Abū al-Yaqẓān?” ʿAmmār replied, “No, Abū ʿAbd Allah.” Al-Zubayr refrained only because of the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ words: “A rebellious faction will kill you.” Otherwise al-Zubayr had the greater power over him, and for that reason he spared him.

Their rule that day was neither to finish off a wounded man nor to pursue one who turned his back, yet even so an enormous number were killed. So much so that ʿAlī said to his son al-Ḥasan, “My son, would that your father had died twenty years before this day.” He replied, “Father, I had indeed tried to dissuade you from this.”