—whereupon he pointed to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, and ʿAlī appointed him governor of Basra). He paired him with Ziyād ibn Abīh, charging the latter with the land-tax and the public treasury, and directed Ibn ʿAbbās to consult Ziyād—who until then had held aloof.
ʿAlī then went to the house where the Mother of the Believers ʿĀʾishah was staying. He asked permission, entered, greeted her with salām, and she welcomed him warmly. Inside, the women of Banū Khalf were weeping for their dead—among them ʿAbd Allāh and ʿUthmān, the two sons of Khalf. ʿAbd Allāh had fallen on ʿĀʾishah’s side, while ʿUthmān had been killed on ʿAlī’s side. When ʿAlī entered, Ṣafiyyah the wife of ʿAbd Allāh—known as the mother of Ṭalḥah al-Ṭalḥāt—said to him, “May Allah make your children orphans as you have made mine orphans.” ʿAlī gave her no reply. When he left, she repeated the same curse, and again he remained silent.
A man said to him, “O Commander of the Faithful, will you let this woman say what you have just heard and keep silent?” He answered, “Woe to you! We were commanded to refrain from harming women even when they were idolaters; shall we not restrain ourselves toward them now that they are Muslims? (1)”
Another man said, “O Commander of the Faithful, there are two men at the door speaking ill of ʿĀʾishah.” ʿAlī ordered al-Qaʿqāʿ ibn ʿAmr to flog each of them one hundred lashes and to strip them of their garments.
ʿĀʾishah inquired about the Muslims who had been killed fighting with her (2) and about those who had died in ʿAlī’s army; whenever someone was named, she invoked mercy upon him and prayed for him.
When the Mother of the Believers ʿĀʾishah resolved to leave Basra, ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with him—sent her everything she might require of mounts, provisions, furnishings, and the like. He granted permission to anyone who had come with her army and survived to return home (3), unless he preferred to remain. He selected forty reputable women of Basra to accompany her and dispatched her brother Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr with her.
On the day she set out, ʿAlī came and stood at the door while the people assembled. She emerged from the house in a litter, bade the people farewell, and prayed for them, saying, “My children, let none of us reproach another (5). By Allah, nothing stood between me and ʿAlī in the past except what may arise between a woman and her in-laws, and even if I have any grievance against him, he is, to me, among the best of men.”
ʿAlī replied, “She has spoken the truth, by Allah! Nothing passed between us but that, and she is indeed the wife of your Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—in this world and the next.” ʿAlī then walked with her for several miles, escorting her and bidding her farewell. He sent his own sons to accompany her for the rest of that day—it was Saturday, the first of Rajab in the year 36 AH. She travelled on to Mecca, remained there until she performed the ḥajj that same year, and then returned to Medina (peace be upon her).
As for Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam, when he fled he sought protection with Mālik ibn Masmaʿ, who granted him safety and kept his word. For that reason the descendants of Marwān continued to honor and exalt Mālik. It is said that Marwān lodged in the house of Banū Khalf; when ʿĀʾishah departed, he went out with her, and when she turned toward Mecca, he made his way to Medina.